“Do I look okay?”

Kate rolled her eyes. “No, you look rubbish.”

“I just wanna look casual,” Rochelle replied, looking at her image in the mirror. She had her favourite grey jeans on and a pink top that said talk nerdy to me emblazoned on the front. Her brown hair was messily put up in a ponytail, and she hadn’t bothered with much makeup, just mascara and liner to emphasize her eyes. She then looked back at her best friend, who dropped the magazine in her hands to the bed.

“You look perfect to hang out with a bunch of guys. Which by the way is totally unfair because I want to come too. Can’t I be your assistant? I could hold the camera!”

“I wish you could Kate, maybe when I know them a little more?”

The red head let out a huff of air. “I’m holding you to that.”

Rochelle smiled and picked up her bag, grabbing her sunglasses off the dresser top. She fare-welled Kate and then headed downstairs, taking a taxi to the address she had been given. She was still struggling to get a grasp on Seoul’s different districts, and found it easier not to even attempt navigating on her own. She had never been good with maps anyway.

It took twenty minutes to get to the area she needed to be in, and her nerves had crept up slightly. Rochelle had spent the night planning her initial questions for SHINee, but wondered how much she’d actually achieve today. She paid the driver and then walked into the apartment building, showing her ID to the bell keeper so she could use the elevator. It said on the square piece of paper that she was to take it to the top floor, and so she hit the button, tapping her foot impatiently as the elevator took it’s time going up. Finally the doors opened and she stepped out into a corridor, looking at the door numbers and slowly walking along until she found the right number.

Tentatively she rapped her knuckles against the door, and waited for it to be answered.

It soon opened and she smiled brightly, Jonghyun grinning happily. “Ohhh!”

“Hello, I’m Rochelle, from K Beats,” she mentioned and the shocked boy nodded, opening the door further. She kicked off her flats and then followed Jonghyun down the tiny hallway, stepping into an expansive living area. She smiled again as all the eyes turned to see who it was.

“Oh I remember you!” Taemin said and got up, nodding his head. “Hello!”

“Hi guys,” she said and was directed to a space on the couch. She recognised their manager Seung-Eun from SM Entertainment from visits to the magazine’s office and he greeted her warmly.

“So the boys know you’re here to do the fan booklet,” he stated as all the welcomes had been said. “But they’re not really sure what’s happening.”

“To be honest, I’m not exactly sure either,” she admitted with a smile and Key laughed.

“Oh no, we will have to make a plan so we all are clear then!”

“Well, I do have an idea,” she stated, and slowly felt her nerves disperse as she remembered her job here. “My instructions are to get to know you all better, and tag along with whatever you have to do. I then have to write up a profile on each of you and do a bit of a recap of what you get up to on your schedule. I hope not to become a burden to you guys.”

Minho shook his head. “We are happy to have you here.”

Seung-Eun stood up. “Well, you’ve got the morning free to get more acquainted. Then we have a rehearsal this afternoon. Be ready.”

They fare-welled the man and Rochelle glanced back at the boys shyly. Now that she had given over all she knew, she was quiet, looking at each of them and wondering what their personalities would be like. At least she knew Minho was the quietest, from the interview with Min-Gi a few weeks back. But she could tell he was very modest and genuine, and his deep eyes seemed to regard her happily.

“I’m sorry, I’ve forgotten your name,” Key mentioned and she blushed lightly.

“Oops, I didn’t introduce myself when I came in,” she apologised. “It’s Rochelle.”

“Uh yes, now I remember.” Onew smiled. “Do you remember us?”

“I do.”

Taemin grinned. “Tell us!”

“Okay, well Jonghyun is beside me,” she started and looked down the line. “Then it’s Minho, Onew, Key and Taemin.”

“Well done!” Jonghyun praised and she smiled. “Is it hard for you to speak Korean? You seem to do a good job though.”

“I’m still learning so if I make mistakes, I’m sorry. But I’ve been learning for a couple of years now,” she replied and Key nodded.

“We will help you, won’t we?” The boys all nodded too and she relaxed completely at their kind gesture. Key then leant forward. “How old are you?”

“I’m twenty one in Korea.”

“Ooh, a noona,” Jonghyun said with a grin. “Noona you are so pretty,” he sang and Rochelle blushed, causing the boys to break out in laughter.

“Stop embarrassing her!” Taemin mentioned with a small laugh and then smiled brightly. “Noona, do you know how old we are?”

She shook her head and Onew cleared his throat. “I’m the oldest at twenty, and so is Jonghyun. Key and Minho are eighteen and Taemin is almost seventeen.”

“Wow, I thought you were all older than you are.”

“Looks like we have much to learn about one another,” Minho pointed out and she nodded, looking forward to the rest of their morning and learning more about SHINee.

The five members were more than excited to have Rochelle around. They had talked all morning, after Taemin showed the girl around their dorm. Onew felt a little nervous around her at first, but he was glad to see it was Rochelle they had sent. After their interview a few weeks back the five boys had been intrigued with the English born girl, Key talking about how interesting it would be to have a full English conversation for an interview. Now he had his chance and between him, Jonghyun and Taemin, the reporter was incredibly overwhelmed by how friendly they all were. Onew had even tried to be funny for her, and was happy that she had laughed at his jokes. He could tell that Rochelle would be fun to have around for the next few weeks, and that all the boys were feeling the same way. It had been awhile since they finished filming the Yunhanam reality show, and so the excitement of having another noona around was becoming very clear in the members eyes.

They had left for their rehearsal at Music Core for yet another performance of Juliette, and had just arrived, the six of them climbing out of the car and then walking the rest of the way to the building. Onew laughed at how as soon as they were all out of the car, Rochelle was surrounded again. She didn’t seem to mind though, and started speaking to Minho, who replied to her quietly.

“So how long will you be here for?” Rochelle asked as they stepped inside, looking at all the boys.

“We’ll be rehearsing at two, and then have an interview with another magazine. After dinner, we’ll come back here and get ready for the performance,” Onew answered and Taemin patted the girl’s lower arm gently.

“I hope you don’t get bored noona!”

“I’m sure you will be able to stop me from that.”

Key smirked. “You might if Onew decides to entertain us all.”

“Oh no, please not today Onew!” Jonghyun said through his laughter and the eldest rolled his eyes lightly. He wasn’t in the mood for the boys to about his lame jokes suddenly. He smiled politely at Rochelle and then walked off to find Minho who was already in their dressing room. The tall boy nodded his head once.

“Do you like the noona?” he questioned and Onew shrugged, sitting down on one of the couches and letting out a deep breath. “I think she will be very good to have around.”

Onew grinned. “Do you like her?”

“Not in the way you are thinking,” the younger boy replied with a blush and Onew laughed.  The others arrived then, and Jonghyun looked at Minho’s uncomfortable state before turning to Onew.

“What’s going on in here?”

“Nothing,” Minho said, getting up so he could use the bathroom.

“What did you do?” Onew shook his head as Key poked him hard and went to reply to the copper haired boy.

Luckily he was saved by their manager arriving, the boys respecting their elder with a bow and Rochelle sat down beside Onew on the couch. They shared a smile, and then Key joined them. He found it irritating how easily the younger boy would latch onto people, and Onew barely paid attention to what Seung-Eun was saying because of his annoyance.

As everyone started to move around, Onew snapped out of his mind, blinking a couple of times.

“You okay Onew?” Rochelle asked and he glanced down at her, nodding lightly. He then frowned, wondering why he was suddenly so frustrated. He left it down to the others teasing him and tried to let it go, getting ready to go out onto the stage.

________

Korean Words Used…

Noona: means older girl in Korean. Used by males only, and generally to people who they are close to. Less formal than sunbae.

Yunhanam: SHINee’s reality show that was around the “Replay” era, where they would go on ‘dates’ with Noonas.

Thanks everyone for reading ^_^