"You can take the bus back, right?" Wooyoung asked Kwamgmin as they reached the airport.

"You don't want to say good bye to Minji?" Kwangmin gave the helmet back.

Wooyoung shook his head. "I have rehearsals right now."

"Oh, sorry for delaying you."

"No problem. This is more important."

"But are you sure you don't want to see Minji off?"

Wooyoung patted Kwangmin on the shoulder. "You should be the last one she sees. I can always call her or something."

"Her parents are really strict. This may be the last time you see her."

Wooyoung smirked. "Maybe if she sees you again, she'll stay." He looked at his watch. "Hurry up, it's 9:50."

"Thanks!" Kwangmin ran into the airport. He immediately ran to the front desk. "Hi, which gate is the 10 o'clock trip to America?"

"Omo, it's Kwangmin." The front desk lady gasped. She was obviously a fan. "To America? Gate 31."

"Thank you," He winked and made the girl squeel. He ran as fast he could to the gate. When he reached the gate, he searched around the aiting area but it was empty. "Excuse me! Did the 10am flight already leave or something?" Kwangmin asked the flight stewardess.

"10am flight?" The flight stewardess looked at him funny. "There is no 10am flight."

"Huh?"

"But the 9:30 one left, behind schedule, about 10 minutes ago."

Kwangmin sighed. "Ok, thank you." He took a seat in one of the waiting area chairs. He placed his head in his hands. How can this be happening? I didn't even get to say good bye.

"Kwangmin?"

Kwangmin peeked through his fingers. "Minji?!" He got up and hugged her. "I thought you left! Thank goodness!"

"What are you doing here?" His hug was so tight that she couldn't breathe.

"Donghyun told me that your flight was at 10 but the lady said there was none and the 9:30 one just left. I thought you were gone." He loosened his hug.

"Yeah, I accidently told him the wrong time. And I'm actually going to the Japan before heading off to America. My flight leaves in 10mins."

"Then what are you doing here?" He let her go.

"I was going to ask if there is an opening in the next flight becuase I really want to go home." She played with her fingers. "Kwangmin..."

"Minji, stay. Please, stay." He plead. "I love you. I need you to be with me. Stay, please?"

She took a step back. "Kwangmin. I can't. I can't handle Mr. Kim. I really can't."

"I know. We'll find a way around this. I'll help you get back into JYPE." He took a step forward and she took a step back.

"I can't do that. I lost already, can't you see? Everyone knows about me being Starship's Summer Trainee. There's nothing I can do anymore. I give up."

"Give up?" He grabbed her by the shoulders. "Give up? Minji-ah, you never give up! How do you think you got so successful? It's because you fought through it."

She slid his hands off of her shoulders. "There's nothing I can do." She waved the tickets in his face. "My time is up."

"We'll find a way!" Kwangmin persisted. "We can. We can... Call the police. We'll do something. Anything." He held her hands. "Just stay."

She shook her head.

"Then. I'll go with you! I'm sure they have an extra seat. If not, I'll fit in the overhead compartment."

She kissed him. When she pulled back, he held her head to keep the kiss going.

"We have to break up." She whispered once he let her go.

"No," He looked into her eyes.

"Kwangmin."

"No, we'll find a way. I'll find a way. I refuse to break up. I love you too much." His eyes got watery. "Let's run away."

She giggled to keep her own tears from falling. "I wish. I love you too much, too. Here. I'll promise you something."

"Anything."

"Once I graduate from med school and become a doctor, I'll come back for you."

"A doctor? You're really giving up your dream of becoming a singer?"

She smiled. "I got to live that dream this summer, remember? All thanks to you."

"For less than two months."

"It's more than enough."

"Can't you ask your parents to move to Korea? You can be the hot new transfer student at my school." He winked and a tear escaped down his cheek.

She rolled her eyes.

"Ok, ok," he laughed and wiped away the tear trail. "Do you HAVE to leave?"

"I have to, Kwangmin." She held out her pinky. "Is this a promise?"

"Ok. You promise that you'll come back soon and be only mine wearing my school's uniform because your parents agree to send you to Korea." He said with lightning fast speed and linked pinkies.

She laughed loudly.

"Come on. You have to admit that Korea's education system is much more advanced than America's. Tell that to you parents."

"True. But my parents would never agree." She tightened her pinky around his. "But I will promise to keep you in my future. Even if I can't do anything about 'us' right now, I'll promise to do everything I can to have an 'us' in the future."

"And I promise to make the 'us' in the future happen as soon as possible." He smiled innocently. "I love you, Minji." The two of them kissed with their pinkies still linked together.

~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ -

"How was the trip, sweety?" Minji's mom asked her once they finally loaded the luggage into the car.

"It was fun." Minji replied. "How were things back at home?"

"Boring." Minji's mom said. "All I did was eat, sleep, work, clean, and do your father's laundry."

"she cried everyday, counting the days till you came home." Minji's dad blurted out. Minji's mom hit his arm. "What? It's true." They laughed.

"You two seem very lively. Did something happen? You two never laugh." Minji shifted awkwardly int he car seat.

"Ouch. That hurt, Sweety." Minji's mom joked. "We're humans. We laugh. We smile. We fart."

Minji's dad pinched his nose. "Speaking of fart. Who cut the cheese? Was that you, honey?"

"Not me." Minji's mom replied. "Did you?"

"It was me..." Minji confessed. "It was a long flight."

-----

Back at home, Minji's dad yanked the luggage out of the car and placed it on the driveway. "Minji, go bring your luggage up to your room and comback to the living room when you're done. We need to talk about something." His voice was harsh.

"Ok." Minji dragged the bags into the house and up the stairs. She took a deep breath before opening her bedroom door. Once she swung if open, unhappiness flooded over any happy feelings she's ever felt in the last two months she was away. Her walls were still covered with college pictures. Her room held more books than clothes. Not to mention the closet, meant for clothes, was still half occupied by the rest of her textbooks that didn't fit everywhere else. Nothing about the room changed.

Except for an envelope on the study desk.

Minji picked up the envelope and stared at the hangul. She still couldn't read Korean. Inside was a letter. Completely in hangul.

As she made her way to her bed, she tripped over the bag JYP gave her. "Oh, I forgot about this." She laid the letter next to her on the bed and opened up the bag. Inside was the iPad JYP gave her after her first win. She turned the iPad on and a notification blinked for her to open a video.

"Hi, Minji!" The JYPE family appeared on her screen. Minji lowered the blasting volume. "How are you doing?" JYP asked.

"Great, we hope." "Amazing, right?" "Eating well?" "Sleeping well?" Everyone chimed in.

"BE QUIET!" JYP screamed at them. He turned back to the camera and smiled innocently. "Minji-ah. When the JYPE family heard that you we're leaving, they insisted on making video messages for you."

"I was my idea," Wooyoung popped infront of the camera.

JYP pushed him away. "Anyways, we hope that you will be successful in everything you do. Keep smiling. And don't forget, we love you!" Everyone made a various of a heart on camera.

"Me first, me first!" Wooyoung stole the camera from JYP. "Hi, Minji-ah!" JYP walked away, sad that his camera was taken away. "Well, I'm gonna get straight to the point: I'm gonna miss you. A lot."

"Cheesy!" Suzy said behind him.

"Be quiet. It's my talk time with Minji." He stuck his tongue out at Suzy.

"He likes you, dongsaeng!" Suzy blurted and stuck her tongue back out to him.

"AISH!" Wooyoung stomped his feet. "I was going to slowly bring it up! You ruined the speech I prepared!" The 2PM members wooted in the background. "Yeah, yeah. Ok. The secret's out. I like you. As more than a friend or a little sister. I liked you the moment you walked in when I was in the gaming room. I wanted to protect you as much as I could. I'm pretty good boyfriend material, right?" He smirked. "But I knew that Kwangmin beat me to your heart so I stepped back. I don't regret stepping back at all. He makes you happy and that's all that counts. Remember, if he causes any trouble in the near or distant future, let me know."

"My turn!" Suzy pushed Wooyoung away. "Hi, dongsaeng!"

Minji watched the video to its entirety. Memorizing every speech and loving the JYPE family more and more. "I'm gonna miss them a lot."

"Minji, are you done packing yet?" Minji's mom called from the living room.

Minji placed the iPad back into the bag and hid it under her bed. She snatched the letter off of her bed and went down stairs. "What's this?" Minji held up the envelope as she plopped onto the sofa.

"We'll talk about taht later," Minji's mom sounded angry. "First, let's talk about what you did this summer. We want to know everything you did. How was Korea?"

"I-It was fun. I didn't get to go out that much because of the internship." Minji stuttered out the lie.

"A couple of weeks ago, you said that you were going to stay in Korea for two more years, right?"

"Yeah... But I decided to decline the offer because it would get in the way of my education."

"But why would you need an education if you could work for a major hospital in Seoul? Anyways, you're way too smart for American public school. Why don't you except the offer?"

Minji's dad cleared his throat to interrupt. "How has your Korean improved? Since you were exposed to the language, you should be pretty fluent by now."

"Right?" Minji's dad said in Korean.

"Yes." Minji replied in Korean. "You can speak Korean?" She asked in English.

"Both your father and I can speak fluently." Minji's mom answered in Korean.

Minji gasped. "You both know how to speak? Why didn't you teach me?" The conversation continued in Korean.

Minji's mom replied, "We tried to teach you when you were young but you told us that you hated it, so we stopped."

"Oh." Minji switched to English. "Can you read and write?"

"I can." Minji's dad bragged. "But it takes me a while to translate and understand it."

Thank goodness I took the Starship letters of acceptance with me to Korea. Minji thought. "So what does this letter say?" She held up the letter that was on her desk again.

"Patience, we're not done talking yet."

"Ok. What else do you want to know? Other than that I ate, slept, studied, and listened to the doctor's orders 24/7?"

"Who's Kwangmin?"

"Huh?" Minji's heart rate sped up.

"You heard your father. Who's Jo Kwangmin?" Minji's mom said in a strident voice.

"He-he's. An idol that the other interns like."

"Then what was he doing singing and dancing on stage with you?"

Fck.

"How dare you lie and disrespect us, Sophia Minji Lee. We did not raise you to lie to us about a fake internship program. And to go off and become an idol? AN IDOL? Idols are nothing but Barbie dolls. The music industry is manipulative and ual." Minji's mom ranted. "Do you know how embarrassing it was to go to work and suddenly hear 'Your daughter is an amazing singer. You must be so proud.'"

Minji started crying because her mom was yelling.

"And do you know how much more embarrassing it was to hear about everything you were doing - all of the bad things you were doing - through the radio my emploees blasted to make me mad? Bad attitude? Scandals? DATING?!"

"But I won first place!" Minji sobbed out.

Minji's dad hushed her mom. "Yes, we know you won first place and we're proud of you. But that's not the point. You lied behind our back. So how should we punish you?"

"Punish?!" Minji dropped her jaw. "I did nothing wrong!"

"You lied. You're a liar. A liar!" Minji's mom retorted.

"I did what I wanted to do. Not what you told me to do. For once in my LIFE, I was able to do something I enjoyed. Something I loved."

"You." Minji's mom shook her finger at her daughter.

"Shh." Minji's dad calmed her down. "Let her continue." He looked at Minji. "We let you do what you want to do."

"No you don't!" Minji exploded. "Being a doctor? I never wated that."

"You said you wanted to be a doctor when you were eight."

"When I was eight! That was half my life ago. I wanted to be a doctor because that's what all eight year old say. If I knew that that statement would lead me down a path to hell, I wouldn't have said it."

"We lead you down the path of success. We sacrificed for you." Minji's mom spoke in a low voice. "You had potential since you were little. So smart, so talented. We didn't want your brains to go to waste just because you could sing and dance. Minji, you didnt' speak your first words, you sang it. I was very proud of you but it wasn't the talent we wanted you to have. We wanted you to be extraordinarily smart so you could go wherever you want and not have any problems."

"So you made me socially awkward by locking me up in my room to study?!"

"You got yourself a self-absorbed idol boyfriend; you're not socially awkward one bit, Sophia." Minji's mom's words were sharp. "But you ARE lacking in dating knowledge. Couldn't you have chose a better guy with more talent and a promising future?"

"What did you say?" Minji gritted her teeth.

"Why didn't you date taht Wooyoung guy from 4PM? He might be older than you but he can dance. At least he's successful."

"Kwangmin IS successful."

"No he's not. No one knows him and his band. What's the group name? Guy friend? What kind of name is Guy friend?"

"They're called 'Boyfriend.'"

"Even worse." Minji's mom laughed.

"Enough already!" Minji yelled. "I'm tired of you telling me what to do. You can think what ever you want but I don't like how you try to make me think the same way as you. I'm my own person. I'm talented, I'm smart, and I'm a successful performer. And Kwangmin, this "self-centered idol" you dislike so much was there for me when no one else was. He believed in me and loved me for who I am. Not for what he wants me to be."

Minji's mom was going to yell back but her dad responded instead. "So you're saying that we don't give you the freedom you deserve?" Minji nodded. "Okay. If we let you go wherever you want and do whatever you please - what would you do?"

Minji thought for a second. I can't go back to the music industry. I already ruined my image permanently. "I would go to Kwangmin's school as the hot new transfer student and study whatever the hell I want in Korea."

Minji's dad nodded. He stood up and went to the car to get something.

"When your father and I heard about your whereabouts in Korea, we were extremely upset." Minji's mom spoke calmly. "We realized that if you didnt' want to be doctor, we can't make you. You'd hate us if you did." She started crying. "Minji. Your father and I love you a lot and we just want the best for you."

Minji started crying as well.

Minji's mom held her daughter's hands. "We want the best for you but before that, we want you to be happpy. If not being a doctor makes you happy. If singing and dancing does. Then who are we to stop you?"

Minji's dad walked back into the living room with his hands behind his back. "Aw, you already gave the speech?" Minji's mom nodded. "That was supposed to be my part," he pouted. "Oh well. I hope you like this part better." He presented three plane tickets. "We're moving to South Korea!"

"What?!" Minji jumped up and ran over to the tickets. "No way!"

"Yes way!" Minji's dad imitated her. "We bought a house in a luxurious small district."

"What about your jobs?" Minji asked, her eyes still glued to the tickets.

"We found great jobs in the district that pays much better than our current jobs."

"What about school?"

"That's what the letter is. It's your acceptance letter." Minji's dad said. "But we didn't know which high school was ok so we just applied you to the one in the district. With your grades, you can transfer out later."

"That's what I meant by us wanting you to be very smart so you don't have to worry about anything." Minji's mom whispered. "You won't miss any of your friends from school right?"

"What friends?" Minji snickered.

"But Minji. We're hoping that you'll continue to challenge yourself academically in Korea. Sweety, you are so smart, it would be a freakin waste."

"Mom," Minji gasped. "Did you just swear?"

"Hell yaeh!" She cheered. "Because I'm so damn proud of my daughter!"

Everyone laughed and got into a group hug.

"Mom, dad." Minji broke the loving silence. "What school did you enroll me to?"

A/N: This is the seond to last chapter T-T Sorry for not updating for a couple of months... Hopefully these past few updates make up for it :) Dang... I can't believe it's been about 9 months since I first posted up this chapter description. Wait, ok, I'll save the sappy reminiscy stuff for the next chapter T-T Haha. Hope you enjoyed this chapter and pease look forward to the last chapter :D ~ Kii-chan <3