Eunhae-- I mean, Eunhyuk and Donghae-- had to leave when our class ended, so they gave me their phone numbers (keep heartbeat under control), asked me for mine, which I gave, and then left, to go to their own dance practices. As soon as they were gone, I made my way out of the room as quickly as possible, to avoid getting swamped by the rest of my class. I said goodbye to Min Hee, then grabbed my stuff and high-tailed it out of there. 

Henry followed me out, walking with me to my vocal lesson. "Hey Mel..."

I knew that tone. It was the same one he had used when he had asked me to buy coffee for him. He wanted something.

I braced myself. "Yeees?"

"Are you doing anything on Sunday? Anything major, that is?"

"No, not really. Why?"

"Can you..." he seemed to not know how to start, and then suddenly the words tumbled out, falling all over each other. "Can you please be my helper for the publicity event that's happening here on Sunday? Manager won't be able to come, so I really need someone to help me out with everything, and I don't know who else to ask, and-"

I cut him off. "You want me to be your helper? What kind of event? What will I be doing?" I knew I was probably going to end up doing it anyway, but I still wanted to know what I was facing.

"Well, there's a big exhibition going on tomorrow for some businesspeople that are thinking of investing in SM, so we have photography set up, and interviews, and even a few performances. It's all going to be filmed."

Woah. It sounded big and important, something I hadn't heard about as a trainee. "But what do you need me for?"

"I need someone to manage my schedule and take care of little things while I'm busy. Like, taking costumes back and forth, running and getting stuff for me... it means you'll be backstage for everything, if that means anything! You'll be able to meet people from all kinds of other groups!"

I pretended to think for a moment, when I'd really already decided. "Well, okay. When should I be here?"

"I'll just go and get you from your dorm at around six in the morning. That okay?"

"Sure. Should I dress nice?"

"Business-y."

"Great. see you on Sunday then, Henry."

I went into my classroom, waving goodbye to him. He smiled and waved, then disappeared down the hallway.

True to his word, Henry was at our dorm at right around six  a.m. Actually, I'd fully expected him to be late. But he wasn't, so I was still brushing my teeth when he knocked. I opened the door, my toothbrush still in my hand, then ran to the bathroom to rinse out my mouth. Min Hee, still in bed, just grumbled something and rolled over. She slept like a rock. 

"Hang on a second; I'm almost ready!" I yelled to him from the bathroom. My teeth squeaky clean, I ran out, grabbing my purse, checking to make sure I had everything, then indicated the door. "Shall we?"

"We shall." He grinned, following me through the door and closing it behind me. I had a full day ahead of me, although I still wasn't entirely sure what it entailed.

It turned out to be not too bad. As Henry went from event to violin performance to interview to a performance of "Maxstep" with Younique Unit (Comprised of Henry and Eunhyuk from Super Junior, Hyoyeon from Girls' Generation, SHINee's Taemin, and two EXO members. I didn't actually see the performance, or meet any of them; I waited outside), I found myself testing my knowledge of the shape of the building. Running to get coffee. Running to go get the next of Henry's outfits to go get changed. Holding his violin for him. Answering his phone for him (now that was awkward). I was busy doing some thing or another pretty much all day, but it was actually kind of fun. I saw all kinds of groups and artists there, although I didn't have the time to get to talk to any of them.

Finally, Henry was in an interview, so I had a little bit of a break. Happy for the breathing time, I went to the break room to get a cup of tea. I still had one of Henry's leather jackets tucked under my arm (Jealous!), but i figured that could wait. Before I got there, though, I heard heard someone yelling in Korean. 

"Hyung! You broke my necklace! You're so clumsy! Do you know how much this cost me?! I was shopping for hours before I found this!"

Sigh. I hated people yelling at others for accidents, since I always made so many.

"Here, just give it to me, I can fix it..." Oh crap. "Key... sunbae..." I squeezed my eyes shut. Me and my horrible luck. And my terrible mouth. Hello, SHINee's diva, Kim Kibum, who we called Key so we wouldn't confuse him with the Super Junior member also named Kim Kibum. 

He didn't seem to notice my embarrassment; just jumped up and ran to me. 

"Really?! You can fix it?! How?!" He was getting a little too close for comfort. And I don't think he even realized how loudly he was talking. 

Wincing, I pulled my jewelry kit out of my purse. "I keep this with me, just in case. Here, Sunbae, can i see it?"

Only too eager, he dumped the necklace into my hands, and I sat down at the table with it. I carefully laid it out on the table, to investigate the break. 

"Are there any beads missing?"

"No, that's all of them."

"Okay. Well, give me a minute." It was a wire and string necklace, so I'd need a combination of tools. I ped my pliers case and pulled out a pair of needle-nosed ones, gripping the wire with it. "I think if I just add a bit of string, re-string the beads, and then twist the wire closed, I can fix it pretty quickly." I cut a piece of string, focusing on my work. "You really shouldn't yell at people, Sunbae. I mean, it was an accident, right?" I looked up, and felt my heart drop to my feet.

"Onew... Sun...bae." Great, so I was now acting like a random businesswoman in front of not only one SHINee member, but two. Ali and Eliz would die to be in my spot right now. Not that they knew how to mend broken jewelry. 

"Yes, Key, it was an accident! Respect your leader!"

Key rolled his eyes. Yeah, I didn't know SHINee that much, but I had heard enough from Eliz to know that no one listened to Onew.

Figuring that getting too involved in the conversation would only lead to more embarrassment for me, I decided to focus on the necklace. If I really could fix it, maybe they may not even think that it's weird.

"Why would you just carry stuff like that with you?" Onew asked, watching over my shoulder. 

"Well, jewelry-making is one of my hobbies. And if you can make it, you can fix it. Sometimes I've had issues with my earrings getting caught in things and breaking, so I started to carry it with me." 

Key was leaning over, watching me extremely carefully. It wouldn't have been so bad, but he was getting uncomfortably close again. 

"Um, I'm sorry, Key-sunbae, but can you please back up a bit? You're making it hard to focus."

He backed up, about two inches, just staring at me. It was getting really creepy. 

"Is there something you want to ask, Sunbae?" I asked, just trying to distract him. 

"Why do you keep calling me 'Sunbae'?"

Uh... because you are? No no, Mel, don't speak informally. "You're a debuted singer. I'm a trainee. Doesn't that make you my sunbaes?"

They exchanged glaces. "Wait, you're a trainee?!" Key yelled, then yanked out the chair next to me and sat in it. "But you're White!"

"I'm glad you noticed." Oops, the sarcasm slipped out again. I had a feeling that maintaining formal speech was going to be my biggest issue in Korea. 

"No, I think Key means that he thought you were from one of the companies that's visiting today. We didn't guess that you were a trainee..."

"So where are you from?" Key asked, then, switching over to English excitedly, "You speak English, right?!"

"I'm from Wisconsin, so yeah."

"Wisconsin? Where's that?" The words had come from Onew's mouth, but I could see the question on both of their faces. 

Oh geez. They don't even know where Wisconsin is. My hometown I could see, but the entire state?

"It's one of the United States. You know, Wisconsin? The cheese state? Green Bay Packers?" 

They gave me blank stares. I give up. "Oh, never mind. I'm from a country town in the U.S.A, alright?' Snipping a bit of wire with my cutters, I twisted it closed and then held it out to Key. "See? All better. Good as new. Now, if you'll excuse me..."

My phone buzzed, and I winced, seeing the caller I.D. It was Henry. He must be upset that I'd disappeared.

"Henry, I'm so sorry! I went to the break room to get a cup of tea, and got... distracted. I'll be there in a second!"

I flipped my phone closed, going back to the table to retrieve Henry's jacket only to find that Key was wearing it. 

"Is this Henry-shi's? He asked, examining the quality of the leather, and then looking up at me. "Wait... I know who you are now! You're the American trainee that everyone keeps calling 'Henry's pet!' You just answered his phone call, and you have his jacket; you must be! I'm right, aren't I?" He beamed, triumphant at his realization, although it really wasn't really much of a revelation. Honestly, I thought half of the people at the company knew who I was at this point, because of the "Henry's pet" thing. Sometimes, when people didn't know my name, they'd call me that to try to get my attention. The sad thing was that I was getting so used to it that I was starting to respond to it. 

"Yes, that's me, or so I've been told. Now, can I have Henry's jacket back? I really have to get back to him." 

"Sure, Henry's pet," he mocked, sliding the jacket off, "It's a pretty good piece of leather, but I think it would've been better if it were hot pink. You tell him that. See ya, Jewelry Girl!"

"Yeah, sure," I replied, 100% certain that I'd be telling him nothing of the sort. "Bye Key-sunbae, Onew-sunbae." 

It wasn't until I had gotten back to Henry that I realized that I hadn't even gotten my tea. Oh well, it was my own fault. Henry didn't seem to be mad, but he did remind me that he was now going to be late. I apologized a bunch of times, then rushed him down to his next event; a dance preview with the rest of Super Junior M for their upcoming repackage of the "Break Down" album. Henry ran into the changing room to get his costume on, and I meandered into the set, but not before taking care to look for any filming cameras, in case I got in the way of anything. A few staff milled about, but I didn't see any of the other members. They must still be in the changing room. 

I looked around the set, wondering what the song would be like. I reached out to touch the backdrop, then felt a hand on my shoulder. "Excuse me, but are you Choi Minsung?"

"Umm... yes?" I said it like it was a question, because I couldn't see why anyone would be looking for me today. As a trainee, I wasn't even supposed to be there. For that particular day, more than ever, I was an extension of Henry. 

"If you could please come with me; the company has something it needs you to do."

"Me?" I squeaked, "But what do you need me for? What about Henry? I can't just ditch him..."

"Please refer to your sunbaes formally, Minsung."

"Sorry. What about Henry-shi?" Henry had personally forbid me from referring to him formally, so I found it slightly ironic. 

"We'll have a staff member take over for you. Minsung, if you please, we have something we need you to do. We're willing to give you a small payment for your help."

"Well... alright." Poor trainee, remember? I'll jump at the chance to earn money. "But give me a moment, please." I got out my phone and sent Henry a quick text, then stuck it back in my purse. "Alright, what do you want me to do?" I asked, beginning to follow the man out of the room.

"You know today is mostly for investors, yes?"

"Yes."

"One of the groups is a company from the United States. If the company can convince them to invest, they'd be a huge gain for the company. However, very few people in this company speak English, which is something that we can't afford to reveal to them."

"So... you want me to work as a translator?" 

"No. You'll be greeting them, guiding them through the company, showing them through the exhibits."

"Ooohhh, so you want me to make the company look good, as if we're saying 'Hey, this isn't an-all Asian company. Look, we have White American employees.'"

"Exactly. You catch on quickly, Minsung."

"I have a tendency to jump to the worst conclusions right away. Usually, I'm right."

"Just do your best, Minsung. Make SM look like an ideal place to invest. Meet them in the main lobby. You'll be able to tell who they are. Here, this is your tour schedule. The company name is on there. Oh, and your name tag. Now, I'll take my leave."

By myself, by myself, by myself, advocating that SM was a great and wonderful magical world that treated its artists like royalty, that spoke wonderful, flawless English, that was not racially segregated. Lies, lies, lies, lies, was what my mind screamed at me. They were taking me away from Henry so they could pay me to lie through my teeth. I'm a terrible liar. I was terrified to see how this would turn out.

Nonetheless, if I did a good job, Min Hee and I might be able to eat beef today. I might even get a good reputation within the company. Thus I decided to do my best, finishing pinning my nametag on just about the time that the businessmen I was to guide around walked in. Be dazzling. Be charming. Lie through your teeth, but don't let them know that.

"Hello, are you the men from Verizon phone company?"

"Yes, that would be us."

"My name's Melissa; I work for SM. I'll be your guide around the exhibitions today." I smiled and held out my hand, which he shook. 

"I honestly didn't expect fora girl like yourself to be meeting us here. You said you work for SM?"

"Yes, I'm a trainee here. If you would, shall we begin the tour?" I asked, trying to get the questions about myself limited as much as possible. I hoped he wouldn't try to go back to that topic. 

Fortunately, he didn't, just nodding and indicating to his entourage to follow him. I kept my mind under control, trying to guide them around without mentioning the deeper truths of things.

Here we have a group of our artists practicing one of their dances. In this room, some of our producers are organizing a concert for this winter; please look forward to it. Here we have the solo artist BoA, famous in both Korea and Japan, practicing one of her new songs. Isn't her voice pretty? She's also an amazing dancer. 

We came to the place I had left Henry in, and when he saw me, he came running out. "Mel~! Why'd you leave?"

"I got roped into showing these people around the company. Sorry, I'll try to make it up to you later," I murmured to him in Korean, hoping that he'd understand that image was important right now. 

"And who is this?" One of the investors asked. 

"This is Super Junior M's very own Henry Lau. He's very talented, being a rapper, singer, and dancer, and also able to play several instruments, especially the violin."

"Aw, shucks, Mel, you flatter me."

"Shut up, Henry!" I hissed, then went back to my explanation, "Henry's actually from Canada. He speaks fluent English. Don't you, Henry?" I elbowed him.

"What? Oh, yeah. Hello, I'm Henry Lau. Nice to meet you."

They seemed impressed. "Yes, it's nice to meet you, too, Henry. You're a part of Super Junior-M? What's that?"

"A subgroup of Super Junior," I explained, "They're the group of Super Junior that performs songs in Mandarin, thus the suffix 'M' for 'Mandarin'. They're very successful in China."

"We're working on a performance in here, if you want to see," Henry offered, finally catching on.

"Yes, please," one of the businessmen said.

I guided them in, but stayed in the back, hiding behind them (Since they were all taller than me by at least a foot, it wasn't really that hard), because I still was too embarassed to let Kyuhyun see me. When the performance was over, I waved goodbye to Henry, still hiding, then showed my group through the door. 

"Now, if you would, there's a meeting going on in one of the offices, if you'd like to oversee it. Refreshments will be served to us there."

"Sounds good. Show us the way, Miss Melissa." I'd gotten so used to formalities at the end of names instead of the beginning that it sounded weird to me. But I did as was asked, leading them to the office. 

"This seems like a very well-run company. Everybody looks like they're enjoying themselves," I heard one of them say, making me cringe. Yeah, they all looked like they were having fun. they were supposed to. But I'd spent the entire morning backstage with those people; I knew that in reality they were all bone-tired and overworked. 

But I didn't say that. Instead I said, "SM is an incredible Entertainment company. The music industry is chaotic and difficult to handle, but somehow it always seems to manage it like clockwork." I made it sound like a compliment, but it was hard to keep the bitter edge out of my voice. The company managed itself like clockwork alright. It wasn't satisfied until everyone in it was a part of the machine. Mindless. Opinionless. I was only a trainee, and already I'd been working myself to death, and had been treated completely unfairly. Min Hee and I were running out of savings, and were having difficulty figuring out a way to live. SM wouldn't give us any living money, but it wouldn't let us get jobs, either. And I had it easy. I'd seen Henry plenty of times after a long schedule, where I was afraid he was going to collapse from exhaustion. 

I heard someone ask me something, but I didn't catch it, deep in thought as I was. "I'm sorry, sir, what was that?"

"Do you enjoy being a trainee here, Melissa?" 

I bit my lip, not sure how I should answer that question. Did I enjoy being a trainee there? The answer was yes, I enjoyed it. It was fun and rewarding, but it wasn't painless, and there were times I really hated it.

"I'm really proud to be working here," was all I said. 

"That's good, then," one of them said thoughtfully. "Thank you, Melissa."

Finally I finished giving them the tour, returning to Henry drained of energy from the effort of plastering a charming smile on and telling partial-truths. But I had a packet of money in my pocket to compensate for it somewhat, at least. 

Henry was as energetic as ever, but I could tell he was tired from the bags under his eyes. "Finished?" He asked. 

I nodded. "You?"

"For today. I'm starving; let's go get something to eat. You said you'd make it up to me."

"Sorry, Henry, I promised Min Hee I'd go buy us meat today, since I got paid for giving the tour."

He thought for a moment. "Then I'll just eat with you!"

"What?"

"I'll just go to the dorm with you and try your cooking!" He mimicked my own evil laugh. "Feed me, Mel! Feed me, feed me, feed me!" 

"Okay okay okay, fine! But don't be too obnoxious, alright? Pinky swear?"

"Sure." He hooked his pinky through mine, grinning. "I hope you're a good cook, because I'm going to be comparing your cooking with Ryeowook's."

"That's not fair! He cooks for more than ten people! He has more experience!" Not to mention that I already knew that Wookie was a fantastic cook.

"Too bad!" Henry yelled, grabbing my arm and yanking me out the door.