Seunghyun had called you again the next evening, and told you to meet at a local bubble tea shop. Without warning, you hurriedly dashed out of the house.

------------------

FT Island and their manager sat in the corner looking at the menu. They all looked exhausted. Seunghyun noticed you walk in and got up.

"[You] ah, hello!" He seemed a little panicked as he rushed you to your seat. You nodded everyone and saw their stressed faces, close up. "Um, so what's going on now? What did the company say?" You hoped it wasn't too harsh. But their company was a newer one, so you wondered if they'd be lenient.

"We leave tomorrow."

What? You couldn't believe what you'd just heard. You looked at each of them. No one was looking at you; they were all looking at something else, as if they were guilty. Even Seunghyun, who was looking down at the table.

"Is that really true?" You suddenly felt yourself lacking energy, hoping he would deny what he just said.

"Yes, I'm sorry." Wait. Why is he apologizing?

"Seunghyun, please don't be like that. It was me." But he shook his head and added, "I think Korean primadonna tell company." Your eyes widened as you recalled the image of the three girls. "I ask 'how do you know?' and they do not answer me.." The others began lightly bowing their heads in apology. No. It wasn't them. You felt as if it was all on you.

"Please, I should be the one to apologize. It was my fault for bringing you around in public like that. I didn't know you would be recognized so easily here. Well, in Korea Town, it was more likely, but I suppose the other areas were safe.." You tried to shift the blame to yourself when Jonghun placed his soft hands on yours. He shook his head slowly and gave a small, sad smile. Flustered, you instantly stopped talking and bit your lip.

"I not call you for many days because of company," Seunghyun continued. "They angry at manager, angry at us," He pointed to Minhwan and Jaejin who seemed to be reenacting what happened; both were on the phone, one was yelling and one was looking scared. So that's how it was.

 "Manager want change schedule to help us, company say no. They do not trust us. But we happy to trust you, so, thank you very much." You smiled sheepishly as he gave a low bow. But it melted away when he raised his head and a sad face had appeared. They really seemed to like it here. They were free. They had no schedule. They could relax and do whatever they wanted.

"Ne," Hongki nudged Seunghyun. "I just realized. [You] never asked us for an autograph or anything..if she does, shouldn't we do that now?"

'"What the, you're only thinking of that at a time like this?" Jaejin scrunched his nose. "What? It wouldn't hurt to ask, considering all she's done for us. Look at her. She's as sad as any of us here," Hongki added.

"[You] ah, do you want autograph from us? Cheer you up?" You felt Seunghyun pat your head gently in comfort. As tempting as that sounded, you didn't really feel the need to have one. But you did need something to preserve the memory.

"Um, no thanks. I'd actually prefer a picture instead. I -" *RING RING RING * "Oh, shoot-"

You picked up your phone to the sound of your mom's scolding. "Where are you?? Do you know what time it is? It's late!! Argh! Now you'll have to wait for your father to get you!" "Hahaha, sorry mom. Something just came up. Okay, I'll wait for dad." The others looked at you confusingly.

"I have to go soon," You pointed at your watch. You were never allowed out this late on your own, even in the summer.

"Very, very sorry," They bowed again. They have no reason to apologize. And, do they always have to bow..?

"Hey, why don't we order some bubble tea?" You had all been there for for quite some time and hadn't ordered a thing. Quickly, everyone ordered. One by one the drinks arrived; the others talked amongst themselves while you silently sipped your bubble tea.

"[You] ah, no autograph?" Seunghyun nudged you. "It's..it's alright. To be honest, I think these memories are far more valuable than your autographs. I kind of prefer a picture, but it doesn't seem appropriate at the moment.." Then you remembered.

"Ah, that reminds me. My mom really likes Jaejin, she thinks he's cute. If I got an autographed photo for her, she might like it." Seunghyun snickered.

"Ya, Jaejin. Her mom is your fan! She thinks you're super cute!!!" Jaejin blushed as the others laughed playfully. "Then, who does she like?" He retorted.

"Ya, [You] ah, who do you like?" You were a little intimidated as his face came closer to yours. You felt your face heat up a bit, because the answer was right next to you.

"I, I like all of you!!" 

"Noo! Of course you like FT Island! But pick favourite!!" He whined childishly and you gave in. Nervously, you managed to say it.

"My favourite is..Seunghyun.."

You looked away as you said it, but you heard Seunghyun begin to choke on his drink. The others burst out laughing. You looked back at Seunghyun who was now blushing a furious red. You grinned nervously and asked if he was okay. He nodded slowly as the others hooted,

"So unfair! He got to talk to her the most!" "I knew she would pick him!" "Why are you blushing? Shouldn't you be proud?"

After he recovering, you watched Seunghyun sip his drink. You waited for what he would say next. Hope you didn't shock him too much..

"[You] ah," He started, looking down at the table.

"Y..yeah?"

"When we have free schedule, we definetely come back to [your country]," You smiled at the thought. So they really do like it here.

As you continued to wait for your dad, you didn't talk much, but instead listened to the others converse in Korean. You didn't care if you couldn't understand what they were saying, you just liked hearing their voices. This would probably be the best memory from your entire summer vacation.