I flew out the door, ready to go find Sunsaeng, or Nakata-sensei, or anyone I knew who knew that my performances were my performances. I heard the angry click-clack of my high heels against the tiled floor, pleased by it. There was just something about the sound of heels that was always able to convey your mood. 

I was halfway down the hallway already when I heard more soft-soled footsteps behind me. I turned around to find Sungmin rushing after me. He stopped just behind me, barely out of breath. "Minsung-ah, where are you going? Don't you have class?"

"Where do you think I'm going?"

"Minsung-ah, do you really want to cause more trouble right after you almost had to leave the company?"

I sighed and fell back against the wall, running my fingers through my hair. "You're right. Sorry, Oppa. I just... I always have to work so much harder than the other trainees just so my performances can compare, it feels horrible to find out that someone stole all of that hard work just so she can make her own versions of it, of course making mine look like crap. Geez, I sound so self-pitiful right now. Just ignore me, Oppa." I grumbled, frustrated. I hated having people pity me.

"But what are you going to do about it?" he asked, leaning against the wall next to me. 

I shrugged, giving him a half smile. "Just wait until she gets here. She's going to get one hell of a surprise."

He laughed, patting me on the back. "Just try not to kill anyone, Minsung."

"Darn it, there goes all of my plans." I grinned at him. "Well, Oppa, I guess--"

"Choi Minsung! Why are you out here fluttering your eyelashes?! Get in the practice room and get ready for class!" 

I jerked away from Sungmin and bowed. "Nae, Sungsaeng!" I yelled, my cheeks flushing. I started walking after him into the room, but turned around and looked back at Sungmin. "I'll try not to include you in any of my evil plans for revenge."

"I like evil plans. It's cute, in a way."

"And that's why the fangirls always ship you with Kyuhyun!" I yelled, just before Sunsaeng pushed me into the practice room.

Although Sungmin had put me in a much better mood, I was still pissed. I couldn't wait until that Lily girl arrived in Korea, so she could find out who she was dealing with. I would respect Sungmin's wishes that I not kill anyone, but you know, there are worse things than murder.

I seethed with plans all throughout my dance lesson, only encouraged by the other girls in my class telling me how sorry they were that this had happened to me, and they would help me find out whoever the leak was.

Ah! That's it! Before focusing on this Lily character, I must first take care of the leak! This will require careful planning. Unfortunately, I wasn't actually very good at evil plans. I generally acted with violence without really thinking about it. This would not do. I needed someone with more experience in the field. There was only one person to suit the purpose.

To Kim Heechul!

I found him sitting on the swingset I had looked at when I'd sang for Kyuhyun, eating a popsicle. I sat on the swing next to him, waiting for him to look up. Finally, I poked him.

"Oppa, can I have a popsicle?"

"No."

I pouted. "Okay, fine. So my aegyo . I know I haven't gotten along too well with Oppa, but I need to ask you for your help."

He the lollipop, turning his big, round doll's eyes on me. "Get on your knees and beg."

I slipped off of the swing, carefully setting myself on the ground so my high heels wouldn't dig into my when I knelt.

Heechul grabbed my arm and dragged me back onto the swing, his eyes even bigger. "I was just kidding! Chincha, I didn't think you'd actually do it!"

My hit the swing with a thunk, and I adjusted it in the seat, beginning to kick my legs so the swing started to move. "I really need your help."

"Okay, okay, since you're asking so sincerely. What do you want?"

I quickly summed up the videos that were a copy of my performances, and that she must have gotten ahold of them somehow, and I needed to find out who'd done it, but I wasn't really a junior detective. All the while I swung, going higher and higher in the air while he listened, eating his popsicle. Finally I finished by talking about how good Heechul was at both making evil plans and exposing them, and that I needed that.

"Is that all you know about me? That I'm evil?" I expected him to laugh, but when I flew past him on the swing, I could see that he was looking up at me expectantly. I skidded to a stop, feeling a little dizzy from swinging and talking at the same time. 

"No, of course not. Heenim is also very pretty. I am jealous of his big eyes." He laughed a little bit, and I went on, drawing patterns in the sand with my shoes. "Heenim gets in trouble sometimes because he cares about his friends very much, and almost always says what he feels. He is someone who is very worthwhile to become friends with, but not someone you want as an enemy." I searched my mind for some more things I knew about him. "Oh! He doesn't like people borrowing his clothes. Or sharing his bed with anyone. He likes pink, and loves his cats, and..." I broke off, realizing he was staring at me. "What?"

"One or two things would've been fine. Now it's just creepy."

"Oh... sorry."

"Is caring about friends a bad thing?" he asked, looking down at his now-empty popsicle stick. "Do you think maybe it overburdens the friends?"

My face snapped up towards him. "Heenim, caring for your friends is never a bad thing. EVER. Never in any of my experience, at least, although I have to admit, I'm only eighteen. Still practically a kid. Still, I don't see why caring for your friends would overburden them."

"What if they leave?"

I shot out of the swing, turning so that I was standing in front of him. "Heechul-oppa! You can't still be thinking about that!"

He looked up at me, and I instantly hated myself for what I had just said. Of course he was still thinking about it. I was still thinking about it. It was half the reason I was standing there in the sand of a swingset in the middle of Seoul, South Korea. 

"Oppa... half the time I can never tell when you're joking or serious. So I'm just going to assume that you're serious and apologize for that. It's been a crazy day for me." Understatement. "But I mean what I say. Oppa is very good to his friends. And I know that they all understand that." I saw him open his mouth to say something, and took a risk, cutting him off. "They ALL understand that."

I sank to my knees, so I was at his same level. "Oppa, I can't replace anyone, and I won't ever try to. But I hope you can trust me. I want to be Heechul-oppa's friend. I'm just a bit scared of you."

"You should be. You know, all of my friends are guys."

"I'm a very strange girl."

"You're sure you want to be friends?"

"Heechul-oppa, you're fourteen years older than me. I'd call you 'ahjusshi', like Leeteuk-oppa, but you're too scary."

"Good point. Alright, Minsung can be my friend. You don't act like a girl, anyway."

"What?! What do you mean?!"

"You'll figure it out. So, let's catch this cheater, shouldn't we?"

 I leaned against the company's wall, my popsicle and laying out my evidence before me. "Alright, I tried to take this the professional way, by taking a list of all the people who might possibly have seen all of these videos, and then figuring out who might have a motive to do this. But..." I crumpled up the paper and threw it into my purse like a basketball. "...it wasn't working."

Heechul laughed. "It's one of the other trainees, I guarantee it. You think this is the first time this has happened?"

I stuck the popsicle in my mouth and frowned around it. "I didn't think about it. Is it?"

"Nope. People get jealous of people with superior personalities. Happens to me all the time."

I laughed, rolling my eyes. "If you say so, Oppa."

"Well, is there anyone who really, really doesn't like you? It's probably her."

"How do you know it's a girl?"

"Would a guy be that petty?"

"Depends on the guy," I retorted, my popsicle again.

"You miss the point."

"Okay, so there is this ONE girl. Soo Yun. She's the girl who won the trainee exhbition a while ago. She's in my acting class, and I think she hates me for some reason." I took the last bite of popsicle, crunching the flavored ice and contemplating my words.

"It's definitely her."

"Can you really just jump to conclusions like that?!"

"You think too much. It doesn't hurt to guess sometimes. Besides, if she isn't the one who did it, I bet she knows who did."

I stood up to throw my popsicle stick in the garbage, the last drops of juice off. "Good point. Now I just have to think of a plan of approach..." I turned to head to the garbage can, only to find myself face-to-face with Sungmin.

The popsicle stick dropped out of my mouth, and I jerked to pick it up. "Oppa!" I gasped when I came back up, my cheeks red. "What are you doing here?!"

"Coming to get you." 

"Oh, okay, but I--" I looked at Heechul, then back at Sungmin, then Heechul again.

"Come on, Minsung, I have to show you something!" Sungmin exclaimed, grabbing my stuff and grabbing my arm. He started to pull me away, with Heechul just looking up amusedly. 

I looked back as I was being half-dragged away from Heechul, really wanting to go with Sungmin, but not knowing if I should. "Uh-um, I guess... I can... I have to... well... bye, Heenim!"

I let Sungmin pull me by the hand into the parking lot, finally coming to a stop. "Oppa, where are we going?" I asked, looking around. "Are you Henry's assistant today?"

He seemed taken aback. "Henry's assistant?"

"Well, it's just that Henry's the one who kidnaps me all the time."

"Did you want him to?"

"I..." I hated it when Sungmin looked disappointed. "No, no that's okay."

"Good, because it's just me and you!" he said happily.

I suddenly felt a little dizzy. "Just... all of a sudden?"

"We have something to do, remember?" he asked, and I guiltily was reminded that SM had a plan for the two of us.

I smiled, unable to help my fangirl thoughts. "Nae, Oppa."

He put his arm around my shoulders, steering me down the parking lot. The motion of it made my heart begin to beat dizzyingly quickly. 

"Um, Oppa, where are we going?" I asked again, trying to distract my mind from going deep, dark places that it really, really should not.

He winked. "I can't tell you."

"Oh, so it's a surprise, is it?" I teased.

"You'll see." He paused, removing his arm from my shoulders. "Okay, get on."

I looked down at the motorbike, and couldn't help but feel a little ill. "The motorcycle again?! I don't know if I..."

"Are you scared?" Sungmin mocked, handing me the helmet.

"Of course not!" I replied instantly, grudgingly taking the helmet and plopping onto the bike He saw me stubborn expression and just laughed.

"Okay, Minsung, hold on tight. I'll try and be nicer this time." He kicked the bike into gear, he yelled, "should we go there right away or take the scenic route?"

"Definitely the scenic route!" I shouted back, cuddling in for the long ride.

When I looked up, the lights of Seoul had disappeared, and we raced along the Han river, the landscape a shadowy blur in the late nighttime. Every direction I looked, I saw lights in the distance, even when I looked up. Craning my neck, I could see faint little winking lights, sparkling like holes in a black cloth, as we whizzed down the road.

It made me momentarily homesick. The stars here were nothing compared to the sea of shining lights I had been able to see back in the countryside of Wisconsin, but it was the first time I'd really even seen them at all since I had come back from Jeolla-do. You couldn't really see any of them at all when you were in Seoul. The light pollution pushed them out.

We slowed to a stop just outside a gathering of small campfires along the river. We were still a ways away when Sungmin cut the motor, and silence washed over me. I continued to look at the stars, letting them sink in, now that they weren't blurring from the movement of the bike. They were so pretty, whether they were as pretty as the ones in Wisconsin or not. I could just stare at them forever, and their sparkling, endless possibility. My eyes were taking a little journey through the stars, while the rest of my body was...

When I realized I was off of the bike and in the air, I screamed and collapsed into the nearest object, squeezing my eyes shut. When I found it to be soft, I popped one eye open, then the other, looking around me. 

The object I had collapsed against just happened to be Sungmin's chest. Actually, I had sufficiently buried my face in it, as if to protect against gravity. I looked up at him, still startled. He must've lifted me off the bike.

"Wasn't I heavy?!" I gasped, knowing I should get off of him, but not wanting to.

He shrugged. "Not that bad." His eyes never left my face while he reached up and took one of my hands, that was still resting on his chest, where I had fallen, and using it to pull me towards the river. "Come on!"

I let him pull me again, still dizzy, from what, I wasn't sure. Probably fangirl feels.

He sat down on the ground next to the river and patted the ground next to him. I did as indicated, almost accidentally sitting on his hand.

"Is this where we were heading?" I asked, pretending nothing had happened. 

He patted my head, smiling that beautiful smile. "Just wait." 

 I bit my lip, looking out over the murky river water. In many ways, the area reminded me of home, although it was different in just as many ways as it was similar. The Han River, like the Fox River, or the Wolf River, or even the Wisconsin or Mississippi Rivers, had dark brown water that lapped lightly against the shores, turning the reflections of the moon and stars into a moving painting in black and silver. But where the rivers I had known in Wisconsin had been surrounded by barely noticeable slopes, and thick greenery, the view of the Han River, from where I sat on the ground, was surrounded by the rocky hills of Korea, and not so many trees. Not to mention that the lights of the nearby cities were still visible over the hills.

Still, it was the atmosphere of the place-- the fresh air, the warm breeze, the trees and grass, and the dark water-- that cast my mind back to home. It didn't matter what part of the world I was from, near rivers, one still smelled that musty, earthy smell. My house didn't neighbor any rivers, but Wisconsin was so full of creeks and rivers that they were quite familiar to me.

I leaned back on my hands, closing my eyes and breathing the air in. "It's nice out here," I said aloud. 

"Does it remind you of home?" Sungmin asked, leaning back on his own hands and stretching his legs towards the water.

My eyes popped open, and I sat up straight. Did he just read my mind?! "It... it does. A lot. It's been a while since I was out in the country, just to enjoy it. In Wisconsin, we don't have beaches, really, but we have a really high water table. Almost all of our summer fun has something to do with a river or lake."

"Then I guess I did well. You never answered my question, you know. So I had to improvise."

"Your questi..oh." The one where he'd asked me where i'd want to go on my first date. 

"I didn't know where to start, so I thought it might be good to go somewhere that makes you feel at home. Did I do well?"

I looked over the water, unable to help smiling. "Absolutely. I hope when I have a real boyfriend, this is the first place we go."

He looked up at the sky. "I wish I would've grown up in a place like this. It seems really peaceful." 

"It's noisier than you think," I answered automatically. As if on cue, a large bang resounded from the other side of the river, and a sparkling line of light appeared, going from the ground to the sky, where it exploded into shimmering sparks. It startled me at first, but once I realized what it was, I had to relax. Still, it was really pretty. "Oh, fireworks!"

I felt Sungmin's hand on my own, and my heart skip a beat. "I thought you might like it," he murmured so softly I had to lean in closer to hear him over the fireworks. I looked up at him, unable to stop staring. He was looking at the sky as it filled with color, not at me, but I could see the vivid reds and blues, greens and purples reflected in his dark eyes. 

"I do," I replied, watching them myself. "I didn't celebrate Independence Day this year. It's usually my favorite holiday, with the fireworks, and the cheers, and the warm weather."

I shivered, just then realizing that I was cold, despite my leather jacket. But I shook it off, not wanting to move. Although I tried to hide it, before I knew it, Sungmin was pulling me closer, letting me lean into him. "You'll be warmer this way," he said between fireworks. I wasn't arguing. I'd been wanting to do that the whole time. I snuggled just a bit closer, glad for his warmth.

"Minsung-ah," Sungmin began suddenly, "Did you know that our names are the reverse of each other?"

"Min-sung and Sung-min? Yes, I noticed." A long, long, long time ago. I couldn't NOT notice. It was a gigantic connector between my oppa and I.

"It's kind of weird, isn't it?"

"Yeah. Weird." There is no such thing as coincidences. Only inevitability. My Korean name was formed phonetically using my actual name. Still, I didn't believe it was an accident. 

"I think it's kind of cool, especially when we're stuck together ike this. And there's no one I'd rather it be with." He put his arm around my shoulders, even though I wasn't shivering because I was cold.

"Now you're just making stuff up, Oppa."

"I'm not!"

"Yes, you are."

"I am not!" He argued stubbornly, his cheeks setting in a stubborn curve. I couldn't help but laugh. He looked so adorable when he was mad. I wished I looked adorable when I was mad, like Sungmin, or my sister. When I was mad, I just looked scary.

When I laughed, Sungmin started laughing, too. We stayed like that for a few precious moments, just laughing, until I finally faded into silence.

"Minsung-ah, we need to work on our story."

"Our story?"

"As in what we'd tell the press when they ask questions."

"Oh, okay. I guess the whole celebrity dating scene has different implications, huh?"

He laughed again. "Of course."

"So where should we start?"

"Ummm... well how long have we been dating?"

"Two days." I replied immediately, stating the obvious.

"Minsung!" 

"Oh, alright, alright, I know what you're getting at. How about... a month?"

"Maybe a bit more. Two months?"

"Okay." I probably would've gone along with just about everything he said, even if he decided that we had to paint ourselves sapphire blue and dye our hair pink.

"How did we meet?"

I thought about it. "I was a trainee, and you're an artist. It was one of my first days at the company, and I didn't know much Korean, and was having a really hard time. I had a bunch of documents under my arm because I was still figuring out my trainee status, and someone ran into me so hard that I dropped all of the papers. I was picking them up, having a little bit of a mental breakdown from all of the stress, when you came up and asked me if I was okay." I smiled at the memory.

"Oh, I remember now! I asked you if you spoke Korean, and you said no. I didn't know what else to say, so I just left. I didn't know you spoke Japanese. I didn't think about it." Sungmin said, frowning at the last few sentences.

"I really wanted Oppa to talk to me. When you came back after I started speaking Japanese, I was so relieved. You were the first person I'd had an actual conversation with besides Henry and Min Hee. It felt really nice to talk to someone." Another true statement.

"I think it's a good enough meeting. Believeable."

"It ought to be. It's true," I stated.

"Good. So... one more thing. What do we like about each other?"

My heart pulsed. "Do we really need to answer that question?" I asked nervously, sitting up so I wasn't leaning against him. "Is it really important?"

"It's the most important one."

I sighed, falling back into him. "Fiiine..."

"So you start."

"You just want to hear good things about yourself!" Which is a trick that Kyuhyun ws much more likely to pull. Hey, seriously, Mel, keep your mind off of the other members. You're with Sungmin right now.

"Come on, Minsung, this is important!"

"Alright, alright. What should I say?"

"Whatever you think of. What do you like about me? I mean, you always say that I'm your favorite member, there has to be something, right?" He said it like it was an obvious fact, not vain or selfish in any way possible.

Everything, I wanted to say. But I knew that probably wouldn't be sufficient. "I... where should I start?" Start from the beginning. The first things you noticed. "I like Oppa's smile, the way his cheeks always pull in when he smiles and when he laughs. I like how adorable he is without even trying. I love the sound of his voice when he sings, or laughs, or even just talks. I like Oppa's dark eyes, and the way he can pull off just about every hair color on earth, even pink. I even like Oppa's height, even if everyone else teases him for it, because he's just the right height. Not too much taller than me. I love Oppa's love of pink, because he's not ashamed of it, or anything that makes people call him feminine. I like that Oppa is sweet, and is very emotional, and tries his best to take care of the members, and the trainees, and always worries about everyone else before himself. But I also love that Oppa is very strong and confident. And the way that he can act like a girl sometimes, but in reality is definitely masculine and wonderful." It didn't seem like a good enough description. But it was a lot. "Your turn," I said, weakly. Maybe I'd said too much?

"I like Minsung's hair, and eyes. I like her big smile and loud voice, and wide heart. I like how tough and strong she acts, even when on the inside, she's easily hurt. I like how bravely she stands up to everything she thinks is wrong. I like that she stands up for her beliefs, whatever they are. I like the way that she holds her own in a crowd full of men, and doesn't even stick out. I like Minsung the most when she is carig for the members, because she always makes me feel like we are the most important things in her life." He stopped, his face flushing. "Is that good?"

I was staring up at him in a daze, my heart doing a tap-dance. No, less of a tap-dance and more of a ballroom tango. It took me a second to realize that he'd stopped talking and was looking down at me. "Oh, yeah, that's..." I cleared my throat, trying to put my brain back into gear. "That's, well... only the most wonderful thing I've ever heard about me."

He opened his mouth to say something. I leaned closer to hear it, only to be rudely interrupted by someone yelling "Omona, is that SUPER JUNIOR'S SUNGMIN! And his girlfriend! Ya! I told you he had a girlfriend!" It was one of the teenagers from further down the riverbank, looking right at us. in moments, people were running to come look.

"Finally! They found us!" Sungmin whispered, but shooting to his feet at the same time I did. He pulled me by the hand back towards the motorcycle, while we were being rapidly pursued by teenage feet. We laughed hysterically as we ran towards the bike, quickly jumping on and shooting off into the darkness just in time for some of them to snatch pictures.

It was all a part of the plan, of course. We were supposed to get caught. And I'd known it the whole time. It didn't stop me from feeling like that conversation had been completely genuine.