Jonghyun's first week in the military was a blur of first run of trainings, drills and introductions. Still, he carved out enough time on his free schedule to compose songs. It was fortunate for him to have a drill commander  that let him keep a memory of the outside world in the form of his acoustic guitar. His pastime quickly began his favorite daily activity.

Since in the military you are called by your surname and there are many Lees, an adjective is placed before each name. It could be anything that describes you. And so with his chocolate abs, Jonghyun is summoned as "Mommae Lee".

His roommates were of twenty-somethings, most of whom knew about his celebrity background. He'd still introduced himself as merely Lee Jonghyun from Busan, mentioning vaguely that he's a guitarist. But they'd seemed unperturbed by his evasiveness. They arrived four days ahead of him and the already close-knit group seemed to welcome him without hesitation-- only a raised eyebrow or two at his toned abs, which was noticeably out of place among the quite smaller built men. They'd peppered him with questions about how did he attain such powerful muscular body and what it was like to be a celebrity, and offering him plenty of unsolicited advice about the military. 

Eventually, though, focus shifted away from him, the conversation returning to online games like Leauge of Legends and other topics that sometimes he couldn't really contribute to. So Jonghyun relaxed against the header of his bth, his arms supporting his head, just listening. Every now and then he'd offer an opinion or a question, but mostly he was content to quietly observe.

It felt somewhat nice, he decided, being surrounded by people who didn't have any pre-conceived ideas or expectations of him. People who were just... easy to be around.

Not that he was deliberately trying to be anonymous-- he knew that would be impossible.

But even an hour or two of just being Jonghyun or "Mommae Lee", a 26 year-old Busan native with a penchant for being oblivious and a woeful ignorance of soccer, felt... liberating.

"What do you say, Jonghyun?" a voice interrupted his musing. 

He glanced up with a furrowed brow to find several sets of eyes on him.

"Soccer after training tomorrow?" he clarified, looking at him expectantly. "Our drill sergeant says it ends past three."

".... Sure," Jonghyun agreed, after only a slight hesitation. "Sounds fun."

He wasn't generally a fan of embarrassing himself in public -- and since he hadn't so much as touched a soccer ball since forever, that was undoubtedly what this quick break entail-- and apparently he was the sort of person who tried new things these days.

Approving the idea with a little nod, he prepared to get to bed.

The sound of his nickname at the military being said by his mother almost made Jonghyun winced on the at soreness in his harmstrings as he did so. Him and his new-found friends were having a quick snack at the mini convenience store in the camp when he decided to phone his family after a long time. Good thing, they can make calls through the phonebooth provided for them. 

And his heart skip a beat when his mother mentioned how perfect his timing was. Seungyeon was visiting them at their home in Busan. 

Clearing his throat, he asked "Oma, can I talk to her for a minute?"

"Sure. I'll get her on the line."

"And Oma?"

"Yes son?"

"Please don't eavesdrop on us."

"Arraso, arraso. Wait a minute."

"Hello?" he said tentatively.

"Hey," Seungyeon greeted him.

"Hey," he echoed back.

An awkward pause followed.

"Jonghyun-shi?"

"Yeah,  I'm here." he replied. ".... How are you?"

"I'm good," she said brightly. "I was just wondering... how you were settling in over there."

"Pretty well, actually," he replied with a tinge of pride. "The tediousness is growing on me. Bu