Chapter Twenty-Four: Drama Break

While everyone else in the group was crying and be their complicated love lives, on the other side of the spectrum were Minhyuk, Changsub, Sungjae, and Peniel. They were the witnesses of the constant comings and goings of their three other friends and truthfully, they’ve had enough of it.

One day they gathered together for a break from all the drama. In a small café outside the campus, they met up and when they’ve all sat down together, they all heaved a heavy sigh, then burst out laughing at the spontaneity.

“Okay, so I’m sure we all have the same thing on our minds right now,” said Minhyuk, looking at his friends with an amused face.

“Has anything else been on your mind lately? I wish I have,” said Changsub, taking a sip of his coffee. “This is probably the weirdest summer I’ve ever had.”

“I thought we were going to have the best summer vacation ever, because who visits Jeju Island and leaves depressed?” commented Sungjae with an annoyed grimace.

“Not us, that’s for sure,” said Peniel sarcastically.

“It was fun, you know, before everything got complicated,” said Minhyuk. “Say, has anyone heard from Eunkwang? He told me he was going to France for two days, but he hasn’t contacted me yet. He’s supposed to arrive today.”

Sungjae blew the hair from his face. “Eunkwang hyung only talks to you, Minhyuk hyung. Speaking of which, no one’s been talking to anyone recently. Ilhoon told me that Ilsoon has locked herself up in her room since that day.”

“Would it help if we visited her?” Changsub wondered aloud.

“I doubt it,” said Peniel. “If Ilhoon can’t make her get out of that room, what more can we do?”

Sungjae heaved a huge sigh. “If I had my own love life…”

“If I had my own I wish it wouldn’t be this complicated,” interjected Changsub. “This is like a real-live drama and I’d hate to think that the rest of my love life will be so full of emotions.”

Minhyuk scoffed. “Would you rather have no emotions at all?”

“No, but…” Changsub paused, deep in thought.

“I think what he’s trying to say is that he wants something simple, heartfelt, and not too—how do you say this—dramatic?” said Peniel hesitantly, waving his hands around as he tried finding the appropriate word.

“Yeah, kinda like that,” agreed Changsub. “But they make it so complicated that at the moment, I don’t care for having a relationship at all. It seems tiring.”

MInhyuk shrugged. “Well, it’s their life, but I just wish everything would settle down by graduation day, partly because I wish Madeleine would come to see us march.”

The rest of the boys nodded. “That would be nice.”

“And Ilsoon too,” added Peniel.

“Say, Minhyuk hyung, what are your plans after graduation?” asked Sungjae, diverting the topic into something more upbeat.

Minhyuk leaned back on his chair and paused for a second. “I don’t know if I want to go to college, to be honest. I guess it could be beneficial if I went because then there would be more job opportunities if I specialized on something. But I was thinking of going straight into the workforce.”

“What sort of work, hyung?” asked Peniel.

Minhyuk’s cheeks burned slightly and he leaned forward, toward his bandmates. “You’re not gonna laugh if I tell you?” he asked in a low voice. The boys all shook their heads. Minhyuk heaved a sigh, then said, “I want to become an idol.”

His friends blinked, and to his astonishment, they didn’t laugh at him. Instead, they looked like they were totally sold into the idea.

“You’re a good singer, hyung. You can totally do it.”

“You can rap too.”

“And I’ve seen you dance. Hang on: is there anything you can’t do?” demanded Peniel.

Minhyuk laughed. “I can’t do a lot of things, man. I just happen to be able to do things that are in line with becoming an idol. You guys really think it’s something I could do?”

“Yeah, definitely, though you should know how hard competition is in that field,” warned Changsub.

Minhyuk nodded with a smile. “I’m glad you approve. I do know the stakes of it, and I would really prefer it if Eunwkang wanted to become one with me, but he might actually want to go onto college.”

Changsub sighed and nodded. “True, he would probably choose to go to college and finish before he thinks about anything else. But I’m sure he will be all for your dream career.”

Minhyuk grinned, then clamped a hand on his fellow senior’s shoulder. “What ‘bout you, man? Any plans?”

“I want to open up a restaurant,” said Changsub with a distant look on his face, and he said it like he has been thinking about it for a while. “I don’t know if going to college is going to help me in the business part, and culinary schools are very expensive. I might be better off just winging it.”

“Who knows, you might get a scholarship or something,” said Sungjae. “You can join some sort of cooking show and win it. There’s a lot of that out there.”

“True,” said Peniel. “Your dishes always turn out very good. When you open your restaurant, we’ll be the first ones to visit.”

Changsub laughed. “That’s comforting. Make sure to drop by often, alright?” Then he clamped a hand down Peniel’s shoulder. “What about you, bro? When you graduate, I mean.”

Peniel leaned back on his chair before answering. “I don’t know, I don’t want to think about anything related to work yet. I don’t know what I want to do with my life yet, but I do know one thing: I want to travel. I want to see the world and maybe vlog about it.”

“Dude that sounds cool,” said Minhyuk, clapping him on the shoulder. “Maybe I’ll come with you for a few months. I need a break.”

“Me too!” said Sungjae suddenly. “I’ve always wanted to, like, just drop everything and keep walking to wherever my feet take me.”

Changsub chortled. “Good luck walking over the ocean. You won’t even get beyond Busan to even Jeju at that rate—”

At the mention of Jeju, everyone fell silent without meaning to. Then Peniel groaned. “Is our image of that beautiful place ruined for life? We’ve got to do something about this, because I don’t plan on making that trip the last Jeju has seen of me.”

“Agreed,” said Minhyuk. They all fell silent again, lost in their thoughts. Suddenly, the light seemed to brighten in Changsub’s eyes and he knocked on the table to get the attention of the rest of the boys. Peniel narrowed his eyes at him.

“I know that look—you’re thinking,” said Peniel.

Changsub merely looked smug before explaining his plan to the rest of the boys. When he finished, the other boys looked interested and sold into the idea.

“Okay, who does which part of that plan?” asked Minhyuk.

“I’ll do part A with Sungjae, you guys do part B?” said Changsub.

“Game.”

“And remember,” added Changsub. “Not a word to anyone. We want to graduate in peace and quiet. I’ve got enough of this drama.”

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