I was happy, seeing both of his parents smile at me, yet keep us on opposite sides of the table while we ate.

"It tastes different today," Mr. Zhou announced. "Somehow sweeter," he described, tasting the soup. 

"Yes... it was Miss Niuwang's idea," Mother answered, looking at me.

"In Wisconsin we cook things in alcohol to give it extra flavor. So I cooked the fish in rice wine with some spices."

"Well, it tastes good, Niuwang. Do you cook often?"

"I live alone, so, pretty often. And I cook for Henry and the rest of the guys pretty often, too. Since Ryeowook's the only one that knows anything, and I feel bad that he works so hard for them all of the time, so I help him."

"Oh, you get along with Henry, too?"

"He's my brother," I said without thinking. "Well... figuratively. He might as well be my brother. I'm friends with his little sister, too."

Zhou Mi smiled at me, and I looked down at my plate, blushing. I wasn't feeling very hungry. Nope. Not at all.

"How am I supposed to say goodbye this time?" I chuckled, matching Zhou Mi's footsteps. To the taxi that would take me away from his parents' house and back to the airport, where I wouldn't be able to come up with an excuse this time to miss out. "Of course, there are a few ways I can think of, but I don't think it would be appropriate to do that in your hometown with your parents there..."

He looked at me, open-mouthed, and I laughed again. Taxi, only a few feet away, patiently waiting for me. I stretched onto my toes, kissing him on the cheek. "I'm just kidding. Well, I'm not, about it being inappropriate, but I'm kidding about saying goodbye that way." The words were spilling out of my mouth without me thinking about them again. I grabbed his hand, wrapping it in my own, cold ones. "I feel really relieved. And I will definitely come back for a visit. Because your family is amazing, and I'm really glad they decided to see me as a person, and not as an American. I'm not surprised that you're their son."

He laughed. "I hope you don't like my parents more than you like me..."

I did my best to look horrified. "How could you even suggest that?! That's absurd! I only like Henry's parents more than I like him."

He pulled me into an embrace, and I felt happy and warm, breathing out a puff of air that came outof my mouth in a cloud of steam. "I'll see you in Seoul, Mimi. When I come back from the United States. Promise me, promise me... that you'll be there."

"You havenothing to worry about, Niuwang. Now hurry up and go. Make an awesome movie. I want premier tickets."

I laughed, opening the taxi door. "I'll see what I can do. But... the first thing I have to do when I get there is record a song with Nick Jonas..." I shuddered at the sound of the name, trying not to vomit.

He laughed and leaned over the door. "Go, Niuwang." He closed the door behind me, and I made a face at him while the taxi began to drive away.

"Welcome to SM Beijing," I said to Nick, yawning.

"What does SM mean?" he asked.

"Well, it used to stand for its creator and chairman, Lee Soo Man. But since he stepped down from the chairman position and now Kim Young Min's in charge, they changed it to 'Star Museum'."

"That sounds really stupid."

"Maybe a little," I admitted.

He stopped, looking at me, wide-eyed. "You agreed with me on something!"

I stopped, turning to glare at him. "Yeah. And?"

"But... you always tell me I'm wrong, or I'm stupid, or I'm being a jerk, or--"

"Usually I use more explicit language than that. You just don't understand because it's usually in Korean or Japanese."

"Still, you don't agree with me. Ever. You're kind of bi--"

"Look, SM isn't the greatest company in the world. I don't agree with everything it does just because I work for it. Insult the company, fine. Insult its artists, Asian culture in general, or any of my friends, and then we have a problem. Now can we please just go to the studio and record the song?"

"It's not like they're that good..." he muttered under his breath, and in an instant, I snapped, lurching toward him, ready to punch him, strangle him, anything.

But Jung Ah was right there, and she knew what I was doing. She had me under the arms, pulling me backwards with all her strength. "Minsung, Minsung, listen! Calm down! If we get sued, we could lose everything. Understand? Take a deep breath. Think of Zhou Mi. Think of the ELF."

I in air, glaring fiercely at Nick, clenching my fists so tightly that my fingernails dug in. The ELF wouldn't want me to start a fight, I thought. They'd say that we're past that, and any people who insult our oppas are just stupid and don't know what they're talking about. No fights. He's just an idiot.

When I was sufficiently calm, Jung Ah let go of me (though, if I really wanted to, I could have easily escaped from her), and I fixed my clothes and continued glaring at Nick. He seemed afraid of me, backed up against the wall, which made me happy. His own manager, for his part, was hardly as attentive as Jung Ah, and was a little late getting to the spot.

I exhaled again. "I get this feeling that singing this duet is going to take a few tries." I walked away as quickly as I could, still calming down.

Behind me, I heard him turn to Jung Ah. "How am I supposed to get along with her?! She gets angry at everything!" 

Jung Ah sighed, sounding more tired than ever. "If I were you? Don't say anything until you get to the recording room. Sing the song, and don't say anything else. I just don't think the two of you are meant to get along."

Okay, focus, Melissa. You don't even know the guy you're singing with, I thought to myself, refusing to even look at Nick. It's just a duet, and you're a professional. Get over it. Don't even think about it. He has a nice enough voice, right? Be strong. You're Queen Be. Rule. Rule SM. Well... BoA rules SM, but you rule for now. Certainly over this guy at least.

I looked at the sheet music, opening it up to the right pages. I signaled to the director, and he began the music, cuing us. It played in my ears, a nice, powerful ballad song, to represent the Zodiac's painful sacrifice, called "Farewell". I wasn't the first to sing. I listened only to the words, ignoring the source of the voice.

"An open door
that I ignored,
staring me in the face,
while I struggled through the days...

White buildings and black roads,
full of shambles and ruins no one knows,
This is all I know,
this is all I'll ever know..."

"Please don't cry when I leave.
I need you to be strong for me.
I've lived with far too many lies
to think of it as sacrifice.

I fought for no reason,
just to feel like I was alive.
And now I can finally say,
I was happy to be by your side."

"When the clock strikes twelve,
I will say farewell.
"I will remember everything I left behind,"
"I will no longer let myself be so blind."
"I will be selfless for the first and last time,
knowing that this is what I have lived for,"
"and I need nothing more..."

"I'm not afraid,"
"I'm... not.. afraid..."
"Everything will change,"
"Just one more turn of the wheel
and I'll be free,
though I know you don't believe."

"Don't worry about letting go,
I've never been alone.
I'm not going by myself..."

"I'll never be alone..."

"WHEN THE CLOCK STRIKES TWELVE,
I will say FAREWELL,
"I will remember everything I left behind,"
"I will no longer let myself be so blind."
"I will be selfless for the first and last time,
knowing that this is what I have lived for,"
"and I need nothing more..."

"For the first and last time..."
"This is what I lived for..."
"and I need nothing more."

I waited for the music to fade out, as the vibrations ofmy own vocal cords began to fade out into silence, the background music ended. When everything was quiet, I looked up at the director. I saw the red light on the recording stand go off, and I sighed and took the headset off, setting it gently back on the stand.

"Queen Be, please take a break. Mr. Jonas? If we could re-record a few of your lines..."

"What? Why?!"

"Please don't overreact. We want a bit more balance. Queen Be has a very loud voice when she becomes emotional, and so her parts were much clearer than yours."

I flashed a sly grin at him, then nodded to the recording manager. I opened the door, stepping out.

I looked at my watch. Better get going. It was time for hair and makeup. I'd be there early, for once.

"Wow, Q-B's here early!" Liam yelled, ruffling his hand through his hair.

"What did I say about the nicknames?! No nicknames! I has boyfriend!" I pointed to myself, deliberately using incorrect English. 

"Sure, Q-B. Whatever you say," he replied, nudging me with an arm. "Where's Nick?" he asked.

"He had to re-record some things."

"So, for once, Q-B's early, and Nick's late."

I glared at him, producing a paper bag from my backpack. "Well, then I guess you don't want these..." I took one out, flashing the honey-covered treats.

Suddenly a bunch of the cast members were surrounding me. "Can I have one! Please?!"

"Oh, sure. Rice cakes? Everyone but Liam."

I laughed at his expression, then gave him one.

"Are these homemade?! Where did you get these?" Xun Lin asked.

"My boyfriend's wonderful mother," I answered smugly.

"You're not kidding, are you?" Shay asked, materializing from behind Ji Hye. 

"No, they really are rice cakes."

"Shut up, that's not what I meant. I mean... you have a boyfriend?"

"Don't look so shocked. I'm not that ugly," I snapped back, waving a rice cake in front of her face.

She scowled. "No thanks. Too many carbs."

I rolled my eyes and popped it into my mouth, saying around it, "Mmmmm, delicious."

"So how long have you..."

"A year and a half. Or are you talking about the rice cakes?"

"Why are you so--?"

"Ladies, ending scene, please!"

The cast dispersed, and I swallowed the rice cake and fell into step next to Chun Lin. She glanced at me, her face cold. 

"I know who it is."

I stared at her, shocked, not because of what she said, but because she'd said anything at all. "You know?"

She snorted. "The whole country knows. You're not being very subtle."

I shrugged. "It's been long enough, I don't feel like lying to my fans any longer. Or his."

She didn't say anything, just took her place on set, a desert-y place outside of Beijing. Twelve stone carvings stood in a circle around a carving of the Lunar Calendar. It was where the end of the movie was filmed, before the "epilogue" scenes.

"Lawrence!" Andrea yelled, and he rushed over to the pillar she was reading, looking up at him in horror. Her voice echoed around the astral plane, and yet, at the same time, sounded like a whisper. "This is it. This is the reason... this is why everything was twelve. Why there's twelve animals in the zodiac, twelve years in the cycle. In order to stop the spirit from overtaking the world... it needs twelve sacrifices."

Lawrence stood up straight, not looking at any of us. But from her place on the ground, Andrea looked right at us. "Twelve willing youths possessing the Spirit, who would create the circle for the Collector."

I felt a hollow grow in the center of my stomach. I'd realized that Lao Ban had only been using us to achieve his goals, so he could have the Spirit for himself. I already knew the lies he had fed us ever since he nurtured us and taught us how to survive on the streets. But this was the end. This was the culmination of it all.

"This was what he did it all for," I whispered, my voice barely carrying across the space to reach Lawrence. "He needed twelve young people to sacrifice themselves willingly for him. So... he took us. Kids that no one was looking for, no one would miss. He made us love him, and he was right." I looked up at Lawrence, swallowing hard. "A few days ago, we would have died for him."

"He never wanted to save the world," Monkey said, shaking her head. "He just wanted the Spirit."

I clenched my fist, breathing in and out. "But we won't let him have it." I looked around at the other Zodiac members, and they nodded.

Lawrence crossed the room to me, putting his hands on my shoulders. "No, Rat, you don't have to do this."

As if in response, the ground shook beneath our feet. I brushed Lawrence's hands away. "No. You're the Collector. We're just homeless kids. No one's going to miss us. And we will stop Lao Ban. We helped him in the first place. And I don't know about you, but I love Asia. I'll do everything I can to keep it safe. You do what you can to save your country. We'll save ours."

The other Zodiac members nodded, and I held the stone to my heart, feeling its warmth. "Thank you, Andrea, Lawrence... Josh. We'll take care of everything. Just make sure you take care of everything."

I turned, walking towards one of the spires. I looked back at them, smiling. "And so the Rat was the first to reach the banquet." I stepped in, feeling myself enveloped by the warm glow. One by one, the other eleven I had grown up with stepped into the edges of the circle, surrounded by the light. Andrea was crying. 

I opened my eyes, smiling at Lawrence. "I never got the chance to remember... who I was. If this works... find out for me. If you can."

I closed my eyes, not afraid. We were going together. Me, Ox, Monkey, Dragon... all of us. Together, like always.

"Perfect. I always knew those kids would do great things."

Lawrence spun around, facing the man the Zodiac had called "Lao Ban."

"You are not wasting what they gave their lives for," he growled, clenching his fist.

He crossed to where Rat was frozen, dissolving into the earth. "Oh, poor Rat. So tough, so smart... what am I going to do without her?"

Andrea faced him with pure hate. "Don't pretend to feel remorse. You were going to do this to her."

Lao Ban stood still, then turned to her and smiled. "You're right. They were just foolish children, after all. What did they think they were going to accomplish? And you're foolish, too. Let me handle the Spirit."

"Never."

Suddenly Lawrence was frozen, realizing he was standing in the center of the circle. Not... yet...

Lao Ban's eyes glowed, and with a twitch of his fingers, flames were spiraling towards Lawrence. 

"NO!" Andrea screamed, and a blast of water met the flames, turning them to steam. 

Lawrence struggled to move, the whispers of so many voices flowing through his mind like water. "Andrea... you have... to stop him..."

"What can I do?!" She asked, panicked. Her magic was too weak.

"The Zodiac aren't here... to help us anymore. It's just us."

Lao Ban tried again, and Andrea fought back. Soon it was a network of spells while Lawrence's eyes were clouded by the light of the Spirit, using all of his willpower to try and push it back into the Earth.

Andrea shouted a spell, blasting it at Lao Ban. He was startled, for a moment. She had learned it from Dragon.

The Fortune spell she'd learned from Monkey, the Transparency spell that Snake had taught her. Andrea fought with all her strength. 

Then, finally, Lawrence's mind quieted. One thought whispered through his mind. "Collector... what is it that you ask of us?"

Andrea was hit with an invisible force that held her by the throat, cutting off her oxygen. Her feet flailed in the air, and Lawrence had to save her. Had to save her...

Light pierced Lao Ban's chest, as if coming from Lawrence, and at the same time, up from the ground. Lao Ban screamed, his eyes glowing, like he was burning from the inside...

When the light cleared, they were back in L.A. The spires were gone. Josh was unconscious on the ground, and there was no sign the Zodiac had ever been there. And the only remnant of Lao Ban was a black stain on the ground.

Andrea collapsed, clutching her chest. "Gone... they're all gone. It's over." At first Lawrence thought she was gasping for air, but he now realized she was crying. He ran over to her, gathering her into his arms. "It's what they would have wanted," he said, but he felt his own throat tighten. He'd never imagined it would end this way.

I straightened up, brushing the dust off of my legs. "That was so dramatic... I could cry. Seriously... Shay... you cried when I died. I'm so touched."

Shay wiped her eyes and threw the tissue at me. "Shut up, Queen Be."

I grinned at her, wiping my own eyes. "I think that's the greatest performance we've ever given. You're going to miss me when this movie's over, aren't you?"

She grimaced at me. "You wish it was that way."

I shrugged. "I don't make a point of making enemies."

"Why are you so friendly to the guys, huh? You think I don't see what kind of girl you are?!" she shrieked, surprising me.

"What do you mean? I get along well with guys. Is that weird?"

"You're just a little , Queen Be! You don't care about anyone else! You just want to be close to Liam!"

I had no idea what to say to that. She was totally off from the topic, and a lot of the crew was just standing there in shock. Finally one of the producers came, dumping water over her, dragging her backwards. When she was gone, I looked at Liam.

"Did you ever get the impression I was hitting on you?" I asked, suddenly tired again.

"What?" he asked, still staring off after Shay.

"I mean, did you ever think that I was flirting with you?"

He thought about it. "Not... really. I thought you were being weird."

"That's what I thought, too," I answered, and that was the end of the conversation. No more words needed.

Jung Ah rubbed her forehead, sighing and setting the gossip column down. "Looks like Shay was jealous of you after all. And, of course, everyone knows."

I shrank in my chair. "I really didn't mean to-"

"It wasn't your fault, Minsung," she sighed before I could finish. "You were just being silly. I know you love your Mimi too much to do anything like that."

I grimaced. "She called me a . Does she even know that I'm still a ?"

"We didn't make that common knowledge. Don't worry about it, Minsung. Everyone will forget about it soon enough. They always do."

I huffed, sipping my tea furiously. "Let's just leave Beijing. Get this movie over with."

She laughed. "You have to film in Seoul, yet."

I sighed in relief. "Ah, we get to go back to Seoul... finally my poor kitten can stay in one place for a while... I think I'll let the SNSD members take care of him for a while."

Jung Ah rolled her eyes and laughed. "You care more about your cat than public opinion."

"My sister's been teasing me all along about Liam. My whole family knows how long I've been single. All the ELF and Honey Be's know about my past 'relationships'. The whole world knows how long I've gone being single. I'm not tempted that easily."

Jung Ah smiled and handed me a plane ticket. "Come on, Queen Be. Let's go home."

"WELCOME TO INCHEON!" I shouted, loud enough to make other people in the airport turn and look, but I was grinning at the other cast members. Ji Hye, Gi Jun and Jisong all huddled close to me, excited. 

"Oh my god, it's Queen Be!" I heard people yell, and soon I was swamped by teenage girls, asking me to sign things. Jung Ah tried to maintain order, and I just smiled and signed, asking people if they were okay, if they were waiting for a comeback, if they were excited for the movie to come out.

I loved seeing the shocked look on people's faces when they were reminded that I was a singer. I loved seeing my fans, and it helped me feel powerful. I waved when they walked away, and turned to Ji Hye. "Ah, it's good to be back! I can hear the audiences going wild! See the sapphire blue, the honey gold! Wake up and taste the kimchi!"

Ji Hye laughed, looking back at the film crew. "You're going to get them lost."

I patted my cat carrier. "KyuMin knows where we're going. Don't you, KyuMin?"

She laughed again. "Don't you think it's funny that Rat is so obsessed about her cat?"

I thought about it. "Heol! You're right!"

"Heol!" she laughed, and we were both laughing. The non-Korean members of the team looked at us like we were nuts. 

"So are you going to the hotel this time?" Jisong asked suspiciously.

I laughed, a sound that echoed around the wide airport halls. "No, when we get to Seoul, I'm going home. To my bed. So KyuMin can go back to sitting on the counter, and I can use my own password."

"Not going to your boyfriend's place?" Gi Jun prodded, poking me in the side.

I laughed. "Of course not. He's in China."

I walked ahead of them, to where Jung Ah was waiting next to a taxi.

As soon as I opened the door to the cat carrier and let KyuMin out, he ran into the bathroom, where his litterbox was. I set my suitcase next to the door, knowing that it wouldn't be long until I had it packed again, so there was no point in unpacking it.

I walked into the room and looked in the cupboards, looking in the fridge. All perishable items had been removed, even the cheese. I found a note stuck to the refrigerator door. "We saved you the trouble of eating it before it goes bad. Thanks for the food! - <3 Henry&Heechul

I chuckled at the note, knowing how they'd gotten in. I left it on the fridge, then went into the cupboard to get my rice out. It was soon in the rice cooker, and while it cooked, I went to my bed and flopped backwards, sighing heavily. The sun had already gone down, and I could see the sapphire blue stars glowing from the ceiling.

I closed my eyes, letting darkness wash over me. Maybe I could just take a nap before I--

My phone rang, jolting me out of my rest. I groaned, rolling over and pulling it out of my purse. It was Tiffany.

"Tiff, I just got back to Seoul..." I whined as soon as I answered.

She laughed. "I heard one of the stars started screaming at you."

I chuckled. "I have that effect on people, I know. I get along with hot men. It's happened before. I had this one friend I'd known for a long time, and a bunch of girls would talk about how cute he was, and I would just be like, 'ummmm... sure'."

"But you're the one that said Liam was hot," she chided.

"Well, he is. You'd have to not be a girl to not know that. That doesn't mean I'm hitting on him."

"I think I'll have to see this movie," Tiffany laughed over the phone.

"Get in line. Mimi wants premier tickets."

"Oh my gosh, you're going to go to a movie premier! You get to dress up and be so pretty..."

"Which would be amazing, considering that through most of the movie I'm dressed in a tank top and a tank top with my hair matted and my face dirty. I think people will be shocked."

"Is your advertising company going to give you a dress?"

"Nah, I just figured I'd wear pants."

"Noooo! You get a chance to wear designer dresses! Don't you dare!"

I laughed. "I'm going to be in California. You going to stop me?"

"I'll... I'll find a way."

"Anyway, I think Shay'll be fine. I can't really blame her for wanting Liam. But, you know, I don't influence his decisions. He's just a co-worker."

"You have a bad history with co-workers," she pointed out.

I paused. "Oh, shut up. Are you going to visit the set tomorrow or not?"

"I'm visiting. Oh, honey, this is your last filming location, isn't it?!"

"Yeah. They're already putting the previews together. Then it's back to the United States for interviews, promotions... and to be on call for anything. Until it comes out."

"Well, then, I'll try to be on my best behavior tomorrow. See you then, alright?"

"Yeah. I'm going to sleep now, Tiff. See you tomorrow. Wish me luck, alright?"

"Break a leg."

I laughed, remembering the practice for "Black Magic" in which I actually did break a leg. Hopefully nothing like that ever happened again.