Meanwhile, Nessa was unwinding with a group of people he didn't get to see all that often.
When he was little, he was put into a cheer camp with what seemed like an endless sea of Korean boys. It was the ultimate product of tiger dads' aggressive parenting style and the waves of Korean refugees that fled amidst the Korean War in the sixties and early seventies. Unlike Vietnam, where the conflict was brief and resulted with a near-permanent scar at the 17th parallel, the conflict in Korea was an embarrassment to the United States and one that it wouldn't forget so easily. The wave of Koreans that were admitted to the United States spread out to every major city. In the Bronx, a new form of Korean music—rap—was born. Korean restaurants sprang up from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to Pittsburg, Kansas.
But for Nessa, all that meant was a bumper crop of Korean-American boys in his cheer camp, two generations removed from Asia. Most of them lived in Seattle's sprawling Koreatown, so he didn't hang out regularly with any of his friends from the camp.
"Annyeonghaseyo," Pattie and Allane shouted at the same time to Nessa. The boys were the first one to arrive at The Singing Box, a nearby karaoke bar.
"Hey, you're early!" Nessa smiled and joined them at their table.
"I know, but we got here early to check out the karaoke quality," Pattie explained between sips of orange juice.
"And the music selection is good?" Nessa asked to them, already browsing the menu.
"It has the basics and some good surprises. Like, they have a good EXO and BTS repertoire, and they have Psi and Gumhimo, too," Allane mentioned as he leafed through the book of karaoke song options.
"How about migug eum-ag?" Nessa asked, placing his order at the tablet on the table.
"They have the usual American music," Allane replied, giving the book to Nessa. As he flipped through the book, he still had a hard time getting used to Joshua Ciccone singing hypersexualized and sexist Madonna songs or Metallica as a 90s-style girl group while the Spice Girls sang heavy metal.
"Any news from the others?" Pattie asked, finishing his drink.
"They're about to arrive!" Pattie exclaimed, waving to a group of 9 other Korean boys that Nessa didn't recognize. They quickly surrounded him. Nessa looked at them a bit confused, not understanding the fast-moving Korean-English blend they spoke among themselves.
"So boys, let me introduce you to Nessa! He's from Valley Lake—I know that's too far from K-town, but he is one of us," Allane explained to the new arrivals. Nessa waved back and smiled, almost impulsively. Huh, that was weird, he thought at the reflex.
"So, Valley Lake? The Flying Foxes?" one of the newcomers asked.
"Yeah," Nessa replied candidly.
"You're doing some cool stuff up there. Like, B-Pop! I only hear of cheerleaders doing that in the Southeast and stuff."
"Blame a friend of mine, he's got good taste in music and fashion." Nessa looked at all the boys, a bit intimidated.
"No kidding."
"Everyone here?" Pattie asked, counting the people seated at the long table.
"Almost, but I don't think everyone's joining us," Allane explained.
"How many are here?!" Nessa looked with a bit of surprise.
"About 20, give or take, if you don't count the gyobae doen."
"Cut it out, Patrique. They're us too, you know." Allane turned to look at Nessa. "More like 25."
"I see. And who's...not coming?" Nessa asked.
"I don't think any of the K-Stars are..."
"The who?" Nessa asked.
"The Koreatown All-Stars. They're a club group, not tied to any school."
"But you can't be on a high school team and a club team—"
"They're not a team, I guess. They go to gyms like girls go to Kumon," Pattie explained. "All the time. Sometimes, the best way to escape is to become a professional cheerleader. A few of their alumni are with the Dallas Cowgirls now." Pattie decided it was time to start singing and headed to the stage. He was smiling and confident, looking out over the audience primarily made up of the other Korean boys but also a few other guests. After making his selection, he started to sing "Hold Me Tight" by BTS. Pattie aced the romantic song, his voice perfectly in tune.
"He's good," Nessa whispered to himself, feeling a competitive streak come on.
"Who's next?" Allane asked the group, which was busy ordering and reading through several of the song folders.
"I am! I think I have the right song for the moment," Nessa said with unexpected ferocity. He walked up to the stage and punched in the number for "I Got a Girl" by Boys' Generation. His voice wasn't a perfect match, but Nessa got into it with a full dance show. The audience applauded enthusiastically with even a few whoops and hollers.
As he walked back, he realized something. Did a tiger spring out of my head? he asked. I'm not normally this...unrestrained. I'm the good son. Yet something had compelled him to be sassy on the stage and get the girls' (and boys') attention.
"Wow, you rocked it!" Pattie was beaming. "I wish I was that good," he added, not hiding the envy he felt for Nessa.
"I just...let myself be in the moment."
"You're not...drinking, right?" Allane asked, tilting his head and scrunching his face.
"Oh no no no no no," Nessa defensively answered. "Nobody in my family drinks."
"Good, good," Pattie said, turning to watch another boy go up on stage and begin singing. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a waitress appeared with a fancy-looking glass with a liquid that looked way too colorful for Nessa's taste.
"Compliments of the gentlewoman at table 15," the waitress explained. She gestured to a table on the other side of the karaoke bar, where an older woman, who looked to be about 30, was waving back at Nessa.
Nessa looked back at the waitress's face and shook his head. "Uh...no thanks."
