Just a flash of red and brown, and E’Dawn couldn’t help but stare. His smile fell and it felt as though his world had stopped. Your hair was in twists and so was his stomach after seeing you. The other guys didn’t fail to notice their friend’s new infatuation with the girl who had just passed by.
“You think she’s cute, huh?”
He nodded and fell off the wall since he had been too occupied staring at the beautiful brown girl who had passed by to worry about his own safety. Hyojong just had to know one thing. Who were you?
[Two hours earlier...]
Hyojong woke up and stretched, turning off his phone alarm and almost forgetting he wasn’t living on campus this year. He was so used to seeing the cream colored walls, that his black painted ones surprised him. Yawning, he smacked his lips together and tasted last night’s sleep on his tongue. It tasted like spit.
“Good morning, Cheolsoo! Yeonghee, how was your sleep? Is Nari thirsty this morning?” He said cheerfully as he watered the growing sprouts on his windowsill before getting ready.
Skipping forward, Hyojong spit foamy toothpaste into the sink and wiped his face. Only as he double checked his freckled face did his roommate Hongseok came out of his room to do his morning routine.
Scratching his tummy, he said his usual greeting, “Mornin’”
“Sleep well?”
Hongseok nodded and yawned, splashing his face with cold water, “Ah, we’re meeting the guys at the brick wall outside the library today for lunch. Bring cash. Jinho says the card swipe thing got stolen over the summer.”
“Well fuck,” He pouted. “Ok.”
The be-speckled blonde beauty opened his closet and changed his bottoms to the black slacks required by the school that sported his grade’s color. He slipped on a white tank top after flexing in the mirror a bit. High white socks and black tennis shoes. They could have been any color, but Hyojong decided to keep it simple.
He’d put on his jacket last in case something spilled on his shirt and he had no time to change. Speaking of which. Breakfast. Nothing too big as he’d get coffee with his friends soon enough. Yuto was in the kitchen, toast waiting on the counter with jam and butter surrounding the green plate.
“I made two slices for everyone. Do whatever you want with them.”
The three waited for the last one to wake up as they ate in the living room and played a few video games. None of their classes were until 11am, and it was just now 9:23. Wooseok shuffled in his pajamas and drank some juice.
“Cute.” Hongseok smiled.
They talked about their classes and what they heard about their teachers until it was time to go. They buttoned up their gold buttons that shined brightly against the black fabric
“These look like Japanese high school outfits.”
“And here I thought I had gotten rid of these awful collars when I graduated.” Yuto looked at himself in the mirror. “Why are they trying to copy the uniform style?”
Hongseok shrugged, “Don’t know. But I don’t exactly hate it. You look adorable, Wooseok.”
Hyojong smiled, “He’s always adorable.”
“Oh, be quiet. These pants are so stupid. Why aren’t they full length?” The adorable one turned his ankle to emphasize the fact that it showed off his navy blue socks instead of covering them like regular pants.
“Fashion!” Yuto said. “I like that feature. Makes me feel young.”
“I feel like I’m cosplaying.” Hongseok laughed. “Anyways. Let’s go. We’ve got classes to get to, and it’s best not to be late on the first day.”
After their first classes, the boys met up where they had the past two years after making their rather large group of friends. There were ten of them in total, Jinho, Hui, Hongseok, E’Dawn, Shinwon, Yanan, Yeo One, Yuto, Kino, and Wooseok. Hyojong went by E’Dawn because he messed up creating his first semester schedule so badly that he had classes at the crack of dawn for a whole term.
Most of the others had regular nicknames. They always met for lunch outside the library since Jinho worked at the school cafe located on the library’s first floor and got off at the time. He always brought his friends food that was fresh but would be thrown out after his shift. It was ok as long as he didn’t get caught, and his boss didn’t tell on him.
Even in this large group, they talked about the new uniforms for guys. Every grade had its own color that they had to wear. Freshmen in red, Sophomores in green, Juniors in pink, and Seniors in blue. Yuto, Kino, and Wooseok wore red while Yeo One, Shinwon, and Yanan got green. Hui, E’Dawn, and Hongseok got to wear black this year and Jinho was the only one who wore blue.
The colors were on everyone’s Student IDs. For the guys, they had two sets of pants. One were plaid and whatever color they needed to be. The others were black with a colored stripe down each side. The color also showed up on their ties they wore for their alternate uniforms.As for girls, their skirts signified their current academic level. Although girls could wear pants, there was just social pressure that made skirts more common than not.
Hyojong had decided to wear his black pants today. He met Yuto and Wooseok during their summer orientation since Hyojong was their Orientation Leader. They mentioned not wanting live on campus but not wanting to stay with their parents and E’Dawn said he had two empty rooms in his apartment. They’ve been close ever since.
The guys were taking turns walking on the red brick wall in front of the library to see who could do it the fastest without falling. Hyojong fell and landed on his ass, making the others laugh. He laughed along with them until your red skirt caught his eye. Your legs were an earthy brown, and you wore high black socks in combat boots.
Looking at the rest of your body, he saw that you had on a blazer with red accents and a white dress shirt underneath, red ribbon tied under the colar. The messenger bag you held was an army green color and covered in all sorts of buttons. Some E’Dawn recognized since he was a fan of the shows and bands.
Your hair was natural and in a plethora of twists, but you didn’t really notice him among all the other handsome men. You just saw them as a group of men you had to pass by. It didn’t occur that one of them had been captivated by your presence. Then again, while you were trying to see if you were headed towards the right building, E’Dawn was trying to get a better view of you. He sat up from his first falling position, fingers hanging off the edge of the wall.
After you passed the group, you didn’t see your newest admirer fall to the ground after losing his balance since you were already inside the building and taking everything in. So this is what the inside of a Korean library looked like, you mused.
Hyojong scrambled to his feet and followed you. He just had to make sure that what he saw was human not a goddess made from his imagination as he currently believed you were. When he got inside, he saw a red skirt go around a corner. Your twists bounced with every step and suddenly stopped as you searched for the right room. Hyojong couldn’t help but reach out and touch your shoulder.
You turned around, “Yeah?” You spoke English.
He didn’t know a lot of English. Right now, he barely remembered any Korean as you two met eyes. Yours were such a dark brown, tunnels to another world. E’Dawn had to say something.
“Hi. I’m Kim Hyojong.” He bowed. “I help with new students. Are you lost?”
Having bowed when he did, you sighed and spoke Korean, “Yes, I’m lost. I’m looking for this classroom, but I don’t see this number anywhere.”
He loved the sound of your voice. You showed him the number, and E’Dawn saw the number written in both Hangul and Romanized alphabet.
“Ah, I’m guessing you didn’t get the email. That class is now upstairs in the computer lab.” He pointed upwards. “I can take you to it if you want.”
The way you smiled made his heart skip, “Could you, please?”
Hyojong smiled back, “Sure. Follow me. What’s your name, by the way?”
“I’m (Y/N), nice to meet you.” You gave a small bow and your twists trickled down your cheeks.
“Nice to meet you.”
There was no way he was going to tell you how easy it was to find the classroom since they were mostly glass walls and had the teacher’s name on the door. E’Dawn wanted to spend more time with you wanted to learn more about this beautiful black girl with a voice like the sea.
“Where you from?”
“I’m from North America. And before you ask, I learned Korean and moved here because of K-pop. Mostly the fashion aspect.”
He smiled, “Sounds about right with all the foreigners here. What’s your major?” E’Dawn asked as he opened the stairwell door for you.
“Thanks,” You grinned. “And I’m undecided at the moment. Just trying to get my general studies out the way and try a few things out before committing to a specific field just yet.”
“You’ll find your place here rather quickly. Um, let me see that paper one more time?”
You hands him the paper, and he took a pen out of his pocket to scribble something on it. He handed it back to you, and you noticed a few extra characters along the bottom.
“Wow” You heard a voice whisper.
Both of you turned your heads to see the stairwell door closing even though it should’ve already been shut after E’Dawn and you stepped out. You guys decided to ignore whatever it was.
“It’s my KTalk. You can message me if you have any questions. I hope you enjoy your class.” He opened the glass door leading to the largest computer room.
“Thanks. Hyojong-oppa?”
He wanted to clutch his chest as he was having a heart attack from how cute you were, calling him oppa. He almost forgot you were younger than him, but the red skirt was obvious. You were just very comfortable to be around that you didn’t feel younger. Must’ve been because you were American.
You took his reaction the wrong way, “Oh, sorry, I guess we’re not close enough for me to call you that yet.”
“No, no, no, no, no, no. It’s fine. You can call me oppa if you want.”
“Oh, that’s a relief! Thank you, oppa!”
Hyojong nodded, caught his breath, and put on a charming smile, “Yes. You’re welcome. I’ll see you around. Your Korean is very good.”
“Thank you! I’ll see you around.” You bowed to him and went inside.
He nodded back at you and let go of the door. Releasing the breath he didn’t even know he was holding, E’Dawn gave you one last glance and headed downstairs to rejoin his friends. However, as he opened the door that lead to the stairs he saw several of them standing on the landing.
“Hey, guys. What were you doing?”
They all looked at each other until Yeo One spoke, “Nothing, oppa~”
The others joined in teasing him about having the freshman girl call him oppa even though they had just met. Hyojong was a blushing mess, and nothing could hide it. The librarian shushed them and pointed outside.
Once outside, Jinho was the first to tell the other five, “She called him oppa and almost took it back, but he said it was ok. Dawnie’s got a crush~”
“So, is she Korean?”
E’Dawn shook his head, “American. Not sure which area. Her name is (Y/N).” He touched his cheeks, starting to blush even more. “She’s really cute.”
This was fun. Should I write more? I should. Five chapters. I’ll write five chapters of this with this one being the first.
Today was your first day going to dance practice after school. It was one of your lighter days, so it wouldn’t be too bad. It’s just...the outfits weren’t made for your American ass. Even though you had lost some weight after the drastic change in your diet that came with moving to a new country, there was still enough there that you were worried these Asian made shorts would rip trying to go over your hips.
Looking at yourself in the bathroom mirror, it wasn’t too bad. You ordered two sizes bigger than you thought you would need for your bloated days. You didn’t know it would be your regular pair.
“Not bad.” You said, taking one last look before heading to the school gym. Maybe you were being paranoid, but were those guys taking pictures of you?
[12 hours ago]
You wiped your eyes and woke up at 6am. After waking yourself up through a bit of web surfing on your phone, you nudged yourself out of bed and into the bathroom to get ready for school. Hair, makeup, making sure you had done all your homework, and doing the homework you didn’t finish but was due in 4 hours. Just like the responsible college kid you were.
Lisa was playing music as she poured her cereal and danced in the kitchen. You decided to join her before applying anything to your lips. She was super excited to get the day started for some reason. You had another roommate that you never saw traces of except in the trash can.
“What’s got you excited today?”
“First day of Dance Practice!” She squealed.
You gasped, “Oh, right! I forgot that was today. It’s right after my English class since it got switched last second.”
“You’re so silly.” Lisa giggled and took a sip of juice. “Hey, how are you feeling? We all talked in the group chat, and he sort of got kicked out of said chat. Not like he was saying anything.”
“Uh, yeah. I saw. I just. Neither of us were completely right. I could’ve been faster with my decision or told him I needed time to think, but he also had the possibility to tell me that he was lying about actually waiting forever for me.”
“Wait he said that?”
You nodded. “Yep. He said he’d wait for my answer and respect it, but it’s my first month in a new country. I’ve got a lot of things going on, and couldn’t he wait? Just a little?”
“He should’ve, jeez. Some men just have no sense of patience or like anything really. I’m really sorry. I knew you had a bit of a crush on him, or that you were starting to get close with him.”
You sighed, “Thanks, Lisa. You’re the best. You wanna meet up before practice or will you be busy?”
“Yeah, sounds good. No wait, I’ve gotta go straight from a class to practice, so not today. I’ll see you there, though.”
With the added information, you reminded yourself to pack your dance clothes in a separate bag to keep in your car until it was time to change. You made sure you had everything on the check list and then you headed off for school ahead of Lisa.
Hyojong’s English class had been the most boring of all his classes. It was filled with people who either had no idea how to speak English past a greeting and apologizing and what was in music or people who thought they could speak English better than everyone. E’Dawn knew how to write English better than he could speak it and wasn’t very good at conversational English.
It wasn’t until he saw familiar brown combat boots and a red skirt did he actually think that it might be a good class after all. You sat down, not having seen him. If you had seen Hyojong, you would’ve sat next to him. Right? He saw you set your backpack down and approach the teacher.
You two bowed to each other and then exchanged a handshake. The following conversation was in English, and it caught the attention of the rest of the class who probably didn’t understand half of it. The way you spoke English was beautiful. Why were you even in this class?
Class began and the teacher spoke in a mix of Korean and English as she usually did. She introduced you and E’Dawn felt like he understood everything you were saying even if he had never head the words before.
“Hi, I’m (Y/F/N), and I’m a freshman this year. I’m here to do some research on how English is taught in college classes as it is part of my writing class to write a research paper on a topic of my choice for my final project.”
Hyojong waved and you waved back which made him really happy. People looked and you grinned before finishing up. “I will probably be interviewing some of you, but don’t worry, I know Korean too.” You repeated it all in Korean and got more nods from everyone listening.
The teacher spoke as well, “(Y/N) is here to observe and said that she’s willing to help you if you have any questions for her, but only after you’ve finished your daily work. Thank you, (Y/N).”
You bowed to the teacher and sat down in a front row seat in the farthest right column. You took out your notebook and started taking notes about today’s lesson. When the teacher told the students to get into small groups to practice with each other, a lot of them tried to come to you, but the teacher told everyone to stop before you got trampled.
“Form groups with your actual classmates. (Y/N) will come around and look into each group for a bit and do her thing.”
The group practiced ordering food at a restaurant. Those who were more well traveled were able to do it better. Hyojong was trying even harder now that you were in class. He noticed you go around and sit in on different groups and ask them questions in both Korean and English. Some even asked you to question them in English so they could guess.
When you got to Hyojong’s group, you bowed to them since they were all older than you.
You spoke in Korean, “So, I was wondering what made you take this class in the first place.”
Most of them were business related and wanting to better communicate with future business partners. Others like Hyojong were planning to go abroad some time in the future and believed communication would be easier since English is a universal language.
“How are you today, (Y/N)?” Hyojong asked in English with a unique inflection that made you smile.
You answered, “I’m doing well, oppa. Do you have any questions for me?”
“Is this actually right? What we’re being taught?”
You looked over his shoulder in the textbook and scanned it, not seeing anything wrong until...
You leaned down over the book and made sure you read that right. You did, and you were all adults. You had to explain this.
“Yeah, so far so good. Only, you wouldn’t um...you wouldn’t say ‘Who do you usually eat out?’ unless you add the word ‘with’ at the end. Without that word, it changes the connotation completely.”
One boy in the senior colors asked why, as did the whole table. You explained how it was slang for giving oral to a female or a butthole. They all covered their mouths and you nodded.
“I should probably tell the teacher this, so she can tell everyone else. That’s a really bad mistake to make. Hyojong-oppa, can I see your book for a bit, please?”
He handed you the book, and you approached the teacher asking to see her in the hallway. After a moment, the two of you returned and Hyojong couldn’t believe their textbook had such a mistake in it. The teacher addressed the class telling them to fix it in their books and praised you for being such a great asset to the class.
You returned the book to E’dawn who couldn’t help but smile at you, “Be careful, or she might assign you to read through the whole book and point out what needs to be fixed.”
The others laughed and one of the girls who were with them asked how to say a certain word. You pronounced the word for them slowly and then were called to the front of the class to have volunteers to "make plans for lunch” with you. When class was over, Hyojong asked if you had anything to do before changing for dance practice.
“Ah, no. I just wanted to ask the teacher a few things.”
“Ok, I’ll wait for you outside, so you can walk me to my next class.”
You smiled and felt a slight blush rising, “Sure. Sounds good.”
E’dawn stood outside the classroom and waited for you as you asked the teacher whatever. He wanted to tell you that he had a crush on you, but he wasn’t sure how to do it. The reason he hesitated was because you were just so beautiful and he wasn’t sure if you were completely over...whatever you and Vernon had been.
He didn’t want to do anything too rash in case it caused you to turn him down, so the blonde decided to wait. His mind wandered to what your first date might be like. Should he take you to Hongdae or someplace classier? If it were in Hongdae, he’d pick someplace that served American food to make you feel at home. It would start raining and he’d hold your hand as you took cover. You’d thank him and kiss him for thinking so quickly.
“Um, oppa?” Your actually voice and a poke to his tummy made him wake up.
He woke up from his imagination to see your sweet face in front of him with a curious spark in your eyes. Your messenger bag strap was held by both of your hands as you raised your eyebrows and laughed.
“What were you thinking about?”
He blushed, “N-nothing. So, onto my next class.”
On the way to his next class, he told you how glad he was that you had made it onto both dance teams. You asked how he got into dance, and he said that he was into hip-hop.
“It lead to making want to learn how to rap and dance. Just the amount of pure talent in hip hop just inspired me to push myself in a different direction than I was going.”
“That’s amazing.”
He stopped, “This is me. I’ll see you after class then.”
You nodded and let him go, but you both turned around and told each other to wait. Instead of just talking over each other, he told you to speak first. You asked him a question you had been wondering about for a whole week. Even though you were pretty sure about the answer, you wanted to hear it come from his mouth.
Looking down and twisting your shoulder strap, you asked, “You’re not seeing anyone are you? Like, I know you’re not dating Hyuna, but is there anyone else?” You nervously bit your lip.
“Nope. I’m single. Have been for a while.” He sighed and gave you an obvious look before saying. “Wish I had someone though. Why?”
“No reason!” You bowed. “I’ll see you in practice later!” And you rushed off before your cheeks got any hotter.
So yeah, you were totally into Hyojong. He was opened to dating. It wasn’t until you were drinking some cold coffee in the cafe that you realized that would’ve been a great time to ask him to go out with you.
“Fuck!” you slammed your drink down and then looked around. After apologizing for interrupting, you went back to your studying and finished typing up your findings from your first day in Hyojong’s English class.
After looking at the time, you had an hour before practice. You went to your car to make sure you had everything since you had enough time to stop by at home if you didn’t. You had everything for both of your groups.
For the All-Female dance team, you had to wear red shorts and a blue crop top with white tennis shoes and socks. Your white socks were all dirty, so you decided fishnet socks would have to work today. The team was called S.H.E which stood for Soul Heart Excellence. You also had to have backup black heels, which you did.
Then for the Co-ed dace team, you were given snap pants in both blue and red and a blue jacket with “Spotlight Dancer” on the sleeves as well as your name on the back of it. Red and blue shirts were provided with the team name on the front. That name? Urban Shine to reference a former K-pop group called Urban Zakapa. The shoe requirements were the same: dress shoes and white lace ups.
You decided to change in the bathroom just because you knew there’d be staring in the changing rooms, and you just didn’t want that today. There were a few African names on the list. None of them were Spotlight dancers, though. Every way you thought about it ended up with you being stared at. Maybe it was all in your head, but by the time you convinced yourself of that, you were in a bathroom stall getting undressed.
Even though you ordered a few sizes above what you thought you would need since it was Asian sizing...maybe you should’ve gotten even bigger. You just prayed that your ass wasn’t hanging out of the shorts when you were stepping out. You put on the ones you ordered for your bloated days and decided they’d work better for your regular pair. At least the top fit well.
You crossed your fingers and hoped that you wouldn’t look like the stereotypical black girl in the back of music videos when you came out of the stall. Looking at the mirror, you looked more normal than you thought you would.
“Not bad.” You said, putting your clothes into your practice bad and then heading to the school gym.
As you walked from the gaming hall to the gym that was about a block away, you felt like more eyes were on you than need be. You checked to make sure you didn’t have your Special jacket on. Then you thought you saw a pair of guys recording or taking pictures of you. Were you just being paranoid? Either way, your face got hot from embarrassment.
Hyojong saw you as he was dressed in his own outfit for the He Is Magic dance team, aka H.I.M. It was blue sweat pants and a red tank top with white lace-ups. For E’dawn, that was converse. A pair of Keds was in his bag as required as well as his co-ed dance team outfit. Today the guys were told to wear the blue snap pants with a white shirt. His red Spotlight Dancer jacket was in there as well.
He noticed that you seemed to be looking over your shoulder a lot. Were you uncomfortable? Either way, he didn’t like the look on your face and wanted to make you feel better. As he got closer, he heard some guys talking about you, no not you. They were talking about your body, objectifying you, as if you were only walking past them for their amusement.
Sometimes he had done this, but it was mostly just saying how pretty a girl was and then hoping he had a good day. Not this. This was disgusting, and he nearly grew horns when they got their phones out to start taking pictures of you. Hyojong started running and called your name.
Dear God, who’s calling my name now? You thought as you heard someone yelling for you. Wait, you knew that voice. Turning around, you felt relief wash over you when E’dawn came running towards you.
He put his arm around you, “Are you ok?”
“I just feel really exposed. Nothing’s hanging out, right?” You had to ask, and you trusted him to be honest with you.
E’dawn answered, “Nope. Everything fits fine. If it feels uncomfortable, do you wanna wear my jacket?”
You shook your head, “Just you being here is helping me a lot. Thanks, oppa.”
“You’re welcome. I’d do anything for you.”
As the two of you walked towards the gym, there were arrows pointing to the different practices for the sexes. You two kept talking about classes and stuff and didn’t notice you were walking to the girls’ practice until you were standing outside.
“Oh, I guess we’re here. You are an absolute life saver, oppa.”
“You make me so happy when you call me that. Just because no one says it as cute as you do. ‘Oppa~, you’re so great’” He imitated you with a high voice. “ ‘Oh my gosh, oppa! Oppa’s a lifesaver! Oppa, this isn’t phrased correctly, it means a naughty thing!’ So cute.”
Both of you laughed. Hyojong hugged you and said that he’d see you later. His closest friend Hui saw it since he was talking to Hyuna. All of the other girls saw it too.
“Hui, let’s go to practice! Don’t wanna be late, ya noob!”
The man with silver purplish hair and a bucket hat told Hyuna farewell and went to catch up with his other friend. Lisa and Rosé called you over and introduced you to some of the other girls they had met while doing warm ups. It was still 10 minutes until practice started officially, so it was fine to just mill around a bit.
You met Jisoo and Jennie who were just super adorable human beings.
“Are you two dating?” Jennie asked, pointing to the door.
“What? No. We’re friends.” You said, getting into a V-sit position and reaching towards your right foot. “I wouldn’t mind it, though. Hyojong’s a great guy.”
As you talked about your blonde and sweet oppa, Hyuna smiled and texted her friend. She told him to ask you out the next time you two were together and just to trust her when he asked why. He said there were no promises.
“Alright, my Sheros, let’s go around the room and introduce each other! I’ll start. My name is Kim Hyuna, call me Hyuna or just by my honorific since a lot of you are younger than me. I’m one of the co-captains, but I can’t be here all the time because I have cheerleading practice which is usually at the same time...”
She went on for a bit, introducing the other co-captain Korai Nonanes who was Japanese and very well recognized for being the leader even during her freshman year when their actual captain quit last second. Korai was the reason why they never got less than second place.
After getting to know everyone, you all went over the basic dance steps and did some trust exercises. Then it was time to disperse. A lot of the girls redid their makeup. Some were also in your co-ed dance team. You were wearing a lot of waterproof things since you knew it would be hot today, so you were fine after checking your eyeliner and lipstick.
When you changed into your second outfit, you unsnapped the pants to your lower thigh. You were humming the band tune to yourself when you heard Rosé giggle.
“Are you excited to see E’dawn again?”
You blinked and couldn’t help but smile, “I wasn’t even thinking about him until you said something.”
“And look how big your smile got!” Lisa cooed. “Ask him out, (Y/N)!”
Even Jisoo spoke up, “I think you two would be really cute with each other.”
Puffing your cheeks, you replied, “I’ll think about it.”
It had been two months, and you still had not asked him out. Hyojong hadn’t asked you out, either. Both of you were just extremely nervous and bashful to move the relationship you had past being best friends which you were at this point. The best of friends. You two were even partners for the Spotlight Dancer Duet since you two worked so well together.
The amount of people who asked if you were dating increased. Your friends even had to ask you, “Are you sure you’re not dating?”
You two were just close since neither of you would say anything about your feelings for each other. Instead, you “accidentally” flirted with each other and did everything that couples did except makeout. You’d even kiss each other’s cheeks and foreheads, but you weren’t dating. Nope, not at all.
Today was an exciting day since it was Theme Day for competition being held after winter break. All three groups got different themes and then had to elaborate with them on their own.
For the girls, it was Rock Music while the guys got International Music. Mostly, it was just taking a survey of songs you all wanted to dance to. You picked a lot of songs you listened to or heard while growing up plus some things that your parents listened to. Queen, Nirvana, Def Leopard, KISS.
When it came to the co-ed Urban Shine, the female leader Stevie A called for a drumroll while K. Gami opened the email. All the dancers hit their legs rapidly until you were given the signal to stop.
“Fairy Tales!”
Everyone’s mind went to Disney cuteness and princely manners. While reading the email, K. Gami explained that the troupe had to choose 3-5 different classic fairy tales they’d like to turn into dance and send it in. They had to pick several in case someone picked their top one first. That meant this was the quickest brainstorming session ever.
They sent in the following list:
Aladdin
Peter Pan
Alice in Wonderland
Wizard of Oz
Not even 5 minutes later, they got back what they would do while they were doing a dancer version of “Trust Pinball”. Another drumroll was done and they announced that Urban Shine had gotten Peter Pan. Taller men tried out for the parts of Captain Hook, larger men and some girls for Smee. Then auditions were held for the main parts of Wendy and Peter.
Not many people auditioned when they saw that you and E’dawn were individually auditioning. The auditions were basically a minute and thirty seconds of in character dance, a mix of ballet, contemporary, and street dance. The lead positions were closed to Spotlight Dancers anyways, but even the others who had been dancing for a while didn’t want to impede of this potential match finally being made.
In short, you got Wendy and E’dawn got Peter.
“So, the Spotlight Dancers can stay to help us figure out an outline, and the rest of you are free to go home. Get some rest and study!”
After everyone left, Stevie A asked what you guys wanted to do. There were eight spotlight dancers: You, E’Dawn, J. Seph, Hyuna, Hui, Somin, Matthew, and Jiwoo.
Matthew had gotten to be Captain Hook while Somin became Smee. Hyuna would become Tiger Lily. The others would be Wendy’s siblings and Jiwoo was Tinkerbell. You mostly watched while they all created a basic story line and a schedule to get everything done like costuming, etc. It wasn’t until they got to the topic of music genres that E’dawn made sure to ask your opinion.
“Um, I think that each section should have it’s own genre or subgenre. Like, if we’re doing pop music as the main type, we could have songs that are more classical based for Wendy, rock or hip hop for Hook, that sort of thing.”
Hyuna gasped, “A LOVE SONG WHEN PETER MEETS WENDY! They kiss right?”
You blinked before Matthew clarified, “It’s not a real kiss, but it’s a thimble and an acorn they exchange to symbolize a kiss.”
“They should kiss.” She said with sass.
“Or not.” Hyojong said. “I like that part a lot since I think it’s deeper than a kiss.”
“Same here. It’s just so romantic, and it ends up saving his life. We have to keep it.”
The choreographers agreed. Then they asked for music suggestions.
“I think pop could do us some good. It’ll resonate with the audience better and we can be trendy by adding some American pop music. I want five songs from each of you by midnight tomorrow.” Stevie A said. “I think that’s it for tonight. You lucky ducks get some sleep now.”
Everyone moved to pack up and chatter some more. Hyojong offered to walk you to your car. You agreed, and neither of you noticed the knowing looks shared between the other dancers. They were just waiting for one of you to ask the other out on a legitimate romantic date.
You yawned as the cold night air sent prickles up your arms.
E’Dawn smiled at you, “So, Wendy, are you excited for competition season to begin?”
“Very. I love Peter Pan, so I’m so glad we got to do that one. I would’ve loved to have done Alice in Wonderland too.” You texted Lisa and your other roommate in the groupchat to say you were going home. “What would your second pick have been.”
“Alice, of course. It’s so awesome and psycadellic. The costumes for that performance would’ve been amazing. I hope we do a spin on this concept too.”
“Like making it modernized or something.” You both said.
You looked up at him and giggled, “Ok, so that’s a great idea, but I don’t wanna wear jeans. Even leggings sometimes chafe.”
“So a shorter dress?” He asked, “I mean, I guess it’s ok if you’re comfortable with it and we don’t get disqualified.”
“Ok, so maybe leggings with like a blue peplum shirt.”
He nodded, “Oh wait, does that mean, I have to wear leggings too? OR like will green sweatpants be ok?”
To be completely honest, you started to crack up out of embarrassment for imagining his area his tights. How large would it be? How thick? You had to laugh at how wild your imagination went in a few seconds and stop yourself from looking at his crotch.
Hyojong chuckled, “What?”
“You in tights. I hope you just get regular pants. I’m sure that would get us disqualified. Like, imagine if you were doing a lift and something ripped or you got ‘excited’ out of nowhere.”
In all honesty, it wouldn’t have been out of nowhere. He sometimes had thoughts about you, and would turn himself on just by being near you or his own imagination. He just imagined cuddles that went other places and sometimes it made him dizzy just thinking about you.
He laughed it off, “You’re exactly right. I’ll make sure tights are not part of the costume. What if they wanted you to wear a skirt?”
“Maybe if it was a bit more flowing instead of frilly and maybe a bit see-through, that would be more modern. Make the top more frilly. Maybe just make it like a return of Peter Pan and have me in a nightie.”
Hyojong swallowed, “And if we wanted modern child?”
You thought for a bit, “A bit of frills. Mayhaps we could go back to the tights idea, or maybe leggings. Ooo, Leggings and an oversized shirt. Kids and adults do that all the time nowadays. Maybe just a blue pants and shirt set? Need to write this down.”
It was obvious that E’dawn liked you, at least to himself. He was completely and utterly attracted to every aspect that you had to give. Your mind. Your voice. Your dancing skill. Everything, but this was probably the moment he fell in love with you. Your face was looking at the notes in the phone and typing out what you two just talked about.
His heart wouldn’t calm down, and he wanted to kiss you. He really wanted to kiss you, but he couldn’t. He was too nervous to ask, too nervous to just do it. Everything in his body screamed to take the chance. E’dawn just froze.
[Three weeks later]
It was just a week until winter break began and the school had been decorated for the upcoming holiday season. Most everyone wore Christmas colors for the allowed accessories: hair clips, socks, shoes, ponytail holders. You and E’dawn were putting on your matching reindeer antlers after practice tonight.
Everyone threw on a sweater or a jacket to brave the cold night and dash to their cars with sweat making everything sticky.
The set up was great and you had mostly been working on the ensemble work instead of the smaller group things. The costumes would be revealed after Christmas, and you had seen the sketches.
It would be silky light blue pajama top and bottoms for you as Wendy. The bottoms would most likely be shorts for mobility and a flowy light blue robe to go over it. They said that they would add bows to the bottoms to make it more “girly” and like Wendy-esque. Also, since she was essentially barefoot, you’d have to find ballet flats to match your skin tone. Heh, that’d be fun. At least they didn’t shove you in “nude” slippers and tell you to deal with it.
E’Dawn Pan was glad that he wasn’t wearing tights or leggings, and you were too. He was wearing green shorts with a green vest over a shirt that had stars all over it. For shoes, it was mostly up to him, but he wanted to have brown shoes since it was a neutral color. So the costuming department decided brown moccasins or ankle boots would work.
For Captain Hook, it was spiked black boots, red muscle shirt with dark red vest, and black jeans. Matthew would wear a regular pirate hat with it with a puffy white feather. Complete with hook hand. He said that he’d try to grow his hair out to make it more realistic.They sort of wanted him to dance in a suit, but he was strongly against that.
Tinkerbell Jiwoo would be wearing a green dress not much different from the original style, but more tulle. She’d also have wings and ballet flats to complete the look. They said that she’d be wearing a sparkly pair if they could find some food ones. Also, she got to get a drawstring purse full of silver and gold glitter for fairy dust.
J Seph was John, so he just got to wear a white pajama set while Hui was in a pink onesie if it was safe enough. If not, then he’d just be wearing the same sort of pajama set. It was your second to last practice before the holidays began, and everyone was excited.
E’dawn threw his coat on before asking you, “Hey, did you wanna get something to eat before heading home? Just something quick before we go home and do assignments.”
“Sure! Let’s get something warm.”
“You guys going to eat?” Matthew piped up.
“Yeah. Not sure where yet. Why don’t you come along?” You asked like the oblivious darling you were.
Matthew agreed and so then all the Spotlight Dancers plus Lisa and Rosé came along for the meal. Most of the finals were done by this point of the year, but there were things still going on around campus and around the city that caused a lot of students to stay until the campus closed.
You guys ended up at a place famous for Korean BBQ and noodles. A lot of celebrities visited apparently, since their were signatures on the walls and pictures with the manager of that time. Dang, this place was old, but it felt strangely like home. After ordering food, everyone talked about how excited they were.
“I can’t believe we’re almost to competition season!” Jiwoo said.
Lisa agreed, “I know. I’m so glad we don’t have to perform at freezing cold football games anymore. Like, why don’t we have sweat pants like the cheerleaders?”
“Oh my god, right?” Rosé chirpped.
“Holy shit, I agree with that 100%!” You added.
J Seph laughed, “What was that saying? No pain no gain?”
Matthew gave his two cents, “Exactly. What’s a little hypothermia for the price of looking fabulous during half time and in the stands when no one is really paying attention to you?”
Somin hit his arm and you kicked his shin. He cursed in English and Korean for that. The rest of the table laughed.
E’dawn handed you the drink you ordered since he was sitting next to you as well as a straw as you were speaking.
“At least--oh thanks, oppa--at least we got to wear leggings when performing with the co-ed team, under the pants.”
Momo pouted and put her head in her hands, “Maybe I should join the co-ed team so that I can wear leggings.Then at least I’d be a little warmer. Didn’t you get jackets, too?”
They nodded. Momo was there before the co-ed dancers arrived but decided to join since you all basically knew each other from S.H.E. When the food arrived, everyone dug in and tried all sorts of things. Your noodles were the most delicious thing you’ve ever tasted. Apparently, a bit too good since everyone was staring at you.
“E’dawn, you gotta step up your game if she’s moaning like that for some cheap noodles.” Hui joked, making your oppa blush.
“I don’t even do things like that with her. We’re friends.” He mumbled.
You held up some noodles to Hui’s face, “You try them and not have a foodgasm.”
The silver-haired man ate them and his eyes rolled to the back of his head, “Ok, I take it back. Even if you tried, you couldn’t make her moan like these noodles could.”
“I’m sure he could.” You say and then put more food in your mouth, slurping it up and giving him a ‘come at me’ look.
“Geez, (Y/N), how did we ever have fun without you? You’re so cool.” He said and the other agreed.
You smiled happily and continued eating. E’Dawn brushed your bottom lip with his thumb and then put it in his mouth. You looked up at him, kind of shocked at the seemingly sudden action.
“Yeah. It’s really good.” He said simply.
What the fuck? You didn’t know that he couldn’t stop staring at your lips as you ate and enjoyed the food. You also didn’t know that he had gotten a bit jealous when you fed his friend some food and not him, so when he saw a drop of broth on your lips, he took a chance. However, he had no clue had your heart was pounding out of your chest or that your panties suddenly got wet.
And neither would ever find out because you both looked away embarrassed with all eyes on you as E’dawn excused himself to outside the restaurant.
What the fuck was he thinking? What kind of k-drama move was that? E’dawn paced in front of the store. The cold would clear his head. Yes. That would work. You probably weren’t even that into him, he thought. Why did he get jealous of his friend?
Speaking of, Hui came out to check on him.
“Why can’t I words?” E’dawn asked. “I just wanted to ask if I could try some of her noodles too, but instead I act like some delinquent from a drama hitting on a girl!”
Hui chuckled, “Well, you’re two out of the three, but a gentle delinquent.”
He pouted, “I really like her, Hui. What do I do?”
“Telling her would be a good start.”
“Pssshhhh. BUT HOWWWW?” He whined.
“Come back inside. I’ve got an idea.”
You stared at your friends and they stared back. They all just saw that. Your cheeks were still on fire! There were things you wanted to say, but none of them were made of actual words.
Rosé cracked a smile, “Giiiiiiirrrrrllll. Please tell me that you know he likes you now.”
“It was just. He’s not. We’re--”
Jennie chuckled, “That’s not something friends do. Boy got jealous of you feeding his friend.”
The others nodded, but you kept denying it. There was just no way he was into you like that. “I’m his dude. We’re just buds. Dude buds.”
“I’m a dude. He’s a dude. Dude’s don’t just do that to other dudes.” Matthew replied. “I would’ve gotten a napkin or something probably just have pointed it out so that you could get it yourself. But that was like skin ta skin. He wants you, (Y/N), and it’s clear as day you feel the same.”
Momo whispered, “He’s coming back, and I swear to God if you don’t actually flirt with him. You’re wearing matching antlers!”
And everyone acted normal as they ate in sync. The table was silent for a good moment which made everything sort of really awkward until Hui spoke up.
“So, (Y/N), are you going home for the holidays? Like back to America?”
“I might for like a week, but tickets are really expensive. Not sure whether to go before or after Christmas.”
Jisoo spoke up, “Do you celebrate, uh, what’s it called? Something-zah!”
“Kwanzaa!”
“Yeah, Kwanzaa. Do you celebrate that? If so, you should go after Christmas to celebrate it and the solar New Year with family.”
“But you have to be back in time for Lunar New Year.” J. Seph added. “You’re really pretty and I really want to see you in a hanbok. I’m sure I’m not the only one.”
Everyone at the table gushed at how cute you’d look in their traditional clothing, suggesting colors that they think would look best. The girls said that they’d probably go a bit more modern and do pastel hanboks this year.
Hui steered the conversation back to the way he wanted as everyone started to pay for their food, “Well, I wanted to invite you guys all to a Christmas party at my aunt’s resort. It’s always good and lots of food. Good drinks, too.”
“Sure! Sounds good. I’ll come along. Is it formal?”
“Not really, just Christmas colors. However, girls usually wear that ‘sexy Santa’ costume as a tradition, so you might want to get one of your own.”
E’dawn gave his friend a look that went unnoticed by you. Hui was lying his ass off, but he wasn’t about to stop him. Girls usually did wear it, but it wasn’t tradition. Either way, you guys decided to go hanbok shopping and have a lot of fun before you left back home. You couldn’t wait for some down time, either.
It was a perfectly hot day, and you two had switched out shifts to see each other more and talk about what you were. You understood Vernon’s frustration. Hyojong was a really nice guy, and you two were always so close and cute with each other without even trying to mean to. He was someone you wanted to date.
There was no doubt in your mind about that. You had to make sure there wasn’t one in his. You approached him and called his name just as his friends dumped a bucket of water on his head. All words disappeared as he complained and started to take off his shirt.
[4 Weeks and 3 Days ago]
You guys did a full run through of the show today in practice since it was the first time that everyone was not sick and on time. It was in costumes, too. The competition was just over a month away.
“Great going! Wendy, Peter, great chemistry as always. Everyone, take a ten minute break while we finish up writing our notes.”
E’Dawn held your hand and kissed your cheek. Everyone was sure you two had to be dating now, but you weren’t. Yeah, you two were into each other, but you didn’t really think of him as your boyfriend in your head just yet.
You two drank some water and had some snacks while taking your break and some of the other members surrounded you. They hadn’t been at the party where he kissed you on the lips, so they were even more in the dark than you had planned.
“So?” A girl asked. “You’re dating now, right? He’s your boyfriend, right?”
“We haven’t really given each other titles yet.” You looked at him, looking for an answer.
He agreed, “I mean, we like each other. We’re just trying to see if it’s actually going to work out romantically before we do the whole names thing.”
They collectively groaned.
“You’re fucking kidding me, right?” Amber asked.
Even Jisoo was confused, “You’re still not actually dating after he kissed you... on the lips?”
“Twice.” E’dawn replied and took a drink while you nodded.
“Once when I got back and went to pick up my hanbok and then at the party, oh, three times. Christmas.”
He nodded in realization, “Rigghhht”
Rosé rolled her eyes, “You guys are impossible!”
To be fair, much of your current social media had been just the two of you throughout the holidays. Group pictures here and there. His mom had gone on and on with childhood stories about Hyojong, going into great motherly detail about his sickness as if she were talking to a future daughter in law.
She almost started making a registry list for you two as well.
“Hey, guys, gather around. Big news!” He said.
Everyone gathered around, and Hyojong pulled you into his lap. All ears were opened to what the choreographers and the girl who doubled at the treasurer were stood in front of you all.
“We got some bad news.”
“One of the backers for the dance team has just gotten really sick and is rightfully using his money to take care of his health. However, this means that we don’t have enough money to travel to Jeju for competition.”
Hyuna nodded, “He supported all of the dance teams and said he would give what he could, but we told him to take care of his health first. This affects all teams. S.H.E and H.I.M and Urban Shine.”
“We need to do something to raise money if we want to have any chance of competing this year. We’ll search for other backers, but we don’t have that much time. Does anyone have any ideas?”
Jennie spoke up, “We could have a bake sale!”
Not a lot of dancers were fond of baking, apparently. They gave skeptical looks and someone brought up that would take a lot of organization and a lot of resources, a lot of paying out of their own pocket. A few were ok with that, but not enough for it to be a solid plan.
___ spoke up, “We have cute guys and hot girls, so how about a bikini car wash? Or a regular car wash. It can be a semi-competition with each dance team trying to raise the most.”
“What about those of us who overlap?”
“We can schedule who works for what team at certain times so that you can work for both. It should start with sign ups first, and if you don’t wanna do the car wash, you can do the bake sale!”
“That way we can cover more ground and reach different audiences. Not everyone needs their car washed.”
The rest of the time was spent doing sign ups and going through trouble spots in the choreography. The car wash was going to be next Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday.
People brought their own buckets and towels, but special car cleaning soap was bought as well as things to clean windows. Luckily, it had stormed a lot last weekend and the sun was good and bright now. Everyone was in shorts and thank tops. Some of the girls were in bathing suits and bikini tops. You were in a cute one piece and some distressed shorts.
This was more about raising money than getting to show off. You were seeing someone, sort of. Hyojong was with you with the co-ed car wash which was getting less cars than the all girl team. Still, a huge black truck covered in mud pulled up in your section.
“Hey, oppa, I have a question.”
“Sure, jagiya, what is it?”
Your heart fluttered, “What are we? Like, if we had to give it a name?”
He smiled at you, “Just like we said. We’re ‘talking’, figuring if things are going to work out the way we want.”
“How long is that gonna take?”
“Don’t know. I hope it’s not long, though.”
The car was rinsed and dried off before driving away. Another car came up as you tried to continue your conversation with your...with E’dawn, but the driver was really interested in talking to you.
He was asking you about your time in Korea, and your...and E’dawn had to switch out to work with the guys. You sighed and continued the conversation, trying to get an actual donation from the dude. He gave $200 check to the cause and gave you his phone number. He wanted to be your sugar daddy.
The next car came, and you went to go work with the rest of the girls.
Hyojong had nearly frozen when you asked him to give your relationship a title because he wanted to be your boyfriend. He wanted to be yours in every way, shape, and form. But he wasn’t sure about how you felt and was too nervous to ask.
Before you could ask him something more, he switched out with one of the guys from H.I.M for washing cars. Lots of the other guys had their shirts off, but E’dawn didn’t feel like being a show off today. Even as the other guys tried to undress him, he fought them back and held his shirt down. The choreographer had to tell them to break it up like they were immature children.
“We’re getting that shirt off of you.” Hui said. “One way or another.”
“Good luck!”
You started working with the girls and thought about how you didn’t know what his schedule was, so you didn’t know the next time you’d get to talk to him. You made sure to check after the next switch. He wasn’t there this time, but he’d be there after you left. Sighing, you asked some girl to trade times with you and she eagerly accepted, being really shy around guys especially when most of them were now shirtless.
When you got to talk to E’Dawn again, you asked him how he felt if you did start calling him your boyfriend. He wouldn’t answer. You understood Vernon’s frustration. You were being straight forward with what you wanted but weren’t getting the obvious reply. Hyojong was a really nice guy, and you two were always so close and cute with each other without even trying to mean to. He was someone you wanted to date.There was no doubt in your mind about that.
“Just...I really like you. I do. I’m just nervous that we’re moving too fast if we put labels on each other.”
Your co-ed shifts were up and you went to go work the bake sale. There was a fan on the girls selling them, so it was perfect. Some were dancing for money since guys were selling sweet things while girls so it was sort of crowded. It brought even more people over to watch and buy, so they kept going with it.
Matthew put some hip-hop on, and it was a song that you knew. You started moving your hips and waist and he noticed, motioning you over. He was bouncing to the music, and he was the best hype man. As you got more in the music, your hips got a mind of their own.
You basically started twerkin’ and throwing your hips in a circle for everyone who was watching with Matthew telling you to go off and leaning down to get a better view. You started smiling and laughing.
“Twerk it, Wendy!” He said, and you did while giggling.
Before you knew it, your shift selling food was done. You gave him a high five and went back into the direct heat, getting sprayed with a hose as you went to the co-ed car wash.
“You got them hips, girl!” Lisa smiled.
You grinned back at her and did a little shake, grabbing a sponge. It was a nice break from stressing about your relationship, but then you saw him again. You had to make sure there wasn’t one in his. You approached him and called his name just as his friends dumped a bucket of water on his head. All words disappeared as he complained and started to take off his shirt.
The girls and guys all stared at him as if he were doing it in slow motion. They all swarmed him and asked for “help” with simple things once he stuffed his shirt in his back pocket and arrived at the co-ed car wash.
This was the first time you had gotten jealous over a dude, and you hated it. You really did, but you couldn’t help it. All he did was become a blushy mess and pose for the girls who fawned over him.
You sprayed down a girl who was reaching out for his stomach, “Back the fuck off! He’s mine!”
“It’s not like you guys are actually boyfriend and girlfriend, so what’s the big deal, (Y/N)?”
Making eye contact with each other, you hoped he’d say something. He didn’t say a word. You turned around to turn the water off before you could storm away properly. He called out your name. You went back to the bake sale to switch places with someone so that you could dance some more.
[Two Weeks and One Day Ago]
You guys had gotten more than enough money to go to Jeju and stay in a hotel for competition since some anonymous benefactors gave donations. Matthew said it was probably because of you, and you smiled. He asked if you wanted to eat out with him and his friends. You said of course and spent the night busking with them.
E’dawn didn’t text you all night, so you just decided to enjoy the time out with your other friends. You felt J Seph hug you to his side and say how much fun he was having hanging out with you. Matthew, Somin, and Jiwoo agreed saying that you should hang out more. They asked if you had anyone to room with.
You were gonna say yes, but then realized that Rosé and Lisa would be rooming with Jennie and Jisoo. The girls got excited and said you could room with them and that they just needed one more person. You suggested Amber, and they were all for it.
The boys said that they were gonna ask Amber, and you squinted at them.
Hyojong looked at his phone. He had dropped it on the way home and the screen was...it basically exploded. There was nothing he could do until tomorrow afternoon, so he just pouted and played video games in the living room. He was gonna text you to ask if you were ok or having fun.
Now he couldn’t without feeling overbearing. Like, using someone else’s phone to ask would feel like too much to check in on how you were. He sighed and had trouble getting to sleep. E’Dawn stood out on the balcony when he died again.
Hui came to join him after a moment, “You good?”
“I am such a chicken, Hui. I am a wimp. Such a loser.”
“Anything I don’t know?”
His pout intensified.
Hui pat his back, “What is it?”
Hyojong leaned on the ledge, “I want (Y/N) to be my girlfriend so badly. Like, I should’ve said something when she told the other girls to back off. It would’ve been simple enough to agree with her or say yeah, she is my girlfriend, but I didn’t, like an idiot.”
“Wow, dude, you screwed up.”
“No shit. What do I do?”
He thought a moment, “Make sure she’s the first person you contact when you get your phone fixed tomorrow. Ask her about her night and go from there. Tell her how you feel, ok?”
“I will.”
[Two Weeks ago]
Shit hit the fan! Hyojong got his phone fixed and decided to check on your social media so that he had topics to bring up when he talked to you about what you had done last night. The last one wouldn’t play which was stupid.
Anyways, he called you to be a good friend and to tell you how he felt instead of making excuses. The phone was answered.
“Hey, (Y/N). I’m so glad you picked up. I saw that you had a great time last night, and--”
“Hey, Dawnie.” It was a man’s voice. “Good to hear from you.”
He scrunched his brows, “BM?”
“Yeah. (Y/N) still asleep in my bed, and she has a wicked hangover. She told me to answer it for her.”
Hyojong was having a really hard time not to misunderstand. (Y/N), his potential girlfriend, had gotten drunk with friends and was now sleeping in the bed of one of the most handsome of them. He had to have been in the bed with her or the phone would’ve rung for more time.
“She slept in your bed?” He asked.
“Yeah. I wasn’t gonna have her sleep on the couch, and I wanted to keep a close eye on her. I have a bathroom closer to my room anyways, so I thought why not, y’know?”
A flame lit in his stomach. They wouldn’t do anything, right? She like him, not Matthew right? She wouldn’t be petty enough to actively make him jealous, right?
“Ah.” E’dawn replied. “Yeah.”
He sighed, “Where were you last night, dude? She kept checking her phone, probably waiting for a message from you. Is your phone broken? Obviously not--”
“Well, actually.”
Hyojong stopped talking when he heard some moaning. It sounded like a bed was shifting. More moaning.
Matthew chuckled, “I’m not your daddy, but thanks for that.”
“That’s not what I said, you doofus!” She was speaking English, but it was easy enough for Hyojong to understand.
“Then what did you say?”
“I said--”
The unmistakable sound of throwing up came through. Matthew quickly hung up to deal with the situation of a puking girl. E’dawn still had questions, but he would have to wait until later to get them answered. However, he was angry and upset. Fine, fine, he was jealous. He could’ve and should have been the one looking over her instead of Matthew. Why hadn’t she gone with one of the girls instead?
Was their karaoke duet that good that something happened that she didn’t put up on social media? He looked at the others’ profiles and still, nothing about flirting or anything similar. He tried to convince himself he was overthinking but he couldn’t.
His face wouldn’t reveal his feelings, though. He was only a bit quieter today, too. The whole apartment was rather quiet since everyone was trying to get ahead on homework and projects in order to go do some fun things. Hyojong included since he had to record a presentation to show his teacher for a grade since he didn’t have time to do it in class.
Usually, he’d be asking (Y/N) for help in his English class but decided to let her rest for the day. He decided just to wait for her to call her. She’d do that, right? Especially if she knew that she called, wanting to explain what happened instead of letting him just wonder. That was the kind of girl she was. Didn’t want any misunderstandings about who she was.
Matthew sat on his bed where you were sitting, handing you some Dawn 808 since it was a typical hangover cure in South Korea. It was gross, but you thanked him anyways. Hopefully it would work.
“Who called earlier?”
“Ah, it was E’Dawn. I told him we were sleeping together.”
You nearly spat the drink out, “WHAT?”
He laughed, “I’m joking! I explained that offered to take you in since none of the other girls could carry you and Taehyung was drunk off his ass and not in the state to take care of anyone, well. Not all that. I just said I was taking care of you...”
You two stared at each other. Hyojong probably thought you were cheating on him or something. Well, can’t cheat on someone you’re not actually with. You sighed.
“You ok? Should I call him back?”
“No, don’t. If he actually cares, he’ll call back. Or text or whatever. Mind if I stay here until I feel better?”
He pulled you into a hug, “Physically or mentally, the answer is yes. Make sure to tell your roommies where you are, ok?”
“Ok.” You grabbed your phone and tried to focus on the screen to send a text to your group chat.
>> At Matthew’s. Hungover. I’m ok. Just a really bad headache and my stomach hates me. I’ll be back later today or tomorrow. I’m very lucky to have cute and helpful friends.
After you sent it, Matthew’s phone pinged. You had sent it to the wrong group chat, but were already laying back down, so he didn’t say anything. He just smiled and left the room.
[One Week ago]
Everyone was worried. The competition was soon, and you guys would be boarding a plane in four days. Stress of the impending deadline was stressful enough, but with you and Hyojong bickering over every messup and minor detail, things were worse.
He lifted you up a bit higher than previously, and you yelled at him for not being careful and not caring about you at all. You turned a millisecond faster than he was, and he was on you about being offbeat and being selfish.
“It’s not all about you!” The both of you screamed at the top of your lungs.
It was time for a much needed break. They broke up in teams to talk to you guys and see what was going on. The two of you had been perfection just the other night. People asked what you did with Matthew, and you said nothing. He said the same. Jiwoo, Somin, and J. Seph agreed that nothing happened while they were out together or when they went home. Matthew was bad at secrets, so he would’ve said something.
You were mad because he hadn’t called you, because he hadn’t asked anything about that night, because he didn’t seem interested in being your boyfriend even though he had acted like it. Had your first two love interests really been fuckboys? Say it ain’t so.
Hyojong was pissed since you didn’t say anything about having slept in Matthew’s bed. Were you really so upset that night you had to go flirting and partying without him? It had been like this for days, and he wished you would just say something! Anything about why you chose him out of all four people you had gone out with.
Everyone except you two realized there was some disconnect. Why weren’t you talking to each other about this?
“My phone was broken!” He yelled when someone asked why he didn’t contact you.
“Yeah, and his brain too, probably!” You replied.
Amber spoke up, “Listen, I don’t know why the fuck you won’t just talk to each other about this and work things out, but we’re in Hell Week, crunch time. We don’t have the luxury of you two bickering like 12 year olds, ok? During this practice time, we practice. You’re Wendy and Peter, not angry idiots, ok?”
“Ok,” You two said with your arms folded and not looking at each other.
She made you guys make eye contact, “Now shake on it. In character.”
You held out your hand and Hyojong shook it with a huge smile on his face. Despite your anger, you smiled too. Practice continued, and you both tried to be more patient with each other, being passive aggressive in commenting on flubs instead.
At least you guys made progress, somewhat.
Doing one more chapter since I decided to split up this once as it was becoming too long.
Before we get started, I just want to thank all of you who have been reading this from beginning to end. This will be a memorable set because of the OTP becoming canon and then mistreated but that’s another story. So thanks and I hope to write more Pentagon soon.
Competition day was finally here and everyone was busy warming up and doing their makeup even though you didn’t have to perform until later. As the lead, you were nervous. You weren’t the only one, so everyone had done a full run through before breaking for lunch.
Even though you Hyojong different meals, you both ended up sharing most of it, and everyone rolled their eyes when you fed each other. It was two hours until show time for the co-ed groups since the males and females performed tomorrow. You had so much built up entergy, so you wanted to get it all out in order not to overdo it on stage.
E’Dawn gave you a back hug and asked how you were feeling. You weren’t completely sure to be honest.
[3 Days ago]
After checking into the Lotte City Hotel in Jeju, everyone got ready to explore the city until curfew. You and most of your friends went to a nearby park to do some k-pop in public where a decent crowd formed. In the crowd was a guy who was like hella gorgeous who came to talk to you afterwards.
He bowed and greeted you, “I’m Woosung, but you can call me Sammy. You guys were all amazing! I wish I could dance like that.”
What was it with fucking blonde ass Koreans? He was platinum as fuck, and you were digging it.
“(Y/N).” You introduced yourself as Hyojong and the others looked on. “We’re just in town for competition.”
“Oh, really? Me too. Well, my younger bro’s competing, but I’m here to support him.” He removed a leaf from your shoulder. “You’re not from here, are you?”
“Nah, U.S.A.”
He switched to English, “Same here. Where from?”
You told him and you guys spoke a bit. E’Dawn said that you’d all better head to the mall if you wanted time to shop before tomorrow and get some practice in before it got too late. You rolled your eyes since you were still upset with him, but he was right.
“Wanna come with?”
“Yeah, I’m meeting my brother and his friends there anyways.”
Sammy was wearing a shirt covered in white roses that you really liked a lot, and he said that he’d give it to you if you won 1st place. You laughed. He was a really sweet dude and you liked hanging out with him even though you had just met. He got along well with Matthew as well.
Once at the mall, there was a lot of window shopping. You wanted to save your money for food. Hyojong told you to come with him because he wanted to show you something. Not wanting to go alone, you told the others that E’Dawn wanted to go somewhere specific.
“I know we’re not on the best of terms right now, but I still wanted to give you this. I ordered it ahead of time, so that it’d be ready when we got here.”
Half of the group and Sammy went with you to see what Hyojong wanted and you ended up at a Build-a-Bear. He went to the counter and showed a code or something from his phone, and the man smiled. He went to the back, and you were not believing this.
“Dawnie, did you really...make a bear for me?”
He nodded, “Yeah. I wanted something as cute as you but that I sorta made for you to have. It’s silly, I know, but still.”
The man came back out with a light blue bag. You took the plushy out yourself and couldn’t stop yourself from smiling. It was a Pikachu dressed up as Peter Pan.
“It’s Pika Pan.” He said.
“OMG, I love it!” You hugged it and then caught yourself. You still hugged it but loosened your grip, feeling a bit embarrassed. “Thanks, oppa.” You didn’t look at him as you put a receipt on the counter.
“I was pretty sure they were ordered for a couple, but coincidences exist.” The employee laughed and nodded, returning to the back.
Everyone was confused, and your cheeks were on fire. He came back with a green gift bag. Inside of this one was a Buneary in a blue dress with a blue ribbon tied around it’s ear.
“Wendeary.” You said.
“Just fuck each other already, my god!” Kino said, just loud enough for the group to hear.
Everyone laughed and Sammy asked why you guys chose those specific costumes, and you said it was your concept. It’s not like he was competing against you guys.
“Hyung!” A cute smaller boy with brown hair called out to the group. “We gotta get back to the main group now!”
“Ok, I’m coming!”
Sammy said farewell to the group and said the he couldn’t wait to see you guys on stage. You all then went to go eat, and the others were going to make you two air your grievances and finally talk to one another.
You went first. “How come you didn’t say I was your girlfriend when everyone was drooling over you? It had to be obvious what I was feeling especially with all the questions I was asking you.”
He shook his head, “Not really. Well, sort of because I know you, but I was nervous you’d loose interest. I wasn’t sure that you actually wanted to date me since you’re so amazing and--”
Everyone stared at him.
“Are you fucking kidding me?” Jiwoo said. “You weren’t sure if she actually wanted to--” She was fuming.
“Dawnie, I swear to god, you’re adorable but stupid af.” Lisa added.
Matthew nodded, “Dude. Really? You’ve gotta be kidding.”
“But then when everything was done, instead of talking to me, you went to go party with Mr. LA and crew.”
You shrugged, “Well, yeah! You weren’t giving me anything, so I decided to go chill with friends. You didn’t even call me if you were so curious or concerned or whatever about me.”
“Cuz my phone fell onto concrete and the screen shattered!” He didn’t yell, but he was very expressive. “I couldn’t text if I wanted to, which I did by the way.” Hyojong pouted.
You pouted in return and played with your salad, “If your phone was broken, how were you able to call me the next day? Also, why not just get one of your friends to text me or in the group chat that it was broken?”
“I got it fixed the next day and called as soon as I could. I went to go watch your story, and it showed you having a good time. I called you to ask how it went and BM picked up. He said you were sleeping in his bed.”
“You saw my story! It showed all the other ones drunk as fuck! Matthew was the only one sober enough to care for a person. The others just went home and he was worried about me.”
Matthew added, “She doesn’t know Korea as well as the rest of us. It was safest for her to come home with me instead of trying to take a bus home by herself. Her friends were probably already asleep. I was only trying to help.”
“Well, I didn’t know all of that . The last snap didn’t load.”
Hui sighed, “So, is everything out now? Did everyone say what they needed to say?”
“Almost.” E’Dawn said. “I really am sorry that I didn’t try to talk to you properly. My anger and jealousy got the better of me.”
“And I was just being petty cuz you hurt my feelings, so I’m sorry too.” You replied.
Somin nearly jumped out of her seat, “Finally, omg.”
Amber agreed, “Like seriously, holy fuck.”
“So, titles?” You asked as soon as he had put food into his mouth.
“Soon.” He replied. “I want to make it special when we make it official.”
You rolled your eyes and the nine of you finished up eating before returning to your hotel rooms. There was about an hour left before it was time for curfew, so a couple of them decided to head to the pool that had a glass wall that was part of the gym nearby. Matthew went to the gym and pulled BamBam with him.
Hyojong, Amber, Hyuna, Somin, Hui, and you all went to the pool. Somin wore a tank top with her bathing suit as did Amber who was also in orange swim trunks and red flip flops. Hyuna went into the hot tub since she had slept wrong the night before and needed to loosen up some more since it still sort of hurt.
E’dawn jumped into the deep end while doing a cannonball. You had put your hair into a swim cap because you didn’t want it getting wet and taking forever to dry even after you washed it tonight. This way, you didn’t get any sort of water in your hair. You screamed as you were grabbed by the sides by an unknown source. Hyojong came up smiling and laughing.
You splashed him, “Oppa!” You called out, annoyed.
He started splashing you back and everyone got out of the way of the to playful lovebirds. Then everyone piled into the hot tub with Jiwoo. Even the boys came to the tub after washing off their sweat. Other teammates came out and the jacuzzi was able to fit 14 people into it total with nearly everyone sitting comfortably and two people in the middle. Then everyone dried off and went to their rooms before they got into trouble.
[Two Days Ago]
It was competition day. Everyone was doing warm ups and getting their makeup done. You were nervous as the lead, but you knew this was coming for months now. Luckily, even after the holiday season, everything still fit like it was supposed to. Before lunch, everyone performed the whole show real quickly and then the crew went out to eat on a ferry.
Hyojong and you ordered two different meals, but you two ended up sharing most of it. The others rolled their eyes every time you fed each other. Still, they were happy you two were still somewhat officially boyfriend and girlfriend.
Well, to clarify, this was competition day for co-ed groups. The boy and girl teams would perform at different times tomorrow. It was two hours until show time, and you were rocking on the balls of your feet to get out your built up energy. You didn’t want to overdo it on stage.
Hands slid around you waist and you almost jumped. You checked to see that it was E’dawn. He smiled at you and asked how you were feeling.
“Nervous. We’re the first group to go on since the team won last year, but being first is...I feel like my hands are shaking.”
He grabbed them, “I’ll hold your hands still for you then. We’re gonna do great, so don’t worry about it.”
You smiled as he came around and put his forehead to yours. He was such a huge comfort. Then he was called to go behind the small window set that was made for the show. You then got into the bed with Hui and J. Seph before being rolled out onto the stage.
Grown up Wendy and her children were waiting off stage opposite the bed. When the music started, they came on with Wendy holding a book. She was reading and began dancing with her oldest, a girl in a blue onesie. Then they kissed her cheeks and went “off to bed” passing the actual bed. Adult Wendy then looked at her Peter Pan book and slowdanced with it before looking at her bed and then going off stage.
Next song begins and there’s a knock on the window. the main part begins. You’re nervous, but you emote as you open up the window and get surprised by Peter Pan. You really are happy to see him. Hui and J. Seph are woken up by Tinkerbell Jiwoo who laughs at their surprise. The five of them dance together as the setting changes and the bed and window are taken away.
The story plays out with the Lost Boys being rowdy and lifting up the new guests and performing tricks for them to Skrillex. It was a great show that got a lot of gasps from the audience. They ain’t seen nothing yet. The scene soon changed to Hyuna Lily and girls in orange and turquoise hanboks doing their sword dance which allowed a break for the leads.
Lisa and the other girls looked so fierce with smiles on their faces and blades resting in the crook of their arms and somewhat on their forearms.They always had different practices until they got the hang of it. Then they had to perform in front of the others where proper spacing was learned. No once got sliced.
Then it was back on your feet for the battle with Matthew Hook and Somee. It was so much fun, but getting to do stylized capoeira was the best. After winning, more just wild partying and then it was time to go back home. Hyojong Pan helped your Wendy down and the two of you kissed even though it wasn’t part of the choreo.
You blushed and then waved at him as he jumped out the window and then you and your siblings ran off stage and past the bed. You were able to watch E’Dawn knock on the window and Adult Wendy wake up. Blackout. Everyone did a quick bow before running off stage and changing as quickly as possible to watch the other competitors.
It was over before you knew it. Ten groups were in this category, but only five stood on stage. The other ones didn’t make it to the top 3. Third place was given to a group that had done Hansel and Gretal.
A famous actor was calling out the prizes all night. It was finally time for him to announce first place.
“And coming in first, all the way from Seoul is Urban Shine! Applause!”
Everyone clapped and you turned to hug the person nearest you. Thinking it was E’Dawn, you were surprised when it was Vernon. In all the commotion, you had turned the opposite direction you had meant to for a hug. You both sort of shrugged since he had hugged you back. He motioned to Hyojong who you hugged tighter, and he grabbed the mic from the actor.
“I said I was gonna do this if we got first place here, so (Y/N), will you officially be my girlfriend? Titles and all?”
You nodded since this is what you wanted. You were his girlfriend. He was your boyfriend. The two of you were an official couple, and you weren’t going to miss this chance.
Amber leaned over into the microphone, “Fucking finally.”
Everyone laughed and he kissed you deeply. It was the greatest moment of your life other than getting accepted into college. First place and a boyfriend. That night, the whole crew went to go eat. Afterwards, it was straight to bed. You and your oppa were both very tired, and fell asleep texting each other.
[Today/Now]
After getting a tie for second place with the all girls team and the boys placing second alone, you all headed back to the hotel for the last night to get ready for the Dancer’s Banquet for all of the top five placing groups from every category. It was formal wear this year, but you said that you hadn’t brought anything particularly fancy.
It was more like you were nervous that the two outfits you had worn weren’t good enough despite what your roommies thought. Amber said she had you covered. From her suitcase, she pulled out several pink dresses and rompers since pink was the color picked this year. Everyone and their mother was confused as to why she had those with her.
“I like to be prepared, ok? Pick one.” A small blush was seen in her cheeks.
Her legs were badly chafed, so she wasn’t wearing going to be wearing the black suit she had brought. After you chose the frilly pink romper, she grabbed the longest dress and then realized she had a back up suit that was a lot looser. Then hair and makeup, jewelry and shoes. You undid your twists since you had kept them in so long for performances.
E’Dawn nearly died when he saw you and Amber as Jiwoo and Somin where whisked away by other boys who recognized them from earlier and had formed quick crushes. Hyojong was standing between Hyuna and Hui in the conference room where the banquet was being held. She nudged him and pointed to you. His heart wouldn’t start again but still heard the thumping in his ears.
A cutie by the name of Jimin got to you first in a pink pinstriped suit. He was in the boy group that got first place. He complimented you and said that he saw your performance yesterday, being a bit nervous.
You smiled and thanked him, smiling even bigger when you recognized E’dawn coming up beside you. He kissed your lips and you introduced Jimin to him. The two boys then started gushing about how talented the other was in the competition earlier.
“I literally do not know how we got first place.” Jimin said.
“But we messed up so much! I messed up a bunch and you guys were so fucking clean!”
He shook his head, “I won’t have you saying you messed up. You talking about clean, and you guys were spotless.”
Jimin was then grabbed by the wrist from one of the other guys in his group and told about the chocolate fountain on the other side of the room. The two quickly scampered off to go see it.
Even as you two went to meet up with your closest friends in your groups, other people came up to praise your performances as Wendy and Peter. You also complimented them when you remembered who they were. If not, their outfit was the thing given praise.
Once you all got to the others, Hui smiled.
“Looks like everyone wants to be your friends.”
Hyuna smiled, “Or they hate your guts.” She pointed to a group of guys who were seething.
E’dawn had his hand around your waist, “It’s probably because I’m a drama queen. Asking you to be my girlfriend like that was really over the top. I’m sorry if it stressed you out.”
“It’s fine! I promise!” You said. “It was really sweet. A bit extra, but it made me happy.”
You kissed his cheek and he gave your lips a peck, holding you closer. Throughout the night, there were dance contests and fun things to do after eating the main meal. At some point, Hyojong asked if you wanted to go outside on the balcony.
It was getting hot inside, so you said yes. It was a nice view as the sea was right there and the waves were rolling beautifully. They crashed against the sand with a gentle roar. This side of the building didn’t have many lights other than a few lamps here and there.
You laughed.
He looked at you, “What?”
“I remember the first time I truly fell in love with you. It was when we were looking at the stars that night when I found Vernon making out with another girl. You didn’t tell me to just get over it but you comforted me.”
“Of course. We were friends first. Yeah, I had a crush on you ever since the first day I saw you walk into the library, but I still think your feelings should be cherished because they’re real no matter how fleeting.” He smiled softly. “Also, I was hella worried about you, so there’s that.”
You giggled, “I know this is gonna sound stupid, but I was actually thinking about leaving Korea because of that. I was just an emotional wreck but I--”
Hyojong kissed you and held your hand, “I’m really glad you stayed.”
Squeezing his hand, you replied, “Me too.”
Amber groaned behind you, exasperated, “Stop making out and come back inside!”
“Yeah,” Hyuna added. “You have some fans that wanna talk to you.”
She nodded towards the busy room. You and your boyfriend smiled and joined the party. You were glad you stayed, so very glad. It wasn’t the easiest life to have since it was just being made. Still, as you looked around at all the friends you had made you only had one thought.
“I’ll be fine, mom.” You said for the millionth time.
No one really supported you in going to Korea not being completely fluent in the language, but you knew enough to get by. Anyways, you knew that enough would know English to help you if you needed it. There were a lot of people from all over the world going to Korea now for a number of reasons. You were going for music. You knew what you wanted to do and were going to work for it.
You wanted your own life. You wanted to make your life as unique and exciting as possible. Even though you weren’t sure about the specifics, you were willing to take the chance.
It seemed to have worked out as you sat under the stars with Hyojong. You two had hung out a lot during this first week of school and were friends. Maybe it’d be something more, but all romantic notions were probably in your head.
“Hey, (Y/N)?” He asked, looking up at the stars.
[7 Days ago]
[11:30am, Monday: INTERNATIONAL LUNCH]
You held the flyer in your hand. The International Lunch was soon, and you were starving. The only thing you had eaten was a rice cake since the Run for Rice Cakes event passed by as you walked to class this morning. It was two people in club shirts who tossed rice cakes to all freshmen they passed by if they chased the golf cart they were in for at least a minute.
Being the slightly competitive person that you were, you decided to run. It was a new spin on the tradition of giving rice cakes to new neighbors. It was nice and thoughtful, but still. It wasn’t that filling. Your stomach growled as you stepped into the cafeteria lobby.
A familiar face waved towards you. It was that guy who helped you find your classroom in the library on Friday. Kim Hyojong. He smiled brightly at you and you waved back. Some girl in a blue skirt put a hand on his shoulder and asked him something.
“Is that the girl the boys keep talking about?” Hyuna asked E’Dawn.
“Yeah. Her name is (Y/N).”
She widened her eyes, “Wow, that’s a pretty name!”
Hyojong nodded, “Sure is.”
“Hi, Hyojong-oppa!” You exclaimed brightly, making him smile. Then you bowed before you asked, “Have you eaten today?”
“No, I woke up late and missed breakfast. At least we’re about to eat soon. How about you?”
You shook your hand, “Sort of. I got a rice cake this morning and ate that, but nothing else.”
He frowned, “You need to take better care of yourself.”
“I could say the same thing about you, oppa.”
The older boy couldn’t help but nod, knowing he had been bested. The girl with black hair nudged Hyojong with her elbow.
“Oh, this is my friend Hyuna-noona, head cheerleader for our football team among other amazing things. She’s older than me, but we’re still pretty close.”
You bowed low, “Hi. Nice to meet you! You’re really pretty.”
“Aww, thank you. I’m going to see if we’re ready to go in.” She said and turned to go talk to someone else, playfully spanking Hyojong before leaving.
He looked back and his hands flew to protect his bottom from another attack, and she laughed. He smiled at her and called her a mischievous big sister.
A question formed in your head, and you asked before you could stop it, “Do you have a crush on her?”
Hyojong blinked and looked at you, “What? No. Gosh, no.” He started to laugh. “We’ve known each other for years. She’s like a big sister.”
A warmth of embarrassment spread across your cheeks, “Oh, I’m sorry.”
“Don’t worry about it.” He said.
“So, you work with new students, huh? What made you want to do that...this?”
He opened his mouth to speak when Hyuna called his name and waved him over. “I need your help getting everyone in line.”
Two of the guys commanded that people line up by grade. As you lined up in front of a girl dressed in green, a guy wearing red plaid pants bumped into you. He swept his light brown hair out of his face and apologized the same time you did. You did it in English though.
“You speak like an American. The way you say ‘Sah-ree’ like that.”
“Cuz I am.” You replied simply.
“Oh, really?” He then continued to speak in English which threw you for a loop. “I was born in New York. Moved here when I was 5. I’m Vernon, by the way.” He held out his hand to shake.
You smiled and shook his hand, “(Y/N), and that’s amazing! I just got here recently. Umm, two weeks ago? I studied Korean for a year during school so that I could come here on scholarship.”
“You must be really smart then.”
“More like extremely lucky.”
He covered his mouth as he laughed. You two listened to Hyuna and another girl tell everyone where to sit. The cafeteria was wide and decorated in reds and blues since they were the school colors. Blue tables and red chairs. Columns had red and blue tiles stuck onto their curves.
“(Y/N), you wanna sit next to me?” Vernon asked after both of you had gotten your meals and moved towards the tables together.
“Uh, sure.” You replied.
You guys were sat at one of the many tables set up in the section labeled for the International lunch. There were a lot of people who came to this university, who had taken test after test and paid so much money just to be able to go to a college where they just barely knew the language.
Vernon pulled out a chair for you, and you thanked him. He even pushed you in after you sat. He sat to your left and his plate had a cheeseburger and fries on them and a small cup filled with ketchup. You had a salad piled high with all sorts of vegetables with dumplings on the side.
The conversation with Vernon was interesting, mostly learning about each other’s lives in America and experiences in Korea. You two talked about old TV shows that played when you were kids, only stopping for a speech by the head of the New Student committee. He welcomed you in several languages trying to make everyone feel more at home.
He made sure we knew that we could always talk to someone on the committee if they had any questions about anything. They had all sorts of people on hand, so one of them was bound to know something in everyone’s native language. If not, then they’d default to English or Korean to communicate. Then he told everyone to enjoy their meals.
Hyojong couldn’t help but notice that you were speaking with another freshman in English and laughing. Even during the speech, the boy tapped your shoulder to whisper something into your ear. You nodded and replied. When he laid his head on you shoulder, you just smiled and looked at him, not moving him from his spot.
When Minho stopped speaking, everyone clapped and the New Student committee got food of their own before sitting down and mingling with the new students.
“E’Dawnieee!” A girl voice called, “I need your help over here!”
“Coming!” He had to sit with the sophomores and with the very touchy Seulgi who had called him to help her explain some things.
He kept glancing at you and saw Yuto, Kino, and Wooseok approach and introduce themselves as E’Dawn’s friends.
You were confused, “E’Dawn? I don’t know anyone by that name.”
“He helped you find your class the other day? Blonde? A few freckles? Cute and a great smile?” Yuto explained.
“Oh, Hyojong-oppa.” You looked around for him and saw a beautiful girl with black hair holding on to his arm. “Yeah, I know him. Do you want to sit with us?”
They nodded and sat down in front of you. They introduced themselves to Vernon and you three began a conversation in English. You weren’t too confident in your Korean just yet, so you did your best to follow what was being said. You tried to understand why you disliked Hyojong being held by that girl so much. Her name tag said Seulgi.
That was probably his girlfriend then. Ever since meeting him, you knew that he had to be dating some lucky person. You were glad for him having found someone he liked but kind of sad it wasn’t you. It made sense, though. They were in the same colors and you were just some American freshman. Korean’s tended to like lighter girls, anyways.
“(Y/N)? Are you still with us?” A hand touched your shoulder.
Your face darted up and met with Wooseok’s face first and then turned to the source of the voice who was calling you, Vernon.
“Uh, yeah?”
“Are you coming to the English expo tomorrow?”
Yuto added, “It’s a great chance for you to get to know other people who can talk to you in your native language.”
“You can meet others who can probably help with your Korean if you want it.” Kino said before he shoved a few dumplings of his own down his gullet.
After thinking about it, you nodded, “Yeah, that sounds great. I’ll have to show up later though. I have a class until 3 and will probably grab something to eat before showing up.”
Vernon smiled, “Good. I’ll be there too. I wanna know if there’s anyone like me there to make friends with.”
“I can always practice my English.” Wooseok said.
Your phone vibrated and you saw your next class started in 15 minutes. Picking up your things, you told the guys goodbye. They offered to walk you, but you told them to finish your food.
[11am, Tuesday: ENGLISH EXPO]
Grabbing a large cinnamon roll from the on campus cafe, you booked it to the conference room where the English Expo was. It was for all students, and it would be nice to hear your language again. Also, there was a large part of your heart that wanted to help non-native speakers get better with pronunciation. That way, they’d be more sure. Maybe you’d even learn some other languages while there too.
You were just so excited about all the possible interactions that you accidentally bit your cheek. It wasn’t too hard, but you were quite tentative about chewing for a few minutes until you finished the sweet.
There were flags of several countries where English was the main language: the UK, Australia, New Zealand, and of course, America. After getting your card swiped, you went into the room and heard a plethora of accents speaking the language you grew up with.
You felt very at home and very happy. People stared at you, but that was only because you were the newest person to enter. There was a sort of game going on. If someone spoke anything other than English that wasn’t just trying to figure out the translation, then they got a circular sticker put on them.
You grabbed a sticker sheet and went deeper into the room. Quickly, three different people of various races came up to you and started asking you questions. You seemed so obviously American, so you helped them with pronunciation while getting to learn about them.
At some point, Hyojong came in. You waved at him, and he hugged you.
“(Y/N)-ssi, how are you?” he asked in English.
“I’m doing well. Oh, I found out something interesting about you yesterday.”
“Did you now?” He scratched his scalp, “What did you learn?”
You smiled, “Your friends call you E’Dawn. I sat with them at the International lunch. They said you were your friends, but I didn’t know because you introduced yourself as Hyojong.”
“Well, yeah. I’d rather you call me by my real name.”
“Is E’Dawn only a thing your friends can call you? I thought we were friends, sort of.” You playfully pouted and teased him.
The look of embarrassment on his face was so adorable, “You are my friend! How can you say you aren’t my friend? I let you call me oppa even though we just met.” Hyojong spoke the last sentence in Korean.
You stuck a blue sticker on his face, “English, oppa~”
A familiar face entered the room and he was looking around for someone. Brown hair and tan skin dressed in the school uniform.
“Vernon, over here!” You called out.
As you waved your hands, he smiled and made his way over after grabbing a sheet of stickers. Hyojong wasn’t too happy that you were calling for a new boy after scolding him, but he was really glad that you had made a friend already.
He hugged you, and you smiled while introducing him to the others you were near. Lisa was the only one you knew since she was one of your roommates wearing a green skirt and had her orange hair tied in a bow. Kunpimook went by BamBam and wore red pants while his friend from home was in pink with the name Jackson. The oldest was a flat-chested girl named Amber who you really liked in blue pants.
You all talked in pretty fluent English. Some of them had lived in Korea for so long that they had forgotten some of the language this Expo was based on, but it was easy to converse when their memory kicked in. You all ended up exchanging numbers and creating a group chat for speaking English and just because you all clicked so well.
[6pm, Tuesday: HOME PLUS HANGOUT]
Since there were a lot of international people, the school figured there might have been some things they couldn’t have brought from home. Even some kids who just lived in Korea but weren’t going home anytime soon who forgot something they needed. School buses and personal cards went to the event at Home Plus for students to get whatever they needed for their dorms and other living quarters. They all got a school discount for participating which helped a lot.
You hadn’t had time to get toilet paper and wanted something that worked for your bottom. You held up two which were basically the same price and had similar advertising, but one was softer than the other. Did you need softer toilet paper or something firm?
“Well, your booty is firm enough, don’t you think?” E’Dawn popped up with a smile, making you laugh.
“So, you’ve been looking at my bottom?”
He blushed and grinned, “Maybe. Anyways, the soft one is still strong and is my brand of choice. Get that one”
“Awesome! Thanks for the advice.” You put the softer toilet paper into your basket and returned the other one to the shelf.
Hyojong reached out his hand, “Do you want me to hold that for you?”
“I can manage toilet paper and a couple of snacks, but thank you.”
“I still wanna hold something for you...how about this?” He grabbed your hand and beamed through a rising blush.
Your blush was hidden by melanin, but it was there, “Yeah, I guess that’s fine, but don’t you have to y’know do your committee stuff?”
He shrugged, “I can do that while hanging out with you.”
You smiled and felt a head on your shoulder. Turning to see who it was, a new smile appeared when you saw Vernon being the dork he was.
“How’s it going?” He had his own basket full of mostly food and a couple of ribbon ties.
“Goin’ good. Why so many ribbons?”
Vernon signed and lifted up his basket, “I lose them way too easily, so I thought it best to stash up on them.”
You laughed. Hyojong greeted Vernon and began to talk as you three continued to search for other things that you might’ve needed. Hyojong was called away by someone else, and you two finally let go of each other’s hands. It wasn’t until you guys were in the medicine aisle getting some stuff “just in case” that Vernon lowered his voice to ask you a question.
“So, are you and E’Dawn dating? You guys were holding hands, so I thought--”
“Oh, no. We’re just friends.”
He smiled, “Good, cuz I like you.”
“Aw thanks, I like you too.”
“No, (Y/N), I have a crush on you.” Vernon kissed your cheek. “We should get moving. They’re calling for buses, and we haven’t checked out yet.”
He held his hand out to you, and you grabbed it. You two went to checkout with your head reeling. Like, it just didn’t really make sense just yet. He liked you? Like, like liked you. Romantically. He kissed your cheek. You were holding his hand. Like, you had just been holding E’Dawn’s hand because you were friends.
It was something you did in the states with your closer guy friends, and they never read anything in to it. You knew that some people would have, but you never thought that this would be the outcome of it. You weren’t sure how you felt just yet.
“Vernon? Um, I’m not sure if--”
“It’s ok. Take your time. I will wait for an answer and respect whatever it is.” He hugged you and you two got onto the bus.
You fell asleep, and Vernon woke you up when you were back on campus.
[11am, Wednesday: CLUB SIGN-UPS]
You had class during the Monday sign-ups, so you made sure to come to one today. The only thing was that you weren’t sure what you wanted to do. Maybe the English club? Lisa approached you with a girl with dark red hair.
“Hey, (Y/N). this is my friend Rosé. She knows English, too.”
“Hi, Rosé, nice to meet you!” You said in English too. “Have you guys decided to sign up for anything?”
Lisa spoke up, “Actually, we wanted to know if you wanted to join the dance team with us. They were actually going to send someone to recruit you because they think all black people know how to dance, but I thought it better if I did it.”
“I mean. I can’t dance, per say, I have rhythm.”
“That’s all you need. So, how about it?”
You shrugged, “Sure. Why not? I think it’d be fun, especially if I’m doing it with you guys.”
Rosé clapped, “Yay! Let’s go to their booth then! I’m excited! They say it’s sort of like training to be an idol, but a lot easier. Still, a few idols have been chosen from dance teams. Oooo, what if one of us get chosen?”
The three of you laughed, and Lisa shook her head, “I doubt that I’ll ever be good enough to be an idol. I’m struggling too much even learning Korean.”
“But you’re so pretty!” You said. “They’d be idiots not to ask you to be part of a group. Also, I heard you freestyling the other day by the cafeteria. You’ve got an amazing flow.”
“Awww, thanks. You’re too kind, (Y/N).”
The super chipper girl with her pastel hair in a low ponytail clapped when she saw you girls approaching, “So you decided to sign up after all! I’m so glad! I’m Jeon Jiwoo, and we’re always looking for ways to make out team more diverse. We usually dance at football games, but we also have a season for competition.”
She went into the whole spiel about what the dance team did, the prices, the skills you’d be learning. She said there were some things that you girls would need to buy from them like shorts and a club shirt. There were three different dance clubs, girls, boys, and co-ed.
All three of you decided to go for both the girls and co-ed groups. After writing down your emails, the girl said that you’d get an email with a video of the dances you needed to learn along with the proper music files.
“Also, if you’re serious about the co-ed team, find someone to practice your partner work with since you will be doing partner things in the co-ed team. It’s no good if you’ve got the moves but not the chemistry.”
All three of you nodded and thanked her before deciding to get something to eat together.
Vernon saw you leave and was curious. First year students could sign up for only two different clubs since the coursework would be quite rigorous and they didn’t want too much taking you away from studies. He approached the girl who was talking to a taller guy.
“Um, hi?”
“Hi, are you curious in signing up for dance team? We have a group for boys and a co-ed group if you’re interested. Taehyung here is in the co-ed with me.”
The black haired man smiled and bowed, “Call me J. Seph. All groups are limited to 20 members, so the more competition, the better!”
He bit his lip and thought about it, “Did that black girl just sign up?”
“Oh, yes, and we’re super glad. She signed up for co-ed too.” She said in a way that it was obvious she knew of his feelings for her. Why else would he have asked such a question?
“Yo, J. Seph!” Hyojong called, giving him a hug and smiling. “You guys get a lot of sign ups? Oh, hey, Vernon.”
“Hi. I guess I’ll sign up for co-ed too.”
“Awesome! Just write your name, phone number, and email here.”
Hyojong asked, “You signing up for dance team?”
“Yeah, (Y/N) was just here and signed up. I’m crazy for her, and it sounds like fun. So why not? I’ll see you around, hyung. I’ve gotta get to class.”
Vernon left and Somin approached with a box, “Here you go, E’Dawn. Yours was one of the first outfits we got. I’m so glad we decided to pre-order this year. Last time it was a mess.”
“Thanks.” E’Dawn smiled. “Do you know what themes we’re doing yet?”
Somin shook her head, “Not yet. We’ll get it sooner or later.”
[4pm, Thursday: SWING DANCING]
Leaving the International lunch today, E’Dawn called your name. He hadn’t been able to sit with you again today, but he really wanted to talk to you. You waited for him to catch up and greeted him.
“I was wondering if you were going to the Swing Dancing lessons today. I’m going with all my guy friends, so I thought it would be good to ask my girl friends. I mean, my friends who are girls. You know what I mean.”
“Yeah, I get it. And umm, sure. I don’t think I’ve met all your friends, so it’d be great for all of us to get to know each other. You could have just put it in the group chat, and I would’ve seen it.”
He pouted slightly, “I know, but I wanted to ask you in person since we’re in the same place right now. I’m glad you said yes. It’s at 4 in the conference room right there, so don’t forget.”
You didn’t, but you were almost late because you couldn’t find your Mary Jane’s among all your things since you still had not fully unpacked. They were with your extra notebooks, and you would never know why. The swing dancing would take place outside since it was such good weather.
There was a brick wall and a school journalist asked if he could take pictures of you since you actually dressed up for the lessons. Many of the other girls and guys were just and their school uniforms or casual clothing. It kind of made you feel awkward, but you were comforted by Hyojong’s smile.
“You look beautiful, (Y/N). I’m glad I decided to keep my dress pants on instead of changing to jeans.” He said as everyone circled up in pairs while the two instructors were in the center.
Vernon came in late, rushing as it seemed he had just come from something. He waved at you and paired up with a lonesome female. When you were being told the position to get into, E’Dawn didn’t say anything, but his blush was obvious.
You smiled, “Don’t be nervous, oppa. It’s just me.”
He gave you a thankful smile and relaxed a bit. You two did some simple movements just trying to get used to how each other reacted before it was time to switch and repeat with the next partner. Vernon wasn’t too far away, and you couldn’t help feel comforted when his hands weren’t clammy like the last three guys.
“How are you today?” he asked.
“Doing great. I’m so glad your hands are dry.”
He gave you a confused look and you told him not to mind it. Instead, you two started doing the simple triple-step, triple-step, rock step that was the basis for swing dance. You were sort of amazing how easy it was...until he stepped on your foot.
“You’re supposed to go right first. Ow!” You said while limping a bit. “It’s fine.”
“Walk it off. You’ll be ok.” The female instructor said.
After recovering, you had just three seconds before moving on to the next person. All through the night, it was a fun little lesson. It helped you feel more confident in your body and you felt like you had gotten closer to your two guy friends. Lisa was there too, so she suggested you guys get something to eat afterwards.
You said you had to get some work done and decided that you would eat lunch with her tomorrow instead. Then you could eat off campus if time permitted it.
[7pm, Friday: PAINT PARTY]
You had only one class today, and it was cancelled since your teacher wanted to see their son who was working at one of the events today. It was the Puppy Love event where college kids got to meet adoptable dogs and play with them. So you decided to look around campus for a bit and meet up with your friends in the campus Game Room.
“Lisa!” You called and she hugged you.
Rosé was there too, and so you two hugged as well. You asked how they were going with learning the dances so far. Lisa said she wasn’t sure if she was even that good which made your other friend gasp in shock.
“You’re such a liar!” Rosé said, “(Y/N), she learned the dance in an hour. All of it!”
“Yeah, but what’s the use of knowing the dance moves if you can’t even do them well?”
The rosy redhead looked at Lisa completely shocked and confused, “Are you kidding me? Dance, dance right now, and you’ll have everything down perfectly.”
Lisa was shocked, “What? Right now? Fine, fine, fine. Play the music.”
She stood up, and you looked away for a moment to watch Rosé go through her phone to find the music. Suddenly you felt a pull on your upper arm and Lisa was asking you to do the dance with her too since she was kind of embarrassed to do it by herself.
Being the good friend you were, you decided to stand next to her and do the moves as best you could. People watched as you two performed and soon enough even Rosé joined along with other people who were auditioning for the girls’ dance team.
The next thing you knew, you were dressed in all white and being checked into the paint party event. You, Lisa, Vernon, Amber, BamBam, and Rosé had gone as a group and put your stuff in Vernon’s car. Lisa was in a white long-sleeved crop top with the outline of paisley print in black, white ripped shorts, and black and white sneakers. Rosé was also in a crop top that had bands going around her waist with white boots and distressed jeans.
Vernon wore a regular plain white t that had fake buttons on the shoulders, white cargo shorts, and some old white tennis shoes. Amber had on a tank top and loose basketball shorts while BamBam had a t-shirt and white sweatpants on.
As for you, you had on a plain white shirt with the definition of aegyo on the front, white shorts, and a pair of flip flops that you’d take off before the party started. Your hair was in a protective style to make washing everything out easier. Everyone had towels, and Lisa had brought a pair of goggles. You wondered if you would see Hyojong here.
Hyuna looked amazing with her black hair contrasting the white oversized tank top she wore with white tennis shoes and white fishnets to match. It was one of the requirements on the flyer.
She handed out bags filled with neon paint to everyone else part of the University’s entertainment Society.
“Here’s your bag, E’Dawn. Do you know if (Y/N) is coming?”
“I’m not sure, but I hope she does.” He was in white shorts as well, and a tank top with the school logo on it. It was the same one Hyuna was wearing, but in the correct size.
His tattoos were on display, and he had no idea how you felt about tattoos. You two hadn’t really gotten a chance to talk one on one since this was one of the busiest weeks for him. Maybe if you made the co-ed dance team, he’d get to see you more. Hopefully, he’d get a chance to talk to you tonight.
Hyuna smiled, “Don’t worry. You’re both really awesome people, and you’ve gotten along great so far. Just talk to her some more, and I’m sure everything will turn out fine.”
E’Dawn smiled, “Thanks, noona.”
“Oh, there she is now. Go give her some paint.” She shoved her friend towards you until he moved on his own.
He was kind of sad to see Vernon there with you, but you guys were friends. So far, all of you were just friends. Maybe tonight would change that, hopefully tonight would change everything. Hyojong put on a huge smile and called out your name. You looked at him and waved, moving to hug him, but remembering you weren’t in America. Instead you stopped yourself and simply greeted him.
Hyojong’s heart was in his ears. Were you just about to hug him? If so, why did you stop? Either way, it took him a good ten seconds to recover and hold out the bag to you guys.
“Since you’re here early, you guys get some paint of your own to spay each other with! It’s non-toxic. Just don’t get more than two so that we have enough for everyone who wants some.”
Everyone grabbed some paint and tested it on each other to make sure it worked. Based on the huge pink spot dripping from Lisa’s shirt, it worked. You stayed and talked with Hyojong.
With a smile on your face, you asked, “So, you’ve been involved with everything this week, huh?”
“Yep. Well, as much as possible. Since I’m part of the co-ed and boys’ dance group, it’s best for me to get my hours now instead of later in the year.”
Your eyes lit up, “You’re in the dance team? I signed up for tryouts! Not sure if I’ll get in either of them, though.”
He scoffed, “I’m sure you’ll do great. Didn’t you see the comments on the video?”
“What video?”
Hyojong took out his phone to show video of you and your friends from earlier dancing. It was on the school’s own channel. From the amount of Korean that you could read, the comments said that “black noona” could dance really well. Some said that of course you could dance, you’re black. You chuckled.
“I had no idea they put it up. I thought it was just gonna be part of the weekly montage thing I saw on the school website. Oh my gosh.” You covered your mouth and called your friends over and say it already had 1k views.
After watching, more people had arrived and the sun was taking a header as it turned to night. This was going to be a good way to start off the weekend. While Hyojong was talking to you, he asked what you were into. You told him and asked him the same. As he spoke, you couldn’t stop looking at his eyes even as he turned his head to hand out paint to others.
“I’m sorry.” You said, interrupting him, “But your eyes are beautiful. Like, I’ve never seen eyes as dark as yours, and it takes my breath away.”
Your cheeks instantly got hot as you saw his shy reaction. He looked away and scratched the back of his head, laughing nervously. That must’ve been the wrong thing to say, and you went into fixing mode.
“Oh jeez. I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to embarrass you. I just wanted to let you know that they were really nice. It came out so cheesy though.”
Hyojong smiled, “No. Don’t apologize. I’m glad you like them, and I really like the way you said it. You’re such a sweet girl, (Y/N).”
Your heart was beating quickly when you felt a hand grab yours. Turning your head, you saw Rosé, “Vernon wants you, but he’s being a huge dork. People are starting to fill in, and we don’t wanna lose you.”
“Oh, ok. I’ll talk to you later, E’Dawn. If you can mingle, come find us! We’ll be near the front.”
[2 Hours later]
The music was amazing and you had gotten drenched in several colors of paint, mostly blue at this point and time. Thirty minutes ago, it was mostly yellow. Your bottles from earlier were completely empty and tossed into a nearby trash bin. Amber had BamBam on her shoulders while they danced to the music. Someone who went by the name of Ten had Lisa on his shoulders. They had bumped into each other and started speaking Thai to each other instead of Korean, so they just had to be friends.
Vernon had offered to lift you up, but you were too shy and didn’t want to be a perfect target for repurposed water squirters. They were submerged in huge buckets of paint and aimed at innocent college kids who would soon be drenched in some random color, pink, blue, or yellow. A lot had gotten in your ear earlier, and it wasn’t much fun. The next time you saw it being pointed your direction, you hid behind Vernon.
The blacklights were turned on and the audience glowed. Your bare feet felt the earth mixed with paint and becoming mud but didn’t mind the sensation too much.
“Ok, ok, ok! Listen up!” The DJ spoke into the microphone, “Quiet. Quiet! We have a few special guests from the co-ed dance team here to have a dance battle with a couple of you who are doing tryouts! Oooooo”
“Oooooo” the crowd replied in suspense.
Five girls in paint covered outfits along with five boys who were drenched as well. The girls had their hair pulled back and only three of each paired up. It was the girl who was at the booth whose name was Jiwoo with a guy you knew as J. Seph, a girl named Momo with a dude named Key, and a cutie named Minzy whose partner was Zelo. Somin and Hyuna stood on the sides next to Hui and Hyojong.
They did a two minute dance together that captivated you. Then some of them switched out to be only the guys. E’Dawn looked really confident up there. He even did a dance number with Hyuna and Hui. Vernon was pulled away by a girl with long black hair and curled bangs.
When it was only the girls performing, the same girl came and got you, Lisa, and Rosé to come up on stage after wiping your feet and shoes. Hyojong held your hand and asked how you were doing.
“What’s this?” You whispered.
“Surprise tryouts. Only the most promising are chosen to do it during events, and with your video going viral today, we had no choice.”
“But Vernon wasn’t--”
“He’s your friend, so we put him at the same standard as you girls. You’ve practiced the co-ed dance with him, right?”
You nodded, “Yeah, but--”
He smiled, “Then don’t worry about it.” squeezing your hand to reassure you.
In groups of three, and one group of four, the impromptu tryouts happened with someone paired up with someone who was already a member of the dance team. Lisa, Vernon, and Rosé did amazing jobs, and then it was your turn in a group of four partnerships. You were nervous since you only really knew how Vernon’s body moved when dancing, but you just had to go with the flow.
The dance was over in a blur. You barely remembered much after doing your final pose, but looking at Hyojong, you did a great job. He gave you two thumbs up and you all bowed. Vernon hadn’t been in your group, but held your hand as they had all the ones trying out bowed together.
An hour later, the party was over and everyone dispersed. Vernon couldn’t stop talking about how amazing you had been up on stage as everyone got stuff from his car and dried off before sitting.
“Like, I didn’t know you could move like that! I saw the video, but your stage presence, oh my goodness! You should be in a girl group, dance line. I’m calling it now.”
Your cheeks were on fire as you replied, “Both of them were way better than me. And you were fantastic too!”
“To be honest,” He used his towel to wipe away some dripping paint. from behind his hair. “I only signed up because I saw that you had. It’s a lot harder than I thought it’d be, but I’m glad you’re helping me a lot.”
After biting your lip, you responded, “I-it’s not a big deal.”
The girls in front of you looked at each other and said that they’d get a ride home on a bus while Vernon drove you home. Your eyes went wide.
“What?”
“Sure, ok.”
You looked at him then back at your roommie and friend, “Are you sure? Are there even buses running at this time?”
Lisa looked at her phone, “There are two more before midnight, so we’ll be fine. College kids have a discount anyways.”
Rosé agreed, “Totally. You two have fun!”
And they ran off before you could protest. What the fuck?
“Are you ok with riding home with me alone?” He asked, something seductive having crept into his voice.
You couldn’t stop the pounding in your heart, but you weren’t sure if it was because you’d be riding home alone with a really cute and flirty boy or what.
Nodding, you answered, “Um, um, yeah. It’s ok. Hehe, I have to ask Hyojong something first.” You were about to go find him which a voice called out to you.
“(Y/N), you did great up there!” It was Hyuna. “You’ll get emailed the results tomorrow before midnight!”
That was your question.
“Oh, ok, thanks! Have a nice night!”
She paused and looked at you and Vernon, raising her eyebrows, “You too.”
Why did she have to say it like that? Oh goodness. So, you got in the car and Vernon closed the door for you. He had picked you and the other girls up from your apartment earlier, so he put it into the GPS. Then you two were off and listening to music.
You didn’t know that E’Dawn had seen you get into the car and drive off, not sure if he had missed his chance with you already. He had meant to ask you to go to the stargazing event tomorrow night with him since he already know you were going. He wanted it to be a date.
He’d have to remember to text you after he helped clean up a bit. Then opportunity knocked, and it sounded like a text ringtone.
You were a bit too nervous for a simple car ride home, so you didn’t sing along at first. Vernon asked more about your home life. Did you have siblings? Favorite things and why? That sort of stuff. He told you the same things and showed you pics of his little sister who was super adorable.
When you two got into your parking garage, he told you to text him when you got to your room. You said you would and he opened your door for you. As you stepped out to meet him, he asked if you had fun tonight.
“I did. I wasn’t expecting tryouts to happen like that, but I’m glad that they did. There’s still some questions I have, but I can text Hyojong about them. You were really amazing up there, Vernon. Also thanks for driving me home.”
He grabbed your face and kissed it, “No problem. I really do like you, (Y/N), so I would do absolutely anything for you.”
“Um, thanks. Goodnight!” You quickly got into the elevator and pressed the button to take you to the right floor.
What the hell was that? Was he actually into you? You told the girls while you ate midnight ramen and they asked how you felt about it as well as telling him about wht happened earlier in the week. You didn’t hate it, but you just weren’t sure if you wanted Vernon to be more than a friend. They asked about E’Dawn, and you got a weird feeling. Not bad, but different.
“I don’t know, either.”
“Well, know! Figure it out!” Rosé said. “Do you want to date? Or do you want to focus on studying? No one can decide that except for you!”
Lisa nodded, “She’s right, you know.”
“Ok, ok. I’ll figure it out.” You said, much more on your plate than just noodles at the moment.
Were you really doing this? Were you really getting all dolled up to go stargazing with Hyojong? You didn’t try this hard yesterday when you were hanging out with Vernon, but he was also going stargazing. Wait, no. It was a group thing. You just said that you would share E’dawn’s blanket with him.
You weren’t even trying that hard. Not like you had spent an entire hour deciding if you were going to wear jeans, shorts, or a skirt and you only got it between shorts and jeans. You sighed.
So maybe you had a crush on Hyojong. You sighed and laid back on your bed.
“It hasn’t even been a whole month, and I have gotten myself into a Korean love triangle!” You said.
Vernon liked you, and you liked E’dawn, but you also sort of liked Vernon, and you also had no idea how E’dawn felt about you. You touched your lips and remembered how Vernon kissed your lips last night. He didn’t push too much and it was gentle. You shook your head and stood.
“Clothes.” The stargazing started at 8, but you could show up at any time.
Still, it was best to get there early to get the best spots and make sure there were spots still available. Even though it was an RSVP, there was no actual limit to how many people could come. You finally came up with an outfit that you were happy with. Cutout leggings, alien themed top plus suspenders, and black boots. Also a jacket if it got cold.
It was 6:33pm and Rosé wanted to do a roomie mukbang with you and Lisa for her viewers because they were surprised to see a new background in her last stream. That lead to them being curious about her new roommates. So, you set out your outfit and joined the others in the living room to eat a lot.
So, E’dawn jumped around his room in the morning when he realized that you saying yes to sharing a blanket with him was real. You actually said yes! It was a weekend, but he had some homework he wanted to finish before getting ready for tonight. However, when the time came to actually pick out his outfit, he had no idea what he wanted to wear to impress you in a casual way.
He would bring an extra jacket for you, no hoodie. Girls loved to wear guys’ hoodies. Ok, so he chose his pink hoodie with green alien outlines on it for you to wear just in case. For himself, though. He didn’t want to hide anything from you, so he picked out a mint green succulent shirt to wear with dark blue jeans and some black and white trainers.
The other guys in his apartment plus friends had signed up to go as well, so they all piled into three cars to save on gas.
It was a nice night, but the mountain was kind of chilly. There was a concession stand set up in case any of the college kids got hungry and didn’t want to have to wait for their order to get there. The two groups got there around the same time and checked in with the sponsor before finding a place to sit. Everyone sat with who they said they would in the group chat.
No alcoholic beverages were allowed, so the boys brought a lot of sodas and water in their cooler and the girls were assigned food. A bunch of boxed lunches and convenience store sandwhiches since they were told to eat before coming here. You still had a lot of feelings to work though. You wanted to ask how E’dawn felt about you, but you were way too shy and it was way too awkward at the current moment.
Vernon was sat on the blanket next to you with a friend of his named Minghao and asked if you could see the Big Dipper. Some time later, him and Minghao went to go find someplace to pee. The buddy system was required in this unfamiliar place made even more unknown by the darkness. You realized Vernon was gone for a while even after his friend returned, so you tapped E’Dawn’s hand.
“I’m going to go find Vernon and make sure he’s ok.”
“Ok. Hey, do you have feelings for him?” He asked before he could help himself.
You looked away and spoke honestly, “Maybe. I’m not sure right now. I’ll be right back.”
“I’m coming to look for you in 15 minutes.”
You two nodded to each other, and you checked near the bathrooms and called into them. No one was there except some couple in the nearby bushes who were fucking. You just ignored them and went to where the cars were parked down the hill.
“Vernon?” You called just loud enough to be heard a few cars away.
You looked at the plates to find his car and were not very happy to see what was going on the side of it. His face was smushed against the face of some other brown-haired girl completely unaware of their surprise viewer.
“Oh.” You said at a regular volume, making them jump apart. “I’m sorry. Vernon was just taking a while, so I just came to check. You’re doing fine. I’ll leave you to it.”
Tears threatened to spill, and you’d be damned if you let him see them. He ran after you and caught your wrist.
“Hey, I’m sorry.”
“You said you liked me! You kissed me last night, Vernon! It was the second time you told me that you like me.” You yelled.
He didn’t look the least bit regretful, “It was the second time, and you ran away! I wasn’t getting anything from you, (Y/N). You didn’t give me an answer about how you felt, so I moved on.”
“IT HASN’T EVEN BEEN ONE FUCKING WEEK, VERNON! Don’t I get to think about it?”
“I just don’t have time for that.” The fuck boy replied awkwardly shrugging off your feelings.
“Clearly!” You said, spitting venom. “You know what? It’s fine. Go finish making out with your plain ass Reverse Harem Protagonist! I don’t care!”
You walked away, no longer feeling the right to cry but wanting to anyways. You were just so pissed! Betrayed! How could he? No time for thinking? Forget that shit. Your mom called you before you were too far up the hill, so you talked to her a bit.
Hyojong looked nervously at his watch. It had been 13 minutes. Two more, and he’d go looking for you. Not even a second later, Vernon came back and said that he and his friend were leaving, some plain looking girl on his arm.
“Where’s (Y/N)?”
“I’m not her babysitter.”
Lisa spoke, “But you kissed her last night.”
Rosé asked, “Who’s she?”
“Monika.”
“It’s Leslie.”
“Leslie. Whatever. We’re going.”
And they were gone. E’Dawn wanted to punch his face so badly but decided to go look for you instead. He heard your voice near the bottom half of the hill sitting on a bench. You were wiping your face and pretending like you weren’t crying as you spoke on the phone.
“I’m fine, ma. It’s just the weather making me a bit stuffy. It won’t last long. I’ll call you tomorrow, ok? Love you.”
He saw you hang up and heard you curse under your voice. You looked at him and looked away before cursing again.
“I know enough English to know you’re lying. It’s not the weather is it?” Hyojong asked.
You shook your head. He knew it. Vernon must have done something to hurt you, or you would’ve been back already. He asked what the mean boy did to you, and got a small chuckle out of it. You told him what happened, and he had never wanted to punch a human so badly before.
“I liked him just enough, he strung me along just the right amount to where I feel so fucking betrayed. Not just by him, but by my heart. How could I be so stupid!”
Hyojong held your hands, “You’re not stupid! Stupid people don’t learn another language and move out of the country for college.”
“You sure?” You gave a bitter chuckle.
“And I know we just met like a week ago, but I know you’re a smart girl, (Y/N). Not just in language, but I saw your books. You’re very smart. Emotions are dumb and they blind you to obvious things, but that’s ok. You’ll bounce back because that’s what smart girls do.”
He used his hoodie sleeve to wipe your face and then gave it to you to put on since he noticed you shivering.
He looked out, “Whenever you’re ready to go back up, I’ll be ready.”
You nodded. After calming yourself down and being thankful for the darkness, you stood and said you were ready. The two of you walked back to the others in silence, using your dimmed phone lights to help find your way. They asked what happened, and you shook your head. E’dawn shook his head, letting them know that they’d be informed later.
You two sat down again and looked at the stars. His fingertips touched yours and you smiled, not thinking too much of it. E’Dawn asked why you came to Korea instead of some in state school.
“I wanted my own life, a life that’s as unique and exciting as possible.” You began. “I’m not even completely fluent in Korean, so no one really supported me. Still, I knew there’d be enough people here that knew English if I needed it. I knew what I wanted and I was gonna work for it.”
He was admiring you and your honesty. You were a genius to him, a bit of madness, but still very hard working. Dedicated. You were absolutely perfect. Why could Vernon not see that you were the stars themselves?
You continued. “A life that I defined, no one else. I wasn’t even sure about the specifics, but I was willing to take the chance.”
His hand was now completely on top of yours, “Has it worked out so far?”
Hyojong saw that you smiled in spite of the horrible past few minutes and noticed you looking at how your hands were together.
You nodded, “I think so.”
“Hey, (Y/N)?” He asked, looking up at the stars.
“Yeah.”
He kissed your hand, “I’m really glad I met you.”
A huge smile crossed your face, “Me too.”
Your phone buzzed. Lots of phones buzzed and pinged. It was your e-mail, from the dance team! It was 11:59pm. Someone liked suspense. You and your friends circled up and opened it at the same time. You guys read the list for the co-ed tearm first. Lisa was on there and Rosé was on there. Vernon was on there. Two girls who were part of last night’s surprise tryouts, Jennie and Jisoo, were on there too. They all cheered.
You weren’t on there.
E’Dawn grabbed your phone, “This can’t be right! I thought--” A grin came upon his face and handed you your phone back, “You didn’t read the whole email.”
With a confused face, you looked through the email again. There was a section for “Spotlight Dancers” Your name was on there next to Hyuna, E’dawn, Taemin, Momo, and Key. They were like the best dancers! That was just for the co-ed team.
Lisa’s name was in the “Spotlight Dancers” section for the girls’ dance team next to Momo’s and another girl’s. You were so happy! You made both teams! You asked E’Dawn what a Spotlight Dancer did and that meant you’d get more stage time and be more important during competition season.
You were so happy that you hugged him but quickly stopped once you realized what you were doing, but you were glad when he pulled you back in. Even when the ruckus of all the contenders getting their results died down, he put his arm around you as you looked up at the stars together.
Maybe Vernon didn’t work out the way you thought it would, but you were more sure about your own feelings for Hyojong. A bit more sure about his for you too, but you didn’t want to talk about it right now. Later was better for now.
Everyone was excitedly going around the garden and taking pictures with one another in their new hanboks. It was a bit hard for you earlier with everyone being with their families when you had just left yours, but your friends assured you that you weren’t alone. It was fun getting to meet everyone’s parents and siblings, hear stories about their childhood.
You were glad that Rosé’s and Hui’s parents were so welcoming and kind when they showed up. They were the only ones here so far and they were so kind. Most of the parents showed up in the next hour for a visit. The adults greeted each other and their children and grand children in some cases.
Everyone was smiling and eating, playing games...except Hyojong. You looked around for him and he was sitting outside looking at a few roses on the outer hedge. He looked sad. Hui nodded his head towards his friend when you two made eye contact. You nodded and excused yourself for a bit.
[Two months earlier, December 20th.]
Because it was your first time needing a hanbok for anything, the girls were adamant about you getting one custom made. The girls being Jennie, Jisoo, Rosé, and Lisa along with Amber who helped to calm everyone down when they got too excited. You were excited too, it was a big first. Just, not nearly as much squealing. There was a shop where you could get pre-made ones that would also make them for you.
They decided to go for a more modern look with pastels while Amber was looking for pants. The sales clerk kept giving her a side eye, but then another one came who spoke with a deeper voice and was wearing a more feminine style hanbok.
“Mom, she says she doesn’t want a skirt. Stop it, please. I’ll take over, and you help the 4 bunny-like women.”
They were hopping everywhere looking at the new styles while holding them up to one another while you were getting your measurements taken by an older women who had no doubt in what she was doing. She didn’t talk much which made you kind of nervous.
E’dawn and Hui came in and started talking with the girls. They had already gotten theirs made and were just waiting on you. The older woman wanted to be called Missus Min and didn’t apologize when she pricked you.
“Missus Min?”
“Hmm?”
“Have you ever made a hanbok for anyone like me before?”
She gave a small smile, “More now than ever. Yes. We don’t treat them any differently if that’s what you’re worried about. No matter what their skin color is, we want our clients to leave here feeling beautiful.”
You smiled and let out a breath, “Thank you. I’m sorry. I’m just nervous and I keep wondering if I should even be doing this.”
“You’re not playing dress up. You’re getting ready to celebrate a holiday with your Korean friends. I promise that by the time I’m done with you, you’ll feel like a Korean girl yourself, now stand up straight.”
E’dawn was talking to Amber and helping her find something.
“Should I also go for the pastel thing? I wanna match with the other girls to some extent, but just pants.”
The deep voiced femme piped up, “We’ve got pastels for the more masculine folk too. Mostly blue and greens, but also pink has been popular too in the recent years.” She picked up a pink floral vest. “These would go great with some light blue pants.”
A squeal was heard, “Oh my gosh! This is so cute!” Jennie twirled in a pastel pink hanbok. A light flower pattern on the skirt.
The other three came out in their own traditional dresses. Rosé in blue, Jisoo in purple, and Lisa in green. They all smiled at the super happy and excited girls who spun like princesses and let their hair fan out behind them.
The mother asked, “So, is this a yes from anyone?”
All the girls nodded and agreed. Lisa approached E’Dawn and teased him.
“How do I look?” She flipped her hair dramatically and struck a pose.
“You look--” His eyes caught movement and stopped talking.
Curious at what he was gaping at, she turned around and gasped. Soon enough, everyone in the store was looking at you. Jisoo and Jennie held hands and let out another squeal.
“Oh wow, (Y/N). You look amazing!” Hui said.
Amber agreed, “Like a princess! Holy pineapple!”
You blushed and awkwardly played with your hair, “What do you think, Hyojong-oppa?”
He couldn’t stop staring at you. The way the lacy and floral white top contrasted your skin was beautiful. The large red flowers and leaves on the skirt just made it seem like it was actually pure gold when it was on you. He didn’t know what to say, and so he just had his mouth hanging open and his heart beating so hard in his chest.
It wasn’t until Amber threw an arm around him and answered for him, that he woke up.
“He loves it too.”
“Y-yeah. You just. Wow. You look. I just. Wow.” He looked around and then pointed at you again. “Wowwwww.”
Your face started to get hot again as the others laughed and smiled at how starstruck Hyojong was.
“It matters what you think, though, (Y/N). Do you like it?” He asked.
You looked down at your custom hanbok and nodded, “Yes. I like it. I really like it a lot.”
The mother, father, child, and grandmother all clapped and then you were ushered to the back to get everything off. You heard Hyojong say you were so pretty before you were completely out of ear shot, but you couldn’t see that he touched his cheeks to hide his blush.
After getting everything off and changing back into your casual clothes, the girls had bought theirs and had them in protective bags and boxes. The hanbok would be done in the next two weeks. You told them to take their time and not to rush it since you were going to be out of the country until next month.
They said they had a pick up limit of a week.
“I’ll pick it up for you.” E’dawn said. “Mine is just around the corner, so it won’t put me too out of the way or anything. Besides, I wouldn’t want you to be unable to wear such a beautiful custom made hanbok because you’re visiting family.”
You smiled at him and agreed that would be ok. Then the father remarked that he was such a good boyfriend. You two replied you were just friends. The grandmother laughed. Showing more emotion that she had the whole entire time you guys had been there. She even started crying from laughing so hard and went into the back.
“Well then.” The father said and gave a receipt and pick up date.
So your Sexy Mrs. Claus dress had come in the other day, and it fit perfectly which was great for you. Hui said it was a tradition, and you were more than happy to participate in it. Korean Christmas was more focused around friends than family like in the West. You saw lots of girls in the dress, but there was no one really making sure you were wearing it.
It was just some fun at the hot springs that Hui’s aunt owned part of with her wife of a few years. It was strange, though. Other bells went off in your head telling you and helping you realize that you had been bamboozled. Yeah, you looked fucking fantastic in the Santa dress and hooded Christmas capelet, but everyone was staring at you. You didn’t like the way they did it.
“Of course the Western girl is trying to stand out.”
“Black girls are always so extra.”
Looking at them in the eyes, you said, “Maybe so.” and went to go yell at a boy with periwinkle hair.
You weren’t exactly upset by the harmless trick that had been played on you, but there were few things that you wanted to say to Hui. Not enough people were dressed as Sexy Santas for it to be a tradition. You felt like you had were being seen as a novelty, and you didn’t like it. He was standing next to E’dawn and you punched him in the green plaid covered arm.
“What the hell, dude? This outfit is not a fucking tradition! I feel like I’m Elle Woods but on a different holiday!”
“I don’t know who that is.” He said and you folded your arms. “Look, I’m sorryyyy, but you wouldn’t have done it if I hadn’t said so.”
You rolled your eyes, “Maybe. If you wanted to see me in this you coulda just--”
He smiled, “It wasn’t for me.”
Confused, you were going to ask who it was, then you turned your head to the other oppa standing there who was basically drooling as he had a pretty solid grip on his red solo cup. Was he going to say something? Even as you stared at him in his wrapping paper patterned suit, he just stood there.
“Oppa?” You waved your hand in front of his face.
“Huh?” He crushed the red solo cup at the sound of his voice and a fizzy drink spilled all over his hand and the floor. Everyone around him backed up.
The blonde boy looked at the mess then back at you. “I’m gonna go get something to clean this up. Stay here. I want to tell you how great you look.” He went off to dispose of the cracked, no obliterated cup and get a towel or something.
You smiled but still scolded Hui, “Everyone’s talking about me, saying I’m being extra flashy and stuff just because I’m me, but they don’t even know me!”
“Of course everyone is talking. You look amazing.”
Lisa said as she and your other female friends were dressed in similar red dresses, except Amber, of course. She couldn’t help but find the perfect wrapping paper suit that she fell in love with. It was basically a classy ugly sweater.
Momo pinched his ear, “If you ever lie to us again, I’ll have your head.” Then she stepped back and spun around in her white heels. “Don’t I look pretty?” She had her hair in ponytails and had fuzzy Christmas themed bobbles on the band.
“Watch out for Hyojong’s liquid on the floor, ladies.”
They all jumped back and looked down.
You explained, “He crushed his cup by accident.”
“Because you’re he saw how beautiful (Y/N) was.” Hui teased.
“Here he comes now.” You said.
He had a towel in his hand and squatted down to clean up the pile. Then it was back to a normal party. You felt good with your group of super supportive gal pals and bros, and E’dawn. There was no doubt in your mind that you thought he was the cutest most special guy in your life right now, but it’s not like you could just tell him that.
It was too sappy and cheesy. Especially on Christmas. Nope, no you weren’t going to tell him. It wasn’t the time for this even though you maybe sort of, ok you really wanted to kiss him under the mistletoe.
A cute guy with an oval shaped face and cute dimples asked you for a dance, and you said sure. His name was Jooheon, and he was super sweet.
Hyojong was hyping himself up to go dance with you when he saw the other guy in a green and white suit ask you. He was all gentlemanly about it, too. What was he supposed to do now? You seemed like you were having a good time with him.
Jennie poked his arm, “Hey. You like (Y/N), right?”
He nodded, “Yeah. I was just about to dance with her, but now I’m all nervous again because that guy got her before me.”
“Then wait a bit and ask her then. You should really tell her how you feel. When we opened presents this morning, you got her jewelry. No normal guy friend does that. And her face? I’m sure she feels the same way about you.”
Hyojong wasn’t sure, “I just...I’m not--”
“Go ask Wendy for a dance, Peter Pan. I’m sure she’ll say yes.” She pulled him towards you and Jooheon.
He had just told you about how long it had taken him to get the suit in particular because he was invited last minute, and it was the only one in his size. So you two were laughing, and you were glad that it worked out for him.
“Oh, hey, Jennie.” You said.
“Hey, (Y/N). Mind if I cut in? You can dance with E’dawn.”
You were bit too eager as you said, “Sure. That’s fine with me.” and cut off whatever Jooheon was saying. “Jennie, this is Jooheon.”
They joined hands and E’dawn held yours. It didn’t take long for the fourth wheel to realize he didn’t stand a chance with you. He went off with Jennie, and you were happy and comfortable swaying in Hyojong’s arms. The two of you talked about how his roots were starting to grow out. He wasn’t sure if he was going to bleach them again.
He asked about your flight tomorrow. You said you wanted to just enjoy the moment with him right now, and then BamBam shouted across the room to look up. Mistletoe. It was tied in a bright red bow, and it was impossible to miss. Amber turned on her camera and started recording.
“Oh, uh, well, it’s a tradition. I think we should.”
“I think we should too. It’s a tradition afterall.”
You closed your eyes and puckered up and ignored the nerves that told you to run. Hyojong kissed you. It was just a peck on the lips, but at least it wasn’t on the cheek. He kissed you, and it was on camera. Then you hid in his shoulder as everyone went “Aaaawwww~”
Later that night, the party had ended. It was just dancers and Hui’s and Hyojong’s group of friends. Most had crashed, but you were staring outside and watching the trees sway in the cold wind in a window seat. Even though you were in a sweater and comfy socks, you were still cold. Your hand absentmindedly played with the cherry necklace he had gotten you for Christmas.
“Need some warming up?” His voice asked and handed you a red mug with the word NICE on it.
“Oh, thanks, oppa.” You said and took it.
He sat across from you and your feet touched as he gave you a smile, an earring twinkling in the Christmas tree lights. You had noticed it before, but it was the pair of small silver hoops you gave him with a small chain dangle coming from it.
“Did you have a good Korean Christmas?”
“It was the best. What about you?”
He nodded, “Did you mind the kiss?”
You bit back a smile, “It might’ve been my favorite part of the night.”
Hyojong smiled and you two sat in a comfortable silence and finished your hot cocoa together. He hadn’t been sure if you wanted marshmallows, so he just brought the pack with him so that you could put as much as you wanted, along with candy canes.
He was a thoughtful guy, and in the morning, you woke up leaning on his chest as you two were on the floor. You kissed his cheek and got your stuff to take a taxi to your home for luggage and then to the airport before you got home. Your oppa had been only half awake when you kissed his face, but he knew it was real. It was the first time he realized that maybe she did actually like him back.
[Lunar New Year]
You were so glad to have visited your family back home, and you were sad to say goodbye to them once again. Still, you still had college classes and a new life to get back to. You waited for your phone and were still surprised to see that message from E’dawn that came at midnight your time zone.
It was a kiss emoji followed by the words “Happy New Year!” in English.
You asked him what is was for, and he said that he had seen your post earlier about not having anyone to kiss at midnight. He was now your first midnight kiss, and had made sure of it. That’s why he had asked what your time zone was.
He was just so sweet. Maybe he did like you like the others said. Either way, after catching up on sleep, you went to his place to pick up your hanbok. E’dawn gave you the longest hug and said that you were hanging out with him and his guy friends for the rest of the day.
Also, he wanted you to get used to him now that he had let his hair go fully back to brown instead of the blonde he had before you left back home.
“You’re not too tired or busy, are you?” Hyojong asked to make sure he wasn’t impeding on any plans.
You shook your head. Most of your work had been finished already, and you were hoping to spend some time with him. It was mostly watching his friends play video games and him showing you ones you had never seen before. Then you two went outside to practice your Peter Pan set at the park in front of his apartments.
The music plan was for it to go something like this, mostly pop but with the influence of other genres too:
One of the Taller African girls would be Adult Wendy talking to her children and telling them the story of her visit from Peter Pan. This happens during the song “Neverland” sung by Zendaya and as things wind down, it transitioned to you in bed with your brothers asleep during the sort of trap/hiphop instrumental that plays. It flows seamlessly into a trap instrumental when peter pan entered. A HA:TFELT song called “Peter Pan” with a hiphop beat would play on the travel way to Neverland.
When the Lost Boys were being introduced, they would dance to “Bangarang” by Skrillex with lots of tumbling and B-boy tricks which would lead into meeting Tiger Lily with Traditional Korean instrumentals. The piece was called “Continue to Be” by David Arkenstone and would be used as the background to a sword dance that Wendy would watch with Peter and her siblings.
Then it would return to the Lost Boys with “Crayon” by G-Dragon then Hook’s entrance interrupts it all with a mix of “Goodnight” by Dreamcatcher and “Blood, Sweat, and Tears” by BTS only lasting for about a minute and thirty seconds since the whole thing had to be between 10-15 minutes. Part of “Goodnight” Would then mix with “Peter Pan” from the beginning when the ‘kiss’ saves Peter.
Then the ticking scares Captain Hook and he goes away. Then it’s slow EDM with “Castle in the Clouds” by Brandon Fiechter until Tinkerbell is saved and then it’s time to go home. “Lost Boy” by Ruth B plays and then it’s back in the bedroom.
There are a few lines that are said, that end with “Faith, trust, and pixie dust.” and off Peter Pan and Tinkerbell go. The kids go off to tell their parents and Adult Wendy comes back in and dances to the rest of “Neverland”. At the end, she’s in bed and there’s a knock at the window.
A few people watched as you two practiced and commented on your chemistry since you were in public. There were a few things that you really wanted to work on, but you couldn’t without the others. During one of the times he caught you as you were “returning home” he kissed you and “jumped out the window”
It got snears from the older veiwers, and even some of the youngers. You knew they weren’t huge in PDA, but you also worried that it wasn’t all it was.
“You should marry a nice Korean girl.” One of the men remarked.
“I might do just that.” You replied, making him go away.
He wanted to say that if it wasn’t you that he wouldn’t get married at all. Instead, he asked if you were ok. You lied. It wasn’t as bad as it would have been back home, but it still hurt.
“Let’s pick up where we left off, ok?” You said, going to your phone to start the music over.
Hyojong squeezed your hand and you two continued.
Then it became February and the streets seemed busier than usual because the Lunar New Year was coming up quickly.
Everyone was excitedly going around the garden and taking pictures with one another in their new hanboks. It was a bit hard for you earlier with everyone being with their families when you had just left yours, but your friends assured you that you weren’t alone. It was fun getting to meet everyone’s parents and siblings, hear stories about their childhood.
You were glad that Rosé’s and Hui’s parents were so welcoming and kind when they showed up. They were the only ones here so far and they were so kind. Most of the parents showed up in the next hour for a visit. The adults greeted each other and their children and grand children in some cases.
Everyone was smiling and eating, playing games...except Hyojong. You looked around for him and he was sitting outside looking at a few roses on the outer hedge. He looked sad. Hui nodded his head towards his friend when you two made eye contact. You nodded and excused yourself for a bit.
“Are your parents coming?” You asked.
He nodded, “Yeah. It’s probably the traffic.”
You touched his arm, “Are you ok?”
“Mom’s gonna baby me.” Hyojong finally said. “I was sick a lot as a kid, and I was just sort of preparing myself for her.”
“I’m sure it’s--”
“It’s going to be most embarrassing since you’ll see it too.” He refused to meet your eyes.
You reached out and grabbed his hand, “I won’t think any differently of you. We can’t help what our parents think. This will be your chance to show them you’ve become a healthy young man.”
“Sure. I hope you’re right.” He reached out to one of the roses, and you tried to pull his hand away.
Instead, you ended up making the cut bigger, “Oh, fuck! I’m so sorry! Let’s go get a bandage.” You grabbed his wrist and pulled him inside, not caring if blood got onto the white of your hanbok.
You were kneeling at the kitchen table while cleaning and wrapping his finger in a bandage when his parents came in. They saw you mumbling and scolding him as he looked at you with love in his eyes. But wait, he was bleeding?!?!??!
His mother rushed over and hugged her baby to her chest while calling out his name and surprising the both of you.
“Oh my darling boy, what happened to you? Are you ok? I brought your medicine just in case you forgot because I know you tend to forget things when you’re excited and especially during the holidays when you do your visiting a lot.”
“Mom. Mom. I’m fine. I hurt myself on the rose bush outside and (Y/N) helped clean me up.”
You bowed deeply to his parents and greeted them respectfully as you introduced yourself. They bowed back, and you said that you’d leave to let them talk for a bit. One of the younger kids were calling for you anyways. They wanted to make sure you experienced all their traditions.
“I’ll be there as soon as I can!” Hyojong called out.
“Who’s she?” The dad asked, setting the food they brought on the counter.
“Friend from college. She’s American, and we’re on the dance team together. Both spotlight dancers. We’re friends.”
He smiled, “You like her?”
Hyojong nodded.
“You’ve always been a nervous baby. Just tell her! She would probably love to hear it!” his mom put in. “I can become that mom in two seconds if you don’t do something, son.”
He quickly stood up, “Fine. I’ll do something, but I wanna talk to you guys first. Let’s go to the living room, huh?”
Throughout the day, you got to know the other’s families, and they asked about yours. You told as much as you were comfortable with and hoped no one would try to dig in too much. It was comfortable and warm, and even E’dawn seemed a bit more flirty than usual. He held your hand and gave you so many back hugs while playing games.
It made your chest tighten and there were times you’d looked at him and focus on his lips, wanting to kiss them. This wasn’t the time for that though. It was a day for families, so you did your best not to actually kiss Hyojong. When it was time for everyone to leave, you felt kind of lonely and decided you were gonna head home as well.
Mrs. Kim gave her son a look and he offered to walk you to your car. You were surprised and curious, but you said of course. Any time that you could spend with him would be fantastic.
He asked what you thought of his parents.
You replied, “Opposites attract in their case. They seem nice. You were right about your mom, though. Sort of a helicopter, no offense.”
“None taken.” He laughed. “They really like you. Mom likes how you took care of me, and dad likes how good you were with the younger kids. Also, how respecting you were of our culture.”
“Of course! I love culture and I do my best not to do something stupid. So I did good?”
E’dawn nodded, “Yep. They think we make a great couple.”
You stopped mid step, “You told them we were a couple?”
“No! No..I didn’t, but...would it be so bad if we were?”
“No...” You bit your lip. “Not at all.” You swallowed. “I should go home. Practice my solo steps. Do some work.”
He pouted, “Don’t work today. Just relax. You deserve a break.”
You smiled at his cuteness and leaned on the side of your car, lightly pinching his cheek, “Ok, I won’t. I’ll see you soon.”
“One more thing before you go.”
“I was going to say the same.”
Hyojong kissed your lips, holding your face to his. “I really like you, (Y/N). I won’t be afraid to be seen with you. I love you.”
The children of the adults who were leaving all thought and shared the same sentiment that BamBam and Amber called at them.
“About time!”
“Finally, dude!”
They even clapped as the two of you laughed and kissed again.
