It is summer, July started. The sky is pale blue and the bright light is blinding my eyes. Noontime and the atmosphere is still, everything quiet, burdened by the heat of summer. The colours seem to fade, the bright light deadening the colours to only leave monochromatic, pale browns and grays at the airport here. Metal and glass in pastel colours. I am waiting, everything around me quiet. I only see a few people, the streets outside are vacant. I see airplanes landing and rising through the panorama windows showing the airport runways outside, but I don´t hear any sounds. 

Weird, why aren´t my parents here with me? And I am waiting for Michiko. Why does the airport look so deserted?

Suddenly Michiko stands beside me with her suitcase and bags. We went to the counter to check in our luggage and afterwards we wait sitting at the waiting seats until our flight is called. She disappeared. 

Did she say she went to the toilet? What´s going on? I can´t recall her saying anything to me before disappearing. Am I this out of it today?

I feel anxious, because no one is here besides me. Not one single soul. Looking around me, I feel kind of uncomfortable. The counters are all facing to the other side and so I don´t even see the workers. Shouldn´t airports be crowded?

Then I hear some loud chattering and footsteps. Young male voices echo through the whole empty hall. And I can see them in the distance, a dozen young men, or boys, as some of them look quite young from the distance. And maybe there are one or two older men, I didn´t count.

Some are wearing hoodies over their heads, some caps, some have a bit longer hair and fringes falling into their faces. Some have black hair, others, brown or red and there are also a few with different blonde tones. They are all wearing casual but really fashionable clothing. 

Who are they?

As they come closer, I can´t make out even one face. They are all covered by shadows of either clothes or hair.

What is that? A whole group and I don´t see one face. God, what´s wrong? Where´s Michiko?

That fact of not seeing their faces doesn´t make me feel one bit better, on the contrary it makes my anxiousness grow. They look intimidating, yet harmless. I hear them talking, laughing and joking. I can also make out bits of Chinese in between. A bunch of boys talking in Korean and Chinese at L.A. airport?

It seems like they were going to check in, I just hope they don´t notice me. I don´t know what they are capable of.

They really don´t seem to notice me and walk calmly to the check in counter, not coming closer than fifteen meters from me. It doesn´t seem to bother them, the fact that the airport is empty, I mean. I am relieved to know they are going away soon, but then one of them looks in my direction. His hair is dark brown, his fringe covering his eyes. Suddenly he breaks apart from the group and takes a step towards me. At this precise moment, everything else around blurrs out and I only see that boy. He takes another step towards me and something is tugging at the corners of his lips. I see it twitching and then going back to blank. He slowly takes more steps in my direction and I see a sad and tired smile tugging at his lips, slowly growing. This looks slightly familiar but I can´t quite pinpoint it.

Behind him a black-haired boy with a cap on top is the only one who seems to notice. He breaks apart from the group also, stepping out of the blurry to become clear in my eyes. He tries to call his "hyung" ("elder brother", also used as "elder friend") back to the group, until his head turns to my direction and a his mouth shuts, forming a frown onto his round squashy looking face now. Even though I can´t see his whole face, his eyes and his eyebrows are covered by the shadow of his cap, the frown makes me feel extremely uncomfortable.

And he follows behind his hyung. Great. Two stranger boys coming into my direction. I am terrified. I don´t know them and they don´t look too pleasant, when I can´t tell if their eyes are warm or cold.

My eyes drift back to the first boy. His lips have formed a smile- or a smirk? I can´t tell, or maybe it just looks like a smirk, because I am scared? But I have to admit, it definitely looks attractive- if not an understatement. Now his arm is lifting, slowly and it is as if he is trying to touch me. It looks somewhat desperate, lifted up in mid air, fingertips reaching for something, someone, me.

Maybe something never reachable, it looks like it, when...

...you suddenly opened your eyes. The lashes fluttering for a few seconds before calming and adjusting to the familiar place, your room, your bed. A drop of sweat rolled down the side of your forehead. Your eyes were staring blankly at the dark gray ceiling, you could hear the faint pattering of the rain against your windows. Your heavy but slow breaths were louder. Slowly letting out the shaking dream with each exhalation, letting out more carbon dioxide than oxygen. Inhaling fresh oxygen, letting it clean your body from the anxiousness of the dream and letting out the bad with every exhalation. You didn´t even really remember the dream, you just recalled pieces, but you knew it wasn´t pleasant. And it included unknown males.

*It was only a dream. And one I didn´t have before. A new one...*

Glancing beside you, you saw that it was two in the middle of the night. Not even one night has passed since you knew about the confirmation of your trip and you already dreamt about airports and other things.

And you closed your eyes, turned to one side and fell asleep again.

When you woke up that morning almost nothing remained of your dream. Almost.

You found a letter in the kitchen that day, from both your parents. It told you they would probably come home late at night and you wouldn´t see them the whole day and they had also stated their answer. Your mother´s neat handwriting in blue ink on the white paper calmly read that they had decided against it. There was no "why", nowhere on the paper was an explanation for their decision. Just that they had thought it through and talked about it already and they were sure it was for the better. So you just trusted them, you had always trusted them. And it always turned out to be the right decision. They will have their reasons, even though you were sure they wanted to join you. So this task was done also. It was easier than you had thought it would be.

You went to university, just like the day before, and it was raining all the same.

You had already attended language and "European Literature" classes. During lunch break you were sitting with Kate, Lily and a few other girls and boys from shared lectures talking about random topics while eating. You had managed to get a place in the more crouded area in the cafeteria, at a table next to the huge panorama windows, lining up to a semi-circle. You occasionally glanced outside to see the rain pattering onto the cold see-through surface and the campus ground, a neat garden nice to sit in during summertime. But now it was gray and monotone and water ran down the benches and other buildings you could see from there. Everything was glistening wet.

You felt your mobile phone vibrate in your bag. You took it out and glanced at it, after unlocking it through a swipe with your finger. You had a new message in your inbox. You opened it to see from who it was and you felt happy upon seeing the name.

From: Thanh-Thanh 

At: 12:24 - 14.03.2012

Heya <3

how are you?

emmi and i, we miss you :(

2 months without u are too much!!!

i know we were busy but now we both have a gap with more free time!

r u in uni rn? tell me when ure free and if u r busy in the afternoon?

You smiled after seeing her message and just then you realized that it had been that long since you had met your two best friends. Thanh, actually Thanh Liên Hô, and Emmi, with full name Ambereen Naraiman, were the first two kids to talk to you in your school when you first moved to America and attended school there seven years ago.

Your first friends in America. And they were your closest ones. Your friendship slowly but steadily grew.

You replied her with a message.

To: Thanh-Thanh

At: 12:26 - 14.03.2012

Hey you two ^_^

I´m fine, hehe. maybe even better than that.

i miss you girls,too :(

it has been this long? its about time we meet again!!

yea, i´m in uni. dance class after lunch and then free...

approx. at 3? nothing to do in the afternoon, why?

*You guys want to meet me, right?* You concluded.

And just a moment passed and you already received an answer.

From: Thanh-Thanh

At: 12:27 - 14.03.2012

since fb and skype can´t replace a real meeting AND ure free in the afternoon...

we´ll pick you up then! we´ll be waiting in the main entrance hall!

see ya later :D

While you were typing the final message giving your approval, you heard someone say,

"Yeah, she and that guy did it in front of everyone. Everyone was watching, I bet they also filmed or took photos."

You tried to process the information and sent your message. You furrowed your brows and stared at your mobile phone. *Just what did she just say?*

"Wow, I never witnessed something that crazy on a party and I mean, I attend parties quite often- I guess there are people like this, too. So, what happened, what was your reaction?" You looked up at Kate with a confused expression, which looked towards Lily with a curious expression.

"Wait, wait, wait! What are you talking about? I mean, did I hear right? ´she did it in front of everyone´?" You asked aghast. *How did they even end up with such a topic? A moment ago they were talking to the others about pets.*

"You see, Lily was at a party on the weekend and she saw that one girl from her high school and yeah, somehow, that girl was so drunk, she was at it with a stranger in front of everyone else at the party and they seemed to enjoy the scene." Kate informed you.

"Oh my god. How can people do that?" You wondered out loud. Kate just shrugged, seemed like it wasn´t such a big deal for her.

"It was shocking. And I saw it live. The moment I realized what was happening, I turned and left the party with my boyfriend. You don´t know how bad it was! I mean, I know that girl and at that moment I couldn´t even do anything but leave. She never did such things, she was always a quiet and nice girl, I wouldn´t expect something like that from her! And on top, I think... it was her first time." Lily told you honestly.

And life told you once again, that your decision to stay away from alcohol was the right one for you.

"Oh really? What a fun first time... I bet she doesn´t even remember anything and then all the people talking about her!" Kate laughed. You didn´t think it was that funny. Lily´s face told that she was thinking similarly.

"Kate, don´t be like this. The girl probably has enough to cope with now." You told her your opinion. Lily nodded.

"It´s her own fault. If she didn´t want that, she should have known her limits or whatever. You can control yourself before it gets out of hand." Kate stated matter-of-factly while shrugging her shoulders.

"Besides, " she pointed at Lily, "why is she even telling us about her? She knows her and even saw it! Don´t spread gossip, girl, if you don´t want to talk about it!" Kate slapped Lily´s arm lightly and laughed.

"You aren´t one of my best friends, so I don´t actually want to share things with you." Lily stuck out her tongue playfully.

You laughed at their childishness and Kate joined you.

"Okay, let´s leave this topic at that. I was curious, Lily, how is it going with your boyfriend?" Kate then spoke quietly while leaning closer to Lily with wiggling eyebrows and Lily got what Kate was indicating.

"Can´t you stop asking such personal stuff?" Lily snapped with a flushed face. But the brunette was curious.

"Is the deed accomplished? Tell me?" Kate knew she could tease the other without worrying, since those two were close. Closer than you were with them. You really weren´t interested in that topic. It was too personal and none of your concern if it wasn´t about your really close friends. You glanced at the watch on your wrist and you had nearly half an hour left to walk to the dance room and get ready. Your sight grazed the shiny silver on your finger.

It was a ring and not just any ring, it was a special one.

It was a purity ring. Since you had no intentions on taking that certain step anytime soon, you wore it. You had several reasons for your decision, but none of them were religious. You had chosen to wear it to state what kind of a mind you had through a little simple ring. It was just as people wear t-shirts with colorful quotes on them to show with what they sympathize, just a lot smaller, subtler and prettier. 

Well both your parents were christians, indeed. In their youth they were bound to it due to their own parents. Your father had grown up in America and your mother in Korea and they both had learned different views. But now they thought it was more important what was in the heart. So they never tried to attach you to church or any religion in particular, they just told you to have faith in God. Everything else in the matter of religion, they left it up to you.

But your parents still forbid you to drink, to smoke, to walk around in reavealing clothes, to do impure things with boys etc. even until just two years ago. Never for religious reasons, but for moral reasons, always providing you with reasonable justifications for why they forbid certain things and you were actually one of the rare teenagers who practically never disobeyed their parents and did not even attempt to do so. For once, you had to deal with bigger problems in the beginning of your puberty and secondly, you had always understood why they advised you what they did. You had thought about it a lot to come to the conclusion that they were right. They had more life experience than you and they knew more. Trust them to know what they say. At your current age, they left you more freedom to choose for yourself, they only gave advise, for your own good and your own peace of mind, because they knew you understood them and they believed you were mature, maybe more mature than people your age should have been.

Knowing it was the right decision for you, you smiled looking at your ring.

But when you remembered the time and excused yourself to proceed to your locker in the changing rooms in the dancing department of your college.

Once you were in your gray baggy sweatpants and your wine-red t-shirt, hair bound together to a high ponytail, you walked to the dancing studio, one of the smaller ones in the department, where you usually had your dancing lessons.

When you opened the door, you heard loud music weaving through the air. You smiled, you knew, who would practise even before classes started. You stepped through the doorframe and were immediately surrounded by a fierce pumping beat.

"I need you and you need me," you heard the song lyrics. And then it changed to Korean.

"Jiguran i byeoreseo. Ohoh-ohoh, ohoh-ohoh!", it actually was no surprise to you that the song was Korean.

You closed the door behind you and looked up to see your beautiful friend, Meifeng, which you had met two years ago, when she first joined this dancing class in the beginning of your third semester. She was alone in the room.

A pretty, delicate and graceful looking Chinese girl with very, very long, straight black hair. Her face looked pure and young, as a lot of people would say, she had a typical Asian "baby-face", in total contrast to you. Your face looked mature for your twenty years age and probably not so innocent, even when you were. But Meifeng was not much younger than you, just about less than a year. 

Wearing a white sleeveless top, paired with midnight-blue sweatpants, she was performing a perfectly matched choreography to the song playing with sharp and exact moves. When she noticed the door opening and glanced towards it to see you had entered the room, she gave you a quick smile without breaking out of her moves. You slumped down onto the ground opposite to the mirrored wall so you could see her moves in the mirror. You didn´t realize, but you nodded your head along to the beat. Halfway through the song, her moves became sloppy, and with a final move she stopped in the middle of the song. She then waved to you with a smile, her rising visibly through her breathing and went to the corner of the room to stop the music. Everything became silent.

"Why did you suddenly stop in the middle of the song?", you asked her.

"I didn´t learn the whole choreography yet and the last part you saw needs a lot more practise", she answered. She plopped down next to you and you noticed she was pretty much out of breath.

"When did you start with this dance?"

"Last friday, when the song along with the music video was released."

"It´s only tuesday, you´re already so good! It´s a new song? What group?", you wondered.

"Alicia, I told you about them! I told you frequently about the group since months", she huffed.

"Aaaah, I know. It´s them. That Chinese Korean group, right? Exo was their name, right?", you tried to remember what she told you about them, but you only remembered the name, that they hadn´t debuted yet and they were a special group consisting of a Korean subgroup and a Chinese one.

"Wow, Alicia, you remember the name! I am shocked!", she said in a mocking tone. 

"You and your obsession with Kpop, leave me out please", you rolled your eyes, "so they debuted now? That song is cool."

You wanted to talk about them to not upset your friend. She and Thanh were obsessed with Korean guys and songs and whatnot. And they always talked to you about them, or at least tried to do so. You were nice and talked about them halfheartedly and always tried to listen to them. But unfortunately, you weren´t interested in Kpop, not to the extent to know the group member´s names and who sleeps in which room and their eating habits and what they did half an hour ago and how many girlfriends they had and how many siblings they had and what their parents did and where on their bodies they had moles. In short, you weren´t obsessed with Kpop, you listened to their songs and were glad to remember some of the group names to the songs you listened. You were interested in nice songs but other than that, you always forgot what Thanh or Meifeng told you about whatever group it was. Unfortunately one day some while ago, perhaps a year, you and Meifeng had walked out of the college together after dance classes and Thanh had been there to meet up with you and you introduced them to each other while blurting out the fact that both liked Kpop. And since that unfortunate day, those two understood each other too well and were against you. Poor you were forced to like a lot of songs from TeenTop and some of BigBang and a lot of others you wouldn´t even know to name, oh yes, maybe Shinee, too. But you still cursed that day, when you had brought the two forces together, when they alone were nuisances enough. But now they were invincible and you had to surrender (well, only partly, but still).

"No, their debut is on 8th of April. This is their second prologue song. I haven´t shown you the first one, have I? And by the way, did you watch their teasers, as I told you?", there it was again, the force.

"No, I haven´t and no, you haven´t. Not interested and okay then I will have to tattoo the date onto my arm so I won´t ever forget their debut date and I need to wait for their songs to be released in the middle of the night, so I can scream to be the first to ever have heard their songs", you spoke with a deadpan humor and then facepalmed.

"That´s not funny", she frowned, "don´t make fun of me. You don´t feel it, you have no idea what it means to be a Kpop fan. Stop it, you killjoy."

"Whatever. So, can I see this choreography from the beginning? It was pretty good, I liked it", you said to change the topic.

"Okay, but I need to practise a lot more", she got up from the ground and went to the music player.

"Let´s learn it together, I´ll teach it to you. Then we can perform it together and it will be much more fun", she asked you enthusiastically, while proceeding to start the music.

"No, thanks. You know how much I love dancing and how this class is more than contenting me, besides, you know how good of a dancer I am", no way, you would dance more than you had to. But let´s be honest, you enjoyed dancing, even when you had to practise at home to keep up with the rest, according to you, you were a miserable dancer (which was not true, but these thoughts were the reason why you only danced half-heartedly) and you weren´t going to take more of it on your own will. No way.

"Killjoy", Meifeng muttered again. "As you please. And you dance just fine", said the music major with focus on dancing, singing and performing, before starting the song and getting into position to dance. You were amused at how the performance started with pants shaking- or however you call it when people put their hands into both pockets and start shaking them violently. You giggled and she did too because of you, but once she started with the real choreography, you saw the concentration, the love, the devotion, the passion in her moves. She was an amazing dancer and you wondered why she took these basic dance classes on top of her advanced ones (and she wondered, why you didn´t take advanced ones). Maybe she wanted more practise and just took this chance.

When she had repeated the choreography a few times already, some of the other students came in and she stopped and unplugged her USB-device from the music player. When the teacher finally appeared and class started, everyone started to stretch and do some repeating and class went on.

After changing back into everyday clothing, you and Meifeng walked towards the main building and to the main entrance. And as promised, Thanh and Ambereen were waiting there for you.

Thanh Liên was a Vietnamese and Ambereen was of Indian origin. Thanh was short and usually had a cute face, but sometimes she made herself look mature through make-up. She mostly wore casual clothing, often skinny jeans paired with coloured tops and hoodies, but always stylish. Sometimes, when she was in the mood for it, she wore cuter outfits or prettier ones, or in summer skirts or shorts, very rarely dresses.

This midget (how you liked to call her to ), who was assumably a head (and more) shorter than you, was a bundle of energy with toothy smiles and sunshine mood.

Ambereen was a little tanned, which was not uncommon for Indians, she barely used make-up, except for Kajol (black eyeliner), she had black natural wavy hair and beautiful big eyes every Asian girl probably dreamt of. And Amber wore a headscarf, not tightly wound, but in a fashion how it was common in India and surrounding countries.

She rarely wore traditional Indian clothing, you only saw her in them on special holidays or when you visited her. She liked jeans with nice tops, she didn´t need to care too much about her looks or fashion.

(the right one is just for reference, how her headscarf could look like, but she is the left one)

You walked towards them and hugged them both. While you hugged Thanh, Amber greeted Meifeng and when Thanh pulled back and saw Meifeng, she happily ran into her arms.

"Woah, I didn´t meet you in ages!", Thanh exclaimed. Meifeng chuckled.

"I didn´t know it is that bad to meet me after such a long time so you go straight to another friend and get hyper upon seeing her", you muttered next to Amber, who laughed softly.

"Don´t mind her. You know, you can´t do anything against the force of the magnetic field between Kpop-fans", she said as if it was the wisest quote ever and you had to laugh.

"Wait, you didn´t just bring in physics in your sentence?", you asked after realizing. She just shrugged with a grin.

She and Thanh attended the same public university and both studied natural sciences, something you probably would not be able to endure. Thanh majored in biochemistry and Emmi in physical engineering.

You watched the two shorter Asians converse with each other.

"Oh my god, so you listened to it already? It´s so amazing, I already love it!"

"Yes, I have even started learning the dance!"

"Wow, you need to show me! But I can´t wait for their debut." They squealed.

You felt a hand on your shoulder, "Forget them, you have me", Emmi smiled at you.

"Aw, my angel", you gave her a sugary smile, "where are we going today?"

Ambereen was really like an angel for you. She was the most honest person you knew, she had a wonderful heart of pure gold and you always thought she had a lot more knowledge about the world, than she pretended to have. You would probably believe her the most ridiculous things, because you knew, she did not lie.

"To my house!", Thanh raised her hand comically, answering your question, "the weather is not ideal to go out and I have something to show you, Alicia. So we´ll go to my house." Amber rolled her eyes, she knew what Thanh wanted to show you.

"Meifeng, do you want to come along?", Thanh then asked her excitedly without leaving time for you to say anything.

"Ah, I am sorry. I would like to, but I have somewhere to go today. Maybe next time", she told Thanh with big apologizing eyes.

"Oh man, you are going to miss it", Thanh leaned closer to Meifeng and whispered into her ear, so that you couldn´t hear, "I am going to show her the teasers and the two songs, hehe. She has to watch them. Will be much more fun if you come along."

Meifeng then leaned back and smiled smugly, glancing at you, she said, "do your job well, I count on you."

You arched an eyebrow and wondered what the secrecy was about, but you were more afraid than curious of what the plan was. We are talking about the two trolls, who forced you to like TeenTop, BigBang, and right, Shinee. Your fear was justified.

"I feel so out of place between you three Asians", Amber said out of the blue.

"Don´t talk rubbish. You are Asian, too. Just like us and we love you how you are. But, do you understand how I feel? I feel so out of place, because you all are so short" you said half-jokingly.

"It´s not our problem that you are a giant. I mean we are in the average range for Asians, you are out of the normal with your hundred-and-seventy-whatever centimeters" Thanh snapped.

"Shut up midget. You are the shortest with your hundred-and-fifty-something. You have no say", you shot back.

"Don´t forget that I am still the eldest", with that coming out of Thanh´s mouth, you all laughed.

Without Meifeng, the remaining three drove to Thanh´s house in her parents´car, which she could take that day.

Sipping on your orange juice and munching on Lay´s, you were seated next to Thanh on her bed, on the other side of her was Amber. After talking and laughing, remembering and telling stories, you three settled on Thanh´s bed. She asked Amber for her laptop, since she sat on the side of the bed closest to Thanh´s desk with the laptop. Amber carefully took the device and handed it over. You knew what was coming now, the torture, the Kpop spamming.

Well, you kind of just listened to Thanh rambling about incidents about idols you were familiar with. You listened to random songs and watched random videos on Youtube. And you watched a lot of "TeenTop On Air´s", where you had to play translator, since the Vietnamese understood no Korean (besides "Oppa Saranghae!" and the likes) and she would bug you until you would explain. It was actually funny, you enjoyed the time with your friends. 

"I´m going to use the bath, Thanhi, I´ll take the watering can as usual, okay?", Amber stood up and left the room. She used water to wash her bottom area everytime she used the toilet, it was part of culture and religion. They use their left hand for washing and never the right one, the right one was reserved for eating. She told that it´s a habit you can´t just break off, if she wouldn´t use water, she would feel itchy and dirty and she said with urine stains she would be unclean for prayer. You had tried it yourself for a short time, it was actually a real pleasant habit, it was just difficult to maintain outside of home. Amber told you, that in India they have water cans or water pipes in all toilets. But of course not in America.

When Ambereen came back, "Hey, it´s already time for my prayer, so I did the ablution, can you give me clean sheets?". For prayer, she should be in a clean place and stand on a clean cloth, at home she used a prayer mat. Thanh slipped down from her bed and went to her wardrobe.
"No prints of people or animals, right?", Thanh asked. The question was not really a question, since it was a routine you three were familiar with. Thanh should only pray to God and thus there should not be any form of other living beings in front of her, she normally preferred a complete white one.

"I don´t think the white one is washed right now. Hmm, here. Take the green one, it has no pattern", Ambereen took it from Thanh and spread it carefully onto the carpet pointing to east. She grabbed her headscarf, which she took down before because she was alone with her best friends, and wrapped it around her head tightly, so no hair was sticking out. It was all usual procedure you were familiar with. Thanh sat down on her bed and put on her headphones to listen to music after she had asked you if you wanted to listen, which you declined. You just sat there leaning against the wall, watching your friend´s lips moving in a silent prayer, her hands clasped together over her , her head slightly lowered, eyes casted down, then kneeling down onto the ground. You felt something tugging you towards her, a stir in you wanting to feel along. So you just stood up, unwrapping your thin scarf from your neck and trying to adjust it around your head. Then you just stepped next to Amber. You knew you couldn´t talk to her or say something, so she wasn´t distracted from her prayer. And to your surprise, she made a slight step aside to make a bit room for you, welcoming and inviting you closer. You were standing beside her, imitating her moves. An unusual peace overcame you, and when you kneeled down and your forehead touched the ground, you felt your heart surrounded by light, your soul illuminated. You imagined, that you prostrated yourself in front of God, the one and only you believed in. You never imagined this feeling to be so overwhelming, so heart calming, so pure, it was nothing like prayer in a church. You felt closer to God. It was a really nice experience and when you sat up from bowing and turned your head from one shoulder to another, you saw that Ambers eyes fluttered open to see you, with mild surprise mirrored in her gaze, a silent prayer was still playing on her lips and when she finished it, she smiled. She looked at Thanh, who was still busy nodding her head along to the music and probably watching the video to it. You didn´t even think about her, did she saw you standing up? She probably did, but just shrugged and didn´t care more. She was buddhist, and she knew you and Amber kind of shared the same God. She probably wasn´t thinking much about it. When you felt something hard resting on your shoulder, you turned to see that Amber had leaned her head on your shoulder, you could see the small content smile on her face.

"How do you feel?"

"Good. Actually, wonderful", you revealed.

"When did you feel best?"

"I think it was when we bowed", you said after milliseconds of thinking.

"Hm, I thought so", Amber hummed.

"What did you say, you were silently speaking?", you asked then.

"You were thinking of God, right? Well, I, basically, told him how great He is, how much power He has and that I am only an incapable human under His hand, He should forgive me my sins and along these things."

"Yeah, I was thinking of God...", you fell silent and thought a bit about her words, "What did you say in the end when you looked at your right shoulder and then at the other?"

"I greeted the angels on my right and left shoulder, writing my good and bad deeds down. You know about this, don´t you?", Amber was looking at her hands with a soft expression.

"I think, I know about them", you fell silent once again, savoring the moment, your friend´s head on your shoulder, a small meaningful gesture of trust and reliance.

After some moments, Emmi spoke again, "What you just did means a lot, you know. You´re so open, searching for something to hold onto in this world. Look at Thanhi, completely oblivious", she sighed, "You want to get closer to God?".

She softly whispered the last sentence, it needed no answer, to you both, the answer was clear.

"In the end you just put the edges of your hands together, the palms facing you, like this, as you´ve seen me doing so often", she raised her hands and demonstrated it, " and you speak a petitionary prayer, what you wish to happen or you ask God for anything you want. And next time do the ablution with me before, so you´re clean for prayer."

And you told God you inner wishes, hoping they would become true.

"Finished?", Thanh asked with a smile when you both settled back onto the bed next to her.

"Okay, now to the real task for today", Thanh said to you with a grin on her face. You just gave her a disgusted face as response.

"So, you know Exo, they are a Chinese Korean boygroup under contract with SM Entertainment", she started. Raising her index finger as to point something out, Amber proudly remarked, "You mean The Slave Entertainment."

You slapped you hand on your face, while uttering, "Not you, too, Emmi."

"But it´s nice to know that someone listens to what I say", Thanh mentioned, "SM Entertainment is not the fairest, but that is not the point right now. So, Exo is a group of twelve guys, six Koreans for Exo-K and two Koreans with four Chinese for Exo-M."

You nodded gloomy, "I know that much, go on."

"Okay, so they have some teasers and two prologue songs. So we´ll watch the teasers first and then the songs and then you will fall in love with them or at least you will fall in love with one out of the twelve. It´s impossible to not like them." You raised your brows at Thanh´s assumptions. As if you would ever fall in love with a Korean boygroup.

"But I´m more interested in the songs, I even listened to one today. I think the newer one. I want to see the music video", you declared.

"As you wish, we can watch the songs first if you want", and with that she opened up Youtube and searched for videos.

And as soon as the comet or planet (or whatever it was in the intro of the song) passed you knew why Meifeng had been shaking her sweatpants or flapping her pockets. But as well as the beat started in the intro, you liked the song already (and you had heard it a few times earlier that day). And when the faces of the members flickered through, you heard one of your friends comment.

"Oh my god, what a group of adorable boys! Their dance is so awesome! And look at the setting!"

"Emmi!", you shouted out, "Look at them, they look like just fifteen! Don´t turn into a pedo. I thought you were better than that." You shook your head disapprovingly.

"Yeah, at the first sight you might think that", Thanh chuckled.

"Shoot, they are Korean idols. How could I forget? They could be thirty or fifteen and you wouldn´t be able to tell", you squinted your eyes at the screen and examined their faces.

"The youngest is actually eighteen and the eldest is twenty-two. So, they are practically our age", Thanh clarified.

"Still gross. I bet they had all kinds of surgeries to look like that", you scoffed at their super young looking faces.

"Come on Alicia, don´t judge them like that. You don´t know them and I bet they are the nicest boys, it´s all just make-up and their hair and all. And also, they´re from your home country, don´t you feel any shame to offend them like that and you know, you´re usually not like that", Thanh asked with a deep frown. You sighed, she was right.

"I guess you´re right to not judge them. But because they are from my home country I should know best, I know the people there. But I´ll stop talking bad, okay? I will enjoy the music and their dances, but please don´t make me like any of the members, it´s good enough I like their song."

Thanh nodded, happy with your reply. She pointed out faces and told names and ages that just faded together in your mind of null interest for them. Amber exclaimed a few times, that some of them couldn´t be boys, they had to be girls. And she didn´t want to buy Thanh´s explanation, that it was rather normal for them looking all petite and pretty, and then Amber asked "like Taemin?", and you just couldn´t but facepalm. She was slowly absorbed by the dark side. She definitely spended too much time together with Thanh, but how could it be any different, when they met each other daily in university.

"Okay, I like this song, it´s catchy and upbeat and their dance is also cool and props to Meifeng who has rehearsed it pretty well already, but their outfits are really interesting, some mixture of gangster, hip-hop and funny patterns, oh and a bit of biker maybe, because of the leather jackets and such", you concluded after the song had ended. And not two seconds later the Kpop addict had started the second song.

You liked the intro and the birds chirping before that, but as soon as the first line left the guy´s lips, you eyes widened. This was going to be a cheesy cheesy song. One of the many about love and more love, love, love, love. You just knew it, with cheesy English (actually Engrish) lines and all the longing and the usual mindless stuff. And oh yes, the song´s title was "What is love". But before you could judge it any further, the video stopped.

Thanh bit her lip, "Well, Alicia, I remembered, this is going to ruin a lot of the teasers, can we watch this after them?" You just shrugged and she opened a new tab with Youtube, who would have guessed.

She typed "Exo teaser compilation" into the search bar and you watched as she opened a twenty-six minutes long video.

"Exactly how many teasers do they have?", you asked annoyed.

"Twenty-three."

"You´re kidding me. Thanh, we are going to watch twenty-three teasers, twenty-six minutes long? How do they have so many? They usually have like three or what? But twenty-three!"

"Shut up, I told you, they are amazing. Just watch it, you won´t regret."

"I´m going to kill you if your words will prove wrong."

"Na, na. Alicia, just do it to make your friend happy", Amber said to calm you. You just glared at both and the teasers started.

"Interesting intro, something like old England? With his cape and hat and all.

Now there is water on the ground, hah, what happened?

But this kid is a nice dancer, and the song is cheesy but okay", you said watching the first teaser.

"That´s Kai, or Jongin, as I told you before, he is the main dancer and visual of the group." You just nodded.

"He is in the second teaser, too?", you wondered, "At least there is another guy with him. Wow, this teaser is amazing, fierce music, fierce dance. And I like that they dance as a pair in this whatever it is with those strings."

"Look, that brown haired guy is wearing silver glittery pants", Emmi pointed out laughing.

"They have a martial arts kid, too? I bet he is Chinese. The third teaser is impressive, but the song isn´t my taste at all."

"I don´t like it either, but the guy has some talent", Amber joined.

"Yeah, he is Chinese, the wushu dude, his name is Tao", the Vietnamese told you.

"Isn´t this the same teaser as the first one?", Emmi asked upon seeing the fourth one.

"Oh, that dancing guy again with the same song, it looks like the same?", you noticed. Kai was his name, you memorized it when you saw his name at the end of the teaser.

"And there he is again in the next one, this song is disturbing and even if he is good, this dance is disturbing, too", you said with a troubled face, "but meh, I still like it."

"He is hot, look at his top and those arms", Thanh said and Amber nodded. 

"Not my type", you said coldly.

"And Kai again", Thanh stated.

"He looks like a little kid here. But what is this coming from his hands, magic? Or no it looks more like that mobile game, with the fruits, except the fruits are missing! Cutting fruits with a ´Lightsaber´!", you exclaimed.

"Oh, you mean´Fruit Ninja´?", Thanh asked.

"Some pro who can edit videos should just put in the fruits. That would be funny", Amber added. And you agreed.

"Okay, Kai again. Is that the one who danced with him before?", Amber wondered.

"Okay, this is so not okay. Look at their moves and what´s with those weird outfits. Did they share two suits, ´here you take the jacket, I take the pants´?"

"You´ve got no idea, Alicia. They drive girls insane. But it´s not the same guy from before, it´s a different one, this one´s the youngest out of all, the maknae."

"Yeah, whatever, Thanh", you replied, "but why is there so much Kai. I thought they were twelve members? I only saw like three?"

"There seems to be a story behind the teasers and-"

"Yeah, okay, no need to tell me", you interrupted her, "Let´s just go on with the teasers."

Thanh sulked and whacked your arm, which you rubbed afterwards while glaring in her direction.

The next teaser was weird and you felt uncomfortable with the music, its name was "Black Pearl", but you saw all twelve members for the first time in it.

The ninth teaser was so simple, but so beautiful. The scenery was marvelous and well the two members didn´t dance, but they looked like twins, like brothers on a trip and it reminded you of your upcoming one. You made a mental note to tell your friends about it after watching. And when you focused on the song again, you felt yourself being pulled into the simple melody, the piano notes and you liked it to the extent that you got goosebumps. And the only line in the end of the teaser, sang by angelic voices made the effect so much bigger.

"Neoui sesanguroo~ (yeah) yeurin baramul tago~"

I ride with the soft wind into your world.

This song was wonderful and still magnificent in his simplicity. And your heart ached and fluttered at the same time.

Maybe this line applied to your life, maybe you were going to ride with the wind into someone´s world?

"Thanh, this one is my favourite out of them all until now, you have to tell me when the full version of this is released, okay?"

"Will be my pleasure!", she grinned knowing you had fallen in love with the song.

"Into your world" you silently murmured the name to memorize it.

The next teaser was again a fierce beat with a sharp dance, the dancer actually looked mature this time and it wasn´t Kai, much to your surprise. And again the outfit was striking with that interesting jacket and the dark pink trousers. You wondered how they could make those outifts look good on them. The next teaser included cars along with Kai and another guy it didn´t stand out much in your eyes.

Then came another rap song with a difficult looking choreography with Kai and the mature looking dancer, in which you rathered not question the meaning of the lyrics of the song called "Two Moons". Though they definitely sounded very interesting. 

After that there were two teasers for the song "What is love" and as you had thought, it proved to be super super corny. In the one a young brown-haired boy danced, looking like one of the boys you had seen before and in the other Kai danced. Again. But you had to admit, Kai and the other dancers were really awesome and the singers had excellent voices. Then you saw the martial arts kid in some serious fight, looking all mighty and cool. His eyes were piercing, making him look like a bad boy. And as soon as that teaser ended and the new one started you felt attracted to it again.

A beautiful but sad piano piece accompanied the same vast field from the teaser which´s song you had liked earlier and two boys, from which the one was sitting at a table in the open field and the other was flying a kite. At first sight they might have looked very similar to each other, but then you noticed their hiarstyles were different and their faces, too. Those two boys actually looked more civilized and down-to-earth, as well as artsy and simple, everything you liked. You kind of felt connected, how weird it may sound, to that guy reading a book. Okay, it was maybe because you were a lit major and you loved books and seeing one of them in your field made you like him already. Even though there was a ninety-nine percent chance he didn´t like reading books in real life but just had to film the scene for the teaser. However, you felt something for these two boys, they both looked different from the others (in your opinion). Thanh told you that the kite boy was actually the main singer of Exo-K and the other was the leader of Exo-K, who also sang. That teaser was also mentally added to your favourites. At the end of the teaser you saw the eclipse you had had seen a hundred times until then and you wondered what it meant, so Thanh should explain what it meant shortly. They boys came from Exoplanet and had different supernatural powers/abilities, they were practically aliens (or so she had understood). And the eclipse was the sign for the boys to reunite and come together and Kai´s role was the messenger, since his ability was teleportation (or so Thanh had understood). That could to a certain extent explain his many appearances. The next two teasers contained a blonde (or gray haired?) guy standing on top of a high building, enjoying the sun before jumping off of it with the eclipse coming with the song "Into your world" and gangster Kai with a drunkard dance with the song "Emergency" in the background.

You liked all the last five teasers, "Beautiful", "El Dorado" (this boy looked really feminine), "Baby Don´t Cry"- you liked their videos and their songs, too. The last two had the background song "Into Your World" and you were so happy to hear more of the song, there was more text in those teasers. Even though this song was a bit cheesy, it was a lot different. You loved it and the lyrics were so innocent and pure. You could then say that the last one was somewhere in your top favourites, it was nice to see the "reunion" of the boys, they were dancing together and it was just simple with some lighting changes and dancing but you liked it all the more.

While you guys watched the music video for "What is love" (it was basically made out of the teasers), you spilled.

"You know, I think I can fly home in this summer." You let it sink in and watched your friends´ reactions. Their eyes widened.

"Really?", Thanh asked unbelieving. You nodded. And in the next second you were tackled by both your friends´hugs. "I am so happy for you!", Amber announced gleefully. Your friends weren´t allowed to know your secret, but they knew you didn´t visit Korea since you stepped foot in America and in the seven years they got to know how much you longed to go back. And they also knew the crucial point for your mental health was coming up next week. Those two had talked earlier about taking you out for a walk next week to talk or comfort or do some fun things with you so you get distracted from bad thoughts, well these ideas were only possible if you were fine, if you weren´t you had usually gone to Michiko. But they held their schedules almost free for you in case you needed them.

When they pulled away from you, Thanh´s eyes widened again and she squealed. That was no good omen and she asked, "how long will you stay, do you know that? And to what places will you go, only Seoul or other cities as well?"

You didn´t think about her intentions and just answered. "I´ll stay around two months and well, I plan to make a round trip through entire South Korea. So I will probably visit all bigger cities and some smaller ones, too."

"That means,", her eyes glistened, "you will be able to get signatures for me! Oh god, I will tell you all the schedules and places for fansign events for my favourite bands! You have to get me signatures!" Okay, now you knew what her intentions were and you just nodded with a pained expression.

In the course of the evening they told you they wanted to go to Disneyland L.A. some time before the exams or maybe after them to celebrate, but you three needed some time to breath and a whole day for such a trip and you wanted Meifeng to come along, you practically had to find a day suiting all four of you. Thanh promised you some nice stories to read, fanfiction apparently, she wanted to send you the links or show them to you the next time you would meet and she urged you to make a tumblr blog, because you needed one (to distract yourself and waste time), but you weren´t sure if some amateur writers would please your standards and if you would like to create something, that was bound to eat your time.

"Well, I bet you two are hungry, come on, let´s make something for dinner!" And you three scrambled into Thanh´s kitchen to make something to eat together and spend some more enjoyable time.