Note: Inaccurate knowledge on exactly how Chopail is celebrated in Korea.

Chopail=festival to celebrate the founding of Buddhism by hanging lanterns in front of homes and having lantern parades.

“Since we are free this evening, I thought we should celebrate Chopail fully and join the lantern parade tonight instead of just hanging a lantern outside the building.” Donghyun looked at his fellow idols.

The rest of Boyfriend seemed happy with the idea, and the twins were already bouncing a little in their seats. Donghyun seemed pleased with the overall reaction and immediately began planning out preparations.

“We don’t have lanterns,” Hyunseong pointed out. “There’s only the orange one that the company gave us to hang in front of our dorm.”

“We can buy lanterns from the lantern shop not too far from here,” Jeongmin suggested, “There might even be discounts since it’s Chopail.”

“Let’s go then.” Donghyun stood up, the others closely following. They quickly put on their jackets and headed out the front door. Donghyun passed Youngmin the orange lantern, and the older twin took a few seconds to hang it in front of their dorm before the group set off down the street.

As they entered the lantern shop, they couldn’t help but be amazed by the assortment of lanterns. The group split into pairs, and each pair went off searching for a lantern to buy.

“Which one do u want?” Jeongmin asked Hyunseong as the two scanned the variety of lanterns in the shop. Hyunseong hummed in reply, not sure which one he wanted.

“Hyung, let’s get this one!” Jeongmin pointed up at the red star lantern hanging from the ceiling. Hyunseong glanced at it. In his opinion, the blue fish lantern next to it looked better, but he agreed to get the red one. Jeongmin beamed happily as he headed to the counter to tell the shopkeeper which lantern they wanted. Hyunseong hung back and continued marveling at some of the lanterns on display.

After a few minutes, Jeongmin came back with their lantern and held it out to Hyunseong. “Do you like it?”

Hyunseong smiled and slung his arm around Jeongmin’s shoulders. “Of course. You chose it.”

Jeongmin snickered a little despite the slight blush across his cheeks. “That was so cheesy!”

“What’s cheesy?” Youngmin and Kwangmin joined them, carrying a pink lotus lantern. They suspiciously eyed the pair of older boys, and Jeongmin cleared his throat.

“Your lantern. It’s cheesy.”

“Ah, hyung!” Youngmin groaned in exasperation. “There’s nothing wrong with this lantern.” He waved the lotus lantern around as though to prove a point and looked to Kwangmin for help, but the younger twin was too busy making faces at a fish lantern to notice.

Jeongmin would have continued teasing the younger, but Donghyun and Minwoo joined them with a yellow box lantern. By now, there were several people in the streets with their own lanterns, and plenty of doorways were lit up with the festive decoration.

“The parade should be here soon.” Minwoo checked his watch. “Let’s wait for it and join when it comes.”

“We need to light our lanterns.” Donghyun took the box lantern from Minwoo and glanced around. “Does anyone have matches or a lighter?”

“Maybe the shopkeeper has one,” Minwoo suggested, pushing Donghyun back into the lantern shop. The rest of the group filed in after them. The shopkeeper was glad to light their lanterns for them, and the six left the shop in time to see the parade heading down the street.

“Let’s go!” Jeongmin cheered, pulling Hyunseong along with him. The group of idols followed the crowd, holding their lanterns up high and waving to the occasional fan who saw them and said hello.

“It’s really been a long time since I’ve been in a Chopail parade,” Hyunseong said, gazing at the star lantern as it dangled in front of them.

“I know.” Jeongmin nodded in agreement. “Our schedules were almost always full when we were trainees and they didn’t exactly become any less busy after we debuted.” He looked at the bright lights dancing all around them. “I’m glad that we can fully celebrate Chopail this year.”

Just then, Hyunseong’s stomach growled, and he reflexively placed a hand to his abdomen. Jeongmin noticed the movement and gave a short laugh. “Are you hungry?”

The two of them looked around for food. They caught sight of a few food stands on the sidewalk, and Jeongmin turned to ask the other four if they wanted food. To his surprise, they were nowhere to be found. He looked behind him and caught sight of the twins’ lotus lantern several paces back and Donghyun’s and Minwoo’s yellow box lantern was even further behind.

In a split second, Jeongmin decided that waiting for them wasn’t worth it. He grabbed Hyunseong by the hand and began dragging the older boy out of the parade. Hyunseong followed willingly, briefly wondering if they should wait for the others but then deciding that the rest of the group were perfectly capable of fending for themselves.

Besides, he didn’t mind keeping Jeongmin to himself for a little while longer.