You guys ended up eating bibimbap at a small restaurant nearby. Key insisted on buying for you but he ended up buying too much and by the end you felt like your stomach was about to explode with the delicious food. Afterwards Key took you to a large shopping center in downtown Seoul. He claimed that he spent a majority of his free time there; you weren’t surprised because out of all the shinee members you thought Key had the best style (and you weren’t being biased).

            “Yah! Hana, we need to buy you new clothes! As well as a backpack, notebooks, pencils, pens, shoes, and jewelry” Key said this enthusiastically while dragging you into a nearby shop.

            “It’s okay Key-ssi, I really don’t need new clothes! My clothes are fine…” Key gave you a once over and clucked disapprovingly. “or not..” you muttered under your breath; I guess the girls here dress differently. You were slightly disheartened because you actually took pride in the outfit that you had put together, but who were you to refuse the almighty Key?

 The store was cute and contained a lot of pretty yet extremely girly clothes that you would’ve never worn in America. Key forced you to try on numerous dresses and skirts. Every time you came out of the dressing room he would ask you to spin around and he would say how pretty you were in it. The jealousy of the girl employee was almost tangible. You ended up buying six new outfits, only three of which you would actually wear.

The two of you headed toward a stationary shop and bought a backpack, pretty lined paper, notebooks, and pencils.

As you guys were heading out you suddenly remembered something.

            “I almost forgot! I need new dance clothes, ballet shoes, and sneakers for hiphop” The moment you said this out loud, Key smiled “Of course, I forgot, you’re probably just a good a dancer as Taemin huh?” You blushed and shrugged. Ever since you were little dancing had been your life, ‘you were dancing before you could even walk!’ your dad used to say jokingly. At least this was one thing you and Taemin had in common.

            “Are you excited for school to start?” Key asked curiously.

            “Uhhhm, I guess, more nervous actually” Nervous as hell you wanted to add. You would be attending SM academy, the school Taemin had went to before actually making it in to SM entertainment. You would have no friends, you would not know anyone, and the fact that everything would be in Korea just made it even worse.

School started in two days, today was Saturday. Taemin promised that today he would take you to the SM building to check out the dance studio. You were super excited, dance studios were like your natural habitat, they were where you felt the most comfortable. You were also excited to meet other SM artists.

You threw on an outfit you bought the other day with Key and spent the next few hours watching music shows on TV, waiting for Taemin to return home from the radio show he said he had to attend.

(what you are wearing)

You watched as skinny girls dressed in pink did cutesy dances while they sang in high-pitched girly voices. You weren’t sure if you wanted to mock them or be jealous of them. Suddenly you heard the door creak open and then slam shut with a loud bang.

            “I’m HOOOOMMMEE” shouted Taemin as he kicked off his shoes and plopped down on the couch next to you. “Where’s umma???” he asked.

            “she went grocery shopping “ you said while trying to push him to the other side. He pushed you back and soon it turned into a game. You ended pushing him off the couch. You laughed at him as he glared up from you on his spot on the floor.

            “When are we going anyways Oppa?”

            “Going where?”

 You looked at him with an indignant expression like you couldn’t believe he forgot his promise.

            “OH yeahhh, SM building….mmm we can go right now if you want!”

            “Yay!”

            “Aren’t I the best?” He asked sarcastically while putting on the shoes that he had kicked off moments ago.

            “Suuuureee you are”

The outside of the building was rather ordinary and dull. You were unimpressed. But as you followed Taemin inside, your jaw dropped to the ground. It was almost all white. The rooms were spacious and glass windows covered the walls. Expensive looking decorations and high-tech items filled the hallways and rooms. It was like you walked into the future.

(outside)       (inside)

Taemin led you to an escalator that took you guys to the 2^nd floor, you guys walked down several hallways (by now you were confused, it seemed like a maze to you) and stopped in front of a door. You could hear loud booming music coming from the inside. Taemin pushed the door open to reveal a large, spacious dance studio.

There were three guys dancing in the middle, they were practicing some type of complicated routine. As you looked closer at their faces you realized who they were.

            “Oh my god! Its Exo!” you said, to Taemin over the loud music. You recognized Lay, Tao, and Sehun (at least you were pretty sure). You were kind of disappointed that Baekhyun was not here; maybe some other time, you thought to yourself. You have been a ‘fan’ of exo since their first teaser and have been avidly waiting for their debut.

The music suddenly stopped and the three striked their finishing poses. You started clapping your hands eagerly but then stopped when you realized you probably looked retarded. Taemin glanced at you with an amused expression.

            “annyonghaseyo! You must be Taemin’s sister!” said a voice, in slightly accented Korean. You looked up to see Lay walking toward you guys, wiping his sweat off with a towel.        

            “ne, annyonghaseyo! I’m Lee Hana, and you must be Lay! Oh my god you’re so good at dancing!” you said this and you realized you were kinda freaking out and you needed to calm down. Lay just laughed.

            “Hi I’m Tao!” said tao as he capped the bottle of water he was holding.

            “Anyong!” Although Tao looked badass and super scary in his teasers, he seemed really cute and nice in person.

            “Yah, Taemin hyung, you never told me your sister was hot” said a deep voice behind you. You jumped, startled, and spun around to see Sehun looking at you with dark eyes. Damn, he’s even hotter in person, they all are.

            “Hey! Hands off of her” said Taemin, in a joking yet slightly serious tone.

            “Ha, Ha. I’m just kidding, annyong! I’m Oh Sehun” he said while holding out his hand to you. You shook it and he gave you a friendly smile. These people seem so nice.

            “Hey where’s Kai?” Taemin asked.

            “Mehh, who knows where that guy is, he’s supposed to be here for practice but never showed up…probably fell asleep or something” Sehun replied while stretching out his arms. “Say, Hana, are you going to be attending SM academy?”

            “Yup! I’m going to be in my third year!”

            “Oh really? Then we might see each other!” Sehun said with another smile. You were confused for a moment but then you realized that Sehun was also in highschool, he was only a year older than you after all. You guys spent about twenty more minutes there just talking before Taemin’s cellphone rang; your mom wanted you home. You said good bye to Sehun, Lay, and Tao and you and Taemin exited the building.

Monday morning you had to wake up at 6:00. You put on the required uniform and made your way sleepily to the Kitchen where your mom had prepared breakfast for you. The night before you had set out your school uniform and prepared your backpack and books. You packed your dance clothes into a separate duffle bag and tied a pink cloth onto it, so you would not lose it or mistake it for someone elses’. You had thought things over and had decided that you would try to stay invisible for as long as possible, you would only make a few close friends and you would not tell anyone Taemin was your brother unless it was absolutely necessary.

(girl's uniform)

“Morning, Hana!”said your mom as she placed a bowl of hot soup in front of you.

“Morning umma”

“Are you ready for your first day of school?” she asked enthusiastically.

“I don’t know…what if I can’t find my classes and I get lost or what if no one wants to talk to me because I’m from America?”

“You don’t have to worry sweetie, you’ll be fine, just remember to be yourself and people will like you for sure” she said. You nodded and began drinking your soup.

As you made your way outside to the car you received a text from Taemin:

Good luck on your first day of school Hana! Fighting!

SM academy looked large, prestigious, and intimidating. Hundreds of students were milling about in the courtyard as you made your way to the main office. You almost bumped into several people. After receiving your schedule from the nice attendance lady you found a quiet spot where you could study your schedule and find where your classes were.

Schedule:

1^st period: Math/Korean literature

2^nd period: music composition and theory

Break

3^rd period: Voice lessons

4^th  period: Advanced Ballet

Lunch

5^th period: Advanced Hiphop

6^th period: lyrical and Jazz

7^th period: Dance technique

It seemed like all your good classes were in the latter half of the day. You sighed and set off looking for you first period class, thankfully you found another girl who was in the same class as you. She was short, and cute-looking and her name was Kim Hye ri. She was also new to the school, having moved recently to Seoul from the countryside. The two of you were walking across the student-filled courtyard when you hear a familiar voice calling your name.

            “Hey! Hana over here!” you turn around to see Sehun surrounded by a few other guys, standing by the fountain in the middle of the quad. Sehun waved at you and then beckoned with his hands for you to go over there.

Hye ri gasped, “You know Oh Sehun?”

            “n-not really, well kind of...maybe.” You said while looking at the ground.

Sehun had yelled pretty loudly so now almost the entire courtyard was staring at you. You heard a few girls whispering to each other.

            “Oh my god, I can’t believe that girl knows Sehun”

            “Are they friends”

            “Who is that girl Anyways?”

            “She is so lucky that Oh Sehun just called her name”

You inwardly sighed…so much for staying invisible.