“Mira noona!” a familiar voice called to me from the doorway. I looked up and over my computer on my desk, a smile crossing my face when I saw who it was.

“Hey Seungri,” I called casually, “Come on in,” I looked back down at my laptop, hesitating for a long moment before closing the browser tab. I had probably watched that interview a hundred times already. As much as I had succeeded in avoiding getting to wrapped up in Korean entertainment news, when that interview with VIXX had been released including my own interview footage, I couldn’t help but watch it. That’s not even mentioning my drawer full of disks labeled ‘Jellyfish Hidden Camera Raw Footage’ Mr. Kim had sent me as a sign of appreciation.

Seungri had made his way behind me, resting his bleach blonde head on my shoulder. “Oh Noona,” he sighed sadly, “You were watching it again, weren’t you?”

I reached up to ruffle Seungri’s hair, “Don’t worry about it, Seungri,” I said with a little laugh, “What’s up?” I pressed, desperate for a subject change.

“TOP hyung, Daesung hyung, and I go back to Seoul tomorrow,” he said with a pout, giving me a dramatic smooch on the cheek.

December was in full swing by that point. I had been working with Big Bang in LA for just under a month. GD had made good on his promise, flying out the entire group to come work with me in preparation for their MADE project. They wanted my help on two songs- ‘If You’ which I had written in its entirety on the plane, and ‘Sober’, which was like a spiritual successor to GD’s ‘Crooked’. Having GD and TOP there to work with me made the process incredibly efficient. As I had promised, I worked with TOP on his vocals, but he was a serious and passionate individual, and was a quick study. With the exception of Seungri, they were all older than me, and without exception they all had been in the entertainment industry for longer than I had. I actually learned quite a lot from them. It had been a more equal collaboration than my project with VIXX.

Luckily, the brief time we were together made saying goodbye much easier. I had certainly come to love these guys, too, but I wasn’t part of BigBang as I had become a part of VIXX. Not to mention, I knew GD would fly everyone out at the drop of a hat if I asked. I had also been promised tickets to any US stops on their tour. It made it easier for me to giggle at Seungri, and tell him confidently, “I’ll see you guys soon enough.”

“Well,” he sighed, pushing himself back upright, his hands on my shoulders, “You’ll see Taeyang and GD at Kcon next week, right?”

“At what?” I turned around, looking up at his face, confusion and horror appearing on his sharp features.

He leaned forward again, resting his hands on my shoulders, “Mira noona, do you not know about Kcon?”

“The hell is Kcon?” I asked rather loudly.

“Dear god,” he whispered. “Stay here,” he ordered, pulling away from me to head out the door. He poked his head out into my office hallway, “JIYONG HYUNG! WE HAVE A PROBLEM!”

I slowly turned my chair around again, watching curiously as Seungri turned toward me, his face still panicked. I decided to just roll my eyes and let it play out. He had a flair for drama, that Seungri. I heard GD grumbling before he even got to my office. He pushed past Seungri, scratching his head through his fire engine red hair, “What’s going on?” he directed his question to me rather than his younger companion.

“What’s Kcon?” I asked meekly, assuming that was the issue.

G-Dragon looked at me blankly, his face an uncharacteristic shade of confused. He looked back at Seungri, who still looked horrified, “I told you we have a problem, hyung.”

“Are you serious?” GD finally turned to me, “Nobody told you?”

I shook my head, reaching up to give a tug at my hair, “Just tell me what’s going on,” I whined, still lost by their conversation.

“Kcon,” GD spoke again, stepping toward me, “Korea Convention. It’s an event hosted by MNet where idols and idol groups come to America to perform and meet their western fans.”

I gaped at him slightly. This seemed like something I should have been told about a very very long time ago. “How was I never told about this?”

“I have no idea,” GD stressed, “I didn’t want to say anything because I assumed you knew and were just avoiding it since VIXX is going to be there.”

“VIXX is going to be there?” I practically shouted then, “What the hell,” I mumbled.

Seungri looked at me in pity, “Tickets have been sold out for weeks,” he paused, looking to GD, “Can you get her a pass, hyung?”

G-Dragon shook his head, “No, they don’t let me give away anymore,” he laughed a little, clearly recalling some vagrant antic he managed to pull off before. “But you know someone who can,” he pointed at me.

“I do?” I asked incredulously.

GD pulled out his phone, typing furiously, “Yes, your little baby brother Taemin is hosting this year. He can make it happen,” he showed me his screen, a bright graphic announcement of the event. I didn’t have time to read it all the way through, but Taemin was certainly headlining. “Make sure you yell at him for not telling you, first.”

Immediately I returned to my chair, pulling out my phone. GD took a seat across the desk, smirking slightly as I put the ringing phone on speaker phone. “You know it’s like three in the morning there, right?” Seungri whispered as he hovered behind GD.

“I don’t think she cares, RiRi,” GD didn’t take his eyes off of me, his snarky grin spreading.

“Hello?” a sleepy voice came in over the phone.

“Oh, Taeminnie, were you sleeping?” I crooned softly.

I heard him groan slightly, “Halley?” he asked sleepily, “Yeah, I guess I was.”

“Cool story,” my voice suddenly hardened, “Why the hell did you not tell me about Kcon?”

“What?” he asked, his voice coming in much clearer, “No one told you?”

“That’s what everyone’s saying! Everyone assumed I knew already!”

“But I checked your schedule! You’re supposed to perform in New York that day!” he spoke in a rushed, panicked voice.

“Well maybe I wouldn’t have scheduled it if I knew!” I argued, “And that, I’ll cancel it. GD says you’re hosting. Can you get me in?”

He sputtered for a moment, “Y-yeah, of course. I’ll email you a will-call slip.”

“Taemin,” I interrupted, thinking for a second, “keep it a secret, alright? Don’t use my real name.”

“You got it,” he seemed relieved that my anger had abated, “I’m excited to see you then!”

“Yeah, yeah,” I brushed him off, “Ian knew about it too, right?”

He hesitated, “He’s going to be there.”

“Tell him I’m going to murder him,” I said calmly before hanging up the phone abruptly.

GD’s smirk was delightfully smug, “Guess I’ll be seeing you there.”

I only had a week to prepare. I canceled my performance (it was music festival anyway, my audience would probably be too drunk or high to notice) and refused any appointments. I needed to make this as unnecessarily dramatic as possible. It would be my revenge prank on the VIXX men, and in my head it would make for a fitting reunion. Thankfully, once he had gotten over his initial shock, Taemin was a huge help. We registered for a pass under Charlotte’s name. I would go in disguise, and he would help me enter the fan talent show at the end of the event and give me access backstage as needed. And from there it was up to them.

After some thought, I decided to arrange a mashup of every VIXX song that had been made into a video. It would be quite the project, but considering I had nothing else to do and extreme motivation, I was confident. I confined myself to my own dance studio nearly nonstop. This needed to be amazing. I needed them to want to sing along with me, I needed to impress even them.

The day arrived and I donned my disguise. I wore a baggy hoodie and sweatpants to hide all traces of my body figure. I even made a mask of VIXX’s silly Rovixx robot face to use during my performance or if I was afraid I might be recognized. I made sure to secure my hair properly under the hoodie so there was no trace of that deep red that I had maintained since Korea.

I had one of my drivers drop me off at the conference center, and I was absolutely blown away by the crowd. Pulling on my mask, I stepped out of the car, letting him know I would call if I needed him later. I made my way to the will call window, offering my ‘borrowed’ ID from Charlotte. I was given a little plastic badge on a lanyard to wear inside the event. All that out of the way, I made my way to stand in line. It was actually something I hadn’t really experienced in a long time. Not on this scale anyway. I was surrounded by mostly young girls who were chatting excitedly to each other.

“I like your mask,” a tiny voice was suddenly at my side, and I looked down to see a girl, probably 16 or 17, smiling meekly at me.

I wasn’t exactly sure how to handle this. With a little cough, I raised my voice a touch, slouching a little to hide my height, “Thanks,” I replied simply.

Luckily that was enough for her, and we simply stood together in silence, slowly shuffling forward now and then until the venue was finally in sight. As soon as my badge was scanned and I was allowed through, I was floored by the expanse of this event. Posters and banners for each group hung along the walls, with signs to different activities and scheduled appearances. I took it all in, still amazed by the crowd.

Finally, I got my hands on some sort of itinerary, and was happy to see that VIXX hadn’t performed yet. The talent show was reserved for the very end, so I had the rest of the day to do what I wished. I found the most entertaining event to be the random dance challenge, where a room of fans were instructed to jump up and dance to the song clip if they knew it. There were a few professional dancers there who had learned them beforehand so no one had to dance alone. I was extremely tempted to show the girls up, but I managed to stay in my seat. Hey, I never claimed to be a humble person.

Finally, I made my way down to the main auditorium in time to catch the last bit of GD and Taeyang’s ‘Good Boy’ performance. They had spectacular stage presence, and GD had a certain way about him that got crowds excited for just about anything. I weaseled my way as close to the stage as I could, and waited. After the BigBang boys vacated, it was time for VIXX. As soon as N led the way onto the stage, I nearly choked on my own breath. They all looked so different. It was strange, how something so simple as hair could be such a strong metaphor, but there I was, hair still maroon from ‘Error’, and here comes N with fiery red hair, Hongbin was a strange dirty blonde, Ravi’s hair had thankfully grown out a little bit, and he had dyed it white again. Ken’s was a dark brown, while Hyuk’s was auburn. Leo was last out on the stage, and the sight of him took my breath away. His hair was raven black, and he looked incredibly tired, as if he hadn’t properly slept since the day we parted. Even his participation in their introduction was minimal, not a smile to be seen.

They performed ‘Voodoo Doll,’ ‘Eternity,’ and ‘Error’. I felt a swell of pride momentarily distract me from my heartache as they nailed their performance. ‘Error’ in particular had improved from their months of promotions, the choreography was sharp, and their singing was effortless. It was over all too soon, but the crowd roared as they were bowing. And then they were gone.

It was tempting to pull my Taemin card and head backstage right then and there, but I managed to suppress it, instead pushing my way back through the crowd to get a change of scene. Fan signings were happening all over the place, and I made my way to Taemin’s. The line was huge, and the number of squealing fangirls was a bit overwhelming, but I waited patiently. Finally, it was my turn, and I approached the table.

Taemin looked up at me, doing a double take at my mask. “Hello,” he said hesitantly in English. His hair was black, and maturely styled, way different from his ‘Danger’ days.

I tilted my mask up a little, winking at him once he could see my eyes. “Hey,” I said casually with a little eyebrow raise before replacing the mask.

He grinned, but I could tell he was trying hard not to say anything, “It’s good to see you,” he dropped his voice low in Korean, “Do you need to get backstage already?” he whispered.

“Not yet,” I assured him as I retrieved my now signed badge, “Where’s Ian?”

“You’ll see him at the talent show,” he assured me before looking up at me brightly, “Thank you!” he said in bright English.

With a little chuckle, I bowed, “Thank you Taemin oppa!” I saw his face contort as he did his best to hold his laughter. Deciding I had better get away before anyone noticed, I turned and made my way out of the area. Checking one of the huge clocks, I saw I had just a little time before the talent show. I decided to just make my way to that venue to get situated.

Taemin and I had schemed that I would be presented as a last minute entry that was not eligible for the prizes, but wanted to perform anyway. The last thing I wanted to do was win some great grand prize, taking it away from some young girl hoping for her chance to meet her favorite idol. The room had a raised stage in front of a line of tables with chairs behind each, judging stations if I had to guess. There was a low fence separating the judges from the rest of the crowd, which would be seated in folding metal chairs filling the rest of the room. The room was already filling up, and an announcement came over the speakers for participants to sit near the front. I took the liberty of sitting up front and center, waiting for the event to begin.

The judges’ tables were soon filled by idols, loud screaming coming from behind me every time a group made their entrance. As soon as the show started, I understood. Whatever group or idol the contestant was emulating would sit in the middle to watch closest, while the rest of the idols sat in the other tables to watch and score. There were some legitimately good vocalists in this talent show, and each contestant got enthusiastic cheers and applause from their respective idols.

Finally, Taemin came on stage, “We have just one more entry today,” he began, scanning the rest of the idols, “Unfortunately she was a bit late, so she isn’t eligible for the prizes, but she would like to perform for you anyway.” This garnered some murmurs both from the crowd and the judges, but I had already made my way around the fence, being led on stage by none other than Ian Eastwood.

“Hey bro,” I whispered.

“You’d better kill it up there, Mira,” he whispered back, a little laugh on his voice.

“Who do you think I am?” I responded, but there was no more time, I was up on stage, so he had to let me go.

Taemin gently led me to the center of the stage where there was a stand mic waiting for me. I looked at him and mouthed ‘portable mic?’ He laughed, “Oh our contestant wants a portable microphone, how professional,” he was clearly teasing me, but he removed his own monitor, handing me the headset to put on under my mask while he moved to clip it to the back of my pants.

I fanned my face dramatically, “Oh, Taemin oopa,” I squeaked as the crowd roared in laughter. I saw him bite back his own laughter as he rolled his eyes at me. And just like that, he was scampering away off the stage.

“I guess we don’t have to ask what idols need to go to the middle,” a familiar voice came from offstage. Henry. He was the liaison and translator for the idols. I wanted to greet him, but simply bowed slightly in appreciation. The idols all got up and shuffled, VIXX taking their rightful place in the center. I looked them over. Ravi looked particularly excited. This was only their second entry, the other being just a dance cover. Leo was entirely disinterested, clearly yearning for home. The rest were perfectly pleasant, smiling brightly. “Please introduce yourself,” Henry urged me.

I swallowed hard. I needed to be careful not to reveal myself somehow, so I used the same fake voice I had used before, sticking to English. “My name is Charlotte,” I said hesitantly, “I’m going to sing and dance to a few VIXX songs.”

“A few?” Henry asked, surprised.

“I made a mashup,” I stated confidently, glancing to Taemin, who nodded. I caught G-Dragon’s eye from a table down the line. He gave me a wink, nudging Taeyang, who gave me a sly smile and a little thumbs up.

Henry translated for me, repeating my words to VIXX, who all looked a bit more interested at the proposition. N smiled at me. I had missed that smile. Maybe it was because he was unusually tan compared to his brothers, but his smile was always so bright and welcoming. “It’s nice to meet you,” he said in broken English, bowing his head.

“I would like to request,” I said meekly, looking to Henry, “If any of my VIXX oppas would like to sing along, they can, but I would very much like if Leo oppa would help me on his part in ‘Eternity,’ I would be very grateful.”

Henry hesitantly relayed the information back to VIXX, and I saw Leo’s famous I-just-smelled-something-sour face that I had actually missed somehow. Without any other words, I pointed to Taemin to start the track. I started with ‘Super Hero,’ with Ravi’s horrible English and everything. The dance was relatively simple, but I quite liked singing it. I sang an entire minute of it, the crowd starting to get excited when the chorus came, but as soon as it was over, I transitioned to the dance break of ‘Rock Ur Body,’ and I saw Ravi straighten up. I wondered if he remembered teaching me this dance himself. Right after the dance break was my favorite part, when Ravi summons himself for his rap. I pulled all of my r-rolling skills from 4^th grade Spanish class and roared “RRRRRRRRRRRAVII!” and Ravi actually jumped to his feet, ready to rap with me, but there was silence, and he looked incredibly disappointed. Behind my mask I grinned. He’s going to love this, I thought as I jumped straight into the rap from ‘On and On’. I was right. Ravi let out a huge yell, clapping above his head, shouting the rap along with me. Even Hongbin couldn’t resist doing the silly finger twirl thing along with me. I went through the chorus of that song as well, and I could see Ken start to stir. I cut to the chorus of G.R.8.U, and Ken jumped in immediately, singing on the mic in front of him.  It made my heart soar to sing with him again. I had a slightly awkward transition with the syncopated vocals of ‘Only U’, but dove straight into the second half of ‘Voodoo Doll’. By the chorus, they were all singing along. Except for Taekwoon, of course. Ravi shook his shoulder every now and then to encourage him, but he only narrowed his eyes. Other idols had stood from their chairs, coming to stand around and behind VIXX, all watching me in curious awe. But I needed to get his attention. When it was time for me to sing his solo part, I didn’t hold back. I had intended to sing the chorus and let his sustained note go, but thank goodness for Jaehwan, because he covered the chorus while I belted that note like it was the last one I would ever sing.

That did the trick, Leo was suddenly looking up at me, his face slightly confused, as if he had never seen something like me in his life. And then I was at ‘Eternity’, I threw Ravi another bone by coming in right as his rap. He took the mic from the table, excitedly rapping along with me, and to my surprise and relief, I saw Leo’s hand shoot out, wrestling it from him just in time to belt that beautiful note that had changed my mind about him on day one. The crowd roared as I sang the chorus under him. I let his note hang, the transition into ‘Error’ was soft, but I came in right after Ravi’s rap, into the second chorus. The entirety of VIXX was singing with me now, regardless of whether it was their part or not. The song came to an end, and I crumpled to the floor after ‘unplugging’ myself. The roar of the crowd was overwhelming. I heard some screams as footsteps approached me. I looked up.

Ken’s hand was outstretched to help me to my feet, his grin wider than ever. “Let me help you get that mic off, young lady,” he spoke low and quiet. The mic switched off, he moved to unhook it for me, “You can’t fool me.”

“It’s not you I need to fool, Jaehwan,” I whispered, trying to get my breathing under control.

He craned to look at my face for a brief moment, “You’re lucky the rest of them are too stupid and depressed to notice.”

I wanted to talk more, but it would be strange if he stayed, so he returned to the table, where N was standing, looking at me with teary eyes. He looked around to the other idols who had gathered around- I spotted Girls’ Generation TTS, Mamamoo, and several others I didn’t recognize. “We may not be the most popular,” Hakyeon began to speak, “but I challenge all of you to find a fan as dedicated and talented as this one,” he gestured to me, and the rest of the idols all began to applaud. All I could do was bow.

Taemin came to my rescue, leading me off the stage. Instead of ushering me back into the crowd, he led me to a small hallway. “That was great!” he finally spoke once we were out of sight, “I knew you’d put something together, but wow.”

“Thanks,” I said, a little breathless still. “So what now?” I asked meekly, pulling the mask off in order to get more air. “Ken knows.”

“Well you can’t expect to sing that long and not have someone recognize your voice. I’m sure it’s already all over the internet,” he said with a little laugh.

I reached up to scratch at my scalp, but I didn’t get the chance to speak. Taemin jumped at the sound of footsteps. He held a hand out for me to stay put as he turned the corner. I overheard a familiar voice, “Hey Taemin,” it was Ravi, “Any way you can find that girl? We think she deserves to meet us.”

“I’ll do my best, Ravi. Want me to send her to your green room?” Taemin did a good job keeping his cool

“Yeah, everyone else is in there already getting ready for our little encore thing,” I heard Ravi’s voice fade as he walked away.

Taemin looked at me, raising one eyebrow, “Ready?” he asked.

With a deep breath, I nodded, putting my mask back on, “Ready as I’ll ever be.”

He led me down a pretty standard dimly-lit backstage area. Each door had a sign on it with idols’ names in Korean and English for staff and idols alike to navigate. Finally we found the door labeled ‘VIXX’ and we stopped. Taemin gave me a little kiss on the cheek, “Good luck, Mira,” he murmured before knocking on the door.

Hakyeon opened it a crack, but beamed when he saw me. “Thank you Taemin!” he called back before gesturing for me enter the relatively little prep room.

I was overwhelmed by their stares as soon as the door closed behind me. I sought out Ken with my eyes, who was smiling gently at me from the back. “Hello,” I greeted quietly in English.

“Aw ,” Ravi spoke suddenly, “I totally forgot we needed a translator.”

“Can we get Henry?” Hakyeon spoke in a panic.

It was difficult for me to keep quiet, but I wanted to ride this out just a while longer. Ken looked at me again, his smile twisting into a mischievous smirk. “She wasn’t that good, anyway,” Ken casually spoke up.

“Are you kidding?” Hongbin whirled around to look at his friend, “You sang along, too!”

“I was being nice,” he teased, “She only wanted her Leo oppa to sing with her,” Ken’s eyes moved to Leo, who was sitting quietly in the corner. However, at Ken’s teasing, his eyes narrowed. “I can’t believe you actually sang with her,” Ken was clearly trying to provoke Leo, and I was doing my best not to laugh.

“Jaehwan!” mommy-N began to emerge, “You’re being so rude!”

“She can’t understand a word we’re saying!” Ken argued, but he couldn’t speak anymore. Leo had finally snapped, getting up from his seat and moving to pin Ken against the couch he was on.

Ken was laughing maniacally under Leo while Hyuk and N tried desperately to get him off. It was all too much for me, and tears welled up in my eyes. I was getting so emotional over something like this, it was stupid, but I finally let out a loud sob, hunching over. They all fell silent, looking at me in confusion. I finally reached to take off my mask. I threw it on the counter beside me, pulling my hood back as I wept, “ I missed you guys,” I finally sputtered in Korean.

I was met with silence. When I finally had the courage to look up through my teary eyelashes, I saw Ken’s grin was the only smile in the room. My heart began to sink. Maybe this had been a bad idea. I took a hesitant step back.

All at once I was wrapped up in strong arms, nearly crushed under the force of the hug, “Halley,” I felt Ravi’s low voice in my chest. I reached up and clung to him, letting my tears fall freely. “Halley,” he repeated, his voice choked.

“Oi,” Ken spoke from nearby, “Don’t hog her, Wonsik,” he spoke gently, pulling me away from Ravi, but I looked up into his face to find that he was smiling through his own tears.

I was pulled into Ken’s arm, but I heard Hyuk speak up suddenly, “Jaehwan, you knew, didn’t you?”

“Of course I did,” he said smugly as he rocked me gently in his arms, rubbing my back to ease my cries. “I can’t believe the rest of you didn’t recognize our Mira’s singing voice.”

I got passed around in this way as we all came to terms to our reunion. “I can’t believe you’re here,” Hongbin was murmuring when it was his turn.

“Me neither,” I admitted, holding onto him as if he would disappear if I let go. Finally, there was just one left. Leo hadn’t moved a muscle since I had removed my mask. He had simply trailed me with his eyes, his face in a strange superposition of shock and disbelief.

The room fell quiet when Hongbin let me go. They all looked at me for some sort of guidance, but I had no idea what to do. Suddenly Leo stood, his eyes on me. “We’ll just,” N spoke up awkwardly, “go walk around.”  Leo took two step towards me, and I was suddenly pulled off my feet into his arms. Without even a moment to think, his lips were on mine. “YEP,” N suddenly squealed, “We’re leaving!” I heard the rest of the boys whistle and cheer as N shoved them out of the room, the door closing loudly behind them.

I was finally able to relax in Leo’s arms, my toes just touching the cool concrete floor as I tried my best to hold myself up with my arms around his neck as he kissed me. He kissed me as if I were the only thing in this world that could sustain him. Frustrated, he picked me up, setting me on the counter, “Taekwoon,” I started with a laugh, but he didn’t let me continue. His large hands grabbed my hoodie, pulling me back to him. Seated on the counter, I was slightly above his eye level, and it was honestly a nice change of pace when our lips met again. I reached to hold his face in my hands as I was finally able to return his kiss properly. Breaking away to breathe, I smiled, “Leo.”

“Would you shut up already?” he spoke low and angry he looked up at me, eyes shining in the reflection of the mirror lights.

My smile widened slightly. He was right, words could come later. I leaned down to him this time, snaking my arms around his neck as his went around my waist, pulling me closer. He didn’t need to fight me to deepen the kiss, but he sure as hell fought anyway. Taekwoon kissed exactly like his personality suggested- aggressive and stubborn, and then surprisingly gentle and kind. He hugged me tighter to his body as he deepened the kiss again, only to back off moments later. We stayed like that for a long time, taking short breaths between short, feathery kisses. I wasn’t sure what I was expecting, but I certainly wasn’t expecting to feel the incredible wave of relief the washed through me, as if being with him was the answer to all of my problems.

There was a cough from the doorway, and Leo and I both snapped our heads to look. I saw GD and Taeyang’s faces in the open doorway. “I guess if fans ask,” GD spoke nonchalantly, “We can tell them ‘If You’ has a happy ending after all,” he threw me his usual wink and smile before slipping away.

I suddenly realized I was practically straddling Leo’s torso as he held me against him. But I had no room for embarrassment in my emotion bank at that moment. Leo looked up at me curiously. I simply laughed, “You’ll figure it out in June,” I said simply before leaning down to give him another kiss.

This time it was him who broke it, “Mira,” he spoke, his voice husky and low and breathless and so incredibly attractive, I had to fight the urge to interrupt him with another kiss. I guess this is how he felt a few minutes ago. But I let him continue, “What do we do now?”

I let out a long, slow breath. His question was something I had been thinking about since I had stepped onto that plane. There had to be a solution. “What can we do?” I spoke softly, my eyes flicking between his deep, dark ones.

“Come home with us,” he practically begged, his voice slightly strangled.

My face fell, and I let my forehead droop to rest on his head, my hair falling in curtains on either side of our faces, “I can’t.”

“Why not?” he challenged, the fire returning to his eyes, “You made so many connections in Seoul,” he paused, looking away from me for a moment. When he looked at me again, it was as if he had made a decision, “Which do you like more, performing or producing?”

The question caught me off guard. Of all the things for him to ask. “Producing,” I answered confidently, but I still didn’t know what he was getting at.

“You can still produce American music from Soul, can’t you?” he reasoned, and I dared to entertain the idea. He pressed, “You can perform whenever you want to still, and you can collaborate whenever you want to.” Reaching up, he gently took my chin between his fingers, forcing me to look him in the eyes, “Do it in Korea. With me.” he whispered. "Be with me," his last statement was barely a breath, yet full of desperate intensity as his eyes left mine, glancing down instead to my mouth. And then there it was, that damn lip bite of his.

I sighed as I leaned forward, taking that lip as my own. He smiled into the short kiss, and it remained when I pulled away, “Okay,” I managed to choke, “let’s give it a try.”

He grinned, his eyes squinting into near oblivion as he leaned forward, pulling me into a hug, his head resting on my chest. “I love you, Halley,” he whispered.

My eyes, already misty from emotions, squeezed shut, forcing a few tears to fall. But this time they weren’t tears of despair. I held him tightly to me, “I love you, too, Taekwoon.”

Finally, we had to part. Leo led me to his seat, insisting I sit next to him, his arm slung over me, an air of protectiveness about him that I hadn’t felt in a long time. I saw Hyuk’s face peek around the doorway, clearly checking up on us, “You can come in now, Hyukkie,” I called to him, watching his face break into a grin as he slipped into the room, closely followed by the rest. They all grinned at Leo and I, knowing but happy looks on their faces.

“So?” Ravi asked ambiguously, raising his eyebrows at us as he leaned back against the wall.

Taekwoon looked at me for a brief moment before looking up confidently at his friend, “She’s coming home.”

A/N: Thank you so much to all my readers, subscribers, and commentors. I would not have had the motivation to finish this story without your feedback and continued support. Please let me know how you felt about this story. Comments and upvotes are still greatly appreciated, and I hope that you all are satisfied with how this story ended. Until next time!