VIXX was crazy busy promoting their new release, which was great for me, as I sat in my room brainstorming for the next several days. I had total peace now that Charlotte was gone. She was giddy through the entire drive to the airport gushing about Red the hottie and how he had been such a gentleman sending her off. Once I was back in my little apartment, I was frustrated at my lack of internet access. At least my smartphone still worked. Thankfully, the short amount of time I spent with my new collaborators had given me more inspiration than expected. The prospects were exciting. Midway through June, I was sitting at on my messy bed, listening to some Muse while writing out some sheet music. My concentration was broken with a knock at the door. A pink flower with a red center and large white stamen awaited me as I opened the door. The bright blue bowed head gave away its bearer. I was a bit taken aback for a moment, “Uh,” I stammered, “Hi Ravi.”

He raised his head, meeting me with that friendly smile of his. “We never really welcomed you properly to Korea, did we?” he spoke as he slipped past me into my room, placing the stem of the flower into my hand as he went.

“Rose of Sharon?” I recognized the flower at least. “Thanks?” I questioned, watching as he made himself comfortable in my room. Stunned by his suddenness, I stood there blankly. They had been so standoffish and polite, hardly speaking a word to me. And now here Ravi was, striding into my room like it was no big deal. It definitely caught me off guard, but it was also a relief.

“It’s the national flower of Korea, you know,” he stated simply as he looked around my room, his eyes flitting between what personal belongings I had. He seemed to nod in approval before sinking down into my slightly padded desk chair.

Finally I shook my head to clear my thoughts. “Thanks, Ravi, but,” I stopped for a moment to set the flower gently on my desk, “what are you doing here?”

“Oh,” he replied with a smile, “well we’re done with our debut performances and you did ask for our lyricist, didn’t you?” He paused, resting his hands behind his head as he leaned back in my chair, “So here I am.”

I slowly closed the door behind me as I processed his words, “You?” I asked to clarify, trying to veil my disbelief in sheer curiosity. When he nodded triumphantly, I couldn’t help but smile. It was good news. One less outside influence to work with. “Alright then, before we get down to business, can you answer some questions for me?”

“Anything for you,” he replied, giving a short little bow. I guess Ken wasn't the only flirt in the crew.

I rolled my eyes before sitting down on my paper-strewn bed, careful not to crush one of my many pages of sheet music or notes, “Well, can you tell me more about VIXX? I normally like to do my own research, but my laptop's wireless card is busted, so I have no internet. What do I need to know about all of you? I know how you are musically, but what about everything else?” I knew the question was seemingly pointless, but I had my reasons.

He raised an eyebrow at me, “Well that’s about as broad of a question as you can get.” He sat up, resting his hands on his knees as he thought for a moment, “Okay then, let’s just get down to it." Ravi took a breath, quiet for a moment before beginning to speak again, "N is a great leader. He’s a good mediator and is really reliable. If you need to make a decision, make sure he’s on your side. He’s probably the strongest all-around performer we have.” He stopped to think, “Leo’s the second oldest. He’s, uh,” Ravi paused, clearly searching for the right words, “He’s a little different from your average idol. He’s quiet and shy, and is very easily embarrassed. He also is quick to get violent with the younger ones when they , or if they- really I should say we- get out of hand.” At my apparently horrified expression he waved his hands in front of him quickly, “Not that kind of violent! I mean, like, a bop on the head with a water bottle or a semi-gentle headlock type of thing.” He laughed quietly to himself, “Leo is very competitive, and it affects his relationship with Ken, who is third oldest. Ken is extroverted, social, and very confident. These are all things Leo isn’t, and I guess Leo feels that Ken is a better singer, and it can affect how they sing. The two of them are not so good at passing harmonies. That’s probably one of our biggest obstacles.”

“That’s unexpected,” I interrupted, looking down to ruffle through my pages of scribbles. “And unfortunate. The concept I have so far requires incredibly tight harmonies,” I pulled a piece of sheet music from under one of my several books littered across my bed and handed it to Ravi.

He quickly scanned the page, then looked up at me incredulously, his smile faded, “You weren’t kidding when you said tight. This is going to be a tough sell.”

I thought for a moment, recalling what Ravi had just said, “Well, can I get N on my side?”

“For something like this, it’s Leo that’ll have an issue. N might help, but you’ll have to convince him that it’s even possible.” Ravi's sudden pessimism was certainly not encouraging, but I wasn't one to back down from a good idea.

With a shrug, I dismissed the issue, “I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it. I know they’re capable. Now, if I guessed correctly, you’re next up on the age roster.”

Ravi smiled again, “Yeah, I’m next. I guess I get along with everyone pretty well. Leo will rely on me to be his interpreter for interviews, preferring me to speak for him. I’ve been at least involved with most of our songs’ lyrics and choreography, though choreo is usually N's deal. I’ve started getting into composing as well.” He shrugged, looking away from me, “It’s hard to talk about myself like this.”

I rolled my eyes to myself, dismissing his failed attempt at modesty. “Hongbin, then.”

“Hongbin,” Ravi repeated. “He’s the visual of the group, and I think that gets him down sometimes. But I think he’s got a good voice, too, he just needs more practice. Maybe some strict direction."

“Visual meaning he was hired based on his looks?” I had heard of the practice, and it baffled me. I shook off my judgement, seeing as I would have to get used to the idea.

“Yeah,” he said with a nod. “He’ a great actor, too, not that it helps." Ravi stopped to meet my eyes again before resuming his review, "And youngest Hyuk, he’s a really sweet kid, he just needs to find his place in all of this. I think you’ll like working with him. He’s good at everything, but he’s not great at anything yet.” Ravi seemed pretty satisfied with his answer, sitting back into the chair. Suddenly, his brows furrowed, “My turn for a question.” Once I gestured for him to continue he spoke, “What is this music?”

My jaw dropped. I guess it was expected for Koreans to be less versed in English music, but for someone to never hear Muse before was a deadly sin in my book. “Have you never heard Muse?” At his blank expression, I jumped off the bed, rushing to my stereo to turn it up. ‘Feeling Good’ was playing at the moment, and I looked expectantly at Ravi.

He sat forward in concentration, “What did they do to his voice?”

“He’s singing falsetto through a megaphone,” I answered quickly, perhaps a bit too excited. I couldn’t help it, sharing music never failed to turn me into a hyper fan-girl. Especially when it came to Muse and Matthew Bellamy. As we listened, something in my head clicked. This was perfect, “Ravi,” I said suddenly, clearly startling the younger man. “I saw a mic and amp in your rehearsal room. Are they just props, or do they work?”

Bewildered, he looked at me like I was crazy, “They work,” he spoke hesitantly.

“Good, then come with me,” I quickly hopped off of my bed, grabbing my guitar case before squeezing past him to fling the door open. I heard him scramble behind me as I flew down the hallway to the room I met VIXX in several days earlier. I set out to uncase my guitar and set up the amp.

“What are you doing?” Ravi finally managed to ask through his heavy breathing. He had run to keep up with me.

I looked at him with a grin on my face as I answered, “What does it look like?" I questioned impatiently, "I need to play something for you. My stereo won’t do it justice in that little room. This song actually has some of the elements I want to try with you guys.”

He looked at me silently, eyes narrowing slightly. Finally, he sighed, as if coming to a decision, “I wish I weren’t such a good friend,” he murmured to himself. I was too busy to stop and ask him what exactly he meant by that. I vaguely saw him retrieve a phone from his pocket.

“Okay, so, this song is called Knights of Cydonia." I spoke as I plugged my guitar into the amp, tuning the strings and the dials quickly, my hands practiced and precise. "This song’s a bit more rock-ish than what I want to do with you guys, but it’s a great example of an epic backing track that drops out for tight harmonic vocals as well as low vocal tones adding to the instrumentation.” I was aware that I was speaking quickly, and perhaps incomprehensibly. My Korean language training had obviously been centered around music, but I had a feeling my grammar and syntax were all over the place.

Thankfully, Ravi seemed to neither notice nor care. hi nodded pensively, leaning against the corner of the room as I finished plugging in my guitar pedal as the finishing touch. I had my mic, my custom built lefty Gibson Explorer, and stereo plugged into amps and took a deep breath. “A private Mira concert,” I heard Ravi sigh in exaggerated mock admiration.

“This isn’t even one of my songs,” I pointed out simply as I quickly adjusted the settings on my pedal and amp. “Now hush and listen. The words are in English, but this isn’t about the lyrics just yet.” I hit the play button for the backing track and closed my eyes, listening to the eerie opener, waiting for my cue. Suddenly, I was singing simple vowel tones along with my rhythmic guitar until it was time to slide. Then it was all guitar. I glanced at Ravi who was suppressing a grin. I had a while before any vocals kicked in again so I smiled back and gave a wink, mouthing ‘just wait.’ Finally the real lyrics kicked in and I did my best to mimic the vocal tone of Bellamy for the first verse

“I only hear one harmony,” Ravi shouted over the backing track when I had my next guitar break. I rolled my eyes and shook my head. He had to be patient.

Finally I dropped my guitar and grabbed the mic. The synth was all that remained. “No one’s going to take me alive,” the chorus was one that had to be belted. Even with a mic in front of my face, I sang my heart out. I grabbed my guitar again and the deconstructed chords began as the chorus repeated. Admittedly, I was having more fun than I'd had in a long time. It wasn't often where I got to practice a favorite song that didn't even belong to me. And I was suddenly grateful I left my jacket back in my room because the next guitar part took every ounce of energy I had to pull off. And then the last rendition of the chorus. I was having a hard time keeping up. I was out of practice singing and playing at the same time and I was beginning to tire. Luckily all that was left was instrumentals, so I was able to pant to my heart’s content. And then it was over. I looked up at Ravi, whose mouth was slightly agape. I was about to laugh victoriously when I was startled by the sound of clapping behind me.

I whipped around to see the five remaining members of VIXX crammed in the doorway, Hyuk presenting himself as the offending applauder. I looked over my shoulder at Ravi, who had regained his composure and smirked smugly. I narrowed my eyes at him. He must have summoned them here. No matter, I turned to face my new audience, pushing my sweat-plastered firey hair out of my face.

N spoke before I could, “I guess we will agree to work with you,” he said in mock annoyance, but with a wide smile on his face.

I laughed breathlessly, “Well thank you, sir. Thank you for your consideration.” Supporting myself with hands on my hips, I took slow, deep breaths, doing my best to calm my pounding heart.

The tension broken, they all filed into the room. “Can I see your guitar?” Hongbin asked meekly, eyeing the instrument on my back. I unplugged it from the amp and held it out to him.

“I knew you could play, but that was awesome!” Ken was practically bouncing in front of me, “And you can really sing!” He reached out to touch my shoulder, but his hand met an embarassingly sticky layer of sweat. I laughed once as his face twisted into mild disgust as he deliberately wiped his hand on his shorts.

“Thanks,” I said simply, backing up to the couch lining the back wall of the room. I slumped down, watching Hongbin and Hyuk play with my guitar. “Were you here the whole time?” I asked N who, along with Leo and Ravi, followed me to the couch.

“They got here before you started singing,” Ravi said with an apologetic smile.

I waved my hand at him, “It’s alright, its better this way.” I took a deep breath, releasing it forcefully, “That was exhausting,” I murmured, “but what did you think?” I looked up at Leo, who was staring, pensive as ever. When he didn’t answer, I continued, “Those tight harmonies on the chorus. Think you can pull off something like that with Ken and N?”

“No.”

That was all I got. I saw N slump a little, so I looked to him for help. “What about you, N?”

“I think we can do it,” N said confidently, though the chipper tone in his voice was so forced, I wondered if he truly believed it.

“No.” Leo repeated again, more forceful this time. He looked over his shoulder at Ken and the rest who appeared to be doing impressions of my singing, “Ken and I have very different voices. You even said he doesn’t have the same precision as me.”

He had a point, but I wasn’t going to give up, “Don’t you trust me?”

“No.” Again, that was all I got.

 I sighed heavily, looking listlessly across the room, "Sounds like I’ll have to work for it then." I’d let it go for now, but I knew I’d find a way.

“Noona!” I heard Hyuk run over, snapping my attention back. It took me a minute to compute that he was talking to me.

“Please, just Mira is fine,” I corrected.

He didn’t seem to notice or care as he continued, “Ravi told me you don’t have internet. Does that mean you haven’t watched our videos yet?”

At his question, the rest of the boys fell quiet. It was something that had somehow totally slipped my mind, “You’re right! I haven’t!” I sat up quickly, “Is there somewhere where I can?” In my mind, the only two songs that they produced were the two I were given on the disk

Wordlessly, Hyuk grabbed my wrist, and suddenly I was whisked away to a conference room downstairs with a large screen. Apparently we were going to watch them all together. It was decided we would watch them in chronological order. “I must meet your director,” was my first comment once we had gone through the first two. These guys had Gaga-level concepts and storytelling with their videos. More importantly it gave me a preview of their other title songs. “What’s the deal, Leo? You said you can’t do tight harmonies.”

He glared at me for just a brief, fleeing moment, “Not with Ken. You can double our voices or maybe have N or Hyuk double up. Maybe just layer them in production.”

I raised my eyebrows at him. Not because of what he said, but because it was an actual explanation, not just a brush off like the usual encounters we’ve had. No one else spoke as we ran through all of the videos. They were all actually quite good. They were theatrical, but not to the point of being ridiculous. “So?” Ken was the one to speak first once Eternity’s video was over, “What did you think?”

I was quiet for a moment, thinking of what could possibly be appropriate to say. I looked at their expectant faces and shrugged, “It’ll be hard to come up with something to top those.” N’s smile was all that I needed for approval. I was about to stand up when a vibration in my pocket surprised me. I hadn’t had any calls or texts to my personal number since arriving in Korea, so I was a little confused.

The room fell quiet as I checked the message on my phone. It was from a young choreographer I had the joy of working with some time ago, Ian Eastwood. It read, ‘Hey, your manager told me you’re in Seoul! I just finished working with Taemin out here in LA! I just sent him back to Korea yesterday. Want to check out his video?’

“Hey guys,” I started hesitantly, “do any of you know a Taemin?” I pronounced the name carefully, doing my best not to mess it up.

At the name, they all perked up in curiosity, “Taemin is the youngest member of SM’s group SHINee,” N explained calmly, as if that information was common knowledge. “He's a good friend of Ravi's. Why?” he asked, suddenly suspicious.

“Did you know he was in Los Angeles?” I asked them, once again glancing down at my phone to confirm the information.

Ken huffed angrily before speaking up, “I heard he was getting a solo debut, but why Los Angeles?” I held back a laugh. Ken was clearly jealous.

“He was working with a friend of mine," I explained. "He’s an up and coming choreographer,” I spoke quickly as I texted Ian back an affirmative.

‘Cool. It’s set for an August release, so don’t go posting this on the internet, okay?’ was the response I got quickly, as well as a large attachment that began to download on my phone.

“Ravi, can you hook my phone up to the projector?” I asked quickly, passing my smartphone back behind me.

He took it apprehensively, “You got the video?”

I shrugged, “He heard I was in Korea. He thought I might want to see it. We don’t have to watch it if you don’t want to," I was unsure why they were so shy about it. Maybe because it wasn't their company? I didn't mind, I could watch it on my own later.

As I went to take the phone back, they all moved to stop me. “Wait wait wait,” Ravi spoke up, “Let’s just see it… for research.”

These boys were not good at hiding their feelings. It was obvious they wanted to see it for competition’s sake. I turned back around, settling back in on the middle of the couch. Finally the download was done. “Before we start, here’s how I like to watch these. The first time through, no talking. Just watching." I turned to make eye contact with each of them as I explained, "Then we’ll watch it again and discuss. Got it?” I looked around again until I got nods from all six of them. “Alright then, let’s do this.” I turned back around, settling into my seat.

The video was clearly still waiting for post-production. It still had the timestamps and video title ‘DANGER’ written in the bottom corner. The track was actually quite good. The choreography had Ian’s name written all over it, but it fit well with the song. There was an amazing minor to major modulation around two minutes in that I knew I would listen to several times later. I felt both N and Ken stir on either side of me at that point, too. I was glad I wasn’t the only one. Ravi tossed me a remote control that I used to wordlessly restart the video.

“What’s with that nose-ring chain thing?” Ken was the first to speak up.

I laughed, not expecting the first comment to be on wardrobe. I decided to humor him, though, “I think it looks okay when it’s on one side, but silly on both. That’s a pretty sweet rifle guitar, though.”

“Cool choreo,” Ravi said quietly.

“Wait wait, my favorite transition is here,” I quickly paused and rewound to the one minute mark or so. “He’s got that bleach blonde hair with all black look going on, and then this gun click transition is genius. They transition to the other set with even the movement of his hair matching up,” I spoke more to myself than anything, and was met with an unexpected, strange silence.

“You like him better with the blonde?” Ken asked as the video sat paused right before that modulation. There was something in his voice that made me hesistate.

I shrugged. I promised I’d be honest, “Yeah.”

He got a wicked grin on his face as he hit play for me, the modulation starting, but he surprisingly paused partway through. “It’s even better like this, right?”

On the screen was Taemin, close up on his face, one of the few frames without the silly chain on his face. He was clearly shirtless. I sighed quietly. Damn my promise of honesty. “Yeah,” I said reluctantly, “He's got one of those soft, effeminate faces, but if I’m honest, that is pretty hot.”

Suddenly Ken spoke louder, “Hear that Leo?” Instantly I realized my grave error. Still leaning on the wall was Leo, who had just days ago bleached his own hair and also had a tendency to wear all black. Not only that but I had expressed that as a preference with an even stronger preference for the shirtless variety. Thank goodness the lights had been turned down as I felt my face burn. Curse my Irish pale skin. I hesitantly glanced to Leo who was staring blankly at me. And then suddenly he moved, lunging towards a cackling Ken, hands outstretched threateningly.

“Leo, Leo, not in front of Mira!” N shouted as he moved to cut Leo off, but Leo was taller and stronger, getting his hands around Ken’s neck, who was still laughing madly to himself. It took the combined efforts of N and Ravi to tear Leo away from Ken, whose laughing made it clear that he never feared for his safety throughout the whole ordeal. Once pried from his target, Leo looked to me once more before storming out of the room.

It was quiet for a moment before I released the breath I had been unconsciously holding for the past several seconds, “Soooo,” I continued, “how about that major modulation?” desperate to change the subject.

“Oh that was really cool,” Hongbin spoke up, clearly throwing me a bone to help me out. I was grateful. The five remaining members and I analyzed the video to the best of our ability. Finally we stood to part for the day when I saw N pull Ken to the side. Curiously I watched as their eyes flicked to me every so often. Finally, Ken approached me meekly.

He bowed a little in front of me, and I was a bit surprised by his demeanor. I wasn’t used to seeing him like this, “I apologize for using you to embarrass Leo.”

“Oh,” I said almost involuntarily, “it’s okay, it was my mistake. I should have thought more before speaking so honestly.” I wasn't the type to apologize for my integrity, but I had clearly caused a problem.

“No, no,” Ken insisted. “I really appreciate that you’ve been honest with us, and I took advantage. Please don’t change.”

I couldn’t help but smile a little, “Alright. I doubt I could even if I wanted to, to be honest,” I said with a laugh, waving my hand dismissively and I felt the tension dissipate. “Enough of this, let’s get to work this week, okay? Ravi come find me whenever you get some free time so we can hash out these lyrics. I’ll work with each of you one-on-one sometime in the next few weeks.”

They all agreed quickly and began to disperse, chatting amongst themselves. As Ravi went to disconnect my phone, I intercepted him. “Hey can you send that video to Leo and Ken? I want them to learn it.”

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” he asked me quietly, despite the fact that we were the only ones left in the room.

I furrowed my brow at his tone, “Is it a bad idea?”

“Having them sing this song together?” His voice was low and quiet, as if he were speaking blasphemy.

“Maybe not together,” I admitted with a noncommittal shrug. They weren’t ready for that. “But I don’t want them singing something they’re familiar with, and this has good percussive vocals for Ken to practice his precision.” I paused, thinking, “I’ll have Leo sing it with me. He might be more willing to practice with a third party.”

Ravi gave me a crooked smile. It was a little unnerving, like he was hiding something from me. “What?” I asked incredulously.

“Nothing,” he waved me away, “it is a good idea. I’ll send it to them.”

I began to back out of the room, “When do you think you’ll stop by?”

“Eh,” he gave a casual grunt, “Whenever I can.”

“I’ll stay dressed, then,” I joked.

“You don’t have to,” his deadpan response legitimately surprised me. We started at each other for a long moment before he gave a single bark of laughter, “Looks like I shocked the American!"

The moment resolved, I sighed, “Congratulations.”

“You wouldn’t have looked so surprised if it had been Ken, right?” Ravi continued, clearly not willing to let me leave just yet.

I thought we were moving past this subject, but I figured I’d take the bait, “You’re right. He winks at me so much I’m starting to worried he has a real eye problem.”

Ravi laughed again, loud and rauckous, “Maybe he does. I bet he wishes he could write lyrics so he could come to your room whenever he feels like it,” he wiggled his eyebrows at me.

“Let me tell you a secret,” I whispered. “Any of you could show up to talk and I wouldn’t mind. You guys just haven’t figured that out yet.”

He looked genuinely surprised, “Really? I think it’ll take some convincing to get everyone over the whole girl’s privacy thing.”

“Will you help me?” I asked, doing my best to sound as urgent and genuine as possible.