My Summer in Seoul

He was also shirtless.

I kept my wide eyes straight ahead.

He took one look at me and slammed the door in my face amidst the laughter from the camera crew.

They made me do it to each shared room.

Waking all five of them.

And almost all the guys slept shirtless.

Which meant I was subjected to five perfect, shirtless, smooth men while I looked worse than a struggling college student surviving on day-old Pop-Tarts.

According to the schedule, we had until five to get ready before going to the studio. I abandoned the camera crew and sprinted into my room. I needed a shower at least… I didn’t mind wet hair, I could even just scrunch it a bit into a wave, giving every one of them a heart attack. I figured the most terrifying words to them had already been announced: “I only brought one dress.”

Imagine the horror.

Then again, it was probably a good thing I wouldn’t just be getting them coffee. I imagined next to my job description, it said: “They ask for it, you do it, no questions asked.”

I took a five-minute shower and quickly applied some foundation, a brush of lip gloss, mascara, and a nude shadow that would bring out the color of my eyes. I checked my Apple watch. I had around ten minutes to figure out my hair before getting dressed and grabbing something for breakfast.

I chose to just run my hands through it with some sea salt spray and blow-dry the roots so I wouldn’t freeze to death. I took a look in the mirror and smiled; at least it was a night and day difference from yesterday, I had color in my cheeks despite the lost sleep, and the bags under my eyes weren’t as noticeable.

I dashed into my room and grabbed a pair of ripped skinny jeans, Nike high tops, and a long-sleeve black shirt that had a few grunge holes purposely decorated around the midriff section, and then grabbed my favorite black moto jacket. At the last minute, I decided on a red beanie to pull over my messy hair since it still felt kind of wet, and the last thing I needed was to find myself sick in a foreign country with band members who weren’t necessarily the warmest to me.

I thought back to last night.

Rae would probably be the only one that would at least point me in the right direction if I needed medicine. Then again, after more reading, I found out what the earlier notes meant by he was the dad of the group. He kept harmony, kept everyone in line, and kept everyone happy! He was three years older than me and had probably seen his fair share of strange things in life, likely why he was warning me the night before.

I grabbed my small Kate Spade purse, crossed it over my shoulder, and locked the door to my room.

Laughter bounced off the walls as I made my way into the kitchen. The camera crew had stopped filming and were all in the corner talking while the guys sat at the bar, eating various breakfast foods, some of which appeared familiar while others looked like something that should have been eaten at dinner. I could have sworn I saw one of the guys eating raw fish with rice.

“Morning!” I announced, trying to go for a friendly yet casual opening as I walked over to the fridge. The minute my greeting was announced, Sookie started choking on his food. Rae hit him on the back, and chaos ensued as all the guys started talking at once and pointing at me.

Great, I had done something else wrong.

Sookie’s voice was strangled as he motioned to me and then motioned back to Rae and then his phone.

My outfit was either seriously offending them, or the fact that I touched the fridge was the one cardinal sin nobody had told me about.

“What’s wrong?” I made eye contact with Rae.

He smiled down at Sookie, who looked like he was blushing. The guy was adorable with his pierced ears and his light brown hair. He had an easy smile, and I loved that he was still in school; there was a sort of innocence about him that was extremely endearing.

“You bathed,” came Rae’s answer.

I glared.

He glared back and then smiled. “What?”

“Very funny. I didn’t have time yesterday!”

Sookie piped up with some rapid-fire Korean and nodded to Rae like he wanted him to translate. Rae gave him an increasingly annoyed look then looked over at me. “Sookie says you can’t eat his cereal.”

“Tell him that’s okay; I don’t eat Lucky Charms anymore. I’m not six.” I did a little curtsy.

Rae translated.

Sookie burst out laughing and slapped Rae on the shoulder like he wanted him to say something else. Rae sighed and spoke in English. “He says you’re funny.”