[Listen to: Starlight by Muse]

Author's Note: Merry Christmas / Happy Holidays♥ Yay~ SHINee's appearance! TEEHEE! :D Personally, my favorite chapter! Chickennn~ Hehehe!

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I stretched my arms as I exited the terminal, eager to get out of the airport and into exploring my new home, for the next few months at least. Squee! Finally here! Finally free! If real life allowed smileys, I'd be all :DDDDDD!

Well.. not completely.. Umma still pays for the rent, tuition, bills, and all that jazz. Oh Christ, I'm just depressing myself. Well, she could've at least told me she had arranged for a chauffeur to pick me up. Honestly. You could imagine my discomfort when a well dressed middle-aged man walked right up to me and asked if I was the daughter of Dr. Ryu-Fujioka. I.. nearly went ninja on the dude. I swear all that was going through my head was possible ways of self defense. Kick to the groin. Kick to the groin. Kick to the groin. Tch. Speaking of which, where is he? Turning around, I saw him struggle to keep up with me.

"OHMYGOD! PLEASE, BE CAREFUL WITH THAT!" I shrieked when he dropped one of my babies.. er.. my guitars. They're in hardcases, but still. My babies are my babies. Momma don't play when it comes to her babies.

"Mianhamnida. (Sorry.)"

"GYAHHHH! THAT TOO!" I screamed when he tried shoving my portable grand piano into the trunk.

♪ Hold you in my arms / I just wanted to hold you in my arms / My life / You electrify my life / Let's conspire to re-ignite ♪

Muse! I started to dance on impulse along with my ringtone, ignoring any weird looks from bystanders. Ding! Ding! Ding! Oh! My ringtone!

"Yobosaeyo? (Hello?)"

"Sonny-ah! Finally! You're at Incheon?" Zayn asked.

"Yeah, 'hello to you, too'. I'm heading to my apartment." I replied, climbing into the car.

"Oh, okay. Well, I won't be able to see you. I need to stay over-time tonight. You can drop by tomorrow, of course after you settle in."

"Okay, Kuya." He gave me the address to his work place and we both hung up.

The ride to my apartment building was uneventful—full of the annoying sounds of k-pop music and an old man arguing with a GPS about directions. We hit traffic about fifteen minutes into the drive. Just brilliant. Apparently some concert just ended and hordes of girls were exiting what seemed to be a music hall. A banner waved over the entrance: SM Entertainment's SHINee Concert 2010!

Shiny? Shin..ny? Shinny? Oh, okay, Shinny. I felt like an idiot, arguing with myself about pronunciation. Heh.

"Neh, Ahjussi? (Mister?)" I said, breaking the silence. "What's Shinny?"

He gave me a funny look, "Oh, you mean SHINee? You don't know them? I have a daughter just about your age, and she's a die-hard fan. Absolutely adores that Lee Taemin."

"Oh? How old is she?"

"Just turned twelve." He answered proudly.

... I cocked my head to one side, not letting it bother me. Oh.. just a k-pop group. I sat there, fumbling with the chain around my neck.

"Nice necklace you have there." The driver noted.

"Kamsahamnida? (Thanks?) I think?" I said, holding the ring.

"You from around here?" He asked, glancing at me through the rearview mirror.

"Anniyo. (No.)" I brushed my long dark brown hair back. Way to sound like a probing mother, buddy.

"Your Korean is really good." He said thoughtfully. "Oh, forgive my manners, but you really look like a foreigner."

"Gwenchana. (It's alright.)" I looked down at my shoes, humming. Okay, so I look like an out-of-place twelve year old. You're not
just a probing mother, you're a queer probing mother.

"Well, here we are."

We stopped in front of a large beige-ish building. Home sweet home. I tipped the guy and he left shortly after he helped me move my stuff inside my pocket-sized apartment. After unpacking my sleep wear and bed sheets, I ran into the bathroom with my toiletries bag. I quickly surveyed the washroom. Clean enough. Leaning against the sink, my eyes fell on the mirror in front of me. A grey-eyed beauty stared tiredly back. Scratch that. A grey-eyed hot mess scowled with a toothbrush sticking out of . Hahah.. Teeth brushed, clothes changed, and mattress sheeted, I flopped on my bed and quite literally passed out with dreams of my new life starting tomorrow.

I woke to the crashing sound of what sounded like.. thunder. I instinctively curled into a ball and lay still, waiting for the overpowering feeling of immobilizing fear to pass. After what felt like an eternity, I forced myself to get up, but instead I fell off the bed. I made my way over to the living room, tripping over random things in the dark. Fumbling with a few bags, I found what I was looking for: my purse. Yay! Over turning it, I found my phone and it read Sunday 5:12 AM. Curse you, jetlag!

I set to work on cleaning up and putting things away, not really progressing until I found the light switch. By the time I finished, it was a little after 2PM and boy, was I hungry. I sat down on the sofa, feeling accomplished in what I'd done. Kuya Zayn had told me to come by his work at around 5-ish, and I got quite a bit time to kill. I smiled, remembering him and his dancing prodigy-ness. He's only six years older than me, and he's already successful at making money at what he loves to do the most—dancing. If I remember correctly, he danced day and night, practicing nonstop after Dad died. Dad.. if only you could see me now. A tear rolled unnoticed down my cheek.

Three hours later, I found my refreshed, hair-blow-dried-nicely, and casually dressed self in front of Jung Yeonmi, the front desk receptionist.

"Annyeonghaseyo! (Hello!) Welcome to SM Entertai—Omo! Are you Sonny? Zayn-sshi's little sister?" Her eyes twinkled.

"Uh.. yeah?"

"Oh! You're even cuter than he described!" She ushered me to the elevator. "He's up on the 9^th floor. There are signs, so don't even worry about getting lost!"

Well, aren't you quite the little happy camper? I chuckled to myself as I got off the lift at the 9^th floor.

Stepping inside the hallway was like entering a whole other world.. full of mirrors and glass. I walked down the corridor, peering in through random doors and seeing people dance to their own songs—none of which I could hear through the sound-proofed walls. I strolled down until I saw my brother's name printed on one of the doors. I saw a familiar red-highlighted raven haired guy dancing with two girls. Oh, he's still working.

The glass vibrated ever so slightly.. ♪ Her whisper is the lucifer ♪ as I pressed my nose against the door for a closer look. Damn, that girl's got some hairy legs.

"Hey, are you lost?" a deep voice resonated softly behind me.

I turned around, face-to-face.. with no one. Actually, I was face-to-chest with some tall- chick with the flippy kind of hair I'd always wanted.

"Don't worry, we'll find your Umma!" She smiled, taking my hand.

Wait. Hold up. Deep voice? You're a dude!?

"YAH! CHOI MINHO! What did I tell you about kidnapping cute little girls!?" A shrill male's voice yelled from the door I'd just turned from.

... Really? Wait. You're a dude, too?! Oh, my GOD. Deep voices? Hairy legs? Ew. I'm just gonna go out on a whim here and say they're all guys. 

I took this distraction as an opportunity to yank my hand from this.. Minho girly-guy thing and ran down the hall towards the elevator.

"What? I was coming from the bathroom and she was standing outside."

The elevator doors opened as I ran towards them. Walking out of the lift was some pretty boy with bouncy brown hair carrying a few boxes of.. Mexicana Fried Chicken?

Oh. Oh. Oh. If Zayn sees me screwing around with his weird androgynous co-workers, I'm so dead! JESUS. Does this boy even see me?! How can he possibly not!? He's not moving. WHY ISN'T HE MOVING?! CRAP! I can't stop now! God, forgive me for what I'm about to do!

"Onew-hyung! I got the chicke—"  The guy carrying the fast-food managed to say before I barreled straight into him.