…I woke up a little ways later to see that everyone was starting to stir, and the rain wasn’t as bad as it was earlier. Chan rolled over, saw me, and yelled out, “Dog pile on the yoona!!” In an instant, I was laid out on Nick’s stomach, who groaned as on my back, Chan landed-followed by a just waking up Junho, who would not be outshone by anyone touching me. This was followed by a still sleepy Woo, who was intercepted by Jay, and Taec and Junsu dueled it out for the top position-rescuing me from their fellow bandmates.

“Guys-she could still be hurt!!” Nick called out from the bottom, and immediately I could breathe as Taec and Jay cleared warm bodies off of me and the Thai Prince. As Chan shrugged apologetically, Jay crawled to my side, “How do you feel?” I put a hand on my stomach, and thought about it for a second, “I feel…better, just weary- I guess I have a lot more resting to do,” I finished, giving the leader a wan smile. Woo stood up as he squeezed my shoulder, and said, “Well, it seems like we’ve got our agenda for today: Eat, Rest, and Prepare for our Concert!!”

Chan, “We’d better get started on something to eat-I reason that JYP will be sending a bus out for us within 2 hours!!” The maknae high-fived Woo before ruffling my hair as they exited out to the kitchen. Junsu touched his forehead to mine before following them, saying conversationally, “Someone’s gotta make sure that they don’t burn the house down…”

Junho took both of my hands in his, “Whatever it is you want, you desire-tell me, and I will make it so,” he said, with so much seriousness that it caught me off guard. Even Jay noticed this, and he said, “Wow Junho, your ambition is actually heating up the room right now,” and Junho quickly let go of my hands to lunge at Jay, who laughed and easily sidestepped the vocalist as he slid on a blanket and crashed into the wall. “Oy~too slow!!You okay over there?” Jay asked, and we all laughed as a string of what I assumed to be Korean curse words came out from the pile of blankets that Junho was bundled up in.

As Nick laughed and went to help his donseang escape from the pile of sheets, Taec gathered me in his arms, between his legs, and nuzzled my hair as he squeezed me close. “Whoa buddy~I’m not dying,” I giggled as Taec nipped my earlobe quietly. “…Taren, I want to apologize for my behavior last night, it was…” I patted the arms that were holding me, settling into his presence and reaching back around to ruffle his hair. “It’s all good, my dear- we were all out of sorts last night,” I said to him, although my thoughts betrayed how I really felt- He was really like a Beast last night!!! I’m just glad he’s on my side…..

Jay knelt in front of me, “May I see your stomach?” I nodded, and raised the hem of my shirt again. Jay said nothing, but the tremor in his voice betrayed him as he kissed his fingertips and brought them to meet my stomach tenderly, “We will make this right…”

Junho appeared, on an amazingly divine cue, and yanked Jay backwards. “A-ha!!I got you this time, fearless leader!!”  Nick came and tugged me to my feet, with a nod to Taec, who stood up as well as he said, “Right now you need to eat-remember that we skipped dinner last night…” I nodded, and wrinkled my nose as I said, “ Sounds good- just let me wash my face and I’ll meet you guys in the kitchen.” I walked up to my bathroom, and scrubbed my face of the evening gunk. As I dried my cheeks, my personal phone buzzed. “ Taren-it’s me, Cage,” a familiar voice on the other end of the line said. This was Cage, my friend and just recently, adopted into my best friend’s family. It was 1 pm my time- making it midnight back in the States, where he was calling from.

“Cage, my friend!!What’s up? How’s everything?” I padded across the carpet and sat down on the loveseat, happy that he called and at the same time, a chord of homesickness hit my heart as he spoke. “Taren, it’s good to hear from you-but unfortunately, I can’t call to catch up.” I held the phone closely to my ear, “What’s wrong?” There was a sigh on the other end of the phone, and then I heard Cage say, “Anthony boarded a flight for Seoul this morning-he told the CEO of the company that it was for business, but I felt that it was for you-here’s your heads up.”

I snorted, “Thanks for the tip, Cage-you can be sure that he’ll try and look me up, and I’ll be damned if I let him find me- I’m sure you’ll hear about me on the news or First 48,” I joked, and on the other end of the line I could practically hear Cage grin as his knives unsheathed in the background, “Alright Taren, just keep me posted on what’s going on-you know I’ve been waiting to filet this punta, verdad?” I laughed. “Of course my love- have a good night; I will call you when I have time.” “Of course- nos vemos, eh?”

I quickly snapped my fingers, “Oh yeah-before I forget, I would like for Nick to look into something for me.” Cage sheathed his knives, “Si, senora- que haces la examen?” “Please write down these words: M, conspiracy, Kroean Musicians, and I don’t care what time it is-please call me/message me right away- it’s that serious.” Cage inhaled deeply, “It sounds serious-please be safe, and one of us from the fort back home will message you. Buenas Noches, mi amiga.”

When I stepped out of the room, I jumped a foot off the ground- both Jay and Nick were standing on either side of my doorway, arms folded and waiting patiently for me. “Guys-that’s a little creepy!!” They laughed, and Nick apologized as we walked into the kitchen together.

As we passed around bowls of rice, fried ramen drop soup, and grilled bulgogi, the doorbell rang. Woo skipped down the stairs to open it, and in came Big Bang. “Oh hey guys~ have a seat!!” Dae, Seung, TOP, Ji-Yong, and Tae walked in, fully dressed in casual clothes and waving to everyone. “ Good afternoon guys- how are you feeling, Taren-unnie?” Dae plopped down next to my chair and I fed him a roll, smiling, “I feel a lot better, thanks.” Seung and I high-fived as Ji-Yong came behind me and hugged me, saying, “That’s good to hear- but we still brought you something, courtesy of Taeyang-shi, of course,” the leader nodded at his fellow singer, who blushed and handed me a gift basket full of candies, goodies, and gift cards to different stores in the country. “This is yours-please, allow me to apologize for our botched lunch yesterday-“ I cut him off, laughing as I stuck both of my hands out, “In reality, my dear Taeyang-yah, it was the BEST lunch date ever!!” I folded my arms over my heart as the others cheered. I got up and hugged the blushing middle child of Big Bang, and then sealed the deal by pecking him on the cheek, much to the delight of Chan, Junsu, Yong, and even TOP, who smiled in my presence for the first time.

Jay smiled before turning to TOP, “You guys are here early…” The Big Bang’s eldest replied with a snort, “Well, according to JYP and Y Entertainment, they want all of the singers involved with tomorrow’s concert in for press conferences, Valentine preparations and the sound/light effect practice early,” he finished coolly as we all settled around the table to continue eating. Junsu nodded, chewing thoughtfully before swallowing, “That’s right- all of that needs to be down so that there are no avoidable accidents tomorrow.”

Seung-Ri nodded as well, “So, we volunteered to come and get you-get dressed quickly so you can return to your beloved,” he snickered as Junho threw a chopstick like a wooden dart at his head. While the others laughed and ate, my personal phone beeped again- this time it was Elly. I quietly excused myself into the hallway, where I walked to the window and answered. “ Hey Elishaje- talk to me.”

“ Taren, fortunately for you I used to date a guy that worked the ‘terrorist’ division of the NYPD- M stands for the enigmatic leader of what is known as the Chains of Hatred.” My friend, Elly- always coming through for me. I laughed as she said, “Yeah~remind me to tell you that story later; it seems to me that you thought you bit into a cookie, but in reality you took a crumb off a wedding cake.” I suddenly thought of the threatening note, and said, quietly, “Elishaje, my love- let’s switch over to Haglashi, for I want this to get to no one.” “Understood.”

Haglashi is a language that was derived from Indian culture, and some of the Romantic languages. It was such a diverse language, such a mix that there was literally no translation for it on any electronically-oriented device. Everyone in the Sinqlaire family and involved with them on a personal basis spoke it fluently, for it was the most secure way for us to get messages back and forth to each other without compromise.

“Meh seustra, teuh establan de mwah chensi!!(My sister, your environment is very tense!!” I hung onto every word as she continued, “M de eme crewdeh, chendey teratea mundtmulti crewdehs che importne de pon deh mainland. Im tenks dem crewdeh dem  (M and his crew, they habitually threaten different and multicultural crews that have importance to their native countries.)

“Seustra, dounmeh- ehwa meh cyan didou? (Sister, tell me-what must I do?)” I chewed on my thumbnail as she switched gears on me. “Sah, Taren-di~ hab dem deyachen kunroien bo? (Well, Taren dear~ have they been hiding black stuff/secrets from you?) Immediately, my mind went back to the times when I started to doubt their moments and timings: the club where I saw Nick, Taec and Jay whispering, the time slots that didn’t add up, and my mind locked down at the Coke photoshoot. “Kimoi, sahwa teu chen ne, suppon deshta ne,(Well, now that you say it, there have been some times),”  There was a quick intake of breath on the other end of the line, and then Elishaje spoke softly, “Taren, I have to go for now, but please be careful-I will talk to you soon. Love you.” “Love you more-hope to hear from you soon,” I hung up the phone gently, and a voice behind me said, “Who do you love?”

I jumped another good foot- Taec had wandered into the hallway, and from the looks of it, had heard the last part of my conversation. I slid my phone into my pocket as he leaned against the wall, arms folded loosely but he was smiling all the same, “Oh it’s nothing~ just talking to a dear friend of mine,” I said, starting to walk past him, and Taec moved quickly- he came up behind me and tickled me, in all my sweet spots. “Geez, Taecyeon~What are you doing?!” I squealed as he laughed and scooped me up from behind, pressing me to his warm chest as he whispered in my ear, “You’ve been cheating on us? How unfair…”

Chan came around the corner at my yelling, and immediately he moved to intercept, chuckling as Taec playfully brushed him off and carried me into the kitchen, plunking me down at the table, ceasing the conversation. “I have reason to believe that Taren plans on leaving us soon,” Taec announced to the table at large, and all hell broke loose-

-Junho promptly fainted backwards, colliding into a chewing Seung, an off-guard Dae, and a choking Woo-

-Ji inhaled comically on his iced coffee as TOP said calmly, “What?” and Taeyang coughed into the doughnut he was eating-

-Junsu dropped his heavy utensils into his bowl of cereal as Jay missed his own bowl and poured milk on the table-

-and finally, Nick said, “What?!” in such a weird accent that Taec and I burst out laughing. “No no no you guys; I’m not going anywhere for now- Taecyeon is just stirring up drama,” I said, quickly patting Woo and Tae on the backs, since they were in immediate danger of dying. They all sighed in relief before yelling out, “Taecyeon!!! You @#$%er!!” in various languages as said Devil laughed uproariously and dodged the food tossed at him from all directions…

“ So guys, I will meet up with you later- I have to do some things on my own,” I said to everyone as both Big Bang and 2PM members stood in the hallway, dressed and ready to go. Nick immediately came to my side as there were vocal protests from all, excluding TOP, who looked at me in concern. “What? What do you have to do, Taren-unnie? Will you meet us later?” I shook my head at him, with an apologetic smile, “ Sorry my friends-but there are just some things that a woman has to do on her own,” I said, even as Taeyang came to my side. “Even after yesterday you still-“ “I will be fine,” I emphasized, hugging them both. “I will come to your rehearsal in about 2 hours, okay?” After a deeply skeptical look from the others, I finally convinced them to leave. Finally, I have time to investigate some things-  it’s time for me to get the answers I deserve…