“And then he sharted himself so bad the moon exploded.”

                “JONHYUN-AH!!!!”

                “What?! It was hilarious!”

                “Dude! Could you be a little more crude in front of someone we barely know?!”

                “Yes. Yes I could.” Jonghyun grinned over at Jojo who was smiling softly.

                She reached out and grabbed Key’s elbow, “It’s okay. I’m from America, I’ve heard worse, I promise.” she offered a smile and he settled back down on the table top where the two were sitting.

                Claire perked up now, “You’re from America?” she asked, a smile stretching across her face.

                Jojo nodded, “Yeah, I was born here in Korea, then we moved to America, and now I’m back here.”

                “So, why did you leave Korea in the first place?” Onew piped in.

                “Well, my parents were here visiting my Father’s family and my mom happened to go into labor.” she laughed at this, remembering the stories her parents always told her. “Umma wasn’t technically supposed to travel with how far along she was but…” she shrugged her shoulders, “I guess it explains where I get my stubbornness from.” she blushed.

                Everyone nodded and Claire smiled, “My dad’s from America.” she said excitedly, turning around on the bench of the table to peer up at the other girl.

                “Oh? Where from?” Jojo asked, suddenly excited.

                “Minnesota.”

                “Oh! I’ve never been there.”

                “It’s pretty plain.” Claire laughed. She stood then, straightening her jeans, “I never introduced myself.”

                Jojo hopped down from the table, extending her hand as her new friend did the same, “I’m Julia Kwon, but everyone calls me Jojo.” she said in perfect English.

                The girl took her hand and shook it, “Claire Parker, it’s a pleasure to meet you.” she said, also in perfect English. The two girls smiled at each other and then Claire went back to sit next to Jonghyun, whom Jojo had found out, was her boyfriend.

                “We never introduced ourselves either.” the red headed boy stood now, the tallest of the boys following him. He bowed, “Lee Taemin. Nice to meet you.” he offered a soft smile and Jojo bowed, “It’s nice to meet you as well.”

                The tallest boy now bowed to her, “I’m Choi Minho, we’re glad to have you in the group.”

                She beamed at this, “Thank you for welcoming me.” she bowed back. She then looked at everyone, starting at the left of the table. She pointed to the oldest boy, “Onew.” she went down to the bench, “Claire, Jonghyun, Taemin.” back up to the table top, she skipped over Key and pointed to the boy standing at the end of the table, “Minho and…” her finger landed on Kibum, “What was your name again?” she wrinkled her nose at him and he stood, rushing over to shove her shoulder. She laughed at this, “Is this how your treat your noona?!” she asked in mock alarm.

                He laughed at this, “You have to bring that up?” he asked, pouting. She smiled at him and ruffled his hair. He batted her hand away and blushed, “You’re BARELY my noona.” he defended.

                She giggled at him, “Still noona.” she said confidently.

                “Yeah, yeah.”

                The other boys grinned, knowing very well what was happening in Key’s head at that very moment. They all exchanged looks and Onew made a kissy face, which tore the others into fits of laughter. Claire smiled, but then spoke, a little louder than was necessary so that it would carry over to Key and their new friend.

                “Leave the poor boy alone. He’s allowed to have a crush on a nice girl from once.” she grinned.

                Key froze, as did Jojo, both of them turning their heads slowly to stare at the girl who’d spoken.

                “C-crush?” the girl spoke, her blue eyes wide as her cheeks slowly faded to red.

                The party on the table all seemed to nod their heads in unison, playing along as Key’s own face began to turn red.

                “N-no one said I had a--” he looked at Jojo and his face darkened, his ears now tagging along, “W-we just met!”

                “Yeah! I mean, we barely know each other!” the tiny girl piped in.

                The group simply grinned to one another, “Uh-huh.” Jonghyun beamed at his girlfriend, proud of her ingenious plan to embarrass his friend.

                “Don’t deny it.” Taemin piped up, gathering his things, “It’s written all over your face, hyung. We’ve known you long enough, I think we’d know what it looks like when you’ve got a crush.” he said with a grin.

                Key’s eyes went wide and he stared at the youngest boy, chewing on his lip and shaking his head. Taemin frowned at this, cocking his head to the side and his elder wrinkled his nose. “Hey guys, can I talk to you all for a minute?” he asked, making his way towards another table on the other side of the courtyard.

                They all blinked before standing one after the other to follow him.

                He looked over his shoulder, “You too Claire.” he called.

                The girl in question blinked up and then at Jojo, “We’ll be right back.” she offered a smile and the smaller of the two nodded, moving to sit on the table top.

                After the group had settled at their new location they all looked at Key expectantly.

                He frowned for a moment before chewing on his bottom lip and scratching at his head, “I need you guys to help me out with something…”

                Onew frowned, furrowing his eyebrows, “I don’t like the sound of this…” he said, as Minho agreed.

                “Helping you with things never turns out well…”

                They all laughed before Key sighed, “This is seriously important.”

                “Okay…?” Taemin asked slowly.

                Key bit at his lip, screwed up his face and finally spoke down to his shoes, “She doesn’t know who I am.”

                Jonghyun couldn’t help but laugh at this, “That explains why she likes you.”

                The younger boy frowned heavily, “No… Not like that.” he looked up to stare at his best friend intensely, “She doesn’t know about us… The band. SHINee. Any of it…” he said softly.

                Minho spoke up at this, “What, is she stupid?” he asked, eyes wide.

                “No, she’s not stupid!” Key defended, staring at his friend with an almost angry, but still worried expression. “She’s from the U.S. She has no idea who any of us are…”

                “That would explain why she was so calm about meeting us all…” Taemin said slowly, processing this.

                “So… You need our help why?” Claire asked suddenly, twirling a strand of hair around her finger.

                Key gave a nervous laugh before rubbing the back of his head, “I don’t want her to know… At all.”