I made a deal with Taeyeon that I would get transportation to her venue and she would make sure I got home. So there I was, once again being driven by a member of Jellyfish management. I was dropped off in the rear of a rather impressive building, where a tall man in black was waiting for me. I thanked my driver before exiting the vehicle. The man approached me immediately, “Mira, I presume?”

                “Yes,” I replied, looking around briefly, “I have a meeting with Taeyeon.”

                The man nodded, and gestured for me to follow him through the back door of the building. Silently he led me down a flight of stairs, opening a large steel door for me. The door dumped directly into the back of an auditorium. Stunned, I looked around. There wasn’t a lot of seating- this was clearly a rehearsal stage. I finally saw the three women on stage, dressed casually, but they were clearly hooked up to microphones, as their voices carried through the room. I was too enamored by the basement stage to really pick up what they were saying, but I vaguely registered that they were taking direction from what I could assume to be a manager.

                I found a seat in the dark empty audience pit, finally taking the opportunity to look up at the girls. I was in luck! I recognized all three of them. One was Taeyeon, who I made sure to research thoroughly so I didn’t embarrass myself, one was Tiffany, who I had identified as one of Girls’ Generations’ American natives. The last one I recognized for an embarrassing reason. I had plastered so many posters of her face for N’s birthday, there was no way I couldn’t recognize Seohyun.

                They reset to their marks, and began to sing along with a clearly undeveloped backing track. All three of them had incredible vocal tone and talent, and I found myself rather enjoying their performance, despite its rough, unpracticed character. They ended up running through a few different songs and different versions. Once it was clear they were done, I clapped quietly. This clearly startled both Tiffany and Seohyun. “Who’s here?” Tiffany asked quickly, looking to Taeyeon, who was smiling smugly.

                “A present for you,” I heard Taeyeon say as she disconnected herself from her mic. I suppressed a laugh. It reminded me of my first day in Korea, being presented as a gift to VIXX. I stood as Taeyeon ran gracefully down the stairs on the side of the stage, coming to find me. I was instantly struck by how short she was. I had at least six inches on her. “It’s nice to meet you properly,” she gently took my hand, her smile was absolutely stunning. “Tiffany is a huge fan. I hope you don’t mind surprising her.”

                “Of course,” I said with a little chuckle, “I don’t mind at all.”

                “Excellent,” she grinned a little wider as she pulled me by the hand up to the stage. Once I stepped into the light, I nearly had to stop and cover my ears when I heard the high pitched scream of joy that came from Tiffany.

                “MIRA!” she squealed as she ran to me. She clearly didn’t know what to do with herself, so I held out my arms, inviting her for a hug. With another squeal of joy, she hugged me happily. “It’s so nice to meet you!” she spoke in quick English, “I’m such a huge fan,” she continued as she pulled away from me. “Wow, you’re tall,” she commented, sizing me up.

                “It’s nice to meet all of you,” I said in Korean, giving a little bow to Seohyun, who was waiting patiently behind her spastic companion. “All three of you are amazing singers.”

                “Your Korean is so good already!” Tiffany praised, looking between me and Taeyeon, “How did you manage to get her here?”

                “Funny story, actually,” I said with an awkward laugh. “It was Kyuhyun who gave me Taeyeon’s phone number.” I decided to leave out the part where the intent of meeting with them was in order to balance out my male-dominated relationships in the press.

                The three looked at each other dubiously, “Kyuhyun?” Seohyun was the one to speak, and I saw her sigh heavily, “Well, I guess we owe him one now,” she straightened up, smiling at me. “Tiffany’s right, you are tall,” she said suddenly.

                I laughed a little, “You guys are short!” I countered.

                “It’s because she’s working with VIXX,” Taeyeon pointed out. When I looked at her in question, she chuckled, “They’re all so tall. Three of them are over 180, right?”

                “You’re right, they are,” I nodded. I had taken it for granted. The shorted was N, and even he was the same height as me.

                Taeyeon looked out into the empty audience, “Let’s go sit. I have a surprise for you, too, Mira.”

                “For me?” I asked with a little laugh. I suddenly felt a little anxious. I had no idea what someone like Taeyeon would have for someone like me. But regardless, the four of us made our way out to the few rows of stadium seats down past the stage.

                We got comfy, sitting two to a row so we could all see each other. I decided to speak first, “So I’ve spent all my time in Korea with male artists so far,” I looked around at each of them. Seohyun sat next to me and we faced Taeyeon and Tiffany, who were sitting sideways in their seats to see us. “Do you guys feel like it’s better or worse as a female group?”

                They looked at each other for a moment, but Taeyeon spoke first, “I feel like it can be more difficult at times, but we also have a pretty distinct advantage.” Her answer surprised me, but the other two girls nodded in agreement.

                At my look, Tiffany added, “In America, pop groups are pretty rare. Female pop groups don’t exist at all, right?” When I nodded in agreement, she continued, “In America, you have both male and female fans, right?” Again, I nodded, “It’s the same here. We have male and female fans, whereas it’s not very acceptable for guys to be fans of male idols.”

                “Makes sense,” I thought for a moment, “Whereas in America, male artists can be liked by males as role models, that’s not the case here.”

                “Exactly,” Seohyun spoke then, “and in America, most artists are solo, so you have more specific appeal. We have nine girls who all are unique, so it’s hard for someone to dislike all of us,” she grinned at her last point.

                I chuckled a little, “Good point.”

“So Mira,” Tiffany spoke up, “What do you think about the kpop industry so far?” It was a gigantic question with a lot of implications. Sudddenly she lowered her voice, switching to perfect un-accented English, “And if you need to tell me any secrets, these two don’t know a word of English.”

                Taeyeon gave Tiffany a gentle smack on the shoulder, “No secret English!”

                I laughed, humoring Tiffany for a moment as I responded in English, “I hope that won’t be necessary.” When the other two rolled their eyes, I shook my head, switching back to Korean, “The industry here is so different.”

                Clearly sensing my floundering for a direction, Seohyun helped me out, “Any good differences?”

                “Absolutely,” I said quickly, “part of it is cultural, and part of it is the way the industry works, but you all seem much more cordial and pleasant to each other. Everyone has connections with everyone else. Back home there are rarely genuine friendships, just business connections or feuds.”

                “But you also have total creative freedom,” Taeyeon spoke, her voice carrying just a touch of sadness.

                “True,” I nodded, “But being all alone can be pretty overwhelming, too.”

                “Then what bothers you most about the kpop industry?” Tiffany asked.

                I sighed heavily. There were certainly some things that left a bad taste in my mouth, “The ‘visual’ concept. The fact that someone is stuck into a group just so they can look pretty really bugs me.”

                They all looked at each other in surprise. Tiffany finally spoke, “But you have one of the best ones!”

                “Hongbin, right?” I couldn’t help but laugh a little, before falling back into a more serious tone, “I mean, I get that he’s handsome, but he’s also really talented, and I feel like the visual label takes away from that.”

                Taeyeon nodded decisively, “A lot of visuals go through that. Our own Yoona has grown a lot musically over the years. The best example is probably Siwon from Super Junior.”

                “Yeah,” Seohyun piped up, “First the first several years, he would start out every song and then maybe sing one more line, but these days he has really improved.”

                I appreciated the sentiment, but it still bugged me, “I mean, does the Korean populous have a more unified standard of attractiveness?” I asked in frustration.

                “Yes.” Tiffany answered bluntly, but then a smirk appeared on her face as she leaned over her chair to get a better look at my face, “That means you think someone else is the most attractive.” She became visibly excited, “I bet it’s Ken,” she spoke in a hushed voice to Taeyeon.

                “Oh jeeze,” I groaned. We were diving headfirst into girl-talk land, and there was no stopping it.

                Seohyun spoke up, “I think their youngest is really cute.” I wasn’t sure if she was bailing me out or baiting me, but either way I appreciated the diversion.

                “He is so sweet, too,” I jumped in.

                “It it true?” Tiffany asked, “Did he really throw you a Fourth of July party?”

                “Yes!” I laughed, “And you of all people should know it’s not that important of a holiday, but he saw that I was a little homesick.” All three of them ‘aww’d at once.

                “Don’t think I’m letting you off the hook, though,” Tiffany winked at me.

                Taeyeon rolled her eyes, “You don’t have to talk about this if you don’t want to,” she assured me.

                “But it’s okay, you know,” Tiffany pressed, “Taeyeon and I are both dating fellow idols. Speaking of which, my guy is performing with your guys right now!”

                “Really?” I had no idea who Tiffany or Taeyeon was dating, so I couldn’t really piece together the implications.

                Seohyun was the one to sigh now, “Yeah and Taeyeon had to issue a public apology while Baekhyun got boo’d when their relationship was exposed.”

                “Yeah, what’s the deal with that?” I asked, suddenly getting agitated again, “Back in America they had me pretend to date people to generate publicity, but you guys can’t date people even if you want to!”

                “Okay, you’re right, that part does ,” Taeyeon smiled sheepishly, “but eventually fans come to accept that we’re real people, too.”

                I shook my head, “It’s why I don’t want to answer your question,” I looked to Tiffany again. As much as I normally hated the concept of girly talk like this, it was refreshing. I needed this change of pace.

                “Well if you were absolutely forced to date one of them, who would it be?” Seohyun prodded, clearly being in to Tiffany’s schemes. "We get asked that all the time and no one gets too upset."

                Sighing in defeat, I thought quickly on how best to handle this. I supposed I would be honest, “Objectively, it would be Ravi.”

                “Really?” Tiffany was clearly surprised.

                “He’s the most comfortable to be around, he’s funny, and he’s got that y crooked smile thing going on,” I listed rather bluntly, shrugging a little as I did so. At the last minute I decided to throw them a bone, “But,” I started with a sigh, and they all leaned toward me eagerly, “the real truth is that it’s Leo.”

                “That’s even worse!” Tiffany said with a laugh, “He’s so scary!”

                I laughed along, shaking my head, “He’s certainly not the easiest guy to get to know, and I think if I wasn’t practically living with the guy, he would scare me, too.”

                “Alright, alright,” Taeyeon tried reeling in the conversation, “Let’s not get too distracted, Mira’s surprise is here.” I was thankful I had to explain myself no further, because in truth, I'm not sure I even could.

                We all sat properly, facing the stage. I heard several microphones switch on, and similarly dressed men began to file onto the stage. Suddenly, I recognized not one, but three of them. “Oh my god,” I whispered, “You’re kidding, right?” I asked Taeyeon.

                “You’re welcome,” she said simply, raising her eyebrows at me. “They’re prepping for their comeback at the end of the month.”

                It was Super Junior, all assembled on stage, wearing black and grey suits. They were milling about, fixing mics and determining starting markers. I simply gaped, then I remembered something, “Kyuhyun knows I’m here.”

                “He does?” Seohyun asked me, her voice just barely above a whisper.

                “We were on his show yesterday, and I mentioned I’d be meeting you guys. He even knew you had rehearsals,” I was more talking to myself than to her, “That little bastard knew!” I laughed a little, but sat back. I might as well enjoy the performance. I’d be sure to give him a hard time later.

                We grew silent as they took their positions. After a short countdown, the track began, strong brass surprising me. They danced immediately, perfectly synchronized among the ten of them. And then they began singing, no hint of harmonies on the backing track. Every voice was live. Once the chorus started, I couldn’t help but watch in awe. “Damn they’re good,” I muttered in English, and I caught Tiffany looking back at me with a grin. Forget ‘Danger’, I wish I had this track for rhythmic vocal examples. Their voices were all so different, that their group vocals were musically interesting. Kyuhyun’s Broadway style vibrato layered over them shouldn’t have worked. But for some reason it worked. And hot damn, could those boys dance. The song was over too soon. Clearly they were pleased as they all began to hug and high-five each other.

                Taeyeon stood and applauded, the other two joining soon after. One of the men I didn’t know put a hand over his eyes to shield the bright lights, “TTS is here,” he announced.

                “Someone else is here, too,” Kyuhyun said cryptically, and I could see his smirk.

                “Come on,” Seohyun gently took me by the wrist, and we quickly made our way up to the stage.

                Heechul pretty much exactly mirrored what Tiffany had done earlier when he spotted me, “Mira, it’s so good to see you again!” he pulled me into a tight hug.

                “What?” I heard an unfamiliar voice come from nearby.

                The three girls backed off, letting me get passed around Super Junior like a toy from show-and-tell. I got introduced to each one of them, but I knew there was no way I would remember them all immediately. “And now the man himself,” Heechul whispered into my ear as he presented me to a slim but tall man, “Park Jeongsu, more commonly known as Leeteuk, but you can call him Teukie.”

                The man laughed, a manic sea-lion type laugh. “So official,” he cried, stepping toward me, offering his hand, “It’s nice to meet you.”

                I took his hand eagerly, “It’s an honor,” I said sincerely, “I’ve heard so many great things about you. I would love to work with you guys one day.”

                He laughed again, his smile taking over his entire face. Now I understood why everyone always mentioned how happy and warm this guy was. His presence made me feel at ease. He had that natural aura that made me feel as if he would take care of me if I needed him. It was quite a lot like Hakyeon, and that made me proud. “You’re working with those youngsters VIXX, right?”

                “Yah, Teukie,” Heechul interrupted from behind me, his hands resting on my shoulders, “don’t talk like you’re so old, because then that makes me old!”

                “We are old!” Leeteuk countered, but his grin remained as he looked back to me.

                I couldn’t help but giggle, “Yes, I am working with them. Their leader Cha Hakyeon thinks very highly of you.”

                “Tell him I said hello, then,” he spoke as Kyuhyun weaseled his way into the conversation.

                “Kyuhyun!” I faced him angrily, my attention taken away from Leeteuk, “You knew you’d see me today?”

                He grinned innocently at me, “It was a hopeful possibility.”

                I groaned, but I had to give him credit, “You guys are really talented,” I admitted.

                “We’ve been at this almost 10 years, Mira,” Heechul spoke again, “We wouldn’t still be around if we were bad at it.”

                Taeyeon cleared , catching all of our attentions. “I’m glad you all got to meet her, but can we have her back now?”

                Leeteuk’s raucous laughter sounded again, “Of course, Taeyeon, I’m sorry we kept her for so long.”

                “It’s was nice meeting all of you,” I insisted, receiving hugs from Kyuhyun, Heechul and Leeteuk before being dragged away. Even Leeteuk’s hugs reminded me of N. I made a mental note to tell him that.

                Tiffany caught up to me, showing me her phone, “I got some nice pictures!”

                I was about to object, but she was right, they were rather nice pictures of me meeting everyone from Super Junior, and my hugs from the two eldest and the youngest. I gave her my number so she could send them to me. We walked out of the auditorium and out the back door into a courtyard-like area that was clearly fenced off from the outside world.

                “Thank you, Taeyeon,” I turned as we walked, facing the short girl.

                “You’re welcome,” she beamed at me, “Thanks for coming to see us.”

                We strolled along together, discussing mostly business related issues. Tiffany and Taeyeon were my age, while Seohyun was a few years younger, but they had all been in this industry for about the same amount of time as I had. At some point, I remembered where I was, and felt a bit ashamed that I didn’t think of this sooner, “Have any of you guys seen Taemin recently?”

                “He’s been so busy,” Taeyeon said softly, glancing up at me quickly, “I’m worried about him.”

                “I haven’t heard from him since his debut,” I mentioned offhandedly, “He used to at least text me every day.”

                “Interviews and performances every day,” Seohyun sighed, “Such is the life.”

                “Hopefully he’ll get a break soon,” I lamented. I had hoped to see him since I was on his home turf. Henry was still in China, so I supposed I wasn’t going to capitalize on this any more than I had already.

                Tiffany sighed, looking up at the sky, “We should probably get you back soon.”

                I nodded, “Can we take a picture together first?” I asked hopefully. As much as there were probably pictures being taken of us at that very moment, I genuinely wanted a memento of our time together. Initially I had come here for selfish reasons, but these girls had been surprisingly grounded, and we had some legitimate discussion. Of course there was also the little girl talk interlude that I had been dreading, but in hindsight, it was actually quite nice.

                We ended up taking a few pictures with the four of us before the sun began to set. They were cute enough to merit putting up on Twitter and Instagram, apparently, as Tiffany did so immediately. “Let’s get her home before it gets dark,” Taeyeon said with a laugh, pushing Tiffany’s phone away. It was clear she was willing to pose for pictures until it was well into the evening.

                At long last, Taeyeon called a car for me. “Oh Seohyun,” I paused, suddenly yet again reminded of when I first arrived in Seoul, “Could you do me a huge favor?”

                As I sat in the fancy nondescript car, I turned the little card over in my hands. It was a simple note reading ‘Cha Hakyeon, I hope your performance went well! <3 Seohyun’. It had been just as awkward to ask for as when I asked Hongbin to say farewell to Charlotte, but I knew it would bring him so much joy. I had left the girls with warm goodbyes. It was unclear if I would see them again, but now Tiffany and Taeyeon had my phone number, at least.

                When I was dropped off at Jellyfish Entertainment, I noticed that the van was still gone. I let myself in, heading upstairs. I was about to just head to my room when I remembered the card I had been fiddling with. Sneaking for no reason at all, I tiptoed through the VIXX apartment, heading to N and Hyuk’s room. They weren’t even home, but I felt like an intruder as I opened the door. Quickly, I placed the card neatly on N’s pillow before retreating to my own room. Now I just had to wait.

                At some point I received a text from an unknown number. It read ‘You were spotted at SMTown. I feel so betrayed – GD’. I laughed a little, saving the number before responding: ‘I was invited. It was nice.’

                I lost track of time as I got to work organizing some of my notes for the music video, but I became aware that it had grown dark. As I gazed out the window, I heard a thunder of footsteps coming up the stairs. It took some self-control to resist meeting them out in the hallway, but I stayed put. I knew if I saw Hakyeon, I would give away the surprise. I jumped when my door cracked open. I saw Ravi’s face peer in, and I gestured him to come in quickly.

                “So where were you?” he asked eagerly. I couldn’t stop grinning, and he narrowed his eyes at me slightly, “No really, where did you go today?”

                “I got Hakyeon a present,” I said simply.

                “A present?” he asked dubiously, clearly concerned.

                I nodded, “It’s on his pillow. Can you make sure he gets it?” He turned to leave when an eardrum-piercing screech sounded through the hall. “Guess he found it,” I said, bursting into a fit laughter.

                “What the hell,” Ravi murmured, but soon enough N burst through the door.

                “DID YOU DO THIS?” He yelled, holding the card up for me to see.

                “Yup,” I said simply, trying to suppress my smile.

                Ravi snatched it out of his hands, reading it quickly. “So that’s where you were,” he smirked at me as Hakyeon pulled me into the tightest hug I had ever experienced.

                The faces of the rest of the guys began to appear in the doorway. “What the hell happened?” Ken asked, taking in the scene in the room.

                N suddenly pulled himself together, looked me square in the face and gave me a swift chop to the neck. “Ow!” I complained, “I thought you’d be happy!”

                “I am happy!” he frowned, “But I’m also insanely jealous! How did you get her to do this?”

                I pulled out my phone and showed him the photos Tiffany had taken of the four of us. He scrolled over and saw the other photos as well, “You got to meet Leeteuk, too?” he sliced my neck with his hand again, but he was smiling.

                Ravi yet again swooped in to snatch the device, allowing the rest of them to see as he scrolled through himself. “I asked nicely,” I answered N’s question with a laugh. “Leeteuk says hello, by the way. He reminds me a lot of you, N.”

                “Really?” he asked hopefully, still flip-flopping between happy and jealous.

                “He hugs like you, too,” I added with a little chuckle.

                N looked like he was about to chop me again out of jealousy, but Leo showed up to grab his wrist. “Just say thank you, N,” Leo said quietly.

                With a sigh, he relented, dropping his arm, “Of course, thank you so much for thinking of me, Mira.”

                I pulled him into a hug this time, “Also I learned that you guys are abnormally tall,” I mentioned.

                Hyuk laughed, “What do you mean?”

                “I mean Taeyeon was like seven inches shorter than me, and most of Super Junior was N’s height or shorter,” I explained as I let N sit on my bed, inspecting the card.

                “That’s true,” Ken said proudly, “We are tall and handsome group, VIXX! Fighting!” he looked into an imaginary camera and pumped his fist, causing me to chuckle.

                I looked around at all of them crammed into my room. I was happy to be back. I had been right that a change of scenery was what I needed. “So N, can we start on the choreography tomorrow?” I asked him as I sat on the edge of my bed next to him.

                “Yeah, let’s do it. I’ve been thinking about it for a while, actually,” he was still staring at the little card as he spoke, “Let’s get everyone in the dance practice room tomorrow morning.”

                “Mira,” Ravi spoke up suddenly, his voice slightly panicked. Everyone stopped what they were doing and turned to him. I had never seen Ravi look legitimately scared before, his phone clutched tightly in his hand. “Emergency."