“Yah!” said Lawyer Park “We’re going to be late!”

“Why are we getting up so early?” whined Changmin through the door of his room “It’s… 5AM?”

“Yeah.” agreed Junsu as he opened his bedroom door “I only got three hours of sleep before you woke me up.”

“What gives?” questioned Junsu.

“Just get up.” said Yoochun “And pack your over night bags for the weekend.”

“Are we going somewhere?” asked Changmin excitedly “We’re actually getting out of here for a while?”

“Yes, now get moving!” ordered Lawyer Park.

Lawyer Park and Yoochun turned around and headed back to the living room, giggling softly to themselves.

 “That was mean.” whispered Yoochun.

“Ehh, they can sleep in the car.” laughed Lawyer Park.

Today was going to be a special day for the three brothers. It had been only a week since Lawyer Park got the confirmation from the Chairman. He and Yoochun decided to surprise Changmin and Junsu with the news so they booked a weekend stay at one of the group’s favorite mountain retreats. It took everything they could do to keep the news about the lawsuits, and the order the Chairman signed, a secret from not only the press but Changmin and Junsu as well. Luckily they pulled it off without a hitch.  No one had a clue about what had happened, and they were both giddy with excitement at the idea of being able to tell Changmin and Junsu themselves.  

“Aren’t you guys ready yet?” yelled Yoochun down the hall.

“I’m coming.” fired back Junsu as he walked out of his bedroom door and closed it behind him.

“Minnie, come on.” said Junsu as he walked past Changmin’s room and hit the door twice with his foot. “Move it sleepy head.”

“Alright! Alright!” argued Changmin “Almost ready!”

After another five minutes, Changmin shuffled out of his room and sleepily made his way into the living room.

“I’m ready.” yawned Changmin.

“Good.” said Lawyer Park “Go get loaded up in the van. We’ll leave in five minutes.”

As everyone made their way out the front door and into the awaiting black cruising van parked just outside, Yoochun glanced back at the home that had been their refuge for well over a month and sighed. “I’m going to miss this place.” he thought as he flashed a quick smile, turned and climbed into the front passenger seat of the van. Closing the door, Yoochun looked over his shoulder to see Changmin already sprawled out on the back bench seat and adjusting his pillow.

“You guys get some more rest.” advised Lawyer Park “This is going to be a lengthy trip.”

“We’ll be there in about five hours.” added Yoochun.

“Ok.” answered Junsu and Changmin in unison.

An hour into the drive, Yoochun reached down and turned off the stereo and looked up at Lawyer Park.

“They’re asleep.” whispered Yoochun.

“Ok.” acknowledged Lawyer Park.   

“Did you talk to them?” whispered Yoochun.

“Yeah.” answered Lawyer Park “Yesterday.”

“What did they say?” questioned Yoochun softly.

“A week.” answered Lawyer Park.

“A week?” said Yoochun softly with confusion “Why so long? It’s already been a week. They need to come home.”

“Shhh.” said Lawyer Park “They will. Be patient. Ok?”

“Alright.” answered Yoochun with a sigh.

As Lawyer Park reached down and turned the volume up on the radio, Yoochun rested his elbow on the car's door frame and stared blankly at the passing scenery. He knew that Jaejoong and Yunho were trying everything they could to get back as fast as they could and he was just being impatient, but he really couldn’t help it.

The last few days had been really hard on Junsu and it was really bothering Yoochun. Junsu had begun acting even more strangely than before. He was hardly eating anything, staying up all hours of the night locked up in his room, and barely spoke to anyone. It was as if he just gave up on life and wanted to disappear without a trace.  Today was the first time Junsu spoke more than a couple words to anyone. He had become so distant to him and Changmin. It was so painfully obvious that even Changmin noticed it, which was quite rare since he's usually quite oblivious to things like that.

Yoochun was always well aware that Junsu had a special attachment to Jaejoong, and in truth, he always felt a little jealous because of it. He would often times see Junsu just watching Jaejoong for no reason and never could understand why. It was like he was in love with Jaejoong or something, but Junsu always swore that it wasn’t anything like that. So when Jaejoong disappeared with Yunho, Junsu’s world just stopped.  It was like he was going through withdrawal. The longer he spent away from Jaejoong the worse he got. Yoochun couldn’t stand watching Junsu like this. Junsu had always been the strong one. He rarely ever cried about anything, yet over the last few weeks it got to the point that crying was all he did. It was like watching a train wreck in slow motion and not being able to close your eyes. The worse Junsu got the more Yoochun became impatient to reunite him with Jaejoong.

Shaking the memories of the last few days from his thoughts, Yoochun leaned his head back, closed his eyes and said “Hyung, I’m going to take a nap. Wake me up when we get there.”

“Alright.” said Lawyer Park.

After what seemed like an eternity, Yoochun was awakened by a soft shake. Slowly opening his eyes to adjust to the bright sunlight from outside the car, he reached up and rubbed his eyes gently and then looked in Lawyer Park’s direction.

“We’re here.” said Lawyer Park.

Turning to look behind him, he noticed that Junsu and Changmin were still fast asleep. He reached back and grabbed Junsu’s foot and gave it a slight shake.

“Su, we’re here. Wake up.” said Yoochun “Minnie, time to get up.”

As everyone began to pile out of the van, Junsu stopped and stared in amazement. They hadn’t seen this resort in years and so much had changed. It was even more beautiful than he remembered. As the group made their way through the thick woods, along the winding dirt path, Junsu began to remember all the fun times they had there. Taking hikes, having drinks by the pool, having dinner under the star filled skies, and all the laughter came flooding back to him at once causing him to sigh happily. “I wish Jae and Yunnie were here.” he thought as he went through the resort’s main gate.

“Wow!” said Changmin “It’s changed so much, but it’s still as beautiful.”

“Yeah.” said Yoochun “I never realized how much I missed this place, until just now.”

“Well let’s get checked in.” said Lawyer Park.

Heading through the ornate front door of the main lobby the group made their way to the front desk.  They were immediately greeted by a beautiful young woman in her late twenties who flashed them a bright and heartwarming smile. Lawyer Park smiled back at her and quickly got to the task of checking them all in. After a few moments he turned to the group and said “We’re all set!” as he walked the few steps to where everyone was standing.

“Here’s your room keys.” said Lawyer Park as he began to pass them out.

“Wait!” said Changmin “We each get our own rooms?”

“Yes.” affirmed Lawyer Park.

“But we never get our own rooms.” said Changmin “I always have to share with Yunnie…”

Realizing that he mentioned Yunho’s name in front of the group, Changmin immediately apologized.  He lost his head for a moment, after all this was the very first time he’d ever gone on a trip where he didn’t have to share a room and was actually quite surprised. Although he never really was bothered by having to share, he had always wanted a room and bed all to himself.

“This way.” said the pretty Desk Clerk “I’ll show you to your rooms.”

The group made their way through the resort and found their rooms with ease. Junsu walked into his room and smiled. "It's still the same." he thought. His room was beautifully decorated, steeped heavily in a Japanese spa motif, with fresh flowers and ornate furniture. Across the room were sliding glass doors that looked out over a small Japanese bath and garden. Junsu threw his overnight bag on the floor and walked over to the door way. Looking more closely at his little slice of heaven, his thoughts drifted back to the last time he was there and laughed. “We had so much fun here.”  thought Junsu. He slid the door open and was immediately hit with a soft breeze that carried the scent of the nearby blooming jasmine.

 “Jae.” he whispered as he closed his eyes “You should be here.”

Hearing a knock on his door, Junsu was startled out of his daze. He walked over to the door and opened it to find Yoochun looking back at him.

“Come on let’s eat.” giggled Yoochun “Then we can go to the baths.”

“Everyone?” questioned Junsu.

 “Yeah everyone’s waiting.” answered Yoochun.

Junsu grabbed his phone and room key from the nightstand and followed Yoochun out. As they walked down the long ornate hallway towards their private dining patio, Junsu suddenly grabbed Yoochun’s arm and stopped him.

“Chunnie?” whispered Junsu.

“Oh?” said Yoochun as he turned back to look at Junsu “Oh, what’s wrong? Are you feeling alright?”

“It just, I… ” stammered Junsu

“I feel really weird being here without them.” whispered Junsu.

“Don’t be.” said Yoochun “We’re here to relax and get our minds off our problems, Ok?”

“They wouldn’t want us worrying ourselves into the ground.” added Yoochun “Cheer up, Ok?”

“Alright.” stuttered Junsu.

They quickly resumed their course and found themselves in the right place in no time. Lawyer Park and Changmin were already sitting down at the dining table and Changmin had already started stuffing his face.

“You guys better hurry up before Changmin eats it all.” chuckled Lawyer Park.

As the group sat down to dinner, Yoochun felt at ease. Even though their little group wasn’t whole right now he just knew that this was the beginning of a better and happier life for all of them. As the group laughed and carried-on, it was as if a dark fog had been lifted and they were happy for the first time in weeks. After the meal, the group headed back to their rooms and changed into their robes. Gathering back together once again, they headed for the baths.  As soon as they arrived, Changmin bolted to the water and jumped in like a kid on summer vacation causing the whole group to erupt into thunderous laughter.

“You’re such a kid!” laughed Lawyer Park.

“Yup!” giggled Changmin as he wiped away the water from his eyes.

After a few hours enjoying the relaxing bath and talking, the group slowly began to separate. First Lawyer Park left, then Changmin, and finally Yoochun got up to leave.  

“Su?” said Yoochun as he hit the door “Are you coming? We’re going to go watch a movie.”

“No.” answered Junsu “You guys go ahead. I’m going to stay here for a little while.”

“Ok.” stammered Yoochun “You sure?”

“Yea.” nodded Junsu.

Letting out a troubled sigh, Junsu readjusted on his underwater bench and leaned his head back on the edge of the pool. Looking at the starry night sky above him, he was again flooded by the memories of the last time him and his brothers visited that beautiful and serene place. He still felt uneasy about being there without Jaejoong, but after the time he spent with Yoochun and Changmin tonight, he started feeling a little less guilty. He felt as if he was in some way cheating on Jaejoong by going to their favorite resort without him. He knew it was silly to think that way but he couldn’t help it. He missed Jaejoong.  

Junsu closed his eyes and sighed again and tried to focus his mind on something else other than Jaejoong but found it difficult. The combination of the unusually warm weather and the warmth of the water made Junsu feel so relaxed that he began to slowly drift off to sleep until a thunderclap flash across the horizon. His eyes snapped open instantly as he scanned the sky. “Looks like it’s going to rain.” thought Junsu with a pout. Pulling himself up to sit on the edge of the pool and placing his feet on the underwater bench, Junsu wiped his face with the nearby towel and shivered as a soft breeze blew past him.

“I really should go inside.” said Junsu as a streak of lightning stretched across the distant sky.

“In a little bit.” he thought.

As another cool breeze crawled across his shoulders once more, Junsu felt his loneliness creep up on him again and quickly became angry with himself. “Why am I like this?” he thought as he tapped himself on the head. “I’m not a kid anymore but why do I feel like one?” Shaking the thought from his head, he slumped over and cupped his face with his hands while trying to get a grip on his emotions.  Junsu knew that this overwhelming feeling of loneliness couldn’t be helped. For four years, Junsu and Jaejoong had developed and even deeper friendship than they could have possibly imagined. There were times where they would crave the same food at the exact same time, finish each other’s sentences, and they always could tell how the other was feeling with just a simple glance. It was strange to Junsu how close they had become without ever really realizing it. They were always together, and if they were separated because of other commitments, they were always in contact with one another.

Junsu glanced up and noticed another streak of lightning scatter across the sky as he thought about all the time he had spent by Jaejoong’s side. The memories were now bittersweet to him. As the thought of never seeing Jaejoong again, slyly popped in his head to once again torment him, Junsu began to cry quietly. As the seemingly endless tears continued to flow down his cheeks, he couldn’t help but let all of his pent up emotion go free. Burying his head in hands once more, Junsu sobbed unrestrainedly.

"Jae." he whispered 

Suddenly he felt a presence kneeling down behind him and, before he knew it, two gentle arms wrapped around his waist and held him tightly. As a head landed gently on his back he heard the sound of someone else crying.

“Forgive me.”