“Seonsaengnim, did you want to be a teacher when you were growing up?” Eunhae asked. 

Minna and her students were using the communal living room that evening, after dinner, to do some final practice rounds before they head out tomorrow. It had probably been a couple of hours and they somehow found themselves just easing in and spending some time talking casually. Minna had always considered herself lucky for getting assigned to teach high schoolers - they were at the perfect age. Naive but inquisitive, something that Minna thought a lot of adults lacked. 

“No, I had wanted to be an astronaut,” She replied. 

“An astronaut?” Seungho chimed. 

Minna nodded, “And I also wanted to be a painter, and a writer and a scientist when I was a little older,” 

“So why did you become a teacher?” Eunhae asked again. 

“Because I can still do all of them as a teacher, at least little parts of it, and also teach others how to do it,” Minna smiled.

“Seongsaeng, what if I want to be a dancer?” Changsun lied his back down on the sofa with his legs propped up on top of the arm rest at the edge.

“Like Howon?”

Changsun nodded, staring at the wooden ceiling, “He looks so cool when he dances, I want to be like him,” 

“I want to be like Howon and Sunggyu because they run a tangerine farm,” Eunhae replied with an excited grin, “But I think I’ll grow strawberries instead of tangerine,” 

Minna let out a small laugh. She leaned back at her chair, “That sounds nice,” 

“Did I hear someone say they want to be like me?” 

“Ah, speaking of the devil,” Minna said when she saw Howon enter the room with a tray of barely tea.

He placed the tray on top of the coffee table in the center and sat on the floor, joining his guests, “Try some barely tea, I got it from the market today,” 

Minna and her students thanked him as they each took a glass and let the beverage freshen them up after a busy day of studying and working.

“Changsun was just saying he wanted to dance like you and Eunhae wanted to run a farm,” Minna continued their conversation. 

“And what about you Seungho?” Howon asked the eldest. 

“I want to be a doctor,” he grinned confidently. 

“Then looks like we all have to do well in school, and in the competition tomorrow,” Howon said, “We have big dreams,” 

“Speaking of which,” Minna glanced at her watch, “You should start packing for tomorrow and we’ll eat dinner soon,” 

The three students followed Minna’s orders and they went back to their rooms, leaving Minna and Howon in the communal space. 

“Was that why you and Sunggyu went to Seoul? To be a dancer?” Minna asked once the kids left. 

Howon nodded, “You can say so,” he replied, “Sunggyu was more of a singer, if I’m honest. You’re probably already catching on by now, but we were in an idol group together for quite some time before we came here,” 

“Ah,” Minna raised both her eyebrows, “That makes sense. I’m assuming Sunggyu was the eldest, he had talked about taking care of you,” 

Howon smiled and nodded again, “He did take care of us, as if we’re his own family, even though we were no more than strangers when we first met,” 

“So, what happened? Why are you here now?” 

“I quit the group a long time ago, after seven years of doing it, I didn’t feel it was right for me anymore,” Howon said, “I wanted to do my own thing and somehow one thing led to another and I met Sunggyu again. It was then when he talked about wanting to move to Jeju to open a farm and the rest is history. As for Sunggyu’s story, you’ll have to ask him,”

Minna nodded quietly. 

“Anyway, make sure you call Sunggyu when you’re not busy,” Howon smiled, “He’s been texting and asking me how you’ve been.”

~

“Should I come with you to sign the paperwork tomorrow?” Woohyun approached Sunggyu who was sitting on his living room couch. 

“Don’t you have a gig tomorrow?” Sunggyu replied. The television was on, but neither Sunggyu nor Woohyun was paying attention to the baseball game on the screen. 

Woohyun nodded, “I start in the evening though, it’s for a cafe down the street from here,” 

Just like the other members who were not getting any income while Infinite was on hiatus, Woohyun had to look for singing gigs here and there. Which was also one of the many reasons why Sunggyu felt obligated to take the group out of Jaesok’s hands. It wasn’t fair that M entertainment got all the royalties and credits, while the artist starved. 

“I won’t force you to, I’m sure I’ll be fine on my own,” Sunggyu said as Woohyun sat down next to him, “You know how it can be with Jaesok,” 

Woohyun was quiet, he knew exactly what Sunggyu was talking about. He could lose his temper in front of Sungjong, but Jaesok was different - the worse part was the man knew each and everyone’s triggers and weaknesses, and he wasn’t afraid to use them. 

“I’ll come, hyung,” Woohyun finally decided and Sunggyu nodded. 

“We’ll meet him at nine tomorrow,” Sunggyu stood up and headed to Woohyun’s guest room, which he had always kindly lended to Sunggyu whenever he visited Seoul. 

“You’re going to bed already?” 

“I have to call someone,” Sunggyu replied. 

“Someone?” Woohyun grinned mischievously. 

Sunggyu nodded and didn’t say anything to elaborate, so Woohyun looked at him full of interest, “A woman?” Woohyun smiled with satisfaction when Sunggyu ignored him and disappeared into his room.

~

Eunhae was already asleep when Minna snuck out of their room to answer Sunggyu’s call. Funnily enough, although she was the one who had confessed, it felt like Sunggyu was the one pursuing her more. It was their last night before heading to the city center in the morning tomorrow, and Minna was restless. 

“How is Seoul? Still sleepless?” Minna asked as she sat down on the rocking chair next to the entrance door. 

She could hear Sunggyu’s small laugh, “Still sleepless,” he replied, “And you, are you ready for tomorrow?” 

“As ready as we can be,” Minna sighed, “The kids have worked so hard, so I’m confident in them,” 

“It’s okay to feel nervous, you know,” Sunggyu said, “I’m sure winning the