"So. Did you meet a lot of Ricas that cost you a lot?"

Woo Bin could hear Jun Pyo uncontrollably sniggering at the other end of the line and he drew his brows together, wondering if he even heard the Shinhwa heir voice his question correctly. The first call he received ever since he stepped off the Song's private plane and this was what he got? It didn't help that he had precious little sleep during his travel - much more the entire duration of his two-week trip - so his thoughts were more than just a little rambled. Justifiably so. "I-what?"

The sniggering stopped. "What?" Now Jun Pyo was sounding affronted. "You didn't get it? Ricas costing you a lot? Because you just came from Costa Rica? Aish, I shouldn't have to explain why it's supposed to be funny!"

-oh. Woo Bin winced. Jun Pyo and his wisecracks were rarely ever funny, though what was funnier was the idea that he thought they always were. One of these days Woo Bin would have to call Jan Di to make her command Jun Pyo to keep his jokes to himself, for the sake of preserving whatever dignity commoners thought Jun Pyo had in abundance.

It was easier for the truth to come from his girlfriend anyway, because when Jan Di said something, Jun Pyo hardly ever took offense. Jan Di's words were law to Jun Pyo. The same couldn't be said about the words from 99.99% of the world's population - including the other members of F4. Besides, didn't Jan Di complain about Jun Pyo's weird sense of humor once or twice before?

Woo Bin sighed. "Sorry, bro. Jet lag." Except he hardly ever experienced that affliction, given his extensive travel portfolio - but Jun Pyo didn't need to be reminded of that fact right now.

Or maybe jet lag wasn't even the right word to use - Woo Bin was just plain tired, but didn't add that in. There were some things that intrigued him, right now. "Yi Jung told you about Costa Rica?"

"Ji Hoo did," Jun Pyo corrected him easily. "Apparently you called him up to tell him, but you didn't bother calling me. How are you going to explain that?"

"Ask your secretary," Woo Bin said, now climbing into one of their cars. He could have asked the driver to bring him his own car to drive, but dismissed the idea easily - he wasn't in the mood. "Apparently you asked her to screen all your calls, didn't you? Did she even tell you I called? Three times?"

"No." A beat. "Did you?"

"What do you think?"

"...aish." Woo Bin could hear the embarrassment seeping into Jun Pyo's tone. "Stupid old crone! I'm going to fire her-"

"Don't," Woo Bin was quick to cut in. "Go Jun Pyo, didn't anyone tell you your people shouldn't be fired for doing what you told them to do?"

"Then why the hell didn't she tell me about you calling?"

"Maybe she didn't know me," he suggested. Woo Bin tapped his driver's shoulder, gestured for him to turn left. "Maybe you never told her how important my role is in your life - that you couldn't live without me. That you loooooove me more than you love Jan Di." Woo Bin made obscenely loud kissing sounds that had Jun Pyo shouting in disgust at the other end of the line. Really, teasing Jun Pyo was just so damned easy to do, sometimes.

"I said stop it! You're disgusting!"

Woo Bin laughed, but followed nonetheless. Changing topics he asked, "You talked to Ji Hoo recently?"

"Not exactly," Jun Pyo replied, calming down now that Woo Bin was finished with annoying him. "He told Jan Di about it, and she mentioned it to me because Ji Hoo was apparently too busy to tell me himself. Can you believe he doesn't have enough time to call and talk to me?"

The frustration in Jun Pyo's voice made Woo Bin smile. "Don't worry. It's not like he has time to talk to everyone except you. I left him with twenty voice messages to force him to call me. Without it, I probably wouldn't have talked with him at all." Not that that conversation in itself was memorable, but Woo Bin had to admit it was good to hear Ji Hoo's voice. It had been a long time since they last talked.

Jun Pyo grunted dismissively in response.

Woo Bin tried again. "Anyway, you could always visit Ji Hoo, you know." Then, as an afterthought: "If your schedule allows it." It was odd. In their youth, it seemed like they had all the time in the world - but now that they were a bit older, and handling real-world responsibilities, time was the one thing they no longer had in abundance.

"Can't," was Jun Pyo's short reply. "I made a promise to Jan Di. If I go to Ji Hoo and she's with him then I can't not see her and I can't break my promise. I just- I can't."

There was frustration and sadness in Jun Pyo's voice that had Woo Bin raising his brows. It were times like this that he didn't envy the Shinhwa heir. But he knew one way of wiping those feelings off his friend, even for just a moment: "Whipped as always, my bro. Sometimes I'm really ashamed to be even associated with you. People might think I'm like you - and then what?"

"Shut up!" Jun Pyo barked. "You talk like that because you've never met a person like Jan Di - and you won't ever because she's already mine."

"Oh," Woo Bin said, "Even I have to admit Jan Di has her... charms." He kept himself from laughing when he heard Jun Pyo fairly snarl at him. Undaunted, he continued, "But seriously, bro, you're extremely lucky she's not my type."

"You've had so many women in your life," Jun Pyo remarked. "Do you even know what your type is?"

Woo Bin was saved from having to reply because at that moment, Jun Pyo told him he had to hang up.

It was fortunate, really, because Woo Bin realized, to his eternal chagrin, that he didn't have a smartass reply - or any kind of reply - to Jun Pyo's remarkably perceptive jest.

Well, that trip to the store was certainly a waste.

Or not, depending on how one looked at it.

"You're looking for Ga Eul?" The shop owner had asked him, blinking owlishly behind his glasses. "Well, of course you are. But she's not here. Ever since she started college... she has less time here." He sighed deeply. "First Jan Di, now Ga Eul. They're all leaving me. I'm now alone. But at least I get to see Ga Eul every now and then-"

Woo Bin nodded, resisted the urge to shuffle his feet. Strange how this was his first instinct, after getting down from the plane. See Ga Eul. Maybe it was because he craved familiar company.

Maybe it was because of something else.

Woo Bin refused to acknowledge that latter thought.

Of course, this was what he got, for arriving unannounced. How could he have forgotten about Ga Eul attending university? Wasn't that his own personal brainchild, anyhow?

He fought disappointment and barely won. "Thank you," Woo Bin said cordially. "I'll come back later, I suppose."

"-wait." The owner then dashed behind the counter, and after a full minute, returned to where Woo Bin stood. In his hand was a take-out bag, which he held out for him to take.

"For me? But I didn't order anything," he said, raising his brows at the man.

"I know," the owner said, nodding and all but shoving the bag at him. "But Ga Eul told me specifically that if you're to drop by the store and she's not around, I should make sure you're not going to leave empty-handed."

She said that? Woo Bin had to chuckle. He was still full, thanks to the five-course meal he'd had on the plane, but he was never one to turn down porridge from this shop. "If that's the case, then you have my thanks." He would simply eat it later.

He began to reach for his wallet when the owner stepped back, shaking his head vehemently. "It's on the house," he said. "Well- it's on Ga Eul, technically. She told me not to take your money - no matter how much you try to pay me."

Now Woo Bin was grinning. Of course she'd let it slip that he was a terrible over-tipper. "What else did she tell you?"

"Lots of things," he said, nodding sagely again, "but not related to you anymore. I'm sorry."

Woo Bin raised his brow, but wisely didn't ask the owner to elaborate.

He walked away from the porridge shop, a strange sense of calm overcoming him. It was odd, he thought, because in Costa Rica he never felt this sort of... peace. This sort of... contentment.

He'd had more than his fair share of all kinds of entertainment during his trip, but even he had to admit that all those late nights didn't give him any sense or iota of happiness.

But this - him holding a bag of cheap porridge that was made for him under Ga Eul's direct instruction - did.

In a strange, twisted sort of way, of course.

Woo Bin shook his head sheepishly.

God. Maybe he was wrong.

Maybe he was jet-lagged out of his own goddamned mind.