Mei's POV

The past year has been the toughest year of my life! I switched college majors from engineering to business because it may give me the opportunity to possibly live and work in South Korea in the future. Now, it may seem a little irrational because I had basically been a science nerd my whole life, but South Korea, Exo, and Lu Han were totally more than worth it. Plus, business brings in a lot of money, hehe. I know I still have a long ways to go since I just made the switch, but the bigger problem that occurred a few months ago was the fact that I was denied a travel visa to South Korea! WTH?!?! The visa was much easier to get last time since I had the whole Harvard-South Korea Exchange thing, but this time I really had no good reason. I mean, I don’t have family in South Korea, I don’t speak Korean, and I’m a Chinese citizen which makes it harder to get a visa to go anywhere nowadays. I secretly cursed in my head when I received the denial letter. Now what am I supposed to do? I quickly called Min Young to see if she could help convince the South Korean Embassy or something…anything…

“Miiinnnn Yooouunnng…” I whined “Please tell me there’s something I can do.”

“Mei, chill out, I’ll see what I can do” Min Young assures me. “When have I ever let you down?”

“Well, never, I guess, but I’ve never asked you to do anything for me anyways” I answer.

“Whatever, just trust me. I’ll call you when I’ve figured it all out.” Min Young says a little annoyed at my unenthusiastic response. “Ooo, gotta go, Se Hunie’s waiting! Bye!”

“By-” Min Young hangs up before I finish.

Wow, I guess she hasn’t changed much. Still utterly obsessed with her boyfriend Se Hun, but who could blame her? I didn’t even get a chance to ask her how Lu Han was. The last time we chatted on the phone, she said Lu Han was fine, but he missed me a lot. She even said he tried to convince Soo Man to let him visit America, but of course Soo Man strictly forbade it. I seriously don’t how Lu Han is still my…boyfriend, if that’s even what he is. It must be so hard for him to deny all of his fangirls who are probably showering him with gifts every day, while I’m halfway around the world unable to even text him because of my lack of literacy in Chinese. We never even officially declared our relationship, but he did sort of confess…unless I was just delusional and he just wanted to be friends but I misinterpreted everything…aish, I’ve got to stop over thinking things…

A few days past, and I was about to give up on Min Young completely. Huh, I knew there was nothing she could actually do. It’s not like specializes in travel visa business or whatever. She probably doesn’t even know how the system even works. I was just about to take a shower one night, when I received a phone call from Min Young.

“Hello?” I answer.

“Mei, Mei, MEI!!!” Min Young squealed. “I’ve got THE perfect plan, and don’t react until I finish the explaining the whole entire thing. Ok?”

“Uh, mkay..?” I say a little unsure of what she’s about to tell me that’s so great.

“Ok, so…” I hear Min Young take a long deep breath. “Today, I went with Se Hun and the other Exo members to the SM building because Lee Soo Man announced that there would be a meeting for all of them that had to do with their future. Se Hun said it was very important, so I just had to go. I mean, who could resist not going? So, Soo Man ended up confirming that Exo will be adding a 13^thmember. At first, I was wondering why he would do such a thing, but after he explained, it all made sense. Soo Man said he wanted combine Exo-M and Exo-K to do some activities in Korea with all of the members. Not permanently but just for a while because a lot of fans have wanted to see Exo perform together as one group. He originally planned to just have Exo combined as a 12 member group, but then he realized that a lot of the dance choreography looked better with an odd number of members. Instead of removing a member from Exo, the more logical solution was to add an extra member. He also mentioned needing more members who could speak Chinese, Korean, and English. So he said he would hold auditions for people who were fluent in all 3 languages. He even hinted that the new member did not have to be extremely talented in singing or dancing because SM would take care of training the new trainee. He said he was just giving Exo a little heads up beforehand because the auditions aren’t going be held until 6 months from now. After the meeting when I was riding home in the van with the Exo members, I thought of the most brilliant idea in the world…you will disguise yourself as a guy and become Exo’s 13^thmember!”

There was a long silence. Then I burst out laughing.

“HAHAHAHA!!!” I could barely control myself. Min Young went through all that trouble to tell me a hilarious joke. “Good one Min Young, I didn’t know you were so good at telling jokes! HAhaha!”

“MEI!!!! I AM NOT JOKING!!! You are going to follow my plan and become Exo’s 13^thmember!” Min Young shouts over my laughing.

“WHAT?!!?” I stop laughing. “It wasn’t a joke? Huh, do you even how many good reasons I can give you right now about how your plan won’t work? Cause I can come up with just about a million!!!”

“Mei, I don’t want to hear any of your thoughts on how my plan is flawed. You just need to know all the positive aspects that well outweigh the negatives. First off, since you are now a business major planning on working in South Korea for the rest of your life, it is well worth your time to learn the Korean language. Benefits from learning Korean include: understanding K-pop/Kdramas, being about to communicate with Exo-K members and any other K-pop idol, plus it would be so much easier to find a high paying job in Korea that way. Secondly, SM being such a powerful company, they’ll have no trouble getting you a visa. Thirdly, all you need to do is get the basics of singing and dancing down so you can pass the audition. Fourth, I personally think you would look extremely attractive as a “flower boy”. And lastly, the most important…LU HAN!!! Need I even say anymore?”

I quickly thought over what Min Young just said. It all made perfect sense, but the idea was just insane. Even though I was still in utter shock and doubt, the thought of seeing Lu Han was strong enough to make me agree to at least try out her plan. And so the journey began…