“Amy let’s drive you home. It’s very late,” Suho said. According to the watch that I wear daily, it was 10:42pm.

“Oh no it’s fine, I live very close to here. It’s just a few bus stops,” I lied. I didn’t want them to see my living situation and judge me for the tiny rat hole I call home.

Luhan joined into the conversation, “Are you sure? Please be careful. It is very dangerous to be alone this late. Especially for a pretty girl who doesn’t know the language well."

“Ne,” I said plainly. “I will be careful.”

Suho and Luhan reluctantly accepted my answer and started to get out of their seats. I walked with them out through the restaurant’s back door to avoid getting spotted. Thankfully my two teaser videos have not been released yet so my life is still somewhat normal. I didn’t need to take precautions to avoid attention just yet. The heavy metal door was pushed open by Kai, who was eager to get home and sleep. The two black vans parked outside sat ready to take them back to their dorm. Kris offered one last time to drive me back but I respectfully declined. Hopefully I’m not offending them because that’s the opposite of what I want. As they jumped into the cars, I waved bye to them while being verbally tackled by all their goodbyes.

“Annyeong Amy!” Chanyeol said energetically with his unintentional ert face in full effect.

“Annyeong!” others said ontop of each other.

“Sleep well,” the charming D.O. said.

“再见美女,” said someone in Chinese. It directly translates to goodbye beautiful girl so it made me giggle like an embarrassed child. Unlike Tao’s distinguishable rough voice and Kris’s deep voice, the voice was smooth and dreamy. My guess is that it was either Luhan or Lay, but I can’t be sure because it was said so fast.

“谢谢!” I laughed thanking the anonymous voice. I was still waving as the tinted doors to the vehicles started to slide closed, watching their faces disappear inside the van. The engines and the cars sped off into the night leaving me waving at nothing but the dim lamp post and garbage can in front of me. My hand dropped heavily down to my side. I looked around. I’m alone again. But strangely this time I’m not lonely, I’m content.

The first thing I did when I got back to my apartment was plug in my phone. I opened up my email and like routine, my schedule was there sent by Manager Kim. Lay was right. Combined rehearsals were tomorrow, Wednesday at noon, to tidy up the choreography before the MV shoot the next day. Then on Friday my first teaser will be released at 8pm. At 8pm on Friday my life was going to change. I went to bed that night with a smile on my face hopeful for what the future may bring.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I entered into the SM building taking off my coat to reveal the flannel and leggings I was wearing underneath. My plan was to rehearse a little before the practice started so I wouldn’t forget anything. I walked into EXOs rehearsal room and the only difference it had from mine was that it had black couches in the corner. I plugged my phone into the speakers and ran through the dance a couple times before Manager Kim came in through the door with EXO’s manager following behind her.

He called out behind him, "Boys, hurry up and get in the room. She’s already practicing. Look at how hard she works.”

I looked down in embarrassment. I didn't want them to think I was trying to show off. The sound of many shuffling feet gradually got louder as they neared the door. The first one in was Chen. He came in wearing a black snapback and grey sweatshirt which made him look so trendy even in sweats. He raised both his hands up to chest level and gave me a cute wave. I mimicked the action back to him but with a water bottle in my left hand. The others stumbled in after him all wearing dark colored clothes resembling a dark storm cloud. But in contrast to their appearance, their combined energy was very eager. The room had become lively as soon as they entered.

“Alright kids sit down we have to discuss your schedules.” Mrs. Kim announced. We all sat down on the floor in front of our managers like we were back in kindergarten again.

“Tomorrow you guys are going to shoot the MVs for both the Korean and Chinese versions of the song. Producers just finished editing Amy’s parts into the remix so you can listen to the final version after we finish discussing,” He paused to look down at the papers in his hands. “Amy’s first teaser will be released on Friday, congratulations Amy.”

“Kamsahamnida,” I said bowing my head. The boys were clapping. “Oohs” and “aahs” were coming out of their mouths.

Manager continued on. “Lastly, there will be a photo shoot early next week and maybe a radio appearance. Now this is just the schedule for when you guys are combined so you will still be working on projects separately. You will be spending a lot of time with Amy while you guys are promoting so please take good care of her.”

“Ne, we will,” the boys said behind me. In the mirror I saw Tao give a big nudge to Suho to the point where he almost toppled over. Suho glared at Tao while he and Chanyeol just silently laughed at him. He looked down at his lap in embarrassment but when he glanced back up, we made eye contact in the mirror. His facial expression was like a surprised boy who just got caught eating candy before dinner. What was that about?

“Ok we hope that you will use your time wisely today. I’ll see you guys back at the dorm,” EXO’s manager said. He started to walk out.

“See you tomorrow,” Manager Kim said trailing behind him.

They closed the door and left the 13 of us inside. It was quiet for a moment as everyone got back up on their feet. Suddenly the sound of static coming through the speakers interrupted the silence. Suho had plugged his phone into the aux cord.

“Let’s listen to the new version of Call Me Baby,” he said.

The new version was even more catchy than the original! The producers did a very good job layering the vocals and editing the beat so that it was more hip hop than pop. Everything was going well until the music started slowing down before Chanyeol’s rap.We all looked around at each other confused. Then suddenly a catchy trap, dubstep remix was happening! There was a dance break! Sehun cheered and flung his arms in the air and started dancing. I guess he likes it. It’s definitely catchy. The song continued normally after that. When it ended we all clapped, happy with the final product.

"Guess we will need to choreograph a dance for that dance break," Kai said.

"You, Lay and Amy can work on that later. It'll be your solo," Suho said. "Let's all practice the main choreography first."

"Amy yo