(Image Source: iamjaceyandlovesuju)

"So that's the person you chose?" Siwon whispered.

He nodded, causing his black-rimmed glasses to slip down a little. "Yeah, that's her."

"Why her? Are you sure she's from here? She doesn't look Australian," Donghae said.

"Tell me you did not just say that," Kyuhyun said, pushing his glasses back up.

"What? It's true. Does she fit your mental image of a local?" Donghae defended.

Kyuhyun had to admit it. She wasn't. Damn the little racist in everyone. He imagined someone much blonder, with eyes much bluer, and skin much paler than hers. The other girl in the far end of the cafe would've fit that profile pretty well. Henry and the other guys thought so, too, but when he saw this girl, he was sure that she was it. He insisted. He argued. He's good at that. She looks so much more approachable, he said. She's alone so there are no friends to deal with. Only someone familiar with the place would stay out this late all alone so she's probably from here. He still couldn't figure out why he did that. He mentally kicked himself for being irrational.

"That's like saying Henry isn't really Canadian because he's Asian!" Kyuhyun retorted. "This is a very ethnically diverse country. Lots of Australians are of Asian descent."

"Oh, just shut up, will you? I don't need a lecture on Australian lineages right now," Donghae said. "I just wanna find Hyuk and I wanna be sure that the person we ask is the right one."

"Well I'm not the one stupid enough to lose him in the first place," Kyuhyun muttered under his breath.

"What did you say?!" Donghae flared up, lunging towards Kyu.

Siwon was fast enough to hold Donghae back. The smaller guy struggled against him, but he locked him in a tight embrace so he couldn't move an inch. Only when he was sure that Donghae was calm did he turn his attention to the younger one.

"Kyuhyun, that's stepping over the line," Siwon reprimanded. "I was out there, too. I am as much at fault as anyone. We weren't paying attention. But that doesn't give you the right to call anyone stupid. We're still your hyungs and we deserve respect."

Kyuhyun just looked straight ahead and kept silent.

"You smug little bastard!" Donghae struggled to reach Kyu again but Siwon held tight. "He thinks he's better than us because he's so smart-"

"I take it back, okay?!" Kyu said finally. "I take what I said back. It was wrong of me to say that, okay?"

Donghae calmed down once again. That was as good an apology as anybody can get out of their youngest member, and he was just too exhausted and scared to feel anything else right now. It was also taking all of his strength to not break down and cry his heart out right here in the hotel lobby. It's a good thing that Siwon's holding him or else he would've just slid down to the floor.

"They're coming, they're coming! Get your acts together!" Sungmin said, finally speaking after standing silently beside Kyuhyun all that time.

The four men fixed themselves and their expressions as best they could. Siwon motioned for the others to come join them. The girl had her eyes trained on the floor as she meekly followed an excited Henry towards them. 

"Guys, this is Lily," Henry introduced. "She's agreed to help us find Hyukjae hyung. Lily, these are my friends."

----------

It took a lot of effort for her to lift her head, and a lot more self-control to keep her face from betraying her recognition of Siwon. She's starting to match the others' faces with names, too. The distressed-looking stocky guy beside Siwon was… who was it? Clare said he had the biggest X factor in the group. Donghae. Yes, that's Donghae. What X factor, she couldn't fathom. He didn't have any impact on her whatsoever. Maybe she had to see him perform?

She smiled and nodded politely as Henry introduced each of the members. They smiled and nodded at her in return. It's a good thing she's been reading and re-reading their names awhile ago or else she'd totally not remember any of it. Her eyes drifted to the guy in black-rimmed glasses once again. So, he's Kyuhyun. That's why he looked so familiar. Besides Siwon, the only other member who stood out to her when Clare showed her that MV for that cute love song (what was the title again?) was Kyuhyun. His voice was the perfect tone of deep and sweet that even though he only sang a couple of verses, his voice was her favorite straight away. Of course, he also looked adorable in that red plaid shirt standing in front of the heart collage with open arms…

She realized that she's been staring at him all this time. The funny thing was that he was staring right back at her. Warmth crept up her cheeks as she hurriedly diverted her gaze somewhere else. It landed on Donghae, who was looking at her like he was trying to decide if she's guilty or not. What did she do anyway?! She quickly looked back at Henry. There. Safe. He was explaining to her where they last saw Hyukjae, their lost member. She nodded. She knew that place. Or at least that train station.

"I think we should split up," Lily said. "Two groups. There are several popular Korean convenience stores around this area, but there are also some in the city center. One group should go into the city and the other should check the nearby towns."

Henry translated it to the others. Some nodded and grumbled some sort of agreement, but the guy beside Kyuhyun - he's Sungmin, right? - commented something. 

"Everyone agrees, but Sungmin's worried that we'll get lost again. It's a pretty big city, and the accent's weird so they'll need me to translate. I can't exactly leave you with the others either, unless you can speak Korean?" Henry explained.

"I'm sorry, I can't…" Lily admitted. "But… I can speak Mandarin pretty well," she added, remembering SJ-M.

Henry's face lit up. "Perfect! Most of us know that! Okay, let's split into groups."

Five minutes and a lot of arguing and translating later, the groups were determined. Henry will lead the city center team composed of Ryeowook, Yesung, Zhou Mi, and Sungmin. It was the easier task since the Korean stores were concentrated along 2 streets only and it only takes 2 train rides. Lily, on the other hand, will lead the suburb search team. Siwon was given to her because he had the best English and Mandarin skills out of the rest so he can act as translator. Donghae and Kyuhyun were also good in Mandarin so they were stuck to her team, too. They'd have to search three nearby towns where the receptionist said there were 24-hour Korean convenience stores. It would consist of several bus and train rides that required her "expertise" to figure out. 

After saying goodbye to Leeteuk, who decided to stay and take care of a sick member, they went out into the cold July air towards the train station. She bought them all multi-pass train and bus tickets (that really hurt her wallet!) and went over the directions with Henry one more time. All of them exchanged numbers in case someone gets lost. Upon arriving on the next station, the two teams parted ways. Lily was alone with her group at last. It scared the heck outta her. She wanted to make Henry come back.

She stood off to one side, keeping her eyes trained on the schedule board. Their train will be arriving in 6 minutes. 

Now 5.

Now 4.

"Thanks for doing this," someone said from behind her with a somewhat unusually-accented Chinese. She turned and was face to face with Siwon. Darnit, this guy really is good-looking it's almost unnatural. She couldn't blame Clare for fangirling this man. Heck, she wants to fangirl him, too, right now. He has that superstar quality that can't be covered up by merely putting awful clothes on him. He shines right through the mess, and yet, instead of being intimidating, he gives off such a genuine and welcoming feeling that Lily couldn't help but feel at ease. But not that at ease. Cute guys make her uneasy, and this one was waaaaaaay beyond cute.

"I-it's no big deal, really…" she said, unable to meet his gaze. She had to put in effort to set her brain in Mandarin mode. It's been a long time.

"You will be blessed," he said.

She smiled and nodded, still looking anywhere else but him. She's cursed with being socially awkward since birth, and this guy isn't helping her case. She casually stepped back one pace. His close proximity was making her head feel light.

"I'm sorry if the other two aren't talking to you. We're all just really worried, especially Donghae. Hyukjae is his best friend so he's really… scared right now," Siwon explained, pausing a moment to search for the right word.

"I see," Lily replied, mustering up the courage to look him in the eyes. Oh, they were beautiful. If only she could live stream whatever she's seeing to Clare right now… "If I lost my best friend, I'd be scared, too. I'd probably go crazy." She acted it out a tiny bit, which made Siwon smile and show those adorable dimples. 

Before her ovaries could react, their train pulled into the platform. She motioned for them to go inside. Donghae went in first, followed by Kyuhyun, and then Siwon stretched out his hand, indicating for her to go before him. Such a gentleman. Donghae slammed himself beside a window, but quickly got up when Kyuhyun sat beside him. He settled far up front, rudely conveying that he wanted to be alone. It was good that this car was empty. Kyu, on the other hand, looked really pissed off. He scooted near the window, his eyebrows furrowed. She wanted to comfort him somehow, but she had no idea what to do. All she could think of was sitting silently beside him. Siwon settled himself behind them. 

They agreed to search the farthest town first and then work their way in. Their station was three stops away. They sat in tensed silence. Lily looked over at Donghae who had his head leaning against the window. She could just imagine how panicked he is right now. If Clare ever went missing, she would have a squadron looking for her right now. She'd probably be walking down some street, flashlight in hand, calling out her name like in the movies. And crying. There'd be so much more crying.

The train shuddered to a halt. The platform was almost empty save for two or three people. At last, the doors closed, cutting off the influx of chilly winter air. Lily adjusted her scarf. Just then, a woman with long, messy brown hair stumbled up the steps onto their car, muttering to herself and bringing with her the unmistakable stench of too much alcohol. She sat right in front of Donghae. The chair wasn't turned the right way so she was facing him.  Lily tensed up instantly. Donghae looked like he didn't notice anything and continued to stare outside. The woman continued talking to herself, oblivious to the world. When it seemed like they were going to completely ignore each other, Donghae suddenly glanced at the woman just as she glanced at him. 

"Well aren't you a cute one?" the woman said with a creepy smile. 

Donghae returned his attention to the view outside. The woman scooted by the window and leaned forward, trying to get his attention.

"Fancy meeting a cutie like you on my way home," the woman said, leaning closer. Donghae continued to pretend not to hear anything. "If you want, you could come home with me and I'll make you real lucky tonight. You probably have no idea what I'm saying, do you? No worries, we don't need words for that. All you need is--"

"I'm sorry, he's taken," Lily said coldly. She got there just in time to catch the woman's outstretched hand and return it forcefully to her side. What she was reaching for, Lily didn't even want to think about. One of the things that freaked her out in this country were its drunks. There never seemed to be a quiet drunk around. All of them were noisy. What's weird was how they aren't embarrassed to talk to random people, even a whole car of people, in improperly loud voices, even if everyone was ignoring them. Lily, a self-confessed wuss at confrontations, was now actually standing up to on of those drunks. What in the world was she doing?!

"How dare you touch me, you !" the woman spat, rubbing her wrist.

"How dare YOU try to feel up my boyfriend?!" Lily shot back. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Siwon start to get up. She gave him a look that made him sit back down.

The woman looked at where she was looking and finally noticed the existence of Siwon and Kyuhyun. "So THIS is your boyfriend? What about those two back there? Are they your boyfriends, too? What a dirty little you are," she hissed.

"It's better to be that than a sorry like you who's so worn that even beer goggles couldn't help you get laid anymore," Lily replied. 

"You !" the woman cried, standing up, hand poised to slapping position.

"Just. Try. It." Lily dared, filling her eyes and voice with as much poison as she could. She pulled herself to her full height, trying her best to look menacing. She wasn't petite, but neither were the majority of the women in this country. 

The drunk woman hesitated for a moment. Just as she was about to go on with the slap, the train halted and threw her backwards, sending her tumbling over the chair.  Lily took the chance and grabbed Donghae's hand, pulling him towards the back to another car. Siwon and Kyuhyun followed them without hesitation.

When they were safely away from that nightmare of a car, Lily finally let go of Donghae's hand. 

"Are you alright?" he asked, looking at her incredulously. He didn't fully understand what the two women said to each other but he knew that Lily just saved his and almost got -slapped because of it. Now he felt incredibly guilty for what he said and the way he acted earlier. She looked unsteady so he took her hand and led her to a seat. He was surprised at how cold her hand was.

"Donghae-ssi," Lily said with difficulty. "That was the scariest thing I've ever had to do. Could you please not make me do it again and just stay close to me?"

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So! Here it is. The second chapter. I hope you liked it. Now I'm off to wrack my brain for the next chapter. Lol!

Again, thanks for reading and for leaving comments! (yes, I'm attracting your comments through positive thinking!)