Isabela

"Um... Hello," she bowed deeply at them. "Thank you for having me."

This could not be happening to Isabela. It had to be a dream. One sick, twisted dream that she would eventually have to wake up from.

"Thank you for coming on such short notice." The manager smiled at her kindly. "It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance. I'm so sorry for the secrecy surrounding this meeting, but you have to understand, these men that are standing before you are the universally known pop sensation known as EXO." Suddenly, the manager's eyes turned cold. "You're not a fan, are you?"

For some reason, Isabela's instincts reacted before she did. "No," she answered, and his kind smile returned.

"Ah, that's a relief. If you had been a fan, we would have had to find a replacement for you, you see. Fans are strictly prohibited to be a part of this company, since so many have already infiltrated it to the point of stalking them. Alas, it seems EXO are not as popular in the Americas as they are here in Asia, which is why you're here."

She blinked at him. "Why I'm here?"

"Yes, you see, SM Management would like EXO to reach even further. They indeed have fans in the United States and Latin America, but we want to make them as known as other western bands, like One Direction. For that, they would have to speak perfect English."

"Oh," she nodded, "I see."

In all honesty, Isabela wanted to strangle this man in front of her. She indeed was a fan of EXO, enough of a fan to know that they worked these boys to the bone and they didn't even earn what they deserved. Most of the money made from concerts, merchandise, dramas, and albums were to fill SM's pockets. Isabela knew EXO generated millions of dollars for this company, yet they rarely got to see this money. In her eyes, EXO were more like slaves than pop stars. Some of them had even fainted in the past for working themselves too hard for SM.

She had to control her thoughts. She managed a smile at him.

"Very well, then," he said, bowing his head at her. "I have other matters to attend to, so I'll leave you to get acquainted with them before the real work begins."

Isabela bowed. "Thank you for this opportunity. I won't let you down."

She remained bowing until he left the room. She blinked at the floor. Did they remember her at all?

"Y-you're..." Baekhyun stuttered.

"This is a prank, right?" Chanyeol asked.

She straightened her back but remained quiet.

"I don't know if I'm seeing correctly," Kyungsoo said, blinking at her. "You're Isabela, right?"

She let out a breath and nodded. They did remember her, which made her heart flutter.

"This is... very weird," Junmyeon said, his cool composure shattering with surprise.

"This can't be a coincidence, right?" Yixing asked, mouth open.

"So," Jongin said, sitting down on a chair, "you're our new English tutor, huh?"

Isabela nodded. "So it seems."

Minseok whistled. "This will be interesting, then."

"Wah!~ Your arms are all healed!" Chanyeol exclaimed.

"Oi, it's true!" Minseok's eyes widened at her.

"Guys, if she's going to be our tutor, we have to speak to her more formally," Sehun said.

"But... You're younger than us, right?" Kyungsoo asked, and she nodded.

"I'm 22," she explained.

"So, how do we speak to you?" Junmyeon asked her. She tilted her head and looked up, thinking.

"Hm... I'm not offended if you speak to me informally, to be honest."

"Ah, that makes things easier," Baekhyun said, sitting down next to Jongin and picking at his friend's snack food. Jongin rolled his eyes at him.

"In return, you can speak to us informally as well," Chanyeol said with a smile.

She giggled at him, his smile calming her nerves. "Alright, oppa."

"Gah!~ You're so cute!" Chanyeol walked over to her and patted her head. She blushed at him.

"C-Cute?" She asked. Park Chanyeol had just called her cute. She was about to burst.

"Aigoo, I guess there's no reason to hide it," Minseok said. "We had honestly been hoping to meet you again someday."

"Wah?~" She exclaimed.

"You were so bright and refreshing when we met you, it made is do really well in our concert the next day. You were like a good luck charm," Sehun explained.

Yeah, okay. This was definitely a dream.

"Oh, i-it wasn't me! That was all thanks to your hard work!" Isabela insisted, but Chanyeol shook his head.

"No, we were very tired that evening and a bit depressed, so meeting you was our turning point. We did well because of you, so, thank you very much for meeting with us that night!"

"Ah, is it okay if we call you by your first name?" Junmyeon asked. "We are going to be friends and all."

"F-Friends?" She stuttered. Surreal. This was too surreal.

"Would you like that?" He asked. "We're going to be working very closely for the next few months, so I thought..."

"Y-yes, I would love to be friends!" She bowed. "And you can call me by my first name too!"

"Ah, but your first name is so difficult to pronounce!" Exclaimed Yixing.

"We should give her a Korean name!" Baekhyun suggested.

"Um, I would love that, actually," Isabela said, giggly again and bouncing on her heels.

"How about Mun-hee?" Said Kyungsoo.

"Meh," answered Baekhyun.

"Isn't it a bit much?" Jongin asked, and Kyungsoo shrugged.

"Hyo-sonn?" Junmyeon suggested.

"No offense, but there is literally nothing gentle about her. Don't you remember she fell of her bike in Chicago?!" Chanyeol laughed and Isabela nodded.

"This is true," she said.

"Sun-hi," Minseok exclaimed.

Jongin made a face. "Maybe."

"Hm..." Chanyeol studied Isabela from the table. "What about Mi-kyong?"

"Ah,~" Junmyeon exclaimed. "That actually suits her very well."

"Doesn't it?" Baekhyun nodded.

"Mikyong?" Isabela asked, and Jongin nodded.

"I like it for you, too," he told her.

"Ah, then I'll also cherish this name!" She said, smiling brightly at all of them.

It hadn't gone unnoticed by Isabela/Mikyong that Jongdae hadn't said anything since she came in. A voice in her head had nagged her for being so clumsy the year before, and it seemed now that Jongdae didn't have positive memories of her. He only stared at her, his face completely solid and emotionless. She tried very hard not to meet his gaze, because she felt like she was going to be pulverized by it as soon as she did. She only studied him out of the corner of her eye, and hoped that he wouldn't be this quiet for their tutoring sessions. Still, he worried her. Had she done something to offend him that night?

She glanced at him, and he glared, his stare like a thousand knives stabbing into her soul.

She decided not to look again.

"So, Mikyong," Minseok sat down as well. "How'd you get to Seoul?"

"By plane," she said, then burst out laughing, a little forced. "I'm sorry, that was too easy."

"Ah, you're getting smart with me already, huh?" He chuckled.

She nodded once. "Yup." Mikyong set her purse on the table and sat down across from Baekhyun and Jongin, next to where Chanyeol was leaning and to Minseok's right. She explained how she had joined the translation company, and how the CEO gave her this assignment. She attempted to downplay her intelligence, but it proved impossible.

"Woh!~" Chanyeol sat down next to her. Kyungsoo sat next to Baekhyun, and Sehun sat next to Jongdae, who still remained quiet. Junmyeon sat down as well, and so did Yixing after grabbing some coffee from the snacks table. The layout of the room reminded Mikyong of EXO Showtime, and she wondered if it was here where they filmed it.

"So, you're a genius," Jongin said, and Mikyong laughed.

"Not at all," she promised. "Just a hard worker."

"And humble too!" Minseok exclaimed, and Baekhyun laughed.

"I'm not being humble!" She said honestly. "I'm no more special than anyone else. In fact, I've been told I'm very dense." She pressed her index fingers together in a "pyong" motion.

"Ah, what do you mean dense?" Kyungsoo asked.

She shrugged. "I guess I can't discern people's feelings as well as I would like. It also doesn't help that I'm gullible as well, so a lot of people make fun of me for it," she puffed her cheeks and pouted. "I'm also sensitive, so please be gentle with me."

"Yah!" Chanyeol rubbed her head as if she was a kitten. "You're so cute when you puff your cheeks like that!"

"Eek!" She squealed, covering her blushing face with her hands. "Don't tease me like that, oppa!"

"I'm telling you the truth, you're probably the most adorable thing I've seen in a while," he admitted, and tried to tickle her.

"N-No!" She couldn't get away fast enough as this massive giant went and poked her ribs. She squirmed, giggling uncontrollably.

"Aha! I've found your weakness!" Chanyeol said, laughing.

"P-Please!" She said between breaths, still trying to get away. He finally let up and she gasped for air. She tried as hard as she could to control her breathing like she'd learned years ago, but it was so difficult now that she hadn't had to do it for a while.

"Mikyong, are you alright?" Jongin asked, seeming a bit worried. Black spots danced in her eyes, but she managed a smile.

"Out of shape, is all," she stuck her tongue out. "I don't really exercise. Or eat well. Or do anything to take care of my health," she lied.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have tickled you," Chanyeol said, feeling guilty. She shook her head at him.

"Please, we're friends now, you can tease me all you like.~" She finally sighed and fanned her face, which was red from laughing. "Now, I would like to know your level of English, so I want to do a little test, if it's alright with you." All of them said yes, except Jongdae, who shrugged. "Okay, I brought this notebook, and I'm going to write down something on it that I want you guys to read, one by one, out loud so I can hear." She fished the notebook out of her bag and wrote down the sentence.

The pink fish jumped in the ocean water.

"Park, since you're so awake today, you can start." She wiggled her brows at him, and he gulped.

"You can call us by our first names, you know..." He murmured before clearing his throat. "The pink fish jumped in the ocean water," he read slowly.

She nodded. "You did very well!" The tutor exclaimed. "Now, can you tell me what you read?"

"Er, the pink fish hops in the ocean water," he said, unsure of himself.

She smiled. "Close! "Jumped" is the past tense version of "jumps," which is a bit different from "hops". When you hear "jumps," think of when humans jump. When you hear "hops," think of when frogs hop. It's a very easy mistake to make, so don't worry about it. Next, Yixing," she wrinkled her nose at him.

He pouted. "This is very unfair, you know," he said.

Mikyong laughed. "This isn't a test. I'm not a teacher, so don't think of me as one. Just do your best, okay?"

He sighed and nodded. "The pink fish jumped in the ocean water."

It went on like that for the next hour or so, each idol reading the sentence and then Mikyong guiding them when they made a mistake. By the time their manager peeked through the door to tell the boys they had a schedule to keep, she had realized she had her work cut out for her. Their pronounciations were off, and although they understood the general meaning of the sentence, their literal translation needed work. It wasn't any worse than anything she had worked on before, so she just had to give it her all so they could speak the language better to the point of being fluent.

As she walked home, she felt sad and looked down at the little golden sun that hung from her necklace. Even when Jongdae spoke English, he hadn't really looked at her, just read the sentence like it was a burden she was there. She sighed to herself, then blinked. What if what she wrote down on the letter was too intimate? What if he felt uncomfortable by her presence? What if he resented her for what had happened in Chicago?

Calm down, Mikyong, she told herself, getting used to her new name. He's your client, and you're here for a job. Don't worry too much. He'll probably warm up to you eventually.

Still, there was that nagging voice in her head. She didn't know how she'd react if she found out he hated her for some reason. Maybe he regretted helping her then. Maybe she had ruined everything at dinner and made a fool out of herself somehow.

She fished out her earphones from her purse and plugged them into her phone. Mikyong gave the world a small smile when the first lyrics of EXO's Peter Pan started playing.