Chapter 9

The house phone started ringing. Ms. Kim put aside the ladle she was holding to cook soup down. She went to answer the phone. Hearing the excited voice of a girl on the other line, it was confirmed that it wasn’t for her.

Ms. Kim: Min Young-ah! The phone’s for you!

Min Young: *runs down the stairs and takes the phone from her mom, thanks. Hello?

Someone: Guess whooo~ *sing-song

Min Young: Sung Gi?

Sung Gi: Oh my god! Hell yeah!! HAVE YOU MET ANY HOT KOREAN GUYS? WHAT ABOUT SUJU? SURE YOU WOULD HAVE SPOTTED DBSK BY NOW. HAVE YOU?! HAVE YOU?! YOU MU-

Min Young: SUNG GI! Can you shut the fuck up? Yes I live in Korea now but that doesn’t mean I like K-pop. I can like anybody I want now. Heck, I can even like Justin Bieber without any of you Malaysians judging every single thing.

Sung Gi: Whoa, are you being racists now? I’m not even Malaysian. We’re both Koreans remember?

Min Young: You’re not. Your dad’s Chinese and your mom’s part Korean. You started liking Koreans and you wanted a Korean name like your mom so she gave you a random one.

Sung Gi: Now you’re being hurtful, Min Young. Yes my dad’s Chinese but he agreed with my mom to give me a Korean name. My Korean name is official. You have the rights to be mad at me, but that doesn’t mean you can bring up that issue. You suck. *about to hang up

Min Young: WAIT. Sung Gi, wait. I’m sorry. I just hate It when you go on blabbering about K-pop.

Sung Gi: I’m sorry too. It’s just that, I so wanna be full Korean like you.

Min Young: What’s so great about being me? :)

Sung Gi: EVERYTHING. Hello, you’re in Korea now? Do you how hot it is here? Anyways, any new friends?

Min Young: *hesitates. (Think: The boys. No, I won’t tell her.) Nope. I’ll fish some tomorrow.

Sung GI: *laughs. I’ve got to go. I need to get SS3 tickets. Bye! *hangs up

Min Young put the phone down and went back to her room. She lay on her bed, thinking why did she feel protective of the boys and didn’t want to tell Sung Gi about it? Maybe, it’s because she’s nuts. Yeah, that’s the reason Min young will stick to.

*decicated entirely to Nabila Isham. :)

Chapter 8

Jonghyun: Bye guys, bye Min Young. :) *rides off on his bike

Minho: *hugs Min Young. The bus is here. See you tomorrow.

Key, Onew, and Taemin: *group hugs them.

When they let go, Minho, Key and Onew went on the bus. From inside they waved goodbye.

Taemin: *about to ride his bike

Min Young: Taemin oppa let me give you a ride.

Taemin: *smiles. Ok.

Ms. Kim’s car pulled up infront of them. She strolled down the window and looked at Taemin.

Ms. Kim: And who is this?

Min Young: Mom, this is Lee Taemin. He lives right infront of our house, can he ride with us?

Ms. Kim: Sure, sure. Now get in, I’ll take you home.

On the way home, Min Young felt left out as she sat at the backseat with Taemin. He and her mom were talking in Korean and its sounds like their joking with each other. Min Young wanted to know what they were talking too. At times, Taemin would whisper to her certain words but she looked away. She was somehow mad. Taemin was her friend. Not her Mom's.

Taemin: uli dongne juwileul geol-eo boja. (we're going for a walk around the neighbourhood.

Ms. Kim: joh-a , geulaeseo nan geunyang nae jib-e godbalo gal geoya . (ok, i'll just go straight to my house.)

Taemin: Thank you for the ride, Ms. Kim. We’ll be off now. Come on, Min Young. *pulled her to the roadside.

Min Young: *puzzled. Where we going?

Taemin: *pulled until her house out of listening range. I told your mom we were going for a walk.

Min Young: When did you- Oh…. You told her in Korean didn't you?

Taemin: *ashamed. I’m sorry about just now. She said it was nice to speak in Korean again.

Min Young: Oh, I’m not mad. Well, maybe just a little jealous.

Taemin: *looks at her. Really? I mean, sorry. *gets an idea Yah! The hyungs and I can teach you how to speak Korean. :D

Min Young: Awesomee. : DD *sigh Compared to what happened in school, this is a boring neighborhood.

Taemin: *surprised. No it’s not. *takes her hand and pulls her again I’ll show you something that isn’t. :)

They ran towards the nearby park which has a single big tree in the middle. Taemin explained that it is said that tree grows not from sunlight but from the growing love of those around it. As it was humongous, the love among the neighborhood must be strong.

Taemin: Let’s climb it.

Min Young: *excited. I’m an expert at climbing trees. Back in Malaysia, I used to climb trees every time at my friends village.

Taemin: Awesome, then I’ll race you to the top. :D

Min Young: You’re on.

They raced to the top. Of course Taemin won. He more familiar to the tree than Min Young was. At the highest they can go, they sat down on the branch and just admired the scenery of the city. They sat side by side and Min Young rested her head on Taemin’s shoulder.

Min Young: Korea is amazing.

Taemin: (think: You’re amazing) But you've only been here for 1 day, what makes it so amazing?

Min Young: The people in it. *smiles Onew oppa, Jonghyun oppa, Key oppa, Minho oppa… You. :)

Taemin: *looks at her really? We made Korea amazing to you?

Min Young: *laughs. Of course! Why were you guys so nice to me? Or are you guys really this nice to everyone?

Taemin: *realizes. Not really. You’re the first other person we know in ABIS. *laughs we don’t really socialize because it bothers Minho hyung. We tried to make friends with this beautiful girl once. She went through everything you went through today but, when it came to Minho hyung, he ignored her completely.

Min Young: Really? Why?

Taemin: I don’t know. I mean, you’re exactly like her, beautiful, a good dancer…

AWKWARD SILENCE.

Min Young: I-I think we better go.

Taemin: yeah… we should. I’ll meet you outside your house at 7.30am.

Chapter 7

The dance studio was amazing. Three sides of the wall were made of mirrors and the last one had a sky wall paper. On that wallpaper was one section. Pictures of the 5 boys under the section, best group dance of the month. The sound system was at the far end of the room. The room even had its own lighting. The dance duel started. The first few people were good. But Taemin was boasting of that he could do better than the whole class. Min Young looked back at the best group dance section, well, he deserved to say that. From time to time, Taemin asked whether Min Young was nervous, she would answer truthfully. Yes, she was damn nervous. These people here were great and Min Young just danced for fun.

Taemin: It’s okay. Just think that you’re dancing with only me in the room.

Min Young: *nods and got up for their turn.

Taemin was amazing. Min Young tried to keep her awe to herself. His moves were smooth and unique. He was like a machine with flexibility. Min Young danced when it was her turn. She took Taemin’s advice; she only looked at Taemin and other random parts of the studio.

Poppin’ bottles in the ice, like a blizzard, when we drink we do it right getting slizzard

The applause rose. Both Temin and Min Young bowed and went back to sit with their oppas/hyungs. The boys were praising Min Young for her dancing as she went red. Being modest, she said thank you but her danced seemed like marbles rolling out of a jug on the floor next to Taemin’s. The boys laughed at her description. Min Young smiled and shed a small tear of happiness.