Prologue
My sister was gushing over a YouTube video again. Lately, she had been completely obsessed with some boy band from Korea. I didn't understand it. Sure their music was good, but watching her dawn over each and every compilation video and say their group chants out loud without even thinking about it was kind of creepy to me. How glamorous could they be really? Sure, they were good looking guys, but she was already 16 years old for crying out loud. She should have been thinking about what college to go to, not which member was her "bias" or whatever that meant.
"Laine! Laine! Come watch! JungKook is the maknae but he still does whatever he wants because he's stronger than them and they love him anyway," my sister, Sarah, tried to lure me over to her computer. I rolled my eyes at her as I folded another shirt and put it in my suitcase.
"I don't even know what a maynard is," I said back to her. I actually knew what it was, but I liked watching her reaction. She paused her video before swiveling her chair to glare at me.
"A maknae is the youngest member. And they're very traditional in respecting elders in Korea, so being the maknae is like being the baby, and he's supposed to behave himself and listen to everything his hyungs tell him," she tried to explain. I could sense this was more about Korea in general and less about BTS, so I probably should have listened harder since that's where I was headed, but I was a little preoccupied. My sister sighed before turning back to her computer.
"This abroad trip is completely wasted on you," she muttered. "Why did you chose Korea anyway?" She asked. I was currently in the process of packing to go to South Korea. I was a 22 year old in college. I was majoring in language studies at North Texas University. Because of my field of study, we had to do a trip abroad to a different country for the last year to try and learn the culture of one of the languages we studied. I was absent the day everyone chose their countries, so my friends chose a country for me.
"Abby and Aaron chose it for me when I wasn't there. They all wanted to go together," I explained to my sister. She released a heavy breath.
"You're so lucky and you don't even realize it," she sighed dreamily. I rolled my eyes at her. I wanted to go to Spain or Argentina.
"Just promise me you'll go see a BTS concert while you're there to tell each one of them that I love them. Oh! And tell JungKook that he's my bias," she said with a straight face.
"Are you serious?" I asked her.
"Dead serious! And video the encounter. Let me know what your schedule is like when you get there and I'll even send you the tickets," she said.
"Where are you even getting money for all of this?" I asked as I zipped up my suitcase. I double checked and made sure I had my passport, birth certificate, and IDs in an easily accessible place.
"Mom and Dad still don't realize they both give me an allowance, and I also started a part-time job after school," Sarah answered easily. Our parents were divorced. They had been for a long time. They swear they get along and talk to each other often, but I'm guessing that it's not true since Sarah is apparently still getting two allowances.
"Whatever," I muttered as I set my luggage by the door.
"I'm serious. You're going to pass on my love to BTS when you get there, and livestream the whole thing to me via FaceTime," she said. I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose. I just didn't understand her obsession with them. They were just a boy band.
