Have you ever wondered how someone’s personality can be misunderstood by a few onlookers who don’t truly understand? I try not to judge anyone until I’ve met them myself, so this concept is hard for me to accept. Anyway, I was minding my business at school, packing up for the day after all the students had left, when one of my teacher-friends came by to invite me to his cousin’s house for dinner. I always make excuses not to attend, so he figured I would say no, but then he reminded me that this was the time I had promised to attend, since it was my birthday and I really had no actual reason not to come.

I sighed and told him I would finally join them- just text me the address. I went to my house first, fed and walked my little doggie, then changed into something sparkly- it was my birthday, after all, and I can dress however I want! He sent me the address, told me to arrive at 6pm, then told me not to bring anything. I knew I had to bring something though, so I looked around the kitchen to see what I could possibly bring at the last second- aha! I had tons of mandarin oranges, so I scooped a bunch of them up and used a little basket I had- perfect! I left when it was time and once I found the address, I grabbed the basket of oranges and went up to the door. I had my hand up to knock, but the door was flung open to reveal a very tall man who was smiling and exclaiming, “You brought oranges! We love oranges!” I laughed, then followed him inside, kicking my glittering shoes off on the way.

He took the basket of oranges from me, then held them over his head and marched into the living space, including the kitchen, where another tall man was cooking something. I had no clue who either of them was, since I had never met anyone in my teacher-friend’s family before, so I assumed one must be the cousin and started to introduce myself but was interrupted when a third guy showed up and started jumping up and down, taking the basket of oranges from the first one. I was now beyond confused about who was who, which I was hoping one of them would notice, but all three were clearly not interested in finding out who I was at that moment. The one in the kitchen motioned for me to come over, so I cautiously walked over to him, then tasted what he gave me in the spoon, some sort of broth or soup. It was a little spicy, but yummy, so I told him it was good, which made him happy, and he turned to the counter to continue chopping something.

I asked him, “Can I help with anything?” He didn’t even turn around as he replied, “Yes, you can chop the onions because I hate that part.” I washed my hands and went to the cutting board he pointed to, then began chopping the onions, once he showed me how small he wanted the pieces. A little while later, a different guy appeared, saw me, looked just as confused as I was, then asked the other one something in Korean. The first one looked up at me, as if seeing me for the first time, shrugged his shoulders, then went back to his task, clearly not caring who I was or why I was there in the first place. The second guy then asked me, “I don’t mean to be rude, but who are you?”

I laughed and answered, “I am a friend of Kaleb from school. He has been inviting me to family dinner forever and I always say no, but today I decided to say yes because it’s my birthday and I wanted to see why he says it’s so much fun.” His face got all excited as he replied, “Wait- today is your birthday? That’s crazy because tomorrow is my birthday! We should celebrate together! Wouldn’t that be fun?” I laughed and nodded my head, still not understanding who any of them were, or where my teacher-friend was, if he was even in the house at all. This guy seemed to realize what I was thinking and approached me, saying, “I don’t think you have officially met anyone yet. I am Joon, this is Yoongi, you probably met Jin and JK earlier, and Jimin, Hobi, and Tae are in the backyard currently.” I answered, “I am Emmi, Kaleb’s friend from school, but I have no idea why he would invite me over when you guys are all here at the same time. He made it sound like he had one cousin visiting, not seven. I am sorry for interrupting your family plans. I can leave if you want…”

He shook his head and said, “No, I think it’s better for you to stay and celebrate with us, since we can both have birthday fun tonight. It makes more sense, right? We already have a cake, so we can use it for both!” I smiled, accepting his explanation, not wanting to argue with someone I had just met. Yoongi came over to inspect my onions, was impressed, and took them for the recipe. I asked what was next and he wanted to show me how to make the sauce, so I concentrated and did exactly what he asked. I may or may not have accidentally spilled a few times, causing him to laugh, but not get mad at me, so by the time everything was done, according to him, we were both laughing and having fun.

Yoongi had to carry the heavy pans to the table because they were too hot for me, so I handled setting up the plates and bowls instead, which he appreciated. Joon appeared again to help with silverware and glasses of water, then called for the others to join us. I felt like a tiny child once they all appeared, every single one of them being taller than me, with a couple literally looking like they could be bodyguards. One of the giant ones ran up to me, hugged me tightly, and swung me around, then exclaimed, “How cute to have a tiny girl here for dinner!” I had no idea how to respond, but luckily, Joon stepped in and told them how my birthday was actually today, so we could celebrate together and the one who had picked me up, JK, clapped excitedly. Once they were all seated around me at the table, Joon had them say their names for me, but by the time we made it back around to me, I still had no clue why I had been given this address when there clearly was no Kaleb or his cousin present. All the guys agreed it was weird, but since I was already here with them, it would be pointless to send me away on my birthday, and they treated me like one of them, which I greatly appreciated.

JK and Jimin both tried their best to help me and explain what the food was, since they were sitting on either side of me, but sometimes they just said something in Korean, then stared hard at my face, attempting to get me to translate it with my mind perhaps? Anyway, I ended up laughing a lot at them, which set off a couple of others and I soon learned who the silly ones were and who just wanted to eat in peace. There was an extremely spicy dish of some kind that I tried one bite of, then ignored after that, hoping it wouldn’t make my tummy upset too much from just one bite. I had asked Yoongi earlier if anything had dairy, since I am lactose intolerant, but he didn’t think so, and I thought all the rest of the food would be ok. The guys could clearly eat all night if they wanted, whereas I was full much faster than any of them, not knowing what a bunch of stuff was and not wanting to eat something unsafe for my tummy, so I was just sitting there, enjoying their conversations.