It had only been a couple weeks since my almost-brush with Kyuhyun, and I'd been spending a lot of time with Henry. The girls at school hated me more than ever since Henry decided to try cafeteria food, but I was kind of enjoying it. John and I got away with all kinds of things, to include "accidentally" dropping a bucket of hot pink paint on some of the most preppy girls and then stating that they now were 100% the most fashionable color. The teachers helped clean them up, we went home laughing. No detention, no nothing. After all, they were the ones who kept distracting us from our project. 

Min Hee and I were exhausting ourselves every day, but it still wasn't too bad. I felt a real reason to go do what I did every day for once. It was getting harder and harder to get up in the mornings, even for me, but that didn't hinder us any. I barely had any time for my homework and always spent half of my Sundays catching up from the rest of the week, but I never fell behind in class. I was learning Korean increasingly quickly; already I could understand the vast majority of what our teacher was saying without Min Hee having to translate. That's what happens when you don't have too many people around you that speak your own language. Things were going well for me.

Today, however, was the day of our dance pre-test, and Sunsaeng had told us that he was bringing in some special guests to help judge us, and both Min Hee and I were shaking with nerves. Just who was it going to be? 

I was extremely nervous for the test, but before I went to the dance practice room, I stopped by the front desk. 

"Excuse me, but can you tell me where I might find Producer Kangta?"

The woman behind the desk looked at me skeptically. "Please, Agashi. We don't admit fangirls to go see him."

"No, I'm not a fangirl. I have something for him."

"Agashi, do you think we haven't heard that before? You're not getting in. This won't work. Please go home."

"No, you don't understand. I'm a trainee here at SM; I have a song for Producer Kangta. It's not a present; it's something he told me to do. 'I give. You read, you fix. Give back'. That's what he told me. So I'm here to give it back..."

"You can give him your gifts and get his autograph at a fan signing event. Please wait until then."

"No, you don't understand, I-"

"Mel, are these people giving you trouble?" It was Henry.

I nodded, indicating the desk ladies. "Yes! I have something to give to Producer Kangta, something that he told me to do, but they won't believe me!"

"Kangta asked you to do something?" He seemed genuinely shocked.

"Yeah, you'd never believe it. He ran into our room at two in the morning, gave me this song and told me to edit the English. I guess he must know about what I said during my audition somehow."

"Wow... that's really weird." He shook his head, as if to shake the thought away. "Well, why won't they let you see him? He should be in today..."

"They think I'm some kind of obsessed fan girl."

"That's ridiculous; You're not Kangta's fan, you're my fan!"

"I know! That's what I keep trying to tell them!" 

"Well, let me see what I can do," he replied determinedly, "Ladies, are you giving my friend Minsung here problems?"

"Henry-shi, this is your friend?" 

"Yes. She's my friend and my fan. Not Kangta's. If she says she has something important for him, then she does. I swear. If she creates problems, you can blame me."

"Well... okay. If you insist, Henry-shi. He should be working in office forty-three, Minsung-shi." 

"Thank you." I bowed, and started walking away, unsurprised when Henry came with me. 

"And where are you going?" I asked.

"I figured I'd tag along. I'm going the same place as you after this."

"The dance pretest?" I was feeling a stone in my stomach.

"Yup. I'm one of the judges. I won't tell you who the others are. It's a surprise."

I grimaced. "That's comforting."

"You're welcome!"

We arrived at office 42, and I knocked on the door, waiting for a response. I heard one, in Korean. 

"That means 'come in', right?" I asked Henry. He just rolled his eyes and nodded. 

I went in, tightly holding the papers with the song on it. Sure enough, there was Kangta, behind the desk. He seemed to be writing something, focusing hard on it. He looked up when we came in.

"Ah, Minsung! Are you here with my song? And Henry?"

Henry shrugged, plunking down in one of the chairs. Kangta regarded me for a moment. "I knew there was a trainee that people were calling 'Henry's pet'. Is that you?"

"I guess so. It kind of ended up that way. Anyway, um, here's your song. Your English lyrics were, uh... bad. But I did my best to fix them in a way that made sense, but still suited the cadence and meaning of the song. I hope I did a good job."

He took the papers from me, skimming over the words. "This is acceptable. Thank you."

I bowed. "It's no problem." That was a bit of a lie; it had taken a lot of time and headaches to fix it, but I'm pretty sure that's not what he wanted to hear.

"I don't have much money on me right now, so you'll have to wait until next week for me to be able to pay you. Is that alright?"

I shook my head. "No, that's alright. You don't have to pay me." Henry gave me a weird look, like he was questioning my sanity. Admittedly, I was a poor trainee, so if I were in my right mind I'd jump at the chance of earning money. But I had something else in mind.

"You don't have to pay me," I continued, "but I want to make sure that I get officially credited for helping with the song. It might be a huge step forward for me as a songwriter."

Kangta pursed his lips, thinking for a moment, then nodded, smiling. "Alright, Minsung. You'll get credit for helping me, I swear it. Here, I'll sign proof."

Quickly he wrote something down, and then signed it and handed it to me. I'm not sure if this was a legitimate promise; he could easily cheat me out of it still. I was taking a leap of faith. But if I succeeded, that leap of faith just might help me fly. 

I bowed, thanked him, then headed through the dorr. Henry sprang to his feet and came with me. 

"Well, that was a risky move. You realize that he could totally just pretend that you had nothing to do with it?"

"He could. But if he does, I don't really lose anything, do I? If he doesn't, I gain a reputation as a songwriter. It's a chance I'm willing to take." 

Henry had to admit that I had a point. We walked the rest of the way to the dance practice room in silence, him looking at his phone and me lost in thought.

I met Min Hee in the practice room as usual, and she waved at Henry when he came in. Most of our class was there, we were just waiting for Sunsaeng and the rest of our judges. My heart had quieted over the course of the day, but it was pounding harder than ever now. 

Sunsaeng entered the room. "Everyone here?"

General concensus, yes. We were too eager to meet our mysterious guests. Who could it be?

"Great; that means that your performance should go perfectly today. Henry, I see that you're already here. As for your other judges, you're doing a Super Junior song, so I figured it would only make sense to have Super Junior members judge you."

Oh no. Oh crap. Oh s***. 

Henry grinned at me as two people came through the door. I thought I was going to throw up, my stomach was fluttering so obnoxiously. Oh God. Oh God Oh God Oh God. Why did I meet my idols so much? And why did it have to be when I was doing the one thing I at more than anything else?

"EunHae..." I felt the words escape my lips in a whisper. Min Hee leaned over closer to me. 

"What was that, Mel? I couldn't hear you."

"Eunhyuk/Donghae. EunHae. They're judging us. They're two of Super junior's best dancers. And they're judging us." I was shaking. Deep breaths. I could do this. I had done it yesterday without messing up even once. 

"Are you okay, Mel? You don't look so good."

"I feel like I'm going to be sick. Min Hee, I can't do this! I'm going to mess up so bad! And in front of Super Junior members! What will they think of me?!"

Min Hee rolled her eyes. "Come on, don't do this to me again. You can do this. I believe in you. Henry believes in you. Bloody Hell, Mel, you can't back out on us now! You're the only one who can do the evil laugh at the end of the song! Won't they be impressed by that? Don't forget, we got into SM for what we can do, not what we can't. Just think about what you're good at. The rest will follow on its own."

I nodded slowly, finding my eyes darting over to Eunhyuk and Donghae, who were talking animatedly with Henry. 

"I know you look at their pictures and listen to their music when you feel like things are getting too hard. They make you stronger. Now they're here. They're here to help us. Help you. That should make you draw even more strength." Min Hee's eyes were steady. 

I took a deep breath. She was right, as usual. I took my position in the room, smiling at Henry, Donghae, and Eunhyuk. I was myself-- strong, fierce, unyielding, powerful me. I was the very embodiment of the ELF. I drew strength from the Super Junior members, and they drew their strength from my fangirl love. And I was going to show them that. Even if I mostly danced in the back. Even if I didn't have very many lines. I was an ELF. I needed nothing else.

Henry gave me an encouraging thumbs-up. Unlike the others, he had been there to see our progress over the past few days. 

The music started. Min Hee took over, running through the steps of the dance easily. I could see Eunhyuk smile. He whispered soemthing to Donghae, looking at Min Hee. I could see why he had special interest in her. After all, in the actual Super Junior performances, that would be Eunhyuk's spot.

Right, left, spin. Right foot twist. Change places with Jung Ah. Refrain. Beg for forgiveness, fingersnap and leg twists out. Switch with Kwon Mei. The movements were running through me like electricity. I hadn't stumbled yet. My eyes kept flicking to Donghae and Eunhyuk. I couldn't seem to stop looking at them. 

Switch with Jung Ah again. Oh no! Jung Ah, the other way, the other way! She had gone in front of me, instead of the way we had practiced--stepping behind me. I tried to follow the choreography. She didn't. She bumped into me, hard, throwing off my sense of the movements. I was in position, but my moves were slow. 

I started to panic. I had to catch up! I had to fix this! I had to-

I met Henry's eyes. They weren't full of disappointment. Not even amusement. Only... trust. He believed in me. Henry believed in me. As I turned to move on, I thought I saw a little flick of an encouraging smile. My eyes found Eunhyuk and Donghae again. "I am an ELF" I thought.

My body found its rhythm again. Just in time-- the hand dance started. Right hand, left hand, spin left arm, up, left, spin left arm again, bring arms up, bring hands up to mid-chest in "prayer", curl down left. curl down right.

I had gotten it right. None of the rest of the song mattered. I had gotten the hand dance right. I had gotten it right. 

I was pulsing with an exhilarating energy. The dance closed, my classmates bending over in a circle around me and the girl who was doing Kyuhyun's part. I was filled to the brim with overwhelming electricity, and now was my moment. It burst, flowing out of my tongue in the form of a short, high-pitched cackle. The laugh at the end of "Sorry Sorry". It was perfect. I had done it perfectly. 

"So, judges, what did you think?"

I was no longer nervous. Even if Donghae and Eunhyuk said that I had been terrible, I would take it was friendly criticism and not be embarassed. I was filled with sapphire blue energy. 

"Who was the girl who did my part?" Eunhyuk blurted out.

Blushing, and breathing hard, Min Hee stepped out. "Naya".

"That was awesome! Round of applause for this girl! What's your name again?"

 "Kim Min Hee..."

"Round of applause for Kim Min Hee!" 

I clapped, honestly proud of her, and laughed. Eunhyuk wasn't someone to be afraid of- he was someone to laugh at. 

"Actually, this is a really good class. They're all very good workers." Donghae beamed at us. I thought I was going to cry. "Even the ones I can tell aren't natural dancers still looked like they practiced a lot and really put their all into this. I'm impressed. My dance class when I was a trainee wasn't this good." I felt like he was talking to me. I wanted to run out and give him a hug, to thank him a thousand times for speaking so highly of us. 

"Was there any particular thing you noticed?" Sunsaeng asked them

"At one point, two of the dancers collided, because of a mistake. We know this dance pretty well, so I knew whose fault it was. The one who made the mistake threw the other one off, but she recovered pretty well. I don't think this class has any weak links," Henry explained, winking at me.

"Yeah, I saw that!" Eunhyuk exclaimed. "Like a pro!"

Sungsaeng smiled. I'm pretty sure the whole class was ready to faint, because that was the first time we had ever seen him smile. "Well then, judges. It's your job to put these different students into their different classes. Class A, B, or C. Tell me by the end of this week."

The three of them nodded, and then Sunsaeng shrugged. "That's all of class today, guys. Feel free to ask our SuJu members any questions." He waved and went out the door.

As soon as he was gone, there was a flurry of movement: people running to Min Hee to thank her, people turning to their neighbor to ask how they had done, and people running to Eunhyuk and Donghae to gush. Me, I went to Henry.

"So, how do you really think I did?" I asked, a bit loudly to go over the noise.

"You . You're a complete embarassment to this entire company."

I made a face at him. "You jerk."

"Just kidding," he grinned, ruffling my hair.

"Now come on, let's go talk to my hyungs! Donghae-hyung! Eunhyuk-hyung!"

The other girls made way for Henry, leading me by the hand. I could feel my cheeks reddening again. God, they were so hot. Fishy and Hyukkie. I will admit, I had quite literally started to drool from watching some of their performances. To be this close to them was like...

Like Hell! As soon as we got within three feet of them, a wretched odor hit my nose. I started to gag. Other people were looking at me like I was nuts. I guess they couldn't smell it, since I had a really sensitive sense of smell. But it was like a combination of mold and rotten eggs. It smelled awful. 

I put my hand over my mouth, trying not to be rude. Henry introduced me to the two of them, and I tried to bow without breathing. It didn't work. I came back up and saw them looking at me with concern, and gasped, filling my lungs with that awful scent. And it was coming from Eunhyuk.

"Is there something wrong?" Eunhyuk asked.

"I'm sorry, it's just that you..." My eyes were watering, but I didn't know how to say this without insulting him. "You smell... really bad!"

Henry and Donghae burst out laughing. They nudged Eunhyuk, who was laughing embarassedly himself.

"It can't be that bad, can it?" He asked me, but Henry and Donghae were still laughing at him. 

"It is! It is!" Henry yelled, answering for him. "His feet smell soooo bad!!!!"

I, however, shook my head, still covering my nose. "No, sunbae, it's not! It's not! I just have a sensitive sense of smell, that's all! Things smell a lot stronger to me than they do to most people!"

Min Hee, savior as ever, meandered over to us and handed me a bottle of air freshener. "I stole this from the cleaning lady's closet. You are really hopeless, Mel."

I bowed to Eunhyuk, feeling really embarassed about what I was about to do. "I'm sorry, Eunhyuk-sunbae." I closed my eyes, opened the bottle, and sprayed.

I opened my eyes, expecting him to look angry, but instead he was pretending to be a flower, bathing in his new scent. Donghae was trying to run away from him. Henry, on the other hand, was hiding behind Min Hee. 

"Look out!" Henry yelled, "she's got a bottle of air freshener and she's not afraid to use it!" 

I burst out laughing, my attempts to hold my breath failing again. Air streamed into my lungs-- clean, un-Eunhyuk-scented air. I handed the bottle back to Min Hee and bowed again to Eunhyuk. "I'm sorry, Sunbae. Here, let me try this again. My name is Melissa, or Minsung. I'm a trainee at SM, and want to be a songwriter, to fix SM's Engrish problem. I'm happy to meet you."

Henry bounded over, then put his arm around my shoulders. "Aaaand she's my English buddy! And I'm sure she's really happy that she's meeting you, because she's a Su-"

I clapped my hand over his mouth, cutting him off midsentence. "Henry, you can't just go around telling people that!" I hissed in English. As I expected, EunHae- I mean, Eunhyuk and Donghae- didn't understand. 

"But why? You are..."

"What do you think people will think of me if they think I'm just here because I'm a fangirl?! I'm here to be a songwriter."

I let go of Henry, turning back to EunHae- I mean, Eunhyuk and Donghae- and saying, "Sorry, what Henry meant to say is that I'm super jealous of your dance skills. You two are my... role models in this category. I'm not much of a dancer, but I hope I can be as successful as you are."

They seemed to accept this. "Well, it's nice to meet you, Minsung," Donghae said, bowing.

"I'm honored, Fishy." The words slipped out of my mouth before I really realized it. Crap.

"Fishy? My nickname?" 

"I'm sorry, Sunbae!" Curse me and my brain-mouth problem! 

Min Hee looked at me curiously. "Didn't you call them EunHae before?"

I really wanted to be one of Yesung's turtles right then, so I could hide in my shell. 

Eunhyuk's mouth dropped open. "You mean, you don't think that we're...?" He pointed to Donghae.

"Umm, no, it's just, uhh...." Keep your cool, Mel. Just tell the truth. That's what you're good at. 

"Well, whether you are or you aren't, it doesn't bother me any. The rest of the ELF think the same."

"You're an ELF?!"

The rest of my class spun around to look at me. Well, looks like the secret's out. Thank you very much for blurting that, Fishy. 

"Yeah... I'm a bit of a... fan."

"You're the first trainee we've met who'se an ELF!" Eunhyuk shouted. "Wait, so the ELF really do pair us together?"

"A lot."

"Woah! Tell me more!" Donghae squeezed closer to me. "Which member is the most popular? Me, right? Who has the most fans?"

"At this point I'd say probably Han Geng."

"Take a picture with me!" Eunhyuk yelled, pulling out his camera. 

Henry laughed. "Mel, you are now our informant on the opinions of the ELF. Do you accept this position?"

"Um... yeah, sure." I replied, as Eunhyuk put his arm around my shoulder and held his phone out to take a picture. I was certain that everyone was watching me. The center of attention.

Okay, I am now officially a freaked out fangirl. Members of Super Junior just as excited to meet me as I am to meet them? Now this was a new concept.