“Eomma, I’m going to show (Y/N) my room, if you don’t mind!”

              Passing by the other rooms in Eric’s house, you conclude that it must be a calm, pleasant place to live. The floors are laminated wood, and the walls are painted light blue. After taking the stairs up, you reach Eric’s room. What you find are a million Pokémon stuffed toys arranged neatly on his bed, along with a framed picture of him on Korean survival show Produce 101.

              “You were on TV?!” you gasp, incredulous. “Why did I have no idea about this?”

              “You don’t follow K-pop?” he asks. “I – and my parents, for that matter – was on a show called Hello Counselor a while back too.” Oh my goodness, you’re staying with a celebrity of sorts. Wait until your mom found out about this. Wait until your friends found out about this. No, wait until the Korean media found out about this! You try not to fangirl over your young host.

              “How was Produce 101, by the way? Was it stressful?”

              “Oh my gosh. It was really fun! I met so many hyungs and friends on the show. But it was hard, too.” Eric sighs, melancholy. “I’m pretty sure everyone cried. Including me!” He giggles awkwardly, reminiscing about the hardships he’d faced a few months back. “I came in 23^rd place at the end, but it was all good.”

              “Oh no!” you remark. You couldn’t imagine Eric breaking down, he looked too joyful for that. “23^rd is pretty good! Well, I’m glad it was a good experience for you.” You then turn your attention to the Pokémon toys. “Yo, I love Pokémon too! Who’s your favourite?”

              Eric picks up the purple monkey with big ears. “Aipom. Say hi, Aipom ~” he coos, playing with Aipom’s arm to make it wave at you. “Everyone says I look like him. Must be the ears. Hahaha” Now that you think about it, you do see the resemblance. “Do you have a favourite, (Y/N)?”

              “I like Eevee,” you respond. You beam when you notice an Eevee on Eric’s bed too. “Hello there, Eevee ~”

              After a dinner at a restaurant in COEX Mall, your mom and Mrs. Lee decide to go shopping. Eric turns to you and asks, opening up the Pokémon Go app on his phone, “Hey, should we go and look for Pokémon around here?”

              “Sounds good! I haven’t played Pokémon Go in a while.”

              “Yo, I see a lure at the water fountain. There’s bound to be a lot of Pokémon there.”

              You laugh, skipping your way out of the restaurant to catch some Pokémon with Eric. You love being around him, and he definitely sees you as his equal. No matter how much more accomplished Eric sounded compared to you, you were not going to let that ruin your friendship with him.