We all piled into the van again a little after noon to head over to the radio studio. Everyone was still in pretty high spirits from the day before, chatting while we made the short drive. Once we arrived at our destination, we all piled back out of the van and made our way inside. We were greeted politely by the staff, and herded into a small studio room with a large table lined with microphones. A very small young man stood suddenly, rushing to meet us. I had a brief moment to notice him nearly trip over a large sleeping back dog. It huffed loudly, one eye cracking open sleepily. I was briefly struck by the unique teal-colored eye that blinked blearily at our slender host, before apparently drifting back to sleep.

“It’s so good to see you again!” he said as he greeted each member of VIXX, showing each of them to a chair. I lagged behind, allowing them their moments. It had been implied that I was simply there as a novelty and shouldn’t expect too much actual participation. However, the man approached me, and I finally recognized him. Luckily, he took my hand eagerly, “Mira! My name is Kim Ryeowook, it’s very nice to meet you.”

The nickname ‘Wookie’ ran through my mind as I recalled my rather bizarre encounter with Heechul a few days prior, but I smiled and gave a little bow as well, “Pleasure to meet you.”

He led me to a chair next to his, opposite to the rest of VIXX so I could see all of them. “We will start in about ten minutes, so get comfortable,” Ryeowook said softly to me as he began to fiddle with the bits of equipment in front of him. We were instructed to put our headsets on and adjust whatever we needed to before the show began. The boys were all getting settled, clearly very practiced in this whole ordeal.

Finally once we were all in place, a chime sounded and the red light lit up signaling we were on air. Immediately, Ryeowook sprang into action, “Good afternoon, and welcome to Super Junior’s Kiss the Radio. We have a special show for you today with our very special guest all the way from America, Mira!” he began to clap as he grinned at me.

“We are real V!” N started anyway, but then realized what Ryeowook had said, “Wait, what?”

The rest of VIXX began to laugh at his hastiness, but I was still staring at the smiling man next to me, “Me?” I asked, sounding like a complete . The VIXX boys clearly were just as confused as I was, judging on their reactions and faces. I looked back to Ryeowook.

“Ahh,” he kept his eyes on me as he spoke, “Yes, the original plan was to have this show be about VIXX with special appearance by Miss Mira here, but a certain hyung reminded me that VIXX has been on the show before, will probably be on it again, but our Mira here is only with us for a short time.”

There was a chorus of ‘aah’s from the guys across from me, all with varying levels of amusement, disappointment, and relief. “Was it Heechul?” I asked, a small smile returning to my face.

“It was Heechul hyung!” Ryeowook confirmed with a grin, his small face overtaken by his even smile, “You’ve met Heechul, Kyuhyunnie, and Henry from Super Junior, right?”

“That’s right,” I turned to my mic, settling into the interview mindset, “And now you!”

He laughed, his high pitched voice carrying about the room, “Well it seems as though our friends here are getting antsy, why don’t we let them finish introducing themselves?”

“I suppose we should,” I teased, glancing to a still-pouting N.

He seemed to perk up, immediately counting them in, and they chanted all together, “We are Real V! V. I. X. X. VIXX!” Ryeowook and I joined in on their gentle clapping.

“Actually,” Ken spoke up, leaning forward toward his mic, “Mira noona hasn’t introduced herself properly.”

“That’s true!” Ryeowook cried, “Would you like to introduce yourself to our listeners and viewers idol-style?”

I looked between Ken and Ryeowook’s expectant faces, “Okay, okay,” I relented, thinking quickly. I had heard VIXX introduce themselves several times, and watched enough live performances to see a few others, but I was alone, so I decided to keep it simple. “Hello! I am Mira from the United States of America, it’s very nice to meet you.”

All of VIXX began to clap obnoxiously, and I heard Ravi, who dropped his voice nearly an octave for use on the radio, began to chide, “Wow, so original!”

“No teasing our special guest,” Ryeowook scolded, “Thank you, Mira,” he turned back to me with a smile, “Now,” he settled into his chair a little bit as he glanced down to his notes he had placed on the small space available at his place on the table, “I hear you’ve been in Seoul since June, is that right?”

I nodded, “I actually got here at the very end of May, right before VIXX’s release of ‘Eternity’.”

“Yah,” Ken spoke in wonder, “We have her trained so well she’s promoting for us!”

They all laughed together, and I turned back to my mic, “Yes, be ready for their comeback this fall!” I gave the camera a thumbs-up to emphasize my point.

Once their laughter subsided, Ryeowook chimed in once again, “We are all anticipating the results of your collaboration together. How is progress coming?”

I gestured to VIXX, allowing them to answer. Hongbin scooted forward, taking his turn to speak, “Mira has been working hard, but at first we were busy promoting and performing for ‘Eternity’ and we left her behind while she was busy writing and composing,” Hongbin looked around to his fellow members, who were all nodding in agreement.

“These past two weeks I’ve made them work, though,” I piped up, “The music itself is nearly complete, but there is still quite a lot to do.”

Ryeowook hummed along in agreement before turning to the six boys, “And what has it been like working with someone like Mira?” They all looked to Leo, who looked slightly panicked by the attention, “Leo?” Ryeowook prompted.

“Ah,” his voice was even quieter and meeker than I was used to, but I did my best not to react, knowing he was certainly uncomfortable with the sudden spotlight, “She really is quite scary,” he glanced to me briefly, with only a hint of a smile in his eyes.

“Waow,” Ken cried dramatically, “Scary Leo thinks Mira is even scarier!”

“She does make us work hard,” Hyuk continued, letting Leo off the hook, “but I think it’s a good thing. It means we have improved.”

Ryeowook looked to me again, “Calling a lady scary, how rude!”

I couldn’t help but laugh, “He’s not lying, though, I have been pretty rough on them.”

“Well then,” he continued without missing a beat, “I suppose I have to ask you, Mira, what’s your least favorite part about working with VIXX?”

“I can answer that,” Ravi leaned forward, cutting me off before I can speak.

“Oh can you?” I challenged. Ryeowook kept quiet, simply watching us.

“My horrible English,” Ravi said with a smile

They all laughed, “Yes, he’s right,” I admitted, “his English is so horrible that I’m not letting him speak it in our song together.”

“Breaking news,” Ryeowook spoke with a laugh, “Well let’s give these guests a break, but we’ll be back after some music!”

We were allowed to remove our headsets for the scheduled ten minutes of music and advertising. There were a couple of cameras scattered throughout the room that the boys were quick to pander to, as usual, but I stayed in my seat, watching them. Surprisingly, Ravi stuck with Leo. Normally I’d expect him to take over the role of MC, but I was pleased to see him sticking with his less than comfortable friend. Hyuk and Hongbin were busy making various faces that ranged from adorable to horrifying to one of the back cameras while Ken and N danced to just about every song that came on air. “They’re quite energetic, aren’t they?” Ryeowook’s frail voice broke my concentration.

“That they are,” I agreed with a little smile, “Keeping track of them can be a bit of a chore at times. I can’t imagine thirteen.”

He chuckled quietly, “Thirteen is a whole different story,” he admitted, “It’s impossible for thirteen people to get along so well as these six,” he gestured to the group across the table.

“But you’ve stuck together,” I pointed out.

“We might not be best friends all the time,” he began again, “but we do still like each other and respect each other as people and as artists and as a family,” for such a small person, his manner of speaking reminded me that he was, in fact, older than me by a good couple of years. “We have a relatively narrow , but we often would divide ourselves based on how old we were. But as we get older, that matters less and less.”

“Hopeful for the future, then?”

He grinned, the expression taking over his face for the first time since we met, “Yes, very.” We fell quiet as we both settled back into our chairs, replacing the large headphones on our heads. Soon enough, the tone sounded for us to continue.

“Welcome back to Super Junior’s Kiss the Radio, I’m Ryeowook here with Mira and VIXX! Now, normally we have the friendship speed quiz game, but this time it will be a little bit different,” Ryeowook explained quickly, glancing both at me and the boys who had scrambled into their seats. “Instead of having you each call a friend, the six of you are going to compete against one of my friends.”

“Compete?” Hakyeon asked, perking up in his chair.

Ryeowook smiled, “Yes, we are going to test how well you know your new friend Mira here against my hyung who claims to be her number one fan.”

“We will win,” Leo surprisingly spoke up into the microphone.

The rest of the boys all looked to him, “Ryeowook,” Ravi spoke, “Leo is very competitive, you know.”

“Then let’s make the call, shall we?” Ryeowook handed me a piece of paper with questions written on it. “Fill this out while I get connected,” he instructed quietly as I heard the loud noise of a ringtone.

I scribbled down the answers to the basic biography questions quickly, just in time for the phone to connection, “Hello?” I heard the voice played through the headsets. I instantly recognized it.

“Heecchul!” I exclaimed

“Heechul hyung,” Ryeowook began to speak, but he didn’t get far.

“Yah, that’s Mira, right?” I heard his voice grow loud in my ears, “MIRA I LOVE YOU!” he squealed in English.

The whole of VIXX seemed rather confused by this interaction. Only N had seen us together, and even then it was just for a brief moment. I looked at all of them down the line as I answered, “I love you, too, Heechul, thanks for answering the phone!”

“We’re competing with Kim Heechul?” I heard Hyuk ask N.

“Okay, okay,” Ryeowook tried to reel in the conversation, “Heechul hyung, you’re going to be competing with all of VIXX for these answers. They’ll write the question down, and I’ll have you answer after a few seconds, okay?”

“Got it,” Heechul certainly sounded confident.

The VIXX boys were given a little whiteboard that they had to agree on one answer to write within 20 seconds of the question getting asked. They dropped the whiteboard in front of Ravi, who was situated between Leo and Hakyeon. The other three stood from their chairs and went to stand behind them. “We’re ready,” N announced happily.

“Quiz game, start!” Ryeowook announced, and a little timer noise started up in the background.

I looked down at my paper and started from the top, “When is my birthday?” I looked up, and was not surprised to see Ravi take the lead on writing. I did find it strange, however, that his left headphone was off as we has listening to Leo. I grew a little nervous, wondering what scheme they might be up to. I didn’t have time to consider it as the 20 seconds was over.

“December 15, 1989!” Heechul called confidently over the phone. When Ravi flipped the board, it said the same thing.

“Very good,” I said with a laugh, and Ryeowook played a little happy note to indicate they were correct. “My height is?” I continued.

When the timer dinged, Heechul shouted, “175!” The answer confused me for a moment, especially when Ravi’s board said the same thing.

“Tsk,” I let my head fall to the table in defeat, “I wrote it in Imperial.”

“Silly American!” Ken scolded me from across the room.

Ryeowook looked at my paper quickly, “Ah they are correct,” he said happily.

“Thank you,” I laughed awkwardly, “Okay moving on, what is my favorite color?”

Heechul’s voice startled me when he grated his vocal chords in aggravation, “How am I supposed to know that?”

Ravi seemed at a loss as well. He looked to Leo, who just shook his head. “Ooh ooh, me!” Hongbin jumped in, grabbing the board.

“Someone knows?” Heechul asked, clearly disappointed.

“Apparently Hongbin,” Ryeowook answered as the timer dinged.

When Hongbin flipped the board, it read ‘Teal’. Even I was surprised, “That’s right!”

“How did he know?” Heechul whined.

Everyone looked to Hongbin, who simply stood confidently, “She told me her guitar was custom made for her. It’s black, silver, and teal!”

“Ah, very good,” Ryeowook grinned, “Next question.”

“Where was my first sold-out concert?” I asked. Once again, the boys across from me were at a loss, and no one stepped in to save the day this time.

When the timer struck, Heechul sounded triumphant, “Hollywood Bowl, Los Angeles!”

“That’s right,” I smiled, and tried to stifle a laugh when the VIXX board simply had a sad face on it.

“Ah so they’re tied now,” Ryeowook said in awe, “And one question left!”

Looking at it, I sighed, “When was my first love?” I knew it was a pretty standard question to ask, but still, it seemed awfully personal for broadcasted radio.

There was a silence that hung in the room, and then suddenly Ravi nearly leapt from his seat, “I know it!”

“WHAT?” Heechul’s voice roared on the telephone line, “No way.”

Ravi wrote quickly and then turned it around. It just read ‘18’. “He’s right,” I said apologetically to Heechul, “I was 18.”

“Aish, fine,” Heechul clearly was not a graceful loser, “But I will still see you again, Mira, that’s a promise!”

“I look forward to it,” I responded with a little laugh, “Thanks for coming to see me before!”

“Okay Heechul hyung, we have to hang up now,” Ryeowook interrupted.

Heechul sighed sadly over the line, “Okay, everyone bye~”

“Bye!” Everyone chimed in at once.

We got another break at that point. Everyone was still patting Hongbin, who had been given credit for winning the game with the color question. Oddly no one seemed to care about the last question. Regardless, Ryeowook warned us that all of us would be asked to sing in the last segment of the day, so we should be prepared. I came up with a plan that would make everyone happy. I would just sing along with them- picking up where the backing track usually played their harmonies for them.

Suddenly, Hakyeon came around the table to see me, “Hey did you see they put up the VIXX TV episode from yesterday?”

“Already?” I couldn’t help but be impressed.

“Yeah and someone has already added English subtitles,” he said with a laugh. “When we get home, will you read us the English comments?”

“Of course,” I couldn’t help but return N’s brilliant smile, “Just don’t be surprised if it’s awkward or something.”

He laughed once, loudly, “Trust me, we’re used to weird things fans say.”

Ryeowook shooed N away in time for the break to be over. The rest of the show was pretty tame. We sang all together, which went pretty smoothly, and the boys gave their usual promotion speech about their slew of upcoming performances and to look for their comeback in the fall. And rather abruptly, our time on the show was over.

“Thank you guys so much for coming,” Ryeowook said sincerely as he stood to give us a proper farewell.

“Thanks for having us,” I responded, shaking his offered hand, “And thank Heechul again if you get the chance.”

“Thank you Ryeowook!” The VIXX boys called together from across the table before filing out.

And just as we had this morning, we piled into the van, drove the short distance home, and piled back out again. It hadn’t been a particularly long day, but the boys had clearly gotten used to staying at home, as they seemed pretty drained by the whole ordeal. I had to admit I was feeling a bit of the same. “We’re about to get really busy,” N reminded us. “We have some variety shows, interviews, and performances all in the next month or so,” he continued before looking at me, “I’m not sure which ones they’ll make you go to,” he spoke apologetically.

I waved my hand at him as we made our way upstairs, “If I have to stay home, I have plenty of work to do still, so that’s fine.” Suddenly remember the date, “And next week is Taemin’s solo debut!”

“Ah you’re going to that, right?” Ravi asked sadly, “I wish we could, too.”

Soon enough, we were all piled on the couches of the common room, tablets in hand as we went to see the top comments on the VIXX TV episode we had filmed the day before. I only watched a snippet of it to see the editing style. The captions and effects were cute and well placed, so I was satisfied.

“Noona!” Ken whined, “What do the English ones say?”

Hongbin looked at me from next to Ken, “You can skip the ones about how we’re in love with each other,” he spoke so seriously, I broke out laughing.

“Okay, but what about all of these about some of you being in love with me?” I asked as I scanned first page of YouTube comments.

“Really?” Ravi asked from N’s side, sitting forward, “I want to hear those!”

I shook my head, but continued, “Well this comment thinks that because Ken carried me like a princess, he must love me,” I glanced up at Ken, who simply winked and blew me a little kiss. I rolled my eyes and continued, “This one says that because Ravi hoisted me up from the bottom of the slide and had to work the hardest, that he must love me. But this one says that because you guys left me and Hongbin alone that the rest of you want us to get together.” I glanced to Hongbin, who simply sighed heavily. Clearly he was probably the one who got these comments the most. My eye caught another one, “Oh, but this one is calling me a cradle robber for trying to get with poor innocent Hyukkie who is five years my junior.” I heard Hyuk giggle from his spot next to N. “Oh and there are probably about ten comments here arguing over whether Leo taking me from Hyuk means he loves me or because he loves Hyuk.”

“I told you to leave those ones out,” Hongbin groaned, but the rest of us laughed.

I glanced back down, “It seems all the English speakers liked the bit where Leo fed me, though.” Leo wouldn’t look at me, clearly embarrassed by all this nonsense.

“What about me?” N whined.

“Oh,” I scrolled, “You hate me for ruining your perfect family. That’s why you didn’t want to carry me.”

“Of course, homewrecker,” he said with a laugh, “Well the Korean comments are mostly mad at you for being so close and informal with us.”

I shrugged, “Go figure.”

Overall, despite the silly comments, the video was actually generally well-received. The dissenting voices are always just the loudest. We spent the rest of the evening that way, reading both positive and negative comments on both language platforms. It was always strange to read feedback on something that was so unscripted, informal, and wholly unrelated to our work. Regardless, I found it rather fun, if not very slightly worrying. It wasn’t until the boys spent more time yawning than speaking that I decided it was time for bed.

“Will I see you in the morning?” I asked them as I stood.

They all looked at each other, all eyes eventually settling on N, who looked a little uneasy, “I don’t know. I think tomorrow yes?” it was clearly a question and not a promise.

“It’s alright,” I put my hands in front of my body defensively, “Just keep me updated, okay?”

“Alright,” he called from the couch as I made my way out.

“Good night, Mira!” I heard Hyuk’s voice follow me.