"Welcome home, Jenny!" read the sign hanging from my living room ceiling. Taped randomly were hanging balloons and streamers.

Mom and Dad were bustling about, greeting people and handing out drinks. My older brother Jaeson was chatting with some of my friends. My best friend Hana was talking to... Oh. Ew. She's here.

Thalia Donnahue. Richest girl in Koreatown LA, and she's not even any part Korean, although she claims her mother's father had a brother who married a Japanese woman and their kid married a Korean, but I digress. The obvious fact that she really isn't Korean isn't what's annoying about her.

She likes EXO.

The most stuck-up, ungrateful, and undeserving K-Pop group in all of South Korea. Their own members don't like the group, since they keep leaving. I have no idea why the fans still stay. But Thalia still stands firm that EXO deserve everything they have, and much more.

As if anyone is more deserving than CoreA. CoreA has the finest, most talented singers and rappers on the face of the Earth. Not to mention their dancers, oh boy. They're such a good group, that they're always first place everywhere. Well... Tied for first place. Always with EXO.

I took a deep breath and walked over, past all the people between us who wanted to say hi to me. I forced a smile onto my face.

"Annyeong!" greeted Thalia.

I was ready to kill her already.

"Hello, Thalia," I said. I focused on Hana instead. She was grinning.

"I'm so glad you're back home," said my childhood friend. "We have so much to catch up on." Suddenly she gasped. "You missed CoreA's new album!"

I smacked my palm against my forehead. "Oh my God, how could I have forgotten?!"

Thalia was grimacing, a sight I was plenty happy to see. "I gave it a listen. It was too... Generic."

I scoffed. "At least they're not trapped in boxes for all of their music videos," I snapped.

Hana put a hand on my shoulder, and as if she were up my anger like a sponge, I felt calmer. "It. Was. Amazing," she said. She went ahead to tell me about each and every single member's look. Thalia got bored and left to talk to other people.

"Jesus, what's her problem?" I asked.

"Probably the fact that you two are technically at war," Hana answered.

I squinted at her. "You need to choose sides, girlfriend," I said. "hEart? Or EXO-L?"

Hana shrugged sheepishly. "They're both pretty good."

Was she even a friend? Or an enemy? Have all these years been lies? Deceit? Has there never been love?

I was serious about my CoreA. By relation, I was serious about my anti-EXO, as was every true fan.

"By the way, people have been bombarding your blog about where you've been. Your queue ran out a while ago," Hana said, taking a sip of her juice.

Thalia was back. I kept my eyes on my friend. "Oh, crap. There's that, too. Do you think they'll ever even believe what happened?"

"After what happened to EXO's Kai? Definitely not," answered Thalia, even though the question wasn't even directed at her. Shut up.

I wasn't even the slightest bit curious about what had happened. My only focus is what to tell my followers. "How about I keep it vague, like, 'I was at the hospital for a bit, sorry,' and just never mention it again. And don't answer questions."

"Well, I guess. I mean... Try that, and if they don't accept it, whatever. It's not like they know you in real life," Hana shrugged.

She didn't understand. My followers were basically my second family. It didn't matter that I'd never met them face-to-face.

"It'd be more believable to say you were stressed about homework. It is your senior year after all." If it hadn't been Thalia who said it, I might've taken that route.

"I'll figure something out," I told her.

"Hey, Jenny, Thalia, Hannah," greeted my brother Jaeson, using mine and Hana's English names.

"Hey Jason," said Hana, giving him the same treatment. "What's up?"

"I was just wondering if I could steal the Walking Miracle for a minute or two?" He flashed a charming smile and I rolled my eyes.

"Go ahead," answered Thalia. She was practically shooting hearts out of her eyes. Huh. Maybe her love for EXO isn't the only reason I hate her.

As Jaeson dragged me away, I regained my foot pace and walked next to him. He pulled me into our shared room and closed the door. I took a deep breath, in and out. "My God, it's crowded in there!" 

"You're quite popular," my brother teased. "I wish I had that many friends when I was your age."

"You mean last year?" I shook my head, laughing to myself. "Anyway, most of those people aren't my friends. Just classmates. I'm sure they just think it'