I tell Nari and Youngjae the exact details of what happened between Mark and I last night. We’re walking down Fourth Ave, fresh with milk tea from Undec, and it’s almost as if nothing were amiss. It’s getting warmer now, and the sky has decided to remind us that its existence brought some kind of warmth. Just the right kind of day to be outside. Especially because Youngjae promised us he’ll take us to Unplugged later this afternoon.

“He is so on to you,” Nari says. “What are you gonna do? Mark just, like, sealed off your fate forever. You’re off-limits to him. For good.”

“I don’t think that’s the point here,” Youngjae argues. “What are we going to do about all those rumors? About all that stuff going around? We still haven’t dealt with the Rap Monster thing yet. No doubt Monday morning, the Bulletproof Boy Scouts are going to be there, at the school gates, waiting for you. They’re gonna drag you up to their lair and do who knows what.”

I enjoy a long sip of my wintermelon milk tea before answering. “One, we do not refer to Kim Namjoon as Rap Monster. Ever. Two, we do not refer to his little group as Bulletproof Boy Scouts in any way, shape, or form. It’s ridiculous. And three, you have been reading way too much shoujo manga to even think such a thing is possible.”

“But what will you do when they actually come for you?” he asks, “Maybe you should take up Jackson-sunbae’s offer and date him. That way, you have some kind of shield.”

“That’s mean, Youngjae. I don’t want to do that.”

“Well, you have to do something,” Nari adds, “because stuff is about to get real.”

“I don’t know where else to go from here. My only solution is to transfer schools and pretend none of this ever happened.”

“That’s an extreme exaggeration.”

Nari and I don’t agree with Youngjae, but then again, we never do. “Maybe you could bang your face against a wall or something so your parents would be forced to let you have surgery on your face. That way, we can do a little upgrade and no one will recognize you.”

“I was thinking of changing my name and moving out of the country, actually.”

“Ooh, yeah, and then you can go meet one of those foreign guys and it’ll be just like a movie!”

“And you tell me I read too much shoujo manga? That’s worse than what I said!”

Nari rolls her eyes. “It’s still more realistic than a gang leader turning into mush because he fell head over heels in love with the girl! For absolutely no reason! He just decides to make her his property, and don’t even get me started with all the misogynistic vibes in that.”

“But seriously, what are you going to do about Jackson? Are you really going out with him?” Youngjae steers us towards the main Fourth Ave intersection, but Nari and I loop our arms around his and lead him towards the boutiques instead. Trapped between us, Youngjae doesn’t have a choice but concede.

“I don’t want to go out with someone I only have lukewarm feelings for.” My sister says that’s too idealistic of me. That I should just go out with whoever asks me out and not be picky because I’ll never actually know the depth of my feelings until I actually get to know a person. But that’s not the point.

The point is, That Moment with Mark, that was It. I knew the first time I laid my eyes on him. My sister likes to say that you only get one chance at a Moment, and that’s why when you feel It, you grab hold of it and never let go. So I’m never letting this go.

“So what are you going to tell him?“

Nari adds, “Has he even called yet?”

Nari and I drop our empty cups into a recycling bin and then push open the doors to our favorite store, True Beauty. Classy boutique smells whoosh into us, and we sigh in awe at the sight of racks and racks of dresses lined impeccably in the interior. Each collection is lined along the cream colored walls, arranged according to their respective styles and color schemes. The newest designs are at the center island, modelled by mannequins. It’s always pastels for spring— light coats and pretty skirts. We’re in heaven, and as with every single time we come here, Nari and I take a moment to fully experience the magic.

“Hi guys.” We’re greeted by Hoya, as usual. His smile is a little forced this morning, but maybe that’s a side effect of the fact that Nari and I never actually buy anything from this store despite being here almost every weekend.

At first, we thought it was weird that a guy like Hoya worked at a place like True Beauty. He wasn’t soft or delicate at all like the boutique, so at first Nari suspected that he might have been gay. A thought that sent us to some degree of depression because we collectively agreed that should anyone ask who we were crushing on, Hoya would be a safe answer. As Nari found out, Hoya was straight, and the reason he was working here was because he crashed his BMX into the store windows the summer before his third year at Woollim High School. It’s been two years since then so either he had a really large debt to pay, or he actually likes working here. Maybe it’s all the girls he gets to interact with.

We give Hoya our most charming smiles and deposit Youngjae on the round couches. I go straight to the dresses and Nari dives right into the shoes. It’s a routine we’ve perfected over the last year. We’d go to opposite sides first, meet at the center, then switch sides, then talk about the highlights.

“How do you stand being around them all day?” We hear Hoya ask Youngjae. “Is this a voluntary thing, or do you just not have a choice?”

“He totally has a choice,” Nari answers. “He can go hang out with the other guys in class, but we’re so much cooler.”

“I can see that,” Hoya deadpans. “Are you girls going to actually buy anything today?”

I answer that question. “Do we look like we can afford to?”

Hoya crosses his arms over his chest. Looks like someone has been working out.

Dodging Hoya’s look, I say “Youngjae’s in the music program thing at Woollim.” Sharing is caring, and maybe if we find some kind of common ground, Hoya will tolerate us more.

“Yeah? What program?”

I’m about to say “the music one” but Youngjae answers “Piano.”

“You took minors?” Hoya knows stuff about the music program? Odd. Nari’s informant said Hoya took the regular program. Although, I suppose it’s not a crime to be aware of your school’s extracurriculars.

Youngjae is suddenly fidgety which means there’s something he hasn’t told us yet. Which is weird. Youngjae tells us everything, even if it’s against his will sometimes.

“Minor in?” Nari echoes. It’s more of asking for an explanation than wanting to find out what Youngjae is minoring in.

“You get a major and a minor,” Hoya explains. “Like, another instrument or theory or whatever.”

“It’s just for the summer program,” Youngjae tells us. But what is he not telling us?

“Yeah, but you still get to choose a couple more classes. So what was it?”

Nari’s attention is no longer on shoes. She joins Youngjae on the couch. “You know a lot about this.”

Hoya isn’t even affected by Nari’s not-so-surprise attack. “That’s because I know two people who never stop talking about it and another one who keeps complaining about it. I still got some friends over there, too.”

“Really? Who?”

“None of your business.”

Youngjae is laughing quietly to himself now. So, Nari has found a match. This is all of a sudden too interesting to miss out on. “You went to Woollim?” I ask, joining them on the couch. We all know the answer, but we didn’t need Hoya finding out how much we already know about him.

“You know I did, why ask?”

Oops.

Youngjae is too amused. “I think I know who you’re talking about, hyung. She’s great, she took me to the studio, introduced me to a few guys, said I could hang out anytime.”

“Yeah? She’s great, right? The best.”

The vague conversation about this Mystery Girl has Nari and I exchanging confused expressions. Hoya and Youngjae are bonding. About a Girl. This is unheard of in the history of Choi Youngjae, and being his only friends in the whole wide world, we must be involved.

“Who are you talking about?” I ask. “And why have you never told us?”

“I told you!” annoyed, Youngjae answers, “I did, all summer, but you were too busy stalking guys and hanging around here!”

Hoya’s laugh is both amusing and refreshing to hear. He doesn’t laugh that much when we’re around, so hearing him like this makes up for the fact that Nari and I are in the losing team. “I feel so bad for you,” he says to Youngjae.

The bell tinkles and we all turn to the door. Ryu Aerin, shop proprietress, designer, and manager, glides into the shop, looking like she just stepped out of a magazine. “Sorry I’m late!”

Hoya runs up to her to help her with her things. He takes the three boxes she’s balanced on one arm, her portfolio, and two suit carriers. “It’s alright, just had to deal with these kids for the last twenty minutes.”

The rest of us are frozen on the spot. Even with all that stuff she carried into the shop, there was not a hair out of place on her head, not a crease on her clothes, and not a drop of sweat on her beautiful face.

“I would have come in through the back, but I couldn’t get my keys.” Aerin smooths down her navy pencil skirt and even Nari is hypnotised by the action. “Oh, hi girls. Hi, Youngjae.”

Hoya smirks at us as he makes his way into Aerin’s office. This is how much time we spend here. We were on a first name basis with Ryu Aerin.

“They were just about to go,” Hoya says, reappearing from the back.

“No, it’s alright,” she says walking up to the register. Then to us she asks, “Did you girls see anything you like?”

I nod, possibly looking very much like an idiot. Youngjae is always so starstruck, it isn’t even funny anymore.

Aerin goes through the logbooks and even something so mundane becomes so ethereal when she does it. “That’s right, I’m having this charity thing around three months from now, spring cleaning if you will. I’m gonna need some extra hands, so if you guys want to, you can help out and in exchange, I’ll let you rummage through the old collections for whatever you want.”

Us. Free stuff from True Beauty. Offered by Ryu Aerin, herself.

“Don’t be so nice to them,” Hoya complains, “You’re never going to get rid of them.”

Aerin just laughs. “Be nice to them! So, are you guys in?”

“Yes!” Nari eyes are about to pop out of their sockets. “Yes. Yes! We’ll do it!”

I’m just nodding dumbly to everything. Hoya rolls his eyes again, but there’s a slightly amused smile somewhere by the corners of his mouth.

It took some effort to leave, but we made it out of True Beauty with our names listed as volunteers for Aerin’s charity sale. Saturday brunches are spent at School Cafeteria on the Fourth Ave intersection, and we filed into our favorite booth— me and Yongjae on one side and Nari on the other— and placed in our favorite orders.

“We were talking about something before True Beauty,” muses Youngjae as he distributes the iced teas. “I can’t remember.”

“You still owe us all this talk with your girl from Woollim,” Nari reminds him.

“She’s not my girl from Woollim, and I already told you about her. Yoon Sena. This just proves you guys never to listen to me!”

“Is this the Violin Girl?” For the record, I had been listening. Just not as much because maybe we were figuring out where Mark hangs out during summer break.

“Yes, and she has a really scary boyfriend so she’s not My Woollim Girl.”

“Figures the nice girl gets a scary boyfriend. So she knows Hoya. How’d that happen?”

Youngjae explains that Yoon Sena is one of the volunteer mentors in the Summer Music Program. Youngjae met her on his first day, mentioned something meeting us at True Beauty, and Hoya came up because Sena used to be in the same class as Hoya, and used to be members of the same club. Eventually, Sena brought him over to Unplugged and introduced him to all the other studio interns. “And then I met  Open Your Eyes!.”

Unplugged is a small indie recording studio somewhere along Fourth Ave. It’s the birthing place of Open Your Eyes!, our current obsession. According to the website, OYE! started one lazy summer day and the then interns had nothing better to do. They started jamming, started sharing songs they wrote, and history wrote itself. They’ve changed the lineup since their early days; their former bassist Lee Jungshin got pirated into C.N Blue, OYE!’s rival group.

“And you’re going to introduce us,” Nari finishes. “Right?”

“If they’re around,” Youngjae answers. “They’re not always there, you know. They have lives.” Youngjae had class at Woollim this afternoon, his extra credit work is based on how much he participates at Unplugged.

“You think you could get us passes to the summer indie fest?” I ask. Last year we tried in vain to get passes to the summer music festival down the beachside. We ended up camping out by the coast just to hear all the bands play. It was worth it, but this year we want to level up and actually be in the middle of all the action. Azure Dragon Records, Unplugged’s mother company organizes the festival. It’s a long shot, but we’re desperate enough to try everything just to get passes.

“I can try?”

“Of course he will!”

Before Nari can push the idea further, D.O arrives with our food. We don’t really think D.O is his actual name, but the Little Thing with the heart-shaped mouth and alien eyes didn’t exactly consider us the best tippers so our interactions were rather limited.

“I can’t wait for summer,” I sigh, looking out the window. “How much longer do we have?”

Nari snorts. “It’s only been a month since school started.”

“A month and a half,” Youngjae corrects, “that’s still almost three more months left.”

This summer would be perfect. It would be the best summer we’ve ever had. Nari pulls out her phone and starts typing down our itinerary. “Movies, mall trolling, milk tea, music festival, hanging around here, what else am I missing?”

“My recital,” Youngjae adds. We turn toward him for further elaboration. He pinks a little bit. “My piano teacher says this summer he’ll sign me up for the recital. I’m performing at the big programme thing and you know. I need fangirls.”

Nari chokes on her iced tea. “Seriously?”

“I go everywhere you ask me to! Can’t you do this one little thing for me? You won’t even have to pay for the tickets!”

Nari rolls her eyes, feigning annoyance. “I’ll check my schedule,” she teases.

“What schedule?”

I’m just laughing into my hand. Nari would never, ever, admit to it, but she adores Youngjae just as much as I do. “We’ll be there, promise.”

“Don’t do that!” Nari hisses, “he’ll think we like him, or something.”

Youngjae points a spoon at us. “One day, you are going to need so much more than I need you, but I’ve already dropped you guys by then and you’re gonna come running for me to take you guys back.”

Brunch proceeds as usual. At one point, D.O had to come to our table to remind us to be quiet, so we decided to leave a few more bills than we usually do. Youngjae goes off to Woollim, while Nari and I wander into the record bars. At exactly 4 in the afternoon, we meet up with Youngjae, and head off to Unplugged.

“So what’s the minor thing Hoya was talking about earlier today?” Nari seems to have forgotten about it too, and she’s just as surprised as Youngjae is at my question.

“Nothing.” Youngjae is clearly hiding something, but neither Nari or I press the matter any further.

Unplugged is well hidden between record bars and sheet music libraries— I wasn’t even aware that the latter even existed. The four storey building is mostly brick, and the entrance is found in a narrow alley next to the library. At first glance, it’s the type of structure you wouldn’t even pay any attention to unless you know what’s there. Youngjae scratches his nose as we arrive at the only door we can see. Right now, it feels like I’m being inducted into a secret. Something so special, we need to learn the secret passwords and secret handshakes just to enter the premises.

“So, no promises, okay?” Youngjae walks up to the glass door, and contrary to its facade, the lock is actually the ultra modern digital passcode type. He taps in the security code and it beeps angrily at us.

“Uhm.” Youngjae tries again, but we get the same result.

“Are you sure you got in before?” Nari asks. I can’t tell if she’s upset or if she’s just teasing.

“Maybe they changed the code?” I offer. It’s not very helpful, but it’s not like there’s anything I can do about it.

In all fairness, Nari isn’t saying anything anymore. She’s not looking like she’s annoyed either. Youngjae tries for a third and fourth time, but we’re still getting rejected. I honestly don’t know what Nari is thinking, but I do know that Youngjae is worried Nari might go off on us. She’s been so excited for this, disappointing her seemed like a cardinal sin.

“Youngjae!”

We turn to see Im Jaebeom, Park Jinyoung and Kim Yugyeom walking towards us. It was Jaebeom who called out for Youngjae. He walks up to him and peers into the digital lock. “You getting kicked out, too?

“Yeah, you too?” Youngjae sighs in relief. “I thought I got disowned!”

I guess Youngjae was telling the truth when he said he hung out with these guys. It’s awkward because Jaebeom and Jinyoung are third years, and the only time we get to interact with them is almost never. Even when they were working at Khunfections last summer, we never really got to talk. Mostly because I prefer Ever After across the street, and I chicken out talking to them when I see them on register duty.

“Nah, no one’s passcodes are working. I called Wooyoung-hyung but he said he has no idea why we’re all getting kicked out,” Jinyoung says. “But that’s probably a lie because Khun-hyung says never to believe Wooyoung-hyung when it comes to stuff like this.”

“Maybe they’re doing something super secret?” Yugyeom says, looking all the way up to where the studio should be.

“How long has it been like this?” Youngjae asks.

“Since this morning,” answers Jaebeom. “We thought we could try climbing in from the back, but Renn must have pulled up all the fire exits.”

“Noona did?”

“Don’t call her that, Youngjae,” Jinyoung warns, “she gets upset.”

Yugyeom laughs. “Maybe that’s why we all got evicted. Someone called her noona.”

“You call her noona,” Jinyoung retorts.

“Renn?” I mouth to Youngjae. He gestures “Later” and I shut up. Nari is looking back and forth between Jaebeom and Jinyoung. They weren’t exactly cool kids at school. They were more like us, regular folk, invisible in the crowd. Apparently they lived a secret life as whatever they did here at Unplugged.

“Do you guys go to Woollim on the weekends too?” I’m curious. Sue me.

“Nope,” Jaebeom answers. “We mostly just hang out at the studio and record demos.”

Does Youngjae record demos, too? What else has he been keeping secret from us? And who knew? That these guys we paid no attention to in school were actually secretly cool kids. A whole spectrum away from what constitutes coolness in high school.

Jinyoung is looking at me funny. I raise a brow to ask why. I should have known what this was about.

“You’re Jackson’s Candy Girl.”

I tell him my name but he just shrugs. “Are you actually Jackson’s girlfriend or is he just saying that?”

“I’m…not.”

“But are you actually sending him candy every morning?”

“Not every morning…” And it wasn’t even for Jackson.

Yugyeom is interested in the conversation now. “Didn’t you kiss Kim Namjoon at the stairs yesterday?”

“That was an accident.”

“Really? ‘Cause the girls in my class were saying Jackson-hyung and Namjoon had a fight and you kissed the winner.”

I actually choked on a laugh. “It’s ridiculous what people come up with.”

“People are ridiculous,” Jaebeom says. I wasn’t aware he was listening. “I just got a text from Khun-hyung. He said we should just try again tomorrow. He said we can use the practice room above the flower shop if we want to. Youngjae, you coming?”

Youngjae actually turns to us to ask if it’s okay.

I look at Nari, but she just shrugs at me. “Go ahead?” I say, “We’ll just head home, I guess.”

“You guys can come along,” Jaebeom offers. I guess he’s the leader type? Jinyoung and Yugyeom don’t say anything about us, and I don’t know if it’s good or bad. How do you gauge moments like this? Does this mean we’re friends now? Am I supposed to greet them at school or is this a strictly within the vicinity of Unplugged sort of thing?

“What are you guys gonna do anyway?” We’re walking out of the alley now, though I’m still not sure if I’m coming with them to the flower shop.

“We’re practicing this routine,” Jaebeom answers, leading the way out into the main street.

“Like a dance routine?” I feel like an idiot asking that. Nari still isn’t saying anything, and I think she’s actually upset we didn’t get to see Unplugged today.

“Yup.”

“And…you’re inviting Youngjae?”

Jaebeom turns around, probably to assess whether or not I’m serious. He’s walking backwards, and with that look on his face, I really hope he falls into a pothole. “You didn’t tell them, did you?”

Youngjae shrugs. “They wouldn’t believe me.”

“Now I’m upset. Choi Youngjae!” I slap his arm. Playfully.

“It’s true!” Youngjae clutches his chest in mock hurt. This is a really fun version of Youngjae, and the rest of the guys are laughing with him, enjoying as much as he is.

We reach the intersection, and just before we cross the street to the flower shop, Jaebeom turns to us awaiting an answer. “So, you girls coming?”

Nari finally speaks up. “I think I’ll go home. I’m tired.” And then she’s off, leaving behind an awkward tension.

“Is she okay?” Jinyoung asks.

“We’ve been everywhere today, she’s probably tired.” I tell him in Nari’s defense. “But I’ll stay for a bit.”

For as long as Nari and I window shop at Fourth Ave Flower Shop, we never really wondered what was in the three floors above. Turns out there’s a Muay Thai studio on the third floor and an empty practice studio on the second. The fourth floor is still a mystery, but Yugyeom says it’s an apartment but no one lives there.

Yugyeom, Jaebeom, and Jinyoung walk straight to the back entrance, exchanging high fives with Jung Jinwoon who manned the register. I remember now. Jackson and Mark borrow the key to come up here sometimes. Will they be here now, too?

“Is he mad at me? Youngjae whispers as we climb up the backstairs.

“She’ll get over it.”

“I really didn’t know my passcode wasn’t going to work.”

“Youngjae, that’s not your fault. And you know even when we make fun of you, we still support you 100%, right? You know that, right?”

He grins sheepishly to himself. “I guess I didn’t know how to say it.”

“Just say it next time!”

I push him into the practice room with the others and watch for a couple of routines. Jackson and Mark aren’t around, but I don’t mind. When I get home and into bed, I still can’t help but think I forgot about something that seemed important even though I couldn’t remember what it is. I fall asleep anyway, hoping to remember in the morning.