“Ahhh…it’s great to be back!” AeLin said as she saw her hometown back in the Philippines. AeLin was back in the Philippines to keep her dual citizenship and was going to stay there for 3-4 weeks. “Ahh, it really is always hot in your country every time I visit.” A certain someone followed her and stood behind her. “You shouldn’t have come then MinHo oppa.” AeLin said. “But then you’d be alone. TaeMin told me to take care of you. He’ll really kill me if something happened to you.” MinHo replied.

Five months have passed since the separation of the SHINee members. Although the idea still didn’t sink in with some fans, majority have accepted the fact. This is also the case with TaeMin and AeLin’s relationship going public. For the moment her anti fans count is on its highest so it’s better to have her out of the spotlight for a while. “But wouldn’t that be the same? I mean, you can’t stay here for more than a week.” AeLin said as the two of them walked towards a taxi. “It’s okay. At least I was able to look after you for a week.” MinHo said and smiled. “Tch. MinHo oppa really.” The two of the rode a taxi then headed for the same resort that AeLin and Khun stayed at back when the two of them were in the Philippines.

“This place brings back a lot of memories.” AeLin said as the two of them got inside the room. “What happened here?” MinHo said as he sat down on his bed. “Hmmm…it was the first time I went back here after debuting. I was angry at TaeMin that time right? There was this one night when Ray and Ralph came to visit, then things got pretty ugly, and I still ended up calling TaeMin.” AeLin said as she sat down on her bed as well and showed a small smile. MinHo can’t do anything but just look at her. “Although I didn’t realize it at first, the moment I pressed “call” was the moment that I chose TaeMin over Ray.” She added and her smile widened.

“I know you miss him. I do too. How about calling him?” MinHo said as he got his phone out. “No, don’t. Let’s not bother him. Anyways, it’s nighttime there now right?” AeLin said and gave him a smile. MinHo looked at him and kept his phone. “Okay. Whatever you say.” MinHo said then gave her a smile as well. They rested for a while before preparing to go somewhere. “Where do you want to go?” AeLin said to MinHo. “This is your first time here right? Even the other members haven’t gone here yet.” She added. “Hmm…wherever you go I’ll go.” MinHo said. “Psshh…okay. Whatever you say.” AeLin said and chuckled.

The two of them rode a tricycle and was dropped off AeLin’s old school. “This would’ve been my high school alma mater if I hadn’t went to South Korea.” AeLin said. “Ohh…so this is where you studied before. They have classes now??” MinHo said. “It’s August so yeah, they have.” AeLin said. The two of them then went in. It’s been how many years. AeLin isn’t even sure if her teachers from her time were still teaching there. As they walked towards the building a familiar voice called out her name. “AeLin!!” the voice said.

She looked towards where the voice came from. “Ah!! Kennie!! Belle and Mae too!!” it was her old classmates. AeLin and MinHo approached them as the 4 girls had a big group hug. “Oh my gosh! My baby has grown up!!”  Mae said as she saw AeLin all grown up. “Ahaha. What are you saying Mae?” AeLin said. “Ahhh!! AeLin!! How are you??” Belle said as she gave her another hug. “I’m doing fine!! I’ve missed you guys so much! I’m so happy that I saw you here!” she said. MinHo watched them with a smile. “I don’t understand what they’re speaking (they were speaking in their dialect) but I can tell that she’s really happy.” He thought.

“Hey woman!! You need to tell us a lot of things!! You owe us a whole book of stories from your times in South Korea!!” Kennie said. “Yeah!! You do know that you were the talk of the town for one whole month after what happened in the airport 5 months ago. So you’re really going out with him?” Belle said. AeLin looked at them with a smile and then to MinHo. “I guess so.” AeLin said as her face got flushed. “Ayiiieeee~~!! They even aired pictures of that kiss!! Gosh!!! How does it feel like?? Kissing the one you love?? Was that your first kiss??” Kennie said. “Oi you two, control yourselves would you. She has a guest with her you know. Mind introducing yourselves to him first?” Mae said.

The 3 of them looked at MinHo who was just listening. “Ah, guys. This is MinHo oppa. Choi MinHo. He was also part of SHINee.” AeLin said. “Nice to meet you. My name is Belle.” “I’m Kennie.” “I’m Mae.” The three of them introduced themselves in English. “Nice to meet you as well. My name is Choi MinHo.” MinHo replied. “He’s handsome….” Kennie said. “Yeah…are you with him while TaeMin is away??” Belle said. “What?! No way! No! Haha! You’re crazy.” AeLin said. “But he did like you before right? You mentioned him a couple of times whenever we chat back in the days.” Mae said. “Hm…I guess so.” AeLin replied.

“So! Back with the kiss!! How does it feel??” then the 5 of them sat down on a bench as Sora translated things first to MinHo before continuing. “That kiss at the airport wasn’t the first.” Sora started. “What?? Really?? When was it?? How did it feel??” Kennie said. “Well, it actually happened in a time when I wasn’t even sure if I liked TaeMin or not. Because of losing to a game, the two of us were sentenced to sleeping in one cramped tent out on the chilly night. It was my 18^th birthday that time! For some reason, earlier that day, I felt rather uncomfortable around him. I even got upset about him not giving me any gift even if it’s just for that special day.” She continued.

“The two of us then walked to the tent outside. The tent had foam on the ground to keep us comfy. I didn’t speak or anything since I was a bit frustrated with him. I lay down immediately as soon as he divided the sides of the tent. I ignored him and didn’t reply to any question he said. But I felt kinda bad about that so I thought about saying sorry. But I chickened out thinking that he might find it so weird. Just as I was really about to fall asleep he suddenly sat up. I was going to ignore him but I decided not to anymore and talked to him.” AeLin wore a big smile as she remembered everything. “So this is what really happened inside the tent.” MinHo thought as he listened. He was able to understand because she was speaking mostly in English.

“Even though we were fighting our hearts out earlier that day, he asked me if I enjoyed the day. I said yes of course, since I really did enjoy it. Then we continued talking and as he talked I knew he wanted to say something but he doesn’t say it so I got pretty annoyed. The two of us then in turn argued once more. I sat up then he kind of backed down. I held his one hand and told him sorry and that I was just tired that’s why I was acting like that. But then that’s not the real reason though. By that time everything kind of went awkward. I could feel my heart beating faster and faster as I looked at him.” She continued.

“Then he got something from under his pillow. It was a box wrapped with plain pink paper. He said it was his gift. For a moment there I felt so relieved and my feeling of frustration kind of went away. Then I called him ‘Oppa’. I call him that rarely. I then held both of his hands and thanked him properly with what he has given me. I looked into his eyes as he looked into mine. He then said sorry to me for making me do a certain dare earlier that day. I said it was fine, then the last thing I heard was his voice saying my name and after that he hugged me. I got surprised at first. If it were the normal me, I would’ve pushed him back and punched him for all I care. But for some reason I didn’t. After the hug we both looked into each other’s eyes. There was silence…” “Achoo!!” Kennie sneezed.

“Ah ya! You!! Can’t you hold back your sneeze!! We’re getting to the good part!” Belle smacked her. “Sorry sorry! I couldn’t help it!!” Kennie said and sniffed. MinHo and AeLin got a bit amused by that. “So this is what you were doing inside?” MinHo said in Korean. AeLin blushed and looked at him. “Don’t tell the others okay? It’s embarrassing.” AeLin said. MinHo just grinned. “Then continue.” Mae said. AeLin looked at them then decided to continue. 

“We looked at each other once more. No one said anything. We just looked. I remember thinking to myself how he looked rather different from the usual look. I also thought about how the feel inside the tent to be somewhat different. From that point on my minds started to go blank as he got one hand on one side of my face and leaned in. As our faces got closer, I slowly closed my eyes. I held his arm which was holding my face. Closer and closer, I felt my heart beat faster and faster. He tilted up my head a little bit and stopped by the time our lips were just inches apart. I could feel his breath from there one as he spoke. He told me: “Can I?”. It made my heart skip a beat. By that point both of us weren’t acting out of our consciousness. “I…If you want to.” I remember myself say. Finally our lips met. It all happened in a second. I could feel his soft lips pressing against mine. He somehow pressed against me harder as the kiss lengthened. I felt like exploding there and then. It felt really amazing.” AeLin continued.

The 3 of her friends blushed as they heard the story. “Wow.” Mae said. “I need to meet that guy! Bring him here next time!” Belle said. “So, did you guys do it??” Kennie said as both Mae and AeLin smacked her on the head. “I’M GOING TO KILL YOU!! NO WAY!!!” AeLin suddenly got worked up. “After that the two of them had a big fight.” MinHo said in English. “A fight? Why?” Belle said. AeLin nodded remembering those times. “After the kiss the two of us got so awkward. I then remembered my promise to Ray. By that time it was already pitch dark and I couldn’t see his face.” AeLin said. “Ray? Oh you mean that guy from your Taekwondo class. Wait, the two of you hooked up when you were in Japan right?” Mae said. “Hmm…kind of. My brother made me do it.” AeLin said. “Tch. That OkHyun. He’s the worst!” Mae said. “Oh really now?? I remember back when we were teens that you were so into him.” Kennie . “Ya! Don’t make me remember!!” the two of them fought.

“Then, after that what happened?” Mae said. “Well…after a moment of silence he apologized for the kiss. I then told him that it was my first and he apologized again. Then after another moment of silence he got my hand once more and said my name. I then had a feeling that I knew what he was about to say so I told him that I still wasn’t sure and that I was sorry. He then told me he wasn’t sure himself as well. Then both of us decided to just sleep. We lay down and faced away from each other. There was a pillow in between us. Well…this is where the story is supposed to stop.” AeLin said. MinHo then looked at her. “Supposed?” he said in Korean.

“Ahhh…so romantic!!” Belle said. “There’s nothing romantic about it.” AeLin replied and went back to her usual TaeMin hating self. “But he’s in Seattle now right? So what are you planning?” Mae said. “Nothing…I guess. Time will tell.” AeLin replied. “But you do still love him right? Or are you falling for that guy with you?” Mae said. “Eh?! No, MinHo oppa? No way. He’s just a friend and will stay that way.” AeLin said. In the middle of their conversation Mae’s phone rang. “Hello?” she answered. “Ah, okay. We’ll be there immediately.” She continued then put down the phone. “Ah AeLin, the 3 of us needs to go now. Something came up at the store the 3 of us own.” Mae said. “Oh, that’s a pity. I’ll be here for 3 weeks though. Let’s meet sometime then.” She replied. The 3 of them sat up and waved goodbye to the two of them. “Sure! How about Monday next week? Bye AeLin!” Belle said. “Bye!!” she replied and waved goodbye to them as well.