Once the door was shut and Manager Kim had left, Leeteuk let go of my hand, his sweet smile had also disappeared, and he walked ahead of me. I stood frozen in the spot where he left me, too nervous to move. Leeteuk turned around when he noticed I wasn’t following him.

“Eh? Why are you just standing there? You’re getting paid to teach us something not to just stand around.” He remarked coldly.

What is this today? Do I just put all these people in a foul mood?! I nodded and followed him with my head hung low.

In the living room the next set of boys came into my life. I tried not to stare at them as they caught my eyes. Siwon and Donghae sat crossed legged on the floor their attention now turned to me. Siwon stood up. Oh wow, he’s tall. I thought as he smiled at me.

“Hello. I am Choi Siwon. You are new teacher?”  He asked in English.

I couldn’t help but smile at his eagerness. “Yes. I’m Jade.” Finally, here’s someone who I didn’t annoy with my very presence.

Donghae looked away from me and went over to where Eunhyuk sat in front of the television. The two began whispering something to each other but I couldn’t hear. I struggled with the fact that half of them were going to be this way towards me and to not to take it too personally. After all how was I supposed to expect them to react? I guess in my mind I was a bit more delusional then I should’ve been. I mean, why in my right mind would I think they would all treat me like I was something special?

I turned around suddenly at the sound of footsteps. Sungmin and Kibum stood cautiously like they had just been caught doing something wrong. I smiled. What else could I do at this point without fainting? Kibum returned the smile, where as Sungmin merely stood a statue. He sized me up, attempted to hide the fact that he rolled his eyes and walked back towards the rooms. Uh?! Minnie?!

“Do you have a lesson plan in that small purse of yours?” Leeteuk asked.  

Siwon furrowed his brows. “Maybe we should introduce everyone to her first.”

“Oh no that’s ok I already-…” My voice faded away as I realized what I was saying.

Siwon, Leeteuk and even Donghae, from the corner of the room, all stared at me suspiciously.

“Manger Lee gave her our profiles. Of course she probably already memorized our names to our pictures. Just like the teachers before her.” Kibum sighed. “She’s from America guys. Didn’t you read her profile? Trust me, she doesn’t know us like the others did.”

The three relaxed a little bit. I was so relieved he stood up for me. They would have never believed me and I would’ve been on the first plane home. But he was wrong. I knew them, without those profiles.

“So, you know us all then right?” I heard a voice come from another part of the room. “Here’s a test for you! Who am I?”

Shindong walked out from one of the rooms, his hands in the air, strutting over to me. Don’t answer to eagerly, Jade. I reminded myself.  I squinted in thought, pretending like I had a hard time remembering.

“Um…Shindong?” I mumbled.

He scoffed but completely ignored my answer. “What are you?”

“Excuse me?” I was confused now.

Siwon flicked him. “You can’t just rudely ask her like that.”

“YAH! I wanna know too!” Eunhyuk yelled from where he sat across the room.

Leeteuk sighed and walked back to where the bed rooms were. “I’m going to go get everyone out here. So we can get this over with.”

Kibum, who was now standing beside me, shot Shindong a look. He turned to me. “You’re not Korean? You speak the language very well.” He remarked in English. It was fairly good and his accent was hardly noticeable. I guess living in LA helped though.

I answered him in English. “No, I’m not. I studied Korean for a year and half. I’m half Chinese and half Spanish.”

His eyes widened. “Oh!”

Shindong scratched his head. “What did she say? Chinese?”

“Spanish?” Siwon tilted his head.

Eunhyuk had tiptoed his way over blinking, probably thinking the same as the other two. I reiterated my sentence in Hangul.

“I’m half Chinese, half Spanish. Hangul is my fourth language.” I smirked as they all ooh-ed and ahh-ed in amazement.

“So, you can speak English, Chinese, Spanish, and Hangul? Amazing!” Siwon commented shaking his head in disbelief.

Shindong tsked. “Eh!”

Eunhyuk looked at Kibum. “Speaking of Chinese. I’m hungry. Where’s Hangeng?”

Kibum shook his head. “He and Heechul went out somewhere today.”

I giggled to myself; so they really were ‘good’ friends after all. Oh, how the internet corrupts minds.

“Let’s go out to eat!” Shindong suggested.

“Do you have money?” Siwon asked.

Shindong groaned in defeat.

Eunhyuk turned to me. “So are we even learning anything today?”

I was caught off guard a bit. “Well, no…I didn’t actually come prepared. This was last minute.”

He growled. “I could’ve been sleeping still!” He stormed off back to where Donghae, who was now lying lazily across the sofa, was.

Why didn’t Manager Lee or Kim tell me to bring anything?! This meeting was getting awkward and hostile.This was definitely not how I wanted my first meeting with them to be. I figured we’d all be laughing and getting a long great. But yet, half of them were either ignoring me or disappointed and only two seemed genuinely interested in my being there. In all honesty I felt like crying because I wasn’t sure how to make myself more interesting for them. I really wanted them to all like me.

“Do you know how to cook?” Shindong asked.

“Uh, w-well…sort of.” I stuttered. Lies. I can’t cook.

He took me by the arm lightly and led me towards the kitchen. I felt ridiculous as I struggled to keep up with his long strides. The kitchen was a tiny bit bigger than mine. He let go of my arm and stared at me hopefully.

Kibum yelled at him. “She’s not a dorm maid!”

Siwon shook his head, embarrassed by how his band mates were acting.

Eunhyuk’s voice traveled loudly to the kitchen. “IS SHE GOING TO MAKE FOOD?! I WANT RAMEN!”

Finally, Leeteuk reappeared from the rooms followed by Sungmin and Kangin. I really hope they didn’t come out just because they think I’m making all of them food! Sungmin turned to head into the living room, Kangin and Leeteuk walked over to Sindong and me in the kitchen.

Kangin put his hands in his sides, staring at me seriously. “So, what are you going to cook for us?”

"It's the least you could do if you're not prepared to teach." Shindong commented. Leeteuk nodded in agreement.

B-but I can’t cook. What was I supposed to do? I felt like I was being backed into a corner and they were just waiting for me to break down and run out of the dorm screaming.

This was not the reality I wanted. What had I done to them to make them hate me already?