Rachel POV>> the next day

While I put the last of my clothes in my bag once again to go home, I couldn't stop shaking. The wait for my brother's test results were killing me slowly. For some reason, I didn't want to leave my brother alone in the US, but I had to get back to work.. And I was probably in a load of trouble for leaving unexpectedly for two days without permission..

When I got out of the cab outside the mall, I saw Chris waving and smiling, so I smiled and waved back. We were going shopping for clothes. 

I promised I would bring back candy for Ryeowook and a t-shirt for Amber...

While I looked through the colorful socks, I looked over for my brother, who was in the jewelry store across the walk way.

"What.. Are you doing here?" I asked him. "Nothing really.. Shiny things.. They attract me?" he scratched his head. "You know. You've always been a talented liar." I started, but stopped when he rolled his eyes at me. "Okay fine.. I've been dating this girl for a couple months now. I know it's too soon, so I've decided I'll just browse for today" he finally confessed. I couldn't believe my ears.. My brother.. Chris, my brother.. Has a girlfriend?

After the news finally came out, he told me everything about her, and showed me pictures. She was gorgeous. 

While he skipped meals for the third day in a row, he watched me eat and I thought..

"If Chris has what I think he has.. Will he live long enough to buy her a ring?"

I told my brother that I was going to the bathroom, and I did. While I was there, I texted Amber

To: Amber
From: Rachel

"Tell me Amber.. Do you think I'm in trouble?" I typed and pressed send. 

When my phone vibrated, I read the text..

3rd person POV

The boy sat down on one of the benches in training room S4 of SM when a something buzzed.. He looked down to see a cell phone. "Whose is this?" he asked, shocked that he had no idea for so long that there was a random phone next to him.

"Tell me Amber.. Do you think I'm in trouble?" he read. "So the owner of this phone's name is Amber.. Maybe Amber from f(x)..?" he thought

Then he looked at the name of the person that sent the text.. "Rachel.."

Then it hit him.. "Rachel from Noize!". He almost dropped the phone in shock. "What do I do, what do I do, what do I do?" he looked around the room, to see that he was alone. He decided to text her back.. "I can't believe I'm gunna talk to Rachel.." he smiled.

To: Rachel
From: "Amber"

"What could you be in trouble with? What did you do?" he typed and pressed send

...

...

*buzz* *buzz*

To: "Amber"
From: Rachel

"Don't play idiot! You know exactly what's going on.. I left the country without permission.. Is this even Amber?"

While he read the text, his eyes widened. "She found me out already?"

"Wait.. She left the country??"

He scrambled to reply

To: Rachel
From: "Amber"

"Sorry, I'm feeling a bit sarcastic today.. :/ My bad. How is everything going?"

...

...

...

"You still haven't answered my question!" Rachel wrote

...

...

"Well, yeah. Of course you're in trouble. You left Korea without anyone saying it was okay"

"Did I really just send that???" he freaked and almost dropped Amber's phone again

"Yeah, I guess you're right.. That is a dumb question.. What are you up to?" Rachel wrote

The boy wondered about what to say..

He was about to start typing again.. Until..

"There it is, what are you doing with my phone??" Amber screeched as she walked in and snatched the phone out of his hands. "I'm so sorry, Amber! You got a text from Rachel and it seemed urgent.." he made up his words as he went along. 

Amber shrugged. "It's fine... Hey, you're one of those kids in that new group.. What's your name again?" Amber smiled

The smiled and bowed at 90 degrees.

"Chanyeol inmida" 

----

Rachel POV

"You check.." I said to Chris while we stood outside his mailbox, assuming that his test results were back.. "Quick! My plane leaves in three hours!"

"Okay okay!" he said and opened the mailbox. He looked through his mail and found the envelope from the hospital. He opened it read silently. I just watched.

"And after this, no matter what the outcome.. I have to leave" I thought.. thinking such negative thoughts. 

I looked down to my feet for a moment when Chris gave me the paper, emotionless. I looked down at the paper and read.

"Dear Chris ____, 

We are happy to inform you that the recent tests for any cancerous diseases have all come back..."

"NEGATIVE!!!" I screamed out and through the paper in the air. A smile spread across his face and he laughed. "I'm so happy you're gunna be okay" I laughed while Chris bearhugged me and lifted me off the ground. Dang, for a man who hasn't eaten in three days, he's pretty strong.

After our mini celebration, it was going on 8pm and the sun was going down. My plane was leaving in two hours

"Well, I hope you get back safely.. " Chris smiled at me and kissed me on the forehead. "I'm just happy you're going to be okay.. I'm so happy" I said giving him another long hug. I could finally breathe, more weight taken off my shoulders. Only to be put back on when I get back to work and dealing with my relationships

I waved to Chris one last time before going through the gate. "Call me when you get there!" he yelled. I smiled and did a thumbs-up.

I walked through all the people to get to my seat, I sat next to a kid that looked about my age. For some reason, he looked somewhat familiar. He was listening to his music with big headphones when the plane was about take off.

"Excuse me sir. Please turn off all electronics while we take off and during our ascent" the attendent came over to our row and whispered. But he couldn't hear her. I nudged him with my elbow lightly and he looked up at me, then to the attendent. "Oh, I'm sorry" he apologized and turned off his MP3

"In all honesty.. I don't think electronics matter." I whispered to him. He shrugged. "Well, gotta follow the rules" he sighed and put his MP3 in his bag. "Your english is good. I'm impressed" I smiled at him. He finally decided to look at me. "Well.. I'm Chinese.. But I spent a lot of my life in Canada" he told me. "What are you doing in the US, and why are you going to Korea?" I asked him. Nothing about where he was and where he was going made sense. "Well, I was in America visiting friends, and I'm going to Korea to start a career in music" he explained. "What are you doing in the US? And why are you going to Korea?" he asked me the same question.. "Well, I'm from the states. I was here visiting my brother who's sick.. And I'm going back to Korea cause that's where I work.." I explained back to him. He nodded his head. "Nice. Maybe I'll see you around..." he giggled.

"Yeah.. Maybe.." I laughed. 

"What's your name?" he asked me

"Rachel.. What's yours?"

"Ehh, my real name is too hard to pronounce.. So just call me Kris" he smiled..

"Nice to meet you Kris" I smiled. I took a minute to look out the window and saw rain coming from the sky... 

The next time I looked back at Kris, we were in the sky and he was reading. I just sighed and realized how tired I was. "Maybe I should just take the time to rest" I yawned. I borrowed one of the plane's pillows and blankets and got cozy.. Right when I was about to fall asleep.. I felt something poke my arm.. A finger. 

"I know.. I haven't known you long but it's cold and they're out of blankets.. Do you mind if we share?" Kris asked nicely. I couldn't say no to his face. "Sure.." I said and started pushing the blanket towards him. 

I finally dozed off and fell asleep.

I was woken up by the sun coming through the window. I squinted my eyes at the sudden brightness and shut the window with the shade. Just when I was about to roll over and fall asleep again, Kris.. the guy that I had only met not even ten hours ago, has his head practically in my lap. "What the f***" I thought. He's sound asleep..

"Maybe I should just leave him there.. He's not doing anything bad.. Just sleeping.." I decided to leave him be. Not soon after, I fell asleep again. 

When I woke up, something was shaking me.. 

"Rachel.. The plane landed.. We're in Korea.. You're a really sound sleeper" I heard Kris say to me while I'm still waking up. "I'm usually not.." I yawned and tried to get up.. Me and Kris, and maybe three others were the only ones on the plane. "Why didn't you leave? The plane is nearly empty.." I looked around.. "I.. just wanted to make sure you were okay.. I mean.. well" he stuttered. I rolled my eyes.. "Thank you. Maybe someday we can hang out" I stood up and grabbed my things. "Sure" he smiled at me and followed me out. 

"So.. Now that we're in Korea.. Should I call you noona?.. Or.." he laughed. "Well, in Korean age, I'm 25" I confessed. "So that's a yes!" he beamed. For someone who's been sleeping on a cramped plane, he was very energetic. 

---

"Have a safe trip back home. And good luck with your music career" I said looking down at him while he sat in the backseat of the taxi. "Don't get too wet. And good luck with your boyfriend problems.. I'm sure everything will be okay" Kris smiled sympathetically as I stood in the rain. During the flight, I woke up to him playing fruit ninja on an iPad. I decided to talk to him about my issues with Onew and Yunho.. But I never mentioned their names..

And I never told him what I really did for a living

And I never asked what kind of music career he was pursuing..

I waved once, he waved once, and the window of the cab closed and he was off, leaving me to wait for Ryeowook to pick me up. While I waited, I thought about Kris. and what chance it may be that he's a singer.. Like me

---

"Hey dude.. What took so long?" I asked Ryeowook while I hopped in the car. "No rain water in the car please.. And sorry, there was a ton of traffic.." he apologized and sped off. "Great, just what we need" I sighed and looked out the window. I already missed my brother

"So.. Uhh.. Where's my candy?" Ryeowook asked. I giggled weakly and searched for the candy in my bag

----

Minho POV>> next day

I was walking through the halls in SM when I passed by a room. There was a bunch of shouting on the other side of the door. Someone was definitely getting scolded. I pressed my ear up against the door and listened. 

"Do you realize how many rules you've broken? You're just lucky you're a foreigner, and that everyone loves you.." the person roared.. Foreigner?.. It's probably Rachel.

---

"Hey, did you know you're girlfriend is getting yelled at right now.. Maybe you should go stand up for her.." I yelled across the room to Onew who was stretching. "Where is she?" he asked. "Her manager's office.. Better get there soon" I informed him. And with that, he was out the door..

Onew POV

I walked down the hall on my way to where Rachel was. I couldn't believe she left for two days without permission. I wonder if she knows how bad that seems. 

When I made it to the door, I listened closely.

"I don't know what we're going to do with you.." I heard an unfamiliar voice through the door. I didn't think and pushed the door open. I saw Noize's manager standing at her desk. She looked peeved, while Rachel sat in a chair next to Amber. They both looked up at me. Rachel smiled. Amber glared.

"Onew-sshi. Please, not now" their manager shooed me out. I didn't know what to do.. So I just obeyed. I backed up towards the door and closed it..

I waited about ten minutes when the door opened again. Rachel started walking the other way, not seeing that I was waiting. But Amber caught me, and she looked pissed.. 

"Hey. Is everything going to be okay with you guys?" I asked. "Like you care" she sneered.

My jaw dropped. "Of course I care! What makes you think I don't?"

"The fact that Rachel left and you didn't once try to contact her? How about that?" she yelled in my face. "You know I do feel bad, I really do.." I tried to argue. 

"Not enough. You know, while you weren't trying to call her, someone else was calling her" she hissed. What? She was talking to someone else. "Who?"

"Jung Yunho" 

And that was the last person I wanted to hear..

"Can you tell Rachel that I wanna take a break?"

"Take a break from what??"

"Our relationship.. I feel like I'm holding her down"

"You're so ridiculous. Be a real man and tell her that yourself" Amber said, then walked away.. 

------

Rachel POV

"Hey guess what??" Amber yelled while she creeped into TVXQ's training room. When I walked in, I saw Changmin's face first. He was smiling at me. "Hey, glad to see you back in one piece" he laughed and came up to hug me. When Amber moved out of the way. I saw Yunho sitting in the corner going through something on his phone. He was listening to music so he didn't hear us come in. "Yah!" Changmin yelled and threw his shoe at him. 

I giggled at Yunho's reaction. "Stop throwing things at me, you little demon!" he roared and rubbed his cheek where the shoe hit him. "What was it you wanna tell us?" Changmin asked Amber. I was looking at Yunho when he looked at me. I started to blush when he smiled. Our phone conversation from a few nights ago made me feel closer to him by far and having a heart-to-heart conversation with him was refreshing. He finally made it to me and towered over me. "Look at you. All.. Short and stuff" he laughed. 

"I'm not short! You're just a giant" I argued. He giggled. "It's nice to see you again.." he whispered to me and got closer to hug me. His embrace was something I waited for while I was in the states. Something about his hugs were different. "Please.. Don't ever leave again without telling me first" he said while I hugged him tightly. 

"Did you hear that, hyung? Rachel and Amber are coming with us on tour! They're gunna open for us!" Changmin butted in. I released my grip on Yunho and backed away. While Changmin and Yunho jumped up and down with excitement, I looked over at Amber and smiled, but she just gave me a concerned look. 

What's her issue?