“Leda! Wait up!” Lexi cried, panting to catch up to her friend. “C'mon. I was kidding. I mean, I'm honored to come to this party with you! It’s just...I can just tell how much Yugyeom is in to you. He's emailed you practically every day since you met!”

 

“He isn’t. And he hasn’t. At least I hope he doesn't. Look, he's a friend. That's it.” Leda’s speed walk increased with her sudden anxiety that maybe Yugyeom did like her. But she just wasn't sure. He did email her several times. She counted seven emails total since they met a month ago. But the emails had always been more inquisitive, not necessarily romantic. It was almost always an email of about half a dozen questions (some of which he would reciprocate answers) then some pleasantries about their touring and producing songs. The questions did seem peculiar. He asked a lot about her high school days: where she went to school, the high school band she played percussion for, where she grew up. She figured having toured in L.A. so much, these guys should know how America works by now, but she chalked it all up to his being from Korea. He must just be interested in how things like that work around here.

 

“Well,” Leda did not like the devilish grin forming on Lexi’s face, “I will just have to leave you alone with him as much as possible tonight.” She winked at Leda who began rolling her eyes immediately.

 

“You better not.” She warned

 

“All I'm saying is it's been a while since you've had a real good relationship. Like, maybe even since college. And maybe this isn't a real relationship, but at least you could have some fun!” Lexi wrapped an arm around Leda to try to offer some comfort. “You deserve this.”

 

Leda sighed. “Okay, how about this. I will be open to the idea. I'm not going to do anything myself. But if something happens: I will be open to it.”

 

“Yeah!!” Lexi jumped up and down in excitement. “We are going to have so much fun tonight! Oh! And you need to make sure to introduce me to the one named Jackson. I saw him and some of the pictures that you had, and I need to meet him.”

 

“Hate to disappoint you, but he actually won't be there. He's doing his own album right now so I think he's out working on that.”

 

“Noooooooooooo!” Lexi collapsed to her knees on the sidewalk. She grabbed her head to feign an ultimate state of despair.

 

“Oh stop it.” Leda rolled her eyes again. “Their house is right over there, you're making a scene before we even get there.”

 

Lexi's eyes went wide, apparently oblivious to how close they had been. She stood up and dusted herself off, “How do I look? Ready to seduce one of them?”

 

They laughed the rest of the way to the party.

 

………….

 

Leda was grateful for Lexi's silly distractions. It helped ease her anxious feelings and enter the party with a smile on her face.

 

“Hey! You must be the gals Yugyeom invited, right? Come on in!” An unfamiliar smiling face greeted them at the door. “I'm JB. We're just getting some food ready, the other guys are around gaming already.” His eyes smiled in a way that conveyed genuine kindness, and both girls sighed with relief. If they were all this kind they wouldn't have to worry about a thing: this party would be just fine.

 

“I'm Lexi, the tag-a-long!” She reached her hand out to shake. “Thanks for letting me crash your party!”

 

Leda chimed in, “Yes, thank you! The invite was really generous seeing how I don't know most of you. I hope it won't be weird that we're here.”

 

“Oh no way!” JB led the girls into the kitchen. “We’ve all invited a few people, so it won’t be weird at all. Yugyeom usually doesn’t invite anybody, so I’m really glad you’re here.” JB obviously seemed to take a role of leadership. He seemed to play host well.

 

The girls were in a trance as JB led them around the kitchen to show them the food (he seemed awfully proud that they were serving “beef hamburgers” as he called them), the different rooms upstairs, and finally leading them into a room where several people seemed to be hanging out. “Yugyeom is in here, I figured I would take you to him first. He can show you around the rest of the place. I’ll need to get back to the kitchen to make sure everything is in order there. Please, don’t hesitate to ask if you need anything!” He smiled one of his honest and sincere smiles again, but then his face turned as though he remembered something. He glanced at a couch where Yugyeom and a few others sat and pulled Leda in closer, “You seem nice, but I just want you to know, you seem to mean a lot to him. Please don’t hurt him.” He glanced back Yugyeom’s way and waved him over.

 

Recognizing Leda, Yugyeom’s face immediately perked up and JB quietly left the room as Yugyeom rushed over. He approached Leda and Lexi with the same warmth Leda felt from his emails. She was glad to see his familiar face, but troubled with JB’s warning. What did that mean? She had promised to keep an open mind, but that was the kind of warning you gave a new girlfriend and she was not even sure she felt that way about him. She tried to keep her composure but Lexi noticed the hints of worry on her face.

 

“Yugyeom, right? I’ve heard a lot about you!” Lexi tried to break the tension she felt building. “You’re the famous Korean pen pal that has been writing her non-stop. I guess I better keep an eye on you. You want to get to her, you’ll have to come through me first.” Lexi flashed the sassiest smile she could to try to relay that she was joking but also that she was quite serious at the same time.

 

Yugyeom faltered. “Uh, heh heh yeah, I guess maybe I’ve been a little bit improper, communicating with her so much.” He turned to Leda, “I’m sorry. It was too rash of me. I promise I have good reasons.” Yugyeom gave a little bow.

Leda didn’t know how to react. He was sorry for communicating so much? Perhaps she didn’t immediately see him as a prospect to date, but she truly enjoyed their conversations and didn’t find them improper at all. But his “good reasons” didn’t make much sense to her...unless he planned to confess his feelings. Leda’s face was not doing the best job of hiding the questions she was mulling over, so Lexi (who was already feeling guilty for both making the situation worse, and making this poor guy she just met apologize for no reason) decided to try to at least distract them.

 

“So who do we have in here? More members of your group?” Lexi began to walk over towards the couch. Yugyeom did not seem phased by Lexi’s actions, but was clearly concerned about Leda--looking back to her frequently.

 

“Yes, actually,” Yugyeom took up the role of party host, “here we have a few of our members, Mark, Bam Bam and Jinyoung.” He pointed at each successively.

 

“A few more? Plus you and JB? Jeez! How many more have you got?” Lexi laughed. Her awkwardness was palpable.

 

“Yeah, there's seven. You know, like. Got7. Cuz there's seven of us.” Bam Bam said flatly with an arched eyebrow.

 

“Ah. Yeah.” Lexi’s enthusiasm seemed immediately drained. She felt herself drawn to his sharp response somehow.

 

Leda tried to help her recover, “I just introduced her to your group recently. She's still very new to the K-pop scene.”

 

“Glad to be her first, then.” Bam Bam flashed a polite and cheeky smile in their general direction and the girls’ cheeks flushed instantly.

 

“Well then, shall we all play a game and try to get a bit better acquainted?” It was Yugyeom’s turn try to break the tension.

 

“We were just starting to set up for Mario Kart” Mark said, concentrating fully-probably too much-on the TV screen.

The group took turns with the four-player game, switching out winners to let the others play.

 

“Your friend has quite the competitive spirit.” Bam Bam leaned over to Leda as they watched the group play.

“!! Get out of my way!! Who is that!? ing Peach!” Lexi’s manners lasted one round of playing before her true colors showed.

 

“I’m sorry. I should have warned everybody. She can get like this when she plays.” Leda laughed it off hoping that no one was too offended. She had heard Yugyeom swear a few times before so she was fairly certain swearing didn’t offend them--although she certainly wasn’t an advocate of the strings of curse words that seemed to be pouring from her friend faster than she could apologize for them.

 

“Damn it! Who was that? You kicked my !” Lexi laughed at her placement near the bottom of the rankings once again.

 

“That would be me.” Yugyeom stood--popping and locking through a small victory dance.

 

“I guess that means it’s my turn to sit out. Hey, Leda, why don’t we go grab some burgers to bring in here for everyone. I could use a hand.”

 

“Sure! I’d love to help.” Leda was glad for the break. Her friend’s behavior was making her sweat bullets. “You’ll behave yourself, right Lexi?!” She called back perhaps a bit too sternly because all faces turned toward her.

 

“Whaaaaat? Me? Why don’t you talk to your rude friend there. He can’t even let a gal win one round! If he hadn’t hit me with so many shells I never would have sworn so much!”

 

The two left the room giggling. “Really, I’m sorry for my friend. Do you think she’s offending anyone?”

 

“Ah that’s no trouble at all. She’s really just taking Jackson’s place, to be honest. Are you sure she isn’t part Chinese and was maybe switched at birth? Based on her behavior, I’d say she must be related to Jackson somehow.” The two giggled some more as they made their way down the hallway toward the kitchen. They met with JB, who had shifted from making sure food preparations were going smoothly to sharing drinks with a few people at the counter.

 

“Hey, are there still burgers enough for us back there?” Yugyeom called out.

 

“Sure! Help yourself man!” JB gave a quick knowing smile and a nod to his friend before turning back to his guests and leading them down stairs.

 

“Cool, well let’s make one for Mark, I know burgers are his favorite. Here, you make one for yourself.” The two set to work preparing two burgers with some extra sides, some chips for Leda, and some kind of Kimchi for Mark.

 

Yugyeom leaned in as they were preparing the two plates. “Hey, listen. I want you to know, you’re really cool. I’m glad we got to know each other so well these past few weeks. Sorry I pummeled you with so many questions.”

 

Leda began to get nervous again. “It’s been fun! I didn’t mind. It was kind of like a little survey each email. I just figured that you were curious about what it was like in the states.”

 

The pause lasted longer than Leda was comfortable with and she looked up towards her friend’s face for a sign of what the problem was. He was looking off in a different direction, distracted. “Listen. This is probably kind of forward of me. Too forward probably even for American standards. But, can you make me a promise?”

 

“Uh, probably, but what is it?” Leda felt her palms begin to sweat. She pretended to be suddenly very busy pouring herself a drink.

“Just. Can you promise me that, whatever happens at the end of the night, you will still consider being friends with me? If you can? Just consider it.”

 

“Why would I stop being friends with you?” She laughed nervously. He was silent.

 

“Here, I’ve got Mark’s. You’ve got yours. Shoot. Y’know what. I don’t know what the others would want. Do you know what Lexi would want on her burger?”

“I could probably guess, but I’m not sure.”

 

“Dang. Well let’s do this. Why don’t you take this to Mark and send the others back to grab theirs. I’ll get them started so they can just add what they want to each burger.”

 

Leda became suspicious. The conversation they just had. Being friends by the end of the night. Now this? She reminded herself to keep open to anything as she took a deep breath. “Ok, no problem. I’m glad to help.” And she sincerely was. She had an idea of how much Yugyeom did for the others. He had confided that he was often seen as the mother of the group-something she felt she could relate to in her groups of friends. That was part of why she felt they got along so well. They both had a mothering way about them. She convinced herself this was all probably his own way of mothering the rest so she might as well play along.

 

She made her way down the hallway with the two burgers. When she entered, Jinyoung was already standing. “Is that one for me?” Bam Bam punched his shoulder.

 

“No, sorry. Yugyeom made one for Mark, but he said he wasn’t sure what everyone else would want on theirs, so you’d have to go make your own.

 

“Well that’s just...ow!” Bam Bam silenced Jinyoung with another punch.

“Cool! No worries. Hey, Lexi, you wanted a burger too, right?” Bam Bam flashed an intoxicating half-smile her way.

 

Lexi’s will was weakened. She sensed something was amiss but strangely found herself drunk on that smile. She slowly pulled her eyes away from Bam Bam and toward her friend for confirmation. Any sign from her that this was an unwanted situation and she’d park her right there and make someone else bring her a burger. Leda mouthed “it’s ok” and smiled. “Well, alright. But I still want to challenge you to another game later. I was just starting to get used to it!” She touched Leda’s arm as she passed and whispered, “Text me immediately if you need anything.” She knew the gravity of being alone in a room with one of these attractive men, and was not taking it lightly. It was just confusing because it wasn’t the one she thought Leda would be alone with. Bam Bam gently shut the door behind them as they left Mark and Leda alone.

 

“Here you go. I hope you like it. Yugyeom put it all together himself. He seems to have a good idea of what you’d like.” Leda handed the plate over and took a seat on the sofa opposite of Mark.

 

“Yeah. Thanks. He knows me well. He knows all of us well, actually.” He smiled nervously.

 

“Yes, I got that impression from his emails.” She trailed off and in the silence decided to shove some of the burger in to keep her from saying more. If Yugyeom knew them all well, why couldn’t he have made burgers for them all and kept her from this awkward situation?

 

When she looked back up Mark’s burger was gone. “WHAT! How did you eat that so fast?!” He was working on the kimchi now, taking bits to his mouth with his chopsticks.

 

Mark’s face turned red. “Ah, sorry. I really like burgers, is all. They’ve been smelling so good and I was dying to eat them.” He tried laughing off his gluttonous behavior and beamed a smile that reached his eyes.

 

“Wow, I guess so. That was half a pound, at least, I think. Dang. Impressive.” She nodded in encouragement as she took another bite of her burger.

 

“Thanks!”

 

The conversation died again. It quickly became clear that no one was returning to the room any time soon. Laughs were heard in the kitchen, but no one was traveling down the hallway.

“I guess they’re having a good time. That’s good.” Leda tried to pick the conversation up again.

 

“Yeah.” Mark was quiet for a beat. “So Yugyeom was telling me about you from your emails. I hope you don’t mind that he shared. Don’t be mad at him.”

 

“Oh, well it’s not like I told him anything too personal. It’s fine. He’s so kind, I can’t imagine being mad at him.” She smiled to reassure him.

 

“Good. Don’t be. He’s a great guy.”

 

“Yeah.” Quickly running out of burger, Leda moved on to shoving chips into to try to deal with the awkwardness. She did a silent prayer in hopes that this wasn’t going to be another one of those “so you have to date him but don’t you dare break his heart” talks. She already essentially had one from JB. It was great to see the boys were so supportive of each other but she was not excited to be pressured into a relationship.

 

When she looked up she saw Mark looking down. Was he saying his own prayer? She began to notice him a bit more. He had strong shoulders and arms, made perfectly evident by his sleeveless shirt. The more she drank him in the more nervous she got. How did she end up in a room with this guy? And wouldn’t it just be her luck that he was trying to set her up with his friend? She appreciated Yugyeom, truly, but as her eyes passed over Mark she found herself imagining a relationship with him. What had gotten in to her? She flushed and lowered her eyes.

 

Mark took a deep breath, “I put him up to it.”
 

It took several seconds for his comment to register. “What?” She looked up at him immediately frozen. Her body seemed to go numb.

 

“Please don’t be mad at him. I found out that you two met and I asked him to tell me more about you.” His eyes were pleading and sincere, but that didn’t keep her stomach from turning to water.

 

“So. You were asking me those questions. And Yugyeom was just giving you the answers?”

 

“Not at first. Yugyeom emailed you on his own. Then when he talked to me about you and showed me an email I realized something, and I asked to know more about you. That’s when I gave him some questions.”

 

Her head was spinning. She wasn’t mad. But this was confusing. “Why?”

 

Mark’s face flashed concern. “You aren’t mad at Yugyeom, are you?” He seemed very concerned about that.

 

“I mean, he kind of deceived me, didn’t he?”

 

“No! He really does value you as a friend. I swear. I just. I didn’t know how to reach out to you myself. Are you mad at him?”

 

“Well answer my question and I’ll let you know if I’m mad at him.”

 

“What question?”

“Why?” Eyebrows raised in expectation, she stared right into Mark’s eyes and felt a sting through all the numbness right in her core.

 

Mark sighed again. “I don’t know if you remember me. You probably don’t. I was in your high school. You had graduated, I think, but you came back sometimes to help out with the band.”

 

“What!? You’re a K-pop star.” Leda’s brow furrowed in a mixture of disbelief and trying to remember. She had come back to help out at her old school in L.A. sometimes. That was true. But she didn’t really remember anybody from that time, except the teacher, and he retired recently.

 

“I left school after my Sophomore year and moved to Korea to be a trainee. But before that I grew up here. I went to the same schools as you. I…” he trailed off.

 

“I’m sorry, I don’t remember you. Did we have class together? Have we ever spoken before now?”

 

“No.” He took a deep breath. “This is going to sound stupid.” He seemed to mutter it more to himself than to her. “I...I sort of had a crush on you from afar. I actually wasn’t even in the band at first, but I had after school Volleyball practice. I left practice early one time and that’s when I saw you near the band room. You were helping someone learn some rhythms.”

 

“I’m not sure what to say.” She felt more confused the longer the conversation went on. Some Sophomore had a crush on her when she was coming back to visit from college. And now he was a famous, and dangerously attractive, K-pop star. What on earth was happening?

 

“You don’t have to say anything if you don’t want to. That’s kind of my motto. I joined the band because of you, but I was never advanced enough to get help from you when you came in, I think. I wasn’t great at playing. That’s kind of when I found out singing and rapping was more of my thing.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “That’s why I asked Yugyeom about you. I saw your profile picture from your email and I knew it was you. I had to ask to be sure.” He looked at her apologetically. “I know this probably all sounds so stupid to you but I’ve always felt like you were kind of the reason I became an idol.” Having let everything out Mark suddenly felt very vulnerable and looked down for fear of seeing her face: Was she disgusted? Was she angry? Was she scared?

 

“Cool.”

 

“What?” His eyes shot up.

 

“That’s pretty cool. I’m the reason you ended up being an idol?” She laughed a little. “I mean, it’s clearly got more to do with your talent and your good looks, so I don’t know how much credit I deserve, but still. That’s pretty cool.” She smiled at him

 

“You think I look good?” His jaw dropped. He had heard the rest, but nothing shocked him more than her straight-forward compliment. She thought he had good looks!

 

They both turned beet red with eyes wide. “Uh. Well, yeah. I mean you’re an idol. You’d have to be, right?” She tried to downplay her compliment, shocked at herself. Was she flirting? What had gotten into her. Yet, somehow, she was unable to stop it.

 

“Right, right right. But. I mean, YOU. YOU think I look good. Wow.” He looked down again as though he were in disbelief.

 

“Did I say something wrong?” Leda was in uncharted territory. A boy who had a crush on her secretly for years, who was disgustingly attractive, was sitting right in front of her. Was he upset that she thought he was attractive? Did he think she was just being a fan-girl? Was this improper behavior in Korea? Had she insulted him? She had hardly known she had said it in the first place. There was no taking it back now. She scavenged her plate for another distraction.

 

“No. Not at all. I just can’t believe my ultimate crush is sitting in front of me telling me she thinks I’m attractive. It doesn’t seem real. It’s like I’m in a dream.” His eyes seemed halfway between laughing and crying. Instead he sighed and, interlacing his fingers, leaned back stretching his long body out.

 

All Leda could do for a few seconds was admire the view. His arms behind his head gave her an even better glance at the shape of his muscles. His head tilted up exposing his neck. She suddenly found herself wanting to reach out and touch him, but stopped her thoughts before they began to come to fruition. She subconsciously bit her lower lip.

 

Mark looked up in time to catch the gesture and Leda lowered her eyes before theirs met.

 

“So, do you want to play some Mario Kart, then?” the innocence and pleading in his eyes seemed to dissipate as quickly as it had arrived. “Let’s get to know each other better.”

 

Leda told herself she was going to be open to ideas. This was not what she expected, but somehow this felt like the perfect idea to be open to. “Yeah. Let’s get to know each other.”

“You’ll have to come sit over here by me on this couch, though. I can’t get to know you when you’re so far away.” Mark’s eyes looked sheepishly at the ceiling as his shoulders shrugged in a silly innocence.

 

She smiled. “Yeah, I guess I'll have to.”