How could anyone in their right mind want to be an English teacher in Korea? I don’t want to be mean, but if the average student is as bad at paying attention as this brat I’d like to pat every teacher in this country on the back right now.

„Sulli, put the spoon down and listen to me for- Where did you get that fork from?!“

We’re sitting at the dining table, some paper spread out in front of me while Sulli (after persuading me to get her a small snack) is busy making airplane noises and playing with her food. This girl has the attention span of a goldfish, it’s ridiculous!

„Look, I know you can learn this if you just listen for a- Are you ing kidding me? “

Instead of listening to my little rant she’s now trying to balance her cereal on her fork with the most determined look I’ve ever seen on anyone’s face.
I don’t even know how I agreed to teach her English… but you know, a pout or a smile from her and anyone would give an arm and a leg to help her with anything. With a sigh I grab her ignored spoon and slap her on the nose with it.

„Ouch! Stop, hyung!“

She quickly covers her nose and pouts at me.

„Why did you do that?“

I shrug my shoulders and proceed to stand up.

„Maybe you should listen to me once in a while so that you can actually learn something.“

I make my way over to her, a frown firmly on my face before I break out into a laugh and start ruffling her hair.

„Next time we can actually hang out and do something that interests us both, okay?“

She looks up at me, smiling, and nods.
Gosh, and just like that I’ve forgiven her for the last hour of teaching-torture. I guess she’s the face of the group for a reason…

The door to our apartment opens and a disheveled looking Krystal steps into the room. Both I and Sulli look up, the latter covering with her hand. Krystal sends a glare in her direction, clearly unimpressed by her giggling, which only causes Sulli to laugh more.

“Have you seen yourself? I’m pretty sure there is like a tree branch sticking out of your hair.”
“It was windy outside, okay!”

She makes her way over to us and lightly hits Sulli on the arm. That brat is probably the only one who can get away alive after teasing our maknae like that.  But seriously, she looks like a truck has overrun her.
I stare at her in amusement. I get a respond in form of a sigh and an eye roll.

“How about you make yourself useful and get me a brush? And quit the staring!”

She exclaims the last part in English and pushes me away halfheartedly, making space so she can sit next to Sulli.
The two girls start chatting while I make my way into the bathroom, where Krystal keeps some of her stuff when she comes for a visit.
I can only smile at the “cold” treatment I just received. It has certainly not been the first time and it’s something I’m used to by now. When it’s just us members she’s very sweet but still snarky as hell. With me she’s always the same, making fun of me and ordering me around. But don’t get me wrong! She can be very caring towards me, but she keeps her affection for me more or less hidden in front of the others. Still, we always get comments about how we bicker like a married couple, especially from Victoria. I hope she’s not onto something… Krystal would burn all my hats and kill me afterwards if anybody found out about our little secret. Yeah, little is put nicely… it’s a goddamn romantic relationship, how long can you hide something like that?!
I return to the others and lay the comb down on the table. Krystal doesn’t look up but mumbles a nearly inaudible:

“Thank you, babe.”

A smile appears on my face, I absolutely love it when she speaks English, and it’s something I treasured since we’ve met each other for the first time. The other girls used to be annoyed by us talking in English, but they’re used to it now.
Victoria and Luna arrive at our apartment and hour later, both armed with about a million shopping bags and also fast food that we shouldn’t be eating. But who cares?
After we’ve finished eating I’m stuck with cleaning duty, while the other girls catch up on some cheesy Korean drama. I swear, the acting on some of those shows is so bad it’s like a parody on its own!
I gather up the dishes and make my way to the kitchen, closely followed by Sulli, who probably washes the dishes once a year, so naturally I’m surprised.

“O, so you finally realized that you’re also part of this household and that you have cleaning duties? Are you starting to grow up now or what?”

She just sticks her tongue out to me.

“Quit the teasing you llama face! I got a question.”
“… So you won’t help me cleaning? Go guess… would have been too good to be true.”

She whines at my teasing and pulls at my shirt.

“But it’s a really important question!”
“Then spill it out.”

I splash some water at her, prepared for one of her ridiculous inquiries. She once asked me how people could tell which side of a sandwich is top and which bottom. Like, who needs information like that?

“Why did Krystal call you an infant?”
What?
“What?”

Where the hell did that come from? And what is that even supposed to mean?

“After you brought her the hairbrush! She said something in English. And I think she called you an infant… I’m curious! Is that an American thing? Like putting a lot of ketchup on stuff?”

By the time she has finished her explanation I’m so surprised my eyebrows have probably reached my hairline. Of course of all the words to know in English she picked ‘babe’, well .

“… It’s basically and American thing, like slang… or something like that”

Wow, Amber, that was the worst lie ever. And Sulli seemed to agree with my own inner monologue.

“You are the worst liar ever.”

She continued to look at me unimpressed.

“Well, it’s like a nickname.”
“Can I also call you that then?”

Definitely not. I know at least one person who wouldn’t be very pleased with that and that person happens to be my girlfriend.

“Look, you already call me hyung, so let’s stick with that, alright?”

She doesn’t seem to be satisfied with my answer. She keeps on looking at me, pondering on what to ask me next. The problem with her is that she won’t let go until her curiosity is sated.

“You know I’m not stupid, right?”

Huh? What’s up with the change of topic?
In fact, she was indeed not stupid. She was childish and it was hard to get her attention, but from what I’ve seen from her marks she seems to do well in school. Not that marks define intelligence, it’s just that no one would expect killer grades from someone like her. She also never forgets any details about her friends, like favorite foods or birthdays. And it’s actually her that keeps up with our schedule and reminds us of events.

“I know you’re not.”

I smile at her, trying to reassure her and happy that we left the old topic behind. Or so I thought.

 “I just gave you three or four opportunities to confess that you and Krystal like each other. I really wanted to spare you the embarrassment and let you tell me yourself but… yes, I know what ‘babe’ means.”

Holy saints in heaven, what is going on?
I open my mouth, trying to form words of denial but the words seem to be stuck in my throat.

“Don’t even try to lie to me, I don’t mind you know? You’re really cute together.”

The look in her eyes is sincere and if my heart doesn’t slow down it’s going to beat right out of my chest.

“Y-you really don’t mind?”

By now I’m a stuttering mess. This has become so nerve wrecking that I’m starting to sweat but on the other hand it is also relieving.
As she throws her arms around me and starts to squeal I stumble backwards, hitting my hip on the kitchen counter.

“So it’s true! I’m so happy for you two!”

She continues hugging me while I just stand there, the throbbing pain in my hip lessening because I know: at least there are some decent people in Korea who won’t mind.
She finally releases me after noticing my lack of response.

“Are you okay, Amber? You didn’t have to hide from me, you know?”

I just nod, grateful for the girl in front of me. She’s like a little sister to me and one of my best friends at once.

“I know… kind of. But Krystal doesn’t want anyone to know, she’s scared of the reactions. I promised her not to tell anyone.”
“I understand. No worries, I won’t tell her that I know. I mean, we still need you as the rapper and you can’t fulfill that part once you’re dead!”

With a loud laugh Sulli gives me a quick pat on the back. Meanwhile I can feel the blood draining from my face. If Krystal finds out that I told someone without her permission…
I’m screwed.