real life

DALLIA feels like she has nothing left to live for anymore. She's in her room, staring at her laptop which has finally shit itself. Dallia's tried to reboot the stupid thing about fifty times, and every time, it makes this weird, dying sound, and Dallia's left fearing for her life because what if it explodes. Dallia doesn't want that — yet. 

      Now, Dallia's wondering how the hell she's going to listen to the La La Land (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) while she's studying and completing homework that's been assigned to her online. Dallia groans and out of pure anger, she kicks her bed frame which she immediately regrets because she's left with a throbbing foot. 

      Jia flings open her bedroom door and stands with her mouth full of crackers and a wide smile on her face. Her feet were planted apart and her hands were on her hips. Dallia waits patiently for the girl to finish eating away at the stale and dry crackers Dallia and Hye-Jin refuse to touch.

      "Are you excited?!" Jia shrieks finally finished eating the gross crackers. 

      "For what," moans Dallia, falling back onto her bed, narrowly missing her dead laptop.  

      "We have the dinner with Yeonjun and his friends tonight, Lia," Jia says, finally entering the room. Her eyes were wide, "I reminded you a couple of days ago. How are you this forgetful, Lia?" 

      Dallia groans loudly and smacks her forehead loudly with her palm. "I feel sick," she feigns a cough, "I can't go." 

      Jia snickers and flops on top of Dallia, making the girl wheeze after the sudden weight added to her body. "Nice try, Dallia. You're not getting out of this." 

      Dallia doesn't say anything, and instead, her mind works overtime, plotting up ways this dinner could fail successfully and end with Dallia scurrying home and feeling more foolish with the weight of shame pressing down on her chest. "Why did you have to go and date a K-Pop idol?" Dallia questions harshly. 

      Jia sighs, "I don't know myself, Lia," there's a long pause, "it just happened." 

      "Do I really have to come?" 

      "You don't want to let down Yeonjun, do you?" 

      "Don't drag your precious boyfriend into this mess," Dallia warns. 

      "Then take down his photo cards," Jia fires back, pointing over to the mirror that stands in Dallia's room. 

      Dallia flushes hotly, "they're not mine!" 

      Jia gives Dallia a knowing look, "sure, whatever babe. Be ready to leave in an hour." The weight of Jia disappears off Dallia and the said girl could finally breathe without strain. Jia leaves Dallia all alone to wallow in her self-pitying thoughts. 

      Dallia promises herself that she will not fall for any of Yeonjun's friends. Even though they're very pretty and attractive and probably have God-like personalities, Dallia will not fall in love with any of them. She doesn't need to get involved with an idol who's far out of reach and will bring unnecessary distraction and prying into Dallia's already not-so-private life anymore. 

      Dallia's still wallowing way an hour later as Jia ushers herself and Hye-Jin out the door. The elevator ride down to the ground floor is thick with tension, Jia frowning slightly as Hye-Jin types away on her phone and Dallia avoids eye contact. 

       "We can cancel," Jia speaks up hesitantly when they step out into the lobby, "I didn't know you guys felt this way about. ." Jia trails off and picks at her nails. 

      Dallia doesn't really talk about her own feelings. She isn't really an open person but seeing Jia distraught tugs at Dallia's heart. Dallia reaches for Jia's hand and squeezes it, "we want to go," she assures Jia, "we're just. . . Nervous." 

      Hye-Jin nods her head in agreement, pocketing her phone. "I mean, what do K-Pop idols talk about?" Hye-Jin asks, "like, do we talk about their songs? Their upcoming comeback? Music shows they've been on, or are going on? Do we talk about BTS? Other musical artists? Is that even allowed?" 

      Jia chuckles, her unsureness swept away and she squeezes at Dallia's hand before pulling away. "Treat them normally, that's all they ask for." 

      Dallia nods her head, "I can do that — I think." 

      Jia whacks the girl but shares a genuine smile with her. 

      "Tell us a bit more about them," Hye-Jin says, "I don't want to be walking into a Lion's Den." 

      "Okay," Jia sighs, "what do you know about Tomorrow X Together?" 

      "Um, five members, all boys, under the same company as BTS and are pretty good," Dallia ticks off on her hands. 

       "They have a God-like discography," Hye-Jin adds on, "and they're all very attractive." 

      "What about their names?"

      "Yeonjun's the eldest," Dallia says, "and. . . There's a dude named Soobin who's the leader." 

      "Taehyun and Huening Kai are the youngest two and then there's Beomgyu," Hye-Jin says. 

      Jia's smiling, "well, at least you know their names. Okay, Soobin has a pet hedgehog named Odi." 

      Dallia and Hye-Jin gasp. This was the best news Dallia's heard all day. She loves hedgehogs! They're so cute and endearing, she might steal Soobin's hedgehog if she could. "Do you think we could kidnap the hedgehog?" Dallia asks, excitement building within her chest, "Jia could distract the boys for Hye-Jin and me, and then we could sneak to where Odi is, and steal him!" 

         Hye-Jin gasps and turns to Dallia, eyes wide and comical, "yes! That's so smart of you, Dallia!" 

        The two girls exchange high-fives while Jia shakes her head. 

        "Come on, Jia," coaxes Dallia evilly, "I know you want to steal the hedgehog too!" 

        Jia stares at Dallia with a blank expression before sighing, "I do want to steal Odi. Fine, if something embarrassing happens, we'll steal Odi and run out of the dorm." 

◾◾◾◾

Dallia stares up at the house they stood in front of. It seems unsuspecting. Dallia would've never guessed superstar K-Pop idols would be holed up in a house like this. Jia bounces on the heels off her feet, wearing a massive grin as she types furiously on her phone. 

        Hye-Jin, on the other hand, sat on the curb petting a cat who brushed up against her ankles. "You're so cute, aren't ya?" Coos Hye-Jin repetitively as the cat continues mewls for more pets from the human. 

        "Alright, let's go," Jia announces, putting her phone away, "let's hold off the Odi kidnapping, but when I give the signal, we do it, alright?" 

      Dallia and Hye-Jin nod their heads in unison and together, the three girls all move up to the porch of the house that held Tomorrow X Together. Dallia rubs her sweaty hands on her jeans as she watches Jia knock on the door. 

         They didn't have to wait long. A tall male with blue hair stands with a wide grin on his face, showcasing his dimples. "Jia!" He exclaims with pure delight. 

         "Soobin!" Jia exclaims back, just as loud. The pair giggle and hug each other, leaving Dallia and Hye-Jin to share looks — obviously, Jia was closer to the K-Pop band than they had expected. (Dallia also has to withhold her giggle because Jia looks so short compared to Soobin). 

         Finally, after what felt like years, Jia and Soobin pull away from each other. "There are my friends, Dallia and Hye-Jin." Jia finally introduces the awkward duo to Soobin, who smiles warmly at them. 

         "Hello, I'm Soobin, it's nice to meet you." 

         After the awkwardly formal introductions are over, Soobin welcomes the three girls into the house. He takes their coats that shielded them from the cold spring weather and gestures for them to follow them. It wasn't long until they reach the source of loud shouting. 

          Jia finds herself staring at four other tall boys. They were arguing over a gaming console as the game Dallia assumes they were playing before the argument ensued, sat on pause. Dallia also notices there was another functioning gaming controller pushed to the side and none of the four boys seemed to care about it. 

         "Oh, sorry," Soobin apologizes with a slight blush on his face, "I would say we're not often like this. . . But we're always like this." 

         Dallia gives Soobin a reassuring smile while Hye-Jin just cackles. So loudly, it draws in the attention of the four bickering boys who all — somehow — blink at the same time when they find three new entities standing in their living room. 

         Yeonjun's the first to recognize the faces. Yeonjun, in all his pink-haired glory, shoots up from the floor and barrels over to his girlfriend, wrapping her up into his arms tightly. Jia giggles into his chest and hugs him back. "I missed you so much, darling." 

          "Impossible! I missed you more!" Jia gushes back, earning a loud gag from Dallia and Hye-Jin who glance away from the couple. 

         One by one, Dallia and Hye-Jin are introduced to the other members of Tomorrow X Together. Seeing them in person only further pushes Dallia's famous agenda; everyone who is famous is so fucking pretty. It's like, a requirement, Dallia thinks. 

        Taehyun with his pretty eyes, Huening Kai with his pretty sharp facial features and an even prettier smile, and Beomgyu — Dallia's not going to lie, when she finally saw Beomgyu face to face, her heart skipped a beat and her breath sticks in her throat. She has to avoid eye contact for longer than two seconds. Beomgyu with his pretty eyes, and lips, and nose, and ears, and laugh, and smile, and his hair, and how it moves with every movement Beomgyu does — oh god, maybe love at first sight is real. 

          The promise Dallia made herself earlier is already failing massively. How could she not fall in love with someone like Choi Beomgyu? 

          "Why were you fighting when we walked in?" Hye-Jin asks after introductions are over and they ordered food — no one was willing to cook and Jia definitely wasn't going to cook as she was literally stuck to Yeonjun's side. (Hye-Jin also wasn't going to cook for men. Screw them). 

          "We have two gaming controls, and we all played rock-paper-scissors for the white one, and I won," Beomgyu explains, "but since I won, they all decided to play another game of rock-paper-scissors and I didn't think it was fair because I won fair-and-square, so we played again and Yeonjun won again, but this time Huening Kai just grabbed the controller and then a fight broke out." 

          "What's so cool about the white one? Is it the color?" Jia asks. 

          The five boys all stare at Jia like she had just asked them to kill their mothers. "What?" Jia asks, pouting, "it was just a question!" 

           "A bad question," scoffs Beomgyu, "if you get the black controller you'll always lose in any game we play." 

          "That's the dumbest thing I've heard all day," Dallia finally speaks up and immediately regrets it when all the attention is directed onto her. She especially feels Beomgyu's eyes boring into the side of her head. "How can a gaming controller determine your fate in the game?" 

          "It just does," Soobin emphasizes, the Soobin Dallia had met at the door disappearing within seconds. "And if you don't believe us, then play a game with the black controller." 

          Dallia shrugs and grabs the black controller, "alright, I'll play a game and prove everyone wrong." 

          Beomgyu grabs the white controller happily. "You're going to lose, Dallia." 

        Dallia does lose. But she likes to think it was because of how her mouth sounded in Beomgyu's mouth. Like it was meant to be said by Beomgyu, and Beomgyu only, her name has never sounded prettier whenever Beomgyu says her name — especially as he cackles loudly in Dallia's face. "You lost! Do you believe us now, Dallia?" 

        Dallia scoffs, "it was just luck, and plus, I had never played that game before." 

         "You're just as stubborn as Soobin," Taehyun pipes up, "and Beomgyu too. They both fight over everything and nothing." 

           "Don't insult your elders, Taehyunnie," scowls Beomgyu. 

           "Says your flimsy ass," Yeonjun speaks up, snickering. 

           "What's that supposed to mean?" Beomgyu exclaims back, but thankfully before any more fighting could break out, the food arrives and everyone's mood is instantly lifted. Eagerly, the group of eight crowds the kitchen as they sorted out who ordered what. 

         Dallia finds herself enjoying a conversation with Taehyun and Kai, who were both very lively and entertaining with Taehyun's logic and Kai's whimsical outlook on life. "Don't listen to Kai," Taehyun says Dallia in all seriousness, "he always acts like this because he gets lots of chocolates on Valentine's Day." 

          Dallia's eyes pass over to the dark-haired boy who whore a devious grin. "I don't think I will, Taehyun. Just his smile is enough to make me shit my pants." 

          Kai laughs loudly, his head thrown back and Dallia shrinks into her seat. "Good choice, Dallia." 

          "Is he always like this?" Dallia asks no one in particular, poking around at the food in front of her. Her appetite disappeared when Kai began to talk in such a menacing way, Dallia thought she was about to die at the hands of an attractive K-Pop idol — well, at least Hye-Jin's theory about the K-Pop industry being a cover-up for a murder ring would be true. 

         "Yeah," the familiar voice of one Choi Beomgyu echoes in a hushed voice beside her, "he can get like this sometimes. It's best to agree with whatever he says — except if you're Soobin." 

          Dalia refuses to look at Beomgyu and opts to stare at Choi Soobin who sat across from her and was chattering away with Hye-Jin, his mouth moving at a rapid pace and hand gestures moving just as fast. "Why Soobin?" 

         Beomgyu shrugs although Dallia can't see it. "They like to argue amongst each other." 

         Dallia still doesn't look at Beomgyu for fear of her heart malfunctioning. "Ah, understandable. I love to argue with anyone about anything. It's fun." 

          "What's your favorite thing to argue about?" Beomgyu asks. 

         "Why tomatoes are the best fruits to exist." 

         This time, Dallia does look at Beomgyu when he makes a noise of disgust. "Okay, first of all, there are so many things wrong with that statement. One; Tomatoes aren't fruits, and two; Tomatoes are disgusting." 

          Dallia quirks an eyebrow, "Is that so?" 

         Beomgyu nods his head firmly. "Tomatoes are the worst thing to ever exist on this planet — aside from Mint Chocolate." 

         Dallia gapes at Beomgyu, "you don't like Mint Chocolate?" 

        Beomgyu nods his head and takes a sip of his soju. Dallia shakes her head in disgust and inches her chair closer to Taehyun. "I have decided I hate you, Choi Beomgyu." 

         "Why? Because I'm better than you?" Beomgyu literally smirks at Dallia and her heart malfunctions, just like she thought it would. 

          "Yes! I mean — No. No, you aren't. I'm better than you." 

          Beomgyu literally giggles and Dallia feels like dying on the spot. Sure, she said she hates Beomgyu, but how could she hate someone who giggles like that. No matter how hard Dallia tries to convince herself to hate someone like Beomgyu, she won't. "Okay, Hwang Dallia, whatever you say." 

           Beomgyu turns back to his food and Dallia's left gasping for air, her throat is closed up and her heart is no longer functioning. She catches Jia's eye from across the table and uses their signal to kidnap Odi. Jia responds with a sharp shake of her head and turns back to Yeonjun, leaving Dallia to scowl. "She has an ugly side profile anyway," Dallia mutters underneath her breath. 

          "So, Soobin," Dallia calls out to the older boy, ignoring Hye-Jin's scowl as she interrupts her conversation with the mentioned boy, "how much for Odi?" 

           The silence at the dining table is loud. 

          Jia's head falls onto the table with a loud bang and then the shouting starts.