Yuri opens the door to her house and allows herself in. Her father won’t be coming home until late, or like most time, he won’t come home until the next day, only leaving two to three hours later. She closes the door and looks at their front porch.

It looks much bigger, now that people she knows and doesn’t know are giving less and fewer gifts to bid her goodbye.

She and her close friends, although they didn’t intend for this to happen, are a dance slash singing bang for their school. They make their own music, compose their own songs, and hold their own mini-concerts at school. They have become famous through the internet that now, they are sometimes asked to play at other schools. It started a revolution of other bands being created, so from time to time, dance competitions between schools are held and the winning team gets to be on the front page of their school site for a month.

Unfortunately, Yuri has halted her activities for an unknown, indefinite time. When she had informed the school via an intercom message, it caused an uproar. Fortunately, everyone came to an understanding. Since then, their “fans” have been dropping gifts to say goodbye to Yuri until her return.

The reason for her halting her activities is because her father had asked her for a favor two months ago: to become his group’s part-time dance teacher. He is a manager who manages a k-pop group named SHINee under one of the best agencies, SM Entertainment.

Of course, she rejected it at first. She already has too much on her mind. Besides, she thought her dad was joking because she knows a teacher needs a credential, and she’s nowhere near that.

Her father said it didn’t matter because it would be considered an emergency hire because their dance teacher was injured and needed time to heal. That was when he decided to recommend his daughter to his boss, he explained, because it was creativity they needed.

She was surprised that her father had even mentioned her because he always reminds her to not dance too much or else her condition will worsen.

Because she has asthma.

She doesn’t care, however. She loves dancing. Since she couldn’t do sports, she had found a way to have fun, and that is through the expression of dancing. But the reason why she gave in after her father’s pestering is because she has an ulterior motive.

She wants to meet him, the person she wants an explanation.

She walks into the living room and goes to her music app on her phone. She needs music when she prepares food. “I guess next week is the day,” she unhappily says to herself after seeing the reminder on the calendar posted on the fridge.

"Onew. Jonghyun. Key. Minho. Taemin." She repeats the names continually. These are the people she is going to part-time teach. When she was given a picture from her father to see how the boys looked like, she thought they looked pretty handsome, so she decided to search them up.

The person she is most excited to meet and anticipates for is Taemin, the maknae of the group. From research, fans have said that he's the best dancer in SHINee. She’s anticipating on seeing him because they have one thing in common, they love dancing.

Yuri has been dancing ever since she was eight when she was at the hospital for her daily asthma checkups for an overview of her conditions. Because of that, Yuri felt that she was missing out on a lot of things. Whether it’d be running on the track or playing volleyball, she would always have to be aware of her condition, stopping every ten minutes or so to catch her breath because of excitement.

Her life changed, and her void was gone when she became friends with a patient who was a dancer named Hansung. He was hospitalized because he recently found out that he had cancer and needed to be checked up daily. He wanted to dance so badly, but wasn’t allowed to, for he was advised not to leave his room. A few weeks before his birthday, she decided to get dance lessons from where he had attended. Although she was rejected at first because she was a kid, her determination reached the people and they gave in.

During her days of dancing, she loved the feeling of being able to do something with her body and yet had no problems. When she showed him her birthday present, a choreographed dance, he complimented her and said that he could felt what she was trying to express. Ever since then, she became a dancer, learning and copying moves, and even making her own. Not only because of that that she loved dancing, but because he had died a year later, and she felt that dancing was their biggest link. It was a present he gave her. It represented what they both shared: they were both constrained by a condition, hers is asthma and his was cancer.

“Aigoo, I wonder how he’d react if he knew I love to dance, too?” She happily asks herself regarding Taemin. She takes out a bowl and puts some rice in the bowl and walks over to a table. She imagines her and Taemin dancing together, in the dance studio all alone.

“Yuri ah...” Taemin says her name, in a soft and sweet whisper.

She is cuddled by him, and she stares at him. “...Yes?”

He leans in closer and closer, his eyes locked with hers.

“Tae-Taemin?” Her heart races. She wants to look away but doesn’t. She closes her eyes. She can feel his breath near her as he comes closer. “Taemin ah...” Her imagination is interrupted when her cell vibrates. She picks it up and looks to see who is calling.

It is Eunhyuk, another friend and bandmate of hers.

She answers her phone. “Oppa?” She pulls away from the phone when she hears a bad signal screech through.

“Yuri ah? Yuri? Can you hear me?” he asks from the other side.

“Yeah, I can hear you. What’s up?”

“There won’t be a video sent to you today because...ah!! Stop that hurts!” He doesn’t finish his sentence because apparently, someone is hurting him.

She knows who the person is.

Hyoyeon.

Yuri jumps up from her seat in excitement. “Oppa, Hyoyeon eonni is there with you?” She finds herself asking a stupid question because the two are boyfriend and girlfriend, so of course, they’d be together most of the time.

The person who answers was a different person.

“Yuri-ah~! Your Hyoyeon eonni wants to say ‘hi!’”

Yuri smiles in delight.

Hyoyeon is her childhood friend since young, and Eunhyuk has been Yuri’s friend since middle school. Hyoyeon and Eunhyuk started dating after Yuri’s introduction of each other.

“Yes, hello too, eonni!” Yuri pulls her phone away and waves to the phone as if she is waving to Hyoyeon. “Why did Eunhyuk oppa called me?”

“My turn!” Eunhyuk’s voice is heard and some scratching noises are heard. “Yuri ah. Again, no dance video will be sent because another different video will be. Check it later!” He calls his girlfriend, and they shout, “Yuri, love you!” They abruptly hang up, leaving Yuri in curiosity.

When Yuri finishes eating and cleaning, she goes into her room and grabs her laptop. She turns it on. She immediately goes to her email and checks if she’s received it. She did. She opens it and waits for the video to load.

The video comes on and shows Eunhyuk, Hyoyeon, Siwon, Sungmin, Kyuhyun, Shindong, and Leeteuk foolishly dancing around. There is also a skit included. She watches the skit. In the skit, they jokingly say that they’ll lose fans because there is only one girl in the group left, now that Yuri has halted her activities with them and they’re in desperate need of Yuri. The person who plays as Yuri in the skit was none other than Sungmin, the most feminine-looking of the males.

She laughs throughout the whole video.

At the end of the video are words of encouragement, individually and personally from each person. As she watches, her face goes pale and becomes serious. They encourage her to be strong to face the man she wants to see.

The video ends, and she closes her laptop. She lies on her bed. With her eyes closed, a tear drops from a side of her eye. “Appa, I’m sorry."

*

"Yuri-ah! Hurry!" Mr. Kwon, Yuri's father, is rushing his daughter because they have woken up late and are running late to work.

They both have had tiny bits of breakfast. Today is the day Yuri is going to officially meet the SHINee boys. Mr. Kwon is putting on his shoes while having a toast clenched between his mouth.

Yuri is upstairs, fixing her hair, making sure nothing is out of place as she is trying to make a good impression. As they say, first impressions are the deepest, and she definitely doesn’t want to look weird in front of the boys, especially for her Taemin. When she is satisfied, she hops down the stairs, smiling widely.

Her father sees this and frowns. “You’re all dressed up for Taemin, aren’t you?” He takes the toast out of his mouth and finishes it. He grabs the keys on the table and leads the way.

As she follows, she answers, “Appa, you know me. I told you, I can’t look weird to him. His perspective of me is important, you know.” She makes sure the door is secured and closes the door behind her. “If he happens to dislike me, I am going to change my mind.” She follows her father to the car and opens the passenger door.

Her father gets in and inserts the keys into the engine. “You only like him because you two have one thing in common, dancing.” He looks behind to see if any car is coming before backing out of the driveway. “That’s a good thing to look for in a relationship, but if you like him just because of that and nothing else, it’s not going to be a successful one.”

Yuri puts her hands on her knees. “I only go for guys who appreciate dancing as I do because we can share the same emotions.” Her facial expression of happiness disappears. “Dancing is really all I have since I have asthma.” Her voice is sad.

Her father doesn’t answer because he knows best not to.

She jerks her head up and looks at him. “Appa, you—did you tell them I have asthma?” She is in panic.

He doesn’t look at her as he is focused on driving, “No, but today I will. Why?”

She sighs and leans back. “Appa,” she quietly and sadly says. “Please, don’t tell them I have asthma.”

“Why?”

She doesn’t bother to look at her father and in the same tone, she explains. “Because if they know, I can’t show them my potential.”

There is a silence.

“Fine, I won’t.” He manages to say. “But if you encounter some problems or feel weird and you can’t find me, how is anyone going to help you when you get an asthma attack?”

She smiles. “Appa, I’m Yuri, Yuri Kwon. I’ve had more than five years of asthma experience. I know my limits. Trust me.”

The two giggles in the car in agreement.

*

Yuri looks at the SM Entertainment building through the car window while her dad enters the parking garage. She is in awe. She has never seen her father’s workplace as she never bothered to. “It looks so much bigger and better in real person than in the pictures.”

Her father chuckles. “Of course. Everything and everyone always look much better when you see it for yourself.” Her glances at her. “Even your Taemin looks better in real person.”

She smiles and bites her lower lip in happiness. The mentioning of Taemin and the fact that she is going to see him in a few minutes make her so excited that she is reminded of the imagination of the almost-kiss from a week ago. If only Eunhyuk oppa and Hyoyeon eonni didn’t interrupt my precious fantasy, she thought.

When they get out of the car, she looks through the car’s rearview mirror to check how she looks.

Her father sees this, and he can’t help but smile.

“You look gorgeous, Yuri.” Her father compliments and assures her.

She pouts and raises her head and looks at him. “Well, of course, you’d say that. Every parent is supposed to say that to their child. So, right now, you’re lying.” She jogs to her father’s side and grabs a hold of her father’s arm and walks with him.

He playfully messes her hair to get her back. “Then, now you’re ugly.” He sticks out his tongue. “Merong!”

She pulls back and cries in disbelief. “Dad! It’ll be your fault if Taemin can’t be your son-in-law!” She takes out a small mirror from her handbag and uses it to check on her hair. “Now, my hair is out of place.”

“If you’re already thinking of marrying Taemin, well, think again. Not only will you have to go through his die-hard fans, but I won’t allow it.” He jokes, but half-serious. “You’re always going to be my daughter.” He sadly turns around and whispers, “Always my daughter.”

She looks puzzled and puts her mirror away. “Did you say something, Appa?” When she sees her father turns back to face her, she sees his eyes are filled with water.

“Ah, nothing.” He manages to put on a smile. “Let’s go.” He takes out his hand and she accepts it, and they continue to walk.

As they walk to take an elevator, they are quiet, each thinking to themselves. Coincidently, they are thinking about the same thing.

They are nervous. They are uncomfortable.

It’s time to see him, they both think.

*

Yuri is anxiously and nervously waiting in the agency’s dance room while her father had left to get the boys and to apologize for being late. The dance room is bigger and much better than her school’s dance room. On the opposite side of her is a huge mirror framed from the top to the bottom, and she walks over to it, feeling an adrenaline rush overcoming her. She is tempted to dance but knows that she must save energy for later. Besides, she can’t look messy in front of Taemin.

The door opens, and Yuri turns to look, hoping and not hoping it will be SHINee.

Fortunately, as shown from her deep sigh, it isn’t SHINee but a group of girls. Six of them to be exact.

She doesn’t recognize them, but still greets them. “Hello.” She raises her head to let them see her face. “I’m Yuri Kwon.”

The girls inch closer.

One of them asks, “Are you Mr. Kwon’s daughter?”

She nods her head.

“She’s pretty,” says another.

The farthest to the right walks toward Yuri and gives her a full a stare from head to toe. “Are you really seventeen? You look older than your age.”

Yuri begins to feel uncomfortable. She feels as though she’s entered the wrong room and is being investigated for committing something wrong.

“Yah, Sunny, stop doing that,” says the previous girl. “You’re creeping her out.”

Sunny stops and sticks her tongue out at the girl. “I’m astonished to know that girls like this exist!” She looks back at Yuri. “I’m jealous that you’re tall though.” She then goes back to join her group.

“I’m Taeyeon,” says the second shortest. “You should know us, right?” Her eyes lit up, anticipating an answer.

Yuri awkwardly smiles. “Sorry, but…” she doesn’t need to look at them individually. “I don’t know any one of you.” Immediately after the comment, she sees a change of expression from the girls.

The first one to have asked her a question steps forward with a shocking glare. “Are you an anti-fan then?”

Someone from the middle pulls her back. “Tiffany, you can’t assume she is one.” She smiles apologetically at Yuri. “I’m Jessica. Jessica Jung.”

Yuri feels a sense of security over the eonni’s gentle smile.

“We’re a group called Girl’s Generation,” Jessica continues. “We really respect your father because he had taken great care of us, and still does to this day actually.” She walks over to Yuri. “If you have any problems or concerns, don’t hesitate to ask us. Consider us as your eonni.”

Taeyeon claps her hands once for attention. “Girls, let’s introduce ourselves—Soh Nyuh Shi Dae way!”

Each of the girls get into their respective position, formally bows, and smiles. “Hello! Right now, it’s Girl’s Generation!”

The room quickly gets silent with a mix of awkwardness.

The third tallest of the batch breaks the atmosphere by questioning SHINee’s whereabouts.

Yuri explains that she’s still waiting for their arrival.

In response, many eyes glistened.

Tiffany asks, “Do you know them well?”

Yuri shakes her head. “It’ll be our first meeting.”

All of the Girl’s Generation members laugh except for Jessica.

“Then, that means you only know as much as the fans do,” says Sooyoung. Her tone has a hint of pity to it.

Sunny puts a hand over and whispers loud enough for everyone to hear. “Beware of Jonghyun.”

Before Y