Serin knew that something strange was going on when she heard a noise in the exercise room from her food-packing station in the kitchen, followed by the sound of Hoon returning to the bedroom. Now that Eunsook and Taekhyun were old enough and easy enough to leave with Hoon’s parents (for both parties involved), she and Hoon had decided to take a vacation together, just the two of them. They had dropped the children off with Jungsook, who was more than happy to receive them, and returned to the apartment to prepare for their overnight flight. Serin had already packed most of her things and was now preparing some food to take with them. Hoon was supposed to be packing. But now he seemed to be doing something with his exercise equipment, which was strange because he had already worked out that morning.

“Hoonmin?” She called, walking down the hall to the bedroom and peering inside. “What are you doing?”

“I’m packing,” Hoon replied, stuffing several dumbells into a duffel bag and zipping it up. “Almost done!”

“You can’t bring those with you,” Serin said. “They’re too heavy.”

“But I need them to work out! I have to bring them!”

Serin shook her head. “You won’t need them. Every hotel we’re staying at has a fully equipped exercise room; I made sure of it. You won’t be without proper exercise facilities.”

Hoon looked at her mournfully for a moment before nodding and ping the bag. “Okay.”

Serin patted his arm encouragingly. “Don’t worry; there will be plenty of opportunities to work out.”

Hoon nodded, face serious. “Thanks. I need my protein too, though...”

Serin furrowed her brow. “Your protein powder?”

“If that’s what it comes to,” Hoon said. “It would be better to have animal protein.”

“Hoonmin, you can’t bring enough of that on the plane to last you the entire trip.”

“I have to get my protein and work out. It’s really important.” Hoon flexed his arm muscles a bit.

“You can eat things with protein if you wish to. You don’t need to pack any.”

Serin glanced into Hoon’s suitcase and was met by an assortment of tank tops and One Piece t-shirts. She suspected that a Dragon Ball-Z hat was somewhere in the mix but couldn’t know for sure. Hoon came up beside her and placed a neatly folded surgical mask on top of the shirts.

“Hoon, you don’t need that,” Serin said.

“I need it for the airport, thought. And practice-” He paused. “Oh.”

“The fans don’t know we’re going somewhere, and if you get plenty of rest and stay hydrated, you won’t get sick.”

“Ah. You’re right.” Hoon removed the surgical mask and replaced it with a small One Piece figurine.

“You don’t need to bring that, either,” Serin said, giving him a questioning look.

“Yes, I do,” Hoon contradicted. “It reminds me of you while I’m away-” He stopped. “Oh.”

Serin laughed briefly. “I’ll be there with you this time; you won’t need it.”

“Don’t you need to pack?” Hoon gestured to her suitcase on the other side of the bed.

“I already packed most of the things I need.”

She didn’t add that she had also packed most of the things that Hoon would probably forget to pack. Hoon was used to packing the bare minimum during his days as an idol, as everything extra was provided for idols and their stays were often short and busy.

Serin gave Hoon a smile and returned to the kitchen to finish what she had been doing. She was looking forward to spending some quality time alone with him. It had been a while since they had gotten away, just the two of them. Since she was generally flexible when it came to traveling and simply wanted to be with him, no matter the place, she had let Hoon pick their destination. Unsurprisingly, he had chosen Los Angeles in a heartbeat. As an afterthought, he had mentioned how he had also wanted to visit San Francisco again, and Serin had suggested that they make it a road trip. They could rent a car and drive up the West Coast, making stops along the way. Hoon had loved the idea, and their plans for a vacation had quickly become a reality.

By 10:00 a.m., they had left the apartment, suitcases in tow. After some convincing on the part of Serin, Hoon had left his extra duffel bag at home and settled for just one suitcase and a carry-on with his neck pillow, sweatshirt, earbuds, mp3 player, phone, and sunglasses. Serin carried similar items in her purse, along with the snacks she had packed for what she knew would be a very hungry Hoon.

They boarded the plane without any problems, and their flight left on time at 12:45 p.m. They entertained each other for the first five hours or so, chatting and playing silly games. Serin let Hoon have the window seat, and not twenty minutes had gone by before he pointed at the seemingly endless sky and announced that he could see Vegeta from the plane.

“Serin-ah,” Hoon said suddenly, turning to his wife, “do you think the kids are okay? Taekhyun didn’t want us to leave, and Eunsook started missing us already.”

“I’m sure they’re fine, Hoonie.” Serin smiled. “We left them with your mom, so of course they’ll be fine. They’re in good hands. Your dad will be jealous.”

Hoon nodded and laughed a little, both satisfied by her response and amused at the thought of his mother doting on her grandchildren. Being away from Eunsook had been extremely difficult before he went to the military, but after those two years, he hated being away from his children more than ever. Although he had gone the longest time without seeing them that he probably ever would, his military service reminded him just how precious every moment he had with them was. And it was different when Serin wasn’t there with them. But he was comforted by knowing that his parents would take the best possible care of them, and Serin’s father had even mentioned that he would visit them.

For the next few hours, they kept to themselves for the most part, listening to music and reading airplane magazines, but as the flight drew on, they both became less energetic. Serin, tired from getting Eunsook and Taekhyun ready to go to their grandparents’ house, packing, and monitoring Hoon’s packing, fell asleep with her head on Hoon’s shoulder. Hoon, who was overwhelmingly excited about the trip, managed to stay up for a while longer and sustained himself with snacks obtained from Serin’s bag. Eventually, though, he followed Serin’s lead and fell asleep as well.

Sometime during the thirteenth hour of the fifteen-hour flight, Hoon woke up and had to use the restroom, and accidentally woke Serin as he was gently lifting her head off of his shoulder so that he could get up. They were both somewhat sleepy and disrupted since it felt like they had slept for several hours and woken up at one in the morning, but Hoon was fairly accustomed to changing sleep patterns and adjusted accordingly. Serin, on the other hand, had trouble going back to sleep and decided to watch the airplane televisions instead.

“Take the 10” was the last thing Serin said to Hoon before she drifted off to sleep in the passenger seat of their rental car. She had fallen asleep right in the middle of reading Hoon the directions from the navigation feature of her phone, which was still in her hand when she fell asleep. So when Hoon began to see more signs on the freeway, he looked over at Serin and saw her peaceful, serene face with her eyes closed and decided that she was too exhausted and looked too cute to be woken up. Hoon’s phone was somewhere in the backseat, but he told himself that he could do without it. He was pretty sure he knew what Serin had told him, and he could certainly figure out what to do. After all, it was far from his first time in an unfamiliar country.

Hoon glanced up and saw the sign for the 101. Hollywood Freeway! Hollywood was in Los Angeles. And Serin had definitely said the 101 and not the 10. He took the exit, feeling satisfied with his solo navigation.

Several minutes later, Hoon was fairly certain that he was lost, particularly because he didn’t even know the name of the hotel he was looking for. As the stores on the side of the road became increasingly smaller, older, and dirtier, he decided that enough was enough. He needed to stop and ask for directions, preferably without waking Serin.

Hoon pulled into the next gas station parking lot he saw, parked the car, and retrieved his phone from the backseat. Serin’s hand was still curled tightly around her phone, but knowing her, it was possible that she had texted him the trip itinerary and hotel address as a precaution. A quick check confirmed his suspicion. He left her sleeping in the car and made his way toward the convenience store beneath the filling station overhang.

A couple of tough-looking, tattooed men were hanging around outside the convenience store, and they stared at Hoon as he walked past with a nod. Hoon opened the door, and a welcome blast of cool air hit him as he stepped inside.

The man behind the counter glanced up, and Hoon removed his sunglasses, trying to summon his best English skills and wishing Serin or Kevin were there.

“Hello!” Hoon said, stopping himself before he accidentally did U-KISS’s group greeting.

“Hello, can I help you?” The man folded his arms.

“No English,” Hoon said.

The man looked at him for a moment, waiting to gauge whether they would actually be able to communicate.

“I am...lost? I want go...there.” Hoon showed the man his phone screen with the hotel’s address on it.

“Oh, you’re going to Santa Monica.”

“What?” Hoon asked. “Sahnta...Mohnica? Los Angeles?”

The man nodded, giving Hoon a strange look. “Yeah. But you’re going to the beach, right?”

“Yes!”

“That’s part of Los Angeles. It’s okay. Most tourists don’t realize how large an area Los Angeles is.”

Hoon nodded, not quite understanding but glad that he was at least still in Los Angeles.

“Do you want me to write directions for you, or can you remember them?” The man asked, making a writing motion with his hands.

“I can remember,” Hoon said. In this traffic, he didn’t want to take his eyes off the road, and besides, he had trouble reading some handwriting.

“Alright,” the man said, and proceeded to give Hoon spoken directions to Santa Monica in English, most of which went over Hoon’s head and left him very confused.

“Thank you!” Hoon said with enthusiasm, praying that he would somehow find his way to the hotel.

Before he left, the extensive array of American candy bars by the cash register caught Hoon’s eye, and he bent down to admire them. Tabloid magazines were displayed on the counter, and Hoon didn’t know where to look first.

“Wow,” he said.

Hoon reminded himself that there would be more time for those things in the coming days and promptly returned to the car. To his great relief, Serin was awake when he got back into the driver’s seat.

“Good morning!” Hoon greeted her in English since he still had English in the forefront of his mind after his encounter with the man in the convenience store. He was slightly off, though, since it was now evening. “You woke up.”

“Hi, Hoonie.” Serin yawned, blinking cutely as she looked over at him. “Where are we? I fell asleep in the middle of navigating. Did we get lost?”

Hoon smiled at her appreciatively. Even though he had been the one driving, she had still said “we,” showing that she certainly wasn’t upset with him for getting lost. He nodded.

“I didn’t want to wake you up. You needed the rest. And I already woke you up once today. So I stopped to ask for directions here.”

“Where is here?” Serin asked out of curiosity. She fiddled with her phone. “We need to go to Santa Monica...” Her eyebrows shot up. “Hoon, we’re in Watts!”

“Whats?” Hoon frowned slightly. “What?”

“Never mind. That’s okay. Do you know how to get to Santa Monica now?” Serin asked, trying to envision Hoon’s conversation with whoever he had asked for directions. He probably didn’t know where they were.

“Ah, well...no. I’m sorry, Serin-ah. I got us really lost, didn’t I?”

“It’s okay, Hoonie.” Serin smiled. She was feeling slightly less exhausted after her nap, and she had a lot more patience. “I can program it into my phone again. Don’t worry; we’ll get there eventually.”

Hoon nodded in agreement, secretly relieved that Serin had woken up. He wasn’t sure he could find the hotel without her.

Some time later, after the traffic had sped up somewhat, Hoon located the Santa Monica exit he needed, with Serin’s help. He carefully removed his sunglasses with one hand and struggled to keep his eyes on the road after noticing the pink sunset overhead. Serin was feeling tired again, but she saw Hoon’s fascination with the sky and offered to drive so that he could admire it.

“Nope, I’m okay,” he said, sneaking one last glance. “It’s so nice here. Even nicer than I remembered.”

Serin smiled. “This is just the beginning. I think you’ll really like it.”

Hoon nodded enthusiastically and changed lanes. “That’s the street, right?”

“Right.”

“Go go!” Hoon to the street, and their hotel came into view. “Ah, that was exhausting. I’m sorry it took so long.”

“No worries,” Serin said kindly. “You tried your best. And we’re here now anyway.”

By the time they located their room, night had fallen, and although Hoon was eager to see the ocean from the balcony, it was too dark and he was too tired to try. He and Serin readied themselves for bed in a matter of minutes and soon collapsed.

“I should have showered after traveling,” Hoon said. “I’m being like Soohyun. But I’m just too tired.”

“There’ll be time for that tomorrow,” Serin murmured. “Even my naps earlier weren’t enough. Traveling is exhausting, especially when there’s a time difference.”

Hoon rolled over so that he could put one arm around Serin. Since it had been too late in Korea when they had arrived in Los Angeles, he had texted his mother that he and Serin had arrived safely. Now the only thing left to do was rest. Hoon settled against Serin and closed his eyes.

“Goodnight, Hoonie,” Serin said sleepily.

“Goodnight, Serin-ah.”

This time, although Hoon was still excited about being in a foreign city, he was more looking forward to sleeping a full eight hours next to his wife. As his eyes drifted closed, the stress of the hours spent navigating fell away, and he slipped into a peaceful sleep to the familiar sound of Serin’s breathing.