“Are you serious???”

            “This isn’t a joke, right?”

            She shook her head and pulled out her phone, typed something, and showed us. It was the exact one that the CEO showed us. Kibum and I looked at each other and smiled until our jaws hurt.

            “Should I leave you alone?” The nurse said.

            “Ah, aniyo aniyo! We wanted to ask if she could be discharged,” Kibum said, holding in his excitement.

            “Yeah, I’ll just take this out and you can get dressed then come outside to sign the forms,” she said as she took out the needle from my arm and taped over the mark.  

            “Kim Kibum…” I looked at him and he looked at me, pouting, holding his emotions back.

            “Ellieeeeeee,” he said then hugged me. “Let’s go do something, let’s walk outside holding hands, let me wipe food off your face, let’s do everything,” he said in a whiney voice.

            “Aigoo, lets go do that,” I replied with the same whiney voice. After a few seconds, I pushed him away and told him I needed to get dressed.

            “Oh yeah, I got you these,” he said, walking over to the chair where he put his bag. He pulled out a paper bag.

            “What’s that? You know I can’t eat, I’m supposed to lose a bajillion kilograms before I get weighed again,” I said, rolling my eyes at the ridiculous statement I made.

            “No, it’s not food and even if it was I’m gonna force it down your throat, we’re in a hospital because you were dehydrated and over-exerted you pabo, but anyways, it’s clothes. Kris gave it to me so you had something you could change into,” he put the bag at the end of the bed.

            “Oh thank God, I thought you grabbed them yourself from my drawers,” I got out of the bed and stood up. “Okay, go away, I’ll meet you outside,” I said, pushing him out of the room, so I could change clothes. 

            “Okay, I’ll be waiting,” he said, shutting the door behind him. I felt stupid and privileged as I remembered I was hospitalized for being tired. It was ridiculous. So many other trainees were working their butts off and they it up on their own. Why did I have to be here and be hospitalized for 2 days when it wasn’t even that serious? It felt unfair and I felt horrible being where I was.

            “Actually, before you leave, the doctor wanted to see you,” the same nurse from earlier said to us after I signed the forms.        

            “Oh really? How come?” Kibum put his arm around me.

            “He just wants to let Ellie know what happened,” she said. Hmmm.

            “Okay, let’s go, I’m coming with you,” Kibum grabbed my hand as the nurse led us to the doctor’s office, not far from where we were. I nodded, keeping my hold on his hand tight. I never liked hospitals. I avoided hospitals as much as possible. When I was young, I spent most of my time here, hospitalized almost every month. Then, kept coming again when my aunt was hospitalized… I wanted to get out of here as soon as possible.

We walked inside the office and there was a doctor sitting behind a desk. The nurse left us and I thanked her.

            “Oh, it’s been a long time, Doctor,” Kibum bowed and I followed.

            “Neh, Kibum-ssi, it’s been a while, how are you doing?” he said, gesturing for us to sit down.

            “I’ve been good, health is good, how are you?” we sat down, letting go of each others’ hands.

            “Good good! I understand this here, is Ellie?” he asked.

            “Neh, annyeonghaseyo,” I bowed.

            “Neh Doctor, this is my girlfriend, Ellie,” he said, putting a hand on my back. I looked at him, widening my eyes. He just gave me a smile and looked back at the doctor.

            “Wuah, you’re growing up,” the doctor perked up and leaned on the desk.

            “Neh,” Kibum chuckled. “How come you wanted to see her again?”

            “Well, I haven’t really talked to her when she got here, she was passed out for, how long? Two days?” he glanced at a clipboard in front of him.

            “We just figured she was exhausted,” Kibum said, tilting his head. I just nodded.

            “Well, nobody stays passed out that long for no reason,” the doctor started.

            “Okay… so what exactly do you mean, Doctor?” Kibum asked, grabbing my hand.

            “Well, it wasn’t a coma so don’t worry,” the doctor said. A coma?! “But, she does have a condition called…” he said a word I couldn’t understand and Kibum had to translate it on his phone. Hypoglycemia? We asked for him to continue, with Key translating as the conversation kept going.

            “Ellie…” Kibum positioned himself to face me when we got in the car.

            “Don’t start,” I said, keeping my expression blank.

            “It could get worse,” he said.

            “He said it was moderate, it’s not on the severe spectrum of it, I’m sure I’ll be fine if I just get sweets in my system,” I offered him a smile but his stern expression did not change.

            “I don’t want you to worry about anything else except your health right now,” he said. “Nothing else should matter right now, okay? No matter what the trainers say to you, school, or comments online, just worry about your health okay? I’ll worry about everything else,”

"So, we're all going to Japan for a final concert with our leader! Let's not be sad and celebrate!" Minho raised his glass filled with beer and we all clinked out glasses together.

Kibum informed me earlier that they will start to practice for a SHINee concert to be held in Tokyo Dome after the company releases the news of Onew enlisting. I was happy that the company decided to do that. Their biggest fandom is probably Japan so they better respect the fans by doing that for them. The fans need that and heck, they would want to send the leader off well!

I looked over to Kris and she clinked a glass of water with us, she didn't really like to drink. She sat beside me on my right side, while Kibum was on my left side. I looked at her eyes which were swollen from, most likely, crying. I held her hand which were balled up in a fist under the table. I gave her a side hug and swayed side to side, to just let her know that I was here for her because we don’t really tell each other what we feel. We just kind of… know each other too well to even talk about it. Kibum was grilling the meat for us and the members were just talking to each other. We were in the upstairs part of a barbeque restaurant. Apparently, these boys were regulars here.

"Eat a lot boys, you've worked hard," Kibum said in his sassy voice. I hit his back and chuckled.

"You're so full of yourself, Kim Kibum," I said, still clinging onto Kris who hasn't said anything.

"Hey..." I looked at her and she looked at me, smiling. "Eeey, don't pretend to be all smiley, you punk," I said in English. "I know you've been crying," I said, tightening my hold on her.

"So? Pfft," she was always like this. Always pretending to be strong in a time where it was perfectly okay for her to show her feelings. I guess we were kind of similar in that way. Okay, a LOT similar in that way. "How are you feeling?" She asked, moving back to look at me. I sat up and let go of her.

"I'm wanjeon good!" I said loudly and the members heard this and laughed.

"Wanjeon good, aigoo hahahaha," Jonghyun shook his head. It wasn't that funny though? The others just laughed and Kibum fed me a piece of meat. Was that a reward for being funny? I looked back at Kris, feeling guilty that I haven't told her about some weird condition I had. Hypoglycemia… She had enough on her plate though, so I'll wait for better timing.

"You better be wanjeon good, i'm gonna make sure you eat 10 times more than you do tonight," she said in a much cheerful tone. Like it was rehearsed, Kibum fed me another piece of meat.

"Hey! We wanna be fed too," Taemin said, leaning over to be fed by Key.

"Araso araso, our baby Taemin," Kibum said, like he was talking to a three-year old. Taemin seemed to appreciate the special treatment, making him look like the precious Maknae he always was to me. Then, the inevitable happened. Jonghyun, Minho, and Onew also acted cute for Key to feed them. We all laughed and had a good time. Maybe too good of a time. We ended up drinking a lot, but none of us wanted to display how drunk we were, well, except Minho. He kept saying he never got drunk, but he was the first to show signs.

"Who has schedules tomorrooooooow?!" Minho yelled out of nowhere, which scared all of us.

"Omo," Kris jumped beside me. Minho raised his glass, standing up.

"Sit down, hahahaha," Taemin tugged Minho's shirt, pulling him down. I pulled Kibum towards me, so I could whisper in his ear. As I was about to open my mouth to speak, he moved back and giggled like a girl. I looked at him questionably.

"You were breathing down my neck, hihihihi," he clapped his hands and giggled some more.

"Aigoo aigoo," I pulled him back to me so I could ask him if he was working tomorrow.

"Ani ani, we're all practicing tomorrow, I don't know why he's asking if we have schedules, pabo pabo, that's why one shouldn't drink so much," he waved his hands side to side. You're one to talk, you drunkard.

"Ok ok," I gave him an 'okay' sign, winking at the same time. He hit my arm so hard that I exclaimed. "What! Ow!" I asked him, rubbing the spot he hit.

"You winked at me, kekekeke," he covered his mouth and tapped the table with his palm multiple times.

"What's wrong with you, Key-goon ah aigoooooooo," Jonghyun said, downing another glass of soju.

"Are we like, babysitting right now?" Kris turned to me, narrowing her eyes.

"I think we are," I sighed and leaned back against the wall. Just then, Onew put his head in front of Kris and I, smiling.

"Aren't you glad I don't get all drunk and be stupid?" he said, laughing so hard that I wondered if he was going crazy.

"You're drunk too! You pabo," Kris hit his back and pushed his face away. "Aigoo!" She exclaimed.

"Woah woah! Ms. Ellie and Ms. Kris, do you want more food?" Kibum asked in English. I ate until my stomach felt like exploding already, this Kim Kibum, aigoo. What am I gonna do with you.

"We're good, just enjoy yourselves Kibummie," I patted his back and gave him a side hug.

"Oooooooooooooooh, skinship!" Onew said, pointing at Kibum and I.

"Kiss her, kiss her, kiss her," Jonghyun, Taemin, and Minho chanted. Kibum looked at me like he was about to do it.

"Yah yah yah! You naughty boys," I raised my arm like I was about to smack them.

"Eeeey," Minho looked at me skeptically.

"What what," I eyed him. I gave him the same stare my mom gave me when I was ten, asking to buy all kinds of candies.

"It's okay, we've kissed before, sssssshhh," Kibum attempted to whisper, but the whole table heard it.

"Yah!" I hit his leg, he looked at me and smiled mischievously.

"Woooooooooaaaaah, nice!" Taemin lifted his hand, asking for a high five. Nobody moved. "What? Anyone?" He looked at all of us.

"Ellie-ah, it's okay, couples kiss all the time," Kibum looked at me with his eyes squinted and all I could give him was an eye roll.

"Aish, Kim Kibum, you're drunk," I said.

"Ellie Ellie, tsk tsk, we don't get drunk," Onew said, with his eyes half open. With that, they kepy going at it. Well, I guess they needed a night like this. I wonder how long it has been since they've done this.

"Yah! I can't carry you!" I yelled as I put Kibum and my back. Why bother saying 'I can't carry you' if i'm gonna do it anyways.

"Look look, Jongie is carrying Taeminnie, so you carry meeeee," Kibum whined. How does that logic make sense?

"Araso, araso," I said, continuing to walk to the car. It was about 3 in the morning and we were causing a ruckus in a quiet street.

"Where did you guys park?" Kris asked, with Onew weighing her down with his arm around her shoulders.

"Over there, in front of the park," I said, heaving. "What the heck did you eat Kim Kibum? You're so heavy,"

"Oh just drank a little more than usual," he let his arms dangle on each side of my shoulders, making it harder for me to carry him.

"Oh okay, we parked down this street, i'll catch you later!" She hugged me and ruffled Kibum's hair. "Stop giving her a hard time," she said and ran towards Onew who stood against a wall on the other side of the street.

"Who's giving who a hard time?" Kibum asked then gave me a kiss on the right side of my cheek.

"Aigoooooo, shouldn't this be the other way around right now..." I shook my head and walked faster to end this suffering.

"Key-goon, Ellie, see you later!" Minho yelled out from behind us. They were going to ride in their own car, with Kris driving.

"Mmm! Bye," I yelled out, without waving my hand because Key would have fallen right down. Then Minho ran around in a circle with Taemin flailing on his back.

"Aigoo, those boys," I shook my head, smiling. I'm glad to see them so cheerful while working so hard.

"Let's gooooooooooo," Kibum punched the air with his right hand.

"Yah! Stop moving, you're making it harder for me," I said.

"Oh really? Okay okay," he said and snuggled the top of his head behind my head. We walked for a minute more before reaching the car. "Put on your seatbelt, please," I said after opening the car door for him.

"Neeeeeeh," he sang and did what he was told with his eyes closed.

"Alright, let me take you home, Mr. Kim," I said, as I started the car.

"Aniya aniya, it's too early, let's keep hanging out, I missed you so much. We need more time togetheeeeeer, i'm always working and you're practicing and going to school. We barely see each other, I wanna be with youuuuuuuu," he whined, waving his hands in the air and shaking his head like a child.

"Araso araso araso," I said, forcing his arms down. "Okay okay okay," I patted his head.

"Okaaaaaay," he said in such a cute voice. He sat back down like a schoolboy and smiled with his dimples at its finest. Aigoo! Soooooooooo cute, can I have a Shawol moment?????

            “Where to?” I asked as we got onto the main road.

            “Your house!” he stretched out his arm and pointed at the road.

            “Look at you, wah, always inviting yourself into my home, tsk tsk,” I joked and shook my head.

            “Omo! Is that wrong??? Sorry sorry, Ms. Ellie! I just want to be alone with you,” he cupped his face with both hands.

            “That sounds even worse, you ,” I mumbled. “How can you be this drunk? You drink wine like every night, you should be used to alcohol, aigoo,” I said to myself.

            “What?!” he yelled.

            “Stop yelling, I’m right here. And put your arm down and keep your back against the chair, I need to see the side mirrors, aigoo. Stop moving around, I’m trying to drive,” I pushed his body back so that his back was against the seat. When did I become the nagging mom? I sighed and kept driving.