After filling the members from the other dorm in on the English lessons, it was determined that if the members were ever free of schedule for anything over an hour during the time in which I was working at the dorm, they would come and learn from me. We enlisted Henry's help, too, so he could help out with the SJM members. 

But it wasn't a moment after we had arranged this that they had to go.

"Wait, Eunhyuk-oppa, what are you going to do about the black eye? What are you going to tell the public?"

"I guess you don't want them to know the truth? Because you could get kicked out?"

I shook my head. "When it comes to this, SM doesn't scare me at all. Because there is NOTHING that SM can do that would be as horrible as what the ELF would do to me when they found out that I did that to you."

"Well then, Manager Kim and I planned to say it was an accident from practicing choreography. We're planning on blaming Heechul, if that makes you feel better at all."

"It does." I grinned. "But what about your face? It kind of... doesn't look very good right now..."

"I'm going to be onstage with sunglasses and lots of makeup until the bruise fades enough that I can just cover it up with makeup. Don't worry about it; we've dealt with worse."

"Oh, okay. Well, be safe, oppa. All of my oppas."

And then they were out the door, leaving me alone in the dorm.

I went about my duties, mopping the living room floor, washing the breakfast dishes, mixing together a stew in a pot and putting the heat at a simmer, so it would be ready for whenever the members got home. Then, while that was going, I grabbed the dog leashes and clipped it first to Choco, then to Caocao, then went upstairs to go get Gongju. Fortunately they were all small dogs, or I never would have attempted this. 

When I first came to the dorm, Caocao and Choco had fought every time they saw each other. Fortunately, I had spent a lot of time watching "It's Me Or The Dog," and learned about the training they needed. Mostly what they lacked was discipline. The members babied their dogs, but weren't home enough to give them the proper training. Within a few weeks, at least while I was there, Choco and Caocao were best friends. 

I gave Gongju a belly rub before we went out, then hung the waste disposal bag from my shoulder, and stuck a bag of doggy treats into my pocket. Finally, I opened the door, letting them out. 

I preferred not to walk them in the city, because there were too many ways they could get hurt, so I always took them straight to the park. It was kind of funny to watch the Korean couples in the park run away scared when they saw the three dogs on a leash, too. I still didn't understand why it was weird to have pets in Korea. Personally, I loved them. Not to mention that if they knew whose dogs these were, they'd be all over them. 

As soon as we got to the park, I my mp3 player and stuck my earphones in, letting the lovely notes of "Storm", by K.R.Y.S.D., flow through my brain. 

Of course, the three dogs always wanted to go three different directions, and I always had to find some way to oblidge them. Caocao was a troublemaker, actually, making the walks difficult. She also loved to go to the bathroom a lot, giving me the impression that someone had been giving her people-food. My oppas needed to stop spoiling their pets.

I stood up from picking up one of Caocao's messes, to hear Choco growl and bark. I sighed, told him to stop, then looked up to apologize to the victim.

"I'm sorry, he's just easily sca--" I was face-to-face with an absolutely beautiful Siberian Husky at the end of a leash. He had incredible blue eyes, and was wagging his tail at me, smiling. People say dogs can't smile, but I think they're wrong. 

"OH MY GOSH I LOVE YOUR DOG! Can I pet him?!"

"Sure. He likes having his neck rubbed."

I did so, looking up at the owner. "I'm sorry, it's just that he's the first big dog I've seen in Korea. I remember how surprised I was when I found out that JYJ's Yoochun had a Siberian Husky like this one, it just seemed so weird for Korea, I'm surprised someone else..."

When my eyes found the face hidden under the baseball cap, my words dried up. 

"I guess no one else does," he said, and I could hear the smile in his voice.

"I'm sorry, I didn't realize..."

"That's good. That means no one else realizes it, either. I'm not everyone's favorite person, you know."

"Well, I don't see why not. Everyone likes Jaejoong and Junsu. You just haven't had a solo yet. And I look forward to when you do." I smiled, feeling a tug on my wrist that meant that Caocao wanted to go. 

"You do?"

"I do. I'm not a huge TVXQ fan, but of all of the five members, when asked, I'd always say that I pick Yoochun. Besides, the three of you are missed at SM. Not that the company would let anyone say so."

"How do you know?"

"I'm a trainee," I whispered, looking around. Fortunately, people saw the dogs and had run as far away as they could. 

"Oh yeah! Queen Be, right?" 

"Yeah! How did you know?" 

"You're SuJu's favorite trainee. Everyone knows that." He smiled a little, behind his disguise, "Also, I know those aren't your dogs. Didn't you say that you liked big dogs?"

"Oh... I guess so..." I patted the husky's head, then picked up Choco and ran my fingers through his fur. "Yeah... these are Eunhyuk's, Sungmin's, and Kangin's dogs, Choco, Caocao, and Gongju."

I looked at my watch, then bit my lip, tugging the leash a little to remind Gongju that she couldn't run away. "I'm so sorry, sunbae. I'm working as a housekeeper, and I left something on the stove... but, um... I hope we can meet again. So next time, I can tell my friends at SM that I saw you with a smile on your face. A smile as big as your dog's." I bowed, turning away and letting the three SuJu dogs take me back the way we'd come.

"Harang. His name is Harang."

"Well, I would love to meet Harang again."

Thankfully, my surprise encounter with Yoochun hadn't delayed me enough to burn the stew, but any longer and it would have. I turned down the burner so that it was just barely on, keeping the heat just high enough to keep the food warm until whenever the members got home.

That done, I took Gongju back up to the upper dorm, and then grabbed the laundry from both floors, sitting on the living room floor and petting Gongju until she fell asleep on my lap while I sorted the dirty clothes between dry-cleaning and home wash. Darn Eunhyuk and his fashionable clothes. Why so much dry-cleaning?!

When it was all sorted, I carefully picked up Gongju and put her on Kangin's bed, so she could sleep some more. I put the first load of clothes in the washer, and grabbed the second basket to take to the dry-cleaners' on my way to the company. I locked the door behind me, only after making sure that everything would be okay to wait until the next day.

I dropped the clothes off, then continued down the streets, stopping for a cup of tea at one of the cafes while I went over my schedule in my head. That particular day's dance practice would be for TVXQ, ironically. I wondered what Changmin or Yunho would say about my meeting with Yoochun. Would they be surprised? How much did they still talk with him? Of course, finding out would depend on how intense the practice was. If we had any free time, I might be able to get their attention, but they generally didn't talk to me because I was an ELF, not a Cassiopeia. After that, it was vocal training as usual.

I bowed to Nakata-sensei, laughing at the last bitter comment about being able to teach me best when there weren't any rude Korean men in the room, then opened the door to leave.

And there was Zhou Mi, his hand raised as if he was about to knock.

He laughed a little, looking at the floor, then back up (down?) at me. "Sorry, I was just about to..." He pulled his hand down, slightly embarassed, his cheeks gaining just a bit of color, increasing my almost instantaneous urge to touch his face.

Instead I laughed. "Were you looking for someone?"

"You, actually."

"Oh, okay... Well, obviously I just finished my lesson..." I felt heat creep into my own cheeks at the idea of him actually looking for me.

"I wanted to ask if you had time for, you know, Chinese lessons today. Song Qian said she wanted to help, too..."

"Song Qian?" I asked, searching my brain for the name. It sounded familiar, but I didn't know why.

"Sorry, I meant Victoria."

I smiled, stepping around him into the hallway, then closing the door. "Oh, Victoria! You had me lost for a second. Yes, I'd be happy to work on my Chinese today. I've never met Victoria." 

He laughed again, leaning against the wall. We were still in the little alcove of the room's doorway, and the closeness was making my heart do a tap-dance inside my chest. 

"That's because you spend too much time with Henry and Amber. She'll think you don't like Chinese things, even though you're part Chinese."

"That's not true at all!" I gaped, stunned. "Why would she think that? I mean, I like you!" It took me a second to realize what I'd said, and then I snapped my jaw shut.  "I, uh, I mean, I-I-I-I um..."

He laughed again, standing up straight so he could walk through the hallway. Embarrassed, I followed him, looking at the floor so I wouldn't get any more weird ideas. Wookie had told me to act more like myself, but I thought I should probably hold off on the face-touching. 

"I was kidding. She's just been in China for a while, doing promotions for her group."

I squeezed my eyes shut. "Oh. Yeah. Right." That was especially embarrassing because I was fairly sure that Krystal had mentioned that. 

"Niuwang, there's a wall there," he said just in time for me to smash into it face-first. I rubbed my forehead, my eyes watering. 

"Niuwang? Oh yeah, that's my name! I almost forgot!" I laughed a little at myself for not remembering what he'd written on my Christmas present.

"I just wanted to try it. Are you okay with it? You don't hate it, do you? You always look so mad when Kyuhyun calls you 'Jageun', so I didn't want to--"

"I love it," I cut him off, smiling. "It's pretty, and that's a lot coming from me because I don't like the Chinese language. I don't like Kyuhyun-oppa calling me 'Jageun' because he's making fun of my height. But Niuwang is just fine."

"Oh, great! So I can call you that from now on, right?"

"Sure! Just like Kyuhyun-oppa calls me 'Jageun', Kangin-oppa calls me 'Ahjumma', Fishy-oppa calls me 'ELF Queen', and Heechul-oppa calls me 'Minimin'."

"Minimin? But isn't that Sungmin's nickname?"

"It is--was. But Heechul-oppa decided that since I'm even shorter than Sungmin, and my Korean name is Minsung, that it's now my nickname."

"Oh... wow, you've got a lot of nicknames."

"Yeah, I collect them like a bee collects pollen, apparently."

"Like a bee collects pollen?"

"Like a-- you know, because bees have hair on their legs, they gather pollen, just as a side effect of--" I shook my head at his blank look. "Sorry. It's a science geek thing."

"I just thought it was kind of funny, you using a metaphor having to do with bees, when your pen name is Queen Be."

"Actually, that was a simile," I corrected. He frowned, and I kicked myself for being so geeky. "Sorry, now that was an English freak thing."

"Yeah, that's a little freaky. How do you know all of this random stuff?"

"School. I actually paid attention."

"Really? I didn't."

"I loved school. I had a particular love for English. And Foreign language. But English more than anything."

"Which is why you're so good at writing songs?"

"It starts with poetry. I love reading poems, like ones from Emily Dickinson, Robert Frost, Edgar Allen Poe..."

"Really? I didn't expect that you'd be so..."

"So geeky? Sorry, I think I'm still adjusting to not being in high school."

"So sentimental. You always seem so energetic, I didn't think you'd love poetry."

I smiled a little, shrugging. "Just one more of the little things about me that surprises people."

"Anything else I should know?"

I thought about it. "Well... I'm terrified of tornadoes."

"You are?!"

I laughed, following him into the lobby. "Also sharks, and animals taller than my head."

"But you seem so tough..."

"I said I was terrified of them. Not that I ran away scared." I stepped into the lobby, and saw a beautiful girl with long hair stand up from one of the chairs.

"Hey! You must be Minsung! My name is--"

"Victoria. Or Song Qian. Sorry, I don't mean to interrupt, sunbae, but I know almost everyone at SM's names by now."

She laughed. "Of course. I wanted to go and get you myself, but I had no idea where you were. So Zhou Mi said he knew where you always were at this time..."

I thought about it. "Oh yeah, because we always run into each other when I'm on my way to my lesson."

"I see... And here I thought he was just stalking you."

I pretended to shy away from Zhou Mi, like he suddenly was creepy. "Wait, you're not stalking me, are you?!"

He made a face at me. "Do you want me to teach you Chinese, or not?"

"Well, technically I never actually asked you to. You and Henry just suddenly decided that I needed to know it."

"But you do! Minsung, they're doing a terrible job. You should just learn it from me from now on," Victoria interjected, taking my arm. 

"Hey! She's an ELF! And a String! That makes her mine!"

"Now now, children," I mock-scolded, "if you insist, I will learn Chinese from you both. But you have to actually teach me. Not useless things like 'My face is backwards in the mirror.' "

"Oh, come on, Niuwang, you can't say that you're never going to use that."

"Zhou Mi, I think it's more important to know how to count past four."

Victoria looked incredulous. "You can only count to four?!"

"I, er, san, su. Yeah. Just four. Because they were counting steps in a Chinese drama I watched, so they only counted to four."

Victoria rolled her eyes. "Wow, they are complete failures. So, we're going to teach you my way."

"How's that?"

"We're going to go to my favorite places in Seoul, and the whole time, we're not allowed to speak English or Korean."

"Just Chinese?!"

"You'll learn really fast that way! And if anyone messes up, they get their face drawn on." She gleefully pulled out a black marker. "So, will you do it? I think this will be a pretty quick way to become friends with each other, right?"

"Only if I get to draw on your face, too. As for whether or not I'll do it..." I thought about it, then realized it was a challenge, and I'd be cowardly to back away. "Fine. You're on. This is a really weird way to hang out after my first time meeting you, Victoria, but I'm so going to do it. Be prepared for my awesome Mandarin. And sign language." (Sarcasm)

"Okay... done!' Victoria giggled, and I looked in a window to see my reflection, noticing that she had completed the mustache. 

"Ergh, this is so annoying!" I yelled, emphasizing the Chinese. This was the fourth time I'd accidentally broken the rules and had to be punished. 

"This is amazing! They're not even giving me a second look!" Victoria gasped, looking around at the people around the streets. Of course, there weren't many, it being so late at night. "They're all looking at you!"

I made a face at her as we turned the corner. "Yes, thank you for that. I really-- Oh my gosh, is that John?!" I sarted forward to greet my Irish friend, and then gasped and ducked back behind the corner. Victoria stopped behind me, peeking around me to see the street.

"What? What's wrong, Niuwang?" Zhou Mi continued around the corner, curious to see what was wrong, but I grabbed his arm and yanked him back into hiding. I peeked back around the corner, just to verify what I'd seen. 

"It is John. And Min Hee," I gaped, peeking again. 

"Oh, aren't those both your friends? Why don't we go say hello?" Zhou Mi started, but this time Victoria pulled him back. 

"Zhou Mi! Do you not see what's going on?"

I turned back towards them, giggling. "Omo, they're so cute! But don't tell John I said that."

"What? What's going on?" Zhou Mi seemed honestly confused.

"They're finally dating! Goodness, it took them long enough!" I peeked around the corner again, then ducked back behind it when the situation changed for the slightly more romantic. "Ok, I'd be a terrible friend if I stalked them like this. Let's give them some privacy. Come on!"

I grabbed Zhou Mi's arm, pulling him back the direction we'd come, giggling as I went.

 "Mel, why are you home so late?!" Min Hee called as soon as I entered the dorm. She got up, running over to me, and then stopping short as I entered the light. "And what is all over your face?!"

"Oh this? It's just black marker."

Min Hee gave me a blank look, and I realized I'd just spoken in Chinese. Laughing a bit at myself, I said it again, but this time in English.

"Black marker? Mel, you look hysterical!" She laughed, seeing the details of the beautiful scribbles all over my face.

"Well, on the plus side, I'm now very good friends with f(x)'s Victoria."

"Victoria?"

"Yup. We were playing a lovely game of charades."

"Charades?"

"Exactly. Everyone is only allowed to speak Chinese, so of course Niuwang, with her limited knowledge of Chinese, spends most of the time using hand gestures to get her point across, so she doesn't accidentally say something in English."

"Yes, and I can see how well you did at that," Min Hee laughed again.

"It wasn't until about an hour ago that I realized I could get away with talking if I talked in Spanish or Japanese, because they didn't understand it anyway."

"Yes, well, it looked like Victoria had a lovely time drawing on you."

"Actually, it was just Victoria's idea. Zhou Mi actually did most of the drawing."

"Oh, so you were out with both of them? I'll bet you had fun."

"Not as much as you did."

"Excuse me?"

"What? Oh, nothing." I decided to not tell her that I'd seen her with John. I'd wait until she decided to tell me about it.

"Well, alright then. I'll go get the washcloth so you can clean off your face."

"Wait, Min Hee! I can't wash off the black eye."

"That's ridiculous; why not?"

"Zhou Mi says that I have to keep it on as punishment for punching Eunhyuk. So I can't wash it off until Eunhyuk's black eye heals."

"And you're actually going to do it?"

"Yes. I feel so bad for doing it, I feel like I have to pay for it somehow. I told Eunhyuk he should punch me and give me a black eye, so we'd be even, but he gave me the spiel about guys not hitting girls, and refused. So I still feel terrible."

"Aren't you afraid that it will mark you as the one who did it?"

"Not really. I can just say that I'm sympathizing with him as an ELF."

"Yes, and people would probably believe it, too. It IS something you would do. So you're seriously doing this?"

"Yup."

"You are so strange, Melissa."