Vocal Coach ~ Baekhyun & Sungchan(NCT)

Chapter 5

After having a good chat with all the members of EXO and NCT, it was time for me to get going. I pick up my things from the storage room, then wondered where I would be staying. Baekhyun only really told me about flying over here, he didn't tell me anything else past that. Meeting NCT and EXO was the shock factor, now, I have no idea where to go from here. Then, the 2000's line of NCT walks up; Renjun, Jeno, Haechan, Jaemin, YangYang, Shotaro, Sungchan, Chenle, and Jisung. They see me thinking of where to go.
"Are you lost?" YangYang asked.
"Well, Baekhyun didn't tell me where to go from here." I said.
"Oh. . ." YangYang said.
"Do you guys have a spare room in any of your dorms?" I asked.
"There are only two members in a dorm, and it's Sungchan and Shotaro." YangYang explained.
"Do you think it would be okay if I stay at your dorms until I find my own place?" I asked.
Had quickly translates for Sungchan and Shotaro. Understanding, they nod their heads.
"That's a yes then." I said.

I follow Sungchan and Shotaro as they show me to their dorm room. Now, this is so weird. I was totally expecting Baekhyun to find me a place elsewhere, so I wouldn't have to invade on neither NCT or EXO's personal spaces, like their dorms. It feels like I'm invading on something when I shouldn't be. I've always grown up around a lot of male friends, but this is taking it to another level. I am going to Sungchan and Shotaro's dorm. I don't think I'll ever be able to get over this one night I'll be staying here. Sungchan and Shotaro show me to their dorm, where there is a guest room where their friends stay if they're visiting. Okay, this makes me feel better about it, I thought I was going to stay in the same room. This is much better than I thought.

When it gets to the evening, and I'm now getting hungry. I arrived at SM Entertainment really early this morning, at 6AM KST, and it took me until the afternoon, when I had finished hanging out with the SM boys. Now, I'm laying in the guest room of Sungchan and Shotaro's dorm, wondering what I should eat. I'm in a country with arguably the best food in the world, and yet, I don't know what I should eat. Maybe I should ask Baekhyun or my neighbors. I texted Baekhyun, asking what I should get to eat.
Vocal Coach(Baekhyun🤍): Go to the 편의점.
Me: The convenience store?
Vocal Coach(Baekhyun🤍): Mhm, 네.
Me: Okie, I'll be back after going to the 편의점 :)
Vocal Coach(Baekhyun🤍): Have fun!!

I leave the dorm and run to the 편의점. Which is the Korean word for convenience store. Upon walking into the store, my eyes are immediately drawn to the ramen section. They have all sorts of brands and levels of spiciness in this section. In the end, I know myself. I'm not the best with spicy food, so I'll be safer, going with the cheesy or regular ramen that isn't spicy at all. I ended up choosing two types of cheesy ramen; Paldo Cheese Noodles and Ottogi Cheese Ramen. I bought it in packs of 12, so I would have extra to bring home with me. I also bought myself some metal chopsticks. They are much better than wooden chopsticks that need to be thrown away after using them or can't be reused. I pack my ramen into my backpack, then hail a taxi back to the SM Entertainment dorms.

I arrive back to the dorms, and in the shared kitchen between NCT DREAM, I boil some water, then place a packet of Ottogi Cheese Ramen in the pot of boiling water. I stir the noodles around a bit, then add the cheese flavoring and other flavorings provided in the packet, vegetable powder, soup, powder, and cheese powder. I had had choose between the three flavors, so I chose to make it extra cheesy by adding the cheese powder. At home, I would also add shredded cheese to my ramen, so I rummage through the DREAM fridge and find their mozzarella cheese. I dump a handful of mozzarella cheese into the pot, then take a bowl from the cupboard and pour a single serving of my ramen cheese concoction into my bowl.

I carefully carry my bowl to the dinner table. I take my seat and pick up my shiny, new metal chopsticks. I know I'm not the best with using chopsticks, but here goes nothing. I wrap my ramen around my chopsticks and try to get into my mouth, but it just slips from my ramen. Shotaro wanders into the dining room after smelling my delicious food. He sees me struggling with my chopsticks and says,
"Do you want some help?"
"はい、ください。" I said(Yes, please)
"Ehh? You can speak Japanese too?" Shotaro asked.
"Let's just say, I know a little bit of everything." I said.
"Okay. So, you hold one here, the other between these two fingers." Shotaro said, demonstrating how to use chopsticks.
"Okay." I said.
"Here, you try." Shotaro said, handing my chopsticks back to me.
I put the chopsticks between my thumb and fingers how Shotaro showed me, "Like this?"
"Mhm, はい、はい、。" Shotaro said, smiling cutely and nodding.
"Aww, you're so cute. You're older than me, but how are you so cute?" I asked.
"I don't know." Shotaro said.

I decided to share my ramen with Shotaro. I still had some left over in the pot, so I served some in a bowl for Shotaro. We ate our ramen, the only sound filling the room is us slurping the ramen. Shotaro and I had this moment after we ate our ramen and just had a chat. We were having a multilingual talk with English, Korean, and Japanese. Although my Japanese is not as good as my Korean, Shotaro is open to teaching me, and I appreciate that.