"Don't. Say. Anything."

Amelie held up her hands and shook her head as her co-worker slipped behind the desk. She watched as Changbin yawned, then raised his large cup of coffee to his lips. She smiled as she rolled the empty chair over to him and held it steady so he could sit down. 

"I was only going to say I was surprised you took a morning shift after doing the night one yesterday," she said. She turned to the front as a mom and her two kids came in and welcomed them. 

Changbin put his cup down on the counter and moved to the front of the desk so he could start prepping the wristbands for the family. He listened as the two kids called out the trampoline room, rock climbing area, and destruction room. He activated the bands for the first two and paused when the mom began protest with her kids on the latter. 

"I said no."

"Mom, c'mon!" the boy whined as he turned and looked up at her. "You promised!"

"We're not going to get hurt!" his sister added. 

The mom looked at both of them and glanced at Amelie and Changbin for their thoughts. Amelie looked at both kids, then back at the mother. 

"M'am, if you are concerned, I can reassure you that we supply goggles and gloves whenever anyone enters the destruction room," she explained. "We clean and sanitize all of the equipment and there's always a staff member present if there's any concerns. But if your kids can't lift a sledgehammer without struggling, I would hold off on the experience for now."

Both of the kids protested when they heard Amelie's response and that seemed to satisfy their mother. She repeated that she would pay for the trampoline and rock climbing areas and told both children maybe another time for the destruction room. 

Changbin placed the wristbands on the counter and explained how they worked. He took a long sip from his cup and flashed the mom and her kids a smile as they headed for the first area in the entertainment center. Once they were out of sight, he checked to make sure people weren't waiting to be checked in, then answered Amelie's comment about shifts.

"I took the morning shift last minute because Joy called out sick," he explained. "Food poisoning – think her roommate took her to a sketchy sushi restaurant? That's what I thought I heard before she put the phone down."

Amelie cringed and shook her head. "Geez, of all people, I thought she would–"

"But you don't know her roommate like I do," Changbin reminded Amelie. "She's a cheapskate, almost to the point where she should be on one of those shows."

"That's unfortunate," Amelie sighed. "But how's the "boyfriend" doing?"

Changbin paused mid-sip and he threw her a daggered glare at the emphasis on the word "boyfriend", which was Amelie's way of suggesting he was being catfished. Sometimes he wished he never told her or any of his friends, as no one took him seriously about this guy being real. 

He connected with his KaTalk friend over a shared interest in rap music and they exchanged messages regularly. He learned that the young man's name was Felix Lee and he originally lived in the city Changbin resided in. Due to his dad's job change, the entire family moved back to Australia and Felix recently graduated from high school, with plans to study at university and eventually do a study abroad program in his old city. He had seen a few pictures of the young man, who had boyish features and a charming, warm smile that seemed to light up the room. Changbin hadn't planned on falling for Felix, but eventually Felix confessed that he couldn't hide his growing feelings for the older boy and asked if they wanted to try a long-distance relationship. 

"Felix is doing great," Changbin stated as he put his cup down. "Actually, he's planning to come out here for a visit. Said he has a cousin attending school here and the family's going to be here for a few weeks."

Amelie paused from straightening up the desk and snapped her head toward Changbin. It took some effort to resist smirking at his co-worker's surprised reaction and he nodded sharply as he took another sip from his cup. 

Seungmin sighed as he sank into a chair once he got home with his mom. He let out the breath he had been holding in and his mom walked over to him and squeezed his shoulder. 

"Honey, you did great. I'm proud of you and I know your dad will be too," she said. "I was thinking maybe we should celebrate – what would you like to do? AYCE? Sleepover slash pool party with the friends? Something else?"

Seungmin closed his eyes and let out a soft laugh as the reality sunk in. He actually did it: he passed his driving test, meaning he'd be getting a driver's license in the mail soon. Earlier this morning he was dreading the test, wishing it was another day. Being fifth to test didn't help, as he saw a majority of the people ahead of him receive failing marks and he wondered if it was too late to chicken out. But the instructor got into the passenger's seat and he was forced to take a deep breath, then focus on the road as he followed the instructions given. 

"I think I wanna tell my friends first," he confessed. "I don't know what I wanna do, but I'll give it some thought."

His mom nodded and excused herself to go call her husband to share the good news. Seungmin pulled out his phone and started texting Jeongin, Han, and Hyunjin about the news in his group text. Once he sent the message, his finger hovered over the KakaoTalk app and he decided to go ahead and share the update with Felix, his former best friend. 

seungsangsong

Felix! Hope you're doing well down under – is it cold there? 

I got my driver's license! Maybe next time you come I can drive us somewhere. 
Sent 12:47 PM

He closed the app and decided he would check later when his friend was awake. As soon as he closed the app, his notifications dinged and new messages came in from his friends on the group text. 

Hyunjin

Congratulations!

Jeongin

Awesome! Now you can drive us!

Han

Congratulations! You probably did textbook perfect – always knew you would get it on the first try. 

Seungmin snorted at Han's reply and started to type back a response. A new message came in from his sister and he clicked on it. 

Ame

(throws confetti) Congratulations! Binnie says congrats too. Let me know when you wanna come again and Binnie and I will sign you and a friend in. :)

Seungmin

You mean me and Hyunjin? 

Ame

Or Han. Don't forget about him!

fairylix

Binnie! I'm flying tonight! I should be packing now, but I'm too excited. Ngl, kinda nervous too. 

It's been years since I've been back and I don't know how much has changed. 
Sent 22:57 PM

Changbin chuckled as he read the latest KakaoTalk messages from Felix. He shook his head as he typed back a reply, telling the younger boy to finish packing first. 

sb

Felix, focus on packing. You don't wanna forget something and regret it. How close to finished are you, in terms of packing?
Sent 22:58 PM

He saw dots appear and then Felix replied back, saying he was about 69% done. This prompted Changbin to type back that he was going to log off until Felix finished. He immediately got a pouty emoji back, followed by one of the cute character stickers acting upset. 

fairylix

I can pack and chat!
Sent 23:00 PM

sb

I'll give you 20 minutes. You really should focus on packing. Don't want your mom blaming me for you missing your toothbrush or something. 
Sent 23:01 PM

fairylix

Ha, she would. Or maybe even scold my sisters for not checking that I had everything. 

Give me 10 minutes, I can finish packing then! 
Sent 23:02 PM

"You..." Changbin chortled as he closed the app. He reached for his charger and plugged his phone in, before sitting up on his bed and deciding to change for bed. 

Once he had was