after months of begging, finally your parents allow you to enroll in a language course summer school which is --no other than-- in seoul, south korea. it is your dream city, you have to set your foot there even once before you die, so you can't just miss this golden opportunity.

 

actually your parents is quite reluctant to give their permission, because 1). you are their one and only child and in 16 years of your life you never go anywhere without them, not even to your granny house next town. they are practically breathing behind you neck 24/7, if only your father are not in the middle of big project in his office your parent would already book their own tickets too; and 2). they think it is just a waste of time, but you put out quite a good argument, telling them it would be a good experiment and your cv would selling more --which, of course, is just a bluff. your real intention is chasing your favorite idols, now you can be in the same city with your idol!

 

the summer school starts a week after your summer holiday started and will end a week before your holiday ended, so you will have no problem with your --real-- college. you've taken care of everything so you're more than ready days before your departure. you've got your passport and visa ready, the tickets already in your hand and you even have contacted your handphone provider to make sure you can still use your number in korea, though you mostly using app chat for communication. you will bring two suitcases with you, both of them are only half-full, since you're planning to buy a lot of clothes there and you've already googling where you can buy cute clothes with low price in seoul.

 

in the day of your departure, your parents send you to the airport with a lot of advices and nags.

 

"don't just listen to your music, no, let me rephrase that, just don't wear your earphone, you might miss your plane."

 

"double check your ticket, don't take the wrong airplane or you might ended up in a wild jungle."

 

"call us once you arrive there. call again after you get to your dorm. don't forget to call us three times a day."

 

"don't talk to strangers. go back to your dorm before dark."

 

you want to roll your eyes because it's not like you're still five and they've said them since they give you permission to go. but they are your parents of course they have the rights to worry about you. so you put on your sweetest smile and bid your goodbye. "mom, dad, don't worry about me, i'll be fine."

 

 

 

 

the fly is fine. you're a bit tired from the hours of cramped in the plane's seat, but as soon as you breathe in the soul's air, you immediately feel energized. after you claim your baggages, you spot your name in a plank that hold by a girl in the pick-up area and you walk to her. she introduces herself as a teacher from your summer school then she drives you to your dorm. she's a cute korean, you're so shocked when she says she's already forty-two and has two kids, you think she's still in her twenties. you envy her for her young look. she talks much, explaining everything you see outside the window car in her broken english. and you get giddy, anticipating your stay in seoul.

 

the dorm is five minutes walk from the college, she shows you your room, it's so nice, small but tidy. and you have a tiny window too, it's facing the dull concrete wall of the next tall building, but if you look down you can see people passing the alleyway. now you can observe what seoul people do, amazing, don't it?

 

she gives you some more explanation and document and schedule before her leave. then you did what you're dying to do at the moment. sleep. because air trip is really exhausting, who are you kidding.

 

 

 

 

you wake up on the next day, one hour before your opening class. you quickly take a shower, put your best dress, and run to the campus, you don't want to make a bad impression in the first meeting. you find your class with some help of a nice student and once you put your bottom in the last empty seat, the teacher walk in and begin the class. your teacher starts with an introduction of herself, the subject today is how you do introduction in korean. you already know how though, you subscribe to various free korean learning sites. but this is a real class, so it excites you. then the teacher makes everyone introduces themselves one by one. there are exactly seventeen students including you, from all around the world with age ranging from 14 to 25.

 

in the short break you grow closer to a caucasian girl next to your seat. she's so pretty, tall and nice, but she's a bit slow. god is fair. she asks you to call her with her made-up korean name. kim hana.

 

, i've read at least 3,789,673 fanfics with the main girl named kim hana, can't you just pick another name? you scream in your mind. but you smile and say okay nevertheless. you don't hurt people in the first meeting.

 

the class ends right before lunch. you and hana get your meal together in the cafeteria. sadly, just like the cafeteria in your college --and any other college cafeteria--, the food is meh. you're a bit disappointed, you've been expecting to eat delicious korean dishes everyday.

 

hana asks you what do you want to do after this. you've been planning to stand in front of one of the big three entertainment until before dinner, maybe if you're lucky enough you can catch a glimpse of almighty gd or see the back head of dear luhan.  any idols is fine with you. hana is excited when she knows you like kpop just like her. honestly, you think everyone enroll to that language course because they love kpop. then hana ask you if you want to accompany her to a fan-meeting. you quickly agree to her, rather than gamble with your luck, you choose to go to the fan-meeting where you can definitely see idols. both of you then gobble down your tasteless food quicker so you won't be late to the fan-meeting.

 

in the cab, hana shows you two copy of same album --two, because she wants the random poster that come out with it. she gives you one as you need it for admittance of the fan-meeting. you see four young girls with ombre hair in jungle-ly background. yeah you immediately recognize them, red velvet. as they are from sm who don't know them. you point at the girl with red ombre hair. "I like irene," you say.

 

"for me it's joy, the cutie maknae! oh my god, you have to see when she winks, and her smiles is sooo cute!!" hana yells at the top of her lungs. the driver throw an annoyed glance at us from his rear mirror. or maybe he's just curious, since we talk in english.

 

finally we arrive at the building. it's in the quiet side of seoul.

 

"are you sure this is the place?" you ask hana, a bit worry since you don't see any people around.

 

"of course. don't you see yourself i've give the address to the taxi-driver written in paper? so i don't have to say and misspell it," says hana proudly, as if it's one of her best idea of the year.

 

well, that's not what you mean, but anyway hana already drags you to the entry and you come to a room with a stage at the far-end. the backdrop have some hangul written and it's impossible to miss the gigantic red velvet members photo there.

 

"see, this is the place," hana cheers. then she --again-- drags you, now toward the front row.

 

you start to feel worry as no one else is occupying the room. all the seats are empty. "hana, why are there only us here?"

 

hana turns her head around but shrugs nonchalantly right after. "dunno. but i think it's a good thing, we can choose the best seat, right?" she says, not losing her initial cheerful tone.

 

"are you sure you're not getting the wrong date? or maybe it's already finish?" you ask again.

 

"nooooo," hana screeches, "i'm sure i remember the time correctly."

 

you close you ears with your hand because of hana's piercing scream.

 

"anyway, because you're such a worry soul, let me check it for you." hana fishes out her phone and open the browser to the page of red velvet fan-meeting's announcement. "see, today is the right date," she shoves her phone under your nose.

 

turns out she really gets the correct date. you continue scroll down, checking the comments that left on the page. you furrow your eyebrows as you read, none of them sound nice.

 

- i won't come to their fan-meeting unless sm gives f(x) their deserved solo concert.

- they can't sing and the leader can't even speak, lol.
 

- because of red velvet, sm is now ignoring f(x).
 

- red velvet don't have visual because they are all ugly, hahaha.
 

- wendy is trying too hard to be cute, she's also full of herself.

 

"what's this, why are these people hating red velvet?" you grumble.

 

"what?" hana takes back her phone and reads the comments too. "whoa, the girls get it so bad, i mean i know they face a hard road and all right after they debut, but there's still some people support them, isn't there? oh no, what if their fan is not in korea? that's why there's only us here. do you think the whole korea hate them?" hana gasps.

 

you sigh. "i don't think so. maybe they are just another nugu girl group in korea, you know how many groups debuted every month. maybe people here just haven't start to really notice them."

 

"but they are from sm," hana argues.

 

suddenly the lights get dimmed and someone walks in to the stage. "yo, yo~ yeorobun~ hello everyone, this is kai of exo and today i'm the mc for the first fan-meeting of red vel--" he stops in the middle of his words, apparently just realizes the lack of audience. "what the hell? there's only two people? am i starting too early?" kai checks on his arm watch.

 

"omo, omo, that's kai of exooo…!! he's so handsome in person," hana whispers hysterically to you, her hands squeezes yours. it hurts like .

 

kai ignores you and hana, he talks again to his mic, but obviously not to any of you. "guys, can i have some help here? can someone step out and explain this to me?" he has his body facing the side of the stage.

 

a damped cheering voice fill the room and someone's voice booms loudly. "sometimes you gotta be bold! just rock the world. boo ya!"

 

the music gets loud and together with lalala... lalala... four girls in different cheerleader outfits enter the stage. "happiness!" they yell.

 

then stop. because kai still stands in the centre, which clearly disrupt their dance position.

 

"what's wrong, sunbae-nim, aren't you supposed to go to the backstage when we're performing?" one of them asks.

 

"i think the people back there get the wrong signal," kai sighs loudly. "that's what's wrong, girls." kai points at you and hana.

 

the red velvet girls finally get the problem.

 

"omo, what's this? there's only two people here?"

 

"did someone give out the wrong date?"

 

"someone explain this!"

 

"cao ni ma!"

 

silent --again.

 

", i've told you to stop seeing sulli, now you even picking her bad habits, ing delete her numbers now, before i slap the out of you," irene lashes out.

 

seulgi turns to her leader, growling. "uh huh, listen this girl, she talks and curses so well but get all silent on camera. you must be afraid to slip out some bad words, don't you? you also have a bad habit!"

 

"what the hell, you !" irene jumps to seulgi. but the orange-ombre-haired girl doesn't just stay still, she grabs irene's pink-ombre hair.

 

"yah, stop, what are you two doing, stop!" wendy quickly interferes and steps in the middle of the two older members' fight. but she is ignored and even gets her blue-ombre pulled too.

 

kai stands still beside the fighting girls, with pure fascinated expression in his face.

 

but the cat-fight immediately put on stop right when joy thumps her right foot on the ground. "yah! stop it, now!" the fighting girls freeze.

 

once again silent engulf the stage.

 

"wow, isn't that awesome? this is the first time i see idols in their real self, really different with their nice, angelic image, aren't they? sadly i get too stunned and forget to record the scene. it can go viral," hana whispers to you.

 

joy turns to you and hana, finally their attention gets back to you. "hey, can you two go up here?"

 

you and hana quickly do as joy dictates, climbing to the stage with much difficulties, none of the idols help you.

 

"sunbae-nim, what should we do to them?" joy asks.

 

kai shrugs his shoulders. "well, not my fan, not my business. bye girls, i almost late to my salon appointment." and he leaves.

 

joy walks to you and hana while the rest three girls stay in their place. their ombre hair in a mess.

 

"i don't want any words of this fight heard by other people," says joy slowly.

 

"we won't tell anyone, i promise," you say quickly, the dark look in joy's face is really intimidating. half hid behind you, hana nods her head timidly. she suddenly gets really silent now.

 

"hmm, i'm not sure, what if you guys broke your promise?" joy throws a threatening look at you. "does anyone know you're here?"

 

you gulp down. "n-no."

 

and you know you've giving a wrong answer when joy smirks. "good." she calls on the other girls. and just with one look from her, in unison the girls quickly grab on you and hana, immobilizing both of you with their --surprisingly-- dead grip.

 

"i really don't want any words of this fight heard by other people," repeats joy. "and dead men tell no tale."