“So how is the trip so far?” Mr. Sheng asked over the phone.

“Great. I got some great pictures of the Hongdae area, and the tour in Bucheon is all set for tomorrow.”

“Good. Are you going to get dinner soon?”

“Yup! I’m meeting some friends who now work here in five minutes.”

“Okay. Don’t forget to get a good night’s sleep, okay? I know jet lag is terrible, but at least try.”

I laughed. “Tell me about it. I’ll call you tomorrow.” With that, I snapped my phone shut and walked inside the restaurant.

The lower floor was packed with people. As I glanced over, I noticed some tables had people with cameras hanging on their necks. Thank god I had left mine at the hotel, or I guess the staff wouldn’t let me in. As nonchalantly as I could, I went to the far left of the restaurant and took the stairs.

A waitress was waiting at the top. “Name?” She asked, as I had been warned.

“Joonmyun’s Party,” I managed to stumble in my limited Korean.

She nodded and gestured me to follow her. She led me into a private room, where I took my seat and started scrolling through messages. Most of them were from Sherry and Yinna, telling me about life at the university and asking me questions about Seoul. “TELL ME IF YOU SEE MINHO!” Sherry screamed at me through the text. I rolled my eyes at her plea to stalk her latest bias. That girl would never change. Yinna on the other hand asked me to get some textiles for her to sample, and maybe some rice paper. She was now dealing with prints and weaving in her art major, and promised that she would always be open for collaborations.

There were some texts from Kris and Mr. Sheng about my upcoming trips, but none from Tao. Not a single one.

I sighed. I had told him about my travels, but I wanted my trip to Korea be a surprise. We had emailed back and forth, but he was busy with his new album and I was working on my internship. The last time I got something from him were candy and a note explaining that Korea celebrated White Day, and since he was there, he couldn’t help but get me something.

I should be reassured by that, right? I mean, White Day was a holiday only serious couples celebrated apparently.

But White Day was a week ago. He might have changed his mind. Or he was cheating behind my back. My throat closed up at the thought, and my hands clenched into fists.

But did I have any dreams about the fear of him cheating on me? I hadn’t. I made myself relax, trying to reassure myself that I was just thinking silly thoughts.

But what if my power was biased to members of EXO?

Before I could explore that thought even further, a bunch of excited voices and footsteps brought me back to Earth. I quickly composed myself as the door opened. I stood up and bowed. “Annyeong-hasayeo!”

Xiumin’s surprised face was totally worth the hours I spent memorizing phrases from guidebook. I laughed as I saw the other members of EXO-K and Chen with the same look on their faces. They started laughing too and greeted me back in Chinese, a gesture that touched me.

Kris stepped forward and I hugged him. “How’s my cousin?”

“Pretty good, although a bit busy. How was Canada?”

“Same old same old. Although I was surprised on how quickly some people aged.”

“Kalyn!” Luhan nearly ran over and tackled me into a hug. “Hi hi hi!”

I laughed. “Hey you bundle of energy. It’s good to see you after a year.” I took a step back when he released me and immediately frowned. “Oh my…it looks like Kris isn’t the only one with a high stylist.”

“Huh? Oh, this.” He ruffled through his greyish white hair. “I got so stressed out hearing that you and Tao were kidnapped last year that my hair went all white,” he joked.

I punched him lightly in the arm. “That is not funny. Especially with your hair. Did your members restrict you from eating black sesame seeds or something?”

“We would never do that,” Lay objected as he stepped forward to claim his obligatory hug. He hadn’t changed much besides that his bangs were shorter.

“Yes you would!” Lu Han said as I embraced Lay. “You may pretend you care about your group, but lately you have been learning from that troll Chen.”

“If I learned so much from Chen, I would have dyed your hair orange by now since it’s already bleached,” Lay retorted as he stepped back.

I rolled my eyes at the bickering couple and took my seat at the table. I looked around. “Where’s Tao?” I asked Kris as he sat down next to me.

He frowned. “He’s busy with his filming right now.”

“What kind of filming?”

“Hmm. I think it was a drama? Or maybe a sitcom. I still can’t really tell the difference between those two.” Kris reached over to the lazy Susan with his chopsticks. “Here, try some of this kimchi. I swear it’s the best in all of Korea.”

I obediently took the piece of letter into my mouth. Its spiciness was actually tangy but not overwhelming. When I swallowed, I asked, “Is he free while I’m here?” My throat tightened at the thought of not being able to confront Tao before I left Seoul.

Kris’s eyebrows furrowed. “You’re here for…three days? Probably. Why don’t you give me the address of your hotel and your hotel room? I can check up on you and drag him over.”

“Trying to impress Kalyn that you’re the leader, duizhang?” Lay asked as he reached over to take a bowl of rice.

“At least she’s dating Tao, I don’t think I could stand the thought of cousins dating,” Lu Han commented.

I shot him a scathing look. “ is illegal in most civilized countries, the last time I checked.”

Lu Han put his hands in the air. “Okay, okay! I’m sorry!”

“You better,” Kris retorted, jabbing the air with his chopsticks. “Or they’ll be punishment tonight.”

Lu Han and Lay immediately backed away, giving over-exaggerated whimpers about “Duizhang’s wrath”. Aish, seriously, those two kids…

Even though I was full by the end of the night, my heart was still hollow. I waved goodbye to everyone in EXO and their managers as I left the dining room early, so it wouldn’t look suspicious. No one seemed to pay attention to me anyway as I left the restaurant.

It seemed weird walking down a dark street, as everyone around me talked in a foreign tongue. I could catch some words, but honestly all I could tell was that they were speaking Korean. I felt much out of place, but somehow comforted too. Here, no one knew me as the Shen Ling artist who was involved in a car accident and kidnapping in the same month. I was just another Chinese tourist, albeit a solitary one.

I went into my hotel and went up to my room. As I the lights, my gaze went immediately to Yin Yang, who sat on top of my bags.

“Oh Yin Yang, what are we going to do,” I sighed, picking him and settling into the couch.

Well, more like what was I going to do?

[A/N] TOLD Y'ALL I WAS GOING TO BE DONE SOON. -squints at doubtful readers- But don't expect another update until next week >.< 

Yeah, so for all ye black-haired people out there, apparently eating black sesame seeds keeps your hair from graying. Not sure if there’s any scientific evidence behind it but my mother only has a handful of white hairs and she’s turning a half a century old. (SORRY MA!) Like honestly, you wouldn’t know she’s graying. (Although I suppose that will all change if something bad happens? –runs to give Dad vitamins-) Not sure if it works with people of other hair color, but it might. Besides, black sesame is delicious…sometimes >.> (really expensive though meh)

Also, thank you lightskiesbox for subscribing! I would say thank you personally on your wall but your profile is blocked. :( Yeah I don't friend my subscribers usually unless they ask and they've put in a decent amount of comments. (Honestly though, do you guys put your profiles as friend-only just to get more friends or to make sure you get no stalkers?)

SHOOT BRO I CAN FEEL IT IN THE AIR. -puts ORLLY face on- SHOOT ANONYMOUS ANONYMOUS

...yeah I'll see y'all next time :3