“Male?! But… you…” I stutter again, and Ren’s face is completely controlled and neutral, as if she – I mean he gets this all the time. Which he probably does, considering how seriously girl-like he looks.

            I sigh and give an embarrassed smile. “I’m sorry! I really thought you were a girl with some… er, gender issues, I guess… I mean, your voice is too deep to be a girl’s, and you are pretty flat in the chest…”

            He blushes, but laughs anyway. “Ah, that’s okay! I’m kind of known for my girlish looks, so it doesn’t bother me that much.” He grins. “Anyway, why don’t you come meet the rest of my group? They’re all dying to meet you!”

            I look up at my uncle, who smiles and nods. I look back at Ren. “Okay,” I say with a smile.

            His grin widens and he grabs my wrist. “Daebak! This way!” He quickly sets off in the direction the boy from earlier had disappeared to, and I’m skipping to keep up with Ren’s long strides.

            We emerge from the crowd of people to find four boys, one of which the strange boy from before, standing in the corner chatting. Ren pulls me over to them and clears his throat. “Guys, this is Miss Yoonjung, our hostess!”

            They all look up and smile politely at me. “Ah, right!” the strange boy from before exclaims. He takes a step forward. “I wished you a happy birthday, but I completely forgot to introduce myself!”

            I laugh. “That’s okay, you seemed a bit… Um… Preoccupied.”

            “Well, that’s no excuse! It was very un-gentlemanly of me!” He gives a formal bow. “Annyeong!” He straightens. “I’m Baekho! Pleased to make your acquaintance!”

            The other three boys advance. One with lots of eyeliner on and dyed-red-ish hair that comes down over his forehead when he bows introduces himself. “Hello. I’m JR. Nice to meet you.”

            The next boy has slightly curly dark hair and an elegant look to him. “I’m Minhyun. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Miss.” He bows and then steps back, his eyes always on me.

            “And I’m Aron,” says the last boy. He smirks. “Do you even have a clue of who we are yet? I’m sure at least seeing Ren must have triggered some memory from watching TV,” he says, gesturing to Ren who is still standing next to me.

            Ren looks at me expectantly, along with the rest of them. I squint and stare at them. “Um… No. I’m no good with recognizing people,” I say apologetically and shrug.

            Baekho laughs. “Hey, it makes more sense to not recognize us! We just debuted!”

            Minhyun smiles at me. “We’re a new group called Nu’Est.”

            “Oh, I’ve heard of you!” I laugh. “Now it makes a bit more sense to have a guy who looks like a girl… er…” I look at Ren. “I mean, not many guys have such… uh… feminine features…”

            Aron and Baekho burst into laughter, and Ren blushes. “I’m sorry, Ren!” I say, but I’m holding in my own laughter.

            He sighs. “I’m used to it. I just don’t see how my hyungs find it funny,” he says, scowling at them. “Haven’t you heard girl jokes towards me a billion times before?”

            Baekho throws an arm around him. “They’re funny every single time!” he exclaims, brushing a tear out of his eye.

            Ren sighs and looks back at me. “Sorry for wasting your time, Yoonjung. You probably have more people to go meet.”

            “Hey, speak for yourself!” JR says as he comes to stand next to me. “You might’ve wasted her time, but I’m sure she wants to talk more to me.” He looks down at me, placing a hand on my shoulder. “Right?”

            “Uh, well…” I take a step back. “Sorry, but I really should be going.” I do a deep bow at the now stunned JR, and I lift my head slightly to see Aron, Baekho and Ren chuckling. Minhyun is smirking, and he catches my eye and gives a large smile, like he was proud of me. I smile back and straighten up. “It was really nice meeting you all!”

            “I’m serious, the cake is made of genuine chocolate from Belgium! And the icing is made from real marzipan from Spain!” I hear my uncle’s voice behind me, and I turn to see him chatting up a reporter. “I’ve imported it all and had it made by my best chef just for my niece!” He looks up to see me in the midst of all these men. “Ah, here she is now!”

            I freeze. I recognize the reporter as the father of a boy I used to know. How did I know his father? Well the boy, who believed we were in a relationship, introduced me to him. I rejected him right in front of his parents and ran out of their house. I don’t think the father is particularly happy with me.

            When the reporter sees me, he freezes in his spot as well. My uncle approaches the members of Nu’Est and I. He notices JR's shocked face from my apology just a moment before because of his forwardness. “Hey, there, aren’t you guys Nu’Est, the new group that just debuted?” He gives a booming laugh and slaps JR on the back. “I’m glad you could make it today! And I’m glad Yoonjung has so many people her age she can socialize with!”

            “So, Miss Yoonjung,” the reporter says. I swallow hard, and then put on my best smile. “You’ve been fluttering from one group of boys to the next tonight. Are you looking for a special someone?” He smirks and pushes the microphone in front of my face.

            Come on, Yoonjung, I tell myself, you’re good at improvisation! Go for it! I laugh. “That’s hilarious, sir! No, I’m actually going around and thanking everyone for showing up and wishing me a happy birthday, no matter the age or gender. I just happen to stop and chat with the people who are around the same age as me.”

            The reporter grits his teeth. The cameraman behind him is filming the scene, unsure of whether or not to stop it since the reporter stopped asking questions. I raise an eyebrow at the reporter. “Sir?” I ask innocently. “Is there anything else? I must go back to circulating the room, like any hostess should.”

            The reporter sighs and motions for the cameraman to stop the video. He does so, and lowers the camera. “I know there’s more to this than there seems,” the reporter says. He jabs a finger at me. “And I’ll find out what!”

            I snort and then shrug. Dramatic much? “Alright, ahjussi, whatever you say! Now, if you’ll excuse me.” I look to my uncle, and he fixes his gaping expression into a prideful smile as he offers me his arm. I take it and then look back at Nu’Est, who all seem dumbfounded by my forwardness. “It was really nice to meet you all, and I’ll make sure to come back and chat again!” I wave, and they all quickly bow as I leave.

            My uncle looks down at me as we once again cut through the crowd. “You’re lucky no cameras were looking at the time. If you had been seen being that rude—“

            “Then I would’ve explained to whoever noticed that the reporter ahjussi was being creepy and I got a little uncomfortable.” I look up at my uncle. “Seriously, sometimes I wonder who has the more clever mind between us, Uncle.” I smirk.

            He snorts and rolls his eyes.

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two chapters in one day! woot!!! i can't wait to show you guys the last two groups~!!! :D:D

>:D

who will it be...? kukuku~