Italics for conversations in Japanese.

August 10: 10pm, Holic J Bar, Seoul

The second round is at Holic J Bar. By the time the group from Nazca arrived, the party was in full swing. The rest of the staff gives them a warm welcome, chanting for Director Yoon to buy them a round of drinks. He does. So does the JYJ members.

Hayaley and Mael finds her four Audio crew congregating at the bar, the rest of her crew having left Korea earlier today. Seems like everyone else has also settled in to their cliques. Jae Joong and Yoo Chun sit in a corner drinking. Jun Su is hanging out with the choreographers and dancers who were soon entertaining everyone with impromptu choreographies to some famous tunes.

It has been awhile since Mael and Hayaley hung out with the crew. Both buy the crew a round of drinks. Hayaley is happy to see no sangria in sight. Instead, she has her regular drink - whiskey on the rocks. So does Sato. Mael shares his bottle of red wine with Jeremy. Cindy and Brian stick to their beer. They reminisce and laugh about old memories, with Sato and Cindy doing most of the story-telling, as expected since they are also the most talkative.

Director Yoon and Director Im comes over to persuade Mael and Hayaley to a game of pool. Winners get a free round of drinks.

“No, thank you. I’m good on drinks. This is probably going to be my last,” Hayaley lifts her glass and takes a sip.

“I’ll take a bottle of wine,” Mael announces and nudges Hayaley, “C’mon.”

Hayaley rolls her eyes, “Then you and Sato play. He’s doing this because he thinks we are easy targets.”

“Even more so we should play.”

Hayaley sees the mischievous glint in Mael’s eyes. She knows he’s not going to back down.

“C’mon, I have my heart set on another bottle of Merlot.” He slings his left arm around her shoulder and starts leading her towards the pool table.

“A bottle of wine of our choosing if we win.” She informs Seung Hoon-oppa as she carefully picks her cue.

“Call!” Both challengers excitedly cry in unison.

Jae Joong has been watching this whole exchange from his corner. He knows how good the two Directors are at pool.

“This is going to be a slaughter,” Yoo Chun echoes Jae Joong’s thoughts. “They are totally taking advantage of the newbie.”

Hayaley and Mael get to go first but defers out of respect. Director Yoon confidently takes the first shot. The cue ball scatters the rest of the balls, sinking two balls into the pockets. He quickly hits and sinks several more in succession.

Then, it was Mael’s turn. He moves to the edge of the table, positions himself and strikes the cue ball hard, sinking the 15 ball into the pocket. He succeeds two more times. The two Directors are starting to get nervous. And the pool game has attracted an audience.

Jun Su sits down next to his JYJ members. “Looks exciting!”

“I thought Director Yoon and Director Im were going to annihilate them but it looks like they may give them a good fight,” Yoo Chun weighs in on the situation.

When Mael misses, Director Im eagerly steps forward. He is determined to not let these young ones beat them. He manages to drop two balls before having to retreat.

It is Hayaley’s turn. She steps up