-The next day-

“Do you have everything?” Kyungran made sure one last time as she helped Myungsoo unload his suitcase from the car.

“Yeah, noona, you asked me like five times already,” Myungsoo rolled his eyes in annoyance. “It’s just a three-day trip. I’m not moving to another country or anything.”

“I still have to make sure,” she mumbled. “When you went to America last year, you forgot your shaver, remember? So did you bring it this time? What about your toothbrush? Or underwear?”

“Yes, yes, YES!” Myungsoo exclaimed. “I packed everything, noona. Stop worrying! I’m not a little kid anymore. I’m almost off age!”

“Not in my eyes,” she ruffled his hair with a faint smile. “Have a safe trip, OK? And call me once you arrive at the hotel.”

“Sure,” Myungsoo nodded as he tried to fix the mess she made on his head. “Have fun at work.”

“I sure will,” she grunted. “It’s the last evaluation day; they’ll announce the promotions tomorrow.”

“Good luck, noona!” Myungsoo waved as she re-entered the car. Shortly after, the car drove away, leaving Myungsoo alone on the parking lot.

With a heavy sigh, Myungsoo grabbed his suitcase and headed toward the school entrance. The bus to the airport was waiting for them there, and he couldn’t wait to get the traveling over with—he’d never been fond of long journeys. How he survived the flights overseas was still a mystery to him.

Once he reached the entrance, he settled comfortably by the stairs. He was apparently the first one to arrive, which didn’t really surprise him; he was early by an hour anyway. His sister couldn’t leave any later, so here he was, sitting on his suitcase like some forever-alone guy. It didn’t bother him much, though; it wasn’t the first time anyway.

As minutes dragged on, Myungsoo caught himself almost falling asleep several times. It was way too early in the morning for him, and the dead silence around him didn’t help at all. Even though his mind screamed at him to stay awake, his body wouldn’t listen, and he found himself sitting down on the stairs for better comfort, and moments later, he dozed off…

A weird sensation on his right shoulder woke Myungsoo up from his nap. It took him several more moments to realize that the weird sensation was someone’s hand and groping his shoulder. He tiredly looked up with his sleepy eyes. But the moment they laid on the hand’s owner, all the sleepiness completely vanished, and Myungsoo bolted up in shock.

“Ms. Ju-Jung,” he gasped, his eyes wide open.

“Oh, you woke up,” she giggled, finally retracting her hand from him. “You looked so peaceful in your sleep, so I didn’t want to wake you up. Sorry that I did.”

“It’s perfectly OK,” Myungsoo shook his head vigorously. “When did you arrive?”

“About thirty minutes ago,” she shrugged, still smiling widely. Myungsoo did not want to imagine what else she might have done while he slept. He mentally slapped himself for being such a heavy sleeper.

“OK, folks, it looks like we’re all here,” Ms. Jung cleared . “Now, we should decide our accommodation and such. We’re getting double-occupancy rooms, so please, everyone find your roommate. You’ll be sitting with your roommate in the bus as well as on the plane on both ways, so choose wisely!”

A single name flashed through Myungsoo’s mind: Sunggyu. His eyes darted over the crowd of students, searching for the unique small-eyed hyung of his. He had to snatch that guy before anyone else had the chance. Finally, he found Sunggyu in the back of the crowd.

“Hyung!” he yelled as he tried to reach the older. “Hyung! Do you want to be my roommate?”

“Me?” Sunggyu blinked several times. “Myungsoo, I-”

“No!” a familiarly annoying voice shouted next to Myungsoo. “He’s going to room with me!”

“I asked him first!” Myungsoo growled at Sungyeol.

“Why should I care?” Sungyeol rolled his eyes. “I’m taking him!”

“Guys, I-”

“Stay out of this,” Sungyeol barked at Sunggyu and turned back at Myungsoo. “Get out, nerd. He’s taken.”

“Excuse me?” Myungsoo exclaimed with disbelief. “Why should I even listen to a choding like you?”

“Guys, I really-”

“Choding?” Sungyeol repeated, completely ignoring Sunggyu’s attempts at communication. “Yah!”

He suddenly closed the distance between the two of them and grabbed Myungsoo by the collar of his shirt. The distance between their faces was mere centimeters. Myungsoo could feel the tension between their eyes, and despite the animosity in the atmosphere, he couldn’t help but notice that Sungyeol’s eyes looked rather attractive at that distance… He had to mentally slap himself again for having inappropriate thoughts.

“Whatever. I give up.”

Neither Sungyeol nor Myungsoo paid him any attention, though; their gazes were still locked, both battling for dominance in the staring contest. But Myungsoo didn’t know how much longer he’d last; he could feel heat surging into his cheeks. And while Sungyeol’s cheeks were also reddening, he suspected that the reason was quite different than his own.

“Oh, great.” They were finally interrupted by Ms. Jung coming over. “So I take it you’re staying together! How nice!”

“Wha-what?” both Sungyeol and Myungsoo said at the exact same moment. They broke their eye contact and looked directly at the teacher.

“Well, it doesn’t matter anyway, since you’re the only guys without a roommate,” she shrugged. “I’d have to place the two of you together anyway.”

“But what about Sunggyu-hyung?” Myungsoo protested.

“He’s rooming with Taemin,” Ms. Jung answered.

The mentioned boys shrunk under the collective glare coming from Sungyeol’s and Myungsoo’s eyes.

“We can’t stay forever,” Myungsoo tried to argue. “Please, Ms. Jung, assign us some other roommates! We’re going to kill each other!”

“I can’t break any of the others apart,” she shook her head. “And besides, you’re going to be perfectly fine. What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, right?”

And with that, she walked away again, leaving the two boys completely flustered.

“I tried to tell you I already have a roommate,” Sunggyu said apologetically before he too disappeared behind the mass of students.

“Great,” Myungsoo sighed. “Listen, I know that you’re not very excited about this. I’m not, either. So, why don’t we do each other a favor and-”

“I’m taking the aisle seat,” Sungyeol cut him off before he too walked away. Myungsoo blinked several times in his spot. Did he hear right?

* * *

The trip could have been a lot worse. Myungsoo actually thought that it’d gone rather well—it had definitely gone better than he’d anticipated. For one, they hadn’t gotten into an argument. Not even once. Myungsoo had to admit that they hadn’t really talked, either, but they never did anyway. But, what really surprised him was that Sungyeol actually hadn’t behaved half as bad as he usually did. Once, during their flight, he had even offered Myungsoo a piece of chewing gum, which was definitely the nicest thing Sungyeol had ever done for Myungsoo since they’d met in the music shop. And worst of all, Myungsoo had no idea why Sungyeol went so far out of his way. He was actually kind of afraid that it was all just the calm before the storm.

But, at last, after hours of bus-riding, plane-flying, airport-struggling, and fishing for lost students, they finally reached their destination. It was a nice four-star beach resort, with lots of facilities to satisfy even the neediest of students. Myungsoo himself couldn’t wait to go explore the place.

“Alright, folks,” Ms. Jung began her speech just as the bus arrived at the hotel. “There are cameras for the show already rolling outside. Just act as naturally as you can, and don’t get too excited when you see idols outside! If anyone tries to my Woohyun, they’re going to have a hell of a senior year!”

Myungsoo was tempted to attempt it, just to fall out of her favor. But at that moment, he was more worried about facing Hoya. It had only been two weeks; he didn’t think he was ready to face his crush of one year just yet. But he had no choice, and what was even worse, it all would be recorded on camera. He had to get a grip, or else, the whole nation would laugh at him—and consequently at his sister.

One by one, the students piled out of the bus, all excited about having a chance to appear on a broadcast. They made silly faces, cute gestures, wild hand movements, and high-pitched squeals as they saw the celebrities in front of them. With a corner of his eye, Myungsoo spotted Sungjong coming forward and handshaking and hugging his “friends.” Well, Myungsoo thought to himself, it would be better to just get it over with. And with that thought in mind, he also stepped out.

“Myungsoo-yah!” Sungjong yelled excitedly as he grabbed the surprised Myungsoo into a headlock.

“Oh, hi, Sungjong-ah,” Myungsoo said after he regained his composure. He blinked several times; there were several cameras on them at that moment, and he wasn’t sure where to look at.

“Just act friendly and play along,” Sungjong whispered into his ear.

“This is your best friend, right, Sungjong-shi?” the MC asked.

“Of course!” Sungjong nodded enthusiastically. “He’s my best friend at school! We sit together and do everything at school together!”

If Sungjong kept acting like that, he’d deserve a Daesang for his acting, Myungsoo thought to himself. He forced out a laugh and also patted the idol on his shoulders.

“I’ve seen the broadcast of the show you’ve been on, Myungsoo-shi,” the MC continued. “Did you know how popular you were among the audience? There were several thousand comments asking about you!”

“I didn’t go online,” Myungsoo replied with a sheepish smile. The truth be told, he hadn’t even watched the broadcast—he’d been too busy crying in the corner of his room.

“Well, if you do decide to become an entertainer, just know you already have a huge fan base,” the MC said with a wink and a hand gesture. Which, Myungsoo might add, did not look even half as cool and cute in person as it did on screen.

“And you must be the teacher!” the MC said once he spotted Ms. Jung. “Wow, please don’t be offended, but you’d be a great comedian!”

“My name is Jung Juri, and yes, I get that a lot,” Ms. Jung laughed out loud, smiling a little too widely for Myungsoo’s liking, but everyone started laughing. She then effortlessly slipped herself in between Woohyun and Dongwoo, her arms stealthily wrapping themselves around the idols. From the looks of it, neither really enjoyed the act, but the MC was completely oblivious to their discomfort.

Sungjong motioned Myungsoo to join the rest of his class, which Myungsoo didn’t hesitate to do. Apparently, his appearance for the day was done. He just stood there, watching the MC chatting with Ms. Jung, joking around and asking her questions about Sungjong. Myungsoo would have rolled his eyes at some of the lies both Ms. Jung and Sungjong were saying, but one camera was still recording him for some reason.

Finally, after another twenty minutes or so, the filming for the introduction ended, and they were dismissed to their hotel rooms. Myungsoo barely had any time to look around and appreciate the fine décor of the resort as he had to walk really fast to keep up with Sungyeol. After passing several halls and climbing several staircases, the two of them finally reached their hotel room on the fourth floor.

It was a small, but cozy room. There were two single beds inside, each pushed against one wall. The room also had a dresser, a luggage stand, a small fridge, a TV, a table, a chair, and a tiny sofa. Overall, it seemed that the stay wouldn’t be too unpleasant.

“I’m taking the window bed,” Sungyeol announced before he disappeared in the bathroom. Myungsoo suppressed a deep sigh as he collapsed onto his own bed. On another thought, he wasn’t sure whether his stay would be as pleasant as he’d guessed just moments ago.

The peak of the story is nearing! There will be a LOT happening during this trip. It's gonna take a couple of chapters to get through it, so bear with me. The final couple has been finalized some time ago, but I won't be telling you which one it is--you'll only find out at the end!

Thanks so much for staying with this story and supporting it! To all my new subscribers: thanks for giving this story a chance! Would you mind telling me how you found my story? I'm really curious :) To people who recommend my story to anyone anywhere: please tell me if you do, so I can thank you personally! I've been getting sudden surges of subscribers lately (like suddenly 10 new subbies in two hours or so), so I'd love to thank the person who's spreading this <3

In the next chapter, a new character will appear alongside a character from a couple of chapters back. And Myungsoo will run into Hobaby again ;) So stay tuned for the next update, which will come... I actually don't know when. I'm flying home at the end of the week, so I have no idea when it'll be that I can sit down to write. But it shouldn't take too long! And to those Myungjong shippers out there--you guys will get your Myungjong moments. There'll be more than enough interactions between them very soon.

One of my lovely subbies has nominated this story at the World of Literature 2014 Fanfiction Awards in the Best in Comedy section! Well, I'm really honored that you think this story is worth the prize xD But since I'm one of the co-hosts of the awards, it was really awkward to put my own story on the nomination list... Still, I have no say in the judging of that category, so I'm rooting for it! I have to finish the story before the preliminary judging in September, but I think that I might be done even before July ends. Anyway, please do support the awards by coming and voting for your favorite stories! Just click on the banner below to be redirected: