“What did he look like?” Toni asked after I had casually brought it up in our conversation the next day. We were sitting on the floor of the practice room, stretching. I thought for a second.

“He had swoopy brown hair, and eyes that looked like they were staring into my soul.” Toni laughed.

“How am I supposed to know just by that description?” She asked.

“Well, I don't know! It happened so fast I didn't get the chance to really look at him! He looked like he was around the same age as me,” I added, not knowing if that would really help. Toni sighed.

“It was probably someone from bangtan.” She said quietly, then looked around to see if anyone heard. I stared at her blankly, waiting for her to continue. When she saw my expression, she tilted her head.

“Maya, come on. Do you live under a rock? They’re at the same company as you for crying out loud.” I let out a long breath. It wasn't that I lived under a rock. I was so busy training and studying that I had no time to do anything else. Toni quickly stood up and grabbed my wrist, pulling me up and out the door with her. She led me closer to the main entrance of the building and stopped me at a poster on the wall.

“This is BTS. You need to watch their music videos, they have a few.” Toni explained to me. I looked at the poster of the boys, all wearing black with gold chains. When I saw the boy in the hat I pointed to it.

“This is him!” I told her. Toni nodded.

“That’s Jimin. He’s the same age as you. So is Taehyung.” She pointed to a different boy on the poster. “Taehyung and I are good friends.” She told me. I thought it was so cool she was friends with one of them.

“So how come I haven’t met them yet?” I asked.

“They’ve been really busy promoting lately. I’m sure you’ll get to eventually….We should probably get back to practicing, but tonight I can show you some of their music.” “Yeah, that’d be awesome.” I took one last glance at the poster before heading back to the studio.

****

That night, Toni and I spent hours watching music videos. She showed me the few videos BTS had released, along with other groups and girl groups. It was like a whole new world that I never knew about.

“They’re all so good.” I stared at the screen in awe. I saw Toni nod out of the corner of my eye.

“That’s why this whole thing is so competitive, you have to be the best of the best.” Just then, Toni’s kakao ringer went off. She quickly picked up her phone from the table. A couple moments later she looked up at me.

“Taehyung said they’d be back next week. I told him you accidently ran into Jimin.” She said, smiling mischievously.

“Toni! Why did you tell him that?” I lightly hit her arm, my cheeks getting hot for some reason.

“It’s fine, it’s fine! You’re my friend so he won’t think anything weird.” Toni reassured me, typing back her reply to Taehyung. I rolled my eyes and continued watching music videos. Some of these dances I really wanted to learn.

“How did you become friends with Taehyung?” I asked, mid dance practice video.

“We trained together for a little while. He started talking to me to practice his English,” She said laughing. “But then we just became instant friends. He’s super friendly, you’re going to like him a lot.” Toni told me. I pursed my lips, kind of impressed. I wonder if she got any inside scoops on the business from him, but I decided it was probably out of place to ask.

“I’m excited to meet him,” I smiled. I need to practice my Korean extra hard if I wanted to be able to hold a good conversation with him. 

The next week I worked even harder on my dancing. I was good, but I had a lot of room for improvement. I stayed an hour longer, since nobody showed up to claim the studio anyway. My shoulders started to ache, so I decided to take a water break. I picked up my water bottle and walked out of the studio into the hallway. On my way back to the studio I heard a voice behind me.

“Hey!” A girls voice shouted. I whipped around to see another trainee, who honestly I didn't even remember her name. I stared at her and looked around, wondering if she was talking to me.

“Why are you in the studio when it’s not your time slot?” She asked in korean, even though I understood her perfectly. I couldn't tell if she was being rude or genuinely asking me, but her voice was a little too loud to just be curious.

“Uh, well nobody showed up so I just kept practicing,” I told her. She scoffed.

“Do you think you’re privileged just cause you’re foreign? I’m sure lots of others would like to be using it right now.” I blinked. I actually almost wanted to laugh.

“No, actually, I don’t think I’m privileged. I think nobody was using the studio, so I decided to use it. What’s the big deal?” I asked, shrugging. I began walking away from her but she just kept rambling.

“The big deal is, you can’t just-” Her voice suddenly stopped and I turned around to see what was wrong. That boy was standing beside her. It took me a second to remember his name but I did. Jimin. Her eyes grew wider and wider as she looked at him and she instantly bowed. Jimin looked at the girl, then me, then back at the girl. He pointed to the door of the studio.

“Were you going to use it? I was planning on showing Maya a few moves if you don’t mind.” This was my first time hearing his voice; it was so cute and husky. The girl looked back at me, her eyes now even wider.

“No not at all! Go right ahead.” She quickly spit out. She bowed once more to Jimin and then to me before excusing herself. Now that Jimin and I were alone, we looked at each other.

“How did you know my name?” I asked, narrowing my eyes a little. The corner of his lips began to turn up into the slightest smile.

“I’ve heard a lot about you! You’re Toni’s friend.” Jimin answered, gesturing for me to follow him as he opened the door to the studio. I cringed as I remembered Toni telling Taehyung about my encounter with Jimin.

“So…?” I asked.

“So, what?”

“Are you going to tell me your name?” I asked. Obviously I already knew his name, but he didn't have to know that. His smile grew even wider. He seemed very smug, and I couldn't tell if I liked it or not.

“Park Jimin. And in case you didn’t know, I’m a part of the group BTS.” Jimin answered, but that last part sounded a little sarcastic.

“I only found out about BTS last week….but I’m really determined to learn the boy in love choreography,” I decided to change the subject a little bit. Jimin looked over at me. I sat on the bench that backed up against the wall, while Jimin sat on the floor and stretched.

“Really?” He asked, looking surprised, his eyebrows raised.

“Mhmm,” I nodded, tightening the laces on my tennis shoes.

“Only a week ago?” He asked. I looked up from my shoes to see how serious his face was. I busted out laughing.

“I thought you were saying ‘really’ to me wanting to learn the dance!!!” I exclaimed, laughing. I playfully hit his shoulder, making him laugh too. Suddenly, his face was serious again.

“Does she always give you trouble?” He asked. I let out a small sigh.

“Maybe once or twice. Honestly I can’t even remember. It doesn’t really bother me though,” I told him, shrugging. And it was true. Ever since I got here the only person who was actually nice to me was Toni.

“Good, it shouldn’t. They probably just feel threatened by you.”

“Hm..Maybe,” I agreed quietly.

“Look, Maya, to be honest when I first heard there was someone like you as a trainee I was a bit surprised, but really impressed. I don’t know what skills you possess yet but just the fact that you are doing this impresses me.”

“Why? You did it too.” I pointed out.

“I wasn’t in another country. I know it’s more difficult for you than it was for any of us.” I stared at him, not knowing what to say. “Want me to teach you some of the dance?” Jimin asked, his face glowing with enthusiasm.

“Really?” I asked, hopping up from the bench to stand beside him. We danced in the studio for a few more hours, until my body felt like jelly. I started rubbing the back of my right shoulder, which was still bothering me.

“Is your shoulder okay?” Jimin asked, glancing at me through the mirror. I quickly stopped rubbing my shoulder.

“Yeah, it’s fine, just a little sore.” I told him. I made eye contact with him and he looked away.

“Put some ice on it tonight. Why don’t you go home and get some rest.” I was actually thankful to hear him say this, because I was exhausted. I nodded, turning around to grab my bag.

“It was nice to meet you!” I told him, flashing him a smile.

“It was nice to meet you too, I’ll probably run into you soon.”