There was a knock on the door. I got up and felt a weight fall off me. I stumbled over to the door and opened it. "Rachel, Mom, Dad, what are you doing here?" I pulled the door almost closed behind me. "I called you," Rachel hissed. "Oh, right. But it's like three in the morning." "That's when our flight got in." "Don't you think you should've gone to a hotel for the night instead of come and disturb my beauty sleep." "Who's in there?" my mother glared. "I have a couple friends over. It was my birthday in case you forgot." She looked at my father and then didn't meet me in the eyes. She forgot. I felt the door open despite my efforts, "Lyd, who's here?" My family's eyes widened. "Oh hi!" he smiled. "Your family's American, right? Uh, I can't think." "Who are you?" my mother asked. "This is HongKi." HongKi smiled at his name. He rubbed his head. "I'm tired. I'm going to go back and crash." He disappeared back into the apartment. "You're with a guy this late at night?" "We all fell asleep." "How many guys do you have in there?" I pulled the door closed, "Oops, looks like we're locked out. Let's go find a place stupid enough to be up at this hour." I started down the hall. The door opened behind us and HongKi ran out. "Here," he held up his jacket. "It's cold out." I put my arms through it. He also dropped a pair of shoes on the floor. "Thanks," He smiled and went back inside shivering. Rachel smiled, "He's a gentleman." "Come on."

We stopped at a tiny cafe. I ordered for them. There was an awkward silence. Rachel broke it, "So are you dating that guy?" "No!" "Have you met any of the idols you like?" she pulled out her phone. "There was SHINee, right? They're pretty cute. Have you seen them?" "Once or twice," I mumbled. It would be a bad idea to tell them they were sleeping in my apartment. "Um, what was another one? Beast, right?" She searched them on her phone. "Oo, manly. Have you met them?" "No, not yet." "And there was that guy who you liked. Um, what was his name?" I didn't reply. "Oh, come on," she pleaded. She was trying to connect with me. "HongKi," "HongKi," she said as she typed it in. She froze. She looked at me and down at her phone. Then at me again. "Care to explain?" "We're just friends." "What?" my mother took Rachel's phone. "They guy from your apartment?!" "Ah, HongKi," the waitress smiled. "He's got a great smile," she struggled but said in English. "He's that popular?!" Rachel asked. "Oh, yes, he's very popular," the waitress smiled. "He's an idol." She left our coffees and walked away humming one of FT Island's songs. "And he's in your apartment?! Score!" Rachel cheered. "There's nothing going on!" "That's what everyone says and then the next minute you're knocked up and you have to get married and have children." "I'll be dead before I'd even give birth," I laughed. I saw their expressions and stopped laughing. "That wasn't funny," Rachel said. "Humor's a way to get past grief," I explained. "It's better than actual grief."

"So, why don't you just say why you came?" I asked. "We came to see our daughter who lives across the world," my father said. "No, you came to make up for your wrong deeds, right? Well, I don't want you to. In fact I don't even want you two here. I'm busy living my life." "Lydia," Rachel hissed. "Why don't you go find a hotel and we can talk at a decent hour," I yawned. I tossed down the cost of the coffees. I headed back up to my apartment.

(gah!!! it keeps trying to delete this chapter and won't post it-i keep copying it tho-grrr-ha! finally posted-cute pic of hongki :)