The clock hits nine in the evening as a bowl of ramen sat on the table, waiting for its owner to slurp it up. However, the small hand pointing at nine with the big one on twelve during Friday doesn’t just mean it’s too late for Jieun to eat dinner. It also meant that her favorite show, Starfield, has started. It wasn’t even a month since Starfield began and listeners have poured in like cats and dogs.

The radio show was one of those wherein people call and ask for advices from the DJ. The concept was nothing new but the fact that DJ Nu gives out funny and sweet responses was a big plus. In addition to that, nobody knows his real identity. (Well, except those who work with him at the program.) But all in all, he was a mysterious guy everyone was itching to meet- including Jieun.

So here she was, sitting on the floor while listening to the radio show while eating ramen for dinner. And as DJ Nu opened the hotline for listeners to call, Jieun did not think twice and reached for her phone immediately to dial the numbers. It has been her routine ever since she heard of Starfield from a co-worker at the coffee shop last week. She has never had the chance to get in though… Not until now.

“Hello? This is Starfield’s DJ Nu. Please introduce yourself.” She heard him at the end of the line before a frequency interference occurred. What a nice way to be remembered by your favorite DJ, she thought.

“Please lower your radio’s volume or might as well turn it off.. Hello?” His voice was deep yet soft and she liked it a lot.

“Hello? Sorry about that-“ Jieun chuckled lightly against her phone.

“Oh, it’s a female- Sounds like a pretty one based on your voice. So mind telling us your name?” He asked. Jieun has thought about this a million times already- she will not tell her real name no matter what.

“IU. People call me IU.” She answered.

“That’s quite uncommon. Are you from another country perhaps? Like Wonderland or something?”

“Mm.. You can say that.” She lied, hoping he’ll drop the topic for now.

“O…kay.” He said as if not believing. “Is it your first time here?”

“Yes, it’s actually my first time calling.”

“Ah, I mean, is it your first time knocking into my heart?” She was so sure he was grinning at the other end of the line. Damn, his low voice and smooth lines. “So what can I help you with, my lady?” He continued.

Jieun hummed softly in thought, thinking as to how to put all her feelings into words. She felt like she was giving burden to her favorite DJ after dragging a couple of seconds in silence so she finally spoke.

“I’m actually living with a guy.” She confessed. It was not a common thing in South Korea for a male and a female to live one apartment unless they’re in a relationship but she needed someone to share the expenses with and so did he.

“Oh- That’s.. cool.” He said. His voice seemed like he was carefully choosing his words. Jieun noticed it too which made her pick up the phone from the table to bring it closer. If there is one thing she is quite good at aside from singing, it’s definitely her keen sense of hearing. “I actually have-- I have a male friend who lives with a girl too. Originally, he wanted to stay with a guy but there were no other vacant apartments in the area.. I don’t see anything wrong with that though. I mean, share houses are the trend lately, right?” He continued.

“Ah, yes, yes… I don’t think there is anything wrong with it either but lately…” She paused, considering what to say next.

“I actually heard your voice trail off, Ms. IU.” He chuckled lowly. “And I can only think of two reasons for that- either you’re starting to like him or he’s a troublemaker and you want to kick him out.”

And in that moment, Jieun thought that DJ Nu was observant and very detailed. “I- Um, I think it’s the first one?” She bit her lip. “It’s just that he’s pretty mysterious and it kind of draws me more to him. I think it’s stupid to say that I really, really like him already since we barely see each other but he seems nice.”

“Aigoo.. So we actually have a ‘like’ confession tonight.” He teased her, suddenly playing Narsha’s “I’m in Love” in the background, and she pouted along though she clearly knew that no one will see her- unless the guy she’s sharing the place with comes home early.

“Okay, okay.. Let’s talk about it one by one, Ms. IU. Can you tell us his name?” DJ Nu asked through the radio.

“Eh? Can’t we just call him ‘Banana’?”

“Banana?!” He laughed through the phone. “Is he a fan of minions?”

“There’s always a stash of banana milk in our fridge. He buys all of them.” Jieun tried to explain as she remembered that one time she secretly stole one in the evening and found a one page letter regarding stealing fastened on top of the cartons the next morning.

“I can’t blame him. Everybody loves milk, right?”

“Except those with lactose intolerance, I guess.”

“That’s right… So, Ms. IU, is Banana working already? Or maybe still in college?” Curiosity filled the air and she cannot help but to tilt her head, unable to answer the questions precisely.

“All I know is that he’s a college student and doesn’t have any part-time jobs but what bothers me is that he stays very late outside- like until three in the morning?”

“Hey, hey! It’s getting interesting..” He suddenly laughed lightly and Jieun was confused for a while until he continued. “I think your roommate got some dirty little secret, Ms. IU.”

“I’ve actually thought he might be working at a nearby club or doing private stuffs with clients—“

“Wait a minute— There might be children listening at this hour.”

“Ah, sorry!” She chuckled, bringing her hands to her lips to cover them- a habit she can’t seem to remove.

“It’s okay, darling... Ever talked to Banana about it? You’re his roommate, anyway, you deserve to know what he’s up to. Might be drug-user or something, you’ll never know.”

She never liked being called with cringe-worthy names but DJ Nu might just be an exception. It felt like honey- soothing and sweet.

“I haven’t tried. He seemed to be snobbish at times.”

“That could just be his tactic to draw you in! It’s like a blackhole, sweetheart. It’s sucking you in and he pushes and pulls- Okay, that sounded like I’m describing something sensual but no-- What I’m saying is some guys hide themselves in masks because we know girls get attracted to that. Is he handsome, Ms. IU?”

“Mhm, he is…”

“See! I knew it. Have you ever seen his room?”

“No, not yet. I didn’t want to intrude his privacy…”

“But you wouldn’t get to know him better if you don’t look, right? Is it locked?” And that was when curiosity and the spirit of Sherlock Holmes hit Jieun so hard like an atomic bomb. She got up immediately and headed to his bedroom’s door. He was not here, she’s pretty sure so she held onto the doorknob tightly, twisting it slowly. It was open.

“It’s open-“ Jieun stifled a scream.

“I guess it’s destined for you to get in. How is it inside?”

Her small steps echoed through the room as her eyes wandered around. It was nothing like she imagined. Jieun has always thought that it was a garbage dump but it was nowhere near that. Everything was put to place- like a nicely tucked bed, posters stuck neatly on the walls, books stocked on the shelves.

“It’s neat- with Harry Potter posters draped on the walls.”

“Harry Potter posters--?” If she wasn’t very observant, she would have missed hearing his sudden hesitation and confusion with his last question. ‘Maybe DJ Nu isn’t familiar with the series’, she thought to herself so she decided to further explain.

“Yes, the famous Harry Potter series… It’s quite neat to be a guy’s room, honestly, DJ Nu. My room’s probably more chaotic.” She jokingly said. When he didn’t reply, she thought that maybe he’s waiting for more descriptions so she went forward and grabbed a couple of stationeries on the table.

“Oh, there are letters here too-“ She added when suddenly the male on the other end of the line cut her midsentence.

“Stop, stop! I-I think this can be considered as trespassing, right?” Nervousness hinting from his low voice. “Kindly please get out of the room, Ms. IU… My lovely listeners, I didn’t force her onto anything, alright? This show doesn’t encourage trespassing or even cheating or killing.” She didn’t answer.

“Ms. IU?” Silence enveloped the conversation. Her feet were frozen on the spot, mouth agape as she blankly stared on the letters on her hands.

“Um, I guess the line was cut? But to Ms. IU who has developed feelings for her roommate, I suggest that you get to know him more. He might be just a little too shy to open up. And after some time, I’m pretty sure he wouldn’t mind being friends with a nice and pretty lady whose singing voice is enough to make someone fall in love. Who knows, maybe he has a secret crush on you too..”

And then, the call ended. Jieun felt a numbing sensation like a bucket of ice poured all over her body as she read the first line on the letter. At first it was a slap on her face, then she soon felt like digging her own grave.

‘Maybe he has a secret crush on you too.' His words kept on repeating at the back of her head as she took a few more strides towards a mini poster she did not notice earlier. It was all black except for the metallic silver print of ‘DJ 누’ in the middle of the paper. Back then, she always thought that the name was used to pertain to the English word ‘new’, a new DJ, or maybe ‘nu’, the Korean word for ‘who’ since he’s shown as a mysterious image. It was only when she traced the Hangul syllabic block that she realized that it was a very simple reasoning- the Hangul letters were drawn like ‘L’ and ‘T’.

And with a mind full of frustration and embarrassment, Jieun mustered to open her lips and whisper his name into the empty room. “Lee Taemin…” Her bowl of ramen sat on the table outside, completely forgotten.

A/N: This took forever. I am very sorry, my lovely subscribers. It took me some time to finally finish this but here it is! Now, I'm starting to think that I'm better at writing cheesy and cringe-worthy stuffs like 'Unaccidentally in Love' and 'In Deep' than stories like this. I'm still thinking if I should make a second chapter for when they confront each other but then, I suck at chaptered fics. But anyway, this can stand on its own and I hope that you really like this one. Votes and comments are very much appreciated! Have a great day, everyone!!