Chapter 5: Lily’s POV

None of my roommates were in the apartment. I knew that Jia, my third roommate who’s originally from Taiwan, wasn’t going to be coming back for lunch like she usually did. She had morning and afternoon classes today so she was just going to grab something to eat on campus. And chances were that Mei was out with her other friends or her boyfriend just like Sau-ying. I figured that they weren't going to be coming back anytime soon so I was on my own until dinner.

Since I didn’t really feel like cooking today, I went to the fridge and got out two Tupperwares filled with leftovers from last night. Grabbing a plate, I placed a serving of chicken and steamed vegetables on one half and a generous portion of rice on the other half. While I reheated my lunch in the microwave, I put the Tupperwares away and then poured myself a glass of water.

After eating my lunch and doing the dishes, I took my water and my school bag and headed back to my room.

Getting my planner out of my bag, I flipped to the page with this week’s dates printed across the top and scanned it over to check the assignments I had due.

All I had due for Monday was our final lab report for the endocrine system. Then, we had to start studying for summative exams. 

Flopping back onto the bed, I then closed my eyes and let out a deep breath. 

I didn't feel like starting my work yet. It’s Friday. I still have the rest of the weekend to do the lab report. 

I stayed like that for a few more moments and then an idea popped into my head. Opening my eyes and sitting up, I got out of bed and walked over to my bag to get my laptop out.

ping the case, I slipped my laptop out and opened it up.

Once I was logged into my account, I went straight to YouTube. I clicked the search bar once and once the cursor started blinking, I began to type. But instead of my search term coming up in English, it came up a string of Chinese characters with a random X in the middle of it all.

Glancing up at the top right corner of the screen, I saw that my keyboard was still set to Cangjie. A couple of clicks later, the language was changed back to English, and then I reentered my search term.

Within seconds of hitting the return button, a long list of videos titles and thumbnails came up.

“EXO-M MAMA music video,” I said, reading the title of the first video on the list.

This must be it.

Clicking on the video, I then had to wait five seconds of an ad to play before I was able to skip it and was redirected to the actual video.

It started off with a man telling a story. I knew that he was speaking English, but I, for some reason, couldn’t understand what he was saying. Even the Chinese subtitles at the bottom of the video didn’t make much sense when I read them, but I think that's because I'm more used to seeing and reading traditional characters and the subtitles were written with simplified.

In the end, all I got from that story was that there were twelve forces, two worlds that were alike but not alike at the same time, and this tree of life splitting in half or something like that.

The scene changed to a bunch of figures in robes entering a ring with a choir singing in the background. I counted twelve of those robed figures and once there was a close up on a very handsome guy’s face, I realized that the people in the robes were the band members.

When they started chanting, I started looking for a face that was remotely like Kris’, but unfortunately, I couldn’t find one.

“Whoa,” I said when the first guy singing hit that high note. 

His voice was absolutely beautiful. It was strong and powerful but at the same time very crisp and clear. For a singer in a pop group, his voice was one of the best I've heard. 

The video then cut to different shots of the members’ faces and a shot of the entire group dancing on different sets in different costumes. I continued to look for Kris, but I couldn’t find him. Maybe he already appeared and I just didn't realize it yet. 

Almost half of the video had played and I still couldn't find him. And just when I was about to resort to using one of the "who's who" comments to find him, the video showed a close up of a face of a new member of the group. One of the first things that I noticed besides his pushed back hair was his piercing stare. 

"No way," I whispered. 

After I heard a rap part and saw his close up a second time I was able to confirm my suspicions. That guy was definitely Kris.

As I had expected, his appearance had changed quite a bit from what I remembered. His hair was dyed a light blonde-brown color and he was a lot paler. He also had ear piercings, something that I honestly never would have expected him to get. But he looked good, handsome even. 

For the rest of the video, I couldn’t tear my eyes away from him. Here was my best friend showcasing his talents to the rest of the world and living his dream. And knowing that he was so happy just made me feel so proud of everything he's already accomplished.