"My pick is..."

L.Joe gave my hand a reassuring squeeze. I blushed and waited for the judge's final decision.

"...Black Angels."

Half of the crowd erupted into screams and the other half erupted into even louder screams. I unintentionally let go of the hand that was holding mine and went to congratulate my friends.

"Sooyoung! Changjo! I knew you guys could do it!" I exclaimed. "Chan Doo, Changbum, you guys were great! Eunjung, Hyoyeon, you were awesome!"

They were happy that they won the talent show. The auditorium was buzzing with approval.

"But I'm not done yet!" The principal said into the mic. "As your prize, the school will provide you with tickets to go on a trip to Jinan this weekend!"

Sooyoung freaked. "No way!"

"Yes way! Congratulations, Black Angels! Thank you for attending tonight's talent show. Good night, everyone!"

-- ♥ --

"I can't believe it! I've alway wanted to go to Jinan!" Sooyoung squealed.

Changjo sighed. "We know, you've said that how many times in the past ten minutes?"

I laughed. "You guys deserve the prize!"

"Oh, by the way, they gave us like ten tickets! Since our dance team only has six people, how about you and L.Joe come along with us? We can give the other two tickets away or something."

"Really? But why me and L.Joe?"

Sooyoung pretended to face-palm. "Well, you because you're our closest friend and L.Joe because both of you guys lost the bet."

I gasped. I had forgotten about the bet. "Ah, right! The bet... So I have to be your slave for one week."

Changjo grinned with a mischievous glint in his eyes. "Only one week..."

Whoa. I have never seen Changjo with a trouble-maker-look in his eyes.

"Hey, I know that look!" Sooyoung said. "You only do that look when you come up with some weird idea."

"Should I be scared?" I said.

They laughed. "Nah, not at all."

We were walking down the streets to our houses, me dragging my guitar case behind me.

"Well, we part ways here." I turned to face the Choi siblings. "The talent show thing wasn't as bad as I thought it would be."

"I told you." Sooyoung said.

"You didn't tell me anything!"

"Whatever. Tomorrow, ask your boss for permission to take the weekend off so we can leave for Jinan at noon."

I nodded. "Alright. Bye guys!"

They both waved and I continued on my way to the apartment. I went straight to the shower and changed into my usual pajamas. I hung the dress up in my closet and put Sooyoung's flats in a random box I found. I wonder when I'd be able to wear this again. Probably never.

I saw the t-shirt and sweatpants I had borrowed from L.Joe. I made a mental note to myself to return it to him tomorrow. Before climbing into bed, I checked my inbox on my blog to see if Changjo had sent me a message. He did.

EunMi, you did great in the talent show. 대박! Daebak! I hope I can listen to you sing again! Sleep well! Be prepared for tomorrow, kekeke ㅋㅋㅋ
-Black Angel

What did he have in store? I put on my headphones and set it on shuffle.  I laid down and snuggled under my thin blanket. For some reason, it felt really warm today.

I woke up at my usual work time the next morning. I got up and changed into a green t-shirt, jeans, and a gray sweatshirt. I walked to 'Namsan Delights' and saw a whole bunch of people outside. I made my way through the crowd and saw Grandma Kim standing inside. I walked in and asked her what was going on.

"I don't know! I saw people waiting to come in before the shop even opened!"

I looked at all the eager customers. There was no way I could ask the weekend off right now. Maybe I could work until the crowd had gotten their fill. After all, we weren't leaving for Jinan until noon...

The other employees, Luna, Krystal, Onew, and Taemin, were already in their aprons and taking orders.

"Eun Mi, did you know all of these new customers are here because of you?" Luna exclaimed.

"What did I do?"

"You sang in the talent show, silly! Everyone is talking about it!"

I listened to the customer's conversations. Sure enough, they were talking about me:

"She competed against the Kingkas!"

"I heard she almost won!"

"She must be really good!"

I felt like I was glowing inside. People actually recognized me... Not as a nerd, but as someone with talent.

I smiled and walked to one of the tables. "Good morning, may I take your order?"

-- ♥ --

"Thank you for helping out today."

"It's our job after all, Grandma Kim." I bowed. "Grandma, may I please take tomorrow off?"

"Why?" I could see the wrinkles under her eyes crinkle.

"I'm going to Jinan this evening and I'll be staying overnight, so I can't come to work..."

"Oh, of course!" She took my hands. "Have lots of fun and relax! You've been working so hard lately. And it's because of you we got so many customers today!"

"They came because they heard you had the best treats in town." I bowed. "Kamsahabnida, Grandma."

By the time I finished cleaning up and got home, it was already 11:15am. I checked my inbox to see if Changjo had sent me any important information.

Eun Mi, meet us at our house at 11:45am. Well be leaving somewhere around that time. We'll be staying until Monday night, so that means we'll miss school on Monday. Remember to pack all the things you need! See you soon!
-Black Angel

I have never been anywhere other than my hometown, Namsan, so I had no idea what to pack. I just threw a couple of outfits, my toiletries, my wallet, and my iPod into a small black suitcase. How was I going to take pictures? I couldn't buy a new one because I didn't have enough money...

I slipped into my black converse, locked the door to my apartment, and went on my way to Sooyoung and Changjo's house. Thankfully, I didn't get lost. I reached their house and saw a small bus parked in the driveway.

"Eun Mi! You're right on time!" Sooyoung stuck her head out the window of the bus. "We're leaving right now!"

I ran to the door of the bus and climbed on. Sooyoung was sitting in the front seat and Changjo and Chan Doo were across from her. L.Joe sat with Changbum and Eunjung sat with Hyoyeon in the seats behind them.

"Hi guys, sorry for coming so late." I put my luggage under the seat and sat down next to Sooyoung. "And L.Joe, I didn't think you'd actually come!"

He propped his elbow on the window. "I didn't really want to, but a bet is a bet."

"Now that, is a man." Hyoyeon joked.

"I still don't know why the school rented a private bus like this for us." Chan Doo said. "But I guess it's nice having it all to ourselves."

The bus driver started the bus and drove out of the Choi sibling's neighborhood. Our trip to Jinan has just begun.