It was nothing short of panic at the beach when the IAMs really began to realize the planes had left and that they were stranded on an island. It was obvious that there were a select few excited to be stranded with “their oppas” but mostly everyone else was trying to come up with a valid reason for the disappearance of the planes and what to do. The 2AM members snuck away from the group and went inside the resort while the IAMs remained outside for a while, discussing their own crazy theories.

     “What if this is part of the vacation? It’s a hidden camera!”

     “I bet they were supposed to leave and we just didn’t know.”

     “It’s possible they were supposed to come back but there was a storm warning or something.”

     “Maybe they went to get food!”

     “Or maybe they’re just trying to scare us for fun?”

     “Oh, I know! They’re definitely just at a staff island, waiting for us to be done. We should just call them or something.”

     “Too bad there isn’t service here. Or wifi. Or… anything…”

     Although everyone seemed to calm down after a bit, the worry would seep into their thoughts every minute or two, leaving the beach unusually quiet for being completely occupied.

     About an hour after the members had gone inside, Jinwoon came walking outside with his trademark eye smile plastered on his face.

     “Hey, everyone!” he called out, trying to gather the group’s attention. This wasn’t too hard due to the silence that had befallen the beach. “We all have to prepare our own food tonight, since we only had a meal big enough for one night prepared when we got here. Is there anyone good with cooking that can help us in the kitchen? Changmin hyung really makes good food.” He grinned, and a bunch of girls stood up to walk over to him, ready to help.

     Ally was watching from her spot in the sand, contemplating getting up and going to help, though her knowledge of cooking was sufficiently lacking. Back at home, she was a hazard to any kitchen, always happening to blow things up and burn everything possible. She knew that she had to try to apologize to Changmin, especially if she was going to be there yet another night, so a good way to start would be to help him out, right? Well, so she figured. Swiftly picking up her towel, Ally followed the majority of the IAMs over to Jinwoon, and they all began to walk inside.

     “Hey!” Changmin nagged in a scolding voice, as people started to come into the kitchen touching various pots and pans, trying to help. “You are all covered in sand! Clean up before touching anything in here!” A few people frowned and mumbled under their breath, defeated, but Ally began laughing softly as she walked past the kitchen (never having gone in it yet) and down the hall to her room. It was such a Changmin thing to say, wasn’t it? She sure thought so.

     Soon enough, everyone had cleaned themselves up and managed over to the large kitchen, where all of the 2AM members and everyone that knew how to cook was helping out. It was a lot of work to cook for that many people, but with everyone helping out, it was going a lot quicker than expected.

     Ally was one of the last to reach the kitchen, arriving while everyone already had something to do. She looked on from afar, leaning against the wall out of everyone’s way, wondering what to do. A few IAMs noticed her and mentioned it to Seulong, who told Changmin in Korean that she looked like she wanted to help out. Changmin turned to look at Ally, who was already blushing slightly from people looking at her. But, just as quickly as they began looking at her, they went back to their retrospective jobs and Changmin was the only one looking at her.

     “What are you good at in the kitchen?” he asked, and Ally was momentarily silent as the only answers to that question that popped into her head were sarcastic and quite inappropriate. She thought for a moment, leaving Changmin to raise an eyebrow at her, before she answered.

     “Dishes?” she replied, quite unsure of her answer. Changmin instantly laughed, thinking she must be kidding. But she was far from kidding, which he figured out once she wasn’t laughing either. He coughed to cover up his laugh, similar to what Ally had done on the beach, which made her smile slightly. “I’m not good at cooking.” Changmin pondered this for a moment before walking over to the counter and gesturing to her to join him. She followed and once she was standing next to him, pointed to the vegetables lying out on the cutting board in front of her.

     “Can you cut these up for dipping?” he asked her, and she looked hesitantly down at the vegetables.

     “Uhh…” she stuttered, picking up a knife in one hand and a pepper in one hand. “Okay?” She placed the pepper down and attempted to cut it, but instead scraping off the skin and dropping the knife onto the cutting board. Changmin laughed, as Ally, embarrassed, picked up the knife and went to try again. Changmin watched her struggle for a moment before placing his hand gently over her hand that was holding the knife. He held the pepper with his other hand and chopped up one slice of the pepper before letting go and smiling at her. Her heart felt caught in as its beating pumped through her eardrums. She felt as if any minute she was going to do something stupid and klutzy again, resulting to her avoiding Changmin at all costs, again.

     “Better?” he asked as she tried again, actually managing to cut the pepper on her own. She took a deep breath and then sighed, relieved that she could maybe be of some help. She turned to Changmin and nodded. He grinned before turning back to what he was doing, and Ally continued to chop of vegetables for the remainder of the time everyone was in the kitchen. Occasionally, she would turn and look at Changmin and feel that familiar fangirl feeling bubbling in the pit of her stomach, and she would smile.

     “This is like some corny teenage novel,” Ally thought to herself before finishing and placing all of her hard work into a large bowl, and poured some dip into a few other smaller bowls. She grinned, satisfied, before serving the food on the large kitchen table, where others had began to serve their finish products, too. After a few moments, all of the food was set out and ready to eat. After a quick round of applause for Changmin, who had managed to direct a kitchen full of amateurs to make a full meal, everyone began to serve themselves food and go to sit down and eat. It was hectic, just as it was the night before, to get everyone seated, but in the end everyone was sitting down somewhere.

     The food was delicious. Leave it to Changmin to create a delicious meal while directing amateurs to make it. Ally smiled slightly while eating, proud that that was her bias, the man of many talents, Lee Changmin. She thought about how she owed him an apology, but even the thought of actually saying it out loud brought butterflies to her stomach and blood to her face. How could she possibly look him in the eye and say why she was avoiding him? That when they met she had a face full of sand? Then he’d be reminded of it, if he weren’t already every time he looked at her.

     Ally sighed, thinking to herself in silence when she heard Seulong speak from down the table.

     “We should play with the noraebang machine later,” he said, and a bunch of people around the table started whispering in excited voices.

     “That would be fun!” Jinwoon said after, receiving a nod from Kwon and Changmin.

     “I love karaoke!” one girl said, and soon everyone was talking about what songs they were going to sing. It looked like it was going to be one long night.

     Once dinner had been finished up and the dishes were done (Ally’s dishwashing skills were finally put into use), the IAMs split back into their previous teams from the outside game and settled down into the huge living room off the kitchen. There was a large flat-screen television on the wall, and below it rested a noraebang system with four microphones and a single remote on a table. Rules weren’t quite established to find a clear winner, but it was silently decided that whoever had the best performances as a group would win, and each round would have a different category.

     After discussing a bit of strategy, the first category was decided, and the games began.

     It was clear from the beginning that each team had their different strengths. Jo Kwon’s team was great with kkab and song choice. Jinwoon’s team was able to pull of a little bit of everything with a competitive edge. Seulong’s team put on great shows and was able to convey every emotion perfectly. Changmin’s team had vocal talent and was really good at diversity in their choices and performers.

     There were clear stand-out performances throughout the event. Jinwoon’s team was great at challenging Changmin’s team with a parody of his performance of “ Bomb”. A girl named Cindy whom Ally had spoken with on the plane led a small group of girls, singing out the words as “James Bond” just to further improve the performance. By the end, Changmin and the rest of those in the room who had seen the performance were dying laughing. Jo Kwon’s team pulled off a great version of “Aing” by Orange Caramel, the kkab-filled performance perfected with the large bows they wore on their heads throughout. Seulong’s team had a great performance of “Bohemian Rhapsody”, filled with a whole dramatic interpretive dance done by the members of the team. The singing was perfect and the dancing and moving around gave the performance a theatrical feel that left everyone gasping for air.

     Changmin’s team did well. They had a lot of talented singers and their performances were always good. But that was the problem. They were just good. None of them stood out well enough like the others. They had been playing for hours, and knew their final song would be an important one. When Changmin brought this to the team’s attention, people immediately began to argue.

     “You didn’t like our performance of “Oh!”?”

     “But I really liked it when we sang “Bubble Pop”…”

     “Everyone was laughing a lot when we sang “Shampoo” and our voices kept cracking!”

     “You can’t say they weren’t surprised when we busted out singing “Bad Romance” by Lady Gaga. We were really good then!”

     Changmin sighed, pinching his nose in thought.

     “I really liked every song we did, don’t get me wrong. We just need something to win. I don’t like to lose,” he said, looking up to his teammates with determination in his eyes. Although Changmin seems easy-going, he doesn’t take it very well when he loses at something he tried hard at. Ally, feeling oddly creepy that she remembered this from an interview once, quietly spoke up.

     “What about if instead of being funny, we just put on a good performance?” Immediately the team hushed to a silence and they all looked at her expectantly, and Changmin began nodding slightly, in thought. “Everyone was based on being funny, but since it’s our last performance we should end on a really good vocal number. Maybe a ballad of some sorts?”

     “What about someone does a duet with me?” Changmin suggested, immediately racking through songs in his mind. That’s when everything seemed to click, as a few girls next to him whispered something to him and a smile broke out on his face. “I have a perfect plan. I just need someone to sing with me!”

     “What are you going to sing?” one boy on the team asked, and Changmin grinned.

     “Endless Love. It’s a perfect duet to end the game. It’s popular, easy, and emotional. Plus, I know all the male harmony parts.”

     The small amount of girls on the team that had crushes on Changmin started squealing softly, and he smirked at them.

     “Who knows the female harmony part?” Changmin asked, and looked around. Mostly everyone seemed to be looking around too, as they didn’t know the part and were looking for someone who did. Ally groaned. She couldn’t escape Changmin no matter how hard she tried.

     “I know it,” she said quietly, looking down into her lap. “It was on We Got Married once and Hwanhee and Hwayobi sang it. It was really good so I learned it…”

     “Ally’s pretty good at singing, too. Better than a lot of other people that have gone today!” one girl said, causing a few people to laugh.

     “She did perform Sunny’s part in “Oh!” pretty well,” another girl said, and Ally blushed.

     “It’s a lot of pressure. I get really nervous trying my hardest while singing in front of people…” Ally said quietly, but no one seemed to listen as the team started expressing their excitement in hushed whispers. Changmin whispered quietly to the group as Ally was lost in her thoughts, wondering how she was going to get through the performance when it would be just her and one of the greatest singers she’s ever heard. Plus, it was a love duet. They’d have to put on quite a performance.

     Snapped out of her thoughts, Ally turned to her left to see Changmin had stood up and was standing next to her, holding his hand out to help her up with a smile on her face. Ally couldn’t bear to smile as her nerves took over. She took his hand, however, and stood up with him, walking to the middle of the room and grabbing the mikes. The rest of the group scattered across the house, rumbling through drawers in the kitchen and pulling through their suitcases before running back into the living room, splitting up the group. Half went to the left of the room and the others to the right, holding something behind their backs. Just as Changmin selected the song on the remote, the girl standing next to the light switch turned it off and quickly sat down. As the music started, they whipped flashlights out from behind their back and shined them on Ally and Changmin as if they were concert lights. The other team ooh-ed and ahh-ed, and then it was completely silent. It was Changmin’s turn to sing.

     “My love,” Changmin started, turning and looking to Ally with a soft look in his eyes. She felt her breath get caught in , lost in Changmin’s loving gaze.

     “It’s just a performance,” she thought to herself, “Calm down and follow along. Act!”

     Changmin finished his line beautifully, his English being amazing as usual. Then, it was Ally’s turn.

     “My first love,” she started, blushing at how silly it was to be singing such a romantic song with a practical stranger, but trying not to let it show. She lifted her head to look into Changmin’s eyes and a smile formed on her face as she took a step towards him. She started out shaky, nervous about all eyes on her and Changmin, but eased into the performance after a couple lines. Soon, both of them were belting it out like their lives depended on it.

     Finally, during the last couple choruses, Changmin leaned in and grabbed Ally’s hand, stepping extremely close to her. She could feel her face heating up but did her best to ignore it as she forced the smile on her face to stay there. She couldn’t ruin the performance by being an awkward turtle. She’d never forgive herself. Changmin’s team chose this moment to leave their flashlights from the pair and sway them side-to-side, as if stars twinkling in the sky, or lighters held in the air at a stadium concert. Ally could tell, although she wasn’t watching, that it looked beautiful. She could tell because it absolutely felt beautiful. Changmin was so convincing, and his voice was stunning. On top of that, the flashlights added amazing atmosphere.

     After the last note was sung, Changmin unexpectedly leaned in and rested his forehead against Ally’s head, closing his eyes softly with a smile on his face. She did the same, following his lead, hoping no one could tell that her smile was somewhere between real and absolutely terrified, as the flashlights were returned to them. They stayed like that for a moment until the team turned the flashlights out. Changmin didn’t move his forehead and stayed holding Ally’s hand until the room erupted into applause. The lights were then turned back on and Changmin backed away from Ally, but kept her hand in his. He lifted her hand up and bowed down, and she did the same, laughing slightly as all of the nerves slid out of her. She slid her hand out of Changmin’s as she walked over and sat back down with her teammates.

     “Your face is bright red. What’s it like being that close to Changmin? It seems you liked it!” one the girls with an obvious small crush on Changmin said, and the team giggled.

     “Good job, Ally. I think we just won,” one boy said, and the whole team began grinning.

     “I hope I didn’t let anyone down,” Ally said, although what she was thinking was, “I hope I didn’t let Changmin down.”

     Changmin returned to the team and everyone praised him endlessly. He turned and gave Ally a gentle squeeze on the shoulder. She turned to face him and he was smiling at her. She gave him an awkward nod in return, a nervous smile lightly tugging at her lips, before turning away.

     After a short discussion between the other teams while Changmin’s team was celebrating, they came up with a decision, and Cindy stood up to speak.

     “Everyone did really well,” she said, and the room erupted into claps again. She grinned before continuing, “But I think it’s safe to say that Changmin’s team definitely won this karaoke game. That was great.”

     Changmin’s whole team jumped up and began jumping up and down in celebration, teammates hugging each other and congratulating each other on a job well done. Changmin in particular looked ecstatic, happy that his team didn’t lose the game, happy he didn’t let his team down.

     After the celebrations and congratulations, complaints of fatigue filled the room as mostly everyone announced their departures for bed. The game of karaoke took a toll on the group! It was amazing how quick a room filled with tired people can empty. Ally was the last to leave the room, talking to the occasional person until there was no one left. She was the one to turn off the karaoke system, along with the TV. She left the lights on, in case anyone got up in the middle of the night. She passed a few people on her way to her room, saying a quiet goodnight before turning down the hallway her room was in. But, of course, with Ally’s bad luck, that was all too easy. She bumped right into someone’s muscled chest. She squeaked softly in surprise, but sighed knowing that she didn’t even need to look up to see who she had bumped into.

     “Sorry,” she said softly to Changmin, looking down at her feet and attempting to shuffle around him. Just as she shifted to the left, his feet followed and blocked her path. She then moved to the right, and he followed suit. Moving to the middle of the hall, Changmin did the same, and Ally was forced to look up at his face. He was giving her a playful smile, but thoughts of their performance brought a blush to Ally’s face. She hoped he didn’t notice as she kept a poker face. “Excuse me,” she said, looking him right in the eye with a blank expression.

     Changmin’s smile faltered and a slightly hurt expression crossed over his face. Ally mentally slapped herself, realizing she was still coming off as a complete jerk. She was going to say something, but Changmin looked as if he wanted to say something, so she stayed quiet and tried to hold her eye contact with him.

     “Why,” he asked, his eyes casting a confused yet determined gaze over her, “don’t you like me?”

     Just as the question slid off Changmin’s lips, there was a loud clap of thunder, and the lights flickered off into darkness.