This morning, it wasn’t the sun that had woken me up, but one of the production assistants. So far there was one thing in Korea that was the same as home; I still hated mornings. I sat cross-legged on the bed with my head handing low towards my lap. My eyes slid closed, as my attempt to wake up slowly failed.

“Good morning!” a voice called from the doorway.

My head whipped up to see Minho standing there in exercise shorts and a t-shirt. Clearly he had been awake for a while. I groaned internally at the thought. “Let’s go wake up the others. The cameras are here already, so you might want to fix your hair a bit before coming out.”

I scrambled from the bed to the mirror behind the door. I felt and saw my face flush red knowing that Minho had seen the monstrosity that was my morning bedhead. The natural wave and curl to my hair became a matted clump that bunched to the right. I ran my fingers through it, pulling a hair tie off of my wrist and securing the mess in a lose ponytail. I mumbled thanks, joining him to get the others.

The cameras followed us into the other bedroom where the four remaining members of SHINee slept. In the room were a bunk bed, where Key and Taemin slept, a single bed, where Onew was, and a mass of blankets on the floor.

“Key wakes the easiest.” Minho called his name taping his leg on the bottom bunk. He rolled over, scowling at the light.

Next was Taemin. He grumbled a bit and threw the blanket over his head when Minho shook him. At the mention of breakfast, he slowly sat up, fixing his hair in the process.

“Good luck waking those two up,” Key said motioning to the others, climbing from his bunk, and leaving the room.

I took a second look at the pile of blankets on the floor, and realized that it was Jonghyun. He was sprawled out on the mat with blankest pulled clear up to his nose. I plopped down in the unoccupied space next to him. “종현 씨 일어나요 (Jonghyun wake up),” I called sweetly.

Before I knew what was happening, blankets were in the air and covering me. I was pulled over on to my back. I yelped in surprise and struggled to get my head free. Jonghyun laughed, as I gave a pout, and slung his arm across my stomach. “I can’t say no to waking up when you ask so nicely, so why don’t you just go back to sleep?”

I wanted to say yes, but the growl my stomach let out said otherwise. Jonghyun understood and let me sit up, following suit. Minho had pulled Onew half way off his bed. He was awake but not happy.

“Abigail, what would you like for breakfast? Is there anything you don’t like?” Key asked from the door.

“Anything is fine. I’m not too picky. I like to try things.”

“I want Omurice,” Taemin gave his preference. “Yah, I asked our guest, not you,” Key playfully snapped at him.

“I’m fine with that. I’ve never had it before.”

I followed Key into the kitchen and offered to help with breakfast. He was welcome to the idea of not being left to prepare the food on his own, so he put me to work cutting vegetables. The others came strolling in shortly after. Minho set the table, while the others sat half asleep on the floor. As soon as Key placed the food on the table, things started to liven up.

The boys started asking me some questions about home, what my house was like, what I studied in school, those sort of get to know you questions. It felt nice that they had an interest in getting to know me.

“Abigail, how old are you?” Onew asked. I hadn’t realized until then that we had all been speaking very formally.

“I am twenty-two or twenty-four in Korean age. My birthday is December 11th.”

There was a sudden burst of excitement that left me quickly wanting an explanation. “Your birthday is right between Onew Hyung’s and mine,” Minho explained. “He’s the oldest, then Jonghyun. The three of us are younger than you.”

“I was hoping you’d be younger than me. I wanted to be your oppa,” Key pouted quietly.

I couldn’t help be laugh at his reaction to my age. It was the last thing I had expected any of them to say. “When we get to know each other better, I think it’ll be fine for you to speak to me informally. As long as you say something nice, I promise not to get upset,” I said to Key. His face lit up at the prospect.

Key then asked if there were any places that I really wanted to visit while I was in Seoul. I expressed interest in visiting a place or traditional village, Namsan Park, and even one of the shopping districts.

“That’s it! We’ll go to Myeongdong today,” Key exclaimed excitedly.

After breakfast, we all quickly got ready for our outing. I knew a little about Myeongdong from what Mikyung had told me. It was a district of mostly commercial stores and eateries. I didn’t mind so much that Key had selected this location. It would be a chance for me to get to see some of the city and learn a bit about the commercial aspects of Korean culture. Experiencing the culture was one of my main objectives, after all. Shopping would just be a perk.

We arrived in Myeongdong around noon. Most of the stores were open, yet the crowds of shoppers were relatively small. Jonghyun said that within a few hours there would be hundreds more people on the streets. Earlier was better for SHINee. They wouldn’t have to worry about people spotting them as much.

Workers stood at most of the store fronts calling to us and others as we walked by, trying to pull us into their stores. Many had banners or even cutouts of actors and other idols who did promotions for them. The streets were filled with music that blasted from many of the stores. It was a sensory overload to say the least, but there was a strange beauty to it.

“Look, it’s T.O.P.! 안녕하세요!” Onew called to a cutout of the Bigbang member standing in front of a sports store.

The members started laughing, as did I, but I quickly stopped when a pink storefront came into view. It looked like a giant dollhouse that had been squeezed between the massive buildings on either side of it. Standing right in front were cutouts of SHINee.

“Jonhhyun-ssi will you take my picture?” I asked pulling on his arm towards the building and handing him my camera. I could hear the others start to take notice of their promotional work in front of the store.

I had a hard time keeping a straight face as I walked up to the glossy, rigid Taemin. “Can I take a picture with you?” I asked. I slung my arm around the cardboard and posed cutely.

“Yah!” Jonghyun yelled through a laugh. Onew was quick to jump in and throw his arm over the Minho that was on my other side. “Kimchi!” He called as Jonghyun snapped a photo.

“Oh,” I looked back and forth between the cutout and the real Taemin, who stood with a small smile on his face besi