True to her word, Min Hee arrived at the dorm in less than two minutes, breathing hard. She looked less than happy, going straight to her brother. 

"What do you want?" she hissed icily.

"Can I not see my baby sister's new home?" Jay asked innocently.

"No. And I'm not your baby sister. I'm your only sister. Don't you have a business to run? Why are you here?"

"To visit, naturally. I was in the area and decided to drop by."

"Yeah, right. You were just on a pleasant stroll around London and just happened to pass by Korea. If you were going to visit, you should have called me beforehand."

"I was afraid that you'd lock the door and refuse to see me."

"You have good instinct."

Okay, I could be wrong, but I could have sworn that Min Hee had told me that she got along just fine with her brother. This did not look like getting along. 

"Mom sent you, didn't she?" Min Hee's voice was flat. 

"You caught me."

"I knew it.," Min Hee growled. This was the most emotion I'd seen from her. Even more than the blind fury she had shown me when we first met. This time it was more cold, boiling emotions, like there was something deep, dark, and unforgivable going on. "You always do exactly what she tells you. Momma's little baby."

Oooohhhh, I saw what was going on here. Classic, older-younger children conflict. Big brother's Mom's favorite, so little sister is jealous, and does whatever she can to get Momma's attention, even if it means getting in trouble. Defying Mom's wishes, doing exactly what she doesn't want you to do...

Wait, wait. I doubted it was that bad. It was impossible to picture Min Hee as some kind of pitiful juvenile delinquent. Still, I was pretty sure that I was on the right track.

"She wants you to come back. Come on, Min Hee, don't be crazy. How can you live like this? You barely have money for food. You can't get a job because your company won't let you, so you're living off of your roommate's family. You were brought up in a good home. You shouldn't be living in a dump like this."

"Hey! I resent that statement!" I exclaimed, "This place is not a dump! We fixed it up ourselves!"

Min Hee gave me this look, like "Stay out of it, Mel."

Realizing that I was interfering in brother-sister arguement time, I muttered something about having to go to the bathroom, and then escaped. I only lasted a few seconds before the curiousity got to me, though, so I sat on the bathroom floor and leaned against the door to hear what was going on in the other room. It wasn't too hard. The sound resistance of the walls was so bad that I would've been able to hear them, even if they were whispering. Which, of course, they weren't. Not even remotely.

"Performing is my dream! I'm willing to put up with anything if it means that I can achieve that!" Min Hee screeched.

"Your counter is a broken table! You share your bedroom with your kitchen! You can't possibly be happy here."

"I have never been happier. Being poor? Having nothing? It's just dust in the wind, because every day I go to SM and feel like I belong. Like I can be myself. I never felt like that at home, because Mom and Dad always wanted me to be you. I'm not you, Jay. I never will be. And you knew that. You never forced me. You were the one who bought me roller skates; who paid for my piano lessons, my dance classes. I loved you for that. Why would you do all of that, and then tell me to give it up?"

Wow, so her brother really did care. How rich were they?! Piano lessons and dance classes weren't cheap. Still, it was hard to believe that he would do all of that, and Min Hee would hate him.

"It made you happy. You liked to do it, so I indulged you. Mom and dad told me that I shouldn't give you ideas, but I insisted that it was harmless. I never expected that you would actually leave home. All the way to Korea? Bloody Hell, Min Hee, Mom's going crazy without you. When she found out how you were living, I thought she was going to pull out all of her hair. She's worried, Sis."

"She's the one who refused to give me any support! She refused to accept that I was leaving, so denied me any help from the family."

"She thought that if she did that, you might not go."

"I left anyway. And you knew I would."

"She doesn't want you to live like a poor person. How many people are actually succesful as singers? Those that aren't, what happens to them? They live the rest of their lives the way you are right now: with nothing. Because they gave up everything for an empty chance. That's what Mom's trying to stop. Just come back home, Min Hee. Before it gets worse. What are you going to do if your roommate suddenly decides that she's not going to waste her money on you anymore? What if she feels like you're useless baggage, and she can't afford to help you anymore?"

"Mel wouldn't do that."

I was proud of her faith in me. Actually, I had been quite tempted to fly out of the bathroom at several  points in the argument, but I hadn't. Especially if it meant that I wouldn't be able to hear Min Hee being this strong and independent. 

"How do you know? Do you trust the American girl you've known for a month more than your Oppa, who's been with you your whole life? You're never going to make it in this industry. The whole family knows it."

"I can make it. I will. You'll see. If I don't succeed, I'll go home right away. I'll go to college, get a business major, just like Mom wants. But if I do, I hope you'll realize that you only made the inevitable road harder to go down. Please, Jay. Let me do this. You don't have to do everything she tells you to."

The other side was quiet for a long time. I pressed my ear harder aginst the door, afraid that I might be missing something. But it seemed that there was really nothing being said. 

"You remember that promise we made, when we were kids?" Jay asked, suddenly ten times quieter.

"I remember."

"If you keep it, then I will, too. I'll do what I can to help you from London, but it won't be much if i have to do it under Mother's radar. I swear, if you come back home before you're a big star, I'm going to hang you by the minute hand of Big Ben by your underwear. Understand?"

I cringed. That sounded like the worst wedgie EVER. 

"Yeah, I get it." Min Hee paused for a moment. "... thanks, Jay. I love you."

"I'm your brother. You're required to." I heard a creak as he stood up from the bed. "Well, I have to go. Tell your friend thanks for me."

"For what?"

"For taking care of you, because I couldn't. That was always supposed to be my job.So I'm thankful that she's there for you, at least."

I wanted to cry. This was soooooo cute! I wished I had recorded the whole thing for a memoir. I wanted to run out to him and go "Oh, you're welcome! It was nothing, you don't have to thank me, but you're welcome! Come back any time you like! Do you want to see Min Hee and I practice?"

I didn't do any of those things, though. I guess I was afraid to ruin the moment. 

I heard the creak of the dorm's door opening, and then the click of it closing. Jay must be gone. I was reaching up to open the door, when it flew open, and Min Hee looked down at me. Her face was wet, and her eyes were red and puffy. But she was smiling down at me.

"Getting comfortable in there?"

"Extremely. I might just move in here."

 Min Hee was really quiet for the next few days. I think her brother's visit had depressed her a bit. I was curious about the promise that Jay had mentioned, but I didn't want to make her any more upset than she already was. She seemed distant even in dance class. It was the first time I'd ever seen her make a mistake. 

Of course, dance class only made me think of what she'd said earlier about JiHoo doing anything I asked him to. But once again, I didn't think this was the time to ask. 

Don't get me wrong, now that we worked out our differences, JiHoo was an excellent partner. He wasn't awkward anymore. Actually, he was a fantastic dancer, and his choreography ideas were wonderful. Suggestive dancing? I could do that. Don't tell my parents, though. They'd freak. 

Of course, I sometimes let my mind wander while we practiced. How would Eunhyuk have done this movement? How might I have reacted to the hip roll if it had been him, instead? Eunhyuk was the KING of y dances. God, it made me drool just thinking about it. Which made JiHoo give me some pretty strange looks. I hope he didn't think that I was drooling at him. That would be just plain awkward.

Not to mention that I'd really improved in the coordination department. Surprisingly enough, Henry's idea to take me to the skating rink had worked really well. I still wasn't flawless by any means, but I was starting to feel more confident about my dances. I had a bit more control of my feet, and could rock forward onto the balls of my feet rapidly without tipping over. I had been a bit doubtful, but I guess Henry really did know what he was doing. 

I was starting to feel good about myself. I had the SuJu members to thank for that, especially Henry. Even though they weren't there right then, they were always with me, giving me strength, and encouragement, and a reason to get up and try again when things didn't go so well. I was starting to look at the world with slightly more positive eyes, and be less of a cynic.

And then Hell walked in to our dance practice.

Yup. You guessed it. Jessica Jung, in all her evil, malicious glory. The moment she walked in, she was flocked with trainees asking her for her beauty tips, her autograph, her phone number. Even Min Hee disappeared into the crowd. I wasn't interested. I stayed right where I was, practicing the hand gestures for our dance.

"Aren't you going to go talk to Jessica?" JiHoo asked. 

"Absolutely not. I'll do everything I can to stay away from her," I scoffed, spinning.

"Really? You don't like her? But she's one of the most popular artists in Korea..."

"'Popular' doesn't always mean 'sweet.' Didn't you discover this in high school?"

"She seems pretty sweet to me..." I looked up and followed his gaze. Sure enough, Jessica was smiling at the trainees like they were the most precious things in the world to her. Faker. I knew that she was really just trying to get them out of her way. I actually expected JiHoo to go join the flock, but for some reason, he didn't. Instead he just stood by me, looking indecisive.

Finally she spoke up. "Excuse me, everyone; it's really nice to meet you all, but I actually came here because I wanted to find someone to help me."

They all stared up at her like little minions. "What do you need help with, Jessica? We'll do whatever we can!" Excuse me while I try to hold my vomit in my mouth.

"Well, I have a lot of stuff to do today, but our managers are busy with my other members, so I really need someone to help me today. Who wants to help?"

I had a bad feeling. Really, really bad. As all of her little worshippers begged her to pick one of them, I did my best to hide behind JiHoo. 

"Oh! Minsung! You would be perfect!" 

JiHoo turned around and gave me a wide-eyed look, and stepped away from me like being in Jessica's way would have made him set on fire. 

The entire class was glaring at me, like I had taken away their opportunity to be Jessica's favorite. As if. I wanted anything but. Still, their glares were expectant. Looks like I wasn't getting out of it.

"I'm sorry, Jessica-sunbae, I have a lot of stuff today, and, uh, I don't really know the kinds of things that you need to do, so..."

"What do you mean? You helped out Henry the other day, didn't you? You should know what to do better than anyone here!" she exclaimed innocently.

Geez, I hated her.  A lot.

"Fine, I'll help." Trust me, I only agreed because from the looks the rest of my class was giving me, I was afraid that they were going to rip me to pieces if I didn't.

"Great! Thanks, Minsung! You're a sweet."

Hurl. In. Mouth. 

But I went with her anyway, down into the bowels of the building.

It turns out that Jessica wasn't nearly as considerate of her helper as Henry had been (Surprise, surprise).  I got dragged along to a radio show, carrying her massive purse (What did she have in there?!), then all the way back to the building. Running up and down two floors to go get coffee and back in less than a minute. That's not physically possible, believe me. I tried. But if I didn't try, she threatened to get me kicked out of the company. And I knew she could do it.

As it was, I tripped on my way up the stairs, spilling the hot coffee all over myself, so I had to go back and get another one. I probably had a huge burn all over my chest, but that didn't bother her. All she cared about was that I was late and that i was making her look bad. As punishment, I was to wash her car tomorrow.

What a B.I.T.C-

"Minsung?" I was on my way home at around one in the morning (I still had school the next day, since it was only Thursday), muttering to myself various curses in various languages to make myself feel better, and trying to figure out how to make my burn heal faster, when I heard someone call for me. I looked up, and saw BoA giving me a strange look.

"Minsung-ah, you don't look so good."

I didn't feel so good, either. Not only had I had to deal with Jessica for the late parts of the day, but my insides were turning in a way I was pretty sure were distinctly feminine.

"I'm fine, Sunbae," I lied, "Was there something you needed?"

"I just wanted to thank you for your song. You have a lot of potential, you know that, right?"

I smiled weakly and bowed. "It's really nothing. I'm just proud that I could write for you. Really. Thank you for your compliment. It means a lot to me." I meant it, even if it didn't seem like it.

"You really don't look very good. Are you sick?" She reached out and laid the back of her hand against my forehead. I was so surprised that I almost jumped away. "Hmmm... it doesn't seem like you have a fever..." 

"I'm fine, BoA-sunbae. I'm just tired, that's all." I was happy for her concern. Most of the people at SM were so busy that they forgot the trainees even existed until they debuted. Actually, I'd fully expected BoA to be afflicted with the fame disease, since she was massively popular all over the world. She obviously had the respect of everyone in SM, and more fans than I could possibly give a number. With any logic, she should be vain and demanding, not kind and selfless. But I guess determining the personality of an idol isn't so easy as looking at them through a window. The way they are isn't always obvious.

"Well, then what are you still doing awake at this hour? Minsung, I know the life of a trainee is hard. I was there once, too, remember? But you have to remember that your health is the most important thing. I'm really thankful for your song. I'm looking forward to your debut."

I hadn't actually given much thought to debuting. I'd figured I was just going to be a songwriter and live in the shadows of SM's background, unknown by Korea's population.

"Thank you, BoA-sunbae."

"Anyway, I came to ask you a question."

"Oh? What kind of question?"

"Well, when I sing the song, I want to get an idea for the emotions of the song. What were you thinking of when you wrote it?"

I froze. I'd been thinking of Donghae, was the truthful answer. I'd been thinking of being led by the hand through an unfamiliar town by someone I knew everything and nothing about. I'd been thinking of the view of the South Jeolla sea from a secret, peaceful place. 

But I didn't want to say that. BoA-sunbae seemed like a good person, but I didn't want to tell her about that secret place. I'd feel like I'd be betraying my Oppa. It felt like a little secret, Oppa to ELF. 

"It was my first time seeing the sea in Korea. Everything was different. The smells, the sounds, the birdsongs. I felt lost and alone. But then someone decided to show me that it may have been different, but that it was beautiful. I wrote the song because... I was thankful for his trust, and I'll cherish that moment forever." It was the truth, mostly. Obviously there were parts missing, but it would have to be good enough.

She thought about it. "Hmm... alright. I think I can understand that. Thank you, Minsung."

I bowed. "You're welcome, Sunbae. Well, um... I think I should go home now. My roommate's probably worried."

She nodded. "Goodbye, Minsung." I bowed and turned to walk away, when suddenly she called out after me, like a thought had just come to her. "Minsung!"

I turned back around. "Yes, Sunbae?"

"If I were to try to make another attempt to get into the American market... do you think you could write songs for me?"

My heart skipped a beat in spite of myself. Despite all of the crap that Jessica had put me through, and the turmoil going on in my stomach just then, I found myself smiling. "Of course, Sunbae. I would be proud to."