I completely forgot about the Mid Autumn Festival. I don’t really celebrate it with my family since all of us are busy but I wanted to write a (late) side chapter about Xuan sharing her experiences about celebrating the holiday. This is based on my experience (I am Vietnamese so it’s how my family used to celebrate it) Enjoy!

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Xuan woke up and stretched out her arms as she rose from her bed. She looked at her phone and checked the time. She then opened her phone and checked the schedule for today. “Geez, the girls have a long photoshoot for today. I wonder why?” She checked the date. “September 10… I wonder why today is so special.”

 

Xuan lazily got up from her bed and went out of her room. The first person she saw was Lia, she was talking on the phone.

 

“I’ll see you later. Bye Mom. Tell dad and Junsu I said hi.” Lia hung up the phone and saw Xuan. She smiled and got up from the couch. “Good morning, Xuan! Happy Chuseok! Your first Chuseok here.”

 

Xuan looked at Lia with confusion. “Chuseok?”

 

Lia nodded. “Yep. Today is Chuseok which celebrates the mid autumn harvest.”

 

“Mid autumn harvest?” Xuan thought for a while and then it hit her. “Oh my god! How can I forget about the Mid Autumn Festival? God it’s been a while.”

 

Lia looked at Xuan. “Does your family celebrate Mid Autumn?”

 

Xuan shook her head. “We don’t celebrate it anymore since my family gets busy. My siblings have their own lives and our schedules never sync up. But as a kid, I loved the Mid Autumn Festival or Tết Trung Thu. It makes me realize how much I miss home.” Xuan said as her expression fell.

 

“Awwww.” Lia grabbed Xuan’s hand and led her to the couch. Lia sat down and Xuan sat beside her. “Tell me more about how you celebrate Mid Autumn.”

 

Xuan smiled. “Well my family didn’t celebrate it traditionally like other families. However, when I was a kid, my parents would take me and my older siblings to a local festival that celebrated Tết Trung Thu. We would eat some good food, play some games and see performances. I remembered I let go of my sister’s hand just to see the lion dance performances. They were the best part of the holiday. And then I got scolded for getting lost.” Xuan laughed with Lia following.

 

“Did you do anything special with your family?”

 

“Hmmmm.” Xuan thought for a moment. “Oh yes! We would decorate the house with homemade lantern decorations. My family and I would make lanterns and hang them around the house. Granted, it wasn't the best but it was still fun.”

 

“What kind of food did you eat during this time?”

 

“Oh for sure mooncakes or bánh trung thu. Mooncakes are a staple in our house. My mom would drive us to the nearest Vietnamese grocery store and buy a box full of mooncakes. They were hella expensive but worth it. My favorite was always the lotus with the salted egg inside.”

 

“Oh! You put salted egg in your mooncakes?” Lia asked

 

Xuan nodded. “I know it sounds weird but it’s a good combination. The saltiness of the yolk pairs well with the sweetness of the lotus paste. The salted egg yolk represents the moon so that’s why some mooncakes will have the salted yolk.”

 

“I want to try some. Sounds good.”

 

“Yeah but unfortunately, I don’t think you’ll find mooncakes here.”

 

Lia shook her head. “For Chuseok, we do songpyeon or half moon cakes. It’s a type of sweet rice dessert and it’s so good. I’ll bring some when I come back from visiting my family.”

 

“Ah right. You girls are going to go back home.” Xuan smiled sadly. “So that means I have the dorm to myself.”

 

Lia looked at Xuan with concern. “Do you want to come with and celebrate Chuseok with my family? I don’t think they would mind. They like you anyways.”

 

Xuan shook her head. “It’s okay, Lia. I don’t want to be a bother for you and your family. Besides you girls rarely go back home so spend this day with your family.” Xuan patted Lia’s head. “Plus I can get a break from you girl’s chaotic mess.”

 

“Yah! You’re so mean Xuan!” Lia crossed her arms and pouted. “But okay. As long as you’re okay with it.” Xuan nodded in assurance. Lia got up from the couch. “Well, we need to get ready for our Chuseok photo shoot.”

 

“Okay. I’ll be accompanying you girls so I’ll get ready too.” Xuan got up from the couch and headed to her room.

 

After getting ready, Xuan and the girls went to the area for the photoshoot. Luckily it’s within the JYPE building so they pretty much went to the photoshoot room. After entering, the girls and Xuan bowed and greeted the staff. They were doing a Chuseok photoshoot so the girls were changing into their hanboks while Xuan was sitting around the photoshoot area.

 

When they were done, the girls entered the area and Xuan looked up from her phone. Xuan’s jaw dropped as she saw each of the Itzy members, all in beautifully made hanboks. She gulped and smiled. “All of you look so beautiful. So… breathtaking.”

 

Chaeryeong blushed and giggled. “Thank you Xuan unnie.”

 

“Don’t fall in love with us.” Ryujin teasingly said.

 

Xuan rolled her eyes. “Yeah right. Anyway, the staff are waiting so go ahead and do your photoshoots.” The girls nodded and went to do their photos.

 

As they were shooting, Xuan couldn’t help but stare at the girls. It was her first time seeing them in traditional clothing other than videos she watched when she was just a fan. People would kill to be in my position. Xuan smiled. I really am happy to be their manager.

 

After they were done with their photos and making TikTok videos, the girls changed out of their hanbok and thanked the staff for their hard work. The girls said their goodbyes to Xuan and headed out to meet with their family. 

 

Xuan on the other hand decided to go and do her own thing. She knew she would be bored at the dorms so she went for a bit. Little did she know, the girls planned a surprise before they left to be with their families.

 

After a long day of doing her activities, Xuan came back to the dorms. She opened the door and…

 

“Surprise!” Xuan was startled by the sudden shouting. Her eyes widened when she saw all the Itzy members in front of her. “Girls, what are you doing here? I thought you would be spending the day with your families.”

 

“We did but we realized that since it’s your first Chuseok, we came back early to celebrate it with you.” Lia explained.

 

Xuan smiled. “But why?”

 

Chaeryeong smiled. “We realized that we only have you for a year so that meant we will only celebrate Chuseok once with you.”

 

Yuna nodded. “We can see our families any time but we only celebrate holidays with you once.”

 

“Oh you girls.” Xuan touched her heart, she was fighting back tears in her eyes.

 

“Don’t cry Xuan. Come in and look at what we did!” Yeji said as she grabbed Xuan’s hand and led her inside.

 

Xuan gasped at all the decorations. The living was filled with lanterns, the same lanterns she would see whenever her own house was decorated for Mid Autumn. She turned to Lia, who was smiling widely. “Was this your idea?”

 

Lia nodded. “Since you told me your traditions, I thought it would be nice to celebrate today with how you would. We had to be quick about the decorations so not all the lanterns are not homemade but we each made one by hand.”

 

Lia took Xuan’s hand and led her to the front entrance of Xuan’s room. Hanging on the top of the door frame are five homemade lanterns, each of them with the girls' names on it. Xuan smiled happily and looked at Lia. “Thank you so much.”

 

“Your welcome Xuan.” 

 

“Xuan unnie! You have a package!” Ryujin yelled.

 

Xuan raised an eyebrow. “I didn’t order anything or I was expecting anything.” Xuan walked to the living room and saw Ryujin holding a big package in her head.

 

Xuan walked over and took the box from Ryujin. Then, she laid it down and opened it carefully. She gasped when she revealed the contents of the package. “Mooncakes… they’re mooncakes!”

 

The girls gathered around Xuan and gasped. “Wow, that’s a lot of mooncakes.” Yeji said.

 

Xuan saw a note on the box of mooncakes and read it out loud. “Dear Xuan, I hope you are doing well in Korea. Your family and friends missed you dearly but we know you will come back to us some day. Until then, take care of yourself and have fun! Happy Mid Autumn Festival. Please share these with girls. These are your favorite mooncakes. From your loving parents.” Xuan couldn’t help but break down in tears as she finished reading the notes.

 

The girls gathered around and gave Xuan a big group hug. Xuan smiled as she melted from the hug. “Thank you girls. I don’t know what I would’ve done for the rest of today.”

 

“Don’t worry Xuan unnie. We’re here for you. Now let’s eat!” Chaeryeong said.

 

Xuan nodded and grabbed the box of mooncakes and prepared plates and tea for the girls. For the rest of the night, all of them were chatting with each other.

 

Lia rested her head onto Xuan’s shoulders and held her hand. “Happy Mid Autumn, Xuan.”

 

Xuan smiled. “Happy Mid Autumn, Lia.”