A Sound from the Moon

Three

I'm still so exhausted. It must be 2:00 AM in the U.S right now. But I am also very hungry. So I find strength from deep within to finish my plate while quietly listening to their small conversations.

They all seem to talk in Korean only. Luckily, I am fluent because of my parents. I wonder if they understand English as well. The girl next to me looks at me and says, "You speak Korean, right?"

I'm surprised that she's quite fluent in English. The rest keep quiet and look at me for a response. They all seem to somewhat understand English. I suddenly feel my cheeks turn warm and I give the girl a shy nod.

"Oh good." The girl with silky hair continues in Korean with a playful smile. "I thought I had to dust off my English lessons."

"You should still practice English, too," the girl next to me says. "It's good to know other languages."

"Easy for you to say," the girl with silky hair says with a frown. "You can speak like ten languages."

"That's not true! I only know four."

My eyes grow wide at this and I'm suddenly curious of the girl next to me. She has mid length brown hair with cute see-through wispy bangs. It gives her a shaggy look but still radiates a sweet appearance.

"Stop fighting, you two." I look at the quietest girl of them all. Her serious expression matches her firm voice. Almost immediately, the girl with silky hair stays quiet and the girl next to me quietly chuckles as she continues to send silent gestures at the girl from across the table.

"Yerim, is it?"

The girl next to the quiet girl speaks up this time. I can distinguish them by their hairstyles for now. This one has dark layered hair with curtain bangs side swept from the middle so it falls on the sides of her face. The firm girl next to her has dark hair parted to the side with long bangs and light waves at the end of her smooth hair. My hair is similar to hers except wavier.

I should probably learn their names soon.

I do a small nod and say, "People just call me Yeri though."

"Is that going to be your professional name?" I furrow my brows at the girl with the silky hair. "You know. Like the name you use for the spotlight. I'm professionally known as Joy. We just call each other by our professional names sometimes."

Joy. I give her a small smile and nod. "Then Yeri will be my professional name."

"I like it," the girl next to me says. "I'm Wendy." She takes out a hand and I give it a gentle shake.

"Seulgi." The girl with the side swept bangs and thin eyes speaks up. Then she looks at the girl next to her that carries the quiet firm look.

Her expression softens when her eyes lock with mine and she gives me a slight smile. "Irene."

Joy does a small gasp after a quick moment I let Irene's quiet look sink in. Her eyes are wide as she says, "Let's do the initiation game!"

"That's a good idea!" Wendy says with a wide smile. "I call dibs drying the dishes!"

"Hey! That's not fair! You did that last time!"

But Wendy is already up and running to the kitchen. Seugli gently gets up with empty plate in hand and a small sigh. "Don't run. You'll get hurt."

I'm left with Irene and she gives me a small smile this time. Her voice is gentle as she asks, "Are you tired? We don't have to do the game now."

Exhaustion pokes me but curiosity always wins. "I'm okay. We can play. What is the game like?"