After they had landed and freshened up at their hotel, the five members caught a taxi to the university. Once stepping outside, they all stared in awe at the building in front of them.

“Woah!” said Soohyun gazing at the grand structure in front of him. “This is Jaeseop’s school?”

“Heck, even I’m amazed by it and I’m American!” laughed Eli.

“Alright, now that we’re here how are we supposed to find him?” asked Kiseop.

“This place is huge. We could walk straight past him and not even realise it.” said Hoon.

Kevin thought that maybe they should just ask someone for directions, but then he spotted the administration building. “Come on guys this way.”

As they entered the building, they waited for a couple of minutes before they were met by a plump woman with grey hair on the other side of the desk.

“Hello. How can I help?” she asked the boys.

“Hi” replied Kevin. “Um, we were just wondering where the psychology building was”

“Oh, you’re after Schermerhorn Hall?”

“Umm…if that’s where the psych classes are, then yes” said Kevin.

Soohyun and Hoon waited to the side while the other three got the help they needed from the lady behind the desk, too busy admiring everything around them. Hoon’s attention was then drawn to a bulletin board stuck to a wall in the far corner. Different pieces of paper stuck at odd angles with a bunch of different messages; books for sale, music gigs, study groups and roommate enquiries.

“Watcha doing Hoonie?” said Soohyun resting his chin on Hoon’s shoulder.

“Just reading. This does help with practicing my English.” replied Hoon. Just then one piece in particular had caught Hoon’s attention.

Roommate wanted:

Looking for a roommate. Living off campus, just five minutes away. Fully furnished bedrooms, kitchen and bathroom. Plus unlimited WIFI! If interested contact Jaeseop Kim.

“Hyung! Look at this!” exclaimed Hoon pointing to the piece of paper.

Soohyun read the notice and looked at Hoon with wide eyes. “At least we know where he lives. We can go surprise him!”

Hoon snatched the paper from the board and carefully shoved it into his back pocket.

Thirty minutes had passed and they still couldn’t find him. Kiseop had forced Eli and Kevin to start asking random people if they knew him, hoping that if they mentioned ‘that Korean guy who is a famous K-Pop idol’ people would immediately know who he was and point them in the right direction.

“This is hopeless!” said Eli taking a seat on a bench. “What if he doesn’t even have class today and isn’t here?”

“Eli stop!” said Kevin noticing the sad look that was growing on Kiseop’s face. “We just have to stay positive.”

“Oh!” exclaimed Hoon suddenly.

“What is it?” asked Kevin.

Hoon reached into his pocket and pulled out the roommate ad and passed it to Eli. “I found this on the board back in that office. It’s from AJ!”

Kiseop shrieked and snatched the paper from Eli. Scanning the page and furrowing his eyebrows, Kiseop handed the paper back to Eli. “I don’t understand what it says.”

Eli read the paper and jumped to his feet. “AJ posted an advertisement for a roommate. His address and phone number are listed on here!”

Kevin clapped his hands together in excitement. “This works out even better! Now we can surprise him at his door!”

…

After finding their way to his dorm room, everyone was in high spirits except for Kiseop, who looked like he was ready to have an anxiety attack.

“What’s wrong Kiseop?” asked Kevin wrapping his shoulder around him, feeling the older boy shake against him.

“I don’t think I can do this Kevin” said Kiseop.

“What are you talking about? The love of your life is just bare metres away from you. I thought you wanted to do this”

“I did…I mean I do. Of course I do! It’s just…”

“What?”

“I don’t even know what to say to him. Apart of me is so mad at him for not returning any of my calls or messages. But another part just wants to leap into his arms and never let him go”

Kevin continued to rub Kiseop’s arm in an effort to calm his friend down. Although he wouldn’t say it out loud, but Kevin himself was starting to doubt AJ and his relationship with Kiseop. He didn’t want to think this thoughts, but what would happen if AJ didn’t love Kiseop anymore? What if he just shut the door on Kiseop’s face or told him that he had found someone else while living here. Kiseop was Kevin’s best friend and he hated to see him so down like this, there were so many times where he had wanted to tell Kiseop to just end it and that the pain of waiting wasn’t worth it. But then Kevin would remember all the times Kiseop would light up whenever AJ was mentioned, he admired Kiseop’s strength during their time apart because like he had told his friend earlier; their love was worth fighting for. Kevin made Kiseop believe it, now it was time for him to believe it too.

Taking in a deep breath and with the support of his brothers beside him, Kiseop knocked on the door and they waited. They could hear some light music playing from the other side of the door, as well as some muffled voices and footsteps. Suddenly a guy greeted them at the door, but the person wasn’t AJ.

“Oh…hello…” the guy said shocked to see five strangers at the door. “Can I help you?” the man had directed his question to Kiseop who was standing still not able to say a word.

Eli gently made his way forward and answered for Kiseop. “We’re here to see AJ”

“Oh sure! Yo AJ! I think your cousin’s are here to see you!” he shouted from behind the door.

“Cousins? I don’t have…” AJ appeared at the door and stopped his sentence.

There was a long silence in the air and Kevin was nervous for both AJ and Kiseop. Noticing the way that the two were staring at each other, not saying a word to each other.

“Hey…” AJ whispers not taking his eyes of Kiseop.

Eli let out a tsk. “We flew all the way over here for you to greet us like that?!”

AJ heard the comment and laughed. “God, I missed your jokes!” he then wrapped his arms around Eli in a bone crushing hug. Kevin felt Kiseop’s tension slowly start to fade away, squeezing his hand in assurance that everything was going to be fine.

“Come in! Come in!” said AJ stepping aside for the guys to enter. “Wow! I can’t believe you guys are actually here!”

“It’s good to see you nice and healthy!” said Hoon.

“Yeah, for someone who studies all day, every day, you’re looking very lively” said Soohyun.

AJ was about to respond when he heard someone cough next to him. He turned his head and saw that it was his friend who had opened the door for them.

“Care to introduce me?” he said.

AJ smiled and nodded his head. “Guys this is my friend Andy. Andy these are my fellow bandmates! This is Soohyun, the eldest and our leader. This is Hoon, we came into the band at the same time so we have our own special friendship. This is Eli, my fellow rapper and partner in crime and this pretty boy over here is none other than Kevin!”

“Bandmates?!” Andy exclaimed cutting him off. “So you weren’t kidding when you said you were in a band?”

“Nope”

“He’s an idol!” said Soohyun proudly.

“Seriously?” Andy asked.

AJ could feel the blood rushing to his face with embarrassment. “Yes, seriously”

“Wow! I can’t believe I’m in the midst of celebrities right now!”

Before Andy could hound them with questions, AJ had cut him off. “Seriously though, what are you guys doing here? Do you guys have another state side concert or something?”

“Well…not exactly” said Eli with an uneasy tone.

“I wanted to see you” said Kiseop in a sad whisper.

The room fell into silence again and even Andy knew something was up. “Oh yeah, you never got around to introduce him”

“I’m his boyfr--”

“—he’s my friend” AJ responded back harshly.

All eyes fell onto Kiseop, none of them knowing what to do or say. Kiseop on the other hand felt his heart break as he heard AJ say those words. Not caring that his eyes were swelling with tears, Kiseop ran out the door without looking back.