The rolling waves crashed against the warm white sand leaving slivers of sea foam behind. The beach, scattered with dozens of tiny shells, stretch out in either direction as far as the eye could see. Seagulls called overhead, and the waves softly roared back. I closed my eyes and breathed in the smell of the fresh air, rich with sea salt, enjoying the feeling of the warm sun on my bare shoulders. If I didn’t know any better, I would think I was alone. The only sounds came from the seagulls overhead and the waves in front of me.

                Suddenly, I heard him take a deep breath beside me, reminding me that I thankfully wasn’t alone. My eyes slowly opened as he spoke. “Beautiful California,” he said softly.

                I nodded in agreement. No words were necessary.

                He turned his head to look at me. The soft wind tousled his curly orange hair. His shirtless body was lean and his skin was sun kissed. His rainbow shaped eyes looked beautiful but the smirk on his face looked devious. He hooked a short strand of black hair around my ear and gazed into my eyes. I gazed into his, letting them close slowly. His lips met mine. I enjoyed the feeling of the warm sand on my back and the ocean as it touched the tips of my toes. I touched my favorite place on him, back of his neck, as we kissed passionately on the California sand…

                “Up and at ‘em!” a voice called, me back to reality. In an instant, the vision of French kissing Byunghun on a beach morphed into a vision of my mother leaning over me. She shook my arm, jolting me awake. I blinked a few times, realizing I wasn’t quite in California yet. Instead of lying on warm sand in a bikini I was lying in my bed in shorts and a tank top. The sun wasn’t beating down on me; the bright bedroom light was blinding me. Curly-haired Byunghun was nowhere to be found.

                “Good morning,” Mom replied happily.

                I yawned. “What time is it?” I squeaked.

                “Five-thirty,” Mom answered.

                I let out a groan. Five-thirty in the morning was too early to wake up, especially in the summertime.

                “Our flight leaves at seven fifteen,” Mom replied. “You better start getting ready.”

                Instantly, I shot out of bed like a rocket. I flew to my dresser and pulled out something comfortable to wear on the plane. I settled on black leggings and a long, slouchy gray and white striped t-shirt with a wide scoop neck. After hopping briefly in the shower, I pulled my travel attire on. I quickly ran a flat iron through my short hair, dabbed on a bit of makeup, and strolled out of the bathroom. I grabbed my suitcase and wheeled it through the hallway and down the stairs.

                Mom and Dad were downstairs already. Their suitcases were already sitting by the door. Dad was sitting at the table drinking coffee and Mom was pouring a bowl of cereal. I took a seat at the table and Mom slid the bowl of cereal in front of me. I was so excited I couldn’t even eat. Today was the day. It had finally arrived.

                “You’ve got to eat something,” Mom urged, noticing my untouched breakfast.

                “I’m not hungry,” I shrugged in reply. “I’m too excited.”

                “You’ll be hungry when we get to the airport,” Dad assured me.

                “Then I’ll eat at the airport,” I said.

                “Fine,” Mom sighed, taking the bowl away from me. She started eating it herself. Suddenly my phone vibrated in my pocket. When I pulled it out, I had a message from Byunghun.

                Byunghun: Good morning beautiful :)

                Kirin: Good morning handsome :) u ready?

                Byunghun: Can’t wait!!!! See u soon?

                Kirin: Very soon :)

                “Chanho, it’s almost six fifteen,” Mom replied. “How about we start loading the car?”

                Dad pushed himself away from the table and headed for the front door. My mother and I followed, wheeling our suitcases out to the driveway. Dad popped the trunk and started lifting each suitcase into the car. Just as I handed him mine, the front door of the house next door opened.

                Two girls strolled out, each of them wheeling a suitcase behind. A bag was slung over each girl’s shoulder. They were being followed down the driveway by two tired-looking adults.

                A smile broke out onto my face. “Min Neul! Hyerin!” I called.

                The girls looked up with broad smiles on their faces. “Hi Kirin!” Min Neul giggled excitedly when she was right in front of me. She was dressed comfortable in gray shorts and a deep violent v-neck. Hanging loosely over her arm was a black hoodie, most likely the one that belonged to Changjo.

                “You ready?” I asked, shaking with excitement.

                “Born ready!” Hyerin announced happily. Her hair was held back in a loose low ponytail. She wore grey leggings and navy t-shirt dress.

                Dad loaded their suitcases into to back of the car as well. “You girls didn’t forget anything, did you?” he teased.

                “No,” they both giggled.

                “Even if you did, we could easily replace whatever it was,” Dad kindly assured.

                After a round of hugs from Mr. and Mrs. Park, Min Neul and Hyerin promised nearly a dozen times to call them as soon as we landed. Mrs. Park wanted a phone call every day. Mr. Park just told the girls to enjoy themselves.

                The adults chatted for a little bit while we slid into the backseat of the car. We squeezed each other’s hands in anticipation.

                “This is it,” I giggled.

                “We’re really going to America,” Hyerin said in amazement.

                “I can’t believe this is happening,” Min Neul marveled.

                Dad slid into the driver’s seat and Mom took shotgun. “Everybody ready?” Dad asked.

                “Yes sir!” we cried.

                “Buckle up; this won’t be a rough ride,” Mom teased.

                We were flying out of the Incheon International Airport, which was situated west of Seoul. All twelve of us had tickets for the same flight, but in various locations around the plane. Korean Air Flight 358 would leave at 7:15 this morning. The flight would be approximately eleven hours long, and we’d arrive at LAX at about 3 in the afternoon, local time. The time change would be a challenge to get past, but we could do it. It was a small price to pay for the amazing two months that were ahead of us.

                The ride was short; Min Neul, Hyerin and I squealed almost the entire way there. Dad parked in the parking garage and we unloaded the car.

                “Are the boys here yet?” I asked eagerly.

                “Uncle Sunho said he’d call me when he’s here, okay?” Dad chuckled as he lifted Hyerin’s suitcase. Suddenly his phone in his pocket went off. The three of us started squealing some more.

                “Hello?...Yes, we just parked…You are? Okay, we’re on our way…Okay, thank to you soon.” Dad slid his phone back in his pocket, a smile on his face. “They’re already here.”

                “Then let’s hurry!” I cried, ushering us forward. We strolled through the parking lot and into an elevator. Mom pressed the “down” button and we descended downward.

                In less than ten minutes, I would see Byunghun.

                When the elevator door opened, we headed out. We crossed a crosswalk and strolled right into the airport.

                The airport is all white on the inside. It’s very sleek and modern-looking, with its shiny tiled floors and waffle-like ceilings. Busy travelers were bustling everywhere, standing in lines for their tickets or heading upstairs to their proper gates. I loved the feeling of traveling; it always made me feel proud. I loved strolling through the airport, wheeling a suitcase behind me while clutching a boarding pass in my hand. I loved wondering what exotic places people were traveling to and what they were going to do there. When I was younger, I used to make up scenarios in my head for all the people around us while we waited at the gate. They ranged from a father coming home to his six sons after a business trip to an undercover secret agent scoping the scene for the bad guy who just stole the world’s largest diamond. I would have still wondered each person’s story today if my mind wasn’t so occupied; all I could think about was see Byunghun, and spending the next eleven hours with him on a plane.

                Dad spotted Uncle Sunho. I saw a smile spread across his face as he waved. In the distance, my uncle waved back. He was dressed in a semi-disguise, wearing a black baseball cap. Standing around him were six boys, all dressed far too stylishly to be anyone but the six members of Teen Top. Ricky wore a bright orange t-shirt with a graphic of a dinosaur on it. Chunji wore an olive-colored cardigan. C.A.P had a black, flat-brimmed hat on his head and thickly rimmed glasses on his face. Changjo stuffed his hands in the pockets of his super-tight faded jeans. Niel wore a slouchy red and blue striped sweater. Orange-haired L.Joe had black headphones stuffed in his ears already.

                The second he caught a glimpse of me, he smiled. He looked amazing even at six o’clock in the morning dressed in dark jeans (which were obviously too long for him because they were scrunched together at his ankles) and a heather gray shirt with the sleeves casually pushed up his elbows. A blue backpack was slung over his shoulder and bright blue New Balance sneakers were on his feet. His straight orange hair looked fluffy and soft. He pulled the headphones out of his ears as he watched us approach.

                Mom, Dad and I greeted Uncle Sunho warmly with hugs. “Nice to see you again, Sunho,” replied my mom mid-hug.

                “Nice to see you too Yoonji!” Uncle Sunho turned to me. “Now how’s my favorite niece?” he asked, pulling me into a hug.

                “Excited!” I giggled, hugging him back. I saw Hyerin and Min Neul exchange glances as they whispered quietly. Momentarily I was confused, until I remembered who my uncle was.

                “Hyerin, Min Neul, this is my Uncle Sunho. You probably know him as Andy, though,” I said.

                Hyerin and Min Neul bowed. “It’s wonderful to meet you!” Hyerin gushed.

                Uncle Sunho laughed. “Ah, you know Shinhwa?”

                The girls nodded their heads vigorously.

                “But they like Teen Top better,” C.A.P muttered playfully.

                “Hey!” Uncle Sunho chuckled, turning to C.A.P. The rest of the boys started laughing. I loved how close of a relationship they had with my uncle.

                After the boys greeted my parents they turned their attention to Hyerin, Min Neul and me. Changjo shuffled next to Min Neul and ran his hand up and down her arm sweetly, asking her how she was this morning. C.A.P and Hyerin smiled shyly at each other as they quietly whispered about how excited they both were.

                “Good morning!” L.Joe said in English, opening his arms for a hug. I pressed my body against his and awkwardly wrapped my arms around him, his backpack causing a little bit of a problem. He smelled sweet and clean, as usual.

                “Ready to go back to Cali?” I asked in English as I rested my chin on his shoulder.

                “With you? More than ready,” he answered, squeezing me tightly. “I can’t believe this is happening.”

                “Are you boys excited?” my dad asked the six smiling boys.

                “Yeah!” they all cheered at the same time.

                “Excellent,” Uncle Sunho smiled.

                Shortly after, Mom suggested we get our bags checked. It took a while for all twelve of us to flash our passports, hand the employees our suitcases and wait for them to be weighed. Then our boarding passes had to be handed out to the correct person, which took another ten minutes. Finally, we were ready to head upstairs for the security check.

                Due to the tight security, all flyers had to remove their belts, shoes, and jackets and dump everything metal into one of the dozens of plastic bins on the conveyer belt. We all stood in a line barefoot and waited to be ushered through the metal detectors L.Joe stood in front of me. Without his chunky sneakers, he seemed to shrink a few centimeters. A security guard motioned him forward and he walked through the detector without setting it off. As I walked through the detector, I wondered if a security guard ever had to pat L.Joe down. Lucky security guard.

                It took nearly fifteen minutes for everyone to get situated again. The boys struggled to loop their belts around their thin waists and quickly slip on their chunky sneakers. I was thankful that I only wore black flip flops and no jewelry; the only thing I had to do was sling my slouchy bag back over my shoulder.

                “Everyone all set?” Dad asked. When he received eleven nods, he turned back around and led us forward.

                Now that we were past all the security checks, it was smooth sailing. We walked in a large mass through the airport, the boys all ducking their heads. L.Joe couldn’t avoid being noticed; his unnaturally bright orange hair gave away exactly who he was. A few people did double-takes as they watched us walk. I saw some girls gasp and whip out their cameras to take pictures.

                “Uh-oh,” I heard C.A.P mutter. “People recognize us.”

                “Well at least we’re not being mobbed,” Niel suggested.

                “True,” Chunji agreed. “But what if they take pictures of the girls?”

                “People already know who we are,” Hyerin spoke up. I nodded in agreement.

                “They don’t know who I am,” Min Neul replied. She grabbed hold of Changjo’s hand and laced her fingers with his. “There,” she said proudly, standing tall. “Now they will.”

                “Gate twenty-three, does anyone see gate twenty-three?” Mom asked, reading her boarding pass.

                “Here!” I cried, stopping abruptly. We were standing right in front of gate twenty-three. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. We dropped the bags we were carrying and sat ourselves down in twelve of the seats. I watched as girls walked by, whispering to each other with their hands clamped excitedly over their mouths. People knew Teen Top was traveling now, and thanks to the LED sign at the gate, they knew they were going to Los Angeles.

                L.Joe plopped down beside me. “What seat are you in?”

                I looked down at my ticket. “15A.”

                He pouted. “19F.”

                “Our seats are all scattered,” Mom said, overhearing our conversation. “Some of them are together, though.”

                “I’m in 15B,” Chunji spoke up. He was sitting in the seat beside Byunghun, of course.

                L.Joe leaned over and to look at his best friend’s ticket. “Trade with me?” he asked.

                “Oh fine,” Chunji rolled his eyes, pretending to be upset. He beamed at L.Joe and L.Joe beamed back at him. “You know I’d let you sit with your girlfriend.”

                “And that is why you are my best friend,” L.Joe smiled, snatching the ticket from Chunji’s grasp. He gave Chunji his ticket in return.

                “Where are you sitting?” Min Neul asked Changjo.

                “22B,” Changjo replied in a deep voice.

                “12D!” Min Neul cried sadly.

                “Maybe you can switch with whoever’s near him,” Chunji suggested. Min Neul nodded, taking the idea into consideration.

                After everyone had traded tickets about four times each, we still had twenty minutes before we would begin boarding. Ricky and Niel went out with Uncle Sunho to get food twice. C.A.P, Hyerin, and Chunji chatted with each other. Changjo and Min Neul were laughing about something Min Neul saw on television last night. Mom and Dad were talking about tourist-y things we could do in the next two months.

                After twenty minutes of talking to Byunghun and fighting the urge to touch his fluffy orange hair, one of the neatly-dressed airport employees working behind the counter at gate twenty-three came on over the intercom. “Ladies and gentlemen, we would like to invite passengers seated in first class on Korean Air flight 358 to Los Angeles, California to please begin boarding at the gate.”

                Gasps came from the majority of the twelve of us. Though none of us were seated in first class, we could expect to begin boarding the plane soon. Mom asked everyone to make sure we had our tickets, as some of us would be boarding shortly. We all gripped our bags and boarding passes for dear life as we waited in anticipation to join the line of fellow California-bound flyers. One by one, a man in a neatly pressed uniform with coiffed black hair scanned the tickets and handed them back to their owners.

                “Ladies and gentlemen, we would like to invite passengers seated in zone one on Korean Air flight 358 to Los Angeles, California to please begin boarding at the gate.”

                “That’s us,” Uncle Sunho said to my parents, standing up quickly.

                “Now everyone, please listen to the announcements carefully so you know when to board, understood?” Mom asked, making eye contact with all nine of us.

                “Understood,” the nine of us responded, nodding our heads.

                “Good. We’re got to get boarding now; we’ll see you on the plane, okay?” Dad said.

                “Okay,” we all responded, nodding our heads again.

                Dad let out a long sigh as he looked at the crowd of kids he was hauling to America. He nodded at my mother and uncle and walked over to the end of the line.

                The rest of our zones were called in groups of fives after that. L.Joe and I were all in zone two, Chunji was in zone three, Min Neul, Changjo, Niel, and Ricky were in zone four and C.A.P and Hyerin were in zone five.

                I stood in line behind L.Joe and in front of Hyerin. Hyerin reached for my hand and squeezed it.

                “Can you believe this?” she squealed.

                “No, I think I’m still in shock,” I giggled.

                “I know, right?” she gushed. “I can’t think you enough for this!”

                I flashed a smile. “You’re welcome. I couldn’t leave you in Seoul for the whole summer!” Suddenly I turned my attention to the line ahead of me, which had shortened significantly. We were inching to the front of the line, closer to getting our tickets scanned and closer to boarding the plane. Our amazing summer was so close I could practically taste it. With every step I took, I could feel my heart pounding faster.

                Beep. “Enjoy your flight.”

                Beep. “Enjoy your flight.”

                Beep. “Enjoy your flight.”

                Byunghun was next in line. He handed the man his boarding pass and waiting for it to be scanned. Beep. “Enjoy your flight.”

                Finally, I was next. I handed the man my ticket, and he stuck it under the red light scanner. The machine beeped, and the man handed me back the ticket. “Enjoy your flight,” he said cordially.

                “Thank you,” I responded with a slight bow. Ahead of me was a long tunnel-like hallway that led straight to the door of the plane. Byunghun had waited to walk down it with me. We strolled side by side down the tunnel with smiles on our faces. Our eyes were transfixed on the end of the hallway, where a flight attendant stood in the doorway of the plane.

                International airplanes were always huge. Usually there were over fifty rows of seats separated into three sections with aisles in between. There were three seats, an aisle, five seats, another aisle, and then three seats all in a row. Byunghun and I were in row 15, seats A and B. That meant out of the three seats in that section, we had the window and middle seats.

                A flight attendant directed us to row 15. Byunghun let me sit by the window; he knew the window seat was always my favorite. I loved being able to look outside and see the fluffy cloud formations all around us and, if I was lucky, the land or sea below. Flying made me feel invincible, like I was on top of the world. Byunghun was the only other force that could make me feel that way, so the two of them combined was enough to keep flying higher than the clouds for the entire eleven hours.

                Once we were buckled in, we pushed our bags underneath the seats in front of us. The seats were made of soft gray material and each of the seatbacks had tray tables and wide pouches. Inside the pouches were Sky Mall magazines and safety brochures. Small pillows sat at our feet.

                “I’ve been on an airplane dozens of times, but I still get excited right before takeoff,” Byunghun confessed with a smile on his face.

                I smiled back at him. “I’ve been shaking with excitement this entire morning. These next two months are going to be amazing.”

                “Me too,” Byunghun agreed. “I get to see my mom again, relax on the beach, and live with my girlfriend.” He closed his eyes and breathed out slowly. “This is all just too good to be true.”

                I smiled widely. “I’m so glad everyone could come. I would have been so upset if Min Neul and Hyerin couldn’t come party with us in California.”

                Byunghun giggled. “Oh is that what we’re going to do? Party?”

                I shrugged, chuckling. “Well, we will eventually have the house to ourselves.”

                “Just to ourselves?” Byunghun asked.

                “Meaning…?”

                “Meaning you and me.”

                As much as I wanted to promise him that yes, we would be alone in the house eventually, I had to shake my head. “I highly doubt that.”

                Byunghun pouted slightly as he thought a moment. “Well, as long as I get some alone time with you,” he leaned close to me and almost whispered, “that’s all I need.”

                Shivers covered my entire body as I felt Byunghun’s warm breath. The last time my parents had been gone for a night, Min Neul, Hyerin, and I had gone a little crazy. Just for one night, we traded our sensible, responsible, good-daughter images and rebelliously invited Minsoo, Chanhee, Byunghun, Daniel, Changhyun and Jonghyun over to my place. We ate junk food, danced together, played round after round of truth or dare, and watched movies together. Later in the night, though, things really started to heat up. Byunghun and I ended up hooking up in my room for the first time ever. That night had turned out to be the most amazing night of my entire life. Sometimes my mind still wandered to that night, and all I could think about was how badly I wanted to relive it. But would we get the chance?

                At that moment, a man in a neatly pressed suit carrying a briefcase stood over us. He smiled down at us. “15C?” he asked, looking down at his ticket.

                Byunghun and I nodded. The man took a seat next to Byunghun. We both smiled and said hello to the clean-shaven man. Better to be seated next to a business man than a fangirl, I thought.

                I watched the man look at Byunghun out of the corner of his eye. He seemed surprised, and almost a little hesitant. I wondered for a brief minute if he knew who Byunghun was.

                Suddenly, the man turned to Byunghun. “Excuse me, but,” he began, “you wouldn’t happen to be L.Joe from the idol group Teen Top, would you?”

                I watched a smile spread across Byunghun’s lips. His cheeks turned pink. “Ah, actually, yes, I am.”

                The man looked relieved. He chuckled. “Oh, forgive me. I should have known it was you; you see, my thirteen year old daughter loves your band.”
                L.Joe’s eyes lit up. “Really?” he asked, intrigued. “That’s great!”

                The man looked away shyly. Suddenly he reached into his pocket and pulled out a pen. “I’m terribly sorry for asking, but, would you mind signing a slip of paper for her? It would really mean a lot to her.”
                “I would love to!” L.Joe was beyond excited. He was sitting up extra-straight and smiling extra wide. He waited patiently for the man to fish out a piece of paper from his briefcase.

                “Great,” the man chuckled. “She’s always singing that one song of yours…Super….Super Love?”
                “Ah, Supa Luv,” L.Joe giggled, his eyes the shape of rainbows. “That means a lot to me. I’m glad to hear she’s a fan.” He timidly looked up at the man. “If you don’t mind me asking, sir, what’s your daughter’s name?”

                “Sungmi,” the man responded.

                L.Joe nodded, smiling to himself as he wrote her a little message. Sungmi, please continue to support and love Teen Top! Don’t cheat on us! Stay healthy! Teen Top fighting! Love Mischievous Rapper L.Joe. He even drew a little cartoon of a smiling sun before handing the piece of paper and pen back to the man.

                “Thank you very much,” the man said appreciatively.

                “You’re welcome. I hope she continues to love and support Teen Top,” L.Joe beamed. When he turned his head away from the man, I noticed the gigantic smile he had on his face. He was glowing brighter than the sun, his eyes the shape of rainbows. “I don’t think I’ll ever get used to that,” he giggled to me.

                His smile was contagious; I found myself smiling too. Sometimes even I forgot Byunghun was a celebrity. I guess sometimes it caught him by surprise as much as it caught me.

                Suddenly, the pilot came on the loudspeaker. He had a deep, pleasant-sounding voice. He greeted all the passengers as pilots usually did. Then the flight attendants began their routine. They informed us how to properly buckle the seatbelts and that there were life vests located under all the seats. They pointed to all the exits and lavatories. Smoking on the aircraft was prohibited, as well as tampering with the smoke detectors. Drinks and snacks would be provided on this flight. Byunghun and I had both flown on an airplane numerous times before, so we both learned to tune out the entire safety lecture. Finally it ended, and the pilot informed us we would be leaving shortly.

                “I can’t believe this is actually happening,” Byunghun said, shaking his head slowly. He squeezed my hand.

                I smiled and squeezed his hand back. “I know, right? We have an amazing two months ahead of us.”

                Suddenly the wheels of the plane began rolling slowly. We were steadily rolling down the tarmac, slowly gaining the speed necessary to launch into the wide open sky. Byunghun’s hand was still in mine and we looked out the window together, waiting for the moment the plane’s wheels lifted off the pavement. I watched the trees outside blur past us as the plane sped up even more. I bid Seoul a silent farewell as I felt the plane lift off the ground and sail straight into the air.

                Goodbye, Seoul. I’m leaving, but I’ll be back. I’m bringing my two best friends and six of South Korea’s most talented boys with me. Try not to miss them too much—but if you do, I understand. I would too. We won’t be gone long, but we’ll be gone long enough.

"...So leave it behind '

Cause we have a night to get away

So come on and fly with me

As we make our great escape

So why don't we run away? ..."