The next 3 months went by in a blur. With the two of them being so busy and on opposite ends of the world, it was hard to keep in touch all the time. They had become accustomed to the “Good morning” and “Goodnight” texts, but it was usually after their rare video chat dates that they finally realized how much they missed each other. f(x) had finally returned to Korea in November after their promotion in America, shortening the distance between the two.

            “Good morning babe!” Nichkhun texted. “I miss you and I miss Korea so much. It’s getting so cold here. How is it in Korea? Make sure you dress warm!”

            “Good morning. I wish you were here. We busted out the gloves and winter jackets yesterday.” She replied, sending along a picture of herself frowning.

            “Just as pretty as I remembered.”

            “Good thing you remember how your girlfriend looks like.”

            “I’ve been checking you guys out on the internet all the time! Give me some credit. I happen to know that someone speaks English pretty well now.”

            “I pretty much sound like you and Taec now, right?” she joked, laughing at her feeble attempt at sounding like the two of them.

            “Even better than us! When I’m home we’re going to have all our conversations in English, hehe. But now I have to go get ready. Love you and miss you!”

            “Hwaiting! Love you lots too!”

            -

            “Which one of you goes by the name of pabo?” Minjae asked, holding a package in hand at the door of the living room on JYP’s apartment in Japan.

            The boys looked at each other and pointed to Chansung in unison.

            “Aniya!” Chansung defended. “Only you guys call me pabo. Other people appreciate my intelligence!”

            “I’ll give you another clue. Which one of you is the best looking?”

            They all pointed to themselves in unison, causing an uproar of laughter.

            “Hyung, just because Victoria said you were good looking once, it doesn’t mean you’re actually good looking.” Wooyoung teased.

            “Let’s be honest here, all that matters is that someone’s ex-wife and girlfriend thinks I’m better looking than himself…” he smiled slyly at Nichkhun.

            The boys looked at Minjae for another clue.

            “Okay, this is the last one. Which one of you is an appa.”

            “Aiiish. I know who it’s for.” Junho complained, sulking in jealousy of his hyung. “Must be nice to have a girlfriend!”

            “Haha, thanks Minjae hyung.” Nichkhun said as he looked at the package in his hand, shaking it gently in attempt to guess what it is. He hated how she was always so much better than him with surprises.

            “To pabo Nichkhun appa.” Chansung read. “Hyung, open it!”

            “Yah, it’s not even for you, why are you so excited?” JunK said bitterly.

            “I trust Victoria noona loves me enough to send me something too!” Chansung said confidently.

            “Yah, even if she did, you’re not getting any!” a jealous Nichkhun joked.

            “Don’t worry hyung, I’ll always be number 2 in her heart!”

            Nichkhun sat on the ground and opened the package carefully. Inside was a note, evidently written by Victoria by the amount of corrections made on the page.

            “Hello lovebug! I miss you lots and I hope you’re resting well when you can.” Nichkhun read.  “I know that your guys’ debut will be nothing short of perfect, hwaiting! When I was in the States, every time I saw these, I thought about you… well more like I thought of…” Nichkhun stopped reading it out loud.

            “Who? Who was she thinking of?!” Taecyeon asked impatiently, attempting to peek at the note.

            “… Chansung.” He sighed.

            “HA! Hyung, I told you she loved me more! I guess that makes me number 1! She should have just saved the trouble and sent the package to me!” Chansung boasted.

            “Yah, don’t get too excited. There’s more to the letter!” Nichkhun said bitterly. “… I thought of Chansung, only because I can’t get over how much he looked like a monkey the last time you guys fought for mangoes. It was too funny to forget!”

            The boys burst out laughing. “I don’t think she was complimenting you!” JunK laughed. “I guess that makes Nichkhun number 1 still, you little monkey!”

            “I’m sure she meant to say I was a good looking monkey!” Chansung pouted.

            Nichkhun continued. “I bought you guys a lot of mangoes, they’re waiting for you guys in Korea so come home soon to get them! I figured you guys would want some now so I’ve sent over 3 packs. Make sure you share with the boys, especially with Mr. JunK, the best looking of 2PM! Hehehe.” Nichkhun laughed at how well Victoria treated s.

            “Yah, she really is the best!” Taecyeon said, rummaging through the box and hugging the mangoes in his embrace.

            “Daebak! Can we call her to tell her we love her?!” Wooyoung pleaded.

            “I’m going to cry!” Junho said. “She’s so perfect.”

            “If you girls are done crying, I’d like some mangoes now…” Chansung said as he attempted to pry the mangoes from Taecyeon’s strong embrace.

            Nichkhun read the rest of the letter in silence as s fought over the mangoes.

            “I also messaged Charleen and your mom last week. It’s kinda hard to send you papaya bok-bok without it going bad, but they said that you loved these coconut candies! They sent it to me and I’ve attached them to this package. Hope they remind you of how much your family and I are cheering for you!”

            Nichkhun looked at the familiar packaging of the candy he grew up eating. He missed home so much. He made a mental note of bringing Victoria back to Thailand when they had a break, smiling as he imagined them walking hand in hand in the warm sand. His family would be so happy if they went to visit. His mom has been nagging to bring Victoria back since she found out they were dating for real.

            “I know you guys are probably so tired from all the practicing. I’ve also sent some ginseng tea and medicinal bandages for you guys. There’s also bottles of the muscle relaxant spray you usually use, just incase you run out.”

            She really was the best, he thought. It was amazing how thoughtful she was. No wonder all the uncles are a fan of her!

            “I’m sad we don’t get to spend Christmas together this year, but it’s okay! We’ll have lots more Christmases to spend together in the future! Don’t miss me too much! I’ll see you in 43 days! (Yes, I actually counted). Stay warm and love you!”

            He folded the letter and put it in the box, looking in to see all the things she promised would be in there. He sighed, thinking about how much he wanted her to be in front of him right now. 43 more days, he said to himself. He picked up his phone and called her.

            “Yobseo?” a familiar voice answered the phone.

            “Yobseo noona!” Chansung yelled. “We’re calling to say we got the mangoes, but more importantly, we called to say we love you!”

            “Haha, you guys got it! Good! I was afraid it’d get lost in the mail! Are you guys sharing the mangoes?!”

            “They’ve destroyed the first bag already.” Nichkhun said, getting up and walking into the kitchen. “I’m alone now. They’re too loud to be around.”

            “Haha, did you eat the coconut candies yet? Oh! Did I tell you how well I spoke to your mom the other day? I called her and we had an actual conversation! Asa! It means my English has actually improved! Aren’t you proud!?”

            She is so cute, he thought to himself.

            “Why are you so cute?” He asked, rhetorically, making Victoria blush on the other end. “You and my mom make a great team though. She didn’t say anything to me when I called her.”

            “You never said you were proud of me for learning English so well!”

            “I’m so proud of you, honey.” He said in English. He heard her giggle on the other end. “I want to come home and give you a big hug.” He said.

            “Only 43 more days!” she sighed. “I haven’t seen you in so long. I miss you.”

            Their conversations always got depressing once they realized the distance between them.

            “Well, I’m one day further from the last time I saw you, but also one day closer to the next time I will!” he mentally applauded himself for being such a philosopher.

            “I can’t wait! I’m sad we don’t get to see the first snowfall together this year!”

            Nichkhun automatically looked out the window, sighing. “There’ll still be snow when I come back, don’t worry! What are you up to now?”

            “We just finished practicing our showcase with Super Junior oppas for MBC’s Christmas special.”

            “Any y dancing?”

            “Just one dance… but with 4 of the oppas…” she said quiety.

            “WHAT?!?!” Nichkhun’s jealousy automatically kicked in. “I’m going have to come home and beat some people up!”

            “Haha, I’ll send you a video of our practice. It’s not as bad as it sounds. Probably just the same level of y as our dance from last year.” They laughed at how stressful it was practicing for the Gayo Dejun dance, not to mention awkward. This time last year, they were sitting at that awkward stage between actually falling for each other and denying it to be the professionalism of being a virtual couple. Nichkhun mentally beat himself up for not having the courage to kiss her when the stage elevator doors closed that day after their performance. No one would know, there were no We Got Married cameras there, and it was so dark that it would have been their little secret.

            “I’ll have to see if I approve of these dance moves!” Nichkhun joked. “But I know you’ll rock that stage like you always do. Hwaiting!”

            After half an hour of catching up on each others’ lives, Nichkhun returned to the living room to see 2 empty bags of mango sitting on the floor.

            “Yah you pigs! You didn’t even save any for me!” Nichkhun complained.

            The boys pointed to Chansung in unison. “It was the monkey, we swear!” Wooyoung joked, raising his hands in attempt to prove his innocence. “Beat the monkey up!”

            “Hyung, what are you going to surprise Victoria noona with this year?” Chansung asked, attempting to divert the attention.

            “Aiish I don’t know.”

            “Bro, you’re the king of cute events! Nothing’s going to top mangoes, but I mean you can try to surprise her…” Taecyeon joked.

            “Singing her a song is too cheesy. You’ve over-done the singing thing.” JunK remarked.

            “Maybe you should just stand there and wink at her till she falls in love with you…” Junho suggested.

            “Never take his advice please… unless you want to be single!” Taecyeon laughed.