“Ug,” I puffed at myself. What is wrong with me? I thought. I had tried on about 3 or 4 different outfits and I still couldn’t make up my mind on what to wear.

I suddenly heard Hyosung chuckling. “Are you new to this?” she said with a cute smile. She was dressed so cutely and it fit her well. I was somewhat envious. I had invited her, Krystal, and Elly to go along with us.

“Uh… yeah a bit,” I said bashfully. I had actually never really been out with a large group of guys like this where one of them I actually-

“Is there someone you want to look good for?” Hyosung said, interrupting my line of thought.

I shook my head quickly. She laughed again. “But I bet you just thought of someone, right?” she said, egging me on.

My heart pounded. I had thought of someone, I couldn’t deny it. But I hardly knew him yet. I didn’t want to get my hopes up too soon.

“Hmm,” Hyosung said looking at my clothes, “why don’t you just go casual? You like jeans right?”

“Yeah, I do,” I said.

“How about some skinny jeans, a cute top and cardigan with some flat shoes?”

We found the clothing items and laid them out on my bed. “Hyosung, you are amazing! Thank you,” I said with a smile.

“No problem,” she said and smiled back, “hurry and change so we can do your hair and makeup.”

“Makeup?” I said hesitantly, “do I really have to got that far.”

“Come one,” she said, putting one hand on her hip as she made a pouty face.

I couldn’t help but laugh. “Okay, okay. I’ll let you do what you want.”

As we approached the meeting spot an hour later, I regretted those words. Hyosung had insisted on curling my hair and had even put eyeliner on me. It wasn’t like I didn’t like dressing up once in a while, but I felt a little over done.

“You look great,” Hyosung said, noticing my nervousness. She put a hand on my shoulder. “Really. I look more done up than you. You have nothing to worry about!”

I nodded and took a deep breath, finally relaxing just a bit.

“Hey!” Krystal shouted from a short distance. She stood on her toes and waved.

I smiled and waved back. We had decided to meet up first before we met with the guys.

“Wow… Aila you look great!” Krystal said beaming. “I almost didn’t recognize you,” she teased.

I just laughed. “You guys look great too.”

“So do we know what we’re doing?” Elly said.

“Um… not entirely,” I said, “we were going to do karaoke later, but Jimin said we should explore first.”

“Sounds fun!” Krystal said, “Let’s go meet up with them!”

About 10 minutes later, I could see the guys waiting at a corner.

“There they are!” Jimin said, pointing at us and waving for the other guys to look.

I realized that Yoonggi wasn’t with them. I guess I wouldn’t expect him to come anyhow, I thought.

"You look nice," Hoseok said and smiled. The others nodded in agreement.

"Thanks," I said, feeling awkward.

I could see the guys looking at my friends curiously. I looked over at Namjoon and realized he was looking at one of my friends in particular.

“Hi Elly,” he said.

“Hey Namjoon,” she said back.

“You guys know each other?” I said, looking back and forth at each of them.

“We grew up together,” Elly said, “We’ve been friends since we were kids.”

For some reason, my heart sank a little.

“She also raps,” Namjoon said, like Elly had forgotten an important point.

“Really?” I said looking at her.

“Yeah,” she said.

I felt my chest tighten, but I tried to smile anyhow. “I’d love to hear you sometime.”

“She’s really good,” Hoseok said.

“Not really,” Elly said, “It’s just something I enjoy.”

“I guess we’ll be the judge of that when we hear you!” I said and smiled.

“Ah it’s you,” Krystal said, glaring at Jungkook.

“Hi Krystal,” he said, “I’m glad you could come along.”

“Hmph,” she huffed and crossed her arms. From what I could tell, there seemed to be a rivalry between the two of them… or at least from her side anyhow.

“Who’s this?” Jin said pointing to Hyosung.

“I’m Hyosung,” she said and smiled brightly, “Aila is staying with our family while she’s here.”

Jin smiled. “You are very cute. You have pretty eyes too.”

Suddenly, Taehyung slapped Jin on the back. “Not that one again hyung!” He grabbed Jin around the neck and smiled at Hyosung. “Sorry about that. Don’t mind him.” Taehyung put his hand to his mouth like he was telling a secret. “He’s a bit of a flirt.”

Hyosung just chuckled.

“Where are we going?” I asked Jimin.

He smiled slyly. “You didn’t figure it out already? We’re going up there!” He pointed to the top of a nearby mountain. I looked up and saw Namsan tower, a place I had always dreamed of visiting.

“Cheongmalyo (really)?” I looked up at the building eagerly.

“Ye,” he said with a childish grin, “Gachayo (let’s go)!”

To get up the mountain, we had to ride a cable car. It was packed, but I was able to stand near the window. I gazed out excitedly at the landscape below.

I suddenly realized Jimin was next to me when he started laughing. “You haven’t even seen the view from the tower yet and you’re already this excited?”

“Ya!” I said playfully, “It may be the hundredth time you’ve seen this, but it’s my first time! I have a right to be excited.”

He just laughed again. “I suppose you do.” He smiled and then walked back over to Taehyung and the others.

I looked over and saw that Namjoon was on the opposite side, listening to music. Feeling oddly brave, I carefully made my way over to him. When he saw me approach, he pulled out an earbud.

“What are you listening to?” I asked.

“Want to listen?” he said holding an earbud out to me.

“Sure,” I said and smiled. I took the earbud from him and listened. I wasn’t sure what I had been expecting, but the fact that the song was actually a pretty slow song surprised me somewhat. It was really good too. “I like it,” I said and smiled.

He just smiled back and continued looking out the window. Suddenly, the cable car lurched slightly. I fell over on Namjoon, who put his arm around my shoulder to steady me. “Careful,” he said, letting go.

My heart was pounding out of my chest. I could feel my cheeks burn and I felt embarrassed. I took a couple deep breaths and tried to stop the feeling. Thankfully I was saved; just then the cable car came to a stop at the top of the mountain. After a couple moments, the doors slid open and we all piled out.

“Solid ground,” Krystal said dramatically.

“Afraid of heights?” Jungkook teased.

“No,” she said, glaring at him, “I just don’t like hanging in mid air.”

“There is only one way for us to get back, you know,” he reminded her.

She just glared and walked over and linked arms with me. “So your first time, huh? I can’t wait to see what you think of it!”

“Me too,” I said, smiling brightly.

“Almost there,” Krystal said. Once we got to the top of the tower, she had insisted on covering my eyes. “Okay… now!”

She let her hands drop. I was next to the railing, which was covered in locks. I had heard a bit of the tradition; if you and your love put a lock there with both of your names on it, and threw the key over the railings, your love would last forever. I smiled briefly at them, it was such an adorable and romantic thing, but then I realized the view.

My eyes widened happily as I ran to the rail and looked over the edge. “Wow!” I said, “this is incredible!” The whole city lay beneath us. I could see skyscraper after skyscraper. The cars looked tiny from that distance, but I could even see the traffic flow through the streets of Seoul.

Jimin appeared next to me again. “So, do you like it?”

I smiled my brightest and looked over at him. “I love it!” I looked back at the view and then I looked back at him for a second. He was looking at the ground. “What are you doing?” I laughed, “You’re missing the view.”

“Ah,” he laughed, “You’re right.” He looked over the edge as well, his eyes scanning the city. “You know, you should see it at night sometime. All the lights look like colored stars."

"That sounds really pretty!" I said, "ooh look!" I pointed to a building in town. "I can see the school!"

"What?! Where!" Jimin said coming closer.

I pointed again and tried to explain.

"You're right!" He said and smiled. I smiled back. "Uh, I'm gonna go find Taehyung really quick. Make sure he's not doing something dangerous or stupid."

I laughed. I could see how well they knew each other. "Okay."

I looked around and realized that other than our group, there were a lot of couples there and a few tourists, but mostly couples.

My mind started fantasizing about coming back, but as a date. Me and my future boyfriend would be holding hands and be sticking close to each other while strolling along. My brain froze when I realized I was with someone in this fantasy: Namjoon.