The surprise visit took everyone off guard, but none the less, the girls gathered their energy and made their way to the group that came to meet them.

“Show Time, Nu’est Time! Hello, we are Urban Electro Band Nu’est!” the greeted, bowing. The girls were impressed by their greeting, and greeted them back.

“Welcome to our Haven, we are Raven!” they greeted back.  An awkward silence fell over them. Each group wasn’t sure how to proceed. It was their first time mingling with a different group since they debuted. The silence ended when the members of Nu’est started speaking first, breaking the ice.

“My name is JR, leader of Nu’est. It’s a pleasure to meet you.” He said, bowing once more and motioned to the other members to begin their introductions.

“My name is Baekho and I’m main vocal. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“My name is Aron and I’m the rapper.”

“My name is Minhyun and I’m vocal and visual.”

“My name is Ren and I’m vocal, visual and maknae.”

The girls took in the introductions. Five beautiful, talented boys were introducing themselves to them. It was like a dream come true. To Heather, it actually was. She had always dreamt of having a handsome boy band come to see her, talk to her. She never thought that her mother would be right. That hard work really would take you places. She was glad she listened to her. Her eyes landed on Ren as he spoke. The blond was y and had a beautiful name. He was someone she certainly wanted to get to know better.

“Hello, my name is Jenny and I’m leader and visual.” The tallest spoke, bowing to them happily.

“Hello, my name is Tiffany, and I’m rapper and vocal.” The red head spoke, giggling.

“My name is Seyeon and I’m main vocal.” The brunette introduced.

“My name is Heather and I’m main vocal, visual and maknae.” Heather greeted, smiling sweetly.  With formalities out of the way, Jenny invited their new founded friends into the dressing room to chat for a while. Insure of what honorifics to use, they played a birthday guessing game until all years were discovered. It also helped to break the awkwardness between them.

“So you’re signed with Pledis too? That’s awesome!” Tiffany said. “Oppas can give us advice.”

“Your performance was wonderful, you really don’t need advice.” JR said, grinning goofily.

“He says that now, but in a few months when we start to stumble, we’ll hear nothing but nagging from them.” Seyeon teased light. The others laughed and she felt better. At least they were laughing at the things they said. That helped to put everyone at ease. The conversation was light and filled with jokes as the two groups learned about each other. Though Heather faded in and out of the conversation. She had a very bad tendency to be absent minded at time.

“Heather.” Tiffany nudged her. “You’re phone.” Blinking, Heather realized her phone was indeed going off for a second time. Standing, she moved to the vanity and picked it up.

“Oh, it’s my mom. Sorry.” She said and bowed to them before answering, speaking in perfect English. The conversation was short, but filled with emotions as her mother congratulated her for a great performance. They had a wonderful manager that recorded their performance for them and sent them to their families so they could watch.  Hanging up the phone, she made her way back to the group and sat down.

“My mom said we all did a great job and she’s rooting for us to go further.” She said. “She also said that Seyeon needs to not wear short dresses.” She unnie lightly.

“Aw.” Tiffany said and smiled. “Heather’s mom is wonderful. She’s very sweet and kind.” She explained. “And, she sends us the best American snacks ever.” Heather had to laugh at that.

“So you’re from the states?” Aron asked then. Heather stared at him and nodded.

“Yup. Florida. But my parents and I moved here about three and half years ago.” She said. “With my dad’s new job though, they travel back and forth between here and America, that’s why they’re always sending me snacks, but my Unnies think it’s for them.” She said and pouted cutely, making the other’s laugh.

“It’s a small world. Our Aron-hyung is from the states too. LA.” Baekho said.

“A California boy huh?” Heather asked and grinned. “So tell me, do you like being here?” she asked suddenly in English.

“It’s got its ups and downs. I miss home though and my school friends. But I really love my group mates and performing.” Aron answered.

“Ah. Well I heard California was a wonderful place to live. Personally I loved Florida. No earthquakes, no tornados, no snow and blizzards, just…hurricanes that happened once in a blue moon.” She said and laughed.

“Never went there, but next time we’re going overseas, I’ll ask our manager if we can go. Sounds like fun.”

“Oh, let me know, I’ll be your personal tour guide!”  Heather said.

“Alright, alright!” JR said and waved his hand in front of Aron’s body. “We can’t understand you.” He said. Aron laughed.

“Good.” He said. Heather giggled and shook her head.

“We were talking about our home towns and stuff like that. It’s alright.” She assured them. They nodded and more silence came. But this time it was a comfortable silence as information was taken in from the entertainers.

“So Heather, did you know Korean before you came here?” Minhyun asked.

“Well, not really.” She said. “I knew how to say hello, and how to say ‘yes’, ‘no’, and all three ways to say ‘I love you’ as well as ‘thank you’.” She listed. “I am a huge K-pop fan and I was about 15 when I found out about it. My first k-pop group I liked the more was Dong Bang Shin Ki.” She said.

“And from there it just escalated.”

“Wow. So you would watch videos?” JR asked.

“Yup, on YouTube. It was my best friend.” Heather said and laughed.

“So then, how many groups are you a fan of?”

“Oh don’t get her started!” Jenny said. “She’s got a mile long list!” she teased and Heather pushed her lightly.

“I do have a long list. Let’s see if I can remember them all. Dong Bang Shin Ki, BigBang, G-Dragon, F.T. Island, I the Tri Tops, Xing even though they disbanded. SS501,  Super Junior, U-Kiss, Infinite, Block B, B1A4, Teen Top, Girls Generation, 4Minute, 2NE1.” She listed and thought. “Probably more, but I’m not entirely sure.” She said and laughed.

“Wow! So many.” Ren said in awe.

“But she didn’t mention one group.” Baekho said.

“I didn’t? Who?” Heather asked confused.

“Nu’est!” Baekho said happily. Heather laughed and shook her head.

“Well I can’t like you if I haven’t heard your music. To be honest, I don’t have much time now to get into new bands because of practice. But I think I can become fans of Nu’est.” she said thoughtfully and nodded. “Maybe.”

“Maybe?” Baekho asked and pouted. “You have to be our fan.”

“On one condition.” Heather said.

“And that is?” Minhyun asked.

“Oppas feed me!” Heather said cutely, voice slightly higher as she batted her lashes at them.

“Yah!” Baekho said and stood. “I need food. Where’s food, have to feed this cute kitten.” He said and the other’s laughed. Heather’s face lit up as she laughed. It was nice to have fun like this. She had a feeling they would be great friends and would spend more time together.

“Five minutes to award ceremony. Head to the stage.” A producer announced before moving on. With the announcement made, the two groups stood and headed for the door. As they made their way back to the stage, numbers were exchanged and plans for the future made.

It amazed Heather how quick she made friends with not only an established group, but a group of the opposite . It made her very happy and motivated to continue to do her best and keep her spot in the k-pop world and in Raven.