“You all should eat up, Sunggyu hyung almost burnt his hand frying this,” Howon placed the freshly fried crispy pajeon, in the middle of the wooden picnic table. It was a starry and pleasant fall evening, and everyone was in a good mood.

Sunggyu wasn’t a fan of Howon’s idea when he brought it up initially. He thought doing communal dinners with the inn guests was too personal and he wasn’t even sure if their guests would want to spend time with their innkeeper after a long day exploring Jeju. After much coaxing from Howon though, Sunggyu gave in and the communal dinners turned out to be a hit.

Every night, Sunggyu, Howon, along with any of the guests who were interested, would take turns to cook dishes with freshly harvested seasonal ingredients. And slowly, dinner time wasn’t just used to refuel and eat, but it became a safe haven for travelers to come home to after a long day. Hearty conversations were usually shared during these dinners and on nights like this, where the breeze wasn’t too cold and the air wasn’t too stuffy, Sunggyu would pull out his guitar and sing a song or two with Howon. 

Among the travelers who were staying at the inn tonight, was a university student called Jangjun. He mentioned he was solo traveling during his mid semester break. Sunggyu had a feeling, when he first saw Jangjun check-in a couple days ago, that he would be a great entertainer. Sure enough, Jangjun shared during dinner that he was studying music to become a singer. Sunggyu had a lot to say, but he held it inside until everyone else left and Jangjun approached him and Howon. 

“I didn’t come here because you guys had good reviews,” Jangjun smiled at the two, and Sunggyu and Howon gave him a knowing look. 

“You knew us back in the day when we were still performing?” Howon sat next to Sunggyu. 

Jangjun nodded, “You guys were so big back then, what happened?” 

He had asked that without any hint of caution, it was out of pure naiveness and Sunggyu thought Jangjun reminded him of his young self in that sense. When all he had was pure ambition and drive. 

“Well,” Howon replied after a short pause, “When you’ve been in the industry for years, things will change and you might realize that this isn’t what you want your life to be anymore. At least that’s why I quit the group,” 

“To open a tangerine farm and an inn?” Jangjun asked. 

Sunggyu let out a small smile, “Is this your nightmare? Quitting music to open a tangerine farm and a guesthouse in Jeju?” 

“No, not at all, that’s not what I meant,” 

“We know, I’m just kidding,” Sunggyu chuckled but he knew there was some truth in his words even though Jangjun had denied it, “Jangjun, as you get older, you’ll realize there’s so much more to the world - and some things are better off if you let them go. But, I shouldn’t worry you with any of this. You’re just starting out and who knows, you might be in the industry until you’re old and grey,” 

That made Jangjun feel a little better and he chatted with Sunggyu and Howon for a little more until he realized that it was late and he had an early flight to catch in the morning. So, he bid them goodnight and frantically went to his bedroom to pack, as Howon and Sunggyu laughed at him endearingly. 

“He’s a talker, that Jangjun,” Howon commented as he cleaned up the picnic table, “Reminds me of Woohyun a bit, don’t you think?” 

“Hm,” Sunggyu nodded and paused, “Speaking of Woohyun, he had invited me to sing together for an opening performance of some television program next week,” 

“So you’re going to Seoul?” 

“What makes you think I said yes?” Sunggyu lifted one of his brows.

Howon let out a small laugh, “Hyung, it’s Woohyun,” he said, “You always say yes to Woohyun.” 

~

Sunggyu had to admit that there was some truth in Howon’s words. Sunggyu had disliked Woohyun when the two first met. He thought Woohyun was too “emotional,” in his own words. But after a few years, Woohyun slowly became Sunggyu’s closest friend in the group. Even their fans could see that. 

When Woohyun called him a couple days ago, asking him to do a duet stage together for a TV show, Sunggyu immediately said yes. He had been going back and forth to Seoul for singing gigs and that has always been his goal - running a medium-sized tangerine farm in Jeju and returning to Seoul to sing on his own schedule, without the pressure or expectation that he once had to endure.   

He was now in Woohyun’s modern apartment, in the middle of the city. Seoul felt rather suffocating for him and perhaps that was why he decided to run away to an island where no one knew who he was. 

“You miss Seoul?” Woohyun caught Sunggyu staring outside the window that overlooked the busy traffic that Monday morning. 

Sunggyu turned around and Woohyun handed him a grey towel, “Go shower first and I’ll cook something for lunch,” 

“We should practice,” Sunggyu replied and Woohyun responded with a wide grin. 

“We will hyung,” he reassured Sunggyu, “Don’t worry, we won’t perform until tomorrow. Besides, it’s just a small tv network,” 

Sunggyu remembered the days where they would practice endlessly - day and night, dusk and dawn until perfection. Repeating the same movements over and over again until it’s imbedded in each of their cells. All of that just to dance and sing on stage for less than five minutes. He almost found it amusing how he willingly had signed up for that kind of life. At the same time, he was quite amazed how they were able to endure all of that. 

When Sunggy