On the first day of seventh grade, my pre-algebra teacher, Ms. Pan, had us go around the room and share one interesting fact about ourselves. I’d been in Korea for three years at that point, and my old standby fun-facts—I just moved here from New York. I’m a K-pop trainee. I have a little sister—were no longer new or unknown to most of my classmates. Besides, at thirteen, there was pressure to share something that would set you apart as cooler and more adult than your peers. Like Mindy Koo, who shared that she got her cartilage pierced over the summer, or Ara Choi, who celebrated her birthday with floor seats to a Beyoncé concert. As I sat there, waiting anxiously for the moment when I’d have to speak, I suddenly felt every single thing I’d ever done—interesting or not—completely fly out of my head. And sitting on set now, recording an episode of Dal TV, I’m feeling the exact same way.

The interview has gone great so far. Ryu Daehyun is one of my favorite hosts. He’s funny and warm, and always gets us comfortable and laughing. But he also sometimes likes to throw out more serious questions, like “How can K-pop change the world?” or “What’s a charity or social cause that’s meaningful to you?” So when he said, “Okay, girls. Now I have one last question,” I sat up a little straighter on my stool, wondering if he was about to go somewhere deep.

But instead, Daehyun says, “If you had to describe yourself in one word—yes, Sunhee, just one word!” he says, laughing as the camera pans to Sunhee, who is already opening her mouth to protest. It’s become a recurring bit on today’s episode of the show that Sunhee loves to talk. Daehyun even timed her to see how long she could ramble without drawing breath. She went sixty-seven seconds. After the laughter dies down, he continues. “Okay, one word to describe yourself. Go.”

“Passionate,” Mina says.

“Honest,” Jiyoon adds—it’s true, but also a calculated move. She’s still living down the bad press from Singapore.

“Cute!” Sunhee says, pressing her hands against her cheeks and making Daehyun laugh.

The microphone goes down the line, with each girl sharing her word. I don’t realize I’ve tuned them out, until suddenly I feel a nudge at my side and turn to see Sumin elbowing me, offering the mic.

“Okay, Rachel Kim. What word would you use to describe yourself?”

I open my mouth, then close it again. Oops. I’d been daydreaming about my FaceTime date last night with Alex, where we watched a Bob Ross tutorial on YouTube and each followed along on MS Paint to hilariously terrible results, and I completely forgot to be thinking of my own one-word description.

Come on, Rachel.