Dongwoo put his thumb to his lips and cocked his head to the side. With his other hand, he pulled down his t-shirt. This is uncomfortable. The shirt that he was wearing was itching him terribly, making him want to squirm. But he had to limit his movements now. He didn’t want to be scolded. So itchy, he couldn’t think about anything else. His hand moved to scratch his stomach. No, not now. He put both of his hands in his pockets and leaned back onto his heels. This might look cool.

“Dongwoo-ssi,” a voice called to him across the room.

“Yes?” Dongwo answered becoming stiff. His arms automatically dropping to his sides.

“Can you pose with this?” the director for this photoshoot asked handing him a pineapple.

“Yes, of course,” he said with false enthusiasm, taking the pineapple from the director with both hands. For photoshoots, Dongwoo had been asked to pose with many things from feathers to athletic equipment, but as he looked down at the prickly fruit, his mind drew a blank. What am I supposed to do with this? What did Myungsoo say to do? Dongwoo cradled the pineapple in his hands and put one of his feet in front of the other. Yea, this looks natural, right? People could walk with a pineapple like this. Like they just bought it, and they are bringing it home to their families. “Hey! Look, everybody! I bought fruit!” We need some more fruit in the dorms. We’re running low. I wonder if I can bring this home with me. Maybe if I asked nicely…or if I it, they would have to give it to me. No one else would want it after that, right?

While Dongwoo was busy fabricating this scenario in his mind, the photographer asked, “Dongwoo-ssi, I want to do some close ups. Can you bring the pineapple up to your face?”

His mind went blank again. But it’s prickly. Snapping back into reality, he answered politely, “Sorry. Yes.” Slowly and apprehensively, he brought the pineapple to his cheek as to not to scratch his face or ruin his make-up. The make-up noonas would not be happy if they had to redo his face because of a fruit. Dongwoo was pleasantly surprised once the pineapple hit his cheek. It felt cool against his skin, and it wasn’t as abrasive as he thought it would. Actually, it felt nice, as weird as it was, snuggling against a pineapple. Pineapple-ssi, I was wrong. You're kind of soft. And sweet. I want to eat you. Dongwoo leaned closer to the fruit and closed his eyes. His head drifted to the side.

“Yes! That’s good!” praised the photographer. Dongwoo laughed to himself. Although he felt silly in this pose, you never really know what’s going to look good on camera. That’s why Dongwoo is never really afraid to go with unconventional poses. Hear that, Pineapple-ssi? We make a great couple. He brushed his lips against the fruits rough skin as a gesture of gratitude.

After a few more shots of Dongwoo cuddling a pineapple, the photo-shoot was complete, and he was getting ready to leave with the rest of the members. “You’re bringing your new girlfriend home?” Woohyun joked pointing at the pineapple in Dongwoo’s hands. They did end up giving him the fruit as a parting gift and as a reward for a job well-done.

“Yea, and she’s going to taste delicious,” Dongwoo said putting the fruit down so he could change.

Woohyun immediately picked it up and patted it gently. “Shhhh! He didn’t say that.” The main vocal looked around furtively. “I’ll save you.” He tucked the pineapple under his arm and sprinted across the dressing room.

“Yah!” He yelled at his friend, but it was too late. Woohyun was already nowhere in sight. Before he could hunt down the fruit-thief, Sungkyu came up to his side, holding the rapper’s bulging bookbag.

“Dongwoo, this thing is too heavy,” the leader commented, lifting the bag only inches from the ground. “What do you put in here? It’s like it grows bigger every time I see it.”

Dongwoo sighed. Sungkyu was always nagging him about the size of his bag, but Dongwoo knew his hyung well enough to realize that he only wanted to know what was inside of it. The bigger his bag got, the more Sungkyu would comment about it. The leader’s nosiness was uncontrollable. However, this time, Dongwoo couldn’t give into his hyung’s whims. He was planning on leaving to visit Janie as soon as they reached the dorm, so he brought along with him some activities that they could do together (including but not limited to playing cards, a children’s book, various types of balls, and dinosaur figurines). If Sungkyu saw them, it would only lead to more questions, and the other members would get involved. He was not ready for the Infinite-Inquisition yet.

Dongwoo took the bag and threw it over his shoulders. “Thanks hyung!” He said, ignoring his questions. “I’ll clean it out later.” Sungkyu shot him a skeptical look. But before the leader could ask any more questions, Dongwoo had one for him. “Do you know where Woohyun went? He stole my girlfriend.”

Sungkyu cocked his head in confusion; then he realized what Dongwoo meant. “Your pineapple? Yea, he’s hiding behind the couch.” Sungkyu answered and pointed over to the corner behind him, where the main vocal was huddled into a little ball, protecting the pineapple, waiting for Dongwoo to come get him.

“Thanks” Dongwoo said as he bent down into a crouch, slowly creeping over to the corner. Once he got there, he pounced on top of Woohyun like a dinosaur.

____________________________________________________________________________

___

After wrestling with his friend for a few minutes, Dongwoo was able to win back his pineapple. And after wrestling with the space in his bookbag, he was finally able to squeeze it into the bag and zip it close. However, he was just barely able to give s the slip once they returned to the dorms. He was only able to because he mentioned that he felt as if his hives where coming back. Fearing seeing those gross red bumps, they willingly relented...and backed carefully away from him.

But Dongwoo could tell that they were starting to get suspicious. He would not be able to keep Janie a secret for much longer. It’s not like he had much to hide. Janie was just a friend, more like a little sister than anything. But he liked sneaking around and having something that only he knew about. Even though he received a high from dodging the members (it made him feel like a spy), he couldn’t hide the twinge of guilt of not being completely honest with them. Maybe he will tell them when he gets back tonight. Maybe. Probably not. Secrets are too much fun.

As Dongwoo approached the entrance to Janie’s apartment, the grandpa that he had met a couple of days ago was leaving the building. “Oh?” The old man recognized him. “You’re back.”

“Oh hello, sir,” he responded with a polite bow. “Yes, I’m here to visit my friend.”

The grandfather frowned, his wrinkles becoming deeper. “So you’re not here to take my wife. I told you, you can have her.”

Dongwoo laughed, “Maybe next time, but I’m here to visit the family that lives across the hall.”

“The American family?” the old man asked, raising one of his eyebrows curiously. Dongwoo nodded. “Just moved to this country about a month ago and already got herself a boyfriend. ”

“Uh, no it’s not like that…” Dongwoo began to say, but the aging man could not hear him over his own rant.

While shaking his graying head, the grandfather continued, “Well, she’s better than that girl in 402. She won’t stop talking about some pretty boy who gave her gum. She had it framed. Who frames gum? Crazy girl.” Dongwoo had forgotten his mishap with the Inspirit living on the same floor as Janie; he had forgotten that she lived there. He felt bad for inadvertently giving the old man and probably all of their neighbors trouble. “Well, I’m leaving. Bye!”

Dongwoo waved to the old man as he turned the street corner, “Goodbye! Take care!” He then walked up to the fourth floor and approached Janie’s door. As he did so, he heard a voice coming from inside. He carefully pressed his ear to the door. A screeching voice met with his ear. Janie was…attempting to sing, and although the tune was obviously distorted by her tone deafness, the song still sounded vaguely familiar, like it was from his childhood. As he was trying to piece together the mangled song, his hand brushed against the doorknob, and it twisted. Oh, it’s open, he thought and an evil smile appeared across his normally angelic face. It was an opportunity that he couldn’t pass up.

He opened the door as carefully as he could, trying not to make a single sound. Once he was able to poke his head through, he did and looked around. Janie was sitting on her couch passionately singing with a remote as a microphone. At least it looks like she’s feeling better, but it doesn’t sound like it, he joked to himself. Although she was dressed in sweats and her hair was thrown up carelessly into a bun, she looked infinitely better from their last meeting. Her face had completely returned to her normal hue, and her eyes, although closed as she really getting into the song, Dongwoo assumed that they were back to normal as well. The puffiness surrounding them had disappeared. As she was reaching the high-point of the song, Dongwoo got onto the balls of his feet and stepped closer to her.

Then, the perfect moment came, “Show you the man that I’ve BECOOOOOOOOOOOOOOME!” she belted pointing at an imaginary person in front of her.

“Oh, you’re a man?!” Dongwoo exclaimed, feigning shock.

She was terrified like he expected and hoped she would be, screaming and instantly jumping back into the couch. But he didn’t expect her to throw her remote “microphone” in his direction. It hit him just below his eye. “OOOOOOOW!” He yelped, his hands immediately covering his new injury.

“Oh my gawd! Dongwoo, I’m so sorry,” she apologized as she rushed over to his side. She grabbed his shoulders and led partially blind Dongwoo to the couch. “Sit. I’ll go get some ice.”

“No, no. I’ll be fine,” Dongwoo replied, gritting his teeth. Damn, this hurts. She has a strong arm…and good reflexes. Last time I try to scare her. His fingers gingerly prodded his wounded cheek. It had already started to swell, obscuring his sight in that eye. His eyes also began to water from the pain. If this turns into a black eye…With that thought his mind was sent down a spiral, contemplating all of the questions that would be asked and the excuses that he would have to make to everyone. He knew that her actions were unintentional, but anger began forming in the bottom of his belly. This playdate hadn’t gone off on a good start, and he had been looking forward to it all day.

“Psh!” Janie hissed harshly, interrupting Dongwoo in the middle of composing his future excuses. He could hear her plopping ice cubes into a bag, one by one. “Your cheek is going to get big, and you’ll look like this,” she said, closing tightly her one eye, with hanging open in a crooked grimace reminding Dongwoo of a pirate. And with that one expression, the anger that was slowly building completely dissipated, and it was replaced with laughter. He could never stay angry for long anyways, and Janie made it especially hard for him to be, with her little sister aegyo.

After placing the last ice cube in the bag, she walked over, sat closely next to him, and gently placed the bag against his puffy cheek. Dongwoo recoiled a bit from the cold, but she held it steady. He looked up and was surprised to see that her normally cheery expression had fallen into a look of guilt. Her eyebrows were furrowed, and she couldn’t look him in the eye. Her eyes were darting all over the place, like a fly buzzing around a room. In a voice slightly above a whisper, she said, “I’m sorry.”

Dongwoo took the bag from her hands. “Hey, you didn’t mean to,” he said gently, patting her on the shoulder with his free hand. “How are you feeling? Do you still hurt?”

Janie looked up and smiled brightly with this change of subject. “Just a little,” she said while pinching the air. “But I’m better.” It was hard for him to believe that just this morning, she was in the hospital. She was recovering more quickly than when a rubberband returns to its original shape after being stretched. She was tough.

Then Janie cocked her head and looked as if her mind was buried in thought. Dongwoo responded by doing the same. “How did you get in?” she asked.

Oh, right that, people just don’t barge into other people’s home. But something about Janie and this apartment made him feel inexplicably comfortable, like he was familiar with them for much longer than a couple of weeks; it felt like another home, like the Infinite dorm or the practice room. But even though he felt that way, Dongwoo had to remind himself that Janie might not feel the same way. “The door was unlocked,” he said with an embarrassed shrug. To his surprise, she responded with an understanding nod, like she would have done the same in a similar situation. He was relieved that she wasn’t upset. “I heard you singing. You have a great voice,” he complimented giving her a thumbs up.

She immediately rolled her eyes and playfully pushed his chest. “Psh! Don’t lie,” she scoffed. She knew! She wasn’t denying his compliment in a humble way but in a don’t-mess-with-me-I-know-better way (whew! That was long).

Dongwoo started to laugh, admitting to his lie. “You’re right. It .” He then proceeded to mimic her awful screeches that she passed for singing, making sure to crack his voice at least 3 times in that one line, “Show you the man that I’ve become.”

Janie was not pleased. Her eyes were boring holes into him, but then they softened all the sudden, and a mischievous grin flashed across her face. Her hand slowly went to the hem of her shirt, and Dongwoo immediately knew what she was threatening to do. “Do you really want to see my scar again?” she asked as she began to lift the hem.

Dongwoo flew across the couch and gripped the hem of her shirt, pulling it down before he could see even one inch of her skin. “Stop it! Stop it!” he begged. She burst into a laugh that would rival an evil genius. Dongwoo pouted as he put the ice pack back onto his cheek, reclining back into his original spot. He would have to be careful teasing Janie; she knew how to deal it back, like one of his older sisters or the members. She wasn’t that weak, drugged girl at the hospital anymore; she was sharp. With that thought his pout morphed into a smile; he was enjoying the rapport that they were quickly developing. She would make a good rival.

Janie started to move closer to him. Dongwoo was taken aback by her sudden shift in moods. “Let me look,” she commanded as she moved the bag from his cheek. She brought her face closer to his own. As it would happen, his eyes had not stopped watering since he was hit, and at this moment, his cruel eyes finally decided to let go a tear. His heart stopped. Now knowing Janie’s penchant for teasing, he might never live this moment down. He wasn’t proud of his weak heart and his eyes that flowed like a fountain, but he had accepted it. Still didn’t mean that he would like to be teased about it. Janie’s brows furrowed with puzzlement. Her thumb brushed across his cheek, collecting the tear. She then pulled back from Dongwoo’s face and carefully studied her thumb. Realization slowly hit her, and she let out a snort, obviously holding back a barrage of laughter behind her puffed cheeks.

“What? Why? Why are you laughing?” Dongwoo questioned his friend on the brink of a giggle fit. “Crying…” he began to say softly but he was interrupted.

Janie pushed her thumb into his sight, and that’s when he saw it, the source of her laughter. His foundation had rubbed off onto her small thumb. “You’re…wearing…make-up!” she exclaimed finally collapsing in a fit of laughter and snorts. Tears were flowing from her eyes. “You look prettier than I do!” she said in between gasps, pointing to her clean face.

At this moment, Dongwoo realized how strange he must have looked today. He normally always met Janie clean-faced and wore a hat or hoodie covering his head so that he could avoid being recognized. But today, he came to his apartment with his hair perfectly styled and hat-free and with full make-up on from the photo-shoot. He admitted it was weird, looking as if he suddenly cared about his appearance, but was it weird enough to warrant the hundreds of giggles and chortles coming from Janie? Normal guys could look like this, right? Dongwoo was slowly realizing that the world he was living in and Janie’s were very different.  “Is it really that weird?” he asked.

Janie attempted to calm down, stifling her laughter. “No, no, no,” she responded waving her hands.

As she was trying to catch her breath, Dongwoo took this opportunity to take out the gift he bought for Janie. Feeling bad that he didn't give her a get-well gift at the hospital, he recently dropped by a bookstore and purchased a children’s book. After seeing all of her grammar books sprawled out on her table, he had noticed that there was not one actual book in Korean, one with a plot. Although a Pororo book might seem immature, the level seemed about right for a beginner. And it’s colorful cover had attracted his eye. Unfortunately, the slim book was hidden somewhere in the deep recesses of his book-bag.

As he was pulling out his precious pineapple and setting it on the floor, Janie finally recovered her breath and said with a genuine smile, “You look very handsome.”

Dongwoo felt his cheeks grow hot and hid his face in his bag. He knew that she was just saying that to make amends for literally laughing at his face, but he still felt touched. Then finally, his hand brushed against the smooth, glossy finish of the book’s cover. He smiled and pulled it out, showing it to his friend. “Ah! Here it is! Let’s read this!”

Janie studied the book’s cover. “Pororo…” she pronounced carefully, as if a little baby saying its first words. Her face immediately lit up. “CUTE!” she exclaimed praising the appearance of the blue, goggle-wearing penguin.

Dongwoo somehow knew that she would approve of this activity. Janie had a great and admirable thirst for knowledge. She was constantly a slave to her curiosity, asking questions or inspecting everything. But even stronger than her willingness to learn was her love for cute animals, hence her ducky pajamas. He reveled in the fact how well he understood this strange girl after only meeting her a few times.

He plopped himself on the couch next to her with the book in his lap. Janie looked up at him with concern in her eyes. “Do you read? Or me?” she asked.

Dongwoo nudged her, “You!” Janie took a large gulp, growing more nervous. Dongwoo nudged her again as he opened to the first page. “Go ahead!” he encouraged her.

It took them over an hour to finish the small book,  but the time passed enjoyably. Before, Dongwoo had always seen himself as an older brother to Janie, but now he felt like a father and Janie his child. She pronounced every word slowly, exaggerating the sounds with . Every now and then, she would slip up and grossly mispronounce a word or phrase. Dongwoo would politely correct her. Instead of being discouraged, like any adult would after failing so many times, their pride hurt, Janie took it in stride and would pronounce the word correctly a couple of times before moving on. A couple of times, she would pronounce a word as if a question, unsure if it was right, looking at Dongwoo for confirmation, her eyes wide with doubt. He had to fight the urge to ruffle her hair and say, “Aigoo! That’s right, my child!” It was as if she turned from a 20-something year-old (he really needed to ask how old she was one of these days) into a five year-old, learning these simple Korean words for the first time.

It was not only her reading of the book which seemed adorably child-like, but also the conversation that they had while they read it. Dongwoo couldn’t help but ask those questions that were typical of a parent whenever they read to a child:

“What do you think will happen next?” he asked before turning to the next page.

“I don’t know. I’m scared. Turn the page!” she answered, unknowingly inching closer to him.

At another point in time, Dongwoo asked “Who’s your favorite character?” while looking at a page with all the characters gathered together in celebration. Jane immediately pointed to Loopy. “Why?”

“She’s pink. Pink’s my favorite color,” she stated simply, as if it was the obvious choice.  “Who’s your favorite?” she asked.

 “Crog,” he responded.

“Why?”

 “Green’s my favorite color,” he answered using similar logic.

“I know,” she said looking down at the page.

 “How?!” Dongwoo exclaimed in shock. She couldn’t possibly know; he never told her.

Jane pointed to the pants he was wearing; they were bright green. “It’s obvious,” she stated sticking out her tongue.

Eventually, they finished the book, and Janie was beaming, obviously proud of her latest accomplishment. As she was flipping through the book, looking at the pictures more closely, Dongwoo’s eyes drifted to her laptop. It was still on and opened up to her itunes. Deep, deep way down, Dongwoo knew it was wrong to snoop through his friends computer contents, but his own curiosity, like Janie’s, often got the better of him. He wanted to know what music she listened to, whether she knew anything about Kpop, about Infinite, about him. Did she just feign ignorance? Dongwoo contemplated whether she should or shouldn’t delve into her music library for a few seconds. What the hell? I’ve already rummaged through her purse and barged into her apartment, and she seemed cool with it, he concluded.

Janie had an odd assortment of music and an incredibly large amount of Ludacris and other hip-hop artists. He looked over at his friend  as she was curled up with a children’s book, her fingers tracing the outlines of the pictures, her bangs still in disarray. She really did not look like the type to be into rap or hip-hop. It didn’t seem to match with her child-like image. He turned his attention back to the computer screen. As much as he looked, he could not find a single Kpop song. He sighed in  relief. She hadn’t been playing him. She was still unfamiliar with Korean culture even though she had lived here for about a month. Janie really doesn’t get out much, he concluded. Then he saw it, the reason why that song earlier sounded so familiar. “You like them? Really?” he asked pointing to the album photo of the Backstreet Boys on her itunes.

Janie put down her book and smiled. “Yup! They’re awesome!” She picked up the laptop from the table and placed it on her lap. “I love boy bands,” she said proudly as she the image of the five men tenderly.

Well, that fits in more with her image. And here Dongwoo was, a member of a popular boy band, sitting just inches away from a girl the image of band from the past so longingly. He could hardly handle the irony of the situation. He was just imaging the reaction she would have if he had told her his true occupation. Disbelief? Shock? Tears? He just imagined her being in the crowd at one of their concerts, jumping up and down, holding a fan-sign proclaiming her love for Infinite and screaming, “I LOVE YOU!”. Regardless of how tough she was, Janie was also very girly, with her love of pink and cute animals; he could imagine her being a fan-girl so easily. Before he knew it, he crumpled into a laughing mess, rolling on the floor, clutching his stomach. He wasn’t really laughing at her, but the situation. It was all too ironic.

“What? I do!” she exclaimed. Dongwoo only laughed harder. She kicked him in his side. “Stop it!” she commanded.

Seeing that he was upsetting her, Dongwoo tried hard to collect himself, but it was hard. Once he started laughing, it was hard to stop, like when you are sledding down a hill, you can’t just stop half-way, you have to finish the ride all the way through. Finally, he regained control of his breath. He wiped away the tears that had been spilling out of his eyes. Sitting back on the couch, he turned to her and asked innocently, “Do you listen to Kpop?” as if he hadn’t been raiding her music library.

Janie looked embarrassed as she shook her head, “Nope. I’m homesick, so I’ve been listening to American songs.”

Dongwoo smiled, knowing the next piece of information he was about to tell her would satisfy her immensely. “There’s a lot of boy bands,” he said spreading out his arms. “A whole lot.”

Her head quickly turned to look at him head on. “Really?!” Janie asked excitedly. She then placed her laptop into his lap. “Show me!” she commanded with the impatience of a little kid.

Dongwoo laughed. “Okay!” he responded with equal enthusiasm.

Now Dongwoo was faced with another problem, with the internet at his fingertips, he had a virtual mountain of boy bands to sift through. Which one would be appropriate for the first Kpop boy band she’s ever heard? To Dongwoo, the answer was obvious. He knew exactly what song he wanted to share with her. He was curious to see how she would react to it, not knowing that he was a member of the band, a completely unbiased opinion. But what if she recognized his voice? While he was arguing with himself, his hands had already brought up the song and were threatening to press play. He decided to just go with his instincts. He looked over to Janie, bouncing with anticipation, “Okay! Got it. You ready?”

“Press play already!” she begged him. He did. She fell silent and still. Every fiber of her being listening to the song. Every fiber of Dongwoo’s being was concentrating on her blank facial expression, trying to make sense of her reaction. Then  she laughed.

“What? What’s so funny?” Dongwoo asked. He could feel a frown forming on his face.

“Mario Kart. It sounds like Mario Kart. Like Rainbow Road,” she said between giggles.

Dongwoo had never heard that reaction and didn’t know what to make of it. “You don’t like it?”

Janie looked at him with a growing smile on her face, shaking her head happily. “I LOVE it!” she exclaimed. Dongwoo’s frown faded, being immediately replaced with a smile. Janie started to dance seat, which consisted of her mostly shaking her head back and forth to the beat and moving her hands in the air. “It’s fun! What’s it called?”

“Man In Love,” he stated. Dongwoo felt himself following her dance, also perhaps a knee-jerk reaction to whenever the song is played. He found himself performing some of the choreography unconsciously.

Then she asked a seemingly easy but difficult question, “Who sings it?”

Dongwoo froze. He looked over at his friend who was lost in the song. He couldn’t really respond saying that he sang it. He tried. He tried to say the truth. He wanted to say it. He felt the real answer form in the back of his throat, but on the tip of his tongue was a name of another band, “Shi…SHINee?” Shame crept into the recesses of his mind, immediately regretting saying that.

Janie innocently accepted his word as truth and asked, “Can you show me more? I think I like them.”

Dongwoo had to follow through with his rouse for now, maybe later he could tell her the truth, when he was ready. He decided that the only way he could hide the fact that a completely different band sang the previous song, was to overload her senses by showing her a music video. It was a long shot, but it was all he had. Janie was a smart girl, fooling her would not be easy. He pulled up a video and placed the laptop on the table in front of the both of them, “SHINee’s Sherlock,” he announced as he pressed play.

Janie looked up at him skeptically and said, “Sherlock?” She then turned her attention to the screen. Slowly her eyes got wider, and her jaw dropped. It was as if she fell into a trance, robbing her of her speech, being unable to look away. She fell for it, Dongwoo thought as he was simultaneously hit with a wave of guilt for misleading her. “Whoa! They dance so well,” she exclaimed, with her nose practically touching the computer screen.

“I can dance too,” Dongwoo blurted out. He wanted her attention again all the sudden and away from SHINee.

Janie looked over at him and rolled her eyes. “Dance like that?” she asked pointing to the video of the five boys.

Dongwoo smiled, anticipating her surprise. “No, I’m better,” he said confidently.

Jane motioned for him to get off the couch. “Prove it!” she urged.

She has no idea, Dongwoo thought as he was rubbing his hands like some evil genius. “Okay!” he exclaimed, graciously accepting the challenge that she had laid in front of him. He walked over to her itunes and played one of the hip-hop songs randomly. It didn’t really matter which one. He enjoyed the challenge of freestyling. Once he found the rhythm, everything else would fall into place. Dancing came naturally.

As the song started, he immediately caught the beat and did some simple pop and locking. His moves became progressively more difficult as the song went on. In the midst of his performance, his eyes darted towards Janie. Her jaw was practically on the floor, and she was as still as a pillar, in a complete state of shock. With that reaction, he knew what move to do next, the one that put Infinite on the map early on in their career, the scorpion dance.

“No way!” Janie jumped out of her seat and started clapping after he preformed the final move.

Dongwoo started bowing, marking the end of his performance. Then he stood up straight and said smugly, “I told you.” He was overcome with a sense of accomplishment after proving her doubts wrong.

Janie admitted, “You’re cool.” She then walked next to him and begged, “Teach me how to do that move.”

Dongwoo was taken aback by her sudden compliment and hardly registered her request. “Oh! The scorpion dance! Okay,” he responded. He had taught dance lessons to several people before, but the language barrier might be difficult to overcome in this instance. However with Janie’s willingness to learn, Dongwoo was confident that he could pull this off. He placed the both of them into position, allowing both of them enough room to perform the move. Then he slowly went through the motions, watching to see that Janie was paying attention. Her eyes were on him, but they weren’t fixed. She looked at every motion, every part of his body as he performed the move. Dongwoo was impressed with her level of concentration, and also felt a little awkward under her intense gaze. “You go down like this. Hands here. Then you lift your leg like this. And you push off with your hands like this. Got it?”

Janie nodded. Her eyes now glued to his feet as he just got back up from the ground. She took in a deep breath and started stretching her body. Dongwoo laughed. Janie once again was reminding him of himself, stretching his body thoroughly before dancing as to not risk injury. His eyes widened with the last thought. Injury. She had been acting to cheerful and hyper that he had forgotten that she was still sick. He looked at her as she laid her body onto the floor. This isn’t what a person who just had their appendix removed should do. The stitches could reopen, then…blood.

She must’ve just realized it too. For once her stomach reached the ground, Janie just collapsed onto the ground. She kicked her feet as if she was throwing a tantrum.

Seeing her revert to a child again, Dongwoo laughed. “What? What’s wrong?”

“Squid dance,” she responded, unwilling to admit defeat, acting as if she meant to do this all along.

Dongwoo crouched down to her level and analyzed her injured side. There was no blood, thankfully. “Your stomach hurt?” he asked full of concern.

Janie looked at him like a deer caught in the headlights. He gave her a comforting smile, seeing that she was more embarrassed than hurt at the moment. He was glad to see that he didn’t push her too hard with their miniscule dance lesson. “Can you help me up?” she asked already grabbing onto his shoulder and pulling herself up carefully.

After she had gotten up, Dongwoo led her over to the couch. With a fatherly tone he commanded to her, “Sit down and rest.” She had relented without a fight, her head still hanging down from embarrassment. Dongwoo sat down next to her, studying her face. She tried so hard to hide her weakness, to be tough. Then he laughed, she had that side to her, but she was also one of the most expressive people that he knew. He could tell what she was thinking. It made it easier for them to communicate with one another, making the language barrier more like a language hurdle. With a little effort they could easily jump over it.

“Dongwoo, give me your hand,” Janie suddenly commanded.

“Huh? Why?” he asked. He saw enough dramas and variety shows  to know how potentially dangerous this situation could be. Janie wasn’t above putting a frog in his hands, or some other slimy creature.

She stomped her foot impatiently. “Just close your eyes and give me your hand,” she said pouting her lip.

Dongwoo apprehensively closed his eyes and placed his hand in hers. He then felt her other hand tighten around his wrist. His eyes snapped opened and he recoiled his hand. “What are you doing?”

Janie took back his wrist and stared at him. “Just wait! Hold on!” she urged him. He closed his eyes again, barely. He left one of his eyes slightly opened so that he could see what she was about to do. Janie was placing something around his thin wrists, a bracelet that she had made. After she had fastened it around his wrist, knotting it a few times, she announced, “Jjang! Open your eyes!”

Dongwoo fully opened both of his eyes and got a better look at his new accessory. He was surprised. “It’s green!”

Janie stuck out her tongue. “I told you I knew!” She then brandished her own wrist, showing off her own bracelet, a pink one. “They’re friendship bracelets. Now we’re officially friends! See look! They go together!” Dongwoo looked down and noticed a thin pink thread woven through the braids. Janie’s was the same but reversed. She then wagged a finger in front of his face. “Don’t take it off,” she said sternly. She had tied the knot so tightly around Dongwoo’s wrist that he doubted whether he could ever take it off, but it didn’t matter. He wanted to keep it on. It was a sign of their blossoming friendship, and taking off the bracelet would seem as if he wanted to remove Janie as a friend. Nope, this thing was on his body for good.

“Thank you,” he said grateful for his new gift.

As they were marveling at their marks of their friendship, Dongwoo’s cellphone rang, causing the easily startled couple to leap out of their seats. Dongwoo removed the phone from his pocket and saw who was calling. It was Sungkyu.

“Do you need to get that?” Janie asked. Dongwoo could feel her trying to read the caller id from over his shoulder. He tried to block her sight with his shoulder.

He ignored the call for now and sadly said, “I need to go.” He had looked at the clock and realized that he would be late for practice. The members were waiting for him. He couldn’t dawdle anymore. But as sad as he was, he could see that Janie was probably sadder. Her smile had completely fallen off from her face. “I’ll try to come again tomorrow. But…”

Janie interrupted, pulling herself upright, “I understand. I’m a big girl. If you’re busy, you’re busy.” Dongwoo frowned while looking at her, she must be used to being put on the back burner, seeing as she was completely understanding of the situation. It reminded him of their first encounter, when she had cried and complained of loneliness.

She had walked him to the door, shuffling her feet and her head glued to the floor. Dongwoo all the sudden knew how a dad felt when he says goodbye to his child before leaving for a business trip. He raised her head with his forefinger, forcing her to make eye contact with him. He put on his best smile. “I’ll be back soon!” he promised. “You really need to get a cellphone.”

A smile once again reclaimed her face. Janie opened the door for him and then rested her head against it. “Pfft! I know! It’s hard,” she responded. Dongwoo walked out into the hallway and looked back at his friend. “Take care,” she bid him with a weak wave.

“You too!” He called back with an equally sad wave. He watched her door close before he had left, wishing earnestly that he could keep his promise and see her again soon.

_______________________________________________________________________________________

From Janie’s apartment, Dongwoo straightaway headed towards the practice room, where he knew the members would be waiting for him. As he walked into the room, he was surprised to see that not all of them were there. Sungyeol and L were missing. Sungkyu was talking in hushed whispers on his cellphone. Woohyun and Sunjong were trying to listen in, hovering over the leader’s shoulders. Hoya was the only member facing the door and was the first one to notice Dongwoo’s arrival. “You’re in trouble!” he teased, his face breaking into a evil grin.

Dongwoo crouched down and began to stretch. “I know. I’m sorry that I’m late.” He looked around the room again. “Where’s Sungyeol and L?”

At that moment, Sungkyu ended his call and turned towards Dongwoo. The look in his eyes scared the rapper. It wasn’t the angry stare that he was expecting or even the look on his face before he enters into a long stream of complaints. It was a far more dangerous look. “I know everything,” the leader said, with a knowing glint in his eye.