Anna swayed along to the music thumping in her ears. Absently she scrolled through her phone, trying to figure out what she wanted to listen to next. The elevator dinged and the doors opened. Glancing up she started a little when her gaze landed on some guy that was way too attractive. Next to him were about three others. Well great. Cue anxiety and insecurity. Ducking her head, she got into the elevator and after muttering an excuse me, pressed the number for her floor. They stepped back as if they thought she’d bite. Great, they were some of those people.

Taking the hint, she retreated to the opposite end of the elevator and waited in the corner, once again scrolling through her phone until she found the song she wanted to hear. As soon as the beat hit she was smiling and moving her body to the music again. When the beat dropped she had to remind herself she wasn’t alone and wukking up would get her some weird looks. Still, she loved when a song’s beat got into her bones.

Suddenly the elevator stopped with a short jerk.

Blinking in confusion she looked up to see the doors weren’t opening. The hell was going on? Did one of these dudes press something? She better not be about to get robbed. But they were avoiding her like the plague so that couldn’t be it.

“What happened?”

She honestly wasn’t expecting an answer so when no one answered her she glanced over once before walking over and pressing another number and when that garnered no reaction, she pressed the door open button. Well hell.

One of the guys suddenly shouted something in a language she didn’t understand. Staring back at them she watched him appear to have a mild panic attack. The other guys were comforting him and after a while it seemed to take.

One of them finally looked at her, “Is it stuck?”

She nodded once and sighed, “Yup.”

Looking around the panel for the emergency phone line she finally located it and made a call. The person on the other line was helpful but wasn’t sure exactly when they would get the elevator running again. She notified them how many were on it with her and then prepared to wait.

“What did they say?”

It was the same guy. They were all looking at her and it made her very uncomfortable but she focused on the one asking the questions.

“The elevator’s down. They don’t know how long it’ll take to fix it so we’ll have to wait.”

He nodded slowly and then turned and spoke to the other guys in another language. Ok. So they didn’t understand English.

She retreated back to her corner and took a seat. This might take a while. Stopping the music on her phone she made a call, thanking God that she still had service at least. Her cousin answered.

“Why are you calling me?”

“Well gee,” Anna deadpanned. “It’s nice to know you’re so concerned.”

Automatically his voice changed, “Why? Did something happen?”

“I’m stuck in the elevator; maintenance says it might be a while.”

“Oh, well. You’ll just have to wait then.”

“Obviously,” rolling her eyes she snuck a glance at the guys who were still standing and talking to each other. “I just called to let you know I wasn’t kidnapped.”

“Thanks for that. I’ll see you when you get in. Bye.”

“Bye.”

It took 15 minutes before the guys sat down. Still huddled on their side, avoiding looking, speaking, or accidentally touching her. She quickly got bored of listening to music after a half hour. All that was left was the strangely musical tone of their voices and the hum of the elevator. A half hour in the lights cut off and some backup low lights came on. The same dude (she assumed) yelled again. 45 minutes later they’d calmed somewhat but something that sounded like a stomach rumbling broke the relative quiet.

Smiling to herself, she opened the bag she was holding. She had been on her way in from a trip to Walmart for some snacks. Grabbing a bag of chips she finally noticed their eyes on her. It was automatic when she held it out in their direction.

“Hungry?”

The dude who had communicated with her before muttered something making them turn to him and then her. The one closest to her reached out and gently lifted the bag from her hand, saying a clear thank you.

She nodded and then ate her own snack, back to ignoring them.

Wondering when the hell they’d get the damn elevator fixed, she was shocked when a hesitant voice called out; “excuse me?”

Turning to the voice she saw the same guy as before. Guess he was the designated speaker.

“Thank you for the food.”

Smiling at him she shrugged, “No worries. I couldn’t leave you hungry.”

He looked a bit confused but nodded before pointing to himself, “My name is Changkyun.”

Cocking her head to one side she pronounced his name slowly, at his nod and smile she returned it with a bright one of her own, “Nice to meet you Changkyun. My name is Anna.”

“Anna.”

One of them said something and they all giggled. She was smirking but she had no idea what was said. It better had not been insulting.

“This is Jooheon, Hyun Woo, and Kihyun.”

Anna repeated all of their names as best she could and watched them all smile in approval. They were all way too attractive. This was ridiculous. Who were these guys?? Did someone make them in a factory?

“Do you live in the building?”

“I’m visiting my cousin for a few weeks. Do you live here?”

Changkyun shook his head, “We’re just visiting a friend.”

“Ok,” hesitantly she bit her lip and then tried her luck. “I don’t want to be rude; but where are you guys from?”

“South Korea.”

It was the first time the one named Jooheon spoke up. When her eyes met his he smiled and dimples popped out. For a second her mind went blank. And then the shrieks and cooing started.

“Damn you’re adorable.”

Immediately he flushed red and Changkyun laughed. The other two looked confused but what had happened was explained. They all smiled and nudged Jooheon who was still blushing. She couldn’t help the grin at his reaction. It seemed impossible but making him blush made him even more adorable.

“Changkyun, are you guys family? Friends? Couples?”

Changkyun muttered something she couldn’t catch but then spoke up, “We’re friends. We work together.”

“Oh? What do you do?” At his blank stare she wondered how fluent he really was in English. “What is your job?”

“Ah,” he smiled slightly but nodded his understanding. “We’re in a group. We sing. Rap.”

Anna blinked at that. That wasn’t what she would have pegged them for. Some sort of models or something but not some sort of boy band.

“What is your job?”

His name was Jooheon right? “I’m a personal assistant.”

She sort of felt sorry for Changkyun who constantly had to translate what she was saying. Still, there wasn’t really anything else to do but talk to each other.

“Would you please sing for me?”

Changkyun turns to face her again, “Sing?”

“Yeah, there’s not much else to do here. Unless you don’t want to.”

“We could but it’d mostly be in Korean.”

“I don’t mind.”

They huddled up, whispering amongst themselves while she waited patiently. Absently she played with her hair, glancing down and picking a piece of lint from one of her dreads. It felt like electricity skimmed over her skin, making her shiver. Glancing up she met the eyes of one of the guys who quickly looked away. What was his name again? Dangit, how could she forget his name already?

“This is called Beautiful. Usually we have our other members singing with us.”

Anna’s eyes widened comically, “There are more of you?”

Changkyun seemed about to reply but she waved him off, “Never mind. I’d love to hear Beautiful.”

Honestly she didn’t expect much from them. Many people fancied themselves singers but not all of them could actually sing. However, when Jooheon pulled out his phone and the beat dropped, she was gone. Got damn that dude could rap. He was hella intense too but it worked. Changkyun rapped and she low-key registered how y his voice really was. The really silent guy sang and she was not expecting that beautiful sound out of his mouth. But the fourth one. He hit a high note that had her reminding herself that if she launched herself at him/ threw her underwear his way it might scare him.

She was not ready for any of that.

When they were finished she just clapped. There were too many emotions in her right now. She was dangerously close to tearing up but she fought it with every fiber of her being. She was not about to be the weird crying woman on the elevator they were stuck with.

“That was … amazing. That was just … I don’t even know how to describe how amazing that was.”

They were all grinning at her almost deliriously happy expression.

“Are you guys signed? Do you work with a company?”

“Yeah, Starship Entertainment.”

Frowning slightly, she turned to Jooheon who seemed to have warmed a little to her. He flashed those dimples at her again and she was torn between wondering if she had developed a crush or just wanted to squish his face.

“I don’t think I’ve heard of it. What’s the name of the group? I’ll look you guys up.”

“Mon-”

The abrupt flickering on of all of the lights and the movement of the elevator caught their attentions. Anna sighed in relief just as her phone rang. Quickly answering at the sight of her cousin’s face she scrambled to her feet.

“The elevator just started working again!!”

“I know,” he sounded irritated. “I almost had to curse out one of these guys.”

“Thank you! I knew you loved me!” She sing-songed. He grunted something denying it but she just laughed. “I’ll talk to you in a few.”

Grinning now she turned to the guys, “I guess this is where we part ways. It was really nice meeting you guys.”

“It was nice meeting you too.”

That was the one statement she understood. The others muttered something she assumed echoed the same sentiment. Smiling at them all she went to exit the elevator when it stopped at her floor but she stopped to turn back around.

“I never got your group name.”

“Monsta X.”

“Monsta X?” Smirking at them she bit her lip and nodded. “I can see that. I’ll look you guys up. Good luck with everything.”

With that she exited the elevator and waved goodbye. They all waved back in sync. Laughing softly at how in tune they all were she turned her back on the elevator and walked to her cousin’s room.