At about ten this morning, I waltzed down the stairs, enthralled by the American smells of pancakes and bacon, my favorite breakfast. I’ve had my fair share of mornings when I simply grabbed a bowl of kimchi from the fridge or dumped a cup or two of rice into the cooker, but nothing could ever take the place of crisp bacon slices and fluffy pancakes in my heart. Mom smiled and set out a plate in front of me, piling it with chocolate chip pancakes. I dove right into it, and Mom chuckled. “Dad called from work already. He said the boys want to know if you wanted to hang out today.”

                 Since the day I had first met the boys of Teen Top, I had hung out with them twice. I enjoyed hanging out with them; L.Joe in particular. They were all loud and had great senses of humor and never ran out of things to say or talk about. I was becoming a major fan. I watched all their performances on television and waited patiently for their MV to come out. I had had my eyes glued to the screen, holding my breath for the second I saw Blondie. By the end of the fourth viewing, I had concluded that Niel was a flawless singer, Chunji definitely did look like Key, Changjo and Ricky didn’t have enough lines, C.A.P was a skilled rapper, and L.Joe looked like an adorable schoolboy with his hair dyed a warm brown color. I also began wondering if he really knew how to play the violin, or if he was just a good actor.

                “Today?” I asked. Stupid question. Of course they meant today.

                Mom’s back was to me, but she nodded. “He said come whenever you’re ready, if you’d like.” A wide smile spread across my face as I thought of seeing L.Joe today, but I stuffed a chunk of pancake in my mouth to mask it. She turned back around at that very moment and gazed at me. “So what’s the deal with these boys? Any of ‘em cute?”

My eyes widened and I forced the wad pancake down my throat before I choked. “Uh, well, I don’t know.”

                “I’m serious!” my mom chuckled. She gazed at me. “Which one’s the cutest?”

                “I’m not talking about this,” I said in response, looking down at the syrupy mess on my plate in an effort to hide my blushing cheeks.

                “Kirin, you’re red as a tomato. Tell me who’s the cutest!” Mom chuckled. This was so like my mom. I appreciated how involved she liked being in my life and how chill she was when it came to boys. My mom knew about the three boyfriends I had had. She knew about my first boyfriend, my first kiss. Every time she caught me watching a band’s performance on television or the computer, she’d ask who my favorite was. “No, Mom, not that one. He has short hair.”

                “That one?” she’d ask.

                “No, not that one.”

                “But he’s so cute,” Mom would insist.

                “Yeah, but—THAT ONE, MOM, THAT ONE!”
                “THAT ONE?”

                “NO...YES, THAT ONE! The one rapping!”

                “Which one’s Wooyoung?”

                “Mom!”

                “What? He’s a cutie!”

                And so on.

                I had to give in. “L.Joe,” I said quietly.

                “Is he the blonde one?” Mom asked, raising a curious eyebrow.

                I bit my lip and did a half-shrug-half-nod.

                “I’ve seen him.” Mom shrugged, turning her back to me to wipe her hands.

                 “And?” I asked tensely. How could anyone not think he was cute? He was breathtaking, and I barely knew him. I held my breath.

                Mom turned back around. “I think he’s the cutest, too.”

                I let out the breath I had trapped in my lungs. “Oh, good.” I tried not to smile, but I was anyway.

                Mom gazed at me. I started feeling uncomfortable. “What?” My voice cracked.

                Mom laughed and shook her head. “Nothing. I’ll save my questions for some other time.” She was smiling. “You should probably go get ready if you’re going to hang out with the boys today.”

                C.A.P, Chunji, and L.Joe stood around the water tank, filling up their tiny cups with cold water, chugging it, then repeating the process. Ricky and Niel were sitting cross-legged on the floor, attempting to show me their intricate handshake. Niel kept messing the whole thing up; you slap four times with the right, twice with the left, five times with the left, three times with the right and once with the left, obviously.

                “Hey guys!” cried Changjo as he burst through the door. “Guess what!”

                “Yah?” C.A.P called, throwing a curious nod in his hyper dongsaeng’s direction.

                “There’s going to be a firework show over the Han River tonight!”

                C.A.P, Chunji, Niel, L.Joe and Changjo’s eyes lit up. “Fireworks?” Niel asked excitedly.

                “When?” C.A.P asked inquisitively his eyes lighting up.

                “Tonight around nine!” Changjo smiled widely. “Andy-sunbae said we can drive out tonight and go watch them—”

                “WOOOO!” howled Niel, throwing his hands in the air. The boys at the water tank ran over to celebrate with Niel and Ricky.

                “BUT only if we practice for two more hours,” Changjo slurred quickly.

                All five boys let out one uniformed groan. L.Joe flopped backwards on the couch. Chunji covered his face with his hands.

                 “Come on, guys, only two more hours.” C.A.P declared. “Let’s start now so we finish sooner, alright?”

                “Can’t we wait a little longer?” Changjo whined timidly.

                C.A.P threw a glance at the clock on the wall. “Guys, it’s almost four o’clock now. If we practice until six, that leaves us some time to hang out before the fireworks. Now up and at ‘em!” He clapped his hands twice, ordering hid dongsaengs to hop up.

I giggled as L.Joe peeled himself up off the couch, throwing his hood up over his shiny blonde hair. He got to his feet and bent down to grab hold of Chunji’s hands. He giggled as he pulled his best friend up to his feet.

                “But what’s Kirin going to do for two hours?” Ricky spoke up.

                I felt twelve eyes fly to me; I blushed.

                “You can watch practice, if you want,” Niel shrugged. “I’m sure Andy-sunbae would let you.”

                “Alright,” I said excitedly. Six smiles spread across six pairs of lips; L.Joe’s especially. Everyone got to their feet and trudged down the hallway to the elevator. The seven of us crammed in it, and Niel pressed the button.

                “Move over!” Ricky whined.

                “I can’t! If I do, I’ll be on top of Kirin,” Niel chuckled.

                “Sorry,” I chuckled. I had my eyes secretly fixed on the head of shining blonde hair in front of me. L.Joe wasn’t very tall at all—174 centimeters, maybe—so it wasn’t a challenge to secretly stare at him. I breathed in deeply, trying to detect what he smelled like. I wonder what cologne he wore, if he wore cologne at all. All I could smell, though, were six sweaty boys who had just danced and worked out for three hours.

                When we elevator came to a stop, we all filed out and headed straight for the practice room. I sat on the side of the studio and they stood in the center while my uncle drilled them.

                I’d like to say I watched everyone evenly, but I’d be lying.

                Ricky dropped the picnic basket on the ground. “This is perfect!”

                “Ricky-ah, be careful with our food!” Chunji exclaimed, kneeling down to open the woven picnic basket.

                “This is pretty good,” C.A.P replied positively, dropping the watermelon on the ground like a rock and proceeding to spread out the picnic blanket.

                “Aish, be careful, hyung!” Chunji exclaimed, eyeing the watermelon that now had a mud stain on the bottom.

                “Ah, it’s fine. You don’t eat the outside anyway.” C.A.P shrugged, smoothing out the blanket. Niel and Ricky plopped down and tore open the picnic basket.

                “I’m so hungry,” Niel breathed. He pulled out a big bang of sandwiches.

                “Already?” C.A.P laughed. “We just ate.”

                “Yes, already.” Niel said defiantly, opening the bag and taking out two sandwiches. He handed one to Ricky, who grinned happily and took the sandwich from his hyung.

                I took a seat awkwardly next to Niel. L.Joe awkwardly sat next to me, pulling his knees up to his chest. He rested his chin on his knees and looked down at the spread of food that had erupted from the picnic basket, curtsey of Volcano Niel.

                “When do they fireworks start, C.A.P-hyung?” Ricky chirped excitedly.

                “When it gets dark,” C.A.P responded, reaching for the watermelon. “Anyone want some?”

                “I want a big piece!” Ricky exclaimed.

                “Me too!” Chunji chirped.

                “Crack it open with your bare hands, hyung!” Ricky dared.

                C.A.P laughed. “I’ll try,”

                “You’ve done it before, hyung!” Ricky smiled. “Remember, L.Joe-hyung? You told us about it!”

                L.Joe nodded his head of white blonde hair, not taking his chin off his knees.

                “L.Joe-ah, what’s wrong?” Chunji asked.

                “Nothing,” L.Joe was quick to respond. I watched his eyes shift nervously.

                “You’re awfully quiet.” Chunji muttered, glancing at L.Joe. L.Joe glanced back.

                I’ve discovered that Chunji and L.Joe have an exceptionally close friendship. They both seem to know exactly what the other is thinking and they can communicate through their facial expressions without actually speaking. No one else could understand their language, only they could. I watched Chunji’s eyes swiftly shift from L.Joe to me, and then back down to L.Joe in a split second. L.Joe turned his head away, his cheeks turning pink. The whole situation puzzled me, so I was thankful for Changjo tapping my shoulder, telling me excitedly to watch C.A.P crack open the watermelon with his fist.

I tore my eyes away from the silent conversation beside me and watched intently as C.A.P positioned the watermelon in front of him. He cracked his knuckles and took a deep breath. In one swift motion, he drew his stiff, flat hand back and brought it down like an ax, cracking a jagged fissure the top of the watermelon. Everyone clapped wildly, except for L.Joe who gave four quick, hard claps and then clasped his hands around his knees again. What was with him today?

                C.A.P beamed proudly. “It didn’t really crack that well,” he commented, reaching for a knife in the picnic basket.

                “C.A.P-hyung is so strong,” Ricky marveled with wide eyes.

                “I wonder if I could do that,” Changjo questioned no one in particular. His hand flew to his biceps through his sweatshirt and he flexed.

                “Yeah, right!” Niel laughed.

                “Hey!” Changjo pouted. “I’m stronger than you are. You know that.”

                Niel rolled his eyes and Ricky and Chunji giggled. Even L.Joe let out a small smirk as his pretty dark eyes turned the shape of rainbows.

                I was hoping no one could tell, but I had been watching the pretty blonde boy beside me nearly the entire time. He seemed exceptionally quiet today, but it was kind of nice to just watch him. I watched his eyes dart from the food to whoever was talking to the sky to me briefly to Chunji to the ground to his hands to the sky to the food to Changjo to the sky to his hands and to the sky again. I don’t know why, but I liked watching him.

                “What are we supposed to do until the fireworks start?” Ricky questioned.

                “We could play a game,” Chunji suggested.

                “TAG!” Niel cried, a huge smile on his face.

                “I’m not a good runner,” Ricky whined.

                “I am!” Changjo flailed his arms.

                “Let’s ask Kirin what she wants to do,” Chunji smiled, stealing a glance at L.Joe, who looked down at his hands again.

                “Uh,” I muttered, tearing my eyes off L.Joe. “Tag is fine,” I blurted.

                “KYA!” Niel cried, springing up. “NOT IT!”

                “NOT IT!” Changjo shouted with me.

                “NOT IT!” C.A.P and Chunji screamed.

                “L.JOE’S IT!” Ricky shouted.

                “What?” L.Joe cried, jerking his head up.

                Everyone sprang up and darted in all directions. L.Joe sighed, flipped his hood off, rolled his sleeves up, smirked, and took off.

                I didn’t know where I was running, but I ran. I kind of followed Changjo, because he seemed to know where he was going. I turned my head around to see where L.Joe was, and across the field I saw him chasing after Chunji. For someone as tiny as L.Joe, he could sure run. His short, skinny legs must be entirely made of muscle, because he propelled himself forward with ease. His hood flew off and his straight blonde hair stuck out behind him. I wanted to giggle at his face as he ran, trying to catch Chunji, but I was nearly out of breath myself.

                L.Joe reached his arm out to touch Chunji, who attempted to swerve in the other direction. L.Joe slid as he touched Chunji’s shoulder. “YOU’RE IT!” He cried, the loudest I’d ever heard him speak.

The game went on like that for a while. I stole glances at L.Joe basically the entire time. After Chunji was it, he got Ricky. Ricky was it for a while until he caught C.A.P, who was obviously running slower so his dongsaeng could catch him. C.A.P increased the pace as he dove for Niel, who tagged Chunji again. Chunji got Changjo after a while, and Changjo got L.Joe after an even longer while.

                “Has everyone been It at least once?” Niel panted.

                “I haven’t been It yet,” I spoke up, a small smile on my face.

                “That’s about to change,” L.Joe suddenly said with a smirk. My face fell, and I took off. L.Joe followed. Everyone cheered me on and watched us sprint away.

                I had never been very athletic, but one thing I had always been able to do was run. I had short legs, but they were pretty powerful. I could carry myself a while. If it was one thing I was, it was persistent. I was panting like crazy and my legs felt like Jell-O, but every time I whipped my head around and saw the cute blonde boy running behind me, I felt stronger. Energy coursed through my veins every time I witnessed him behind me. I ran as fast as I could wherever I could.

                “KIRIN, YOU’RE ON FIRE!” I heard Rick cry.

                “GET HER, L.JOE-AH!” C.A.P cried.

                “NO, NOONA, YOU GOT THIS!” Changjo shouted.

                I caught L.Joe out of the corner of my eye reached out to tag me, and as much as I wanted to feel him touch me, I kept running. I swerved to the right and sped up, momentarily loosing L.Joe. He was on my tail in a matter of seconds.

                “Where are they going?” Chunji asked.

                “Into the woods?” C.A.P asked.

                “Let’s follow them!” Ricky cried, as the five boys watching the chase took off running across the field.

                L.Joe had chased me into the woods. There was a wide walking trail that was relatively clear. There was a dense forest on either side of us and the dim sunlight streamed down through the tree tops. The scene looked so pretty and I would have loved to wander around in it, camera in hand. I ran up the train that was slowly inclining and rounded a corner.

                “Aren’t you tired?” L.Joe called.

                “Aren’t you?” a flirty voice that was not mine called back. I heard L.Joe grunt behind me and his footsteps got louder.

                Suddenly I heard L.Joe yelp behind me. I whipped my head around and found him a few feet away, on the ground. He was holding his ankle, wincing. My eyes grew ten times their size and I practically sprinted over to him, terrified he had broken his ankle and was in excruciating pain.

                “Are you okay?” I asked in a shaky voice.

                “Yeah, uh, I’m fine,” L.Joe said, gripping his ankle with both hands. “I just…I think…” Suddenly he dropped the agonizing look on his face. He smirked wickedly, smacked my shoulder and jumped up. ‘YOU’RE IT!” He called over his shoulder as he darted the other way.

                My jaw hung open. He had tricked me? “OH NO YOU DIDN’T!” I cried, standing back up and taking off after him.

               “YEAH I DID!” He laughed as he looked over his shoulder. He smiled an impious smile and laughed as he propelled himself down the trail, pushing his sweatshirt sleeves up.

                I had my eyes glued to him like a lion’s on a gazelle. I took a deep breath and took off again, staring him down. I couldn’t tear my eyes away from him. He was tough, witty, alluring, playful, attractive, the ultimate tease. I didn’t slow down even for a second until I was merely a couple feet behind him. We ran past Chunji, C.A.P, Niel, Ricky and Changjo, flying like bullets.

                “He got her!” Chunji cried.

                “They’re amazing!” Ricky marveled.

                “I didn’t know L.Joe could run like that,” C.A.P exclaimed.

                I barely heard their conversation. “Aren’t you tired yet?” I cried, out of breath but feeling stronger than ever.

                L.Joe threw his head back and let out a dorky, mesmerizing laugh. “Are you?” He asked.

                I didn’t answer; the gap between us was closing. I outstretched my hand and jerked forward, stretching as far as I could to touch him. He looked back momentarily just as I sped up even more and miraculously slapped his back.

L.Joe slowed down with every heavy step he took. I heard everyone cheering behind us, as they ran over. L.Joe’s steps became slower and slower and so did mine, until he collapsed down in the grass. I collapsed right beside him.

            He stared up at the darkening sky and panted, his forehead shining with sweat. “Hey,” he said breathily in English. “You’re pretty good.”

                I couldn’t even feel my body from the waist down. I was entirely numb with exhaustion. My heart was beating out of control from running endlessly, and on top of that was he was speaking to me in English. His English voice was deeper than his voice when he spoke Korean; for some odd reason, I found it alluring.

                “Thanks,” I breathed back, in English. “You’re pretty good yourself.”

                I couldn’t see his face, but I pictured a smile spreading across his M-shaped lips and his pretty eyes turning the shape of rainbows. “Thanks,” He let out a heavy sigh, panting like a dog in one hundred degree weather. “Oh, my knees,” he groaned quietly.

                “Are they alive?” I heard Ricky ask suddenly.

                “Yeah, they’re alive,” Chunji replied, as he kneeled down next to us.

                L.Joe groaned as he sat up. “My knees are killing me.”

                “You shouldn’t have run like that,” C.A.P scolded.

                L.Joe shrugged. “I’ll be fine.”

                “Noona, you’re amazing!” Changjo exclaimed kneeling beside me.

                “Thanks Changjo,” I giggled, breathless.

                L.Joe shakily stood up next to me. He exhaled sharply as he tore off his sweatshirt, He pulled it over his head, his shirt slightly lifting to reveal a perfectly flat stomach; I almost had a heart attack.

                L.Joe smiled as he looked down at me. He giggled and stuck out his hand, indicating he’d help me up. I looked at his hand and up and then up at his face and into his eyes. They were squinted cutely, they way the look when he’s smiling.     His eye-smile was the most adorable thing I had ever seen in my entire life. It felt like nothing else existed in the whole world other than the handsome blonde boy standing over me, his eyes the shape of rainbows and his hand extended. I took his hand and he helped me up. The second our hands touched I swear I felt sparks fly. If this is what Cloud Nine was like, I never wanted to come down.

                I stood up slowly, my eyes fixed on his. His were fixed on mine, even after I had stood up completely. I held on to his hand longer than I should have, but he didn’t seem to mind; I was the one that tore my hand away, anyway.

                “Ah, L.Joe-ah?” Niel asked.

                “Ah, yeah?” L.Joe snapped back into reality. He turned his head away from me and to Niel.

                “Nothing,” Niel smirked. “Come on, guys, it’s getting dark!”

                “A rock?”

                “No.”

                “A tree?”

                “No!”

                “The picnic basket.”

                “No!!”

                “CHANGJO!” C.A.P cried. “WHAT are you spying?”

                Changjo pouted as L.Joe, Chunji, Niel and I laughed. The game of I Spy had gone on longer than any of us had hoped. We had named everything from Chunji’s Hello Kitty socks to the ant crawling up the picnic basket handle.

                “I already gave you hints!” Changjo protested. “And you haven’t guessing anything like it yet!”

                “CHANGJO!” C.A.P threw his head back and laughed, both frustrated and amused at the same time. “I give up, okay?”

                Changjo pouted harder. “It was that cloud of smoke all the way over there.”

                Everyone’s heads whipped around to where Changjo was pointing.

                “Changjo,” C.A.P said flatly. “It’s too dark to see over there.”

                “Well I spied it when it as lighter out!” Changjo cried defensively.

                I wanted to laugh out loud, but I didn’t want to make the magnae even more upset. I dropped my head and looked to the right, snickered a little bit. L.Joe was doing exactly the same thing, his head turned to the right, in my direction. He shot me a look and I shot him one back, and we both giggled.

                “What’s so funny?” Niel commanded.

                “Nothing,” L.Joe’s voice cracked, he was trying not to smile but his eyes were doing the rainbow-thing again.

                Changjo narrowed his eyes. “Stop laughing at me, hyung.” He pouted.

                “I’m not!” he giggled louder. I laughed out loud. He followed.

                Chunji rolled his eyes. “Ignore them, Changjo.”

                Changjo his bottom lip back in and turned his attention away from us.

                “I’m sorry, Changjo,” I said sweetly, momentarily not laughing. L.Joe, on the other hand, couldn’t constrain himself.

                “Thank you, Kirin-noona.” Changjo batted his pretty eyelashes and beamed admiringly at me.

                Suddenly Chunji slapped his arm. “Aish, these darn mosquitoes!”

                “I got bit twice already,” Ricky spoke up, examining his forearm.

                “I haven’t,” L.Joe shrugged.

               “You’re wearing a sweatshirt,” I rolled my eyes, leaning back on my hands. Now that it was getting darker, I was regretting wearing shorts. I had my black slip-on Keds, dark wash denim shorts and a loose gray scoop-neck t-shirt. I had even let my hair down from the pony tail it was in before in hopes of protecting my neck from the hungry mosquitoes.

                “We have insect-repellent, but it’s not working.” C.A.P sighed, swatting away a bug.

                L.Joe flipped up his hood. “ for you guys.” He smirked.

                I rolled my eyes and giggled, slapping his arm playfully. He slapped mine back. I slapped his again. He slapped mine again.

                “Hey!” C.A.P scolded playfully. “Hands to yourself, children!”

                Ricky and Niel snickered.

                “What?” L.Joe barked.

                “Nothing.” Niel smirked.

                “What?” L.Joe repeated, a little mischievous smile spreading across his face.

                “Nothing,” Niel said again, his eyebrows arched. He shot us a little skeptical look and Ricky giggled. “You make it so obvious.”

                “What?” I cried.

                Ricky shook his head slowly. “So obvious.”

                L.Joe and I looked at each other, sharing puzzled glances.

                “What?” L.Joe said again, his voice cracking slightly.

                “Never mind.” Niel smirked, sharing an incredulous glance with Ricky.

                The sky overhead was almost completely dark, with the exception of a vibrant orange sunset in the distance above the treetops. The food had been packed up with the exception of a package of store bought chocolate chip cookies, which was nearly empty. Everyone seemed to be having their own separate side-conversations. Ricky, Changjo and Niel were giggling with each other and Chunji and C.A.P were chatting about a movie they both wanted to see. L.Joe and I shot each other awkward glances, neither of us sure what to do now.

                “So,” L.Joe started in English. “How long did you live in the States?”

                “A long time,” I answered. “I was born there and we moved here about five years ago.”

                “Ah, I see,” he answered. He looked up from the blanket beneath us to my face. “I only came here a year ago.”

                “Really?” I asked, cocking my head to the side.

                L.Joe nodded, pulling his hood off, casting away the shadow that covered half of his face. In the dim light under the moon and stars, he looked positively beautiful. It was nice talking to a guy like this, especially a guy as handsome as L.Joe.

                “I was born here, but we moved to the States when I was eleven. I lived there for five years,” he replied softly, looking me in the eyes. I loved that about him; when he spoke to you, he really looked interested. He made great eye-contact. And it wasn’t exactly hard to look him in the eyes, either.

                “Really?” I asked, rather interested. “That’s cool. Why’d you move there?”

                L.Joe smiled shyly. “I wanted to be an idol.”

                “Really?” I asked.

               “Yeah. My dad brought me back. My mom was totally against it, but my dad brought me here anyway. He wanted me to follow my dreams, even if it meant moving back to Korea.”

                His story intrigued me. “My mom likes America a lot. She was so excited to move there. She’d been learning English, so she taught it to my brother and me.”

                 “You’re good at it,” I smiled sweetly.

                “Really? Ah, no, I’m better at Korean,” he chuckled.

                “I think your English is really good,” I said, moving a little closer to him.

                “Really?” he asked again, a smirk on his cute face.

                “Totally,” I replied completely honestly, shrugging slightly. “It sounds nice.”

                His smirk turned into a full smile. “Thank you.” His eyes sparkled. They caught every light, every shine from the moon and the stars above and the electric lantern C.A.P had put in the center of the blanket, which had casted a warm light on everything around it, including L.Joe’s soft-looking face. He had soft features; a round face, round cheekbones, a flat button-nose, and glimmering eyes. His skin glowed in the light of the lantern, and it was at that moment I surprisingly found myself wishing we were alone.

                “Your Korean is really good,” he said, returning the favor.

                “Ah, I don’t know,” I giggled, looking away. He never took his gaze away from me.

                He chuckled. “Did you grow up speaking English?”

                I nodded, looking back up at him. I’d never been attracted to a guy with blonde hair before. Especially not an Asian boy, because I always thought blonde hair on Asians didn’t look right, unless it was G-Dragon. Something about the chic bowl-cut of L.Joe’s hair and the white blonde color reminded me a lot of Big Bang’s stylish, y leader.

                “My mom was born in the States and my parents got married there. I was born there and we were going to live there, but my dad wanted to move back to Korea. My mom had never been here, so she agreed. I guess I learned basic Korean from them and picked it up more as I grew up here.”

                “Alright, I have to ask.” L.Joe crossed his legs and moved closer to me. “America or Korea?”

                “Oh, that’s a hard one!” I laughed. “I really don’t know. I like how everything’s not as formal in America as it is here, but…” I looked deep into his eyes, feeling like getting lost in them. “I kind of like it here.”

                “Don’t tell anyone, but,” L.Joe leaned in closer to me. “I kind of miss America.”

                “Why?” I asked with a small, nervous smile. Please tell me he didn’t have a girlfriend back in the States…

                “I just liked it a lot. I like how laid back everyone is. I’d love to go back to California someday. Even just to visit.”

                “I lived in California too!” I cried.

                “LA?” he asked with an eager smile.

                “Yeah!” I cried, suddenly feeling like I had a connection with him.

                He threw his head back and laughed. “I knew you were cool.”

                I smiled proudly. “You think I’m cool?” I asked playfully.

                “Yeah, you’re good at tag!” he laughed. “I hear you’re artistic too, right?”

                “Yeah,” I said, wondering how he knew that. Had he asked about me? Did they talk about me?

                “I wish I was like that.” L.Joe replied, slumping his shoulders slightly. “That’s C.A.P’s thing. You should see him draw, he’s amazing.”

                “I’d love to,” I exclaimed. “But you’re musical, right? I wish I was musical.”

                “Yeah, I guess.” He was blushing. “I can play the piano and the violin. And I can rap.”

                “Can you sing?” I asked with a smile.

                “He shrugged. “Ah, I don’t know. Kind of.”

                “Can you sing something for me?” I asked excitedly.

                “No!” He covered his blushing face with his hands. “No way.”

                “Please?” I asked.

                “I’ll rap something,” he offered. “Is that good enough?”

                “Of course!” I sat up straight and moved closer to him.

                “Ah, alright,” he bit his lip and thought a moment.

“Nujun bam biga neryowa
nol deryowa
jojun giog kuthe dwichogyo na
no obshi jal sal su itdago
dajim hebwado ochol su obdago
mothanun suldo mashigo
sogtanun mam bamse chewobwado
shirho no obnun harunun giro biro
jebal idge hedallago.”

                I clapped wildly. “’Lies’ by Big Bang, right?” I cried excitedly.

                “Yeah!” L.Joe clapped for himself. “Oh my God, I’m so happy you got the song,” he laughed.

                “You like Big Bang?” I asked, hoping we had even more in common.

                “Are you kidding? I LOVE Big Bang!" he exclaimed, a huge smile spread across his lips and he moved closer to me. “I totally love G-Dragon. He’s my role model.”

                “I love him, too!” I exclaimed. “Big Bang and 2PM are my favorite groups of all time!”

                L.Joe threw his head back and let out a joyful sigh. “I love G-Dragon so much. I want to be like him. He’s just so smooth and cool and he’s an amazing rapper. I wish I was that good,” he sighed wistfully.

                “You’re good now,” I replied truthfully. “He’s had a lot of experience, don’t forget. You’ll be that good some day. I just know it.”

                “Really?” He smiled, cocking his head to the side. “Are you just saying that to be nice?”

                “No way!” I cried, sitting up straighter. “You’re going to be amazing, I just know it.”

                He was silent for a few seconds, thinking. “I hope Teen Top gets really famous someday,” L.Joe sighed longingly.

                I admired his gaze for a few seconds. “You guys are going to be huge someday,” I assured. “I promise.”

                “You can’t promise that,” he laughed.

                “Yes I can!” I playfully argued back. “Remember, I am an avid k-pop fan, so I know all about every group and what fans like and everything like that. If you guys are talented, which you are, you make good music, which you do, and you’re good-looking,” I blushed like a tomato, “which you are, you’ll succeed.”

                A smile spread across L.Joe’s perfect M-shaped lips. “You really think that?”

                “Yeah, honestly.” I smiled, unsure whether he was questioning if I really thought Teen Top was going to be a hit someday, or if I thought he was good looking. Either way, the answer was affirmative. “You guys have the total package.”

                L.Joe dropped his gaze for a few seconds. He bit his lip and looked away, blushing more than I was. “Alright, I guess I’ll trust you.” L.Joe smiled. “You seem pretty smart.”

                “I’m not that smart,” I chuckled.

                “Yeah you are,” L.Joe defended.

                “How do you know?” I teased, punching his arm.

                He punched mine back. “I…I can just tell. You seem like a really intelligent girl. Really smart, hard-working, bright, kinda cute.”

                I bit my lip to keep myself from smiling too widely. “Well thanks,” I smiled, looking into his eyes with a longing gaze.

                There was something about him that I was strangely attracted to. Maybe the way he blushes easily or his eyes smile, his nose scrunches when he laughs or the way his lips and are shaped. Undoubtedly, he was a good looking kid. He was, after all, a rookie idol. If he wasn’t already now, he was going to be adored by thousands, maybe even millions of fans across Korea, across Asia, maybe even across the world. For a minute I had completely forgotten I was talking to an idol; he just seemed like a normal guy. Like a boy at school who had randomly started a conversation with me. I hated to think he was just being a charming idol trying to gain a few fan, but something told me there was nothing feigned about him. Maybe it wasn’t so strange to be attracted to him; he was gorgeous. A feeling fluttered like a bird from my stomach to my entire body; a kind of exciting, nervously, fluttering feeling, but I shot it down like a hunter. No, I couldn’t…I can’t…I shouldn’t. I really shouldn’t. But no matter how much I tried to deny it, why couldn’t I convince myself of the inevitable? I was starting to like him.

                “I could say the same thing about you.” I said with a smile.

                At that moment, I felt something land on my leg. I slapped my thigh, trying to kill the mosquito that wanted to rudely ruin this moment. Another one landed on my other leg and I tried to slap it away, but missed.

                “Aish, mosquitoes!” I exclaimed, annoyed.

                “Here,” L.Joe said, gripping the bottom of his sweatshirt. He pulled it up over his head and handed it over to me. “Cover your legs with this.”

                “Really?” I asked, tucking hair behind my ear. “Are you sure? You’ll get all bitten up!”

                “Nah, don’t worry about me.” He shook his head and held out the sweatshirt. I hesitated, but he ushered me to take it. I felt another mosquito’s long, tickling pair of legs land on my knee and I snatched the gray sweatshirt from L.Joe’s hands, which were rather soft and warm. I folded my legs and threw the sweatshirt over them, shielding them from the bugs.

                “Thanks, L.Joe,” I beamed shyly.

                 “Do me a favor,” he replied amiably, “and call me Byunghun.”

                “Byunghun,” I repeated, trying out the name. “Well in that case, thank you, Byunghun.”

               Byunghun smiled a thousand-watt smile. The second he did so, a loud booming noise erupted into the air. Everyone jumped in their seats; Byunghun even subconsciously placed a protective hand on my knee. Everyone’s attention shifted to the sky, which had turned completely dark by now. More starts had been sprinkled into the sky. C.A.P reached over and shut off the lantern, and suddenly everything went dark. Seconds later, a firework was sent into the air like a space shuttle with a sparkling tail. It reached its peak and then exploded into the air in a vibrant, beautiful burst of red. All of us stared up into the sky overhead, marveling at the vivacious bursts and vibrant colors of the fireworks. One by one they were launched and exploded into the dark night sky. Ricky and Niel hollered in fake horror at the loud booms of the explosion, to which C.A.P elbowed Niel in the ribs and Chunji whispered for them to shut up. Niel, Ricky and Niel snickered, and soon they were playfully bickering among each other over who was being the loudest and who needed to shut up. Byunghun and I watched them for a few seconds, giggling to each other. Our attention was stolen by five fireworks that had been launched into the air and all exploded in energetic bursts of red, green and purple.

                “So pretty,” I marveled, looking up at the exploding array of colors in the sky.

                I saw Byunghun’s eyes turn the shape of rainbows as he smiled, gazing at me. “Yeah. Real pretty.”

- - - - - -

                Hope that wasn't a /total/ fail! Sorry the chapter is so long...they won't all be this long, I promise!

                And a big thank you to all my new subscribers! Hope you all enjoy this!~