“2PM’S ACTIVITIES CANCELED!”

“2PM’S JAEBEOM APOLOGIZES!”

“AFTER MYSPACE CONTROVERSY, JAEBEOM QUITS 2PM!”

My eyes scanned the internet pages quickly.

I had received a long distance call from Horvejkul Nichkhun, a good friend of mine, also known as 2PM’s Wink Machine, not even five minutes ago while I was in class, and had up and left class to take the call, it was probably an unsightly hour of the day over in Korea, but Nichkhun never failed to drop me an update often.

Nichkhun always called to give me an update on how things were in Korea. Things usually consisted of good news, and funny stories.

But not this time.

Nichkhun had called in a frenzy to tell me bad news. News that concerned Jay Park, or rather Park Jaebeom, the leader of uprising Korean Boy Band, 2PM. Upon receiving the news, I had been told to check online for basically what people were saying, but before I could ask more, Nichkhun said he had to go, and hung up.

I stared at my computer screen blankly, not exactly processing the information, as I opened up multiple tabs of the scandal.

I looked at the apology that Jay had written:

“Hello everyone, I’m 2PM’s Park Jaebeom. I would like to apologize for the words I typed on Myspace a few years ago. Sorry. I would like to explain my feelings then and apologize for them.

"I returned to Korea in Jan. 2005 when I was a high school student. Being born and bred in America, I had hardly any understanding of Korea, and when I first came to Korea, I couldn’t speak the language, couldn’t adapt to the food, and didn’t know and didn’t understand Korean culture.

"My family was all in America and when I came to Korea it seemed like everyone was being cold to me. I had no idea when I would debut and I was really lonely. It was a really difficult and lonely period for me due to various reasons. I missed home, felt like giving up and wanted to go back to my family in America.

"I posted such things because I really hated how I was living then and got really worked up. I was really young then and didn’t express myself well. I was young, didn’t have enough sense and because it was a difficult period, and I made these mistakes due to the situations I was facing at that point in time.

"And as time passed I forgot that I had ever posted such things. Looking back, I’m really sorry and embarrassed for writing such things. I have since adapted to Korea and completely changed my mind set. I’m thankful for all everything I went through so that I could perform on stage. I posted those words 4 years ago and I have completely changed since then."

By now, my eyes had scanned over these six short paragraphs about a hundred times. Still, I couldn’t seem to my mind around the words… They were just a blur to me.

What caught my eye the most though, was the third headline that I had clicked on: ““AFTER MYSPACE CONTROVERSY, JAEBEOM QUITS 2PM!”

Jay had quit.

He had quit 2PM.

I snatched up my phone and mindlessly dialed a number, disregarding what time it might be over in Korea, and how much my phone bill would probably be this month.

Ring. Ring. Ring.

The caller picked up after the third ring.

“~~~~~?” the person asked. “I can’t really talk right now…” He continued, probably about to hang up again.

“Nichkhun! Oppa! Where’s Jay-oppa?” The words rushed out of my mouth before he could hang up on me again.

“He’s…. On his way back home… To America,” Nichkhun hesitated, as if he didn’t quite believe it himself.

“What?” I asked, not sure I had heard correctly.

“He’s on a plane heading back to Washington right now,” Nichkhun stated.

“What time is his plane due back here?” I asked.

“12:40 P.M., I think… Not sure, though,”

I glanced at the clock: 12:00 P.M. “Thanks, Nichkhun-oppa. I’m going to ditch the rest of school and head to the airport now. Hopefully, I’ll make it in time. Bye.” I said, about to hang up.

“~~~~~!!!” I heard Nichkhun’s voice ring through the phone.

I lifted the phone back up to my ear. “Yes?”
“Take care of Jaebeom for us, w