Jisoo and I slinked together through the lobby of Leopold Hall, each of us dressed down for the night in lounge pants, t-shirts, and fluffy slippers. The lobby was the social place to be for us young ALOHA students. The couches had been rearranged from their usual positions, the chairs pulled around, people congregating around the short wooden tables to play cards, to eat cheap pizza picked up from the shop across the street, and to laugh and fluff each others feathers. It was a great place to get to know the other students in the program and to make friends that could, presumably, last a lifetime.

“I want to go talk to Jinyoung,” said Jisoo to me in a whisper. “Looks like he’s over there on the floor,” she said, pointing to a spot on the carpet where the seating had been pushed away and Jinyoung sat with a couple of his friends from the program. He had a notebook open and was scribbling into it as they talked enthusiastically with one another.

“We shouldn’t bug them,” I said guardedly. “I mean, it looks like they’re working on something.”

“Guys like it when girls talk to them,” said Jisoo matter-of-factly, ruffling up her brunette hair. “I’m sure he wouldn’t mind being interrupted for a moment to talk to me.” It was hard to fault Jisoo’s logic. She was a pretty girl and I could easily see how any of the guys would be interested in her affections.

“I suppose,” I acceded.

“C’mon,” she said. “Let’s go.” Jisoo took me by the hand and dragged me across the lobby toward where Jinyoung and his crew sat on the floor. As we approached, they looked up to us and ceased their conversation.

Jinyoung was a cool looking guy with short black hair and gaunt facial features. He sat across from Sehun and Kai, two of the other boys in our program. I had gotten to know Kai a bit as he was in my English class and also an English major. Jisoo smiled sweetly as she looked down to Jinyoung, trying to put on some sort of cutesy girl act. I just tried to remain calm.

“Hey Jisoo,” said Jinyoung.

“Hello Jinyoung,” she said. “We’re not interrupting, are we?”

“Not at all,” he said. “Do you ladies know Sehun and Kai?”

“Sehun is a theater major,” said Jisoo, looking over to him. “I think I’ve seen you around the auditorium.”

“Yeah,” he said. “I saw you at the, uh, audition for Comedy of Errors, right?”

“Yep,” said Jisoo. “A lot of Shakespeare going around lately.”

“Truth,” said Sehun.

“And Jennie and I know each other,” said Kai. “From class.”

“Yeah,” I said quietly.

“Perfect!” exclaimed Jinyoung. “Our own little band of miscreants,” he joked.

“Can we sit?” asked Jisoo, not waiting for Jinyoung’s response. She lowered herself to the ground near him and gave me a stern look indicating that I should follow suit.

“Of course,” said Jinyoung. “The more the merrier.”

I eased myself down to the floor as well, sitting crosslegged and joining in the circle. I felt really out of place, even though I knew I shouldn’t. I was simply acting as Jisoo’s sidekick in her attempt to flirt with the boy she was interested in. Peering around the circle, I caught Kai looking at me and then swiftly looking away once I noticed.

“So what are we working on?” asked Jisoo.

“We’re storyboarding a movie,” said Jinyoung, returning his attentions to the notebook near his white-socked feet. “We’re putting it together for the ALOHA group project.”

“What’s it about?” said Jisoo. She kept her eyes trained on Jinyoung, watching his every move, basically ignoring the rest of us.

“It’s going to be an anti-advertisement for ALOHA,” said Kai. “Like, a comedy.”

“A droll sendup,” said Jinyoung in a British accent. He laughed at himself. “No, sort of like a Christopher Guest movie.”

“Christopher Guest?” I said. “I don’t know him.”

“Best in Show?” said Jinyoung. “Waiting for Guffman?”

“I love Waiting for Guffman,” exclaimed Jisoo. “Hilarious!”

“I’ve heard of them,” I said.

“You’ve got to watch them,” said Sehun. “They’re super funny.”

“Okay,” I said.

“We’ll have a watching party,” said Jinyoung quickly, looking over and catching eyes with Jisoo. It was obvious that h