The smooth black car that I was now familiar with was speeding towards who-knows-where, the window tint preventing my sight. I glanced at Umma curiously again, but she was just re-applying her lipstick like it was no big deal. Oh well. We were probably just going to meet another K-pop group or famous acquaintance of hers again. I hoped it would be someone cool this time. Last time she dragged me off like this, I had the pleasure of meeting a y nice old man who smelled too strongly of cologne.

I looked down at my boots. This morning I had managed to convince Umma to let me wear them, using as many guilt trips and excuses about my abused feet in those god-awful heels as I needed. Eventually I got what I wanted, but that didn’t mean she was happy about it.

Finally, the car slowed and the door opened. I blinked in the sudden sunlight, and gracefully climbed onto the warm pavement. I was outside the SM Entertainment building. A busy street was behind me and a rather normal front of tan and glass was facing me.

Looks like we were going to meet a group. I was going to meet a group. I found myself getting nervous and I made sure it didn’t show.  I walked next to Gang Daeho into the building. I looked down at my lace-up boots and my confidence doubled. I stood up to Umma about one thing at least, maybe I could get used to these meetings. It was obvious I was going to meet another group today. I thought back to my meeting with Nu'est and smiled. I would be fine.

We took the elevator up to the 5^th floor. Gang Daeho smiled at me as we got to the door of a recording studio.

“Chin up,” he reminded me, and I obediently  lifted my head and followed my smiling Umma into the large studio.

They were in the middle of singing when we got in. Five guys, five very attractive guys. I could never get over the fact that k-pop groups were as beautiful in real life as they were on TV. I also couldn’t get over the fact that I was lucky enough to know that. They had pretty distinct looks, too. The tallest one was tan and athletic, with big eyes and double eyelids. There was one with longhair that looked like a girl, and one of the guys had cat-like eyes and dark hair. The fourth sang with earnest, as though the song really meant a lot to him. His hair was sort of red-orangeish. The shortest singer in the recording studio had hair flipped to one side and absolutely perfect skin. Not that they all didn’t. They were all so hot… I could practically feel pimples forming on my face just looking at them. Ugh, I hoped they weren’t stuck up. They finished their song with passion, and were applauded by the studio staff.

The man at the controls leaned in and spoke through the mic, holding down a button.

“Great job, guys. SHINee GO!”

So this was SHINee. One of Sanghyo’s favorite groups, I think. I was never really into them, but they had been the topic of our ‘Dazzling Girl’ conversation a week or so before. That thought threw me off. Had it really been only a little over a week since I had talked to Sanghyo about that music video? My heart ached for her. I shoved it to the back of my mind and plastered on a smile.

SHINee were coming out of the recording area, grabbing water bottles and sitting on the couches.

“Annyeonghaseyo , Min Haneulssi!” they greeted her with familiarity.

“Hello, boys. I’d like you to meet someone.” She motioned to me. “This is my daughter, Heechan.”

“Annyeonghaseyo .” I bowed, and then looked back up at their curious stares.

“How old are you?” asked the one with the cat eyes.

“Almost 19.” I replied with a smile.

“She’s young,” I heard one say approvingly.

“Even younger than me!” Said the one who looked like a girl. Taemin, if I remembered correctily from Sanghyo’s fangirl rants. I might not be the fangirling type, but Sanghyo definitely was.

“Well,” started the one with the red-orange-ish hair “You can call us Oppa, then. Any relative of Min Haneulssi is a friend of ours. I’m Onew.”

The rest of the group introduced themselves. I was right about the girly-looking one, he was Taemin. The sporty one with double eyelids was Minho, the one with the cat eyes was named Key, and the short one was Jonghyun.

“Hey Minnie,” whispered Jonghyun. “Her hair is shorter than yours!” this earned him a smack on the back of the head from Taemin and a laugh from the other members.

As I talked with them, I began to like them more and more. These guys weren’t afraid to be themselves, and they were fun.

“I like your shoes!” Exclaimed Key, being the first to notice.

“Kamsahamnida!”  I said, glad that they were appreciated. I got a look from my Umma, but no one noticed.

“That’s quite a fashion statement,” he continued, clearly intrigued by my choice of footwear that so obviously did not go with my outfit.

“That’s pretty awesome,” Minho said approvingly.

“Hey!” Onew cut into the conversation. “Heechan-ah should listen to us sing, de?

“De!” they all agreed and huddled up to decide what to do.

“Okay. Arasso, arasso.” Said Jonghyun as they pulled away. He smiled at me. I was really excited. I couldn’t hear them sing earlier, because of the glass. Obviously  Iknew they could sing, I had heard their songs before. But I wondered what they sounded like in person. And I didn’t have to wonder for long, because they were going to sing just for me.

“Utsumuiteta Rainy Day,”

“Boku o yobisamasu Koe,”

They started singing Dazzling Girl. I smiled, probably the first honest smile since I had gotten to South Korea. I felt really special. When they finished, I applauded.

“That was awesome.” They laughed at my response, reaching for their waters again.

“I’m glad you liked it,” said Jonghyun.

“Hyung, of course she liked it. We’re SHINee.” Taemin said, making Key laugh.

“Thank you for having us.” Said Umma, looking at her watch and standing up. “We’ll let you boys get back to your work.” I stood up, too.

“Kamsahamnida! And also, for singing for me. I hope we see each other again.”

“Annyeonghaseyo!” They chorused,  bowing.  I really did hope I would see them again.