Present day, 2017

Mily scanned the busy airport through her thick rimmed Tory Burch sunglasses in search of a familiar face, her flight had just touched base and she was more than eager to make it to her temporary home in Seoul. She scoffed to herself at the very thought of calling Seoul her home again, what good did Seoul ever do to her? Now that she thought about it, it was close to nothing; she was always criticized for being a foreigner and given mistrustful side glances by those whose ignorance outshined their manners. Young boys tried to score foreign girls as a prize to show off to their friends that they were able to land that “foreign piece of ,” as she learned from experience. She honestly couldn’t believe how naïve and foolish she was to trust that idiot, she scoffed again, what a joke. Luckily for her, she wouldn’t have to deal with the likings of him at all throughout her stay, or so she hoped; though Seoul was inhabited by millions, the world was always small somehow. She just hoped to get this meeting over with to get back to her apartment in New York City where she was happy and free of judgment. Now one would ask why she came back to Seoul when she harbored such feelings of disdain towards it, well it was simple to explain, the only reason she was currently in Seoul was to help a producer she had befriended when she first recorded her song, he asked her for a favor but he never specified what said favor was; he just sent her a first class ticket to Seoul and promised her one hell of a musical adventure. If it were up to her, she would have declined but, how could she say no to someone who helped her get to where she was today?

     “Mils, over here!” she heard an all too familiar voice call out to her through the buzzing of the crowd. She glanced around the people waiting to retrieve their visitors and that was where she spotted a very tall and well built man with blonde hair and blue eyes, waving his hands frantically to gain her attention.

She smiled to herself as she remembered the one good thing Seoul had ever given her, her best friend Scott. Mily raced over to him and jumped into his arms, “Scottie, I missed you!” She cried.

 Scott chuckled, “How could you miss me? You just saw me last week when we went to see the previews for Derek’s show!” Scott retaliated as he separated himself from his best friend, accidentally tugging down the girl’s face mask that got caught to the zipper of his coat.

Mily’s eyes widened as the incident occurred but quickly reacted to the situation by pulling Scott close to her again to detach the mask from the coat and readjusting it onto her face. She glanced around the airport to see if anyone reacted to the situation and noticed her which thankfully enough, no one did. The last thing she needed was word to get out that she was currently in Seoul; she needed to have peace of mind especially since her mind was buzzing with past memories of the country she used to call home; and note that they weren’t exactly fond ones.

      “I don’t think anyone saw you but let’s get your stuff and leave quickly just in case they call the paparazzi here for you,” Scott suggested as he wrapped his arm around her waist protectively, leading her out of the crowded area.

When they got into the black Audi that was waiting for them, Scott couldn’t help to admire the change in his best friend; her hair that had always been long down her back was cut short in a Lob style giving her a chic vibe with an essence of maturity. Her posture spoke with confidence as she sat with her shoulders back and head held high, though her eyes told a different tale. He knew better than anyone why she was so hesitant to return to Seoul, after all, he too was a foreigner but since she left and made a name for herself; the ignorant minds that once plagued the beautiful city began to shift to a new mindset. Though there were still the occasional snide remarks and odd glances, they were mostly given by the elderly. It was all thanks to her in a way, when she made her debut in the United States she was met with enormous popularity in Seoul; he would always laugh every time he passed by Hongdae where her music videos were always playing on large screens in electronic stores, hearing people say, “isn’t that Mily Kubota? The girl that used to be in our school?” He wasn’t going to lie when he felt a swelling of pride within him, especially when they’d say, “she’s so awesome, I wish I could be like her.” It didn’t happen overnight, but day by day the country started to grow fond of her, deeming her the nation’s favorite little sister since she had her humble beginnings in Seoul.

       “What’cha staring at, Hoying?” Mily lightheartedly snapped at her friend with a smile.

       “At you of course,” he replied as he continued to stare at her, a cheeky grin plastered on his face, doing his best to impersonate one of Mily’s favorite human beings.

Mily threw her head back as joyous laughter escaped her, “I swear, you and Derek could pass off as brothers when you do that!” Her face lit up brightly at the thought of her other best friend who was waiting for her back in New York. The pair met about a year ago after she finished her first World Tour when she took interest in broadway and was offered a role as Elphaba and Derek was casted opposite her as Fiyero; ever since then, the two have been practically attached to the hip, even seen as lovers both on and off the stage by fans and the media.

        “Speaking of which, are you going to be heading back to New York for Derek’s opening night?” Scott asked his hands fumbling with his phone as he tried to see when the opening night for Derek’s musical was on his calendar.

        “Of course I’ll will, and you will be there too!” Mily exclaimed, “what kind of friends would we be if we didn’t go to opening night?!”

They chatted lightheartedly on the way to Sihyuk’s office for the meeting that was due to start in an hour which meant that she had just enough time to relax with Scott on the way there since the drive from the airport to the main city took quite a while.

Mily gazed out of the window looking for any changes from the city she used to know but found a small amount of peace to see that the scenery was still as beautiful even though covered in blankets of snow, “not much has changed here has it,” she stated as she continued her sightseeing.

     “Just a few changes here and there, nothing too significant,” Scott replied as he too looked out her window, “you know, Mily,” Scott paused, he was very hesitant to speak on the next subject knowing that it was still rather sensitive to her although she would never admit it aloud, “I’ve heard he’s changed too.”

She didn’t have to think too much to know who Scott was referring to. Scott had told her after she transferred to SOPA, the one and only Jeon Jungkook had approached him and had a discussion of sorts –Scott purposefully left the matters of the conversation out for Jungkook’s sake- and the two became close. Jungkook had explained everything to Scott and had desperately wanted to get in touch with Mily but Scott grew hesitant to allow the lad to get close to his best friend again in fear that he would hurt her just as much as he had before.

      “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she spat through gritted teeth.

       “Come on, Mily, I agree that what he did was wrong but you should have seen all the effort he went through to try to get to you. The boy did a complete 180! He stopped hanging out with his idiot friends and got his act together, I mean sure he got himself together a bit too late since he had to repeat Junior year but still, he did it,” Scott took Mily’s hand in his which caused the girl to look back at her friend, her expression was stone cold which caused him to sigh that was a new trait Mily developed over the course of two years, her skin grew thicker so she was quick to numb with a face as emotionless as ice, “just give him a shot should you ever come across him here.”

Scott’s deep blue eyes grew in size, batting his eyelashes cutely while a small pout tugged on his lower lip. Mily knew exactly what he was doing, after all he was the one who taught her the key to master Aegyeo all those years ago. She groaned  as she rubbed her temples