That night, I was in my apartment in bed.  Trying to thoroughly grasp what had happened in such a short time.  I was a mess.  A failure and a waste.  I fell in love.  I tried to destroy it.  He persisted.  He changed me.  Normally, I hate the girls in movies and in books that let boys shape who they are, but this was a good change.  The way I was going, I would have been dead either by my own doing or by my sickness by the time I was 25, if not sooner.  I changed him a little, too though, I realized.  Not that there was anything remotely wrong with the way he was, but I feel like maybe I helped him get in touch with his inner confidence.

            My phone buzzed.  TaeIlcalling…

            “I was just thinking of you,” I murmured into the phone as I answered it.

            “How strange, I was just thinking of you, too,” he laughed.  “How are you feeling?  Are you alright?  You didn’t have a rough day, did you?”

            “No, I’m fine.  Please don’t worry so much about me.”

            “I can’t help it, baby, you’re my favorite thing to think about.”

            What an answer, I thought, smiling automatically.  “So smooth,” I sighed dramatically.  “Where are you?  It’s late.  You should be in bed.”

            “It’s not that late!  And I’m not in bed,” he answered.

            I groaned.  “You’re practicing, aren’t you?  You just couldn’t stay away even though you technically had almost another two weeks of your hiatus.”

            “Well, you’re alright and we came back early, so why not get back into the routine of things.”

            “You just love it so much you can’t stay away,” I kidded.  “You’re a true artist by nature.  Besides, Zico got you all excited with the new songs he’s writing, didn’t he?”

            “You know me quite well,” he replied.  “But I’m not practicing.  Guess where I am.”

            I shrugged even though he couldn’t see me.  I stared up at the snowflakes still hanging from my ceiling.  “I don’t know.  Where are you?”

            I could practically hear him pout.  “That’s no fun.  I’ll give you a hint, ok?”

            “Alright.”

            “Ready?”

            “Yes.”

            “Ok.”  Then he went silent.  The next sound was a loud knock at my door.  Confused, I sat up in bed and stared at the door.

           “Tae Il?  Where are you?” I asked, swinging my legs over the side of the bed and heading for the door.

            “Can’t you guess?” he quipped.  I threw open the door to see him standing there in a hoodie and jeans with a hat pulled down low.  His cell phone to his ear.  A wide grin on his face.

            “You’re here!” I chirped, pocketing my phone and throwing my arms around him.

            “You cheated,” he argued, hugging me so hard, he lifted me off the floor.

            I swatted at his arm when he put me down.  “What are you doing here?”

            “I was threatened by my band mates that if I didn’t go get you and bring you to them, they would come to you,” he explained.  His brows furrowed.  “I do not want that.”

            “Oh, good, I’m excited to see them!” I confessed, grabbing his hand and pulling him into my apartment for my shoes.  I slipped on my sneakers, one handed, and then looked to him.  “What?  Why are you looking at me like that?”

            “Why are you excited to see my band mates?” he demanded.

            I straightened and smirked at him, closing the distance between us by pressing my body up against his.  My hands slipped under his hoodie and tee shirt to slide my fingers up and down his chest.  I pushed up onto my toes and kissed his chin.  “They’re my friends…”  Friends.  That sounded nice.  I liked saying that.  I kissed the corner of his mouth.  “Of course I’d want to see them.”  I kissed the other corner of his mouth.  “I haven’t seen them in so long and they’ve always been so good to me.”  I hooked my fingers into the waistband of his jeans and kissed his cheek.  “They were willing to give me their blood, the least I could do is, what, buy them some food?  You guys are always hungry, right?”  I kissed his other cheek.  When I pulled away, he was blushing.  “There’s the old Tae Il,” I whispered.  He frowned and puckered out his lips.  I leaned in for a quick kiss, when he caught the back of my head and backed me into the wall of the hallway.  When he pulled away, he wasn’t blushing anymore.  “And there’s the new Tae Il,” I laughed, breathless.

            He chuckled and cupped my cheek.  “They may not let you buy them food.  You insisted on bringing them presents from Tokyo.”

            “I can be very persuasive when I try,” I snipped.  His face fell.

            “You better not be.”

            “You know that’s not what I meant,” I laughed, pushing him back a little.

            We headed over to the Block b dorm, deciding to ask the guys what kind of food they wanted before buying it. 

            Tae Il threw open the door.  Zico, Yu Kwon, and Ji Hoon were watching TV.  Jae Hyo was lying on the floor near the couch, typing on his phone.  Kyung and Min Hyuck were in the kitchen.

            Yu Kwon was the first to notice me with Tae Il.  “Noona!”  And all at once, six guys were crowding around me.

            Min Hyuck was nearest to me.  I threw my arms around his neck first.  “I missed you guys,” I said as I moved from member to member to hug them gratefully.

            “She’s touching me,” Ji Hoon choked when I got to him.  Out of the corner of my eye, I could see his arms straight out at his sides.  “Hyung, Hyung, your girlfriend is touching me.”

            “I see that,” Tae Il said from his spot off to the side.  “It’s alright.”

            Ji Hoon patted my back awkwardly and I pinched his side as I moved to the last one.  Jae Hyo.

            He narrowed his eyes and smirked, pulling me in for a hug first.  He began my hair.  “Tae Il hyung, we missed seeing Noona,” he said in a leering tone.

            “And that’s enough of that,” Tae Il stated.  I giggled when he reached out and pulled me away by my arm.  He hugged me against his chest.  “Mine,” he muttered.

            His dongsaengs stifled their laughter.  I pinched his cheeks.  “Don’t you guys like the new Tae Il?”

            “You are good for him, Noona,” Yu Kwon said with a nod.  “I can’t remember the last time I heard him stutter,” he pointed out teasingly.

            “Maybe he’ll get some swag going now,” Zico added.

            The others jut in with their own good natured teasing comments for their eldest member.  Tae Il looked to me, pleadingly.  I bit my lip to keep from laughing out loud.

            “Ok, that’s enough, guys.  Be nice to my Tae Il,” I cooed in a soothing tone.  His cheeks reddened ever so slightly.  “Oh!  He’s blushing, but he hasn’t stuttered in a while.  That’s still a good sign.”

            The guys began laughing again when Tae Il sulked a little.  I grabbed him by the face and kissed him causing the rest of the group to groan and tease us.  When I pulled away, his cheeks were a very light pink.  He dropped a light kiss to my nose and then smirked at his friends.

            “You were saying?” he asked, cockily.

            I cleared my throat.  “Let’s talk about how I’m going to buy you guys food.”

            “Really, Noona?  Why?” Kyung asked.

            I shrugged.  “Because you guys are Tae Il’s band mates.  You guys took care of me, so let me do something nice for you.”

            “We like you, Noona,” Min Hyuck shrugged.  “You don’t have to do anything for us.”  Zico elbowed him in the ribs.

            “Shh!  Hyung, we practiced all day.  I’m hungry,” he muttered.

            I giggled.  “It’s alright, Min Hyuck.  I want to.  We’re friends, right?”

            They began talking over each other about what they wanted to eat.  Even Tae Il was laughing, listening to them and putting in his own suggestions.  I stepped back just a little.  This.  This was what life is about, isn’t it?  Laughter.  Teasing.  Friends.  Love.  And food if your friends are seven young men.  All of it.  This very moment. 

            Of feeling truly, completely, and utterly…just…happy.

            “Are you ok?” Tae Il whispered, having appeared right next to me again.  I kept my eyes on the six guys who were now arguing the pros and cons of pizza and Chinese food.  Zico being completely against Chinese began rapping lines from one of his underground raps about not wanting to order Chinese food.  Ji Hoon had begun adlibbing.  Min Hyuck had had enough and now held the youngest member in a head lock before Kyung took over in his place.

            I nodded with a smile.  With a lighthearted nudge, I replied, “Never better.”