"You know Yoochun?” Ayako shouts.

“Not so loud,” I hush, looking around the crowded tables. I'd to synchronize my lunch break with Ayako’s and drag her out to the cafe by our building. Who else would I tell if not the first and best friend I’d made here?

“You actually know Yoochun? Why didn’t you tell me?” she asks in a lower tone.

“Because I didn’t know that I knew him.”

“Huh?”

“I met and knew him for one day when we were sixteen. Not even a day, just the three hours our flights were delayed. I gave him my email, but I never heard from him. I didn’t know he was that Yoochun until I watched ‘Purple Line’ yesterday.”

“Do you think he’ll remember you?” Ayako asks excitedly.

“I doubt it,” I shrug sadly. “Like I said, I never heard a peep from him afterwards. The only thing I got from him was the book we tried to pick up at the same time in the bookstore.”

“Do you still have it?”

I look at her, confused. “Yes. Why?”

“Because I want to touch it! Imagine, Yoochun touched it!”

“And your point?”

“It’s a fangirl thing. Don’t judge,” she huffs.

I laugh. “I won’t.”

“Wait, do you have your outfit planned out for tomorrow?”

“No. What does it matter? He’ll either remember me or he won’t; clothes won’t make a difference.”

“Even if he doesn’t, you still want to look hot.”

“Why? I have to be professional about this. They’ll technically be clients, remember?”

“So? You can be hot and professional,” Ayako insists.

“You’re ridiculous,” I laugh, tossing a piece of my crust at her.

    When Wednesday dawns, Ayako’s words resurface.

Eh, why not? Can’t not help to look cute. I pick through my closet for the outfit, using the activity as a distraction for what lies ahead. What if he remembers me? What if he doesn’t?

    Firmly shaking my head, I banish that train of thought to a back corner of my mind. I look at the clock, realizing with a jolt I’ll be late, even with the meeting being pushed back to twelve. I my hand blindly into the closet, grabbing the first thing I encounter. When I pull the hanger out, a sigh of relief escapes my lips. Thankfully, my hand chose a cute plum colored, knee length dress with an empire waist and scoop neck. Scooping up my gold drop earrings, long golden necklace, and short jacket, I quickly complete my ensemble. As I rush out the door, I snatch up my bag, double checking that contains the pass and directions Mr.Lee sent to my office yesterday.

    In the taxi, I try to review my preparations for the business meeting I’m helping with Friday, but I find myself reading the same paragraph repeatedly. Slamming the papers back in their folder, I give up and stare out the window, letting the frustration at my lack of concentration override my growing nervousness.

    Either way, it doesn’t matter, I tell myself. If he doesn’t remember you, no big deal. You only knew him a little while.You do the job well, enjoy it, and move on. If he does,...

“Miss, we’re here,” the taxi driver says, interrupting my thoughts.

“Oh, thank you.”

    As I get closer to the doors, I feel my hands begin to shake. I keep my face cool as I show the guard in the lobby my pass.

“Ah, Ms. _______. We’ve been expecting you. They’re on the eleventh floor, room 1103.”

“Thank you. Have a good day.”

“Same to you.”

    I finally manage to get myself under control on the elevator ride up. When the doors open, I’m ready. Looking around, I see 1103 to the right. I walk up to the door and ring the bell.

A few seconds later, the intercom crackles. “Noogoosaeyo?” a pleasant male voice asks.

“It’s Ms. ______ from Lee-ssi’s agency. I was told to come at twelve. I’m the new interpreter,” I reply, a little breathless from nerves.

“Oh, hang on a second.”

The door quickly opens to reveal a casually dressed, lean young man with long black hair, thin face, and bright smile. “Annyeonghasaeyo, I’m Jung Yunho. Please, come in.”

“Thank you. It’s a pleasure to be able to work with you Jung-ssi,” I say, offering my hand as I step inside.

“Please, if we’re going to be working together, let's be on a first name basis,” he says, smiling and giving my hand a firm shake.

“Thank you.”

“Want to meet the rest of us? I may have to go wake Yoochun up, again, but I think everyone’s in the living room.”

I follow him down the white hallway, passing a large framed picture of the five of them. Turning left, we pass several doors and under an archway into an open living room kitchen area. Three others sit on the couch, watching television.

“Guys, Mr. Kim is sick so S.M got a new interpreter to go with us to Japan next week. This is _______. This is Jaejoong,” he says, pointing to the pale boy with long reddish hair.

“Annyeonghasaeyo,” he says with a quiet smile.

Ayako wasn’t kidding, he is pretty.

Yunho points to the boy beside Jaejoong, the one with full lips and short black hair. “This is Junsu.”

“Annyeonghasaeyo,” Junsu smiles. “You’re much cuter than Mr.Kim.”

“Junsu!”

“What?” the third boy says, sitting up and shaking his shaggy black hair out of his eyes. “He’s just telling the truth.”

Yunho covers his eyes and lets his hand slip from his face. “And this is Changmin.”


“Annyoung. Shim Changmin, that’s me,” Changmin says with cheeky smile.

“Is Yoochun still in bed?” Yunho asks them.

“No. I’m up, barely,” a sleepy voice says from behind us. Yoochun stands there, leaning against the wall, dressed but still rubbing sleep from his eyes.

“Good timing. This is _______, our interpreter for next week. _______, this lazybones is Yoochun.

“Annyeonghasaeyo,” Yoochun says, stepping forward to shake my hand.

“Annyeonghasaeyo,” I say quietly, shaking his hand.

 As he shakes my hand, he finally opens his eyes enough to see my face. Suddenly, he stiffens slightly and studies my face more intently.

“Yoochun, what are you doing?” Junsu asks.

“You seem familiar,” Yoochun says, still holding onto my hand. “What did you say your name was again?”

“It’s _______,” Changmin provides.

Yoochun’s eyes remained confused for a few more seconds before recognition, followed by disbelief, blooms in his eyes.“________? From the airport?”

I give him a small smile. “I was wondering if you’d remember me, oppa. I still have the dragon king.”

“Omo, it is you!” he shouts happily, dropping my hand to pick me up and swing me around. “What are you doing here?” he asks as he puts me down but picks up both of my hands.

“I’m working for you,” I laugh. “I swear, I didn’t know I was until last night.”

“You two know each other?” Yunho asks, looking at us curiously.

“Remember when I first came here and I talked about that girl I met in the airport? The one whose email I lost? Sorry about that, by the way,” he apologizes, turning to me. “I couldn’t find the paper you gave me anywhere after I got here. I would’ve contacted you, I promise.”

“I believe you and I forgive you.”

He grins at me. “I still can’t believe you’re actually here. Ow!”

Yoochun turns to glare at an innocent looking Changmin. “I was just showing you it wasn’t a dream,” he says.

I try to hide my giggle. “I’m surprised you remember me. I thought you’d forgotten all about me after I didn’t hear from you.”

“I haven’t thought of you in a while,” Yoochun admits truthfully. “But I didn’t forget. That day is one of my best memories. If I was feeling low, I remembered I still had a friend out there somewhere.”

“Aw, that’s so sweet. I missed you too, especially when I needed help with my Korean homework,” I tease.

“At least I gave you a head start,” he says, teasing right back.

“Because ‘oppa’ and ‘arrasso’ will get you places,” I say sarcastically. "Plus, I know about the whole 'same year are chingu' thing, but I'll stll call you 'oppa.'"

“Wait, how old is she?” Changmin asks.

“Older than you,” Yoochun tells him. “So show her respect.”

“Cool, I get to have a pretty chingu!” Junsu claps.

Jaejoong shakes his head and speaks for the first time since he said hello, “Don’t mind him. He took over the magnae’s role of being cute so he’s like this a lot.”

“I can be cute too,” Changmin says, turning to me and smiling. “Noona, I’m hungry. Can you make something for me?”

“Changmin!” Yunho says. “Ignore him. It’s not your job to fill his stomach.”

I laugh, but I’ve already fallen for Changmin’s uneven eyed smile.

“How about noona does the next best thing and gets you something?” I say with a laugh.

Changmin brightens as Yoochun groans. “Great, another one’s fallen under the evil one’s spell.”

“You don’t need to ______ ,” Junsu says. “My friend Yejin is coming over with food.”

“That’s why we asked to have the meeting moved back,” Yunho explains. “We thought it’d be nice to get to know you over lunch, but going out can be troublesome.”

The bell rings, causing Changmin to jump off the couch and run to the door. “Food’s here,” he shouts happily.

“Hey, she’s my friend,” Junsu yells, chasing after him.

“Welcome to the madness,” Yoochun chuckles.

===============

HyeSuh: I do too, but I only speak Spanish and Chinese. Still working on teaching myself Korean :P

nar12345:lol

trainontrack: thanks ^^