It began with some upbeat, happy jingle that pointed out how tense the room was. Everyone was sat in the living room, SeungRi finishing the touches of hooking up the laptop to the TV so it would be played on the big screen. YoungBae said nothing, did nothing, moving robotically to sit on the space on the couch directly in front of the TV. He didn’t pay any mind to the nervous glances the others kept throwing him. All he could focus on was the paused video which displayed her in front of him. 

 

He took note of the backwards cap which hid the afro YoungBae had often wondered what it would feel like to touch. She was wearing a baggy, plain black t-shirt and had a wide smile on her face. He gulped. 

 

“Okay we ready?” Seungri asked. YoungBae didn’t say anything but everyone looked at him. He realised the question was directed at him. Was he ready to see his idol/crush be introduced to Taeyang? 

 

No. 

 

“Yes.” 

 

Seungri nodded and went to hit play. She began moving then stopped. YoungBae’s head snapped to Seungri who was glancing at him. “I forgot we have to wait for someone!”

 

YoungBae was ready to strangle the maknae. 

 

There was a knock on the door to their villa. Daesung, being the closest to the door got up and went to see who it was. YoungBae was glaring daggers at the younger maknae who was smiling bright. 

 

“Who was it?” JiYong asking, sound uncaring as he inspected his rings. 

 

“Our English teacher slash translator.” Daesung answered JiYong, causing the latter to all but rush to stand up. Everyone watched as JiYong nervously stood there, trying to actual casual as Nina walked in. She was dressed in an inoffensive floral dress with her hair pinned up, certain pieces dangling down to frame her face in a way that gave her an aura of innocence. 

 

Yet JiYong was looking at her like she was the iest woman alive. 

 

“Annyeonghaseyo.” She said. Her eyes flickered around the room, acknowledging everyone. JiYong looked around and scratched the back of his neck, looking awkward and nervous. YoungBae laughed once at that. At the sound, Nina’s eyes met his. 

 

“I’m assuming oppa told you.” She said. 

 

“He’s not oppa!” JiYong yelled. Nina flinched at his outburst and tried to not look affected.

 

“Bonjour,” Mariana began in a perfect French accent that did things to YoungBae’s empty stomach. “I’ve been honoured to run this episode of Clique in which I’m going to explore another culture of music. K-Pop!” She said, clapping her hands together. “This is gonna be fun. ” She said with a laugh in her voice. The Korean translation of the French came up in the subtitles below but YoungBae felt himself let out a breath, just hearing her. She looked directly at the camera and smiled. YoungBae felt like an utter idiot for thinking, for a split second, that she was smiling at him. 

 

“That sounds so formal.” Someone off camera said in French also. An all too familiar voice said. 

 

“Ay, you gonna join me? You listen to this stuff.” Mariana said as the girl currently stood in the room moved on screen on the TV YoungBae’s eyes grew and he looked over at JiYong who appeared as if he hadn’t know that Nina knew Mariana also. 

 

“Why didn’t you tell me?” YoungBae said, looking at Nina. There was a pause. “Us.” He corrected. “Why didn’t you tell us?”

 

“The same reason I don’t tell people that I work for BigBang.” Nina responded. 

 

“With.” JiYong corrected her. “You work with BigBang.” 

 

Nina rolled her eyes and looked at YoungBae. He was staring at the screen, at the way Mariana spoke to Nina. The familiarity between the two. In his deep stalking session that he had had last night, there was not even a whisper of these two being knowing each other.

 

“We’re… related. It’s a long and complicated story but basically we just refer to each other as cousins.” Nina explained. “The only reason she did this interview was because I’d be there, doing translations for other interviews.” 

 

“Can we just watch it now?” Seungri whined, complaining from his seat beside the TV, remote in hand. Nina gave him a bright smile and moved to sit next to YoungBae. She ruffled SeungHyun’s hair in the process and squeezed YoungBae’s hand once. In reassurance. 

 

JiYong was still standing, very much bringing the awkwardness to the situation. He stared long and hard at Nina, continuing to look at her as he sat on the other side of her. He said nothing to her and she didn’t acknowledge him. He subtly rested his arm on the back of the couch, around her shoulders. She said nothing. 

 

“What even brought this on?” Nina onscreen asked.

 

“A fan asked me what I thought of Taeyang and when I told them I didn’t know who that is, they looked, like, horrified.” Mariana responded. “Should I just type in Taeyang on YouTube?” She paused. “Nah, let’s just type in kpop.”

 

“You’re just going to type in ‘kpop?’” Nina asked, a giggle in her voice at that. Everyone heard Nina groan in her seat. 

 

“I hate hearing myself.” She said. 

 

“You sound beautiful.” JiYong was quick to say. Nina rolled her eyes but looked down to hide the smile. 

 

“Yes I am. I’m exploring K-Pop not Taeyang.” Mariana responded to Nina’s question. Just then, a display of a computer monitor came up on the top right hand corner of the video, showing a YouTube homepage and the English letters kpop being typed into the search bar. The results came up.”

 

“Aand, okay, bit overwhelmed. Wow. There’s so much like, I dunno.” Mariana said. YoungBae’s eyes were glued to her as she leaned forward in her seat, looking through the results. 2NE1 had come up. There was a few of the latest, trending interviews on display. Mariana continued to scroll until he saw the M/V to LOSER come up. The mouse went down, YoungBae felt himself tense as it went down to the video. 

 

And clicked on the one above it. 

 

“Let’s do this one. Call Me Baby by E-X-O. XO. I don’t know. How is it pronounced?” Mariana asked, looking at Nina. 

 

“XO.” Nina said. “If you had done the video below, you would’ve seen Taeyang.” 

 

“Oh, next time - this was one has Lamborghinis!”

 

YoungBae made a mental note to have a Lamborghini in his next M/V

 

“… is actually a nice colour, though - hold up. That is some serious views. Like, goddamn. Alright. Okay let’s go. WOW! I was not prepared for that. What happened to the headphones… Or lollipop - Who are these people?” Nina laughed at Mariana’s reaction who paused the video and fanned herself.

 

“Far out. Okay. It’s only been, like 40 seconds and I’m already, like, wow. This is both what I expected from kpop and… not what I expected from kpop.” The Call Me Baby M/V continued playing and Mariana was silent until there was a coordinated change in the singers and to which prompted a “THAT TRANSITION THOUGH!” 

 

YoungBae tried to not get disappointed by how much Mariana liked the video. He watched her watch it, getting more impressed by the second. Mainly, she complimented the choreography of the dance moves and the transitions between the many, many members. 

 

“Okay this fire.”

 

“Leather jackets or nah.” 

 

“More just came on. How long would this take to practice far out?”

 

“They’re all so pretty.” 

 

“Daaaaaaamn. I like him.” 

 

“So many ripped jeans.” 

 

“Bit of Beyonce’ inspiration right there.” She said when all of them stood in a line and shuffled to the right in synchronisation. “OH! Checked pants - that’s the guy from the beginning!” Mariana said, clapping her hands. Nina laughed at that. She hadn’t really said anything during the video, only laughing at the comments Mariana did. 

 

“Oh! This is my favourite part!” Nina then called out around the three minute mark when the baby baby came in. She began dancing and Mariana joined in her. 

 

Everyone turned to look at Nina who looked sheepish. “I, uh, they’re not bad.” Was all she could offer. She glanced at JiYong. Everyone snuck a glance at JiYong, not really sure how he would take the fact that Nina was a fan of a rival group. He just shook his head and tutted her. 

 

“Traitor.” He said with a smile. A small smile played at her lips as she pushed at his shoulder lightly. He grabbed it, feigning pain. “Now you abuse me!”

 

“Shhhh!” Came the loud shush from SeungRi. JiYong threw a pillow at him which Ri artfully dodged. YoungBae tried to remain focused at the video, listening to Mariana’s thoughts on the video. 

 

“I get why it has so many views now.” She laughed. “Nah, it’s really good. A lot of dancing. Like, a lot, a lot of dancing. Video aside though, it’s a good song. I can totally see myself rocking out to this on a Friday when I’m home alone. I really like the part when it goes baby baby that’s,” she nodded, smiling smugly. “I like that.”

 

“So we gonna watch more EXO?” Nina asked onscreen, seeing the autoplay come up after the video had finished. YoungBae watched the mouse click the cancel and Mariana spoke. 

 

“Well, they’re not bad but, like, what is the epitome of Korean pop?”

 

YoungBae watched as Nina tilted her head on screen as she thought about it. “Big Bang? They’re probably the most popular.”

 

“More popular than EXO?” Mariana challenged. Nina nodded. Mariana turned to the screen. “Big Bang.” She repeated. “So we’re gonna search them up.” YoungBae felt his palms become all sweaty. He tried to be subtle as he wiped them on the his track pants. He knew that now, everyone was going to be sneaking glances at him to gauge his reaction. 

 

“Oh, wow, okay. These guys… get a lot of views. Oh WOW! They have a song called Bang Bang Bang.” She stopped and began laughing. “Big Bang have a song called Bang Bang Bang. Truuuuust.” She said, dragging out the vowels in the word. “Is this their anthem?” 

 

“Uh… no?” Nina said, sounding unsure herself. “I’m not really sure. I know Fantastic Baby is their most popular but - “

 

“Oh, I’m watching Bang Bang Bang. By Big Bang.” Mariana snorted. “I’m sorry, the person who named that song saw an opportunity and took it.” The video began playing. YoungBae gulped. Out of all the videos, she had to choose the one where he had a big part. He was the first one the audiences saw!

 

“Oh we have clapping.” Mariana began narrating. “Big beat. Big Bang. Bang Bang Bang.” She started laughing again but it quickly died down as the camera began turning. YoungBae felt his own stomach turning, seeing his figure come onscreen. “This looks intense.” Mariana said. 

 

Mariana flinched when he came on, taken aback as he came close to the camera. It quickly changed to the part where the back up dancers came in and Mariana was quick to pause the video. “Okay that was so much . Too much. Why are none of them wearing shirts? Why is this guy not wearing a shirt. He is wearing a bomber jacket without a shirt!”

 

“That’s just… Taeyang.” Nina said. “Come on, he’s cute.”

 

JiYong let out a sound at that. 

 

“Oh? This is Taeyang.” Mariana said, looking close at the laptop. She pressed play again and YoungBae watched Mariana watch Taeyang. Mariana was quite for a moment before she looked at Nina, a look of genuine confusion on her face. “I still don’t understand why he’s shirtless.” 

 

YoungBae chuckled at that. It was that sound that put everyone at ease. They weren’t sure how he would take it but YoungBae honestly found the look of confusion on Mariana’s face slightly humorous if anything. At least she wasn’t repulsed by it. Hey, he’d gotten many VIPs crying out for his abs after that M/V was released. 

 

“To be fair,” SeungHyun said with a smile, “she has a point.”

 

“Just cause you’re always in a suit.” YoungBae shot back, jokingly. 

 

It then came to SeungHyun’s part. Mariana sat up in her seat, hearing the rap. She blinked and looked closer. She gave Nina a look. “, that flow is sick.” She said. Nina made a sound of agreement. 

 

“That’s TOP. He’s a pretty good rapper and he’s got a good sense of style.”

 

Mariana frowned. “But he’s… dressed like a cowboy. Or a car racer. You know, I don’t actually know what’s going on here. Like I hope the lyrics would explain why there’s an astronaut but I feel like they won’t.” 

 

“They don’t.” Nina confirmed. SeungHyun huffed and YoungBae couldn’t help but a give him a smug look back.

 

Then came Seungri’s part. 

 

“Yo! THIS IS DOPE!”

 

“DID WE HEAR THAT?!” The maknae in question asked. He paused the video and rewinded the past few seconds, playing back Mariana’s reaction - “Yo! THIS IS DOPE!” - “She called me,” he paused and said in English, “dope.”

 

“Play the video, maknae!” JiYong called out. Seungri stared at him and with a frown, played the video, muttering about how Mari Ana Demia thought he was dope.

“Wow. That bass drop Faaar - why is nigga not wearing a shirt?” Mariana stopped, looking at Taeyang who was in a car, going up and down from the hydraulics. “Everyone has changed clothes but he is still in all black and still without a shirt. Is this, like, his thing?” She looked at Nina who nodded in confirmation. 

 

“Girls go crazy when he rips his shirt off in concert.”

 

“He rips his shirt off?!” Mariana asked incredulously. She laughed and shrugged. “To be fair, I can understand why people would wanna see him shirtless.” YoungBae’s chest puffed out in pride, a smile coming on his face. 

 

“Still think he needs to wear a shirt though.” 

 

The smile died down slightly.

 

It came to Daesung’s part. Mariana clapped excitedly. “Okay this sequence is exactly what I think of when I think of kpop. LENSE FLARES. GIRLS. HAIR COVERING EYES. LEATHER - way to close up.” She said, putting a hand up in front of the laptop when it came to the camera zoom on DaeSung’s bulge. “ that’s worse than Taeyang’s abs.” Nina was all but crying from laughter at that. “Seriously though, was not prepared for that. And it was like slow-mo as well. God.” Mariana laughed again. “Who was that?”

 

“Daesung.” Nina said.

 

“Well I’ve seen way too much of Daesung.”

 

When it came to JiYong’s part, YoungBae glanced at Nina on screen. She was looking down, almost sheepishly. She glanced at Mariana from the side of her eyes. Mariana was staring at the laptop screen with wide fear in her eyes. First, she had frowned. Then her eyebrows shot up as she realised JiYong had the dancer on a leash. 

 

“What the was that?” Mariana asked, pausing it just before it finished. G-Dragon had his arms out as flames went off in the background. Nina just bit her lip. 

 

“That’s G-Dragon. He’s the leader.” Nina answered. 

 

“Is he into as well.” Mariana asked, laughing. “Wait, G-Dragon? Isn’ that your, uh… favourite? There’s a word isn’t there?”

 

“Bias.” Nina said. 

 

“Yeah.” Mariana rewinded part of G-Dragon’s part and let it play out. “This guy is your bias.” 

 

“Uh. Yeah.” Nina said. In real life, Nina had her hands over her face, embarrassment clear. JiYong looked so smug YoungBae rolled his eyes. He knew that it was enough for Nina to watch herself but to watch herself admit that. In front JiYong. He knew it wouldn’t have been easy. Especially since JiYong was acting pretty arrogant about it.

 

“So I’m your favourite, huh?” He whispered close to her ear. Nina all but exploded from her seat and left the room. SeungRi was quick to pause the video and looked around. 

 

“What happened?” He asked, having been intently watching the video. He looked at YoungBae who was looking at JiYong. All the smugness was gone from his face as he looked at the hallway Nina had disappeared down. He excused himself and got up to go follow her. 

 

It was silent for a moment before SeungHyun spoke. 

 

“As glad as I am that Demmy D thinks fondly of my rapping skills, I do not wish to continue watching.” SeungHyun looked at Seungri, “Maknae, come with me to get a coffee.”

 

“I don’t want - “ SeungHyun gave him a look. “You know, I really could go for a coffee.” The two got up and left the room. DaeSung made a mention of calling his girlfriend and left, leaving YoungBae alone with Mariana’s bright face on the TV. He got up and picked up the remote where maknae had left it and sat back down to continue watching. 

 

The rest of Bang Bang Bang was filled with laughter about him not wearing a shirt and the fact that they had gone from old muscle cars with hydraulics to motorbikes that didn’t seem to move. Now that she pointed it out, YoungBae could see how silly it was. 

 

Mariana accidentally hit the key and skipped through the video. It came to halfway through the beat change at the end, where they were all dancing in the room. Mariana made a comment about how he was dressed in a cowboy styled shirt and that she wouldn’t be surprised if there was a video with him shirtless on a horse. 

 

YoungBae laughed. 

 

“Nice title at the end! I like that! That was very… upbeat. Like, it just didn’t stop. I like them, though. They’re… interesting. I dunno. I kinda wanna watch more of them…. I’m gonna watch more of them.”

 

She hadn’t said that with EXO.

 

Nina had to leave half way through the next M/V Mariana chose. It was Bad Boy and YoungBae had almost turned off the video. It had started off on a good note, Mariana’s eyes going wide at the beat. She immediately began dancing in her seat. She gave a few comments here and there, noting the difference between the years. She compared JiYong’s old hair to someone called Skrillex, laughed at TOP getting pushed by a girl and mentioned how she really liked the transition between each other members. 

 

When he came on, YoungBae recalled how his image was still transitioning. He could see how ridiculous his outfit was but the fact that Mariana paused the video just to laugh and comment made him frown. 

 

“Okay I have to pause this. He is wearing a cut off hoodie with a beanie and sunglasses. Why?” Burst into laughter. “Like, it looks cold. But, like, I’ve probably worn the same. I’m just glad he’s wearing a shirt this time. Like, he hasn’t hit full blown shirtless yet, he’s only showing his arms now.” YoungBae watched as he danced on the girl in the video and Mariana’s laughter grew. “Yes, me too. If someone dances like that on me in public, I would walk off as well.”

 

The next video wasn’t even better. She had chosen LET’S NOT FALL IN LOVE for the thumbnail of JiYong wearing that turtleneck. 

 

“Pastels!” Was what she said when it began playing. She liked TOP’s rapping but she didn’t like his. She made fun of his blue coloured tights but loved DaeSung’s acting and pretending to offer the girl food but eating it himself. Yeah, Mariana and every other VIP. And Mariana just loved DaeSung, saying that she had “so much respect for him,” because “any guy that sing and dance and just do all that while having his hair in eyes” had her respect and finishing off with a fist pump and a “You go DaeSung!”

 

YoungBae did laugh at her comments about JiYong’s part. “Why is he staring at me? Why is he staring at her? Why is she laughing at that? If a guy stares at me like - why you in her personal space? Okay he has a nice smile. But he does look like a girl. Sorry to say.” 

 

Then her reaction at SeungRi is what got him. 

 

“Ding dong! Who is that? This guy is fine. Oh my God that looks so fun! I can just tell he’s a troublemaker.” She nodded and wiggled her eyebrows. Just loving SeungRi as she loved DaeSung and loved TOP’s rapping and found the humour in JiYong’s part but with him? She just laughs so hard when the rain comes down. 

 

“Hey look at me. I’m so cute but I’m not going to give you my jumper!” She said, narrating YoungBae’s next part. He felt the mockery and suddenly found himself resenting her. Who does she think she is, making fun of him like that. It wasn’t like he got a choice anyway. He was the heartthrob who would introduce the rain in each sequence. That was just Taeyang. 

 

He paused the video and got up, too angry to say or do anything. It was then that Nina returned from wherever she had disappeared off too. JiYong, surprisingly, was not anywhere near. 

 

“I’m glad everyone got the hint.” Nina said, bringing his attention to her. “You shouldn’t watch this with anyone.”

 

“Why?” YoungBae said. “So I don’t have to be insulted even more?” He seethed. Nina flinched at his tone and he felt a bit of remorse. His anger over came that though, feeling too heated right then to think of anything but the fact that that the artist he had so much respect for, the girl he thought to be prettiest thing he’d ever seen, that person thought he was a joke. 

 

“Let’s Not Fall In Love, yeah?” Nina asked. YoungBae didn’t say anything. Nina paused and pinched the bridge of her nose. “It gets better. Please don’t think she’s horrible. You forget she has an image as well.”

 

“She’s insulting me!” YoungBae said. 

 

Nina crossed her arms. “Watch it to the end then come and talk to me.” She said. YoungBae took a moment, taken aback by the surprising sassiness. Nina turned around and walked back down the hallway. YoungBae looked back at the TV, seeing the screen black as the closing of the laptop disrupted the connection. He turned off the TV entirely and picked the laptop up. He went into his room and shut the door. Returning to his bed, he resumed the position he’d been in for hours, looking at Mari Ana Demia. 

 

At the end of video, Mariana gave a lopsided smile. She adjusted the back of her hat and on her teeth. She inhaled then blew out raspberry. “Screw it, I’m gonna just say it. That was pretty cute and they’re all really cute and I love them all.” 

 

“You know, I really get the appeal of K-pop. It’s all so energetic and it has that vibe of just making you jump up and down. Granted, I’ve only seen BigBang and one EXO music video but I like this group.”

 

“You know that the members have songs as solo artists.” Someone said off screen. YoungBae didn’t recognise the voice. 

 

Mariana raised an eyebrow. “Really? That’s impressive. That they can have solo careers but also maintain that momentum as a group.” YoungBae heard the praise in her voice and it reduced the anger he’d felt towards her ever so slightly. 

 

“G-Dragon and Taeyang have a song together.” Mariana was told. Hey eyes lit up and she began typing. 

 

“Oh! It’s called ‘Good Boy!’ Is this a sequel to ‘Bad Boy!’ You know, that song was probably my favourite, not gonna lie.” She clicked on the video and began watching. There were still the comments, asking why there was a mouse and anticipating the “fire beat.”

 

“Damn. This is good!” Mariana said, dancing around as the bass dropped. “G-Dragon’s got cool taste. Looks much better here than whatever the hell was going on in Bang Bang Bang and - he can rap?!” After JiYong’s verse, it came YoungBae’s part and he was already anticipating the comments she’d give him. That his shirt was shirtsleeve or that his dancing was bad or whatever. 

 

“That’s Tae…yang?” She asked. He watched as dropped slightly open and stared as he danced. YoungBae suddenly sat up, not expecting that reaction. “He looks uh, um.” She cleared . She was silent throughout the next part of the video. The lack of comments had it cut and skipped to the end of JiYong’s verse. 

 

“But you can by my coach…. love affair.”

 

The M/V moved to that offside camera angle of YoungBae that was done on accident but the director liked it so much he kept it in. YoungBae was glad because Mariana let out a low whistle when she saw that and paused the video. “Sorry, I just… that was, um. I’m gonna watch that again.” And watched those few seconds again. And again. And again. 

 

“Okay, I’m going to let it play through now.” But YoungBae saw the way she was looking at the computer monitor. It was the same way he’d looked at her music videos. She didn’t make anymore comments and there was no more snide remarks about his outfits or his dancing or anything but her watching him with a slightly ajar mouth and wide eyes. 

 

When the autoplay came for Ringa Linga, YoungBae felt more comfortable. And then when he saw Mariana’s reaction when the music came in… YoungBae’s mouth turned up into a smirk. He felt himself flush with pride. When he heard the breathy “Jesus Christ” comment, YoungBae actually jumped out of bed and began punching the air in happiness, dancing around as he was unable to contain his excitement. 

 

“Can I just read this comment,” Mariana’s voice said. YoungBae stopped and bent down to see Mariana laughing. “Taeyang can rap, dance, sing and make me pregnant in the same time.” She read out loud in English. She her lips, looked directly at the camera and said, “Agreed.”

 

The end credits of the interview came up, playing the jingle that played at the beginning of the video and displayed the logo of the company. YoungBae closed the laptop and laid in the bed, thinking that he could die in that instant and be happy.