Chapter Ten

They were met at the door by a staff member and led through to a door filled with loud voices behind it. The voices stopped and music started up. Quietly, Aaron opened the door and held it open for the women to walk in. The men were going over one of their songs for the concert that night, but as soon as they noticed the food arriving, they stopped immediately. Junghyuk went to turn the music off and then they all rushed over to greet the new arrivals.

“There is so much food!” Minwoo exclaimed as the men helped unload the many boxes of food from their bags. 

“It smells so good,” Choongjae said.

Altogether there were sixteen boxes of food lying on the floor in the middle of their circle. They all started popping the boxes open to reveal the delicious food. There was Aaron and Briley’s tacos and fried chicken. Then then they opened Lily’s boxes of kimchi and bulgogi fries and the ddeokbokki. Then there were a few boxes of steamed mandu and a box full of fresh fruit. The last box which happened to be closest to Nik and Pilkyo was full of gopchang and Pilkyo glowed with excitement.

“Looks like someone knows you,” Sunho teased from beside him. 

Nik kept her head down, cheeks turning slightly pink, and passed out paper plates from the bottom of one of the bags and then pulled out four water bottles, motioning for the others to grab the waters from their bags and they passed it out.

Lily grabbed the disposable chopsticks from one of the bags she had brought and passed them out to everyone. “So that’s why you didn’t tell us what you had bought,” she whispered quietly as she handed Nik her chopsticks. The Texan just shrugged her shoulders and acted as though she didn’t know what her friend was talking about. 

They all began serving themselves and each other. “This is delicious.” Pilkyo said, shoving another piece of gopchang into his mouth. Nik smiled to herself, happy that she had done well.

Choongjae, who was on the other side of Lily, was digging into the fries. He would occasionally add extra food to Lily’s plate or offer her some of what he had already set on his plate. She would take it, offering a quiet ‘thank you’ when he would give her more food. Briley was deep in conversation with Dongwan and Minwoo. It seemed that Minwoo was having fun at their expense. Aaron was talking about music and performance with Junghyuk and Sunho. He was fascinated with the whole process and now that he had met his role model, he was determined to learn as much from him as possible while he had the opportunity. 

“So what are your plans for the rest of the afternoon?” Choongjae asked the group.

“There is a panel that we were wanting to go see, but aside from that, we were just going to walk around and talk with people until the concerts start,” Briley answered.

“What about you?” Lily asked.

“After this we will head out to do a run through out on the stage and then head to rest until it’s time to get dressed for the shows.” Minwoo shoved another bite into his mouth. “What time are we leaving in the morning?”

“Oh! You just reminded me. I have to go grab the van before the concerts tonight.” Nik smiled and thought for a minute. “I looked last night and with stops, tomorrow will probably be a twelve hour drive, and Tuesday will be a nine hour drive. If y’all would rather fly and meet us there I completely understand.” She pulled out her phone and showed the map to Pilkyo. “We’ll stop here in Knoxville for the night. I have one room reserved, but I can call and get y’all a few rooms if y’all are okay with the drive.”

“Road trip!” Sunho said.

“Road trip!” Junghyuk agreed. They all in turn agreed that they would ride with their new friends.

“So how many rooms do I need to reserve? One each or are y’all bunking? Keep in mind we are going to be stuck in a van for hours.”

“Are you saying that we’re old and can’t handle bunking up after a long car ride?” Pilkyo asked, giving her a nudge with his elbow.

She turned and smiled as innocently as she could, looking straight into his eyes. “That is EXACTLY what I was saying.” Pilkyo thumped her on the forehead, but Nik just smirked and turned back to everyone else who was laughing at their antics. “How many rooms would y’all like me to reserve, since this one here is not being helpful?” Pilkyo shoved another piece of gopchang into his mouth and pouted.

Minwoo, who was loving every bit of his younger brother’s struggle, had to swallow his laughter before he could answer. “Are the rooms two beds and a fold out couch?”

“That is how our room will be.” Nik pulled up the hotel on her phone quickly. “They also have single rooms or two or three bedroom suite.” She ‘hmm’ed for a moment. “We should probably get this situated for the week in Little Rock as well since we have the time now.”

After some deliberation, and a bit of picking between Pilkyo and Nik, the men decided to share a suite in both Knoxville and Little Rock. When everyone was done eating, Nik stood up to throw out the trash. Pilkyo picked up what she couldn’t carry and followed her out the door, Minwoo making a kissy face at him and everyone laughed. Luckily for Pilkyo, Nik didn’t seem to notice the childish antics.

Nik leaned up against the wall beside the trash can as Pilkyo unloaded his arms into it. She had her arms behind her back and was looking up at him with an almost timid look in her eyes. She chewed her lip for a moment until he was looking at her, arms empty. “I’m not...I haven’t crossed a line with my jokes, have I?”

He took a step closer, not completely invading her space but definitely close to it. “I’d let you know if you crossed a line.” He smiled down at her and fiddled with his hands.

Nik let out a breath and pushed up off the wall. Her hands fell to her side before she gave him a more sincere smile than the one she offered him earlier. They stared at each other for a moment longer. “We should...probably go back in there, yeah? Don’t want them assuming anything is going on.” She slid past him, brushing against him slightly. “And tell Minwoo that if he is so eager to see a kiss scene he can go watch a drama.” Pilkyo laughed and shook his head before he followed her back into the practice room.

“What took so long?” Junghyuk asked with a smug grin.

Pilkyo went to smack him but Nik put her hand up to stop him. She tilted her head and smiled innocently. “I nearly dropped some of the trash. If you are trying to insinuate that anything happened between the two of us, maybe you’re just feeling lonely and searching for any sort of second-hand intimacy. Might I suggest calling your wife if you are that lonely?” She gave a quick wink as she took her place back in the circle, subtly pulling on Pilkyo’s sleeve to join her.

He laughed along with everyone else. “I thought you only picked on Pilkyo.”

“She picks on everyone she cares about,” Aaron informed the room.

“Aww, you care about me?” Junghyuk asked teasingly.

Nik rolled her eyes. She sighed, “Of course I care about you. I care about all of y’all. We all do. Sometimes I question why, though, especially watching some of y’all’s variety shows.” Everyone laughed while Aaron and the girls agreed. 

“But you have been so nice to me!” Minwoo pouted.

“That’s because you’re too cute and I can’t help but be nice to you. Besides, I knew Pilkyo would see the texts.” She bit her lip as she laughed.

“So you were trying to make me jealous?” Pilkyo asked, tilting his head.

“Nope, just trying to annoy you. It’s fun when you get annoyed.” She gave him another innocent smile, but then burst out laughing when he shoved her. She fell into Lily and laughed harder. “When you get mad you make the funniest faces.” 

Everyone was laughing and enjoying the companionship, taking turns picking on each other, until a manager showed up to inform the men that it was time for them to head to the stage. “I’ll text you later,” Pilkyo whispered into Nik’s ear as the girls walked away. He smiled when he saw the slight shiver that went through her shoulders as she nodded a confirmation before she followed her son and friends out the door.

Lily and Briley laced their arms through Nik’s, and Lily nudged her slightly. “What did he say?”

“Just that he would text me later, nothing major.” She shrugged her shoulders and tried to play it off. They then questioned her about the real reason it took so long for them to get back from taking out the trash and she explained that she had felt the need to apologize. They had known her long enough to know her fear of taking things too far and not noticing. “Y’all stay here and explore, I’m gunna go get the van and park it at the hotel. I’ll be back before it’s time to line up for concerts.” They all agreed and Nik took off to hail a cab.