A/N: From now on, I'll be adding in English since the characters are American and English-speaking. In order for it to not be a hinderance to the story, it'll take a little bit of reader help. English is in Italics and Korean will be regularly written. 

*"That's very Korean of you"- according to SimonAndMartina's video (linked), Korean's take on the "Mom-Card" 

*"Our first skinship was so awkward"- skinship in Korea is kind of a noticable thing (check out WGM/We Got Married- a variety show).

*"I took off the hat and handed it to him..."- Proper/Formal stance to accept/recieve anything. Check out SimonAndMartina's Video (linked).

And now the Korean/English Dictionary!

• Bwoh? - What? (prounced as it looks)
• De, Omma - Yes, Mom/Mother (pronounced "day, oh-mah")
• Anyeonghaseyo - Hello *formal (prounounced "ahn-yong-hah-say-oh")
• Aigo - the American equivilant to "Oh, gosh!" (prounounced "eye-go")
• Oppa - Big brother/very close older male friend/boyfriend, almost. (google, please) (prounounced "Oh-pah") (from younger girl to older boy)
• Ani - No *informal (prounounced "ah-knee")

I wrote this late at night and typed it up very early in the morning, so please excuse any mistakes! I hope you enjoy it~

Wes and Yoojin were behind us, still working on the hat trick to little avail; the bus kept unbalancing their caps.

            “You look tired,” He stated, still watching me as I eased into the chair. Immediately the bus began moving.

           * “That’s very Korean of you,” I responded, quietly.

            “Why do you get up so early if you’re so tired?” He didn’t let me change the subject. He seemed genuinely curious.

            “Well, I guess I could ask you the same thing. I’ve seen you in the halls with your friends practicing. You get tired and rest, but after a while, even if you’re tired, you get back up and keep practicing.”

            “But now it’s summer. And you’re out exploring all day. Why not take a break for some time?”

            “Don’t laugh, okay?” I looked at him, serious and worried. He looked away and smiled quickly before raising his hand, gesturing for a pinky promise. I gave him my hand and as he pulled away, I lightly stopped him with my other hand. He looked at me, then his wrist, blankly. I let go.

           * “We’re in Korea,” I reminded him, looking down for a moment. I felt his thumb touch mine. Our first skinship was so awkward.

            “Tell me,” He released my hand, his head cocked, curiously.

            “We’re kind of in training”

            “For?”

            “We’re going to audition here,” I bit my tongue and prepared for laughter and humiliation.

            “For which company?” What? No laughs?

            “Uh,” I was thrown. “We haven’t really thought about that yet…”

            “Try SM. We’re going there”. WHAT.

            “Bowh?” I was utterly thrown for a loop.

            “Yeah, I know. But, honestly, other companies seem to hold auditions for the sake of keeping people thinking they’ll be there one day. SM actually debuts groups. Like EXO,” Right then, he looked so wishful—so…desperate to be discovered. Which was weird because he had only just stated the name of a group. I nodded, understanding just what he meant.

            “Wait, if you’re auditioning, why haven’t we seen you practice or anything?”

            “We go during breakfast,” He said, raising an eyebrow. I realized then that I hadn’t seen him for any morning meals, too caught up in my soreness and hunger to notice. In fact, I hadn’t noticed anyone except for Yoomi and Seohee who led me downstairs everyday.

            “Breakfast is important,” I said, unable to think of anything less motherly to say. Yoomi and Seohee would be shaking their heads if they heard, muttering, “De, Omma” with smiles.

            “True,” He laughed, suddenly. I felt my cheeks warm up.

            “Daeho-ssi,” I began, hesitantly. He turned to me, bewildered.

            “Just Daeho or something less formal.” Just then, I felt something warm encase the top of my head. I lifted my hands to feel for what it was, but Daeho already pulled it off and began doing tricks. Behind us, Wes and Yoojin were clapping for him.

            The rest of the bus ride consisted of hat tricks and applause mainly from me. Once we arrived at the restaurant, we realized that there was a good reason we weren’t told to dress up as usual.

            A woman boarded the bus.

            “Anyeonghaseyo, students and teachers. Welcome to our outdoor Korean barbeque. I am Jin Ae. Please exit the bus uniformly and follow me to your seats.”

            Once I walked off the bus, I could only smell fresh vegetables growing to my left and livestock to my right, walking happily about. Seohee took quick notice of me and hugged my arm.

            “Aigo, this is daebak. Everything is fresh!” She squealed. I paused, taken aback, but quickly came to my senses and smiled, too.

            “It must be really good, then, huh?” I was pleased with her sudden comfort with me. We caught up with Yoomi who was happily trailing after a trio wearing snapbacks. They led us to an outdoor picnic area. There were about fifty tables, each sitting six with three on each side of the rectangular table and a grill on either end. A few workers were placing the last of the food we were about to eat on the tables, but they left as son as we came close enough to smell the side dishes. Amazing. I placed my hand on my stomach and followed Seohee and Yoomi to an empty table. Well, empty in the sense that no one was sitting there. Food-wise, it was absolutely packed. Meeting us on the opposite side of the table were the three guys—all abnormally attractive and wearing snapbacks.

            “Mind sharing” They said in unison, smiling. Yoomi, Seohee, and I all laughed and nodded Once we were sitting, I opened my mouth, but the two girls beat me to it.

            “De, Omma,” They practically sang, extending their hands to me. I slumped in my chair a little bit, feeling everyone’s eyes on me. Awkwardly, I took some hand sanitizer from my bag and squeezed some for both of the girls. The guys looked at each other, grinning.

            “Omma?” Three pairs of hands reached out.

            Once our hands were all clean, I closed my eyes and recited a short prayer in my mind before picking up my chopsticks. Seohee and Yoomi sat to my right, respectively and in front of me was Wes, in front of Seohee was Daeho, and, of course, in front of Yoomi was Yoojin. Wes and Yoojin had already piled meat on the grills sporadically. Yoomi and I began moving them around more evenly. It was quiet except for the sound of meat sizzling. I looked at Daeho. He was looking at the meat I was flipping around, mindlessly.

            “So,” I began, feeling out of place speaking up first, “Are you three staying for the foreign exchange program?” Their eyes lit up. Luckily, I was pulled away as they began their amazingly long list of foods to try while here. A group of four boys and two girls were smelling their side dishes, eyeing me. I smiled glad they grabbed me before a worker saw. After a minute or two of practically prying their mouths open, they found that they liked the sides about as much as the meat. As I walked back to my table, thought, I saw raw meat on the grills again…but a bowl full of pre-wrapped meat in lettuce where I was moments away from sitting. I looked at Seohee who shook her head, mischievously. Her chopsticks pointed towards Wes.

            “Call me Oppa and we’re even,” He blurted out, a confident smirk on his face.

            “Aish, this guy,” I muttered, sitting down and flipping the meat on the grill. Seohee nudged me, laughing at the spectacle. “Oppa” left my lips, softly but begrudgingly, “Kansahamnida”

            “Ani, thank you,” He said switching back to English, triumphantly.

            “Ani?” I paused, “You’re older than me?”

            “Yoojin’s oldest, then Daeho, me, you, Yoomi, and Seohee”, He responded, not missing a beat.

            Seohee saw my blank face and explained, “We talked about it while you were gone. Did you just catch that even after he told you to call him Oppa?” I shrugged, trying to play it cool.

            We finished eating quickly, along with the school group and were able to board again once the bus showed up.

            “Weird Koreans, leaving passengers while it gets dark,” Daeho showed up by my side as we all exited and were told to wait outside where we were dropped off. It was getting dark, so the workers their outdoor lights.

            “It’s fine,” I shrugged, crouching on my feet, knees bent, “Just a little chilly”. Again, I felt my head covered, but I knew this time that it was a snapback.

            “Keep your head warm,” He didn’t look at me, but was crouched, as well, looking at the livestock.

            Soon, the bus pulled up and we loaded, quickly, wanting to sleep soon with full stomachs. I was privileged by the trio of boys who were especially gentlemanly to go ahead, so I sat in the front of the bus, by the windows. Yoomi sat in the row to my left and Seohee sat behind me. Of course, Yoojin sat with Yoomi. I smiled at Yoomi’s surprised expression; she hadn’t the slightest idea that he was interested in her even just to see if they were compatible enough for a relationship. I found it amusing to watch, so I didn’t tell her.

            Wes walked by me, so I put my hand on my bag, ready to move it, but he smiled at me and sat next to Seohee, behind me. Daeho boarded the bus, his hands in his pockets. Trying to recreate the scene earlier, I nodded him over and moved my bag as he sat.

            *“I would tip my hat at you, but….” He trailed off, taking his hands out of his pockets and looking at the snapback he placed on my head not much earlier. II felt my cheeks warm, though I couldn’t tell if I was blushing or not. In any case, I took off the hat and handed it to him, placing my left hand under my right elbow. Accepting it, he took the same form.

            “I didn’t mean you had to give it back. And you can drop the formalities, okay?” He smiled, scratching his head, looking as awkward as I felt.

            “Ani, it’s fine. I’ve been looking for one, myself, honestly”

            “Oh? Well, I could show you where we got ours,” He suggested.

            “That’d be great,” I yawned. The next thing I knew, Daeho was shaking my shoulders, lightly, saying something about waking up. I felt something beneath me jump. Apparently Daeho felt it, too as he jerked and stabilized himself by placing his hand by my head, instinctively. I widened my eyes. I was definitely awake. Within five seconds, I fully registered everything around me.

            We were on the bus which was pulling into the hotel’s front entrance. Daeho was balancing on his right leg and his chair, his left hand on the headrest inches from my face and his right hand on the window.

            “Hi,” I said, shortly, suddenly hyperaware of my every move, how my breath must have smelt, and how very out of place I felt. Unquestionably the closest I’d ever been to a boy.

            “Morning,” Daeho laughed, breathily. He shook his head and pushed himself into a proper position as the bus jerked to a final stop. We unloaded the bus, groggily heading to a line in front of the elevator. Yoomi and Seohee looked at me with the same irritated expression. Without a single word, we turned to the stairs. The boys followed us, grunting occasionally. Yoomi waved her keycard somewhere I wasn’t conscious enough to see and opened the door, letting out an audible cry.

            “Seven flights?!”

            “This hotel needs more elevators,” Seohee added. I nodded, slightly, and began my ascent with heavy footsteps. Behind me, I heard similarly begrudging thumps up seven awful, horrendous, positively atrocious flights of stairs However, we smiled once we looked over the banister near our rooms and saw a line of at least fifteen people, still waiting on the lift. And then I saw the boys wave and walk into a room somewhere a door or two down; I didn’t count because Yoomi had already opened the door to our room and the only slightly attractive thing right then was my bed. I didn’t change and no one the lights. We laid down on our beds and fell asleep.

            The morning was slow. We all opened our eyes but didn’t move except to answer our wake-up call. Then I realized that I had slept on Seohee’s bed, Seohee was on Yoomi’s couch-bed, and Yoomi was on the floor by my bed. With as little movement as possible, we threw each other our respective work-out clothes and changed where we were, on our backs.

            “Gosh, is my face bloated?” I asked, suddenly aware that we had slept almost directly after eating. The two girls groaned with a similar realization.

            “Come on, we can dance it off,” Seohee finally reasoned, sanding up. She pulled a particularly defiant Yoomi up and I followed them to the elevators, without a doubt aware of the moon’s presence; the sun hadn’t even come up yet. However, that didn't stop a familiar man from being in the gym so early. I was fully awake and fully aware of how dangerous he could be. And how creepy. Especially as he turned to me and bowed, “Very nice meeting you here”

            I registered his face. The man from the lobby.