Hello. My name is Nana...

            These little words changed my life. Rather, the actual words were: “Watashi wa Akimoto Nana desu. Hajimimae.”  This is what I said to him—well, all of them. But let me not get ahead of myself...

           As you can probably tell, I am Japanese, but I speak okay English. Enough to write down this little “kiss-and-tell” journal. I also speak Korean, though, by force of habit, I still use Japanese honorifics instead (you can’t always reprogram yourself easily). I like all things kawaii, and am what you might call a "derp."  (Did I just put myself down...? >///<)

            Anyway—I was born in a small town in Fukuouka Prefecture, but grew up in Osaka, and now I live in Seoul. Have lived in Seoul for the past three years, in fact. I live alone. I have a boyfriend. And he’s hot as hell. My parents don’t know I’m dating. They’d totally flip if they did. So, this guy... I met him at the local bakery around the corner. He’s a patisserie—which basically means he's a baker of pastries. Well, at least that's what he tells me. He hasn't really been doing it long, and whenever I see him at work, it honestly doesn't seem like he knows what he's doing (he's a derp like me!). Plus, a few times I've been in the shop, there's been random people taking pictures of him. He tells me it's for a food magazine. *shrug* But I think he's got a secret. You see, by this was also a of crazy luck, he looks EXACTLY like this idol named Kim Jonghyun (so I've heard... I'm not terribly up to date with Korean music, and from the picture I saw, I can see clear distinctions between them both...). So, my theory, is that he's modeling on the side to pose like this other guy—you know, to capitalize on his good fortune of looking similar to a famous guy. 

           But enough of Song Ji-hun. And back to me: I like to think I’m a nice girl. A girl with integrity, yet a girl who still exists in the 21st century—who can club and drink and swear and not feel like her morals are being questioned each time I sleep flirt with a guy. I mean, before I met my Ji-hunnie, of course. But, truthfully speaking, we’re kinda on hiatus at the moment so... I’m a little “looser” than usual (but by no means ty...), which is probably what made it worse: being separated, young and “modern—okay, wait. I'm getting wwwaaayyyy ahead of myself. Gomei. That story is going to have to come later down the light... it's just too--um... yeah. Too crazy.

            Back to the summer. So, I'm an otaku, sure; I like my anime and manga and gaming, and all sorts of other things most people choose not to admit in social context with strangers. I also used to cosplay on the side—and by cosplay, I mean namely that used to work in a maid cafe back in Osaka when I lived at my aunt and uncle's (=_=), which is what gave me the idea to be a housekeeper once I moved to Seoul (How hard could it be? I thought). I think this is what led to the connection I had with Bang Cheolyong—or Mir as he’s more commonly known. I mean, the anime/manga bit, not the maid part (but, well, that's probably a factor too, now that I think about it...). Throw in the fact that I’m also from a nowhere-town, we really have a lot in common!

            So... I tend to ramble... and I only now just realized that I totally forgot to explain myself: I am a maid for MBLAQ currently. That’s right—a maid.  >.<  Yes, they still exist. No, it's not like the equivalent to a butler. I don't live with them; I don't go around polishing silver and making tea for people. Not these people, anyway. Go ahead and laugh if you have to, but at least it puts a few won in my bank account every month... enough to land me my stellar 600sqft. apartment ._.  and enough rice to feed me twice a day.

            But anyway—I’m sure you are waiting to hear what happened that one day—I’ll tell you, but you have to keep an open mind before you judge me. I really am a good girl... honestly. Well, "taking care" of my crazy, unkept employers was the equivalent of baby-sitting a group of five-year-olds sometimes, Lee Joon being perhaps the worst, next to Mir. Thunder and Seungho weren't terribly bad, and G.O had his ups and downs (though it was probably only because he spent a generous portion of his time looking at and was therefore not around to make a big mess like the others). They did not cook for themselves, nor did they go grocery shopping. And they most certainly did not clean toilets.  +_+            

           By the summer, I’d been working for MBLAQ for about two months or so. They were a playful, goofy crew who constantly tried to get me involved in their weird games, though I don’t know what they would do I actually accepted the offer instead of dusted around them while they goofed off. Other than that, they were the typical bachelors: messy, a little inconsiderate (though not all the time, and some more than others), and awful at sanitation. Truth be known, I am all those things too—just not as bad, and a heck of a lot more stealthy about it. Besides, I was getting paid to pick up after them; may as well make the most of it. 

          One day—this day, the 14th of July, Mir was lounging around on the couch while I was trying my best to work around him, but he refused to pick up his feet so that I could clean up the pile of god-knows-what littered about the floor which he threw there, leading me to slap one of legs (rather rudely, I admit), and say, “Mir-san, please move!!”

            “Ah, Nana-chan. How are you?”

            I gave him a slight scowl. “I’ll be better when you move your feet.”

            He chuckled, wholly unbothered by my somewhat haughty tone. And—remained unmoving. Was he in a mood to mess with me? Or was he just teasing me, simply because he could?

            “Pick them up for me,” he said.

            “Nani?” I huffed. “Are you being serious?”

            Maybe this scared him a little bit, ‘cause he giggled then and shuffled his left foot only slightly, but it was enough for me to make out the kanji among the papers. This was the first time that I really noticed this past time of his—manga.

            “You read Fruits Basket?”

            Mir grinned like a little boy. “Just started, but I am really into One Piece. Do you know it, Nana-chan?”

            “Know it?!” I exclaimed, dropping everything in my hands like a derp to clasp them together. I then proceeded to sing the main theme song like an idiot. But this seemed to impress him nonetheless. He got excited. We spazzed together for awhile, the way only otaku can. He even invited me to sit beside him on the couch while we talked, and talked, and talked... 

           We talked, so much, in fact, that I totally forgot what I was doing. Well, what I was supposed to be doing. And I only remembered once Seungho-san walked in and gave us a weird look that I’m pretty sure meant, in the bluntest of terms, WTF?Not that he would ever say it. He didn’t really say much. At least, not to me.

            “Gomenasai!!!” I quickly shot up from the couch and bowed.

            He nodded awkwardly and then went to his room.

            I turned back to Mir-san and bowed again. “I have to get back to work.”

            He smiled. “You’re kinda cool, Nana-chan,” he said. “And really sweet.”

            My cheeks were on fire now. “Dame, dame,” I replied, waving my hand in protest (though I still really enjoyed hearing it all the same, I admit...).

            “We should talk more sometime. What do you think?”

            “Well, I—”

            “You know, about anime and stuff...”

            I gave an earnest eye-smile, and made sure to raise my octave to the appropriate kawaii-level once I said: “Hai!” But the real girl in me couldn’t resist slipping in: “I’d like that...”

            And then I went back to cleaning.

* * *

            You’re probably wondering where the heck is going. I don’t blame you. Unless you’re me, that last bit was probably pretty boring. But, here’s how I am going to tie it all together. You see, cleaning up after messy maknae Mir was a customary thing by now. He was one of the sloppiest, as I’d said before. But he also one of the dirtiest—and many uses of the word. Finding a stack of manga wasn’t anything but cool IMHO. But finding a stack of was another thing altogether...

            This happened later that day when the guys were out doing something-or-other (I really don’t keep track of their schedule, as it is none of my business). Mir-san shared a room with Thunder-san. And this was the day that I needed to tackle one of the grossest rooms of the house.  =_=  Anyway, it wasn’t that I hadn’t cleaned their room before, only that as I was changing the sheets, the mattress flipped up a bit, revealing the hot-pink corner of what I would soon come to discover as a naughty magazine. And—being the inquisitive person that I am—I decided to pull it out and flip through it. Lots of “kawaii” girls in provocative poses—most with larger s than I’ll ever hope to have—all wearing revealing outfits, if any outfits at all. That wasn’t so bad. But when I looked under the mattress again, I saw that there were like five other magazines hidden there!!! And these were much more... risqué. One of them even had foreign girls in it, with all these weird proportions I did not, as a small girl myself, understand... @_@  And then the other one—a magazine full of girlxgirl action. I blushed while skimming through it, but I couldn’t look away. These girls not only looked better than me, but they looked so happy doing it. But then I came upon the malexfemale, and OMG I think I about fell off the bed. I mean... I’d been with Ji-hunnie a little bit, but nothing like what these people were doing, and I can’t say that I was necessarily comfortable with any of it.  

            At least.. not yet...

            But, let me not skip ahead. I remember very clearly what I was doing when Mir-san walked in his own room and saw me there. I was looking at a One Piece doushinji—that is, a ographic fanfiction designed to use the characters and animation style of whatever its fanning over—crossing my legs uncomfortably and biting the nails on one of my hands. LuffyxNami? ZoroxRobin? Doing that??? It was just... well, it was kinda hot (after all, the artist's renditions were pretty good...). I never thought that kind of stuff existed before (which is totally a lie, because I did, but I'm just too embarrassed to admit that I've always been curious about it).

            Then...

            “Nana-chan!!!” he freaked out all at once. He stood immobilized a moment, and then ran over and tried to hide the evidence that was all too real to unsee. 

            I didn’t know whether to apologize for reading his stuff without permission or slap him across the face for being such a ert. Well—something about me you should know (but don’t tell anyone)... I’m kind of a ert too.  >.<  So I really wasn’t so much insulted as I was... curious.

            At any rate, I quickly replied: “Mir-san!” in a rather squeaky, embarrassed voice, and threw down the animated right away.

            “I—er...” He was trying to explain himself, but some things just can’t be explained without acknowledging the obvious.

            I gave him an eye smile to try and alleviate the tension, which he seemed a bit grateful for as he let out a strange and awkward chuckle.

            “Mianhe...”

            I shook my head. “Dameo... I’m sorry for going through your things...”

            Then I gathered the sheets and began to walk out the room—but he stopped me. Grabbed my arm (gently) and, with pink cheeks said, “Er—don’t tell anyone about them... please, Nana-chan?”

            “Don’t worry, Mir-san,” I nodded and smiled all the while, “I won’t tell a soul.”

* * *

            So, that’s it. Were you expecting more? So fast? Like all great things, one mustn’t rush. Right? And my time with MBLAQ was certainly great. Looking back on the crazy year I had following this day, I’m convinced that this was the origin of it all. The origin of the crazy, crazy things I was about to witness and—on happier occasions—be a part of. But every story has to have a beginning before it reaches an end, so I hope you’ll keep reading to hear about what happened the next time I saw Mir-san afterward!! Because, well... it’s certainly worth it...   ^.~

XOXO, 

~Nana~ 

<3