“So do you like spicy food, then?” Xiumin asked as we walked side by side on the pavement.

It was already well into the night and the streets were illuminated with orbs of light from the lampposts and shops to create a kaleidoscope of colours. We had been walking for about ten minutes and fortunately, we hadn’t bumped into any of the fangirls which had been chasing Xiumin earlier.

“Not really” I replied.

Xiumin gave me strange look. “But tteokbokki is spicy.”

I glanced at his direction and saw that he had his brow raised. “There’s actually a funny story to why I like tteobokki, even if it’s spicy.”

Xiumin eyed me curiously, “Oh? Do tell.”

I smiled at him and saw that we still had a while to go before we reached SM Entertainment HQ. “Well, back when I was in university, I was having a hard time with my studies.” I fixed my gaze ahead of me as I started to recollect my year abroad in Seoul.

It was only for a year, but I participated in an exchange programme as part of my university degree. While I was at Seoul, I had trouble coping with the language barrier and I didn’t have many friends to hang out with it. There were hard times and, I constantly felt lonely and homesick.

But one day, while I was coming back from the supermarket, a delicious aroma enticed me to enter this pop-up stall. I pulled back the covers and saw that they were serving tteokbokki. The vendor was an elderly man whose skin was blotchy with age spots and his head was peppered with grey hairs. He smiled at me kindly and asked if I wanted to buy some of his freshly made tteokbokki.

The food did look delicious but, I was sceptical because it was bright red and, I wasn’t good at spicy food.

But the man insisted and, a few minutes later, I was sitting in front of a plate of steaming hot tteokbokki. I took a bite and my eyes immediately started watering.

The vendor laughed and gave me a glass of water. “You’re just like my daughter,” I remembered him saying, “she’s not good at spicy food either.”

“Where is she now?” I remembered asking with tears streaming down my cheeks.

His smile slowly faded and he replied, “She’s gone far away. I don’t know if she’ll ever come back.”

I prolonged my gulp of water, not knowing what else to say.

But he surprised me by continuing, “Whenever my daughter was sad, she would eat tteokbokki and start crying,” he smiled at the memory, “and whenever I asked her why she was crying she would say, it’s because the tteokbokki is too spicy.” The man offered me a napkin to wipe away my tears.

After that day, I started eating tteokbokki whenever I felt sad or angry or stressed. It felt cathartic to just cry it all out. And it was around this time when I started listening to BTS’ music. Their songs really resonated with me because they sang about emotions which I had felt during my stay in Seoul. And I couldn’t stop listening to them ever since.

I told this all to Xiumin with some minor details omitted so that I wouldn’t blow my cover. We had been walking for a while now and we were finally in front of SM Entertainment HQ.

“Wow, so that’s why you eat tteokbokki” he commented. He thought for a second, “but if you’re eating tteokbokki now, does that mean you’re sad?” He wore a concerned expression on his face. “Are you unhappy living with us as our housekeeper?” he questioned further.

“No, that’s not why I’m having tteokbokki.” I rushed to reassure him. “I was just having it today because I felt like it.”

Xiumin still looked doubtful but he didn’t press any further.

I followed Xiumin into the SM building and saw that the guard, who was stationed at the front of the entrance, gave me and Xiumin a nod as we passed him by.

Xiumin greeted members of staff as he walked past them and he led me to an elevator where we got off on the third floor. Finally, we arrived outside their dance studio. I took in my surroundings and noticed how pristine and luxurious the building was. The walls were painted ivory and there were CCTV cameras in every corner of the ceiling. Xiumin gestured for us to enter through two double doors which, had circular windows that, you can peep through to see what was happening inside. As we approached them, I saw that the rest of the EXO members were in the middle of practice.

Their bodies were in sync with the music as they executed each dance movement with grace yet aggressiveness to fit in with the low beats of the soundtrack. I didn’t really know much about their music but, from what I was hearing, I was definitely enjoying it. I found it hard to tear my eyes away from their dance. So much was happening but each member moved like a cohesive unit to their next position, communicating with their eyes as, they signalled each other through their reflections on the mirror, in front of them.

Once their hypnotic dance was finished, Xiumin pushed the door open to reveal him and myself and the bag of food that they were all anticipating.

“Look who I ran into!” he greeted the others as he signalled for me to come inside with him.

“Hyung!” It was Kai who was first to notice us, “Finally! What took you so long? I’m sooo hungry!” He enthusiastically grabbed the plastic bag from Xiumin’s hands.

“Slowly, Kai, you crazy child” Xiumin replied impatiently.

The others began to walk over to us. And finally noticing my presence, Chen spoke, “Nami-ssi, what are you doing here?”

“I ran into her while I was buying Sehun’s bubble tea,” Xiumin replied for me.

“What? Were you in the bubble tea shop together?” Baekhyun asked.

Xiumin shook his head, “Nope. I mean, I literally ran into her. I was being chased by some fangirls when I ran into Nami-ssi and she helped me get rid of them.”

“That would explain why my straw is bent” murmured Sehun, who was observing the damage done to his bubble tea.

“It’s a good thing you were able to lose them” Suho mention