"Em, seriously, slow down. I can't understand a word you're saying," I ordered through the phone in my hands, while with the other I leaned down to pick a book off of the multitude of stacks on the floor. I'd brought giant cardboard boxes full of my books from Wisconsin, and the floor-to-ceiling bookshelves I'd ordered had arrived while I was in Toronto, so now that I had time, I was carefully alphabetizing them on the shelves. Which required the use of a stool.

"Wait, wait, wait. You want me to talk to Minho... to tell him... not to tell any of his friends in other companies... about what happened. Em, it was already all over the news..."

"I know that already! But they don't know the details!"

"What, that he had to try CPR on you before the experts got there, and then rode the ambulance with you, and stayed at the hospital with you overnight?"

"Okay, now that was NOT on the news. Where did you hear that?!"

"From Minho." I laughed at her screeched response. "He asked me if you were okay. Not that, at the time, I had any idea. Considering that you guys never called me even once while I was in Kore-AAHH!!"

From behind me, I felt someone tickle me in the sides. I lurched backwards, spinning around as I screeched, "Henry, you little bit--" I fell off the stool, caught in Zhou Mi's arms. "Oh... you're not Henry..."

He laughed. "Sorry to disappoint you."

I lifted my phone to my ear, afraid of looking away from Zhou Mi in case he decided to tickle me again. "Em? Okay, I'll talk to Minho for you. Can I call you back?"

"Why were you screaming?! What happened?!"

"Nothing. I just tripped and fell off of a stool. Talk to you later." I hung up, then set the phone on the bookshelf. "You're not supposed to be sneaking into my dorm, silly."

He lifted me back onto the stool, his eyes glittering. "I didn't sneak in. You left the door unlocked."

"You're supposed to knock! You scared the crap out of me!"

"I'll be sure to mention that to you the next time you run into our dorm while I'm in the shower."

My face turned bright red. "Okay, you got me."

"What did you say to Henry? Something like 'put a shirt on; you're making a scene'?"

Have I ever told you about how much I love stools? Because, seriously, they're great. I was the perfect height, able to look Zhou Mi in the eye without him having to bend over. And I could put my arms around his neck and kiss him. Yeah. Stools are amazing.

He pulled away, his eyes still closed, and smiled. "I was wrong. Still good."

"Huh? What's still good? It's not like I was an experienced kisser from the beginning..."

"I was afraid it would be ruined after you were sharing with Hyuksoo and Hyun Woo."

My cheeks went red. "That was two weeks ago!"

"But the episode where you kissed Hyun Woo didn't air until today."

I scowled at him. "Unfortunately, my dear, being an actress makes my lips public property. You can't have me all to yourself. I have fans to please, Oppas to adore. All in a day's work."

"I never really liked sharing."

"You only say that because you don't have siblings. If you grew up with an older sister and younger brother, like me, sharing would be your best friend. And besides," I added, "you get other things all to yourself." I kissed him again.

"What kinds of other things?" he asked, hesitantly.

I winked. "You'll find out. Eventually. Someday... maybe."

It had been only three weeks. Three weeks I had a secret boyfriend (something we had both agreed upon), three weeks I had been back from America, three weeks I had gone to sleep feeling entirely warm and fuzzy, blushing to myself even when I was all alone.

And though my drama wasfinished, the workload was just as heavy as usual.

"So, today's news-- you have a photo session on Thursday for Ceci Magazine. Friday is an interview with Arirang. Saturday you have a meeting with your new clothes sponsor, about their autumn line." Jung Ah listed, scanning her scheduling book. "Oh, and you have an offer to participate in a musical."

My ears pricked up at that. "A musical?! Which musical?"

"Um... let me see..." she tapped her computer pad's screen, hunting for more details. "It says 'The Korean version of the Broadway smash hit, "'Wicked'"."

"WICKED?!" I screeched, jumping to my feet. "I've wanted to see that musical my whole life! Well, as long as it's been out. Still, now they're asking me to be in it?! What role?!"

"The good witch, Glinda/Galinda. They thought you'd do well, considering your stage experience and your, well, naturally suitable traits for the character," she remarked, obviously referring to my blonde hair.

"Glinda? I can play her. I'm pretty sure."

"So I think it's safe to assume that you're interested. I'll let them know."

"Great. Now you've gotten me all excited! Wicked! Best ever!"

"Are you ready? Don't want to break your streak, do you?"

"I'm ready!" I cheered, eager to meet the day, now that I had news of my next big job. 

"Good! That's day 87 that we haven't been late getting ready. Now come on, Queen Be! Off to the recording studio!"

"Can I tell my sunbaes about the offer first?" I asked, though sunbaes really meant Oppas, and Oppas really meant Zhou Mi. 

"No! Not until they announce the show! Now come on, Queen Be, we have to leave!"

Saturday came, my meeting with the new clothing company I was sponsoring. I was excited. They were an American fashion company, trying to extend their production into Asia. They'd given me the offer after I'd released "Black Magic". Apparently, one of the benefits included was free clothing. And a professional coordinator.

The meeting was a fairly sedate affair, in a small private room of a restaurant. I stepped into the room, trying to greet all of the people I saw. And then...

"MELISSA!" The voice that squeaked to me was high-pitched, full of energy, and altogether familiar.

"Alexa?" I gaped, looking at the small Chinese girl that was standing in front of me. "Oh my god, what are you doing here?!"

"I'm the financial advisor!" she squeaked.

Jung Ah and the company representatives together looked back and forth between the two of us like they had no idea what was going on. 

"Queen Be, do you... know each other?" A middle-aged man asked.

"We went to high school together. Alexa was Miss Super-popular. Homecoming Queen, Prom Queen..."

"Oh, shut up. You're a pop star now!"

"Complete role-reversal," I agreed. Alexa really was super popular. And pretty. I'd always envied her small face and long black hair. But she'd always been extremely nice to me. To everyone, really. She'd won Prom Queen because she deserved it. Because everyone, popular and non popular alike, loved her. Unlike me. They didn't like me. Well, the unpopular ones did.

Nonetheless, Alexa was popular for good reason. And so seeing her was a pleasant surprise, instead of the alternative.

"And you're the financial advisor for the company that's giving me free clothes. Small world, huh?"

The middle-aged man, obviously the one in charge, cleared his throat, and Alexa and I cut off our conversation. "Could we please begin our meeting? Not that I'd like to spoil the reunion..."

"So she's completely Chinese, and yet you know more Mandarin that she does?" Jung Ah asked me as we left the restaurant.

"She was adopted. So yeah, in a way, she's more American than I am. My aunt is Korean. Small world, really."

Jung Ah rolled her eyes. "Come on, Queen Be. you have to go to vocal practice."

"Oh, but I was going to go shopping with Tiffany..."

"Later. Practice first."

"I'm here, Director-shi!" I called, stopping in front of him. "This is the final cast meeting, right? Where we all meet each other before we're all announced officially?"

"Yes, Queen Be. You're in the right place. I'm glad you could make it."

"I just have to ask... who's playing Elphaba. the Wicked Witch? I'm not really particular, of course, just curious."

"Ah, yes. She's the character you interact the most with, so you should know. You'll like her, I think. She's a rookie, like you, debuted as a girl group member this year. She's very talented, and we have very high expectations of her. She's the leader of S.A.L.T. Do you recognize them?"

Yes, I did. That was the group that...

"Apparently she's British. Well, raised in England. The two of you should make a nice pair. American Minsung and British Min Hee."

My heart was doing little jumping jacks. "By Min Hee... you mean KIM Min Hee?!"

"Yes! Do you know her?"

"Know her?! The girl was my best--"

"--Mel?"

I whipped around, mid-sentence. "OH MY GOSH, MIN HEE, it's really you!"

We ran to each other, quickly embracing, then immediately running into a rapidfire conversation about what had happened in our lives over the past half year.

"--Didn't know you were the leader!"

"What about you, Miss International-big-shot?"

"--Well, breaking my leg--"

"Oh yeah, I heard about that..."

"Yeah. Really ."

"Why didn't you--"

"--So sorry I didn't call you much, I was just SO--"

"--Busy? Me too! It's been--"

"Crazy! But that's the idol's life, I guess. Ever since--"

"Your drama was great! I watched every single episode! It was just so--"

"Intense, right?! When I was filming it, you could just feel all of the tension in the characters."

"Totally Daebak. And your album, too!"

"Oh, come on. S.A.L.T's did so much better than mine."

"that was only because you couldn't promote much in Korea. You'll do better next time! Besides, S.A.L.T isn't trying to be an actress at the same time! I'm the first one!"

We suddenly stopped, realizing that everyone had arrived, and were all staring at us.

"Oh... I think we were talking in English," I muttered, and then we both burst out laughing. 

"Do you two... know... each other?" The director asked, looking back and forth between Min hee and I. 

Min Hee draped her arm around my shoulders. "Absolutely! Back when I was a trainee at SM, before Queen Be was Queen Be, the two of us were roommates!"

"You don't have to worry about the two of us getting along, Director-shi! We're best friends! I don't know if you did it on purpose, but we fit it really well!" I cheered, hugging Min Hee back. 

I'd missed the girl like crazy, and now we were going to be acting as roommates/friends in a musical! What a crazy twist of fate!

"Okay. Spill. Wisconsin, Toronto, Hawaii... something must have happened in Hawaii," Min Hee demanded, leaning back in her chair. As a preview for the opening of the musical, the two of us were sent to practice "For Good" together. But, hey, we're teenagers. Sort of.

"Well, you know. concerts. And... stuff."

"What kind of stuff?!"

Suddenly my phone rang, with the Super Junior-M song "True Love". Before I could stop her, Min Hee had grabbed it out of my purse and was looking at it. "Hmmm... Zhou Mi."

I tried to snatch the phone away from her, and she cleared and answered the phone in a truly wonderful imitation of my accent and voice. "Hello, my dear... Mimi." She winked at me, and I buried my face in my hands, ready for the horrible embarrassment. "Oh yeah, I'm practicing for Wicked." She listened, then grinned at me. "What? I didn't tell you I was in a musical? Shame on me."

It was amazing how well my boyfriend was falling for this. 

"What do you mean, give the phone to Niuwang? Who's Niuwang?"

I turned bright pink, holding my hand out for the phone. She made a face, then handed the phone to me. "He said you wouldn't be talking to him in English that long. Oops."

I grabbed the phone from her and put it up to my ear. "I'm so sorry, Mimi... Min Hee is my co-star for the musical, and we were practicing together, and she stole my phone."

"That was Min Hee?! I thought she was British?!"

I scowled at her, and she laughed. "She is. She was just playing with you. I think she's making stuff up."

"Why would she be making anything up?" he asked innocently. Fortunately, Min Hee could only hear half of the conversation.

"Well, let's just say that the girl has very good instincts," I replied. "I have to go, Mimi. I really ought to be practicing. And so should you! you have a comeback with SuJu-M in a couple months, don't you?! You'd better not be using your practice time to call me, or you're in trouble! See you later, okay?"

"You're not going to ditch me, are you?"

"Of course not! That would be terrible! Now seriously, I'll talk to you later." I really wanted to say "friends first," but Min Hee would have picked up on that too quickly.

When I hung up the phone, though, it seemed that Min Hee had much better instincts than I had ever given her credit for, because she had a very suspicious grin on her face. "I'm right, aren't I?"

I tried to hide my expression. "Right about what?"

"Oh, don't give me that. Don't even try to hide from me, Choi Minsung. I lived with you for a year. I know your poker face."

"You absolutely cannot tell anyone!" I blurted, turning crimson.

"Oh, don't worry. I don't plan on it."

"Not even Jung Ah knows about it."

"Jung Ah? As in trainee Jung Ah?"

"She's my manager now."

"Ohhh, I see. But hey, it's good to see that you've finally admitted it to each other."

"What do you mean, finally?! It's only been three weeks!"

"So it was during Hawaii, then!" She squealed, delighted. 

I opened my mouth, then closed it. She got me.

"And this has clearly been going on for more than three weeks. When you first started 'dating' Sungmin," she made little quotes with her hands, "and he got upset, that was jealousy, no two ways around it."

"Okay, Kim Min Hee. If you say so."

"I say so! Neither of you had any idea how obvious you were, did you?"

I bit my lip. "Well, considering I didn't even know it myself for a long time..."

"Self-denial," she claimed, waving my argument away. And I couldn't argue with her. She was probably right. "But don't worry about it. You two will be fine."

"Secret relationship. Yeah. Fine. Imagine telling my parents about this!"

"Well, think about it this way: even if they disapproved, would you still like him anyway?"

I thought about it, and then caved, nodding. It wasn't something I controlled. No amount of mental force could control my emotions. The brain just didn't work like that.

"What about you and John, then?"

Min Hee was quiet for a while, and then I started to notice color seeping into her pale cheeks.

"Promise you won't tell anyone?!"

 "I feel so chic," I commented to my new coordinator. My style hadn't really changed much. Apparently Alexa had my back for things she knew I wouldn't wear. Like miniskirts and skinny jeans that I can't pull over my calves. Most of the clothes I was receiving were actually pretty close to my preferences for style. Figure-complimenting, but not too revealing. Solid colors that layer over each other. Not very complex designs on them. 

Donations from the sponsor to advertise while I was out and about promoting my musical included dresses, skirts, blouses, jackets, and dozens and dozens of shoes. High heels in every girly girly color you could imagine. It was totally awesome. 

After a recording session at the company, I headed down the hallways, my flowy dark pink dress trailing behind me. 

Suddenly Tiffany appeared, giving me a suspicious look. "You're not going to ditch our FASE dinner, right? We were all going to go eat after watching a movie."

"Why would I miss out on that?" I questioned, wondering why she would be asking me that. 

She seemed to deflate. "Good. I just wanted to make sure. And hey, congrats for getting the lead in Wicked!" She smiled, then waved and went down the hallway towards the practice rooms. SNSD was warming up for a new comeback come wintertime, and that meant she had to practice.

I continued down the hallway, humming to myself when I felt someone tap me on the shoulder. I turned around, muttering, "I'll never get to rehearsal in time if people keep..."

I stopped, frowning at Zhou Mi. "You're an incredible distraction, do you know that?"

"That's not the reaction I was expecting," he replied, pulling me into his arms. I quickly squirmed out of his grip, nervously looking around. "Don't do that! People could see!"

He shrugged. "I'm not worried. Are you?"

I opened my mouth to say something, but then couldn't think of anything. I closed it, color leeching into my cheeks. "Damn it, stop that."

"Did I say the smarter thing for once?"

"Now listen here you little --"

He leaned over and kissed me, and when he let go and I started breathing again, I scowled at him. "You can't just kiss me every time I see you. People will call us shallow."

"Shallow?" I don't think it's shallow. It's my way of taking back all of those times that I watched when you pretended to date Sungmin, danced with Henry, went to an anime con with Eunhyuk, laid on Donghae's lap while they sang to you, and even when you smile to the male MCs at variety programs... all of those times."

I glared at him mockingly, then stood on my tiptoes to kiss him. "Fine, Then this one's for kissing Song Qian on 'When Love Walked In'." And then kissed him again. "And that's for any fanservice you've ever done at a concert I was not present at." I dropped back down to my proper height. "See, two can play this game."

He made a face at me, and then ran his fingers through my hair. "It looks weird."

I swallowed, remembering my now dyed curls. It was changed, now that I was playing Glinda, to emphasize my blonde-ness. So now it was a lighter shade of gold than before, but not a bleach blonde. "I'm still getting used to it. But hey, in a way, I'm starting to look closer to the ideal woman. Read the magazines lately? Ceci complimented me on my 'hourglass figure'. For the first time in my life, I'm actually starting to feel beautiful."

"You've always been beautiful," he said, as if surprised that I would think otherwise. I don't think he meant it as a compliment, but as a simple fact. Which, I think, is even better.

 "If you say so, Mimi."

"Remember, I've seen you at six in the morning when you haven't brushed your hair. After seeing that, without makeup and with your normal hair color, you still look beautiful."

I tried not to blush. Have you ever tried not to blush? It doesn't work. It's like trying not to think about something. Which, of course, means you can't stop thinking about it. "That's a very roundabout way to compliment me, Mimi. I'll just pretend I heard nothing. Now seriously, I have to go to rehearsal."

"Do you want to have dinner with me?"

I froze in my tracks, then turned back around, wide-eyed. "Dinner?!" I squeaked.

"Sure. Henry says he's having dinner with some friends, so the dorm will be empty..."

Blushing. Blushing. Blushing. Dear God, Melissa, keep your mind clean.

Then I remembered which friends Henry was having dinner with. And despite how completely absorbed in Zhou Mi as I was, and how nervous as he looked after asking the question, I knew that friends always come first. No matter what.

"I'm sorry, Mimi. Really. Maybe another time... I have a movie night with FASE. And we're trying to recruit new members right now..."

He shrugged, and nodded. "Maybe some other time. Don't you dare flirt with anyone, though."

"Not even Sam?" I asked, fluttering my eyelashes mockingly at him.

"Especially not him! No!"

"Pity. I'm just going to have to tell everyone that I'm not single anymore, and my boyfriend is possessive."

"I have to be possessive. It was way too hard for me to get ahold of you for me to want to share with anyone."

"Too bad. I'll see you later, okay? If I stall any longer, I'll start getting bizarre messages from Min Hee."

"Goodnight, Niuwang. Have fun with your friends, okay?"

"But not too much fun." I grinned, let go of his hand, and made my way down the hallway.

"Come on, you guys! Lilo and Stitch! Lilo and Stitch or the Tigger Movie!" I yelled over the general arguement. The members of FASE had all come into my dorm (since I was the only one who lived alone), intending on watching...

A Disney movie.

We'd all brought our collections, and now we were arguing which ones we wanted to watch. My personal favorite was Lilo and Stitch. And I hadn't seen the Tigger Movie in a long time. 

But Henry wanted to watch Wall-E. Or Up.

"Not Up! It's depressing!" Amber argued, snatching the DVD box away from him.

"Cars!" Kris demanded.

We really were getting nowhere. It wasn't enough that the original FASE members couldn't agree, but we'd expanded our friend group size to include Hanbyul of LEDapple and Sam of Lunafly. (Met during music programs and variety shows), so there were even more people disagreeing. 

There was a knock on the door, and I shushed everyone and ran to the door. When I came back into the living room, I introduced the newcomer. "Hey, everyone, can we please welcome FASE's newest member, Pledis Entertainment's Kim Min Hee, the leader of S.A.L.T, "Seven Angels Lighting Tomorrow"!

The girls all jumped up, running to go embrace Min Hee. The screeched, group-hugging her tightly. She just squirmed in their grip, trying not to run away. "Yes, I know, I didn't want to be a member of FASE until now. But I have to hang out with people outside of Pledis once and a while, or I'll just go crazy!"

"Tell Aron to come join us! He can talk to Krystal!" Henry jeered.

"Me?! Why me?!" she wondered, surprised.

"You're close to his age!"

"No. Talk to him yourself."

"Hey, is there something wrong with Aron?" Min Hee asked indignantly.

"No, nothing. We need as many people as people as we can. We have to beat Chocoball!"

"We don't even know what we're going to do..."

"It doesn't matter!" I argued. "We're watching Lilo and Stitch."

"What?! No!" Jessica argued, and then I got the whole gamut of Disney movies.

"I don't care. If we can't agree on something, then I'm making the executive decision. My house, my executive privilege. Otherwise we're all watching anime tonight. So Lilo and Stitch!" I picked up the box and handed it to Min Hee. "Would you put this in for me, dear? I'm going to get some hors d'oveurs."

"Oh, you're cooking?" Henry asked.

"Yes. That is the general rule as a hostess," I called from the kitchen.

"Oh, really, then--"

"Henry, if you dare say 'woman, make me a sandwich...!"

"Woman, make me a sandwich!"

"Shut up, Min Hee!" I walked out with a tray of cheese and sausage and a bowl of popcorn. I bonked Henry over the head with the tray, then made a face at Min Hee. "Alright, movie time! Oh, and thank you all for coming. Really."

 From the kitchen slinked my kitten, still not quite an adult, and went to brush against Jessica's legs and then curl up on the arm of the couch behind Sam's head, playing with his hair.

"You have a cat!" Sam commented, turning around to look at him.

"Yup. Don't mind him. He's very friendly. Just a big furball, really."

"What's his name?"

"KyuMin," I said, not thinking about it.

"Wait, KyuMin? I didn't know you were a fan of--" Hanbyul began, before I cut him off.

"Oh, sorry, not that Kyumin. The one from your group. No, he's named after a... different... KyuMin. you know..."

"Oh." He did look disappointed, though. I tried not to laugh. 

"Okay, movie night starting! Be sure to eat some cheese! It's compliments of my advertising company!"

"Oh geez, Mel and her cheese..."

The movie began with the sound of me popping Henry over the head.