Chapter 9-

                Jonghyun looked at both the girls, and then looked over at Min Ho. This was getting awkward. He needed to do something.

                “So, I see you’ve met my friend Kate,” he commented, hoping Min Ho would say something. Thankfully he got the hint.

                “Oh, yeah, I have.” He nodded nervously, finally handing Kate her phone. Jonghyun looked at Gaeyon. Kate warily looked at her from the side. She must have been the one she felt watching her when she was with Jonghyun that night. She finally understood why Gaeyon was pissed when she went into the dorm She thought Kate had tried to steal her man.

                “How have you been doing, Kate? This is my girlfriend Gaeyon. I suppose you have already met.” They nodded. “So, do you two want to walk back to the hotel with us?” Before she could answer Min Ho stepped forward.

                “Sure, why not?” he grabbed her arm and led her away from the studio. The four of them walked in silence all the way to the hotel. They took the elevator up to the hotel room. It was a mess, like you would expect from any boys’ dorm would be. Key got up and approached them, his face void of emotion as he approached Kate, who was still holding onto Min Ho’s hand.

                “Hyung, who is this?” he asked as he examined her.

                “This is our friend, Kate. Kate, this is Key, and over there are Onew and Taemin.” They waved at her, and she shyly waved back.

                “Oh, you mean the one who lost her phone?” Min Ho nodded. Key took one last critical look at her, and walked away. She shrugged and extended her hand to Taemin. He smiled sweetly at her as he shook her hand.

                “Wow, you are so pretty,” he said, making her blush. Onew came up to her and shook her hand, then pulled her in for a hug.

                “Hi! It’s nice to meet you!” he said, as he released her from his embrace. She blushed as she mumbled a greeting back.

                “So, what do we do now?” asked Key, folding his arms across his chest in protest. He did not like this new girl holding onto Min Ho at all. Onew clapped his hands.

                “So! Why don’t we sit down and get to know each other?” he motioned for them to take a seat in the living room of their hotel room. Key and Taemin went to work pushing their belongings off of the furniture so the women had a place to sit.

                “Tell us about yourself, um, what is your name again?” Key turned to Kate.

                “My name is, Kate-“he snapped his fingers.

                “Ah! That’s right! Kate. So, what are you doing here in Korea, Kate?” his voice was dripping in sarcasm as he leaned against the couch. She began to shift uncomfortably as the others began to sit around the room.

                “I go to YoungHwa University, I major in English.” The others seemed to nod approvingly.

                “What are you going to do after you graduate?” Key seemed to feel the need to berate her with questions. Min Ho and Jonghyun felt extremely uncomfortable.

                “Well,” she thought for a moment. Making an SM joke didn’t really seem appropriate right now. “Just, you know, to teach English, or work at a magazine or newspaper here in Korea.”

                “Why wasn’t your own country good enough for you?” he asked quite bluntly. Min Ho stood up.

                “Key! That’s enough!” Key shrank back just a bit, while Onew and Taemin squirmed in their seats. He sat back down; the atmosphere was thick with tension.

                “So, anyway, Gaeyon, you know, Kate?” Jonghyun asked, trying to break the tension. She nodded. Feeling as uncomfortable as Kate, and feeling the slightest bit of pity for her, answered.

                “Yes, we go to the same university.” Onew and Taemin let out a sigh of relief. Finally, the conversation was getting somewhere. As the night wore, on, they kept talking. Kate wasn’t minding Gaeyon’s attitude as much. Since she was sitting next to Min Ho, she was sure that Gaeyon was at ease. Every once in a while, Jonghyun shot her a reassuring smile, letting her know that Gaeyon wasn’t all that bad after all. After hours of talking, Jonghyun and Gaeyon decided to lie down on the sofa across the room. Taemin, Onew and Key retired to their rooms. Min Ho and Kate were left alone.

                “So, how are you enjoying your stay in Korea?” he asked, trying to make the situation less awkward. She smiled.

                “Wonderful actually; school has been pretty good,” she said, shifting her leg. He wrung his hands nervously, trying to keep the conversation going.               

                “So, do you lose your phone often?” he asked jokingly. She blushed and moved her hair out of her face.

                “No, just around you, it seems.” She flashed a smile at him. His heart began to beat faster, like a hummingbird’s wings.

                “You’re face seems familiar. I know I have seen you at the airport, but do you think we have met anywhere else?” he asked, studying her face. She thought for a moment. Her eyes were drawn to the coffee table. She grabbed up a copy of Vogue.

                “Right here, perhaps.” She pointed to the cover of the magazine. Sure enough, there she was, right next to Jay. He looked on in amazement. There she was, with her arms around Jay Park. He was aware of Jay Park, he had been in 2PM a while back, but was a solo artist now. She looked at the cover lovingly.

                “Do you know him?” he asked, fearing her answer.

                “Yes, I do.” She said, flipping open its pages to view the rest of the photos.

                “H-how?” he asked, trying to be nonchalant about it.

                “Oh, well actually,” she answered. “He’s my boyfriend.” Min Ho’s heart sunk into his stomach. She was taken. He had fallen so hard, but yet, he crashed and burned. He felt sick, but tried not to show it.

                “Oh really, how did you meet him?” he asked, trying to sound as calm as possible, when all he wanted to do was scream to the heavens.

                “Well, we met on the plane ride here, he sat next to me. A while later, we began talking. We spent the rest of the ride getting to know each other. We exchanged numbers, and went from there. This was a surprise he led me to.” She pointed to the magazine. “The next one was our trip to Nam San Tower, that’s where he asked me to be his girlfriend.” He nodded. He was numb. Min Ho couldn’t think of anything else to say. He looked at his watch. It was 2 a.m.

                “It’s gotten very late,” he stated. Kate looked at her phone.

                “Damn! I have school tomorrow!” she began gathering up her things hurriedly. Suddenly, Min Ho grabbed her arm. She looked back at him.

                “Don’t worry, you can stay here, this couch turns into a bed, Gaeyon stays here all the time, over there,” he pointed to the sofa across the room. Jonghyun had gone to bed an hour or so ago, while Gaeyon lay on the outstretched mattress that folded out of the sofa. Kate relaxed a little.

                “I’ll just text my roommates then,” she calmed down and pulled out her phone as Min Ho made her bed.

She texted her friends that she had met up with a friend, and had accidentally stayed out all night (which technically was true). She would be home tomorrow night, and they would see her at school tomorrow anyway. She turned back to find Min Ho pulling back a quilt on the mattress, and fluffing a pillow. She giggled.

                “You don’t have to do that for me,” she said. He smiled at her.

                “괜찮아, I dragged you here after all, it’s the least I could do.” She smiled at him.

                “Geumsumnida.” He gave her a short friendly bow, and left for bed. She heard a rustling of blankets, and turned to see Gaeyon, wide awake.

                “So, you’re dating Jay Park?” she asked, raising an eyebrow. Kate nodded. “Why did you follow Min Ho here then? Kinda mean, don’t you think, leading him on and all?” Kate looked at her feet.

                “If I did, I didn’t mean to, I lost my phone again, and went to look for it. For the second time, I found him, and he happened to have found it before me.” Gaeyon smiled.

                “Put a chain on that thing, girl, it will cause you plenty of problems if you don’t.” Kate nodded.

                “Yea, that would be a smart idea, wouldn’t it?” she placed it in her purse and laid down and covered herself up.

                “By the way, if you want to, I wouldn’t mind giving you a ride to school tomorrow. Since, you know, I know you’re not trying to steal my boyfriend now.” Kate giggled.

                “Thanks, Gaeyon.” The two girls smiled at each other before turning over, turning off the lamps that were left on, and going to bed.  Now that she no longer had an enemy, Kate felt more at ease.

                ‘Well,’ she thought to herself, ‘this ‘dating a celebrity and living in Korea deal’ is turning out to be easier than I thought.’ She pulled the covers up to her chin, and drifted off to sleep.

END OF CHAPTER 9