[crow]

"XX Middle School," said Ha-jun. "Out in Jung-gu. What about you?"

"OO Middle. Songpa-gu," Yo-han replied. On a whim, he took out his phone. "Add me on Kakao?"

"Sure," said Ha-jun. A QR code and an emoji later, the two of them were friends. "Message me if you get a callback."

"Same to you," said Yo-han. "Thanks for the meal."

"Yeah, yeah." Ha-jun took up his tray and dumped the remnants on it into the trash. The two of them left, making small talk on their way to the subway station, before parting ways.

[crow]

His mother was home when he opened the door to their apartment, carrying a bag of takeout. "So?" she said, turning to him with an expectant smile. "How'd it go?"

It took Yo-han a moment to remember what she meant by that. He'd already half forgotten about the audition, caught up as he had been in the details of chatting with Ha-jun, and then with picking out his dinner for the day. He gave a shrug. "They said they'll let us know," he said.

[crow]

"Well, you never know," said his mom.

"Yeah," said Yo-han, but he knew that neither of them were really placing a lot of stock in this. His parents had encouraged him to go just because it was something new, that was all. He didn't really think about it much.

He was really the last person to expect to be called back at all.

Yo-han, I got a call from the agency. They said to call them back when you're there, so let's give them a call on Friday after-school, okay?

[crow]

Yo-han stared at the note stuck to the fridge, not quite parsing it for a moment. Then, a little unaccountably, the first thing he thought of was Ha-jun.

He turned on his phone, swiped to Kakao, and scrolled down to the conversation. There was still just that single emoji from when they'd eaten at Lotteria. Honestly, Yo-han had thought about him a couple more times since then, but only in a passing sort of way--- they'd only met the once, after all. And there was nothing new to fill him in on, nothing else to say.

[crow]

Hey. Guess who got a call back, he wrote. After a moment's thought, he sent a smug-looking emoji to go with it. For a moment, he waited to see if Ha-jun would read it or send a response, but nothing came. He wasn't too surprised though. Probably, Ha-jun was just at hagwon or something, like pretty much everyone else Yo-han knew.

The response came a few hours later, while Yo-han was reading a book in his dad's study.

That makes two of us. And that's 'hyung' to you.

[Wild Pet Found]

[crow]

Two weeks later, Yo-han sat in a small practice room with a small group of other boys. Some sat nearer to one another, likely already acquainted, the way Yo-han and Ha-jun were; others sat by themselves, looking at their phones or out the window or at the door.

A few of them whispered to one another. In the snatches of their conversations, Yo-han could hear them muttering about so and so group, so and so teacher. Some of it was excited, but most of it was uneasy.

[crow]

There was also one slightly alarming conversation, where a chubby boy worriedly whispered to his companion about rumors of only being able to eat an apple and a sweet potato a day.

They'd all signed their contracts, however, and there was no turning back now.

The sound of footsteps approaching the door snapped them all to attention, but it was merely a senior trainee. Yo-han wondered for a brief moment as to what exactly the trainee had to say to them, but he wasn't left wondering for very long.

[crow]

The girl stepped aside and murmured a few words to the figure behind her. Yo-han, who had been straining to listen to what she was saying, realized with a slight start that he couldn't understand them. The words were lilting... Ah, this was probably Mandarin.

The boy who walked in looked around himself a little uncertainly, but no one had any attention to spare for him. They were all caught up in their own anticipation, and he was a stranger, and a foreigner at that.

[crow]

Yo-han's heart went out to him a little. He'd been in the same situation himself before, though he had been much younger then, and he had gotten used to it a long time ago. Holding up a hand, he said, "[Do you speak English?]"

Relief broke across the boy's features, and he smiled. "[Kind of,]" he said. His accent was somewhat awkward, but the reply itself was natural enough. Almost unconsciously, he stepped closer to the two of them, even as Ha-jun shot Yo-han a look.

[crow]

Yo-han glanced back at him, raising his brows as if he didn't understand what Ha-jun had done that for. The reality was that he knew full well, but it wasn't the kind of sentiment that could be spoken out loud. Ha-jun subsided with a sigh, and indicated the free seat to Yo-han's other side.

"Sit," he said. "How much Korean do you know?"

The boy's eyes widened slightly, and it took him a moment to respond. He did sit, though. "I-I... Just a little," he said.

[crow]

His Korean was much more heavily accented, and he stumbled over the unfamiliar syllables. Ha-jun sighed again, but this time with more pity than irritation.

Yo-han hid his reaction better, but even he knew that things were probably not going to be easy for this kid.

Ha-jun no longer seemed to have the heart to begrudge Yo-han on the matter, so Yo-han turned to face the new boy. "[Where are you from?]" said Yo-han.

"[Taiwan,]" said the boy. "[I'm Liu Xiaoming. Where are you from? Your English is really good.]"

[crow]

Yo-han smiled. "[I'm Yo-han Yoon. I traveled around a lot with my parents, but I've lived in America and England before.]"

"[Oh wow,]" said Xiaoming. He looked genuinely impressed. There was a sort of wistful look in his eyes. "[That must be so exciting.]"

It wasn't a reaction that Yo-han was unfamiliar with, though it was hardly the only one he was used to. Over the years, he'd seen quite a breadth of reactions to his continent-hopping childhood. Wistfulness and envy wasn't terribly uncommon, but then, neither was pity.

[crow]

Yo-han found it said rather more about the person he was speaking to than it did about himself. Judging by Xiaoming's, he must have had a desire to leave home for quite a while now.

But then, what else could you call going all the way out to another country just to train to be an idol? After all, Yo-han had read the contract. Nothing was guaranteed. He privately thought that it was a little rash to commit so much as to relocate across countries when you were promised so little.

[crow]

But that was hardly something you could say to someone who looked so relieved just to find someone that he could talk to. Yo-han wasn't the most upstanding kid, but he wasn't that cruel.

"[Were you scouted, or did you audition?]" he asked instead.

"[Scouted?]" said Xiaoming, frowning slightly in confusion.

"[Yeah, like...]" Yo-han paused, trying to figure out how to explain. "[Did someone ask you to come train, or did you have to try out for it?]"

"[Oh,]" Xiaoming said. "[I auditioned, but... I thought everyone had to...]"

[crow]

Yo-han shrugged. "[To be honest, I don't know much about it either. Ha-jun is the expert,]" he said, jerking a thumb in Ha-jun's direction.

Ha-jun had been tuning them out until then; he wasn't in class, and English wasn't exactly his favorite subject, so presumably he didn't want to give himself a headache when he didn't have to. Seeing himself indicated, however, he glanced at them. "Are you talking about me?" he said, a little guardedly.

"Just telling Xiaoming about how you're the expert on all this idol stuff," said Yo-han.

[Wild Pet Found]