October 30th

Onew POV

Work went on as usual. Nothing out of the ordinary. Nobody could shut up about Halloween. I don't blame them. It's a really nice holiday. Well, I wouldn't use the word 'nice'. It's an exciting holiday. 

I was in one of the practice rooms with some of my hyungs and some of my members while we ate lunch and talked about our Halloween costumes. 

"What's your Halloween costume?" Key asked Donghae. "Me and Eunhyuk are going as the blues brothers" Donghae smiled. Key laughed. "Really? That's cute" he giggled. Donghae heard and looked slightly offended. "Yah. It's not supposed to be cute. What are you gunna be?" he asked loudly. Key fished his cell phone out of his pocket and showed Donghae a picture of something on his screen. I got curious and turned the screen so I could see it. It was a picture of the joker from Batman "You're gunna be that?" Donghae said with a "Are-you-kidding-me-right-now" look on his face. Key nodded excitedly. Donghae rolled his eyes and continued eating. I decided to join the conversation, and take Siwon with me. "What are you going to be, Siwon hyung? I heard you went with Jessica and Rachel to pick out a costume yesterday?" I asked looking at him. Siwon put down his food so he could talk. "I'm as some kind of a... humanoid? I think that's what Rachel called it. It's called uhh.. I think I forgot.. his name starts with an S like mine. Just a coincidence" he explained. I wanted to know what he was going to be, so he gave me the details and I looked it up on my phone. To my surprise, it was something I've seen in the past. Rachel always told stories about how her and her brother had walked around in the forest and saw him, which wasn't a good thing.

"Slender man?" I asked him. Siwon immediately snapped his fingers. "That's it! Slender man" he smiled and looked at the picture on my phone. He pointed to it and smiled "Yupp, that's it". Every one looked at the picture and shivered. "Even though he doesn't look scary when you explain him, he's scary when you see a picture.." Kyuhyun shuttered. "Agreed" Jonghyun said quietly. Everyone else just nodded. "What are you going as Onew?" Kyuhyun asked. I shot my head up. I didn't think anyone would ask. "Oh.. I'm gunna be an astronaut." I smiled. "Why an astronaut? What's Rachel gunna be?" Sungmin asked. "She's gunna be an alien" I smiled, remembering her Halloween costume Everyone nodded. as they didn't need to see a picture of an astronaut or an alien. I'm pretty sure they already had an idea what it would look like.

Amber POV

"What are you going to be, Sunny?" Krystal asked her from across the room.. Sunny stopped stretching and let out a sigh. "If I tell you, will you promise not to laugh at us?" she asked. Krystal started to regret asking her.. "I'll end up seeing it one way or another. But no promises" she said. Sunny took in a deep breath and closed her eyes. "Me and Yuri..." she started. By this time, everyone started to lean in and listen. "Are going to be.. Ketchup and Mustard.." she sighed. Somehow, I started to imagine Sunny and Yuri in a ketchup bottle while Yuri is in a mustard bottle. When I finally had the image in my head, I let out a small laugh. "Sounds like you don't want to be ketchup, or mustard.. Which one are you?" Luna asked. Sunny crossed her arms. "I'm ketchup, and yes of course I wanna match with Yuri. It was her idea. When I put the costume on last night, I looked so embarrassing!" Sunny whined. Sooyoung let out a small laugh. "I bet you'll look so cute. Cute enough to eat! Get it!" she delivered her stupid pun. I couldn't help but roll my eyes. "Shut up!" Sunny yelled. "What are you going to be, Amber?" Sooyoung asked me in the corner of the room. "I'm going to be a dinosaur with Jonghyun. What about you?" I asked her back. "Marilyn Monroe" she smiled. I thought of it, and figured "You make a good Marilyn Monroe". Sooyoung shrugged and sat down to tie her shoes. 

"What's Rachel going to be?" Luna asked me. I looked over and saw that she was looking at me. "You know what? I don't remember. She told me, but I forgot." I said looking around the room, realizing that Rachel wasn't with us. "I guess I can look for her and ask" I suggested and walked out of the room into the hallway to search

When I turned the same corner for the fourth time, I took in a deep breath. "Jeez, where'd she go?" I said to myself. "Did she leave?"

I was thinking about going back to the practice room when I saw her standing in a corner. She was talking on the phone. Onew was standing next to her. I watched while Rachel just talked on the phone. Onew just watched with a worried expression. "What's going on?" I whispered from afar. Rachel hung up the phone and looked like she was on the brink of tears. Onew pulled her in for a hug and her hair. I tilted my head. Wow, that's the first time I've seen them hug in a while. Either they've been keeping their distance from each other for some odd reason, or I just don't spend time with both of them together that often. They both finally broke apart and I could see tears on Rachel's face from where I was standing. Onew looked down at her and wiped the tears off of her face with his thumb. I really missed the cute times they shared. They seemed to be put on halt because of work and other people getting in the way. That's when I realized.. I haven't talked to Key in days. I haven't had a hug or kiss from him in weeks. Where had he been? I suddenly, out of nowhere, started to miss him. I turned around and went to look for him. 

"I have no idea where he is. Which room he was in, what floor. I don't even know if he's here" I thought. I just walked aimlessly in the halls for what seemed like hours. 

I looked inside another window on the door, and the room was empty. I cursed under my breath for the billionth time. I decided to sit down on the floor and take a breather. 

"Yah, yeobo! Don't sit on the ground! There are bugs down there" I heard Key yell from the other side of the hall way. Uncontrollably, my face formed into a smile at the sound of his voice. I stood up and ran towards him. He held out his arms and I threw myself at him to feel his warm embrace. I let out a sigh of relief and closed my eyes. "Why are you so touchy feely today?" he asked me. Without opening my eyes, "I've just missed you. With work and drama, and this whole Halloween thing. I just never get to see you anymore" I explained. It was true though, everything I said was true. I missed hugging him. He gave out the best hugs. "I missed you too" he sighed. He put his nose in my short hair and sniffed it. "Stop that! It tickles!" I ordered him to stop. "But your hair smells so good" He complained and pulled away to look at me. I looked into his kitty eyes and smiled. What beautiful eyes he's always had. I could look at them all day. "You have such beautiful eyes" he whispered, looking down at my face.. I could feel my face burn. I was blushing so bad. "Thanks". I was going to tell him how cute he was, but I was interrupted by a soft, warm kiss. 

Rachel POV

I watched SHINee dance for the second hour that day. I started to yawn and the loud music started to give me a headache. When the music stopped, all five boys collapsed. I shot up a got them water bottles and towels. "I think you boys have had enough. You don't have to dance anymore. That's an order" I said and helped Minho up so he can drink his water. Why were they dancing so vigorously? Because they thought that they need exercise. And what better way to exercise, then to dance? "But we need to, noona. I'm becoming so out of shape" Minho argued with me while I wiped the sweat off of his face with a towel. I then moved on to Key and did the same thing. While I was wiping his face with the towel, I knelt down closer to his face. "I heard you met up with Amber" I whispered. Key smiled and nodded. "I did. Well, she was looking for me" Key spoke the truth. I just nodded my head and gave him his water. I moved on to Jonghyun and wiped his head of all the sweat. "Thanks for spending time with us" Jjong smiled and sat up. I only smiled fed him his water. "Are you guys hungry? I'm willing to go out and bring you back something" I offered. Everyone's faces lit up except for Jjong, which caught my eye. "I want to see Minjung.. I miss her" he frowned and looked down at the ground. I sighed, because I knew there was nothing I could do. "She's working.. I can't just pull her away" I shrugged. He let out a big sigh. "Hey, at least ya got me!" I tried to cheer him up. He smiled and I moved on to Taemin. I dried his head with the towel and gave him a water bottle. "Noona. I want rice noodles..." he asked of me. I nodded my head and started to approach Onew. "Okay. Rice noodles it is" I said and rested Onew's head in my lap. "What if I want sushi?" Onew looked up at me and pouted. I tilted my head and broke into another smile. "Then I'll make two trips" I insisted. "No! You don't have to do that" Minho frowned. I looked over at him. "You guys have been working hard. Just tell me whatever you want and I'll get it" I tried to convince them that it was okay. "I want sushi like Onew said" Key informed. "I want rice noodles with Taemin" Jjong chirped. I looked over at Minho, who was still making up his mind. "Sushi, for me" he finally decided. I smiled and knelt down to give Onew a quick peck on the lips and got up and left the room. 

While I walked down the hall, there was a man coming the different direction. He looked at me and smiled. He looked familiar. But I couldn't make him out. "Did you miss me?" the man asked.

Then I remembered.

He was an idol. But I never had the chance to meet him. I was only with SM for about two months when he left. 

I cursed myself for not being able to approach him, or any other members of his group for that matter. 

Everyone told me that he was 'special', which I wasn't sure was a compliment, or an insult. Most likely a compliment I assume.

I watched some of his performances and concluded myself that he was indeed one special guy.

He always made sure that he was unique. 

And he did a pretty damn good job of doing that. He was unique. 

And now here he was. I finally got to meet him formally. Something I've been waiting for. 

"Kim Heechul?" I asked. He nodded slowly. I blinked. "it's already been two years?" I asked again. I couldn't believe he was back. I also couldn't believe how two years just flew by. Just like that. 

He nodded again. I blinked one more time. "I know right? It's been I while since you joined our family" he said with a smile. 

"Are you happy to be back?" I asked, finally calming down from my sudden reality check. He nodded. He does a lot of nodding. "Well.. I'm Rachel" I introduced myself. "I know who you are" he laughed. "But I've never been able to properly introduce myself. If my name if hard to pronouce, call me Zuko. My friend gave me a nickname" I explained. "Zuko? What friend gave you that nickname?" he asked. I felt sort of embarrassed. Was it weird that I had a nickname? 

"....Leeteuk" I smiled and thought of Teukkie. Heechul smiled with me and looked up. "I'm gunna miss Leeteuk. But it's only two years. If you could've waited for me, you can wait for him" Heechul smiled and held his hand out. I decided to shake it. "I'm Kim Heechul. Nice to meet you, Rachel" he smiled. I sighed. Still not believing that Heechul was already back from the army. "Are you going to say hi to your members? I know they're itching to see you. They talk about you a lot" I asked. He nodded. "Yes, I was on my way to see them. So. I guess I'll see you around then?" he asked. I nodded and bowed. "See you around then" I bid him farewell and started to go on my food run. I looked back to see him smiling at me. I smiled back and he turned around and continued to walk down the hallways.

"What a nice guy" I thought

---

I was walking out of the market where they sold the rice noodles and saw a huge huge HUGE basket of.... Them. 

I almost dropped Taemin's and Jonghyun's rice noodles and gasped. "No fricking way" 

I approached them with wide eyes. This must be a dream. People tell me they're so hard to find in Korea. And now.. Here they are, staring at me in the face. Perfect ones. ON SALE! 

"Must come back later" I thought ot myself and ran to fetch the sushi. 

---

After practice, everyone was excited, since our boss gave us a day off to celebrate Halloween. I invited SHINee and f(x) to my dorm because of... Them..

"Now, you guys. I'm about to show you a very popular American Halloween tradition. It's fun. Very fun. Krystal and Amber probably know what I'm talking about" I said calmly while I put the key in the lock of my dorm. "Actually. We don't" Krystal laughed, which made everyone else laugh. I rolled my eyes and opened the door. "You will soon" I said with an evil tone. When I opened the door. Amber gasped and Krystal smiled. The others just wondered. What they were looking at were

Big, round, bright, orange... Pumpkins!

Soon to be wonderful Jack-o-lanterns. 

"P-Pumpkins?" Taemin asked curiously. Minho and Vic walked up to the ones on the kitchen table. I bought twenty of them. "You bought so many. I've never seen one up close" Sulli exclaimed. I smiled at their curiosity. "So.. The tradition is....?" Onew asked looking at me. I nodded and went to my closet. "Hopefully the candle didn't burn anything" I thought. When I opened my closet, I saw my own jack-o-lantern that I carved myself. When everyone was still down at SM, I stayed home and carved a pumpkin to show them. I picked the pumpkin up gently and turned it around for them to see. They all gasped. 

"Whoa..." Luna whispered. She looked so amazed. Truth be told. I was very good at carving faces. Jonghyun smiled and looked into the hollow pumpkin to see one lone candle. "That's so cool. Is there any history behind this?" Jjong pointed to it and looked up at me and asked. "I'm sure, but I don't know the history" I said regretfully. "But that's what the internet is for!" Minho chirped. At that moment, Luna pulled out her phone and surfed the web for history of jack-o-lanterns. 

When she read us the history, Taemin immediately wanted to start carving.

-----

"Just stick your hand inside! It'll feel really squishy.. But it won't kill you. But it might sting some cuts you have on your hands" I explained for the 100th time to Key, who was scared to gut his pumpkin. He just looked into the pumpkin with a disgusted look on his face. "This is the only way to carve it! and put a candle in! Just do it. Stop being a wuss!" I yelled at him in english. He looked at me and pouted. "But it looks.." he started. Amber cralwed over on the tarp covered floor to see the situation. "I gutted my pumpkin. It's really not that bad, yeobo" she tried to reassure him. Key closed his eyes and his hand dived into the pumpkin, feeling the seeds and the roots. 

He opened his eyes slowly and looked down into the pumpkin, which now had his hand in it. He looked at Amber and smiled. "It feels so... COOL!

Amber took in a huge sigh of relief and went back to her pumpkin. Key shoved his other hand in the pumpkin and felt around. He just smiled and laughed. "I'm glad you like it. Now I'll teach you how to pull the seeds out" I prepared my lesson.

Yesung POV

"What are you looking at?" Kyuhyun said in my ear while I was looking at the computer screen. His voice made me jump slightly. "Just some Halloween stuff" I simply replied. I looked up at Kyu, who was nodding. "When are you gunna get off the computer?" he asked. I rolled my eyes, knowing exactly what he wanted. "You wanna play computer games don't you?" I said to him. "Maaaaaaybeee" he sighed. I was about to object, but the doorbell rang. 

"I think that's the pizza I ordered" Shindong came into the living room and heading for the door. "I told you not to order pizza" I scolded him. This was the fourth night in a row he'd bought pizza. "Don't be such buzzkill" Shindong whined. I heard him open the door, but nobody made a sound. "Yah! What toppings did you get?" I asked him, finally giving up. But still, neither Shindong or the pizza guy made a noise. "What is that?" I heard Shindong ask faintly. I looked up and Kyu. He looked down at me with a confused look. Then, I heard a female voice. At this point, I stood up and headed for the door. 

It was Rachel, Amber and Victoria were standing next to her. All three of them were holding.. Pumpkins. Something was different about them though. The pumpkins had faces. "We came to show you how to make jack-o-lanterns" Amber said calmly. I smiled. Something new. I like it

Seohyun POV

"There's someone at the door! Seohyun-ah. Go answer the door!" I heard Sooyoung yell from the other room. Jeez.. Bossing me around. "It's because I'm short, isn't it!" I yelled back sarcastically and got up from my bed at left my room, passed the living room and headed for the door. "Who is it?" I asked through the door. No answer. "Who's there?" I asked again. Still no answer. "Probably someone ding dong ditched. Very funny. I rolled my eyes and started to walk away, but then, the doorbell rang again and a knock on the door came with it. I started to lose my patience and marched to the door and opened. "May I help you?" I asked annoyed. Who I saw before me was Onew. Standing behind him was Key and Minho. "Onew oppa.. What's that?" I asked pointing to the thing in his hand. It was a pumpkin, with a face. I inspected further and saw that the face was carved out, and a small candle lit it up

"Seohyun. We're here to teach you how to make jack-o-lanterns" Onew smiled and handed me the pumpkin. I looked up at him confused. 

"Who's at the door?" I heard Jessica behind me. I looked back and saw her surprised expression when she looked at the boys. "Onew, Minho, Key.. What are you doing here? Isn't it sorta late?" she asked. But she had a sudden change of heart when she saw the pumpkin in my hands. "JACK-O-LANTERNS! TIFFANY! COME TO THE DOOR!!" she screamed and jumped up and down. Her reaction made the three SHINee members giggle. 

"What what what?? I was reading, what do you--" Tiffany asked, but she stopped and smiled at the pumpkins. Or, jack-o-lanterns. "AWESOME!!" Tiffany squealed. Her and Jessica fangirled over the pumpkins so hard. I just laughed and went back in the dorm to get the other members. 

Rachel POV

"I didn't know you could come to the roof. That's so cool!" I commented when Heechul brought me and Ryeowook up to the roof. He said he had something to tell us. I had a slight feeling that it was about  Leeteuk. 

"So what's up, hyung?" Ryeowook asked him. I looked at Heechul. Earlier that day, I introduced myself to him. Even then, he would still treat me like we've known each other forever. It was a nice feeling. 

"I saw Leeteuk right before I came back" Heechul informed us. Ryeowook and I missed Leeteuk so much. Of course everyone did. But for some reason, it was hard for us to talk about him.

"Y-You did?" I stuttered. "Is he nearby?" 

Heechul shook his head. "Not really" he sighed. Ryeowook dropped his head. "Did.. He have anything to say?" Ryeowook asked. A smile spread across Heechul's face. Which meant yes. 

"What did he say?" I asked. By this time, I started to get excited. "He said.. He missed you guys.. Meaning all of you. But he gave me a message to send to only you two" Heechul explained. I felt so touched. Heechul pulled out a piece of paper.

".. Rachel and Ryeowook.. I miss you both so much. In the short three months that we spent as a trio made me cherish both of you and I can't stop thinking about you since I've left. Ryeowook, you and Onew must take good care of Rachel. She's your responsibility... Please make sure nothing bad happens to her. I was traveling with my unit when we came across a man selling small rocks. I decided to get you both one" Heechul recited the message, but stopped to give us the rocks that Leeteuk bought us. I looked down at the rock. It said "I love you" on it in hangul. I looked over at Ryeowook's. His rock was the same shape, and said the same thing. Except his was grey and mine was blue. "I love you both so much. I couldn't get anyone else any because they were very expensive. So I hope you know that you two are so special to me" Heechul continued on with the message. I could only cry. I kept looking down at the rock. I glanced over at Ryeowook, who was also crying and holding the rock close to his chest. I did the same and felt Leeteuk's presence in my heart. I could feel it.

"Whatever is going on in your lives right now, please let it be good. And in case you were wondering, I do watch your video messages. Sometimes they make me laugh. Sometimes, they make me cry. If you're reading this right now, and you're crying. Please don't. I want you two to be happy, along with everyone else." Heechul read. He started to cry just be reading the message that was meant for me and Ryeowook. I started to get closer to Heechul to pat him on the back. "I hope you know how special you both are to me. Ryeowook, you know I love you and I always have through all these years. Rachel, even though I've only known who you are for a couple years, I feel like we should gotten to know each other better in the past. When I get back, you, me and Ryeowook will go to the theme park together like you said you wanted to.. Okay?" Heechul read. I felt myself nod my head. While I heard Heechul read, his voice started to sound like Leeteuk. My mind played tricks on me. I really thought Leeteuk was there with us. "I have to stop writing, I'm running out of paper. Goodbye Rachel and Ryeowook. My two best friends. I'll always be thinking about you and watching your videos. I'll see you soon. Wait for me just like you've waited for Heechul. I love you" Heechul stopped reading because the letter was finished with Leeteuk's signature. 

The tears were non-stop. I couldn't stop crying. I left Heechul's side and embraced Ryeowook, who was crying silently all alone. I couldn't let him be alone. I grabbed his neck and pulled him towards me. He held me tight around the waist and placed his chin on my shoulders. I could feel his tears land on my back. 

"I think.. I'll leave now" Heechul proposed and headed for the stairs. I looked over Ryeowook's shoulder and saw him leaving. "No.." I heard myself mumble and pull him closer to me. I pulled him by the wrist and hugged him. "Thank you" I cried. Heechul nodded and rubbed the back of my head. "You're welcome Rachel" he sighed and hugged me tighter. Ryeowook came to my side and put one arm around my neck and another on Heechul's back in a group hug. I just cried and cried on Heechul's shirt. I couldn't get Leeteuk out of my mind. I tightened my grip on the rock in my hand. 

Leeteuk POV>> 2 days later

It was time to check our emails, which was rather pointless, since we couldn't reply back. We could only read. Or in my case, watch. I pulled my earbuds out of my shirt pocket and plugged them into the computer and watched the videos that my friends sent me. One was SNSD practicing. They smiled into the camera and waved. "We miss you, oppa!" they said over and over. I felt touched. Another was Changmin and Yunho sitting at a dinner table eating what looked like sushi. "Hyung. We know you're jealous" I heard Changmin say. I couldn't help but laugh "As a matter of fact. I am" I thought. I also got a few emails from my parents and my sister. The last message I forgot was a video message. I clicked on it and the first thing was static, then the picture came. It was Ryeowook sitting down while someone fidgited with the camera. When the picture was clear, the other person revealed themself by sitting down next to Ryeowook. It was Rachel. My heart jumped when they showed me the rocks that I bought them not even a week ago. "Hyung.." Ryeowook started. When I heard his voice. I immediately started to choke up. I missed listening to his voice. "Heechul hyung is home. And he gave us this and he.. He read the letter you wrote.." he continued. I felt a small tear fall from my eye. I looked over at Rachel, who was wiping a tear from her eye. "Today is October 30th. You are probably recieving this on the 1st of November" Rachel finally spoke. She was right, it was the 1st. "Tomorrow, we celebrating Halloween.. It's a holiday not celebrated in Korea. It's fun, but without you, it isn't perfect" she said. I started to cry. "I miss you" I heard myself whisper. "We miss you so much, hyung. We'd give anything to have you back" Ryeowook started to sob. Rachel rubbed his back and put her head on his shoulder. It didn't take long for her to start crying too. "Ryeowook has been taking care of me. You don't have to worry..." she cried, still comforting Ryeowook, who had his head down. I had to look away from the screen. It was too much. I waited for someone to talk, but I could only hear Ryeowook's cries through my earbuds. Then I heard it.

"Oppa"

I looked back into the screen to see Rachel red and damp face looking into the camera. I was so shocked. She looked down and laughed. "Remember when you asked me to call you oppa? But I would always forget?" she asked. I nodded my head. As if she could see me. "Well, I remembered. This time, just for you" she smiled and put her head closer to Ryeowook's. "Will you call me oppa?" he asked, finally pulling himself together. "I'll think about it" she giggled. I laughed a little inside and continued to watch. It was true. I was always upset with Rachel because she would forget to call me oppa. "Leeteuk oppa.. I miss you and love you so much.. Please come back soon. And please let time pass by faster.." she started to cry again. This time, Ryeowook held onto her shivering body and looked into the camera. "We hope time will fly by like it did for Heechul hyung. The only thing that's keeping us alive, is knowing that you'll come back soon someday.." Ryeowook said in the camera. By this time, it was so hard to look at the screen and I was getting everything wet with tears. "Please stay safe, hyung. We love you" Ryeowook concluded and helped Rachel to look into the camera to say her last goodbye. She looked at me and smiled. "Goodbye for now. I love you, oppa" she said and made a heart with her small hands. Ryeowook got up and shut the camera off and that was the end of the message.

Sorry for such a sad ending. DX