“I am going back to San Fran! I am going back to San Fran!” Kevin did his little happy skip as they entered Incheon airport. U-Kiss is finally on vacation after a year of hard work, and Kevin had promised to take the group back home to San Francisco. The thought of going home to see his old friends and relatives made him dance.

                “I’m going back to San Fran, I’m going back to San Fran…” Eli gripped his excited boyfriend by the wrist. “Kevin, behave. I know you are excited, but there are people here!”

                “Okay, I know, I’m sorry, but I just can’t wait to go home! You know I’ve arranged for you to meet Jason, my best friend back home.” Kevin said, smiling widely.

                “Jason? Never heard of him.”

                “Really? Never mind, I’m gonna tell you all about it on the plane. He was like my soul mate back in high school.”

                “He was huh?” Eli muttered. Kevin has never told him about this Jason fella before, and for someone who was his boyfriend, he felt like he’s been missing out on a lot of stuff.

                On the plane, Kevin told Eli everything about Jason. Apparently Kevin and Jason were like nerds back in high school, definitely someone Eli would’ve spent years making fun of, but Kevin doesn’t know that. Jason was the captain of the chess club, science club, valedictorian, blah blah blah…

                “He’s the only person in our school to get into Yale. How awesome is that?” Kevin gushed. Eli was just simply staring at Kevin talk about something animatedly, he wasn’t really listening. Kevin looked so adorable like that, but then again, Kevin looks adorable doing everything. Once Kevin stopped talking, Eli snapped back and went, “Uh..yeah.”

                Eli couldn’t really comprehend about this Jason guy and how Kevin got along so well with him. Eli was the cool kid back in high school. He was captain of the body builders club and was more likely to fail his classes rather than score first class honors in them. If this was high school, Eli wouldn’t have given Jason or Kevin the time of day, and for the first time since he met Kevin, he felt like he and Kevin were really different.

                The plane landed and the group exited the terminal. Fans have obviously heard of their arrival and completely mobbed the airport. With the help of airport security, the boys got out the airport and into their hotel. Kevin was going to be staying at his old home, but he had to see that the other members settled down nicely.

                “My family is having a home coming barbeque party for all of you!” Kevin said, clapping his hands.

                “Will there be takoyakis?” Dongho asked.

                “Dongho, you don’t eat takoyakis in a BBQ party.” Kiseop said.

                “More importantly, Jason and the gang is coming to the party!” Kevin said, holding Eli’s hands.

                “The gang? You mean there’s more of you?”

                Kevin dropped his hands and folded it crossly. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

                “Um…nothing. I’m just tired, my head’s fogged up, I’m probably not thinking right.” Eli said, trying to reverse the situation.

                Kevin simply nodded. “Okay, that makes sense. I’ll come fetch you guys in a couple of hours. You guys better get some rest.” Kevin kissed Eli and waved goodbye. Once Kevin left, Eli instantly dropped down on the bed and groaned.

                “I sense some love issues.” Aj said, making a fluttering motion with his fingers.

                “Turn off that damn sensor Dr. Aj and help me.” Aj made a face behind Eli’s back. Eli can be so nasty if he wants to.

                “I’m really nervous about meeting Kevin’s friends, I mean they are such….”

                “Nerds?” Aj asked, even though he knew what the answer was.

                “Yeah. What if I don’t fit in?”

                “Eli, you can’t make everyone like you. Look, you are a great guy and incredibly charming, just wing it. That’s how you always do it.”

                “Yeah, I just gotta be myself right?”

                “Yes. Now get off my bed before all your airport-sweat- smell rubs on it.”

That Night

                The smell of meat burning up on the charcoal, people laughing and having a great time, children running around and people spreading ketchup and cheese on their steaks, yes, it was just like any other typical BBQ party.

                The other U-Kiss members were genuinely enjoying themselves. Dongho found a new hobby in helping to grill steaks, Hoon and Kiseop got into a game of traditional arm wrestling with Kevin’s relatives, Soohyun was playing with the little kids and Aj was busy chatting with some of Kevin’s Ivy League friends.

                The same thing cannot be said about Eli. He was having trouble the minute Jason and his crew entered. “Oh my god, it’s Jason! He’s here!” Kevin went over to greet his friend. Jason was a little bit different then how Eli pictured him to be. He was tall, thin with dirty blonde hair and quite well dressed. Eli was expecting someone Henry Grubstick from Ugly Betty. Total nerdish.

                “Kevin! It’s so great to see you!” Jason hugged his best friend. “Wait, do you remember our chess club cheer?”

                “Of course!” Then Kevin and Jason proceeded to do something that was like a bad imitation of a cheerleader routine, “Kings and Queens! Knights and Rooks! Bishops and Pawns!” Eli couldn’t help but shiver at the gawky routine. It was really high school all over again.

                “Jason, you have to meet my boyfriend, the one I was telling you about!” Kevin pulled Jason over and Eli managed a smile. “Jason, this is Eli. Eli, this is Jason Whitaker my high school pal.”

                “Hey Jason, how are you doing?”

                “Hey Eli, it’s great to meet you. Do you play chess?”

                “Oh no I don’t.” Eli said. “You know, Eli used to be captain of his school’s body building club.” Kevin gushed, wrapping an arm around him. Eli felt safer with Kevin’s arm around him.

                “Wow, so you must be quite popular huh?”

                “Well, I did have my own following.” Eli said, glowing a little with pride. Jason laughed, “Gee, you remind me of all the guys that used to make fun of us back in high school, do you remember Kevin?”

                Kevin bit his lip and unwrapped his arm around Eli. Eli felt really uncomfortable himself and gulped several times. Jason didn’t seem to notice the situation and light-heartedly suggested, “Hey Kevin, let’s meet up with the rest of the gang okay?”

                “Sure! Come on Eli, I wanna show you off to everyone else!” Kevin pulled Eli’s arm. Eli turned around and saw Dongho. He mouthed the word, “HELP!”, but it was too late. Dongho waved  to his hyung and shook his head. “There goes a good guy.” He muttered.

Next Day

                Last night’s party was definitely not a hot one. Eli got stuck with Kevin and his gang, who he secretly nicknamed the Nerd Squad, as they talked about universities and molecular whatchamalit that he couldn’t even pronounced.

                Later, Hoon had rescued him by telling him to join the arm wrestling contest. Eli gladly went over and easily won over Hoon. Kevin cheered for his boyfriend but the Nerd Squad didn’t seem to like it. The look on Jason’s face was the same as Eli’s before. Total boredom.

                Aj seemed to disagree though, saying that Kevin’s friends were really interesting. “That’s because you are the only one among us, and heck the whole of Kpop, to be accepted into Columbia.” Eli snapped at him.

                The next day wasn’t any better. Kevin, Jason and Eli went touring around San Fran by themselves, but it mostly consisted of going back to their old high school joints, like the library they used to go to, the church and the old diner they used to eat in. Not exactly Eli’s idea of a San Francisco tour. He was enjoying the sights, but he wasn’t enjoying the fact that Kevin and Jason had so much to talk about while Eli had nothing to say. He felt like the third wheel in a couple date, but he’s the boyfriend here!

                They finally stopped at Starbucks for a break. Even Kevin and Jason got tired, which was great for Eli.

                “Eli, what do you want to do today?” Kevin finally asked.

                “Well, I passed by the batting cages just now, you wanna go?” Eli suggested. Eli and Kevin used to frequent one of the batting cages back in Seoul and Kevin was actually pretty good with baseball.

                “I can’t. I had a minor surgery done on my shoulder, so I can’t swing.” Jason shook his head.

                “Um…how about going the mall?” Eli suggested again.

                “We could go to that new food court my sister was telling me about! You know that got that new smoothie stand with the crazy straws.” Kevin said.

                “Tsk tsk, Kevin. Do you know where those straws end up in?” Jason said.

                “Where?” Eli asked, not caring if he sounded sarcastic and rude.

                “In a whale’s blowhole.”

                “And how do you know that?”

                “Because people throw it in the gutter, the gutter washes it into the ocean…”

                “Alright. We get it.” Eli groaned. “What do you wanna do?”

                “I’m up for anything!” Jason replied cheerily. Eli felt like strangling the man.

                “We could go to the science museum!” Kevin suggested once more.

                “Oh yeah! Hey Kevin they added in a lot of new things since you left.”

                “The science museum?” Eli groaned. He hasn’t been in one since…forever.

                “Well, if it’s not your type, maybe Kevin and I should just go alone.” Jason replied, looking pretty darn smug. Kevin looked at his boyfriend who looks pretty worn out. “Honey, you don’t look so good, maybe you should go back and rest.”

                “Yeah, Kevin and I can take care of ourselves. Bye bye!” Jason grabbed Kevin’s wrist and they left Starbucks. Kevin turned to look at Eli with a worried expression but Eli was too dumbfounded to notice.