"Chihiro, you will be staying in this dorm with your fellow trainees. President Lee had been putting together an all-girl band and since you're rooming with them, you will most probably be the vocalist. This is Bong Soon, the guitarist, and the twins Ha Young on the drums, and Ha Eun, the bassist. Girls, this is Yamaguchi Chihiro. Please do your best to make her feel at home here in Korea because, as you know, she is from Japan and only knows how to speak a few words in Korean. That said, give her lots of practice so that she catches on. I will take my leave now. Chihiro, I'll see you tomorrow for your schedule and cellphone." 

When Junki left, I introduced myself to the girls standing before me. "Annyeonghaseyo, Yamaguchi Chihiro imnida," I bowed. "Ano... yoroshiku onegaishimasu." (I didn't know how to say that last part in Korean.) They were nice enough to understand and they giggled a bit when I spoke Japanese. Probably thought that I looked stupidly cute. Or just stupid. 

I looked at them and saw that they were an array of colors. Literally. Bong Soon was the shortest in the bunch and her shoulder-length hair had highlights of bright orange and green. She had a sweet and cutesy demeanor. Ha Young was 1 inch taller than Bong Soon. Her long hot pink frizzy hair matched the pink Vans she was wearing. Ha Eun, who I later found out was the older one of the twins (by 2 minutes), looked exactly like Ha Young except that she had her hair cut into a mohawk dipped in electric blue tint. We were all pretty much the same age so if it wasn't for the language barrier, we all would have gotten along with each other more easily. 

Bong Soon motioned for me to follow her into her room, which I was going to be sharing with her. I saw that her side of the wall had a lot of Super Junior posters as well as posters of some guy that I wasn't really familar with. I began unpacking my stuff. I took out the posters of THSK that I had with me. Should I put these on my wall? It shouldn't be a problem, since Bong Soon also has posters herself of other groups. But what if she knows them? Dx Oh wait, since she's got Super Junior up there, then she probably doesn't know them personally... 

"Omo, Dong Bang Shin Ki!! Fan ieyo? Fan? You?" Bong Soon shouted, jumping into the room.

"Yeah," I smiled. "You like Super Junior?" I asked in English. 

"OMO!! You English okay!! Yes, like very much Super Junioyo~" 

Such a bubbly personality. It suits her. Although being roommates with a girl like this will be tiring for me because I like peace and quiet (and to think that I like metal music). I went around the dorm and saw that one of the rooms had been converted into a music room complete with a drum set, a guitar, a bass, and a microphone, plus all the sound and recording equipment needed. Right now, Ha Young was in there and she had her ear protectors on while beating on the drums passionately. She's really good.

The kitchen was connected to the living room and there was only one bathroom. One thing that I was most thankful for is the balcony because it was decorated with lots of plants and there was a table and chairs out there. I will most probably be frequenting that area but for now, Ha Eun had occupied it, totally consumed in the world between her and her big lime green headphones, and was busy scribbling things into a notebook. Bong Soon had started getting busy as well (dancing around in the room playing air guitar). I couldn't even strike up a decent conversation with these girls. Sigh. So I decided to go out and do some sightseeing around the city.

It was snowing in Korea as well. I wore a thick black coat and combat boots as I wandered around a street with lots of restaurants lining it. Everything looks so cute and simple. In Japan, things are cute but bogus. I stopped at an ice cream shop and saw a short-haired girl sitting in one of the booths just beside the glass. She was enjoying a really big serving of ice cream. My stomach grumbled. I don't know if she heard it but if she did, then I must have been really hungry because she looked at me at that moment with a surprised and puzzled look. She saw my hand on my stomach and then she gave me a little wave. She looked around and then invited me to come inside and sit with her, so I did. 

It was warmer inside the ice cream parlor. I slid into the booth with her so that I was sitting across from her. I looked down at my hands in my lap, anxiously. Honestly, it's not normal for a stranger to invite you to sit with them especially in a foreign country. "Ice cream?" she said as she pushed her ice cream to the middle of the table. I bowed graciously as I took a spoonful of it. "Ireumeun mwoshimnikka?" she asked me in Korean. 

I shook my head and answered in Japanese, "Gomen, Nihonjin desu." 

"OH MY GOSH!" she exclaimed in English. "You're Japanese! Do you like anime?" she asked me with her eyes all sparkly. "Oh wait, I forgot that you don't speak Korean..." 

"I speak fluent English though, and you seem to speak it too," I said.

"OH! HOORAY! Another English-speaker, finally!" she said. "I'm Alex Lee." She put out her hand to shake mine. 

I took her hand as I said, "My name is Chihiro Yamaguchi. I just arrived this morning." 

"No kidding? You must be pretty tired. Why are you walking around alone?"

"My dormmates don't speak English. One of them tries but it's kinda hard to strike up an interesting conversation. Plus, I kind of enjoy time alone." 

"Hm, I know what you mean. Well, you're going to have to learn how to speak Korean after a while so you'll be fine! It was hard for me too when I first moved here from the States-- my own brother knew only the useless English phrases like, "Come on, man!" and "Bring it on!" Now that I know how to speak conversational Korean, things go much more smoothly."

"I hope they won't be too hard on me though. I'm supposed to have language lessons."

"Oh, really? Where? I'll tell you if the tutor center is good or not."

"I'm not sure. SM Entertainment just told me to wait for my schedule. I'll find out by tomorrow." 

Alex's eyes grew bigger and she mouthed something like, "Holy sh--" She said it again but this time the words came out. "HOLY SH-- You're a trainee at SM Entertainment??" she whispered. 

"... Yeah, why? Is it such a big deal?" 

"It's only like the top entertainment companies in the country!" she whispered again. 

"Why are you whispering?" 

"Because it's not good for people to know. Right now, enjoy your privacy because soon, I warn you, things are going to get a little more complicated. Trust me."

"How do you know all this? Are you a trainee too?"

"Let's just say that I know people from that company. Haha." 

"Okay..." I gulped.

"Hey, if you want to hang out again together, give me a call or something. What's your number?"

"Oh, about that, I still don't have a cellphone..." 

"Ah, and I bet you won't be able to use the internet cafes here too because they're mostly in Korean. Here, I'll write you my address. I'll take a picture of you so that I can show the guard and he can let you in. It's pretty strict in our dorm because I live with a bunch of idiots." 

"Are you sure it's okay to visit? I might be disturbing you..."

"No no, it's perfectly fine! I need girl company every now and then because I go crazy there." 

"Oh okay," I smiled. "When can I go there?"

"This Saturday. It's almost winter break for me so after this Friday I'm pretty much free! Anyway, I need to go now my brother is looking for me. He's pretty overprotective. You can have the rest of my ice cream today, but after this, you need to learn how to order for yourself in this country, okay? I'll teach you." 

"Okay, thank you for everything, Alex. I'll see you around then," I waved. 

New friends? Yes, I think so. I pocketed the address she gave me and finished my ice cream. As I stood up to leave though, I saw a wallet on her side of the booth. Oh no. I need to return this to her today. 

I went out of the ice cream parlor and checked the address on the piece of paper she gave me. Where the crap is this? I checked inside her wallet for additional details that might help me find the place. I saw some cards but they were all in Korean so that wasn't much help. There was some cash, which she might need to buy food (oh no), and a picture of a guy... He looked familiar. I just couldn't remember where or how I saw him...

Here I go again. It's like Iljimae all over again. 

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To know who Alex Lee is, check out this fan fic by sujudork~ http://www.asianfanfics.com/story/view/3984/living-with-famous-idiots-comedy-donghae-henrylau-kyuhyun-romance-superjunior