I spent several hours explaining everything to them. Eventually I had to tell them all of thethings that had happened with the members, including the parts where I talked to Kyuhyun in Spanish and when I encountered a very drunk Kangin. I knew I had to tell them eventually, and now was as good a time as any. It was easier to explain it in person anyway.

"Wait, so Donghae led you by the hand to his secret little spot?" Jacklyn gaped.

"Um, yeah. Is that weird?"

"No, it's adorable! Where was it, do you remember?" Em asked, her eyes telling me that she wanted to see it for herself.

I shook my head. "The streets were all a blur to me. I don't remember much of anything. I might be able to find my way there if I were to go there again, but I wouldn't guarantee it. The only person who'd really know is Fishy, and none of you are ELF, soooooo..."

"You just want to keep him to yourself!" Jacklyn pouted.

"Why yes, I do," I responded, then thought a bit more about it. "Well, actually, I'm perfectly fine with sharing him with Eunhyuk."

Ali, Eliz and Em rolled their eyes. They weren't really very interested in SuJu, so they didn't understand. Jacklyn wasn't an ELF, but she did enjoy hearing about the antics of SuJu. And you just didn't not ship EunHae. I tried not to suggest anything when talking to them because I didn't want to insult them, but when the members weren't there, member-shipping was totally fair game.

"Okay, so tell me again how exactly you got all of these members to like you this much?" Ali's tone was skeptical.

"I'm not making this all up, I'll have you know," I replied, making a face at her. I have a pretty crazy imagination, but you know I'm a terrible liar." They should know-- they'd all played poker with me.

"Still, I'm just wondering how. I mean, SuJu has thousands of fans, and it's not like they never interact with them. What makes you special?"

"I'm not... really sure. I know they respect me a lot for helping Kangin, but i think it's more than that. I doubt it's because I'm stunningly beautiful and charming."

"Modest, aren't we?" Eliz joked.

"That was sarcasm." I waved away her comment. "I think it might be because of my origins and my attitude. I act a lot different from most of the trainees because I wasn't brought up in Asia, yet I still know respect, to certain points. So I think they're just really curious about me. Just speculation, of course. Who knows what those boys are thinking half the time. Sometimes I swear they're NOT even thinking."

"That might be why you get along with them so well. The whole not-thinking thing is something you have in common," Eliz remarked.

"Ya!"

"What? It's true," Ali argued.

"Okay, so maybe it is. But do you have to say it like that?"

They exchanged glances, then all answered at the same time.

"Yes."

I suppose I had it coming, since that was the usual flat-toned, brutally honest thing that I always said to them.

Unsurprisingly, I was the first one to wake up the next morning, my throat a tad bit sore from talking for so long. I was usually the first one to wake up, except maybe Ali, who was more of a morning person than the rest of my friends. That day, though, they had been exhausted from the flight and change of time zones, so it was a wonder that they had stayed awake as long as they had. 

Nevertheless I was the first to wake up, so I went to the bathroom and washed my face, combing my hair. It was still messy and not very pretty-looking even after it was combed, so I pulled it back into a ponytail. I was way overdue for a haircut, but I just never had the time to go find a salon. Min Hee had offered to cut my hair for me, but I wasn't sure I trusted her to know what I wanted to do with it.

I looked at my watch. Five thirty. My internal clock must be used to that time now, I guess. Figuring that it would be a while before the first of my friends awoke, I pulled out my laptop and plugged it into the hotel wall. getting internet access just about everywhere was one of the things I had started to take for granted in Korea, and this particular hotel did not disappoint. It was enough to watch Panda and Hedgehog with, so I clicked on the link on Viki and settled down against the wall to watch it. 

Halfway through the episode I realized that I had been watching with english subs for a long time, and hadn't actually needed to. I could understand the Korean well enough without it. Still, I guess I was used to it. 

Unfortunately when it came to Panda and Hedgehog, I had extreme difficulty remaining quiet. It took immense concentration to remain quiet and not sqeal in delight, overwhelmed by a wave of adorableness that always seemed to ooze from that show. Fishy was such a cute hedgehog!!!!

"Mel, what are you doing?" It was Jacklyn, sitting up in bed, her long brown hair tousled. I must not have been as quiet as I was trying to be.

"Sorry, it's just... I was watching Panda and Hedgehog while I waited for you guys to wake up, and well... I got excited." It wasn't an odd concept. My voice had a tendency to heighten in volume as I got more and more emotional.

"Oohhhhh. That explains the squealing. You're such a crazy fangirl, Mel."

"Don't let my Oppas know that! Kyuhyun'll put me in a mental hospital!"

"Mel, I think he'd be more likely to put his hyungs in a mental hospital. They're more crazy than you are."

"Not by much, I'm afraid. You'd have to be pretty crazy to go along with Henry's plan to hang Jungmo's guitar from the rafters, then get caught by Heechul so you run away only to lock yourself in a closet."

"Wait, what?!" Ali had sat up in bed, apparently having heard my muttered response.

"What, I didn't tell you guys that? That was the first time I met Heechul. Henry, Tiffany, Amber and Jessica were all in on it."

"It's still a bit weird that you're friends with Jessica now, after being enemies for so long," Jacklyn commented.

"Well, I wouldn't say we're friends exactly. Not yet. More... allies."

"Allies against what?"

"Kyu-line and Psycho club!"

"I thought you liked Kyu-line?" Ali asked, her eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"I do. Really. Kyuhyun-oppa is great. But I'm a member of FASE."

"O...kay then. If you say so." Jacklyn shrugged it off, not really getting it. "Hey wait, you've got Youtube on your laptop, right Mel?"

"Yeah..." If I had Viki, I most certainly had Youtube.

"Then you need to see the video!!!!"

I had a feeling which video they were talking about. "You uploaded it finally?"

"Yup! And it's only been a week and we have two thousand views!"

"Wait, really?!" I quickly opened up the page and typed in the title we had agreed on. Admittedly, in the grand scheme of things when it came to Youtube, two thousand views in a week was mediocre, but for us, it was huge.

So Jacklyn, Ali and I huddled around my laptop to watch the video while we waited for deadweights Eliz and Emily to drag themselves out of bed.

Finally my friends were out of the hotel and packed into a cab, since they didn't feel like getting a bus pass. We were heading towards the dorm I shared with Min Hee, since they all wanted to see it. They would only be able to spend a little under an hour there, though, because they had their extra-secret meeting with FASE soon.

"I can't believe you guys got breakfast while I was still asleep!" Eliz complained, still munching on a chocolate muffin she had grabbed while we were heading out the door."

"We didn't want to wake you up." It was funny, coming from Emily, considering that she had woken up just in time to here Jacklyn and Ali discussing seeing if they could go eat breakfast before the other two woke up.

"Now now, children, let's all get along here. We'll bother the driver Ajusshi."

"Oh shut up, Mel. You ARE the MAKNAE, remember?" Eliz pointed out, taking another bite of her muffin.

"But I'm your sunbae when it comes to life in Korea," I came back, emphasizing that I, of course, had been living there first.

"It doesn't matter. You're still the maknae."

"You just don't want to admit I'm right."

She stuck her tongue out at me and took the last bite of muffin.

When at last we arrived at the apartment building, I payed the driver and thanked him for his patience, then showed my friends the way to our dorm. Min Hee wouldn't be there, I knew. Even though it was Christmas break, she was at SM, practicing in the dance rooms or working on her vocal test, provided she could find time with Tiffany.

We arrived in the dorm right about the same time my phone rang out with Juniel's "Illa Illa", which meant that I had a picture message. I flipped my phone open to look at it while my friends went in to explore the room.

It was from Eunhyuk, a picture of him, Donghae and Kyuhyun wearing a bunch of Green Bay Packers merchandise that they had miraculously found while shopping. The caption saied "saw this stuff and thought of our Wiskonshin ELF. How do you wear these things, anyway?"

I saw that Donghae had his Aaron Rodgers jersey on backwards, Kyuhyun making his "I see straight into your soul" face at the camera even though he was wearing a Packers helmet, and Eunhyuk looking at a cheesehead like he couldn't figure out which way was forward (Not to mention how terribly he had spelled "Wisconsin"), and I couldn't help but giggle.

"What? Who is it?" Em asked, her curiousity piqued by my giggle.

I blushed, snapping my phone closed and quickly jamming it into my pocket before she could see it. "Nobody. Nothing important. Just, uh, John."

"Riiiight. Mel, you at lying."

"It was from one of the members, wasn't it?" Jacklyn asked suspiciously.

"No." Technically it wasn't a lie, since the text wasn't from one of the members, but three.

"Why are you embarassed by this? Just tell us, come on, we're dying of curiousity. There's got to be SOME kind of romantic thing going on here!" Eliz complained, flopping down on Min Hee's bed and looking at her SHINee posters.

"Nothing, there's nothing." My cheeks were contradicting me, though. "They just like to send me stuff if they think it's good fanservice, and I tell them if it is or not. That's all. I'm their ELF representative, it's nothing really that personal..."

The doorbell rang and I turned around and opened the door...

...and my heart jumped into my throat.

"S-S-S-S-S-Sungmin-oppa!" Remember what I said about my voice cracking just talking to him? Yeah, I wasn't making that up.

Suddenly I found a bunch of teenage girls crowding around me, eyes wide.

"Woah, Mel, I thought you said that they didn't know you very well?!" Eliz remarked, breaking me out of my reverie.

"I don't-- this isn't-- this is the first time-- You guys, this NEVER happens!" 

Sungmin looked at my friends, then down at the floor sheepishly. "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't know you had guests..." he murmured in Korean, making me whip around and give my friends a dirty look, because his expression was just so adorable.

"Oh, they're not guests. They're my friends. W-w-w-why don't you come in, Oppa?" I stuttered, remembering the first time I'd met Henry, in which I had left him standing in the hallway.

"Your friends? Are they ELF, too?"

"Umm, no, two of them are Shawols, one's a V.I.P-slash-LOVE, and one's a Baby." I bit my lip, to try and stop my mouth from exploding anything embarassing.

"Oh." He looked down at the floor as if disappointed, then looked back at my friends. His brow furrowed in concentration, and he spoke words in English very carefully. "Hello, My name izu Lee Sungmin. And... who aru you?"

"AAAAAHHHHH he's so cute!" Em and Jacklyn cried in unison.

I glared at them again, and suddenly the two of them found a particular interest in the contents of my refrigerator.

"Well, um, Oppa, what, uh, I mean-- why are you here?" I asked, still trying to formulate sensible sentences.

"I wanted to ask Minsung's help for something. You didn't answer your phone, so I came to your dorm."

Eliz popped up, suddenly right next to us. "Wait, did he just say that you didn't answer your phone?! As in he knows your phone number?!" 

It was deceptive how much Korean my friends actually knew. Still, I decided to ignore her, instead quickly digging in my purse to find my phone. I couldn't believe that Sungmin had called me and I hadn't answered.

"Oh... I'm SOOOO sorry, Oppa. My phone must have been dead."

"What's she saying?" Em whispered to Ali, who shook her head and shrugged.

Sungmin smiled forgivingly. "That's okay, I didn't mind coming here. I just wasn't expecting to see your friends. They seem really fun, like my members."

"Oh, it's okay, Oppa. You know they were here to visit. They'll be leaving soon." I turned to look at them, asking in English, "Won't you?"

"Huh? Won't we what?" Eliz asked, confused.

"Be leaving soon? Because you have that meeting with FASE." I was doing my best to get the point across.

"Of course not, that's not for a half hour yet. We're much more interested by what's going on here. Coe on, Mel, just carry on like we're not here. We'll be as quiet as ghosts, I promise," Em replied.

I sighed. They were as stubborn as mules, like usual. I'd almost believe I could pretend they weren't there, if I didn't know that silence was impossible when they were together. 

"Well, um, Oppa, you said you wanted my, um, help?"

"Minsung-ah knows how to play ukulele, right?"

"Ukulele? Yeah, I guess. Why?" 

"Well, for the Christmas promotions they asked me to do a charity concert, and I really wanted to sing this pretty version of..." he concentrated again, "Somewhair oba- da Reinbow."

" 'Somewhere Over the Rainbow'? As in, from Wizard of Oz?"

"Yeah! Minsung's English is so pretty."

I turned pink, ignoring my friends' whispers. "Okay, but what do you need my help with? Other than your pronunciation," I tried to tease, but it came out as a squeak.

"I found a really good version, by a Hawaiian singer. Iz... Ka... Kama..."

"Iz Kamakawiwo'ole?" I finished for him, pretty sure that's what he was trying to say. I knew the name because he was one of my mother's favorite Hawaiian singers. We had a few albums from him back home. 

"Yes! Minsung-ah, how do you know how to say it?!"

"Well... let me see..." I turned around to where Emily was sitting on my bed, pretending to read a magazine. "Em, can you hand my my notebook and a pen?"

"Sure thing, fangirl."

I took the notebook and opened it up to a new page, sitting down on the floor and inviting Sungmin to do the same. "Well, you see, in Hawaiian, there's only eleven letters in the alphabet. So you have to be careful with which syllables you emphasize in order to get the right pronunciation."

I wrote down the full name, fully aware of Sungmin leaning closer so that he could read what I was doing.

"Okay, this is his whole name. Israel Ka'ano'i Kamakawiwo'ole. In Hawaiian, the apostrophe between vowels means you pause there to separate the sounds. And the 'w' is also slightly a 'v'. I know that'll be hard for you, though, since there's no 'v' in Korean, but..."

"That's okay, it was really helpful. Anyway, I keep getting distracted. Minsung-ah, you're a very distracting person!" 

My mouth dropped open, and I snapped it shut. "Sorry, Oppa. What do you need my help with?"

"Can you play the ukulele for me? This version of the song needs the ukulele."

"I-uh, well, um... Iz was a very good ukulele player, and I'mnot sure if I can reach his level yet. And my friends are here, and..."

Suddenly Sungmin's eyes got very, very big, and his expression changed to one that I knew would make much tougher girls that me turn into puddles of mush.

"Pleeeeeease?"

"Okay, okay, of course I'll help! How could you use aegyo on me, you terrible, terrible person!?"

He laughed, "I knew it would work. Because Minsung-ah is an ELF, and the ELF love my aegyo. 

I heard a click from above us and looked up to see that Jacklyn was sitting on Min Hee's bed, and had taken a picture. 

"Choisoimida, Sungmin-shi. but I had to take a picture. Is that okay?" she asked in slow, careful Korean.

He smiled. "Okay. I don't mind."

She flopped back on the bed, dazzled by his smile. Sungmin has really white teeth. Have I ever said that? He really has very white teeth."

"Minsung-ah, is there something wrong? You're staring at me."

I ripped my gaze away from his beautiful mouth and stood up. "Well, uh, Oppa, I'm glad you visited, and, I'll do my best to help you."

"Okay, thank you so, so , soooo much, Minsung-ah! You're definitely ELF Queen!" 

And then he hugged me.

Have you ever been dunked in a tank of water, electrocuted, and then frozen solid? If you have, you'd know what I felt like right then. My mouth was open, but I wasn't breathing, and I was frozen stick straight as a telephone pole. 

He let go. "Oh, I'm sorry, I totally forgot, Americans don't like hugs! I shouldn't have..."

"No, no, that's okay, Oppa, I'm going to have to get used to it eventually." I'd love to get used to it. I would love it if you could help me get used to it. Could you just hug me every time I see you? That would really help me adjust to Korea. That's what I was thinking while I tried to regain my composure, which wasn't easy when my heart decided to beat in sudden, jerky pulses.

Embarassed, he collected himself and jumped to his feet. He handed me a sheet of paper, which I took, but wasn't really aware of it. All I could do was staare at him, which seemed to be the only thing any of the girls in that room were capable of doing-- staring at him with their mouths hanging open.

"That's your information for the performance. I'm really, really thankful that you can help, Minsung-ah. But I guess I should be going." He started walking towards the door, quickly slipping his shoes back on. He reached out with his hand to grab the doorknob and then... let it fall.

He turned back around to face me. "Hey Minsung?"

"Nae, Oppa?"

"Those pictures on the wall... of the fifteen SuJu members... they're really good."

Some of my melted brain started to solidify again. "You... you really think so?"

"Of course. But I'm wondering... is there ay real order in which you arranged them?"

I finally broke my gaze away from his sweet, adorable eyes and looked at the fifteen colored pencil drawings that lined the wall on my half of the room.

"They're arranged... in order of favoritism. I know I shouldn't pick favorites, but, well... I do."

He just smiled, like there was more meaning behind my words than there really was. "Oh. Well that's okay then."

He turned the knob and disappeared through the door, closing it behind him.

It wasn't until he was gone that I realized that I had broken Roommate Ground Rule number four. Technically Sungmin was a boy (Although plenty of personality aspects pointed to the contrary), and technically I hadn't asked Min Hee if it was okay. Oops. Sorry, Min Hee...

I turned around still a bit brain-dead, to remember that my friends were there, and had seen the whole thing. Everything.

The questions exploded. 

When I finally finished explaining to them the entire contents of the conversation, since that's what they required before they would even think about leaving me alone, then listening to them complain about how jealous they were of me for about ten minutes, I finally got them out the dorm's door, down the building's steps, and into a cab so they could reach the cafe in which they were meeting FASE before they could be late.

It sounds a bit mean to say this, but I was a bit relieved that they were gone. Having them there while I was talking to my Oppa was a severe strain on my nerves, and it felt a bit good to relax. Don't get me wrong, I loved my friends. They were wonderful, caring people, if a little eccentric. But if they weren't eccentric, I suppose, they wouldn't be my friends. That's just how the world works, it seems.

I knew they were just worried about me and were excited to be in Korea, so their own nerves were high-wired, so I didn't blame them. I'd been like that when I first came here, too. It drove Min Hee nuts. When I focused on my trainee work, though, I guess I'd calmed down a bit. Maybe it was that small air of professionalism that I had gained that made me different from what they were used to. Of course, it was only a little. I was still me, so I supposed I owed it to them to be my usual crazy self. Next time I saw them, we'd do something fun, but for now I went over to my bed and pulled out my ukulele's case from under my bed and opened it to take ou the small, adorable guitar. I looked at the music that Sungmin had given me, and then pulled out my computer and put in one earbud so I could listen to the music of the song while still hearing the strings of my own instrument.

I had played through the song once when my phone buzzed. It was Ryeowook.

"Finally have a free part of my schedule! Minsung-ah, come practice!"

I smiled and put my ukulele back in its case, scribbled a note to Min Hee, then grabbed my purse, locked the door of my dorm, and headed out.