"Well look who finally decided to join us," Caden sang out to her laptop screen teasingly.

"The beast has awoken," came another joking voice in lightly accented English.

"Well excuse​ me for not looking like a Disney princess first thing in the morning," the girl in question griped.

"It's not that we expect you to be a Disney princess," Caden began innocently. "We just didn't expect one of the seven dwarves, Grumpy."

"I'm sorry - I'm just having a really hard time concentrating on this conversation," the second girl announced with feigned seriousness. "I just keep wondering how a homeless person snuck her way into our friend's house and onto our Skype chat."

"Shut up, Shoko," the other girl seethed, making a half-hearted effort to smooth down her mane of enormous curls (that put Caden's poof to shame), which were currently sticking up in every direction due to bedhead. "Do NOT make me fly out to Japan to kill you...  If you think I'm scary now, you should see me sleep deprived and jetlagged!"

Caden and Shoko only laughed at their friend’s displeasure.

Naira and Shoko had been Caden’s best and closest friends for nearly six years now.  They had met in their freshman year of college - Naira (who had lived down the hall in Caden’s dorm), she met in the first month and Shoko (through a mutual friend) the following semester.  They had been practically inseparable throughout their college careers - despite the fact that they all had friend groups outside of each other as well, they always ultimately came back together in the end.  Their relationship at times seemed closer to that of sisters than friends.  Since they prefered to spend most of their time together, they each got to know the best and  worst sides of each other intimately.

For example, Caden - who was the oldest of her siblings - was generally very laid back and easy going, but could also be quite bossy and tended to think that her way of doing things was the best way.  Naira, on the other hand, was the youngest child who had always been doted upon by her mother and older sister growing up.  While she was usually cheerful and outgoing - always up for trying anything new and exciting, and an expert at engaging people, making friends easily - but she was also prone to moments of selfishness or neediness.  And finally Shoko - who had grown up in Japan and had first come to their college in California as an exchange student, before ultimately decided to complete her education there, rather than go back.  She had been an only child for most of her life, until middle school when her younger brother was born.  She was confident and self-actualized - almost surprisingly so for a Japanese person.  Shoko had once admitted that even prior to attending school in America (and therefore developing a somewhat more American mindset in terms of the importance of the individual vs the group), she had never quite meshed perfectly with societal expectations.  Fellow Japanese people sometimes chastised her for being to blunt and abrasive in her opinions.  Quietly fighting against this mindset in her youth left her sometimes stubborn and inconsiderate to the opinions of others.

Because of their various personalities, both Shoko and Naira found it slightly easier to get along with Caden than with each other.  Although they bickered and sniped at one another (as sisters might), all three girls shared a similar sense of humor and intelligence.  They all loved each other equally, and were incredibly loyal to one another.

Shoko was the reason that Caden had started learning Japanese, which eventually led her to teach there.  Naira had never put forth the same effort in learning the language, but she had immediately absorbed the country’s pop culture (which eventually lead to a similar absorption of Korean pop culture, which she spread to Caden).

Originally, Shoko had considered starting her career in the U.S. - even after Caden had begun making plans to live in Japan - but eventually her parents insisted that she return, claiming that she need be present during her brother’s childhood (she had only been at home for the first four years of his life before attending college out of the country for the following four).  In the end, Caden and Shoko managed to end up living in the same town, outside of Tokyo in Japan.

Naira, who had taken an additional year to graduate, had initially been a bit resentful at being left behind - especially since her two best friends were still together without her.  However, once it became clear that they were willing to put forth the effort to stay in touch, speak often, and include her in all of their big accomplishments, she forgave them and began to focus on finishing school and working toward a career in music production.  Naira had always been very into music and arts growing up - playing several instruments herself - and her discovery of K-pop and other K-music had sparked her interest in the creational aspect.  Once she’d graduated, she had moved back home briefly - much to her mother’s excitement - before securing an internship, and eventually a job with a small company in San Francisco.  She had been living in a tiny one bedroom apartment just outside the city for the past six months, and was currently considering further opportunities in L.A.

“Look, I went out of my way to wake up early ON A SATURDAY for this little chat,” Naira continued with a yawn. “You could at least respect the effort I put forward just to speak with you guys.”

“Uh huh,” Shoko responded skeptically. “And just how early are we talking about?  What time is it there?”  When Naira didn’t immediately respond, Caden laughed, reaching for her phone.  She opened her World Clock app and clicked on California.

“It’s 8am,” she announced helpfully, to which Naira shot her a glare through the webcam.

“8 o’clock?” Shoko demanded. “That’s early??”  She was the only morning person in the group.  Caden giggled mischievously while Naira pouted.

“It’s early for Saturday,” she muttered.  Shoko completely ignored this as she continued,

“Anyway, aren’t you the one who insisted on chatting as soon as Caden’s party was over?  We could have just as easily done it tomorrow at a reasonable hour.”

“That’s right, the party!” Naira exclaimed, ignoring nearly the entirety of Shoko’s nagging.  She instantly perked up into a fully awake human for the first time since the chat began. “Well don’t be shy!  Tell us what happened - and make sure to include all of the dirty details!”  Shoko rolled her eyes at her friend, but turned to Caden expectantly.  Unlike Naira, she wasn’t particularly interested in hearing about interactions with Korean celebrities, but was more excited to hear about her friend’s experiences in a foreign country.

“What dirty details?” Caden laughed with a roll of her eyes.  Ever since she first told Naira about accidentally stumbling into YGE and obtaining her position, she swore that her friend was constantly inventing elaborate stories about Caden falling desperately in love with one or more of the Big Bang members, whom she would eventually marry before frolicking off together into the sunset where they would live happily ever after.  Shoko, on the other hand, had been stunned by the fact that she had obtained a position that seems like it would exist only in dramas - and without originally applying, even!

“Oh, no need to be coy with me,” Naira insisted, waggling her eyebrows suggestively. “At G Dragon’s birthday party? I’m sure there were plenty of juicy celebrity moments!”

“Juicy moments?” Shoko questioned, looking a bit disgusted.

“It’s just a figure of speech,” Caden explained with a grin. “No actually juices were involved.”  Shoko seemed relieved to hear this.  Naira, who had ignored this whole back and forth, was eying Caden impatiently.

“Well come on, girl!  Spill!” she ordered, eyes shining with excitement.

“It was like a party,” Caden said laughingly. “There was delicious food and cake.  What exactly do you want to know?”  Naira thought carefully, while Shoko chuckled at this answer.

“Okay, first tell me this - did you finally meet some other YG artists?”

“Hmm, if I recall correctly, there were a few…” Caden responded teasingly.

“2NE1?” her friend demanded breathlessly.  Caden only smiled knowingly.

“You did!” Naira squealed.  Even Shoko looked impressed.  She knew the girl group from her two friends’ rampant obsession with them, and had even tagged along to a concert that they had in California, and another when Caden was living in Japan.

“Oh my god, what are they like? Are they sweet?  Did you talk to them?  I bet they were  gorgeous!  Is CL just as badass in person?” Naira gushed.  Caden chuckled slightly.

“Is this what you want to know?” she teased. “Well-”

“No wait!” Naira cried suddenly. “I want to know everything.  Start at the beginning of the night and tell me everything that happened, blow by blow.”

“Oh jeez,” Caden started, laughingly.

“Come on, Caden - humor the girl,” Shoko piped up with a smile. “She woke up early just to hear this story.”

“That’s right!” Naira called out appreciatively.

“Fine, fine.  No need to gang up on me,” Caden announced.  Naira cheered happily while Shoko just smiled, watching her friend expectantly.

Caden began relaying the evening’s events, starting with being caught in traffic.  There was much oohing and aahing, squeals and screams from Naira, and many points of clarification from Shoko, who didn’t recognize most of the people who were mentioned.  Both girls laughed at her embarrassing fangirl outburst and fear of being seated beside her favorite band.  Shoko particularly enjoyed the descriptions of Seungri’s behavior - although she didn’t actively follow Big Bang’s Japanese activities, she was familiar with Seungri from his presence on Japanese television over the past few years.  She thought that he seemed funny, although a bit ridiculous, which Caden quickly confirmed was completely accurate.

She talked a little about her interaction with her fellow YG staff then, when she reenacted her conversation with Se7en, Naira stopped her.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa - hold everything for a minute,” Naira said laughingly. “What is it with YG boys and gushing over your cuteness?  Not that I disagree - you’re quite adorable, but jeez! Doesn’t Se7en have a girlfriend?  Are they all just trying to give you a huge ego, or..?”

“Shut up, jerk!” Caden cried, working to suppress a grin. “It’s not like that!  My boys only do that goofy boy thing where they think it’s funny to try to make their girl friends awkward when she’s trying to be serious, and I’m pretty sure Se7en is the same way.  You’ve seen him interact with YG family - he’s a huge goofball tease.  Apparently that behavior extends to strangers as well.”

“I’m not so sure,” Naira teased. “It seems like you fit the YG style - maybe that’s why he hired you so quickly.  YG is so cool that even their teachers need to be attractive.  Soon they’re going to be showing you off to the media.”

“I think it might be an Asia thing as well,” Shoko piped up. “Koreans and Japanese have similar appreciation for Western features that fit our beauty standards, and frankly, that’s Caden.”

“I’ve certainly noticed that Koreans are very vocal about appreciation of beauty,” Caden added. “Not just to foreigners, either.  Daeho mentioned something similar when he noticed how often people would stop me when we were out together.”

“Exactly,” Shoko agreed. “It was pretty much the same when you were living here - maybe a little less.  Besides - don’t you remember how I was when we first met?”

“Oh god, don’t remind me,” Naira groaned, while Caden laughed unintentionally hard.

    When they had first met Shoko in their freshman year, she had originally been a bit reserved and mellow in a very Japanese way.  However, as they quickly became closer, and she became more accustomed to the new culture, she would occasionally have outbursts of intense feelings; this usually manifested itself either in vicious arguments, or explosive adoration of Caden’s appearance and behavior.  During such an outburst, despite not usually being very touchy-feely, she might sit close beside her friend, her hair and twirling it between her fingers; staring piercingly into Caden’s eyes; petting her head, face, arms, and back incessantly; hugging and squeezing her; and/or pinching her cheeks.

Although this had very much surprised (and somewhat alarmed) Caden the first couple times it had happened, she eventually became quite accustomed to it, and found it endlessly amusing.  Naira, on the other hand, went back and forth between being ridiculously entertained by this, to being excessively annoyed depending on her mood.  These outburst had lessened slightly over the years, but still surfaced occasionally - sometimes in person, and sometimes in the form of gushing embarrassingly over several hundred of Caden’s facebook photos in one sitting.

“That’s probably true,” Caden agreed thoughtfully. “I think on average Japanese and Korean girls are just as good-looking as I am, if not more so, but every time I meet one for the first time, they tend to go on about my ‘double eyelids’ and ‘big eyes’ and tiny ‘fist-sized’ face.”

“Why would you want a face the size of a fist?” Naira interrupted, sounding skeptical.

“I’m not quite sure…” Caden responded breezily. “Maybe so that you can hit the whole face in one punch?”  Both Naira and Shoko giggled at this.  Caden ignored the interruption, continuing,

“Anyway, the only thing that drives me crazy about it is that they all rapid fire compliments at me, but then as soon as I try to return them, they brush me off.  Start naming all the things that are supposedly wrong with them-”

“It’s part of the culture not to accept compliments,” Shoko piped up.

“I know, I know,” Caden allowed, “Even I got in the habit while living in Japan.  It’s just… I can’t help but feel a little frustrated by it.  It makes the act of giving compliments feel less sincere somehow.”

“Actually, once I said ‘thank you’ when a college complimented me shortly after returning to Japan, and they looked at me like I was crazy,” Shoko revealed with a mischievous grin.  Caden laughed, while Naira let out an exaggerated sigh.

“Alright, thank you for that… And now that we’ve established that the entirety of South Korea is attracted to Caden-” she began dismissively.

“We didn’t say anything like that…” Shoko told her, sounding genuinely confused.

“Aw, is my little Naira feeling left out?” Caden teased. “We can talk about your fabulous good looks now if you want!”

“Ooh, does that mean I’m next after that?” Shoko asked excitedly.

“Everyone knows that you’re the visual of this group,” Caden assured her pouty friend earnestly. “Nevermind all of the attention you get on a regular basis at home - I wouldn’t want my baby to get a complex!”

“Stop, stop!  Oh my god, enough!  I wasn’t compliment fishing!” Naira insisted, laughing despite herself. “I just want to bring the subject back to the party.  You know which fabulously good looking people we should be discussing? 2NE1!  You still haven’t told us about meeting them.”

“Well I was just getting to that,” Caden grinned knowingly.

“Yes.  I believe it was right before SOMEONE interrupted her story,” Shoko pointed out innocently.  Naira only made a face at her webcam, presumably directed at the Japanese girl.  Caden laughed, before obliging her by continuing.

As she described her interaction with the four members, Naira listened with rapt attention; face resting on her hands, she would occasionally sigh longingly.

“I’m so jealous!” she cried after Caden replayed most of their conversation. “I mean Big Bang is great and everything - don’t get me wrong, I love them - but 2NE1…  I mean… They’re just…”  Naira tapered off, sighing once again.  Caden grinned and Shoko rolled her eyes good-naturedly.

“Listen to you getting so starstruck,” she teased. “They’re just people!  Look at the Big Bang members - you used to think of them as great idols, but they just turned out to be normal, silly boys.  I’m sure the 2NE1 girls are the same.”

“That’s probably true,” Caden admitted, “but after finally meeting them… I can’t help but feel a little in awe.”

“Just because you don’t follow celebrities,” Naira tsked resentfully.  Then she seemed to realize something. “Ah, I know!  It would be like you meeting Nakashima Mika.”

Shoko didn’t respond, but suddenly her expression turned distant, as if she was seeing something they couldn’t.

“Nng,” was all she managed in the end, causing her friends to laugh heartily.  Nakashima Mika was a singer-slash-actress who had been popular in Japan for quite a few years.  Both Caden and Naira enjoyed at least a handful of her songs, and several of her shows and movies.  For Shoko, however, she was the only person that caused any sort of celebrity feels in their friend.  Shoko had been a fan since shortly after her debut and still followed her career loyally to this day.

“Now that you understand our feelings properly, maybe you can appreciate the story a little more,” Naira pointed out laughingly.  Shoko shook herself out of her reverie to shoot her friend a look of slight annoyance.

“Just because I make fun of you doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate the story,” she informed her haughtily. “I love hearing everything about Caden’s new life, whether I care about the celebrities or not.”  This was a typical ‘Shoko statement’ - she wanted to be able to tease with an air of superiority, but disliked it when it caused people to question her sincerity.

“Oh, so you’re suggesting that I’m only interested because of celebrities?” Naira snapped in response, sounding somewhat sullen. “Oh no, I don’t care about what my best friend has been up to unless famous people are involved.”

“Ooookay children, that’s enough,” Caden cut in somewhat sarcastically, working to keep her tone light. “I know you’re both tired, but no more fighting!”  The most common and recurring play-arguement between the two of them was over who loved Caden more.  They would debate over who was the favorite and why.  However, there were other times - like now - that Caden felt that they were simply using her as an excuse to bicker.  Although this annoyed her greatly, she had found that it was best to remain breezy about the whole situation, while simultaneously putting the argument to a stop.

Naira sighed, now pretending to be put-upon,

“Fine fine, but I don’t see why you can’t let us be - this is how we communicate.”

“That’s right,” Shoko agreed, chuckling now. “We consider it a bonding experience.”  Caden rolled her eyes good naturedly.

“Well I consider it annoying,” she teased snottily. “I understand fighting in person, but how can you still do it halfway across the globe?”

“Isn’t that why Skype was invented?” Naira asked, sounding genuinely surprised.  Shoko burst out laughing, while Caden just shook her head.

“Well ANYWAY,” Caden continued with a grin, “should I finish my story or not?”

“Yes please,” both girls chimed obediently, in unison.  

Caden obliged, continuing her tale.  She repeated her conversation with 2NE1 and the staff; the introductions with GD; the birthday speech and his cake; and finally the presents.  She vaguely considered leaving out her brief exchange with Top in which he subtly poked fun at her about her ‘secret’ shopping excursion with GD in front of the whole room (she was the only one who noticed, but still), simply because she knew that Naira would insist that it indicated his deep, underlying love of her.  In the end, though, she gave in and told the story exactly as it had happened.

Right on cue, Naira began cooing and sighing about how he had been giving her so much trouble lately and paying her extra attention, and going out of his way to - and how is revealed his deep, unshakable interest in her, which would clearly blossom into love of the purest kind.

While all that was going on, Shoko and Caden exchanged a look.  To say that Naira was the romantic of the trio would be an extreme understatement.  Where Naira prefered to see view life as a Disney movie/Korean drama, Caden’s view on romance was far more realistic, while Shoko was skeptical, verging on jaded - particularly toward the men of her home country.

“I’m not so pretentious as to believe that I could cause famous idols to fall in love with me,” Caden informed her bluntly, attempting to nip her friend’s slightly delusional rant in the bud.  However, rather than stop her, this statement only served to change her friend’s direction.

“Why not??” Naira demanded, sounding scandalized. “You’re so adorable and perfect - look at you!”  She motioned toward the camera as if to pinch Caden’s cheeks and her hair lovingly.

“Anyway, we’ve already established that the entirety of South Korea finds you attractive,” she continued, sounding as sincere now as she did annoyed before. “Besides!  How many times have we said that Big Bang are just normal, goofy guys, no matter the fame?  Huh?  HUH??”

Shoko rolled her eyes at this.

“It sounded to me like Top just enjoys teasing people and trying to make Caden uncomfortable,” she pointed out. “It’s like a game he plays when he’s bored.”

“I can definitely agree with that,” Caden announced before Naira had a chance to reply. “I’ve met many, many bored, handsome boys in my time, and they usually share this trait.  It’s simply a strange hobby of attractive boys with too much time on their hands and I have learned to instantly recognize and deal with accordingly.  Besides - you’ve managed to pair me with every member of the group at one point or another.  If you keep inventing these fantasy relationships, what are you going to do when I finally start dating someone who just turns out to be normal?”

“Well, I can’t say that any of your boyfriends were ever totally normal…” Shoko muttered thoughtfully.

“Shut it, jerk!” Caden cried teasingly, while Naira burst into laughter.

“Alright, alright!” Caden huffed laughingly after a moment. “Let me at least finish the story.  I’m almost at the end of the night.”

When her friends finally managed to calm down, she described her present exchange with GD.  Naira made an excited noise, but glares from the other two kept her quiet.  Caden continued to recount the evening, all the way up to the point of her leaving the restaurant and catching a taxi back home.

She was greeted by an enthusiastic round of applause from Naira and laughter from Shoko (mostly directed at Naira).

“Yay!  That was totally worth waking up early for,” Naira announced happily.

“I still haven’t decided if it was worth staying up late for…” Shoko informed her teasingly.

“Shut your face,” Caden ordered affectionately.  Naira had fallen surprisingly quiet now, contemplating all that she had heard thoughtfully.

“You know,” she began finally, still sounding thoughtful, “for a while there, I was positive that GD had a little crush on you, but now I’m not quite sure...”

“Oh?” Caden questioned, sending Shoko an amused glance.

“Yeah,” her friend continued. “From what you told us about their interactions tonight, it seems like GD and CL might have a little something going on.”  Caden groaned loudly, which caused an instant giggle fit from Shoko.

“Good god, Naira - please don’t ship people I know!” Caden cried, making Shoko (who had previously had the concept of shipping explained to her) laugh even harder.

“Why?” Naira asked, sounding genuinely surprised. “GDxCL used to be your favorite YG pairing before you moved to Korea…”

“I know that, but…” she broke off, considering how best to explain her discomfort with the matter, “that was before I actually met them.  And I prefer to give the people that I actually know in real life the benefit of the doubt before I start pairing them off as I see fit.”

“Alright, alright,” Naira agreed, sounding appropriately chastised for all of a moment before adding with a grin, “but you have to admit - they do seem close.”

“Yes, they seem pretty close,” Caden admitted with a smile. “It’s cute - I love how close the YG family members are.”

Shoko - who was finally beginning to calm down to about a light chuckle - piped up with a grin,

“As my mother would say: ‘why are you worrying about the relationships of strangers when you don’t even have a man of your own.  Catch yourself a man, Shoko, you’re getting old’.”  She said this last tidbit in Japanese, with the breezy, all-knowing air of a Japanese mother relaying relationship advice to her daughter.  Caden burst out laughing at this, while Naira narrowed her eyes in annoyance.

“Speak English!” she demanded snobbily. “I only understood about three words in that sentence - four if you count ‘Shoko’.”

“Alright, calm down,” Shoko reassured her in English.  Then she immediately switched back to Japanese, addressing Caden who was still laughing,

“Oh, by the way- how’s your Japanese doing?  You’re not losing it, are you?”

“Not yet,” Caden replied with a chuckle, also in Japanese. “Although, I should probably use it more with you so that I don’t.  I have been watching Japanese TV without subtitles to keep in practice, though.”

“That’s good to hear,” Shoko replied happily. “You may be an usually good language learner, but that doesn’t mean you won’t get rusty if you stop using it.”

“Yes sensei - thank you for your stellar advice,” Caden teased. “It’s not as if I’m currently teaching the language or anything…”

“I don’t need your smart mouth!” Shoko pretended to chide. “I meant practice with conversational language and you know it.”

Naira, who had sat back pouting through this exchange, finally cut in.

“I hate you guys,” she announced haughtily, crossing her arms over her chest.

“You’re the one who chose to learn Japanese half-heartedly,” Shoko pointed out, in English now. “You grew up bilingual, just like Caden - it’s easier for you to learn another language than someone who only spoke one.”  Naira made a face.

“I told you, it’s too ridiculous to learn a random Asian language before I can speak my father’s native language fluently - my brother would kill me.  I’ll learn Japanese once I master Farsi.”

“Says the girl who put off starting her Farsi lessons in college because she was too busy watching Japanese dramas,” Caden teased.

“Well, I got around to it eventually,” Naira pointed out dismissively. “Now my brother always drills me whenever I see him, and my dad makes fun of my Armenian accent.”  Caden laughed at this, but Shoko narrowed her eyes at her friend.

“You say you won’t learn Japanese before you master Farsi,” she accused, “but then you started learning Korean as soon as Caden got her new job.  Isn’t that a ‘random Asian language’?”

“But that’s different,” Naira insisted dismissively. “I might move to Korea - or at the very least, work closely with Koreans…”

Ever since she had been introduced to Korean pop culture, Naira had fallen in love with K-pop.  When she decided to go into music production, she became determined to eventually work with Korean artists - whether it be in Korea, or trying to spread K-pop throughout the American music scene (which she strongly felt was currently quite lacking).

“Anyway,” Naira continued matter-of-factly, “if I was as freakishly gifted as Caden at learning languages, then I’d try to collect them all, the way she does.  As it is, I have to focus on learning the most important first.”  Shoko scoffed at this, rolling her eyes slightly.  Caden on the other hand, ignored the teasing jabs at her, instead inquiring,

“Speaking of Korean, how are your lessons going?”

“Very well!” Naira replied in most formal of formal language, which made Caden giggle. “The learning is difficult, but becoming better day by day.”

“Great!” she replied in informal Korean.  Naira had designated her in charge of less formal speech when they practiced together because he tutor taught her only the most formal. “I’m glad to hear that.  Keep practicing.”

“‘Great!  I’m glad to hear that.  Keep practicing’,” Naira repeated in Korean, sounding excited. “I understand what is being said to me!”

“Good job!” Caden replied laughingly. “I’m proud of you!”

“‘Proud of me’?” Naira repeated, sounding unsure now.  Caden opened to explain, but Shoko interrupted.

“Okay, I get it,” she pronounced with some impatience. “It isn’t fun sitting between two people speaking a foreign language.  Speak English!”  Caden and Naira couldn’t help but laugh at their friend.

“Gomen, Shoko-cha~” Caden said in the most cutesy voice she could muster. “I didn’t mean to torture you.”

“I did,” Naira piped up, sounding satisfied.  Shoko made a face, cursing at her in rapid Japanese, which only cause her friends to laugh harder.  Shoko rarely cursed, but when she did, it was always in her native tongue, and it seemed to pour out of her like water.

“You know, Daeho likes to do that kind of thing to his friends a lot,” Caden told them once Shoko had calmed down. “He told me that he and Soonbok purposely speak English in front of Jungsu to annoy him when he’s being difficult.  Plus, he only lets me speak in English at their club meetings.  He says that it’s incentive for his fellow members to practice harder.”  Shoko chuckled at this, while Naira’s eyes widened interestedly.

“Oh!  Daeho-yah!” she chimed excitedly, addressing him as she had done ever since she heard the story of him asking Caden to address him casually (though they had yet to meet). “I haven’t heard about him in ages!  What’s he up to?”

“Yes, let’s hear about Naira’s favorite boy in the world,” Shoko encouraged teasingly.  Naira didn’t even bother to deny it, smiling widely as she waited for her friend to elaborate.

She had fallen more and more in love with the idea of Daeho with each subsequent interaction that Caden relayed.  In fact, Caden was pretty sure that Naira was just as happy pairing her friend with Daeho in her mind as she was pairing her with any of the Big Bang  members.

“Well, I already told you about hanging out with him on Thursday,” she began, unsure if there was anything else of interest to discuss.  She, Shoko, and Naira kept a message thread going during the week while they were all busy, just to stay informed with each other’s activities, and only took the time to video chat on the weekends.

Caden had already relayed the events of Thursday over messenger - including Top’s strange behavior, as well as her time with Daeho.  Predictably, Shoko’s response had been rational and helpful, while Naira had flown off into her own little world of K-drama/Disney movie Land in which her friend was the adorable star who every male inexplicably fell in love with on sight.

“That’s right,” Naira pronounced excitedly. “You never told us what movie he took you to see.”

“Oh, some action movie starring whichever popular actor is hottest this week,” Caden replied.  “The plot wasn’t terrible, but the fight scenes were good, AND most importantly, I understood, like 80% of it!  So it was an all around success.”

“You and your mindless fighting movies,” Shoko teased, shaking her head.  Shoko was very high brow when it came to the movies that she was willing to devote her time to watching.  She only seemed to watch movies that were incredibly heavy, incredibly thought-provoking, or both.  Naira (totally unsurprisingly) enjoyed romantic comedies, romance, and comedies- in that order.  Caden’s taste was more varied than either of them in terms of genre - she liked a little of everything- including action movies and westerns, which Shoko just couldn’t seem to understand.

“Oh…” Naira said, sounding a bit disappointed.  She had probably been busy imagining them cuddling together over some gooey romance all this time.  Caden couldn’t help rolling her eyes good-naturedly.

“Well anyway,” Naira continued brightly, “are you going to his English club meeting again this week?”

“I don’t know,” Caden replied casually. “It depends whether or not I have time… But I do know that I promised to go with him to their weekly drinking excursion next Saturday - he made me swear to go after I have to decline this week for Jiyong’s birthday-”

“Jiyong!” Naira giggled, still vastly amused by her friend’s use of GD’s real name.

“-since I haven’t had a chance to join them yet ever since the first time we met,” Caden finished, ignoring her friend.  Shoko grinned at the two of them, but remained silent - happy to let Caden speak and Naira react, while she just listened.

“Wait!” Naira cried suddenly, seeming to realize something. “Did you tell Daeho why you weren’t able to hang out with them this weekend??”

“Not exactly…” Caden admitted. “But I did give him a reason.”

“An excuse, you mean?” Naira demanded, sounding suddenly disapproving. “Basically, you lied.”

“What? No!” Caden cried in self defense. “I just told him that I had to attend a dinner with my coworkers.”

“So basically you lied,” Naira deadpanned, arching a disapproving eyebrow at her friend, causing Shoko to burst out laughing.

“It wasn’t a lie!” Caden protested, pouting. “Just because I wasn’t specific about who my coworkers are…”

“Who your students are, you mean?” Naira clarified. “Students who happen to be extremely well known and happen to be grown people all around your age, not the young kids that he probably imagines.”

“Shut up, Naira,” Caden pronounced finally, unable to come up with any substantial comebacks (causing Shoko to laugh hysterically once more). “Why are you lecturing me about this like some crotchety, old librarian anyway?”  Shoko looked like she was going to interrupt for some clarification on this accusation, but thought better of it.  Naira, who wasn’t remotely phased by this comparison, continued reasonably,

“I’m not trying to tell you how to live your life - I’m just sticking up for the poor boy in his ignorance.”

“Which ‘poor boy’ exactly?” Caden protested almost laughingly, but Naira ignored her.

“I just don’t understand why you still haven’t told him who you work for,” she pointed out with an air of eternal patience. “Do you honestly think Daeho of all people will care whether or not the company you work for is famous?”

“No, I highly doubt that he would care,” Caden admitted. “I’m more worried about it getting around to the rest of his friends.  Some of those younger kids in English club are semi-idol crazy - I’ve already heard at least two of them profess their love for Top…  Plus, no matter how awesome Daeho is, I’ve only known him for a few weeks when you think about it.  I’m allowed to take my time revealing my secrets.”

“Fair enough,” Naira reasoned, “but just think of it like this - back when you first met me or Shoko, you would have had no problem telling us something like this within the first few weeks of knowing us.  We all grew close that fast.  Why is it different with Daeho?  Isn’t he your best friend in Korea?  Is it because he’s a boy, and a cute one at that?”

“What the heck does that have to do with anything?” Caden demanded with a laugh.

“You tell me,” Naira shot back nonchalantly. “There’s something stopping you from confiding in him.  I’m just trying to figure out what it is.”

“Look,” Caden started, rather more sharply than she intended.  She tried again, more softly this time, “look - I’m living in a foreign country without either of my two best friends for the first time in my life.  Dealing with making all new friends in a language I’m still learning and interacting with celebrities are all very new to me.  I had totally relied on Teacher Park for the first month when she was my only hint of a social life, and then she left.  So forgive me for being cautious about the people I befriend.  I’m already enough of an oddity to my Korean friends - being both a foreigner and quite a bit older than them - without adding my bizarre job into the mix.”

There was a brief moment of silence from all three girls before Naira responded.

“Well good,” she said with a hint of teasing. “I’m glad that you actually have a legitimate reason after all.”

“Dork,” Caden teased with a grin.

“But-” Naira added carefully, “while I’m not trying to be obnoxious - I just want you to know how I would react if I were in his shoes.  If you go on for too long telling half-truths about your life, as you grow closer, it might become harder to forgive.”

Caden opened to protest, but stopped as she considered her friend’s words.

“Sin of omission, right?” Caden murmured, as if to herself. “That’s a sticky one…”  Naira looked as if she wanted to reply, but Shoko beat her to it.

“Nai-cha~” she sighed, immediately capturing her friend’s attention.  She used cutesy nicknames so infrequently that everyone always took notice when she did. “I think Caden is right.  She wants to take her time getting to know and trust her new friend.  She and I aren’t so open like you - we aren’t naturally so comfortable revealing things about ourselves.  Don’t make her feel like she’s somehow dishonest because of it…”

Caden shot her a thankful look, while Naira nodded slowly in understanding.

“I guess you’re right,” she allowed. “I’ll be quiet.  I guess I’m just so excited that I want you to hurry up and be best friends forever and love each other and be happy so I don’t have to worry about you.  I feel the same way about Jung Su and Soonbok too!  Hurry up and form a never-ending best friend quartet!”

“I haven’t even met Sookbok yet,” Caden protested laughingly.

“But she sounds so awesome!” Naira laughed.

“Hey!  You can go around giving your own best friend position away, but I’d like to keep mine, thank you very much!” Shoko announced.

“I’m not giving up my title!” Naira cried, sounding aghast. “I’m talking about Caden’s Korean best friends - that’s totally different.  It’s like another sub-category of Best Friendism.”

“Wow, I didn’t realize that there were so many levels of Best Friendship,” Caden marveled jokingly.

“Mmm, yes well- your ignorance in the matter is becoming quite apparent,” Naira said, using her snobbiest tone.

“Oh?” Caden queried teasingly. “And I suppose you know everything there is to know about said levels?”

“I absolutely do,” Naira replied solemnly.

“And I don’t suppose that you are such an expert in this information because you’ve just now made it up?” Shoko inquired skeptically.

“I absolutely did not,” Naira replied, still straightfaced.  Shoko let out a derisive snort while Caden only giggled.

“Alright, I think it’s about time we said goodbye,” Shoko announced, glancing at her watch before yawning widely. “It’s getting quite late.”

Caden half expected Naira to argue, but her friend also checked the time before conceding,

“Yeah, I’d better get going.  My mom and sisters are coming down to spend the day with me, so I should probably start getting ready.”

“Alright,” Caden agreed amiably. “I’ll talk to you guys later.”

“Tell your mother and sisters that we said ‘hi’,” Shoko ordered with a smile.

“I will,” Naira assured her. “And Caden - have fun next weekend.  It sounds like you’ll have a really great time.  Remember to tell us every detail.  Especially if you finally meet Soonbok!”

“She’s supposed to be there,” Caden informed her. “That’s what Daeho insisted.  That’s the main reason he made me swear up and down to join.”

“Yay!” Naira squealed excitedly. “Oh, tell me everything… I bet she’s just as wonderful as I imagine!”

“But still not as wonderful as us, of course,” Shoko piped up, working to suppress a grin.

“No, of course not,” Caden assured her teasingly. “Perish the thought!”

“Okay, okay!  I really have to go now!  Bye, bye, bye - for reals this time, bye!” Naira cried, beginning to stand up.  She made kissy noises at the screen before abruptly disconnecting.  The other two chuckled good-naturedly.

“She complains about waking up early while keeping us up late, then she’s the first to hang up,” Shoko complained mildly.  Caden only grinned.

“That’s our Naira,” she pronounced affectionately. “You’d better get to sleep.”

“You too,” Shoko retorted.  Then her expression softened. “I miss you.  Do you miss me?”

“So much that is hurts a little,” Caden replied, smiling sweetly, “but I’ll manage.  I have to.”

“Same here,” Shoko responded sheepishly.  She stretched, offering her friend a cute wave.

“Goodnight Cay-cha~” she murmured in Japanese.  Caden chuckled, waving back.

“Goodnight Sho-cha~” she replied before finally signing off.  She closed her computer before glancing slowly around her empty apartment.  She wasn’t one to suffer greatly from homesickness, but sometimes saying goodbye to her friends made her a little lonesome.

She debated the benefits of getting up and going to her bed, but in the end she just couldn’t motivate herself to move.

She snuggled down into the couch, thankfully already washed, pj’d, and ready for bed.  She turned the TV on with the volume low before closing her eyes and quickly drifting off to sleep.

============================================================================================================

A/N

​Back at it again with the updating!

​Not very quickly, I know.  Sigh.  I just get so distracted.  With, like, life and stuff.

So sorry!!

​Anyway, although our BB boys did not personally make an appearance in this chapter, I'm sure their ears were burning. Or... they were sneezing.

​I know that in Japan they say you sneeze if someone is talking about you, but I'm not quite sure if they say that in Korea...

​I hope you enjoyed this chapter.  There will be a small BB boys blurb, then the next few chapters will likely be about the non-famous friends aka Daeho, Jung Su, Soonbok, etc.

​Honestly, I like then as much as the Big Bang members and I hope you do too!

​After that, the boys will definitely resurface ^^  I have some interesting ideas for a few slightly different chapters that focus on each member at a time.

​We'll see how it goes ^^

​Feel free to comment and subscribe!  I always like getting feedback ^^

Thanks <3