The weather was brutal as it normally is during winter but beautiful. Everything was blanketed in snow. The wind forcefully blew the snow in various directions causing the formation of eye-catching figures. The snow was an exquisite type of paint and the wind was the paintbrush gracefully creating figures in the sky. Today was one of those days that should be appreciated in doors where its spectators can adore all the beauty the scenery has to offer while not being affected by its conditions.

Unfortunately there were three boys who were sent out to clear up the path for the jeeps that were coming back from the patrol. These three were disturbing the dance of the snow and well the general atmosphere with their shouting and clumsy movements. The boys were trudging through snow that was up to their mid-thighs while trying to keep themselves from falling due to their involuntary shaking due to the cold. Damn, one of the boys thought, I’m gonna die of hypothermia. The boy began to lag behind the other two despite being the tallest which, one could infer, would mean that it would be easier to maneuver in snow for him because of his long limbs.

“Junhong,” the other boy called out, “keep up. We haven’t even reached the road yet.”

“Hurry up dude! I wanna get out of this freaking blizzard as fast as I can,” coaxed the other boy.

The tall boy known as Junhong sped up his pace and eventually caught up to the other two. Huddled together, the three boys made their way to their location and began work. What they hell are they thinking, thought Junhong, how do they expect us to get anything done in this weather? His eyes narrowed mirroring his distaste for the order. Unknowing to him, his body language had reflected his beliefs and emotions to the instructions given to them by their superior. Just like the others, he wanted to get out of the snow as fast as he could and return to the warm embrace of his bed. Unknown to him, his companions planned to make use of this time to ask him what was it like being an idol?

“So what was it like being in an idol group?”

“From what I’ve heard it sounds like . People follow you everywhere and the pay is low.”

“So how was is Junhong?”

An idol… Junhong took a few seconds to gather his thoughts before speaking, “It’s only been…what five months since I’ve entered the army and it already feels like a distant dream.” His eyebrows squeezed together. Glaring at the snow, Junhong bit his lip trying to turn all those memories and emotions into words. “It was fun,” he finally said. All those intimate and light times he had with the members, staff and fans and the only thing he can say was it was fun. That statement sounded lame to even Junhong.

The other boy glared at Junhong. “That’s all you can say,” he said clearly not amused. Junhong knew it was a statement but it came out as a question. “What group were you part of,” inquired the other companion.

“I was from a group called B.A.P which stood for Best Absolute Perfect. We were a six member group that consisted of Bang Yongguk, our leader and rapper, Kim Himchan, our subvocal and visual, Jung Daehyun, our main vocal and fan proclaimed visual, Yoo Youngjae, the brain of our group and lead vocal, Moon Jongup, the main dancer and sub-vocal, and me. But most didn’t know me as Junhong. I went by a stage name, Zelo,” he paused to look at his listeners. The three no longer bothered by the freezing temperature or the relentless snow. “We debuted in 2011. It was hard at first and very nerve wracking. I was the maknae but also the protégée rapper. We debuted with the song “Warrior” which gained us a lot of attention because we were different from all the other boy groups out there. We were heavily influenced by rap and hip-hop. We even had stomping in our choreography. We promoted nonstop that year—“

“That’s not what I asked,” interrupted the other soldier, “I don’t want to know what the group did. I want to know…” he looked thoughtful, “I want to know what it was like. What were your members like? I mean did you ever regret becoming an idol? How did you deal with sasaeng fans? You get what I’m trying to ask? I want to know how you felt and your thoughts.” The boy stopped shoveling. Pointing the tool at Junhong, he said, “we’re not asking for a timeline of events got that.”

“It was the best years of my life,” Junhong’s eyes lost their shine as his face hardened. No. He would not cry in front of them… Yet, he felt the tears threatening to pour. His throat clenched as he averted his focus from the other two to the task at hand – shoveling the road.

It took a couple of hours for the boys to completely remove the expanse of snow from the road. Thankfully the job went on without any conversation. Junhong politely bowed to his comrades as he retreated to his bunker. Thoughts filled his head of s. Yongguk’s gummy smile, Himchan’s mother affection, Daehyun’s nagging for food, and Youngjae’s addiction to Musiq Soulchild. His pace quickened. His face began heating up which provided a contrast with the icy temperature. The tears began to slowly fall. No not in public, he thought as he sped up his pace – practically running. With each step, he felt his heart sink and the memories become more vivid.

Reaching the bunker, Junhong pounded on the door for what felt like ages. It opened revealing a surprised Jongup who without question took Junhong into his arms while closing the door. The elder looked at the sullen boy and felt his pain. He did not know what caused the maknae’s tears but he abhorred it. He wanted to get rid of all the pain and sadness from the younger. Anger began to build up in Jongup but he knew that if he showed it to Junhong the latter would refuse to open up. So with all the tenderness he could muster Jongup asked, “Junhong, what’s wrong” while cradling the other in his arms.

It was a simple, short explanation but one that Jongup understood well. “Hyung, I miss them,” said Junhong in between sobs. Feeling the tears drench his shirt, Jongup caringly rubbed the younger’s back in an attempt to reassure him that everything would be fine. He closed his eyes and rested his head on the younger’s, he let his own emotions take over as his own tears fell, “I know Junhong. So do I.”

Hello everyone :P just want to clarify that I don't own B.A.P (I wish I did though) or know anything about the Korean army or the service that citzens must go through in the army. This story is purely contrived from my imagination :D.