Sixty-Eight

It was past 07:00 pm and all of S.T.A.Y was at the dinner table discussing our break plans in detail over food. That was when I mentioned that Changmin and I would be going somewhere together. I had told them before that Changmin and I might plan something but this time, I gave them the full scoop.

"I thought you were going home." Jaehyeon said in utter surprise. It was news to the others as well but the intensity of it was probably a bit more for Jaehyeon because he knew the whole truth.

"That's really nice though." Mingyu said and continued eating the Ttoekbbokki that Hanseol had bought for us on his way back from the agency. "You got really lucky with the coinciding breaks."

Tell me about it! "Yes." There's no telling when we will be able to get such a perfect chance again.

"Where are you going though?" Hanseol enquired.

"It's in the Bukhansan National Park area. It's on the outskirts of it- Moon Jisung-ssi's private property. It's a little villa."

"Not too far from here then."

"No. And Changmin Hyung said that he would rent a car so we'll drive there on our own. Well, he'll drive. I'm still not too confident." I said sheepishly. "I haven't driven in a really long time."

"So, you'll come straight to Jaehyeon Hyung's place from there?" Yeojun asked.

"Yes. That's the plan. Changmin Hyung will drop me and then go home."

"He's from Cheongsong area, right? It should be convenient for him then." Hanseol nodded.

"Changmin Sunbae's dropping you, is it?" Jaehyeon turned his attention back to his food. He then added very casually. "Ask him to stay over too."

"Huh?" Was he being serious? Why would Jaehyeon say that? Not only was it going to work against the privacy that Changmin and I wanted, the stopover at Jaehyeon's place was purely meant for S.T.A.Y.

Although the idea of having Changmin stay the night was… slowly starting to grow on me the more that I thought about it…

"You're all staying over a night anyway. One more person won't really make a difference. We have enough space to house everyone." He shrugged. "He can stay."

That's… "I'll ask him but…" It actuallt didn't seem like something that Changmin himself might agree to easily since everyone is going to be there. Personally, I would much rather he not stay over. I didn't want to take it too far. With everyone else around too… And the fact that he was dropping me was already a lot to ask for. While an extra night did seem tempting, I did not want to act all love-crazed and immature- especially so since Jaehyeon knew. "What about the rest of you? Decided anything yet?"

"Well, I'm leaving immediately after the party on Saturday. My family's going to be there. I'll just go home with them." Mingyu replied. "And then a few days at home, a visit to my grandparents' and then back home again. Nothing else. I'm simply going to sleep and chill these two weeks."

"Don't gain weight." Hanseol said at which Mingyu frowned.

"I'll be careful."

"I'm just going to be home throughout." Yeojun shrugged. "I'll leave Sunday morning. Train."

"You're flying to Daegu, aren't you? When's your flight?" Hanseol asked Jaehyeon.

"Afternoon." He replied. "Looks like I'll be the last one to leave."

"Even I am leaving in the morning." Hanseol nodded. "Too bad that none of us live in the same area."

"Yeah. I'd rather not travel alone." Yeojun said meekly. "My brother had said that he would try to come a day before so that we could go back together but I don't know if he can actually make it. Besides, I don't need an escort."

"It's always better to have someone with you. A good disguise and a mask can do only so much." Hanseol said, knowing as well as the rest of us did about his aversion to traveling alone. "Let your brother come if he is able to. You're going by train too."

He looked at Hanseol in contemplation and then nodded. "Okay."

"What time do you have to go though?" I asked.

"By 10:00 am, if I remember correctly."

"I'll be leaving around the same time. We can drop you off at the railway station. Changmin Hyung is bringing the car anyway."

"Is that really okay? I don't want you all to take any detours."

"You don't need to worry about all that. We'll drop you." I said reassuringly. "Just pack up and come."

"Then… I'll take you up on that offer." He smiled gratefully. "Thanks, Hyung."

"Of course. Don't mention it." If I could have, I would have dropped you all the way home too. It was moments like these that made our Maknae seem precious.

A lot of talk happened about the break even after that. Everyone was looking forward to going home for their own reasons- even Mingyu who was the kind that preferred to stay away from his hometown and his family. Despite what the circumstances may be, they're still his blood. He did miss them at times.

Given all that, this was the first time in over two years that we were going to be at different places for a while. While we did joke around about being fed up of each other and how we all needed to see different faces once in a while too, we knew that we were going to end up missing each other and waiting to get back here, to each other, to our work and to our fans. We had been hard-wired that way already. We seldom knew what to do with ourselves without all that. Nevertheless, as much as our families needed to see us, we needed the break from all this hustle as well- to remind ourselves about what our everyday really meant to us and what we were here to do. We needed to take a step back, refresh ourselves and come back hungry. Thinking about that and everything that was waiting for us ahead of that, I found myself looking forward to getting back already.