“Do you think we need all your drama?”

You look at him right in the eyes. What did he say? You though you didn’t understand correctly, but you had to face the thruth. You felt absolutely crushed. Niel hadn’t been looking for you! In fact it seemed as though Niel really didn’t like you. You felt yourself begin to shiver a little, feeling absolutely mortified at what Niel had just said. Drama? You hadn’t been causing drama, it wasn’t your fault that you had fallen asleep and your co-members hadn’t even tried to wake you up. You felt as though your heart had stopped beating when Niel had said you had been causing ‘drama’

Whatever it was that you had been doing, it definitely wasn’t trying to cause ‘drama’ people caused ‘drama’ when they wanted attention. Why would someone as shy as you want attention?

By now the whole table was silent, and looking at you and Niel as if they were expecting some kind of fight, or at least an argument.

You wished more than anything that Niel had actually cared where you were, that he wasn’t the one getting annoyed at you. You were with another eleven people, any one of them could have been annoyed at you – but why did it have to be Niel? He was your idol for God’s sake! If any member of either of the groups was going to get annoyed at you it shouldn’t be Niel! That was just unfair!

Feeling everyone’s eyes burning into you, you decided to look up, not wanting them all to think that you were sill causing ‘drama’ or looking for ‘attention’

You looked across a Niel, who was still starting at you with a serious expression, making you feel more uneasy than before.

“Wha... What are you saying?” You asked shyly, feeling completely shocked that Niel had said something like that to you.

“What? Did you think it was funny to pretend to be hurt? No-one did anything; no-one’s being mean to you, so just get over it. Ok?” He said, suddenly smirking.

Niel turned and smirked at Chunji who was sitting next to him, clearly expecting him to smirk also.

“Yah! Don’t you think you’re being a bit harsh to her?” He said whilst chuckling.

“I was just being honest.” Niel waved his hand around a little as he tried to explain. “She doesn’t have to get all sad all the time.” Niel shrugged.

Chunji raised his eyebrow at Niel and they both burst out laughing, soon to be joined in their laughing fit by the rest of the boys.

“Niel, you were being a bit mean.” C.A.P said, frowning over at Niel “I think it might have been a bit better if you had kept your huge mouth shut.”

“My mouth isn’t that big!” Niel scowled, putting his hand to his lips.

“Yes, it is.” Jae-Hwa nodded at Niel, and soon they were arguing over the size of Niel’s mouth. At least this diverted some of the attention away from you. Then Niel just had to go and make things worse. Again.

“Anyway, it’s not me opening my ‘huge’ mouth, it was her, she’s always moody with everyone, and she doesn’t even know us.” He frowned back across the table at you.

“Hyung stop it!” Ricky sighed, shaking his head. “Maybe you’re being just as bad. I mean, I’m not saying you are bad Mélodie, I just mean that... well...”

“I’m not being moody with everyone.” Niel interrupted.

“I didn’t say you were. I just meant that maybe you’re judging her before you know her. She might not be moody, maybe just quiet.” He shrugged.

Niel didn’t know how to respond to this, and so he just looked away from everyone. Ricky smiled across the table at you.

“Maybe I’m right though.” Niel glared back across at Ricky. “Maybe she thinks she’s better than everyone else, and tries to get away from them because they’re not good enough for her.”

The arguments continued, getting more and more comical, however, you didn’t see the funny side to them. Of course, your fellow members did, but they didn’t want to hurt your feelings by just bursting out laughing, so they laughed fakely and slightly awkwardly, as they looked at you, doing their best not to make it obvious.

Soon the argument died down, and the boys began talking with the girls again, distracting them. Now no-one’s attention was on you and you didn’t know whether to be happy or not. Sure, there was no attention on you anymore, but no-one had apologised for making you feel so bad. Maybe it did seem as though you were being moody and acting like a snob.

You looked down at the glass of water that was placed in front of you. Still shivering and now grinding your teeth together. Your co-members had laughed at you! They probably did it to show off to the boys, but even your best friend had laughed at you!

Still in shock after what Niel had said to you, you couldn’t quite decide on what you were feeling. You were shocked with what Niel had said you, upset that your co-members had laughed at you, and you felt a whole lot of other emotions, that you just couldn’t quite describe.

You stared down at the glass of water that was placed in front of you trying to decide how you should feel towards Niel. Sure he was your idol, and he was amazing and gorgeous, and he was such a nice person when you had watched him in variety shows, but he had been horrible about you! You couldn’t believe what he had said! Maybe Niel wasn’t the person you had thought he was. You weren’t sure if you regretted Niel being your idol for so long, as he had been your bias since they debuted, over three ago, had all that time been wasted?

You were so confused, and almost felt like crying. As you stared ahead at the glass of water, a piece of meat held between two chopsticks appeared in front of your face, bringing you out of your daze.

Glancing across to the left where L.Joe sat, you now noticed that he was looking at you, holding a piece of meat between his chopsticks and holding it out for you.

Feeling a little flustered at the gesture, you wiped imaginary tears from your face, not wanting L.Joe to see how humiliated you felt about what Niel had said.

“Do you want to eat?” L.Joe asked, moving the meat slightly more towards you. “While you were... erm... thinking...” He stuttered. “The food was served; you must have been pretty deep in thought if you didn’t notice.” He smiled kindly at you.

You glanced down at your watch and then back up at the table, where everyone was sat eating and talking. It was almost as if what Niel had said merely moments ago hadn’t even happened. Everyone was now engrossed in their current conversations, and were laughing together.

Instinctively you looked across at Niel, who was holding out a piece of meat wrapped in lettuce to Jae-Hwa, who took the chopsticks from him and popped it into , smiling sweetly as she did so. Feeling your face flush red you turned away from them, not sure if you were feeling envious or not. At the moment, you just felt frustrated towards everyone. Jae-Hwa was supposed to be your friend, and you thought that she knew how much you liked Niel, he was your bias for God’s sake! Didn’t anybody consider that when they were laughing at what he had said? Now Jae-Hwa was being all flirty and taking food from him as if she was the one who had like him all along!

Suddenly remembering L.Joe’s offer, you looked back across at him, grabbing your chopsticks abruptly from the table and snatching the meat out of his. You didn’t care if you seemed like a snob anymore, surely that was what they all thought of you, otherwise they wouldn’t have all laughed at Niel’s remark. You chewed the samgyeopsal vigorously, as it was quite fatty, but at the same time tasted wonderful in the hot ssamjang that L.Joe had already dipped it in for you.

L.Joe had been watching you eat and laughed softly.

“I guess you were hungry then.” He chuckled, watching you as you chewed through the fatty meat.

You finished chewing the meat with a bored expression on your face before you replied to him.

“Yeah, it’s good.” You nodded at him. L.Joe laughed again at how cute you were acting before attempting to start a conversation with you.

“Do you eat samgyeopsal a lot?” He asked, picking up another piece of meat and dipping it in a small pot of gireumjang, before popping it into his mouth.

“I don’t get chance to.” You began. “I used to live in Canada with my umma, and my sister, and my brother, and so I didn’t eat much Korean food. But now that I live in Korea... permanently... with my aunty, I think I’ll be eating this a little more often.”You smiled, taking another piece of meat, this time placing it on a leaf and adding raw onions before rolling it up and eating it.

“You lived in Canada?” L.Joe asked, also taking another piece of meat for himself

“Yeah, I lived in the Canadian province of Quebec, and I actually never visited Korea before I became a trainee.” You confessed.

“Quebec?” L.Joe frowned, “Don’t they speak French there?”

“Yeah, I grew up speaking French.” You nodded. “And I had to learn English from quite an early age.”

“So you speak French, English and Korean?” He asked, raising his eyebrows, clearly impressed.

“Yes. But I don’t speak English or French that much now that I live in Korea.”

“Didn’t you say you lived with your aunty?”He asked, putting it all together. “When do you see your family then? Don’t they live with you?”

You looked down shyly as you thought about your Umma and two siblings who were still living in Canada.

“No.” You started, smiling slightly at L.Joe. “My Umma and my younger brother and sister live in Canada still. But they phone and I talk to them when I can.”

“And what about your Appa?” He asked, taking a sip of his water as he looked at you intently. “Where does he live?”

“Umm... Yeah.” You mumbled, zoning out and not wanting to answer L.Joe’s question. “If you’ll excuse me I’m just going to the bathroom.” And with that you stood up and walked towards the ‘ladies’ room.

Once inside you stood staring at yourself in the mirror for a while, you hadn’t really needed to go to the toilet, you had only excused yourself to avoid L.Joe asking any more questions. Of course, it wasn’t his fault, he didn’t know, he was just taking an interest in your life and trying to make conversation.

You decided that you had been in the wash room long enough, and took a deep breath, silently hoping that by the time you had reached the table, the topic of conversation would have changed.

As you approached the table, you noticed the members of both groups begin to stand up and start moving around.

“What’s going on?” You asked L.Joe as you went to stand back beside him.

“Oh, they’re just moving around, swapping seats and things...” He trailed off as he looked over at you. “Ah... That is if you’re ok with doing that, I mean... you seemed a bit shy earlier... with the other members...” He trailed off, not wanting to hurt your feelings.

“Yeah, I guess I am a bit shy.” You shrugged.

“Do I make you feel uncomfortable? Are you shy round me too?”

“No, I’m not as shy around you as I am around the other boys.” You confessed. L.Joe smiled.

“So, do you want to stay here then?” He asked, gesturing to the seat.

“I think I’m alright, you go talk to the other girls.” You offered.

“Ok, then if you’re sure.” He smiled down at you as you sat back down in your seat. “I just didn’t want you to be on your own.”

“I’ll be fine.” You smiled. No sooner had you said that, Changjo immediately sat down in the seat beside you, the one L.Joe had been sitting in previously. “See.” You smiled up at L.Joe, who simply nodded, smiling at you, and walked away to sit with C.A.P.

You looked back across at Changjo, who smiled at you shyly. Suddenly feeling flustered that a boy you barely knew was smiling at you, your eyes widened and you felt a small blush creep onto your cheeks. You giggled at Changjo as he was quite cute when he was shy, and he suddenly began to laugh lightly too.

Changjo, looked away from you for a moment, and then turned to face you again, beginning a conversation with you.

You talked to Changjo for a small while, but happened to glance across the table at Niel, who was now sat talking to Ae-Sook and Chunji. Your thoughts began to wander to how Niel would probably never like you, it seemed as though he was talking to every girl in your group and getting along well with them. Every girl except for you. Was he purposely avoiding you?

Changjo’s words brought you out of your daze.

“Uh... Mélodie?” He asked, leaning forwards slightly to try getting you to see him. “What are you looking at?”

“Uh... I’m sorry...” You stared in shock at Changjo, mentally cursing yourself for being so rude and ignoring him. He had probably been talking to you all this time, and you hadn’t been listening to a word! You felt your face flush red again.

“Its ok, so, as I was saying, they’re quite cute together aren’t they?” He asked.

“What? Who?” You frowned.

Before Changjo could answer you, Ricky sat in the seat the other side of you.

“Hey guys.” He smiled. “What are you talking about?”

“Well I was just saying that they’d make a cute couple.”

“Who?” Soo-Min asked, peering around Changjo from the other side to join in with the conversation.

“Niel and Ae-Sook.” He answered, trying to keep his voice low so that they didn’t hear.

“Uh...” Ricky mumbled, following Changjo’s gaze to where Ae-Sook was punching Niel playfully on the arm. “Yeah.” He nodded, but didn’t look like he really did agree.

“Changjo, stop trying to get everyone into relationships.” Soo-Min laughed, hitting him. “I don’t think they suit each other at all, what about you Mélodie?” She asked.

“No.” You frowned. Of course, you completely agreed with Soo-Min, Niel and Ae-Sook didn’t go well together. If Changjo wanted to pair Niel with anyone you would have wanted it to be you, but of course, after what he had said to you earlier before dinner, that was highly unlikely to happen.

“Yah, that’s right!” Soo-Min laughed “He goes much better with Jae-Hwa! Have you seen the way he looks at her? I think he really likes her.” She smiled as if it was the sweetest thing ever. You thought otherwise. Did everyone think that he really liked Jae-Hwa?

It was obvious he did when you thought about it, but maybe he didn’t know her just yet, Jae-Hwa is nice, but she turns a lot of guys down. She’s the sort of girl who is nice to guys, but they tell her they like her and she grows a little... distant, and sometimes breaks a lot of hearts in the process.

Of course, you just reluctantly nodded in agreement.

Soon the conversation changed subject, and the four of you were getting on well and laughing together. By the time you had to leave the restaurant, you thought that you could probably count Ricky, Changjo and L.Joe as friends now, which was odd for you, as you had never had a male friend ever before in your life.

The two groups left the restaurant together, all saying their goodbyes to each other, before separating and going back to their vans. As you climbed into your van, you did the same thing as you had before, and turned to look at Teen Top’s van as Changjo was climbing in, he also turned around and you both laughed. Not being as shy around him as you were last time it had happened, you waved at him happily and he returned the wave and smiled at you, before turning round and climbing into Teen Top’s van.

“Oh, Mélodie.” Cho Hee began as she got into the van and sat next to you. “I’m sorry for leaving you in the van earlier.” She frowned, looking apologetic.

“Ah it’s ok.” You shook your head. “It’s done now, I know you didn’t do it on purpose.” You smiled.

***

Changjo turned and climbed into his van, still smiling from seeing Mélodie wave at him.

“What you grinning at?” Chunji smirked as Changjo climbed into the van beside him.

“Mélodie just waved at me! Can you believe that?” He laughed. “I thought she was really shy and stuck up and everything, I guess I was wrong, she’s actually really nice. She seems really... Honest, and genuine.”

“I know what you mean.” Ricky interrupted. “I guess Niel Hyung was wrong about her.”

“Didn’t you say you thought that she was too shy?” C.A.P joined in. “Yeah... I seem to remember you saying that she was too shy and that she needed to be more social.” He raised his eyebrows as he waited for a reply from s.

“No.” Ricky frowned over at him.

“Maybe I said she was a bit shy, but I guess she can’t help that, I don’t remember saying that she needed to be more social though.” Changjo said in defence. “I mean, if she’s shy it must be hard for her to socialise, especially considering how many of us there are, us six boys and another five girls, that might be a lot for someone like Mélodie. She was talking to us though Hyung, and she seemed really nice.”

L.Joe sat listening to the conversation that the boys were having, and began smiling to himself. At least they were beginning to learn that Mélodie was nice. L.Joe, however, had known a along. From the moment she smiled at him in the salon, he knew that she wasn’t a bad person, and he was happy that some of the other members of his group were getting along well with her now.

“Yeah.” Chunji sighed. “But what about earlier when she just walked out of the lounge? Like Niel said, she did seem a bit stuck up. Not that I’d agree with saying that to her face though.” He raised his voice at the end, making it clear that he wanted Niel to hear, but even if he did, he didn’t react to what Chunji said.

“She’s not stuck up.” L.Joe frowned, wanting to convince Chunji that he was wrong about her.

“How do you know? She certainly seems it.” C.A.P joined in.

“Because she’s just... not.” He thought back to earlier when he was sat in the van, before they went into the restaurant together. Mélodie was so nice, and she acted so sweet, how was it possible not to like her? “She’s just really shy. Maybe she just didn’t want to be around us, it might be you, making her feel uncomfortable.” He raised his eyebrows at Chunji.

“Me? Why? What did I do? If anyone is making her feel uncomfortable it’s Niel.”

Niel sat silent, doing his best not to listen to what the other members were all saying about Mélodie. Maybe Chunji was right, maybe Niel was the one making her feel uncomfortable. Niel sighed, it wasn’t his intention to make anyone feel uncomfortable, but he thought that Mélodie was attention seeking on purpose, and now he felt bad for it. He thought back to at the restaurant, when he glanced across at her and she was sat laughing with Soo-Min, Ricky and Changjo, she hadn’t been trying to cause any trouble or get any attention then. She had just been laughing and trying to make friends with the boys.

Niel closed his eyes as he thought about how Mélodie had been smiling with his friends, that was the first time he had seen Mélodie smile properly, not a forced smile, a real one. Surely a girl with such an innocent and cute smile wouldn’t want to cause any trouble?

Niel didn’t know what he should feel towards Mélodie, but he decided that, as long as she didn’t come between him and the other members of his group, that it didn’t really matter. After all, Mélodie wasn’t causing Niel any problems.