- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

“I guess their songs aren’t so bad,” Arang muttered as the next BTS song on the playlist filled her ears. She had to admit their music was superb and definitely catchy. It was nothing she expected. She enjoyed the beats used and the vocals and rapping? They were outstanding as well. Sitting at the kitchen table with her eyes fluttered shut, her head was bobbing up and down with the rhythmic tunes she was basking herself in.

It looked like she had been too quick to judge.

Saeyoung was right. These guys did have talent and Arang wouldn’t argue with that. Her mind started to waver from her first impression of the group as she found herself delving deeper into the tempting sound waves. The lyrics were well thought out and truly inspiring. If only there were more songs like these today, Arang wouldn’t mind. Nowadays, however, all she ever heard on the radio were mushy gushy love songs and to be honest, she was getting sick of it all.

“Perhaps I can write a post about them,” she declared as the song reached its conclusion. Next, Arang removed the headphones and pulled her laptop in front of her. She opened up the internet browser and took in a deep breath. She went to YouTube and quickly typed in: bts no more dream official mv.

As the page loaded, hundreds of videos appeared on her screen. Arang selected the first one at the top and plugged the headphones in so that she wouldn’t disturb her sleeping sisters, Aesook and Eunmi, who were taking their naps. Her fingers interlaced while she propped her elbows onto the table as the video finally began. She noticed the date the music video was released and saw it was only less than two weeks ago. “Wow, they just debuted and they have so many fans already? Impressive.”

After, some guys popped onto the screen with background music playing. Arang recognized the song to be one of theirs and exhaled, waiting to see more. She saw that they were in a bus and was surprised they had chosen that kind of vehicle to cruise around in. Most guys would have preferred driving fast sports cars and the fact that these guys were riding around in a yellow block of cheese had Arang amused.

The driver then crashed into a stack of boxes and she rolled her eyes playfully. “Someone needs to get their license taken away.” Suddenly, music began playing and the boys started to evacuate the bus. The frame abruptly froze in black and white as the first member was introduced. Watching carefully, trying to match faces with names, Arang couldn’t help but wonder who decided to name half the guys.

In her head, she listed the members again. There were seven of them in total and then the beat to No More Dream, one of her favorites, began to play. Her full attention was returned to the video as she noted each member’s appearance before they were together as a whole again. The room they were currently in was quite spacious. There were chairs flipped over, a skating pipe behind them and several graffiti tagged on the walls.

The scenes often switched to the guys in different environments and as Rap Monster showed up again for his part after Suga had finished, Arang cocked her head to the side. “Why does he have so many sunglasses? It’s so dim in there. He doesn’t need to wear them,” she pointed out curtly as she relaxed back into her chair and folded her arms against her chest. Next, the person she believed to be Jungkook appeared and said something along the lines of: ‘Okay mom, I’m going to school now.’

Arang chuckled since she found it cute before another member with sandy brown hair sang his part. His name was the easiest to recall because it was just one letter and Arang nodded, showing her approval for the video so far. “V, huh? Gosh, out of all the letters in the English alphabet, why did they have to pick that one? Rather random if you asked me.” There were so many questions running in and out of her head as the video carried her back outside where people were riding bikes and breakdancing.

Throughout the video, Arang just sat quietly as she observed the boys. The part where Suga then pretended to shoot V caused her to quirk a brow. Soon the la la la scene arrived and she was encapsulated with it until one of them lifted his shirt to expose his abs. Arang’s eyes widened and her nose wrinkled in judgement. She knew the director only put that in there to attract the girls’ attention and such a cheap move sickened her.

She knew showing some skin in the k-pop industry was normal. A lot of idols did it but that didn’t mean everyone liked it and she was included in that group of people. To Arang, it was just a sleazy trick used in order to gain more viewers and evoke the hormones of teenaged girls. “I would have preferred if he had kept his shirt down.” She wanted to close the laptop to stop herself from having to watch any more of this nonsense when Saeyoung randomly jumped out of nowhere.

“Unnie! Did you see Jimin oppa lifting his shirt yet? Wasn’t it hot? Let’s watch it again.” She reached out to rewind the video but Arang narrowed her eyes at the girl and moved her laptop away.

“I think I’ve seen enough.” She closed the page and returned the earplugs and iPod to her sister. “I thought they would be different but after that guy flashed me, he proved to me that they’re all the same. There was no need for him to do that,” Arang remarked as she got up and grabbed herself a cup of cranberry juice.

“What’s wrong with showing some skin? All the popular bands do it,” Saeyoung argued as she pouted and plopped down into Arang’s chair.

“That’s exactly what I mean. They’re rookies and they’re already following the trends and standards set by the other groups. They should depend on their own skills and not their bodies or looks to get by. If they had left that part out, they would have won me over. Too bad they didn’t.”

“Unnie, you’re being too harsh. It’s not even a big deal. You’re not going to like them just because of that? You must be crazy,” Saeyoung grumbled.

“Hey.” Arang began as she pushed the back of her sister’s head forward. “I’m being truthful. What’s so harsh about what I said?”

“Seriously. You’re so mean sometimes. You can’t judge them like that. You didn’t even get to know each of the member’s personally yet,” she said and, without permission, she opened the browser as she pleased and surfed the web.

Arang exhaled and placed her cup on the table. “What are you doing, Sae? I said I’m no longer interested in them. Stop pestering me and go gossip with your friends about them.”

“Just promise me you’ll learn more about BTS. You’ll see there’s more to them than pretty faces and rock hard bodies,” Saeyoung begged as she jutted her bottom lip outward and rounded her eyes. Yes, it was her puppy dog face but Arang was never a fan of aegyo.

“Get lost, Saeyoung. I have to go to work soon.” She put a hand on the girl’s face and shoved her away gently before she gathered her things and left to her room.

“Unnie!” Saeyoung whined childishly as she shook her shoulders.

“You had me but then you lost me, Bangtan Sonyon Dan. It was nice