“Do you know many of our songs?” Yoochun asks as we head down the hall.

Slightly embarrassed, I shake my head. “Only a few. I didn’t find your group until I came to Seoul a few months ago and then I was busy adjusting. I’ll go out and buy all your CDs I can find tonight though! Promise.”

Yoochun chuckles. “It’s all right. We’ll bring you up to speed in no time. Here we are.”

    He stops at where the hall wraps back around. The two doors mirror each other in their position on the wall.

“That one’s Changmin and Junsu’s,” he says, pointing to the door opposite us. Turning to the door beside us, he opens it. “And this is Yunho, Jaejoong, and my room.”

    I follow him inside the room. Computers, recording equipment, and instruments take up most of the space, leaving little room to move around.
Yoochun sits in one of chairs, rolling in the chair to grab one of the others and pull it beside him. “Sit here. Jaejoong won’t mind.”

I slowly lower myself into the chair, still taking everything in. “So this is where you do most of your work?”

“Some of it,” he shrugs. “Mostly preliminary stuff: writing lyrics, composing, some practicing.”

“You write your own music?”

“Some of it. Changmin and I wrote a song together last year and I wrote some of the rap for one of our songs in Rising Sun. I have some others I’m working on, but they still need work.”

“What about this album?”

“There’s only one this time. Jaejoong and I wrote Kiss a Mama, Sayonara. Want to here it?”

“Sure.” 

He smiles and turns to the piano. Closing his eyes, Yoochun takes a deep breath before coaxing notes from the piano. When he begins, I’m struck by the emotion, the raw pain that spills from his lips as he sings. 
 

Blink... Smell it... and feel it...
Open, open your eyes
Just look at me now

Boku no sekai no subete datta
Nakua katahou no kutsu mo oreta chiisai tsume mo
Koboa atsui coffee mo iroaseta namida mo....
 

    As the last notes fade, Yoochun’s eyes remain closed. I’m glad they are, because it gives me enough time to wipe a tear that had escaped my eyes.

When he opens his eyes, he gives me a small smile and asks, “What’d you think?”

“It was beautiful,” I smile.

“But it made you cry,” he says quietly, gently wiping away a tear I had missed.

“Because it was so beautiful. You’ve come a long way, oppa.”

“Thanks, _______.”

I hesitate, not wanting to revive his pain.“Did you lose someone?”

“Kind of. I wrote this during one of my low times. I was thinking about my parents divorce and how it sometimes feels like I can’t reach them anymore.”

I lay a hand on his shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze. “I’m sorry.”

“It was a while ago,” he says. “Like I said. I’m better now.”

“Well, I’m here now, Yoochun. If you need me.”

He smiles, placing his hand over mine. “Thank you.”

“Can you sing me another?” I ask, hoping it will bring his mood back up.

“How about a happier one?”

“Yes, please.”

“Hopefully you know this one,” he smiles.

Haruman nibangui chimdaega dwegoshipo
Do dasuhi pogunhi nae pume gamssa ango jaeugo shipo
Aju jagun dwichogimdo noui joguman sogsagime... 
 

I clap my hands happily. “I do! Ayako plays this all the time!” I begin singing along, causing Yoochun’s smile to widen. When we reach the end, we let our voices fade, leaving only our smiles on our lips.

“That was good,” a voice from the doorway says.

I whirl around to find Yunho, Jaejoong, and Junsu standing there. “Oh, you scared me.”

“We’re sorry, noona. But it was pretty,” Junsu apologizes.

“It’s all right. I haven’t sung in awhile, so I’m probably rusty.”

“You were good,” Changmin says, poking his head out under Yunho’s arm.

Yunho grabs him in a headlock. “You were suppose to be sleeping.”

“I was, but I woke up,” he retorts, struggling to get free.

“Since you’re awake we can work on Japanese now,” Yunho says, dragging him away.

“I guess play time’s over,” Yoochun chuckles as the others follow Yunho and Changmin.

“Japanese can be fun too,” I say, poking him.

“I didn’t say it wasn’t.”

“No, but you had the look of a little boy who just heard the end of recess bell.”

He laughs. “I’m just being lazy.”

“And he wants to keep showing off,” Jaejoong says, sticking his head back in the room. “We need ______ now, Yoochun. You can show her more later.”

“I really liked the song you two wrote,” I say.

Jaejoong smiles. “Thank you.”

“Did you see my bag in the living room?”

“Yeah, you left it by the couch.”

“Good. We’re going to need what’s in there.”

“What’s in the bag, Mary Poppins?” Yoochun asks.

I give him a wink. “You’ll see.”

“I’m worried now,” he teases.

“You’ll like it. Yah, hands out,” I say as we walk into the room, causing Changmin to jump back guiltily from leaning over the couch arm trying to peek into my bag.

“I’m sorry, noona. I just heard you and Yoochun talking so I was curious.”

“You’ll find out soon enough.” I pick up my bag and walk around the front of the couch, sitting down a few feet away from it.

“______, you shouldn’t have to sit on the floor,” Yunho protests. Rising from his seat on the couch, he says, “Sit here.”

I wave him away. “It’s all right. I’m all ready sitting down and I prefer sitting on the floor.”

“Then I’m sitting with you,” Yoochun says, plopping down beside me.

“I get noona’s other side.” Junsu quickly sits on my other side, flashing me an aegyo filled smile.

“Works for me. Leaves more leg room,” Changmin says, happily stretching out.

“Everyone comfy?” I ask as Jaejoong joins Changmin and Yunho. They all nod. “Good.”

I reach into my bag, pulling out five bottles, and set them on the floor in the middle of our circle.

“Now, since most of your speaking will probably be in response to questions, I’ve prepared some potential ones. Try to understand and answer them without my help, but if you need me, I’ll give you hints. Arrasso?”

“What do the bottles have to do with this?” Jaejoong asks curiously.

“They’re your reward if you do well.”

“Why are they shaped funny?” Junsu asks, twisting his neck to get a better look.
I giggle at his befuddled expression. “They’re called Ramune. It’s a Japanese soda. See how the top is really thick? That’s because it’s holding a marble in place. When you pop the top, the marble drops down and sits in the narrow part of the neck. It’s just kinda fun to play with.”

“That’ll amuse him for hours,” Yoochun chuckles as a childish expression of anticipation fills Junsu and surprisingly Yunho’s faces.

“Can I go first?” Junsu asks excitedly.

“All right. Your question is...”

    Our game goes on for hours, filled with equal amounts of teasing and helping. Jaejoong again displays his fluency ability, but is just as quick to help the other members when they struggle. After we run out of my questions, they begin interviewing each other and even me. Their questions become more bizarre and ridiculous as time passes, often causing a small break for the interviewee to regain their breath. By the time the sun’s light starts to fade, they’ve collapsed into spouting Japanese-sounding gibberish mixed with Korean, which they find incredibly funny. Amongst the guffaws, a loud rumble is heard.

Changmin returns everyone’s looks unabashedly. “My stomach says it's dinner time.”

“Oh, wow. It really is,” Yunho says, surprised when he glances at the clock.

“This was so much better than last time,” Junsu says, still holding his sides. “It was actually fun.”

“_______, can we have the Ramune now?” Jaejoong asks, eyeing the bottles.

“Of course. They’re all the same flavor, lemon-lime. I wasn’t sure what you all would like. You all were brilliant today. I think you’d be fine in Japan without me,” I compliment, handing each member a bottle.

“No way you’re getting rid of us that quickly,” Yoochun quickly says, wrapping an arm around my waist and pulling me closer.

“I was just kidding,” I laugh, slightly surprised by his action. “I’ll be with you all for a good while.”

“Really?”

“Yes. I’m going to America with you all too.”

“That’s awesome!” Junsu says, bouncing. “You can help me with my English then too!”

“He needs too,” Yunho laughs. “Um, ______? How are we suppose to get these open?”

“Oh, right. Watch.” I take Yoochun’s. “Take the green part, fit it into the hole in the top, and push.”

“Okay, well that’s easier than what I was doing,” Changmin says, stopping trying to use his teeth to get the top off.

“Still not the easiest thing,” Jaejoong says quietly, fighting with his top.

“Aigoo! I got it!” Junsu shouts happily, the drink fizzing dangerously close to the lip of the bottle.

“This is good,” Yunho says after his first sip. Changmin, Junsu and Yoochun nod in agreement.

“Need help?” Changmin asks wryly as he watches Jaejoong continue struggling with his drink.

“Aish. It shouldn’t be this hard. How about a deal?”

Changmin perks up. “What?”

“I make you food and you open this for me.”

“Okay, but I also get first dibs on the shower tonight.”

“All you’re doing is opening a bottle.”

“So? I have leverage.”

Shaking my head, I reach over and open Jaejoong’s bottle for him. He looks back and forth between me and the bottle. “How’d you do that?”

“Practice,” I shrug.

“Noona,” Changmin pouts.

“Don’t complain,” Jaejoong says, getting up and taking his drink with him into the kitchen. “I’ll still make you dinner.”

“Yay,” Changmin says, instantly smiling. “I still win.”

“You’ll stay, right ______?” Yoochun asks.

“I don’t want to inconvenience you.”

“You won’t be,” Yunho smiles. “Please stay.”

“All right. Thank you.”

“_______? Can you get the marble out?” Junsu asks, making the marble roll back and forth inside the bottle.

“I think the only way to do that is to break it.”
“Oh, never mind then. I’ll just play with it this way.”

“See?” Yoochun chuckles. “Told you it’d keep him occupied.”

“Changmin, what’d you want?” Jaejoong calls from the kitchen.

With a gleam in his eyes, Changmin begin rattling off requests, causing Jaejoong to groan good-naturedly while the rest of us shake our heads and laugh to ourselves.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++

MIANHAE,MIANHAE, MIANHAE!!!!!!!

I am so so so sssoooo sorry lovelies for not updating for so long. It was a combination of school starting again, working on my other fic, and having to rediscover my inspiration for this story. Nonetheless, I do not plan on giving up on this story and will continue to do my best. Thank you so much for sticking with me!

HyeSuh: She/You will be getting to spend many, many days with our beloved oppas!

nar12345: thank you!

trainontrack: thank you for supporting both of my fics!

Jun_KOI_Mi:Thank you!

Caribbeanpop17: I'll try to update more!

PurpleAngelSJ:Aw, thank you for giving me the motivation to write this and supporting it. You will make an appearence again, not sure how soon, but you will =)!

rasetu_girl:hee hee!  

(I know I used a lot of exclamation points but that's because I'm expressing how thankful I am you're putting up with me and my slow updates ^^)