Trying to shake the creepy feeling of being watched, I surveyed the room as Uki and Alex sprang out of their seats to disappear behind a thick door opposite where I was sitting. There were a bunch of people futzing with cameras scattered around the large atrium-like room, though none of the cameras were pointed at me. Korean babble filled the air, which gradually grew warmer as all the cameras were . The area was brightly lit by a wall of windows, and the whole room looked like it was out of a magazine cover.

I groaned. It probably was out of a magazine cover. Duh. After all, this isa photoshoot, Taryn! I chided myself. I settled comfortably into the armchair that was like a loveseat in and of itself and pulled my backpack off so I could look at the contents. I pulled out the book and flipped through it, happy with what I saw, and started reading the section on the Korean alphabet.

As I whispered one of the vowels under my breath, a door behind me slammed open and in strode a somewhat fat, commanding man in a business suit. He held a manila folder in one hand, and the room instantly hushed as he stopped and surveyed the area. He started yelling in Korean, too fast for me to hear, as he took a few giant steps towards one of the bigger cameras, and consequentially, one of the more scared-looking Korean cameramen.

For the next few minutes, he paced all over the photoshoot site, yelling and waving his hands like a madman. I sorta tuned him out after that initial encounter, returning to my book.

Suddenly, I heard a shout right in my ear. Flinching, I peered over my book into the angry face of the businessman. I shrank back a little as he yelled at the rest of the camerapeople and motioned towards me. Then, all of a sudden, he grabbed my arm and yanked me out of the chair, making me drop my book on the floor. At least my backpack was still on my person. “What the heck!” I cried, stumbling after him as he dragged me to one of the doors. “What are you doing?!”

Still struggling to pull my arm from his grasp, he yanked me out the doors and into the frigid air outside. He then gave me what could have been a stern talking to if I had been able to understand the language. I simply nodded meekly, pretending to know what he was saying.

SLAP.

My head jolted to one side as a stinging pain spread across my cheek. One hand automatically lifted to my face as I looked at him, stunned. He seemed a bit pleased with himself, and nodded, satisfied. Leaving me on the sidewalk, he his heel and entered the building again Shamed, I pulled my pretty mask up from beneath my chin to hide my cheeks, red from both the slap and the embarrassment of being kicked out. I sat on the curb and pulled my knees up to my chin, and my eyes narrowed in anger. Why the heck had he kicked me out?! Did he think I was a fangirl or something! It’s not fair! I don’t even look Korean! How the heck would a fangirl even make their way into that studio, anyway?! He was jumping to all the wrong conclusions about me!

I shuddered, the wind whipping my hair playfully around my cheeks. “I’m not a freaking FANGIRL!” I screamed at the top of my lungs, scaring a pair of birds from the nearest tree, then buried my head into my knees, too angry to cry.

After about another minute, I heard the sound of a van or bus rapidly approaching. Probably someone else for the photoshoot, I thought, not bothering to raise my head. Sure enough, it stopped a little ways away from me, and when the door slid open, I could hear male voices spilling out of the vehicle.

Okay, I was curious. I lifted my head a smidge, enough to see them over my knees.

What the heck?

I peered closer, making sure my suspicions were right. The boys started walking into the building, but one ran back to grab something from the van.

Great.

Why can’t I be wrong?

My eyes widened as I made eye contact with the guy. As fast as possible, I pulled my gaze away. Too late! I heard shoes hitting the pavement as the guy ran towards me. No, please, just go away, it was humiliating enough the last time we met…

“Taryn!” the guy chirped, coming to a halt a bit away from me. “We were wondering what happened to you.”

I groaned inwardly. “Hello to you too, Aron,” I mumbled, not looking at him.

He knelt next to me, awkwardly keeping his distance. “Hey, why are you out here instead of inside? Isn’t Super Junior-M here for the shoot too?”

I nodded. Apparently, the members in the van were all from the Mandarin subgroup Zhou Mi talked about. “Yeah, someone kicked me out though. I think he thought I was a fangirl or something.”

He laughed. “Well, if you didn’t get a pass I can see why. Come on, come back in with us. It’s too cold out here.” He hesitated a second, obviously remembering what happened when he tried to touch me yesterday, then grasped my wrists and stood. I let him pull me to my feet, flashing him a small smile.

“Thanks, Aron,” I said as we walked back to where the other four boys were waiting at the door, who were all staring at me. Why, hello there, Zoo Animal Taryn.

Aron kept a firm grasp on my wrist as we made our way inside, obviously keeping an eye out for the guy who had kicked me out earlier. “So, Ryn. I don’t think you’ve been introduced to my bandmates yet,” he said casually as he signed for me to get my reserved pass. (Apparently, Uki and Alex had thought ahead and gotten one registered in my name. That’s more than Henry would ever do.) I slung it around my neck as he motioned to JR. “That’s JR, I think I introduced you guys yesterday.”

I nodded as we passed though a pair of thick double doors, to be met with the sharp scents of hot iron, hair spray and makeup. Bright clothes assaulted my vision as multiple plain-looking people fussed with the hair or makeup or clothing choices of others sitting in hair salon chairs. “The girly-looking blond one is Ren!” Aron yelled above the commotion, leading me to where his stylists (I’m assuming) were waiting. “The other blond one is Beck-O, and the last one is Minion!”

I didn't get time to process these weird names before I heard one shrill voice high above the rest.

“Taryn Lau! What are you doing with New East?!”

~~~~~~

Sorry if this , I have about seven minutes till class starts and stuff, plus I had another idea that I thought was going to make it into this chapter but will instead be in the next one. Thanks for your comments everyone! Comment again! :D

Edit 11/4/12: I made it clear that only SJ-M was at the shoot, rather than the whole group.