Dear Diary,

It’s Youngjae. It’s a Monday, and I absolutely dislike Mondays, but today may have been an exception. On a usual day, after our vocal and choreography lessons had ended, we would have been free to do whatever we wanted. The late hours left little time and freedom for us to do much, so we often just returned to the dorm, washed up and slept.

However, today had been slightly different.

It had only been eight in the evening when we were done, and we had quite a bit of time to kill before we decided to return to the dorms to rest. What was even better, was that Jaebum had relayed a message from our manager, informing us that our morning schedule the next day had been cancelled, so we could have a long and peaceful night’s sleep before our radio show in the late afternoon.

Jackson had suggested we go bowling, and Bambam on the other hand wanted to go shopping. After a quick vote from the members (which obviously leaned towards Jackson’s favour), we decided to return back to the dorm for a change of clothes before heading out to the bowling alley in Hongdae. The shopping district held dear memories for all seven of us, and we were more than ecstatic to return.

When we were trainees, we had used to visit the night market in Hongdae district. The food was cheap, and the place was packed with so many people that it never failed to cheer us up after a long day. The festive spirit, be it a regular day or a day for celebration, translated into positive energy that soaked into our veins, and we never failed to leave Hongdae with smiles a little broader and footsteps a little lighter. The stall-owners who learned to recognise us had been kind to us, and we found ourselves enjoying the cold night breeze and hot snacks from street stalls more than we were supposed to. Of course, when dieting became an issue, the kind ladies and their gentle husbands never took offence to our subsidised patronage, and instead offered us healthier choices, such as sweet bread and more generous helpings of vegetables.

Hongdae had another complication that disallowed us from visiting whenever we felt like it. It was a good hour’s ride – by subway – from our agency in Cheongdam-dong. The sheer distance required almost two hours of travelling time back and forth, and most nights we were so tired that we just wanted to clock in at least four hours of sleep before our routinely cycle continued.

We stepped out of the dorm, all washed and freshened from our showers. It was one of the times where Jackson didn’t need to yell at Yugyeom to hurry up, and Jinyoung didn’t snap at Mark for taking too long drying his hair. We all showered quickly, and the excited humming did not go unnoticed. Jaebum even sprayed some cologne on, and Bambam had put on his favourite pair of ripped denim jeans. Essentially, this trip to Hongdae was what we needed. Even a few short hours of healing time, spent by playing around with the members with no worries or schedules on our minds, would do wonders for our worn out bodies and souls.

The announcer on the train signalled our alighting from the carriage, and Yugyeom led the way to Exit 4 with a giant grin on his face. Even Jaebum didn’t have it in himself to tell him to slow down, in case we got noticed by the public. Jaebum was smiling too, his eyes turning into crescents as he let out a throaty laugh. He looked like a bird let out of a cage, and it was beautiful to see him spread his wings.

Mark was the first to pull his muffler from his neck to cover the bottom half of his face, and the rest of the members soon followed suit. Jaebum and I strapped our face masks on, obscuring anyone’s view of the lower half of our faces. Even though I could only see everyone’s eyes, it was enough to tell that they were beyond happy to be taking a break.

We strolled past the street stalls as usual, stopping for Bambam’s favourite soy sauce soondae and Jinyoung’s large serving of mandu along the way. The aroma of the hot foods, sizzling in the giant metal pans with dim streetlights hung over them, wafted through my nostrils and made my stomach growl. I had been holding off the hunger pangs, wanting nothing more than to eat the snack I had been craving for weeks on end.

My footsteps slowed to a stop in front of the stall I had not visited in a while, wondering if the lady running the small still recognised me. She had her back turned to me, as she tended to the sweet potatoes roasting in the metal cooker. After she rotated them counter-clockwise, she put the metal tongs down and returned to her foldable chair. Her eyes flitted to where I had been standing, and widened in recognition. She took quick steps towards me and embraced me in a small hug, and I returned the hug with open arms, my hands easily wrapping themselves around the frail woman.

“Halmeoni.” I greeted her meekly, after she released her grasp on me.

“You bad child! How could you not visit me for weeks?” She scolded me, although her lips had curled up into a wry smile.

I apologetically scratched the back of my neck as I tried to explain, although it only sounded like a pathetic excuse. “Things got kind of busy…”

She was more understanding than I deserved, and did not probe further. Instead, she patted me on the head and r