Needless to say, I drove back to the hotel alone. When the band finally showed up I found Youngbae and kicked him in the shin.

            “What was that for lady?!” he exclaims.

            “You know!”

            “All for show! You know that ain’t me,” he says.

            “’Is not me’” I correct him shamelessly. His English is not bad because it’s his second language. It’s bad because he wants it to be. I’m not accepting that. I’m going to teach him how to speak like a gentleman. He huffs and turns around to talk to Seungri.

            “Don’t talk with me!” Seungri shouts. “You do not know proper English and I do not want it rubbing off on me!” his words are staccato as if he is trying to dictate every consonant perfectly while holding his hands up like Youngbae has an infectious disease he doesn’t want to catch. “Ohhh no!” he shakes his head back and forth and goes over by Daesung. He sounds like an old man who is weary of myths that he actually believes in. Youngbae looks defeated now that he has no one to turn too to act cool with.

            I laugh out loud at this. “Youngbae, I’m sorry! I didn’t know I was going to turn the band against you,” I start cracking up and I fall on the floor. He doesn’t respond. “Youngbae-oppa….talk to me,” his face lights up and he looks at me with a wanting smile. I get up and walk over to him, giving him a friendly kiss on the cheek and a nice hug. “Should I call you Oppa from now on?” I ask. “I really do love you like a brother Youngbae-oppa. I just tease you because you mean a lot to me,” I say. He holds his cheek with his hand and he looks shocked. Seungri and Daesung join the hug fest now. I always feel safe with these guys. The day this ends will be the day I cry for the rest of my life.

            “Call me Oppa too!” Seungri shouts next to my ear.

            “Ow!”

            “Me too!” says Daesung.

            “I love you guys so much!” We break free from the hug and I hug each one individually.

            “Seungri-oppa,” I say, putting my arms around him. “You are the loudest, most obnoxious boy I know-and I love you so much. Never change, your English is great. Stay confident! Hwaiting!” I say with a hug. I move on to Daesung. We look at each other in the eyes for a second sharing an unspoken friendship. I would have to say that out of everyone in the group, Daesung would have to be my best friend. I give him a gentle hug. Though he is built to be hard as a rock, I always feel like I should be gentle with him.

“Daesung-oppa,” I think for a second about some words that I have learned in Korean. “Saranghae, chingu,” I say before I pull away. I throw him the okay symbol with my hands to see if what I said made sense in Korean and Korean culture. Is it okay to tell a friend you love them? I don’t know if saranghae is a word you should use ONLY to a lover or what but I know he knows my grasp on the language is limited so he wouldn’t take it the wrong way.

He returns my okay sign with his toothy grin, his eyes disappearing with his smile. “Oowwah! Saranghae!” He takes me back into his grip and gives me a good hug. He let’s go and the door opens. Jiyong and Seunghyun walk in.

“Ay yo. You are all bonding without us? I heard you! Come here!” he says to me. I walk over to him and he pulls me into a hug. “What is this