AN: Alyssa's phone conversation is in RED, while Taemin's is in BLUE.

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(Alyssa's POV)

I rolled over in my bed and groaned when I realized the clock read 10:17am.

Why the heck am I awake right now?

Rachel's phone buzzed loudly next to my ear.

Why the crap is her phone with me...?

Oh yeah... I took it from her at 2:30 in the morning when she was still texting Key.
I picked the phone up and saw that Taemin had texted her 7 times.

Really? Does he not remember that she can't read Korean?

I snickered as I opened the messages and began to read.

    Hey, it's Taemin.

    Hello?

    Helllllooooooooo???

    Are you alive?

    Key says he loves you...

    Wow, you won't even reply after that?

    Are you still asleep? O.o

I burst into laughter as I read the messages.

God, I love that boy...

    Hey it's Alyssa. Rachel is still asleep.

                                I answered for her.

A few moments later, Rachel's phone buzzed and a new
message popped up.

    ALYSSA!

I blushed simply at the sight of the message.

    Yes?

    The 8 of us should hang out today. :D

I gasped and froze, not knowing what to say.

    Really??? :O

Wow... What a lame response, Alyssa.

    Yeah! :D Want to?

I hesitated and, before I could answer, he texted again.

    Of course you do. ;P

    Woahhhhh, don't get too cocky. I could have had plans today.

Wow... It's so much easier to talk to him through texting, when I don't have to see his face and fangirl.

    Like what???

    Ummmmm.....

    Yeah, I thought so. Anyway, we have a day off today and wanted to drive around Seoul and the 

        countryside to relax. Care to join us?

    Sure! =D

    Great! We'll pick you up at 11 then, okay?

    Alright! See you then!

My heart was pounding.

Did I just agree to go on a country ride with Taemin? What is wrong with me?! I hate sappy, romantic things!

Wait... Cool yourself, Alyssa. He didn't only ask you, he asked the three of you. This isn't a date, it's... a play date? Whatever.

I jumped out of my bed then ran to go wake up Rachel.

Wait... She has had too many Keychel moments since she's been in Korea. It's time to make some Taessa moments. Oh, and Abbho moments, too. No Rachel this time. She can survive a day without Key.

I walked over to Abby's bed and shook her awake.

"What's your problem?" she asked, pushing me away.

"Come to the kitchen with me," I told her.

The good maknae did as I requested and followed me into the kitchen.

"We're going to travel around Seoul and the countryside today with SHINee."

"Why didn't you wake Rachel up?"

"She's not coming with us."

"And why not?"

"The girl needs to separate from Key every once in a while."

I watched her grin slightly. "Alright, we can face the wrath of the Almighty Rachel later," Abby said.

I nodded with a grin. "Now go get ready, they're picking us up soon."

In about thirty minutes, Abby got a text from Jonghyun telling us they were there. I walked out of the hotel and grinned when I saw the car, as I thought about the conversation I had with Taemin that morning.

"You still fangirling over Taemin's conversation with you?" Abby asked, rolling her eyes as we walked up to the car with tinted windows.

"Oh, shut up," I shot back, blushing.

The door to the back seat opened up and Abby and I slid inside.

"No Rachel?" Key asked.

"No Minho?" Abby responded.

"He's filming."

"She's sleeping," she stated matter-of-factly, shrugging her shoulders.

How can she converse with them like this?! She's acting as if they are guys at school!

I sat next to Onew and bit my lip nervously.

The car got quiet as Jonghyun drove us away from the city.

"So... Uh... What exactly are we doing?" I asked awkwardly.

"We're going to the countryside!" Taemin squealed.

"Then we'll drop the car off and tour around Seoul," Jonghyun finished.

"Why will we be dropping the car off?" Abby questioned.

"Because, as tourists, you can't possibly get the full effect of Seoul without being squished like a sardine in the subway," he replied, grinning at her through the mirror.

She rolled her eyes and looked out the window. "Oh, joy..."

The car ride was pretty uneventful, although sitting next to Onew was rather nice. Jonghyun kept on trying to make conversation with Abby, who kept ignoring him. Taemin would try to talk to me, but I kept on getting nervous, so our conversations ended up being drastic failures; and Key sat staring out the window, looking like a lost puppy without Rachel.

We drove to the countryside, saw some mountains and stopped at this little hole-in-the-wall restaurant to eat what they considered traditional Korean food. Then, we began to head back to Seoul.

"Can we pick Rachel up now?" Key asked.

"No... You two need to separate for a while. Besides, we'll die if we try to invite her now," Abby explained.

"But what happens when you guys go back to America? Our friendship kind of ends there... Come on, let's go pick her up!" he begged.

"No, Key!" everyone in the car grumbled.

He sighed and looked out the window, dropping all conversations at that.

 

 

(Abby's POV)

"Where is this stupid subway?" Alyssa asked, adjusting her posture again as we stood, waiting for the subway to come.

"It'll be here in a minute, hold your horses," Jonghyun said, checking the time on his phone.

"It's so hot down here," Taemin complained, fanning his face.

More people pushed up against us, crowding the narrow underground even more.

"Oh, he's so adorable when he does that!" Alyssa squealed in my ear.

I rolled my eyes and watched the subway pull into the station.

"It's here!" Alyssa squealed.

"Oh, you're so observant," I retorted sarcastically.

She snickered and grabbed my arm as we pushed through the crowd and shuffled behind the pop stars into the subway.

"Grab onto a handle," Jonghyun said, grabbing my hand and placing it on the handle above us.

I ripped his hand off of mine and glared at him. "Don't touch me," I told him firmly.

"Oh, Abby rejected Jonghyun?" Taemin laughed.

"Shhhh! Do you want everyone to know who we are?" Onew said, pulling his cap over his head, trying to cover his face more.

"Don't even bother, everyone can tell it's you," Alyssa said to the eldest.

He shrugged. “It’s still worth a shot, right?”

"Want me to hold your phone, Taemin?" Key asked, noticing Taemin holding his phone in his hand, as if he had nowhere to put it.

"Why don't you have pockets?" Jonghyun asked.

"I do have pockets!" he exclaimed, showing them to the older. "They're just too small for my phone..."

Taemin handed the phone to Key. "Thanks hyung."

Finally, everyone in the subway piled in and the train pulled out. "Where are we going?" I asked in Jonghyun's ear.

"We're going to the Digital Media City," he replied simply.

"Which is..."

"A really cool place," he snickered.

"Well you're helpful..."

The dinosaur grinned at me and nodded.

After a transfer, the line stopped and we got off again to change lines.

"Okay, we need to transfer to Airport Rail Road," Key said, examining his subway map.

"There it is!" Jonghyun said, and he began leading the way, the rest of us following behind.

"Oh my gosh! There're seats available!" Onew exclaimed and ran to an empty seat.

The rest of us rushed to the empty seats and sat down before they were taken. I sighed and relaxed against the back of the subway, closing my eyes until the vehicle jolted forward and began to drive.
 

 

 

(Alyssa's POV)

"Taemin... Where are the others?" I asked the youngest member as we boarded the subway.

"They're coming. Don't worry. The slow pokes will be here in a minute," he told me. "Want a seat?" he asked, motioning to the only empty seat on the subway.

I blushed and sat down. "Thank you," I whispered.

"So, Alyssa, why Korea?"

I shrugged. "Kpop."

He laughed. "Typical."

"So, Taemin, why did you choose to befriend Abby, Rachel, and me?"

He looked at me oddly. "I honestly don't know... It's really strange that we attached ourselves to you guys. I mean, considering all of our fans, it’s weird to have become this close to you three."

"It's because we're special," I said, with a smile.

"Oh, yes. You guys are very special," he said, making a circle around his ear with his pointer finger, indicating that we were crazy.

"Oh, shut up," I said, looking down and blushing.

A seat emptied up and Taemin sat down next to me, our bodies touching. My heart raced and I nervously looked away.

"Where are those idiots?" he said, shaking his knee.

Is he as nervous as I am?

I looked through the train to see that none of our friends were in sight.

"Did we get on the wrong train?" I asked him.

"I don't think so... Call Abby."

I felt my pockets and realized my phone wasn't there. "I forgot... I left my phone at home today because I didn't charge it last night."

He sighed.

"Well, where's yours?"

"I let Key hold it because my pockets are too small to."

"Why on earth are you wearing pants that won't hold your phone?"

"I don't know! It just happened... I didn't really think ahead."

"Obviously."

"Hush."

I sighed. "So, what do we do?"

"Get off at the next stop, find out where we are, and find a pay phone. I'm sure we can dig someone's phone number out of our forgetful brains."

"Well, this ..." I mumbled.

"Hey! Cheer up, it could be fun! We can make it an adventure!"

I felt a smile creep on my lips.

"I guess we could..." I said, looking down while blushing again.

He chuckled and patted my knee. "You're cute."

I continued to look down, trying to calm my racing heart.

The train slowed to a halt and we fled the moving beast as soon as possible, rushing to a sign that indicated where we were.

"Oh my gosh! We're in ______?!"

"Is that far?" I asked.

"It's totally the opposite direction from where we need to be..."

"How did this happen?"

"I didn't pay attention, and you followed me like a lost puppy," he snickered.

"I did not!" I declared.

"You didn't?"

I hesitated.

"It's okay, Alyssa. You're allowed to be obsessed with me," he said, grabbing my shoulder and leading me to a phone booth.

"I'm not obsessed though," I mumbled softly.

"Yeah, yeah. Call Abby," he said, placing some coins in the phone.

I nodded and began to type in the number. "Oh crap..." I mumbled, discontinuing my typing.

"What?"

"I can't remember the rest..."

"What?!"

"I don't know what’s wrong with me... She's had the same number for six years!"

"Well, do you remember anyone else’s?"

"No. Do you?"

"No," he confessed.

I sighed. "Well, I remember Rachel, but she's going to be pissed at us..."

"Yeah... We better not."

"Why don't we just get back on the train? Don't you have your pass?"

"I put it in my phone case so I wouldn't lose it..." he said softly.

"Well, look how that turned out," I said sarcastically.

"So, what should we do?" Taemin asked. "We have no money, we're two hours walking distance from the dorm, we don't remember anyone’s phone numbers, and we're lost in some random district in Seoul."

"Well... What are our options?" Alyssa asked, sighing.

"We could go window shopping and slowly head back toward the dorm... I actually have a few bucks, not enough for us both to get back on the train of course, but we could go buy something from the street vendors on the way," he said with a smile.

Oh he's so cute!

I blushed and nodded. "Sounds good."

He smiled and held his arm out. "Shall we?"

I looked down, blushing again, and linked arms with him, walking away.
 

 

 

(Abby's POV)

"Where could she be? She's not answering her phone..." I said, holding my phone up to my ear for the sixth time.

The phone went straight to voicemail.

Alyssa turn your phone on!

"Key, try calling Taemin," Jonghyun said to the younger.

Key nodded and pulled out his phone, dialing Taemin's number.

A few moments later, Key's pocket buzzed and Taemin's ring tone began to blare.

Key quickly silenced the phone. "I forgot, he told me to hold it..."

I turned away and blinked back tears.

What if we can't find her? What if they're in trouble and they can't contact anyone?

"Don't worry, Abby, we'll find a way to get to them home tonight," Jonghyun said, placing his hands on my shoulders.

I shrugged them off. "Why must you be so touchy-feely?" I snapped, turning around to glare at him.

"Hey... Are you crying?" he asked with a shocked look on his face.

I wiped my eyes, thankful that I hadn't put on make up. "No. Let's head back to where we had our last transfer."

He nodded and we began to walk to the subway headed in the direction we had just come from, Key and Onew traveling in our wake.

"We'll find them, okay? Taemin's a grown man and I'm sure that they'll be fine," Jonghyun told me reassuringly.

I gave him a half smile and restrained the tears that threatened to fall from my eyes again.

"I know, I'm over reacting. It's just... She's my best friend, lost in an unfamiliar country, 'ya know?"

He nodded and lifted his hand, as if he was about to place it on my shoulder, but let it fall to his side, remembering my former outburst.

Wow, the dinosaur actually has a soul.

"Hey, has anyone called Rachel to tell her what's going on?" Key asked.

"Oh snap, I forgot about her!" I said, bringing my phone out of my pocket.

"You guys are such wonderful friends, you know that? I got it," he said, throwing his phone up to his ear.
 

 

 

(Rachel's POV)

My phone began to ring from across the room, and I sighed, standing up to go retrieve it.

I grabbed the phone, hoping to see Alyssa's or Abby's picture on the caller ID, so they could give me an explanation; instead, Key's photo popped up.

My heart raced and my hands shook as I lifted the phone to my ear.

"Hello?" I asked as I connected our lines.

"Hey Rachel, it's Key."

I blushed. "Yeah, what's up?"

"It's about Alyssa and Taemin..."

I froze. "What happened?! What's wrong?!"

"We kinda lost them in Seoul..."

"What?!"

"It's okay though... We'll find them soon... I hope."

This is not good. Alyssa isn't emotionally capable to be on her own in a foreign country, and I don't trust Taemin to have a clue about what he's doing!

I stumbled around the room, pulling my shoes on and grabbing my bag; but I halted, realizing I had no idea where they were and would be of little to no use trying to locate the group. I sighed and sat down on the couch. "Is there anything I can do?"

"Actually, yes. Could you find the train they might have got on instead of Airport Railroad at ____?"

I jumped up and ran to the computer, Googling the subway route of Seoul.

"Yeah. They probably got on ____."

"Alright. Thanks Rachel. We'll hopefully see you soon...with Alyssa and Taemin handcuffed to Jonghyun, so they won't wander away."

"NO!" I shrieked.

"Wh-what?"

"Don't say that...just don't. No handcuffing...especially to Jonghyun."

He laughed. "Oh okay, sorry. I'm hanging up now. Bye!"

I blushed at the sound of his cute voice. "Bye..."

A moment later, the phone clicked as he hung up.

So, that's where Alyssa and Abby went? The one day in the entire three years I've known them that I've slept in, they go and hang out with SHINee...without me!
I sighed and surfed the web and headed to allkpop where I saw the headline:

SHINEE'S TAEMIN SEEN WALKING IN THE ___ DISTRICT WITH AN APPARENT MIXED BLACK GIRL: FRIENDS OR MORE?

My jaw dropped, realizing my best friend had just made the headlines of one of the biggest K-Pop websites on the internet.

I opened the link and, of course, there was a picture of the two of them at a street vendor, eating galbi on a stick. Taemin will never live this down...

I called Key back.

"Hello?"

"I found out where they are..." I mumbled.

"Oh, good! Where?"

"They're at a street vendor in the ___ district. I know that’s still pretty vague, but at least it narrows your search to a smaller radius."

"Thank you! Wait, how did you find them? I thought you were at home."

"They made the headlines on allkpop."

"Oh crap..." he mumbled. "He's going to be in trouble..."

"Yeah. Well, go find them, then kill Taemin for getting caught."

"Okay. Thanks, bye."

He hung up and I slapped the phone closed. "Now I'm really going to kill you Alyssa."
 

 

 

(Alyssa's POV)

"Uh... Taemin, they're taking pictures of us."

The boy looked around frantically. "Oh crap..." he mumbled. "Come with me," he whispered softly and walked casually, acting as if he didn't know me, into a small store filled with little knick-knacks.

"Omo! Are you-?" an ahjumma exclaimed, running over to Taemin, pen and paper in hand.

He nodded and bowed to the woman.
"Could you sign this? My granddaughter loves you!"

Taemin quickly signed the paper. "Can I ask you a favor?" he inquired.

"Sure! Anything!"

"Can we hide from the press in here?"

The lady looked back and forth at Taemin and me for a few seconds, then, somewhat reluctantly, nodded. "I have a little office in the back you could stay in, if you'd follow me."

We trailed the lady into a small room behind the check-out counter that had a single desk, a safe, and boxes piled everywhere.

"There's only one chair, but I imagine that one of you wouldn't mind standing," she said, looking at me.

I looked to the left of her, avoiding any awkward eye contact. "Do you have a phone we could use?" I asked her timidly.

She pursed her lips, as if deciding whether she wanted to help me any further. "Yeah, it's out front," she replied quickly before leaving the office.

"Who are you calling?" Taemin asked as I was leaving the room.

"Rachel. She's usually good in situations like this and I need to make sure we get home without a stupid scandal."

He nodded in agreement and I went to call Rachel.
 

 

 

(Abby's POV)

"I just got off the phone with Rachel," Key said, walking back to the group. "She said that Alyssa just called her and they are staying in a shop called ___. She googled where we are and said it's about 10 minutes, walking, from here."

I cheered and we let Key lead the way.

"You happy that we found her?" Jonghyun asked me as we walked.

"Of course. Now I don't have to tell her family I lost their daughter in Korea," I giggled.

We walked to the store, trying to act as if we didn't know each other, and eventually found the old ahjumma shop that Key said they were hiding in.

"You go in, Abby. We don't want to be caught in there," Onew said.

I nodded in agreement and walked inside.

"Hello," I told the lady, giving her a warm smile and a bow.

She gave me a kind hearted smile and lightly ducked her head in response.

"Do you by chance know where my friends are?" I asked her.

"Could you mean...Lee Taemin and the Mediterranean looking girl?"

I chuckled at the thought of my friend being anything but half-white, half-black and nodded.

"Follow me," she said, leading me to an office behind her desk.

I walked ino the small, cramped office and saw my best friend and my new friend waiting patiently for someone to come to their rescue.

I cleared my throat and Alyssa, who was slouched over with her head leaning in the palm of her hand, looked up at me.

"ABBY!" she shrieked and jumped up to hug me. "Oh my gosh, I missed you so much!"

I awkwardly hugged her back

Gosh, I hate hugging.

At the same moment, Taemin walked over, deciding to join in on the hug too.

Goodness, him too?

"You guys ready to go home?"

They nodded eagerly and followed me outside to find the rest of the boy band waiting for us.

"I'm NOT looking forward to meeting Rachel. She sounded pretty upset," Alyssa told me anxiously.

"It was your idea to leave her out in the first place," I shrugged. "It's not like I'll be the one getting in trouble."

"Oh, by the way, Alyssa, Taemin, you two made the headlines of allkpop," Onew snickered. "Congratulations."

---

Oh my gosh guys, I'm so sorry... School has taken the best of me and when I finally have a break, all I want to do is sleep... *zzzzzzzzzzzzzz* I know it's been like... almost 12 weeks (or something along those lines) but I promise I've been writing it slowly, a little bit here, and a little bit there. It's just tough writing when the both of us are in all advanced classes and the top orchestra with no time on our hands.

Anyway, I thought I should give you a longer chapter since we love you... that and our friend who we are basing the character Alyssa off of, begged stranger14 and I to write a Taessa chapter. -_-

Who do you want to see more of next??? Some more Keychel, Abbho, Jongby, or Taessa? Let us know please! 

G'night y'all and hopefully I'll be talking with y'all soon! =)