Their trance of the horizon was broken when Leeteuk glanced at his watch and realized that it was past time they needed to head to the airport. The other members, because of their daze, took a few seconds before they reacted to their leader's frantic signals. As slowly as time permitted--or maybe a bit slower than it did permit--they wistfully departed the insouciant beach and hailed a few taxis--which they did speedily and successfully now, after having had so much experience with big-group taxi rides throughout their trip. On their way to the airport, they talked sparsely, choosing instead to gaze out the car windows, watching the remnants of Macau slip by. Eunhyuk remembered the Men's Bathroom subgroup which they created and made a mental note to at least mention the idea to the company. Kyuhyun smirked as he recalled the sight of his hyungs' backs, fearfully retreating into the distance as they tried to escape the pursuing dog while he chased after them all. Heechul was satisfied with the late-night gaming sessions, during the course of which he had been able to level up in quite a few of his various game accounts. Shindong could not forget the soft, white bedsheets and how he spent each night before bed looking out the hotel balcony upon the view of Macau's sparkling nightlights. Hangeng remembered walking up to the grand casino entrance in his purple, cat-patterned, silk pajamas, feeling awkward yet proud at how he commanded the attention of passerbys. Siwon recalled the taste of the escargo he had eaten and how he felt so exceptionally luxurious at the casino, and even though luxury was nothing special in an idol's life, it was special because it was not a luxe of business. Sungmin smiled at how he gotten to drive the little 10-seat airport go-cart and having felt the whisk of innocent joy despite the panic of the situation back then. Yesung remembered the fierce light-saber battle and hoped that he would have the chance to reenact it or something alike on a variety show when they returned to their schedules. Leeteuk wouldn't forget aimlessly leading the dongsaengs through the foreign city and wished that they would follow him innocently like that more often rather than being the rebellious rascals which they usually were. Kangin suddenly remembered the KangTeuk selcas and vowed to make it up to Leeteuk for abandoning the latter in the Super Selca Challenge. Kibum cherished the time out in the fields with the horses, of being near their beautiful, sleek and mighty bodies and of the blissfulness of lying on the grasses of the field. Donghae grinned at the yacht ride and the touch of relieving wind upon his face and forever hoped that he would meet it again one day. And Ryeowook remembered the first night's buffet outing and the happiness he had felt at seeing all of s eat with seemingly endless, healthy appetites.

Then, finally, after they had ample time to reminisce, they were at the airport and ready for departure. They were also much less troublesome throughout the course of checking in an passing through security, the optimistic and expectant feelings of arrival having been replaced by the mixed emotions of leaving such a paradise to return to schedules yet also weariness and gladness of going back to the comforts of home. As a result, they were still rather quiet and thoughtful as they trooped through the airport hallways towards their boarding gate--that was, until Kibum mentioned that they needed to organize who was sitting in which class.

Kangin was quick to exert his power of dominance, making the others helpless to interfere as he declared himself a business-class ticket. Then, Heechul remembered with a jolt that Yesung and Leeteuk had guaranteed him a business-class ticket as well, which had been promised to him as a desperate measure to get him out of bed that one morning. Heechul went further, too, and argued business class for Hangneg, saying that he would suffer heavy withdrawal symptoms if Geng was not by to help him through the grief of leaving Macau. Leeteuk speedily took advantage of this "pairings must stick together" mindset and shouted that he needed to sit with Kangin, too. This caused EunHae, KyuMin, and YeWook to also jump on the bandwagon, each yelling about how they were the most prominent SJ pairing and deserved business-class seats as well. In the midst of the quarreling, Kibum stealthily pulled a business-class ticket from Teuk's flailing hand and then sat down to watch the entertainment before him with mischievous amusement. Meanwhile, as the three pairings were fighting for the two remaining business-class seats, Siwon and Shindong were huddled together, conspiring to nab the very so sought-after tickets. They, not caught up in the heat of the battle, were able to discover a perfectly reasonable argument to get the seats away from the bickering pairings and to themselves instead. Once their argument statement was settled, they broke into the fight and denounced the three fighting couples to be noisy and troublesome, and for the reason that they were acting in such behavior, none of them should receive the business-class seats which, instead, should be granted to the well-behaved ones (ie. Siwon and Shindong themselves) because one, they were not causing a ruckus, and two, they were not classified as a "pairing" and therefore could not be considered as just another self-serving couple causing commotion.

Their statement was met with a period of silence as everyone stared and wondered about how to react to this, save for Kibum, who chuckled heartily to himself and wished that he had some popcorn at hand. Before anyone could say another word in response, however, the airport PA dinged on and called for the boarding of their flight--"Macau to Incheon, South Korea." With no time left to settle the still-unsettled, utterly complicated debate over the EunHae, YeWook, and KyuMin seats, they chose to take Siwon and Shindong's proposal. EunHae, YeWook, and KyuMin were bumped down to fill the six unfortunate economy-class seats while KangTeuk, HanChul, Kibum, Shindong, and Siwon more than gladly took business class.

They boarded the plane, minds already busy thinking about how he was going to present the next Teukigayo stage, about how he was to be rushed to a radio hosting soon as he got off the plane, about how he needed to attend a late-night variety show shooting later, about how he had a musical practice or drama shooting early next morning, about how he would have to find time to memorize his OST lyrics between all that, and most of all about a return to their normal, scheduled lives. However, after they settled into their respective seats, the great machine rumbled and took of with a roar, slowly ascending towards the endless sky, and they realized that the time spent at the paradise could not be forgotten, that they would remember each other's every sweet moment and humiliating blunder, and that though oftentimes their life was beyond the highest levels of stress, there are moments which do make life beautiful.

And so they tucked away the memories of their moments in Macau to forever cherish. And as they settled back into the role of Asia's superstars, they reaffirmed that it did not matter whether they were on stage or on vacation; with each other, they are always the one and same: Super Junior.
 

- - - -

A/N: Their vacation has finally come to an end! \o/ Three days has turned out to seem so much longer. xD
Many thanks to those who have taken their time out to read each chapter. ^^ I hope each of you has enjoyed my first-ever short story and had as much fun as the boys in the story did. x)

(PS. I think this is the first fanfic I've ever finished completely. =o)

(PPS. Epilogue later, anyone? ;D)