A damp green towel from the shower is wrapped around my steaming neck as I take a comfortable seat in front of my vanity mirror. My phone is blinking green lights, indicating the two missed calls.

1. Mom: Tae Hee? Why aren’t you picking up your phone? Is everything okay? How are you doing back home? I’m just calling to tell you that work, unfortunately, is running overtime. I’m not quite sure about your dad but I won’t be back home for another week or two. I sent you allowance to your bank account so make sure to stay healthy, eat well, and pay all the bills on time for us. Call me when you get the chance. I love you. Bye.

Mom’s voice is hushed and uneasy. I could tell that she barely had time to make a phone call to me-- hearing the businessman chatter away in the background. I apply lotion onto my face, not expecting much from her. The second message automatically plays. The voice is much higher, excited, and brighter brighter than my mom’s. In the background, I can hear young men chuckling and shouting.

2. Yoon Gi’s mother: Tae Hee! Come over to our house for dinner tonight! I’m not supposed to tell anyone this… but since I’ve always thought of you as my own daughter, you know that group Yoon Gi’s in? BTS. They’re visiting us. While you have the chance, come on over and have dinner with them! They’ll be lots of good food~! The party starts at 7. I won’t take ‘no’ for an answer, Tae Hee! And also… if you can actually come early to help me out with cooking—they’ve only been here for a couple of days but it’s killing me that I’m cooking for over ten people. See you tonight!

I chuckle. “Ajummah is so cute. This must be what Yoon Gi meant earlier this morning.” I slap some sunscreen onto my face. “Ha! Miss out a chance to meet and have dinner with the famous Bangtan Boys? HA! He must have been drunk!” I admire my round but defined face in the mirror. The edges of my moderately sized pink lips curl into an unstoppable smile. “What should I wear?” I squeal like a dolphin, thinking about the night we’ll have.

         “COME HERE!!!” I’m standing outside of Yoon Gi’s front screen door, hesitating whether to go inside or not. It’s all starting to sound like a very bad idea. “Rapmon just broke something again!!” Somebody tattletales. Fast thumping footsteps scatter across from one side of the house to the next. Giggles and punching sounds soon follow a shriek. “AHHHHH!! YOU WANNA DIE?!” I’m grasping tightly onto the watermelon I brought. My heart wants to enter but my logic tells me to run home as fast as I can.

My feet avert themselves away from the screen door when I hear someone call my name from behind. “Tae Hee?” I turn around both cautiously and nervously. “What are you doing outside? Come on in!” Yoon Gi’s mom has a new perm that resembles the 70’s Afro. She’s wearing a red flowerily apron and is looking tired from slaving away for the past couple of days. From what I remember, she once used to be a woman of such poise and grace. I don’t see it at all, now.

“Annyeonghaseyo,” I say as I bow. “I just wanted to drop off this watermelon. I wasn’t sure if I’d be intruding…”

“Nonsense! We’re glad you’re here! They’re just having fun. Come on in!” She pushes me into the house.

         The entryway is filled with more than two dozen shoes of all styles. There isn’t a space for another shoe or step to be contacted with onto the floor. Yoon Gi’s mother scrambles her way through and pulls me past the entryway to the living room, as if she’s helping me survive a sandquick.

Ajummah and I are making our way towards the kitchen but along the way, I see the boys in their full on natural habitat. Jimin and JHope are rubbing their bodies against one another as they shove each other playing video games. V and Jung Kook are giggling loudly as they’re drawing on Jin’s sleeping face. Rapmon, dressed in a torn white wife beater, is passed out on the couch in the living room. The living room is trashed with empty snack bags and drink bottles. The sour and musty stenches of the hormonal boys fill the room. The charismatic and cool charm the boys have been portraying on the screen has all been a lie! They’re drenched in sweat, unkempt with ingrown facial hair, and bloated both in the stomach and the face. Especially Rapmon. Without me narrowing down who’s missing from the group, I couldn’t have told it was him. Thank God we finally make into the kitchen! I’m huffing and puffing as I try to recover from what I had just witnessed.

“Lovely boys, no?” Yoon Gi’s mother smiles sweetly as she puts on plastic gloves to continue preparing the food.

“Uhh…” I couldn’t lie. “It must’ve been hard for you,” I say nodding to contemplate for my own life from death situation. “What can I help with?” I ask.

“Nothing,” Suga’s leaning against the doorframe, dressed casually in shorts and tee. He leans in closer to me and whispers. “I told you to tell my mom that you’re busy!”

“What was that?” Yoon Gi’s mother asks him.

“Nothing,” Yoon Gi smiles his deceivingly sweet smile and hugs his mom from behind, giving her a kiss on the cheek. “I’ll go set the table. Help me, Tae Hee.” Suga’s pushes me out of the kitchen before Ajummah can say anything. Once we’re out of the kitchen, Yoon Gi looks all around him. “Quick! It’s your time to escape! I’ll say something came up so quickly, flee while you can! Leave before the others—“

“Hello!” V pops out of nowhere. “My name is V!” he says, happily with a hand out for a handshake. Suga shoves a pair of chopsticks and spoon in his hands, instead.

“Help set the table.” V looks confusingly at Suga, and then places them down.

“What’s your name?” V asks, smiling happily and making full on eye contact with me. I blush, not being able to contain his boyish charms.

“Hey! If you’re not going to help out here, go help my mom in the kitchen!” Suga nags.

“Hyung!” Jung Kook comes and puts his arms around Suga’s neck. Suga tries to unravel from Jung Kook embrace. Jung Kook, noticing me, points a finger and shouts, “Oh! You’re the girl from yesterday at the shoot!” Jung Kook stands with arms to himself.  Confused, “Is this some kind of fan service?” He asks cautiously at Yoon Gi. Suga, now, is frustrated and rubs the back of his neck with his palms. He sighs.

“Tae Hee’s a family friend’s daughter,” Suga comments blandly. Continuing to set the table, “She just comes over every now and then to have dinner. She’s leaving right after,” he says coldly.

“Oh! That explains why Suga hyung was—“ Suga covers Jung Kook’s mouth and attempts to drag him away.

“What?! What?!” V asks in between his inhaling of the purple grapes on the dining table. “What happened?!”

“Stop eating all the grapes. You’re going to be full before dinner!” Suga drags Jung Gook away. I’m left alone with V—just the two of us sitting at the dining table. V’s staring at me like we’re having some kind of staring contest as he continues to eat those grapes. He doesn’t dare take his burning glare off of me. I could feel my breathing get heavier and heavier as each second passes by. I flutter my eyelashes, trying to avoid his glance. The heat is rising from the bottom of my stomach to the top of my face. I gulp.

“Hey!” Rapmon rubs his sleepy eyes as he wobbles into the room. Rapmon’s observes me with his half opened eyes. He blinks twice at me, then looks over at V for a resolution. “Suga has a sista?” V finally takes his stare off me and looks at Rapmon with a blank stare.

“Puahahahha!!” Rapmon’s eyes are smudged with black liner and his cheeks have purple swirls drawn on them. His eyebrows are no longer a pair but have turned into one. And his teeth are out with what substance—I don’t even know.

“PUAHAHAH!!” Jimin and Jhope come into the dining room.  

“What?” Rapmon asks, dumbfounded.

“What’s going on?” Jin comes in, tousling his hair from the nap. Jin and Rapmon look at each other and burst out laughing.

Dinnertime:

“Mm… so, you guys are childhood friends. That’s really cool. Miss. Tae Hee, we expect great embarrassing childhood stories about Suga from you!” Jimin and Jhope applaud.

Suga slams down his chopsticks, finishing his meal. “You ready to go home? It’s getting awfully late,” Suga jerks his head towards the door, telling me my welcome invitation has expired.

“Why? I wanted to hear more about how you guys grew up around here!” Rapmon protests my leaving.

“There’s really nothing else. Come on, Tae Hee” Suga’s hand reaches out to me. Just as Yoon Gi’s about to grab my hand, V-- who was staring at me the whole time during dinner-- slaps Suga’s hand away. Silencing gasps escapes from the rest of the member’s lips. Suga, pissed off, glares at V but V glares right back at Suga.