With Jaejin, Jonghun, and Minhwan awake, there was only one more member of FT Island left to be awakened. It was FT Island’s walking contradiction. At times he was terribly hyperactive and spontaneous, at other times he was a sloth. He was currently taking up slothlike behaviors, which was understandable because we’ve been on such a tight schedule. 

“Minhwan?” I called. I heard the boy dash towards me. Sometimes I wondered if he was aware that he was one large mass of muscle that shook the earth whenever he stepped.

“Yes, hyung?” he answered me, his eyes wide. Well, as wide as Minhwan’s eyes could get.

“Could you awaken Seunghyun please? And tell the others to get ready.” I said. 

His eyes lost their light when he heard the errands I assigned him. He complied silently and began to trudge over to his shared room.

“Hey! Hurry up! We need to get these groceries today!” I spanked his behind and he immediately sped up, but not before giving me a look. It wasn’t a look of remorse, but a look of contentment. I turned around uncomfortably, almost smacking into Jonghun.

“We really do need to get this finished today.” Jonghun repeated my words with emphasis.

“I know.” I said, offended that he needed to use such a tone with me. 

“Do you? Did you know of our interview tomorrow?” Jonghun asked.

“Well, no.” I murmured, discomfited.

“I didn’t either, but it’s been advertised for a few days, I just called manager hyung and he confirmed it. Looks like something slipped through your fingers, hyung.” Jonghun chuckled.

“There’s a reason why you’re the leader.” I muttered.

There was something odd about Jonghun’s tone, as if he just came from the scare of his life. His dark hair was perfectly tousled and in place, framing his sharp features nicely. His skin, however, was paler than his usual yellow to tan tone. Since we weren’t exactly an idol group, there was no reason to stay quaint and pale. Before I commented on this, Jonghun added some information.

“It’s not really a promotional interview or anything. SHINee’s going to accompany us as well. That should be fun.” 

“Shinee? Really?” Jaejin walked in on our conversation with an arm around a disheveled Seunghyun.

Jaejin’s pitch black hair was in a half ponytail, and his glasses were on as if he were in the middle of intense songwriting. He had a wrinkly white v-neck with plaid boxers on. Seunghyun’s brown hair was untidy with pieces sticking out oddly. He sported no shirt, only pink pajama bottoms with soccer balls printed on them, no doubt a gag gift from Minhwan.

“Yeah. I heard one of them has a girlfriend now. Lowkey, not Jonghyun.” Jonghun said to no one in particular.

“It’s not Key.” Minhwan piped in. Jaejin validated this statement, as Key was his very close friend.

“What are you guys? It’s none of our business, okay?” Seunghyun snapped, still half asleep. We all stared at him for a while.

“Put your clothes on! We need to get to shopping before the little fangirls get released from school!” I rushed them, and they scattered to their respective rooms.

Of course, there were a few girls waiting for us outside of our building. They screamed our names at us, and shoved pens and notebooks at us. I walked past, flashing them a bright smile, only to realize that the rest of the band had stayed to sign some autographs and give hugs. I cursed and turned around, then bent over, making a huge scene of having to tie my shoe. I looked up as I double knotted. Jonghun was in a tight embrace with a larger girl, her hair lovingly. Jaejin was writing a long message with a metallic marker in a girl’s notebook. Seunghyun accepted a bear from a girl, and I saw he was arguing, telling her to keep it for herself. Minhwan was happily chatting to a starstruck girl whose boyfriend was clinging to her whilst three older girls attempted to his muscles. I rolled my eyes. This was not the appropriate time for mingling with the fans. 

I put on a smile and walked toward the mass of girls, casually running my fingers through my hair. I put an elbow on Jonghun’s shoulder, he was now released from the girls’ death grip. The crowd gaped and some even screamed.

“It’s time to go.” I whispered to Jonghun. The girls giggled absurdly as if they witnessed me offering my body to him. 

“Bye ladies!” Jonghun said. The girls moaned a little, but backed off. 

“Who wants a bear?” Seunghyun queried as we shuffled into our black Lexus truck.

“Why do you always accept their toys, idiot? We don’t need any!” I chastised my younger bandmate. What I said was true, if I didn’t help Seunghyun use reverse psychology on the fans to persuade them to keep their gifts during fanmeets, we’d have a houseful of piggy bunnies and plush goats.

“Was she a pretty noona?” Jaejin teased.

“Stop talking! I’m going to have an accident.” Jonghun groaned from the front seat. 

We rode in silence, the only sound was the radio playing soothing classical music and Minhwan trying to create a beat with the back of my chair. I caught one of his hands in one of mine, and to my surprise he squeezed my hand and held it rather than struggling to break free. I let go and retracted my hand. 

Jonghun pulled into the parking lot of a grocery store that was fairly new to me. I was used to new places, if we frequented one place too much we’d find a mob. 

This particular store was pretty torn down looking, next to an equally slummy apartment building. It was painted a tawny color, with maroon text that displayed the store’s name. It had a flat roof which was littered with bird feces. The doors were wooden and painted maroon to match the sign lettering. They were propped open with help from a few bricks. I raised an eyebrow at Jonghun but he walked on confidently. I decided to trust the old store if he did. It was as aged on the inside as it was in the front. The popcorn ceiling was high, but had many yellow stains, some even dripping. There were rusty metal shelves with various colorful goods crammed onto them, some still in cardboard boxes that were just placed on the shelves. Another section of the store had fruits and vegetables on display. Lining the back wall were a few freezers and refrigerators containing drinks and other wares.

“Hyung.. why this place?” Minhwan blurted, so loud a few ahjummas turned around and tch’d him. He bowed respectfully and then turned to face Jonghun.

“Just thought we needed a change of atmosphere. Not a big deal.” he pulled a red shopping cart and, surprisingly, steered clear of the greens.

As I predicted,Jaejin attempted to heave three watermelons into the cart. I disdainfully brought them back to their places, and continued to monitor Jaejin’s foolish decisions. Jonghun bought lots of noodles and bunches of bananas and grapes, things I’d usually take care of. Jaejin contributed bread and the usual needed dairy products. Seunghyun found no females from our generation in the store, so he skulked by Minhwan’s side, teddy bear still in hand. 

We continued on, much too tired to partake in our usual shenanigans. The weird vibe the dimly lit  grocery store gave us was probably to blame for our lack of energy as well. Seunghyun only perked up when we passed a tiny unaccompanied child. He knelt and give the adorable youngster the plush toy. The boy beamed and accepted, the gift, running away with a mischievous grin suddenly painted on his face. Minhwan swooned and almost chased him, but Jonghun grabbed him by the shirt.

“Woah there, we’re leaving!” Jonghun said.

Minhwan pussyfooted with us toward the cash register with the shortest line, which was being run by an elderly lady. I saw another register being run by a cute girl with a short red bob of hair. Her large eyes beamed as the old man she was ringing up items for talked animatedly. It was cute how she feigned her interest. I kept my eyes on her while our items were being scanned. If I squinted, I could make out the black letters engraved on her nametag. ‘Seul Tae Han’ it seemed to say. Before I could make sure, a sunglasses wearing Jonghun dragged me out of the door, where he proceeded to groan and say that we were never returning to the dull store. The others agreed and complained on how understocked it was. I chimed in, completely forgetting about ‘Seul Tae.’