“So, what was that all about?” Jangjun cooed as soon as Y and Joochan trudged through the door of their shared hotel room, pouting at the indiscernible Y, yet snickering at the blissfully dazed Joochan. “You just up and left us all here and didn’t invite us to any of the fun? We should have gone to dinner without you, but then Baby Bomin would have whined,” he huffed halfheartedly. “Plus, I wasn’t going to pack all your stuff for you, at least not without a fee,” he teased, nodding his head to the empty suitcases shoved in the closet. “We have an hour before the managers take us out to dinner, but in the meantime, are you going to kiss and tell? Seungmin isn’t around, so you can say it~” he chimed elfishly, batting his eyes at the elder, though he debated if he was more curious about whatever had Joochan’s heads so high in the clouds alongside his vocals.

            “It wasn’t anything like that. We just wanted to meet up and give a formal thank you for everything they did for us last night” Y explained, dignified.

            “Then what’s up with lover boy over there? Did he go on a date and you just played the old man role?” he inferred.

            “That’s up for him to tell. It’s not my place,” Y sighed, dragging himself to the closet to begin packing, also slyly curious about Joochan’s exploits for the day.

            “So, what was it, lover boy. What happened?” Jangjun probed gleefully, nearly tackling the younger male to the ground in his excitement.

            “Wouldn’t you like to know. There’s nothing to tell. We went out to Universal Studios and—”

            “Wait! You went to Universal Studios without me?!” Jangjun interjected with an absurdly high whine that Y could swear the other members, and whatever other unfortunate tenants on the floor, could hear. “The betrayal! The hurt. My heart. My heart hurts so much!” he continued his antics, flopping and thrashing around on the sheets and clenching his chest melodramatically. “I knew I shouldn’t have left you alone! I knew someone had to be there to supervise you,” he huffed, scrambling to sit up in bed, only to cross his arms across his chest defiantly. While he would be a terrible actor due to his lack of tact and subtlety, he certainly had more than enough emotional range—and energy—to be one, never surprising either Y or Joochan, but always entertaining—and slightly startling—them nonetheless. “So this was a date,” he deduced, now putting on his detective act as if Joochan had committed some crime. “I knew I should have gone with you just to make sure nothing got out of hand. You two can’t be left to your own devices and as part of hyung line, I must say I expected better. Well, not better, but at least an invite,” he rambled, flipping between concerned parent, self-righteous leader, and neglected sibling at a break-neck speed.

            “We heard screaming? What’s the matter?!” Seungmin and Tag rushed through the still open door that, in Y’s astonishment upon entering, he had forgotten to close completely. Yet, they took one look at Jangjun, who was halfway tangled in the sheets and knew there was nothing to fret over besides his blatant lack of a volume dial.

            “Well, Joochan here was jus telling me about how he went on a date with his lover to Universal Studios. I suppose Y did the same, or maybe he just walked around, trying his best not to be intrusive or maybe—”

            “It wasn’t like that, I said. I did leave Joochan and Fay to their own devices, but it’s because I trust them. See, he got back in one piece, didn’t he?” he pointed out, nodding at the younger male who was mindlessly packing his suitcase, physically there, but mentally still walking amongst the tourists like him, indulging in the classic popcorn and pretzel smell of innocent amusement. Y sighed at the sight, unsure if he should intervene or allow Joochan to play the rest of the scenes out before attempting to speak to him. “I have no reason to spy on him. Besides, I was with Alex anyway,” he shrugged, before looking over his back at Seungmin, who had joined Jangjun on the bed. Seungmin’s eyes grew wide and Y could not tell whether this was from the pitifully charming sight of a boy in love, the vague and entrancing words of a boy with love, or the haunting reality of being a boy without love. “She and I think alike. We both wanted the lovers to be alone, so that just left us. She showed me all her favorite rides and we just kinda walked around, you know, the tourist thing to do,” he elaborated, though he was still cognizant of his words as well as the inevitable impact they would have on Seungmin, who was imagining everything and nothing at all happening between the two.

            “O, I see, so it was a setup~” Jangjun snickered. “Sounds pretty normal to me, but why didn’t you invite the rest of us and what on earth did they—or you—want?”

            “Well, originally, Alex said that she had found something of ours back at the house and wanted to check if it belonged to us. They were already out and about, I presume to drop off Fay, but they didn’t mind coming out to meet us. If it makes you feel any better, I had originally suggested a coffee shop, but I guess neither of them had any good recommendations, so she recommended that we go to Universal Studios. Plus, it’s a nice day out. We don’t usually get weather like this, at least not without the humidity, so it was a nice trade,” Y expounded. While he was careful with his words, nothing he said made Seungmin feel better. He wanted to visit a café with them, inhaling the invigorating smell of freshly roasted beans, nestling in the comforting sound of morning chatter and banter. He wanted to stroll through a place of wonder and joy with a pleasant heat coddling him and reminding him of the other bright days along Memory Lane. He wanted to hear whatever words of wisdom or comfort she could offer, her presence always immediately putting his soul at ease whenever they spoke.

            Alex: Hi, Seungmin, I hope everything’s alright and that you are all preparing for a safe return home. Are you free now?

            At this, Seungmin tossed his phone jerkily at Jangjun next to him, his eyes wide, not with horror at the sudden message, but with an overwhelming wave of anxiety and frenzy. Jangjun, without hesitation, whisked up his phone and peered at the screen, at first mumbling through the text and then exclaiming by the end of it, realizing this was the first text any of them had received privately from one of the girls. Y whipped his head and body around to spring up and bounce on the bed behind Seungmin to stare at the phone, half suspecting Jangjun to be putting on his antics once more. The commotion, this time, was finally enough to snap Joochan out of his daze as he realized this was what Seungmin had wanted, what more than half of the members had wanted for him, and what the other half of the members would have to pay their part of the bet for. He could already taste the endless iced americanos and the sweet taste of defeat on Donghyun and Jaehyun’s face. Tag s through the other members to also catch a peep at the screen before ing his gaze at Seungmin, who, unlike the rest, was still too stunned to move.

            “Well, what are you going to tell her? If you tell her you’re free, then who knows where this might go. We go to dinner in an hour,” Tag mentioned, his voice wary, not because he feared that Seungmin would miss dinner, but because he feared Seungmin would say too much much too soon. Unlike the other members, Tag was the only one who knew the train of events from last night, every wail, every tear, every forbidden and abandoned emotion, every thought not acted on. While he had no reason to distrust Alex, he also had no reason, as Seungmin’s best friend, to allow him to say anything he would regret later. Seungmin wanted to apologize, to clarify, to vent, to chat, to everything that he could not afford to do in his current mental state considering the tizzy he was in at the simple text.

            “But if he tells her he’s not free, she might take this the wrong way as well,” Jangjun countered.

            “You really think she would be that offended if he said he was unavailable? Give her some credit. You met them all. They’re a lot more understanding than that,” Y tsked, shaking his head and giving Seungmin a soft pat on the shoulder, hoping his words provided some guidance, some insight into his next move.

            “Besides, they know that we are going to dinner soon. That’s why we left them in the first place. I’m sure they know what a schedule is,” Joochan added. “Although, any time is any time~” he chimed with a soft grin, not here to be the voice of reason, but rather to be the enabler, the voice of live.

            Even if you’re not, Talia’s number is xxx-xxx-xxx. She would greatly appreciate it if you could chat with her before you guys leave tomorrow. We feel terrible that there’s no room for her on the group chat, so he decided I could give you her number so you could chat personally.

            “Ah, so that’s what this was about,” Tag replied blandly. He would be lying if he said he was not at least slightly disappointed. “Then again, Talia was a sweet girl. She’s awesome. I was with her most of the night until she went upstairs, I think, to find you,” he mentioned candidly, his heart fluttering at the thought of her shy laugh and her bright and bold personality. He missed the way his fingers slipped through her hair as she lie his head on his lap and the way she pounced to dance to whatever Spanis