“No, you idiot.” Seo Joon rolled his eyes. “Of course not.”
Dae Hyun frowned. “I’m not an idiot.”
Woo Jin caught Min Jae’s attention as Seo Joon and Dae Hyun continued their pointless squabble. “What are you doing for the break?”
“Spending it at home with my grandmother.” Min Jae smiled. “It’s just us, so I’m sure she’ll be excited to see me.”
The surprising warmth in Woo Jin’s smile almost made Min Jae frown. “Awe. That’s really sweet. If I know you at all, you probably take great care of her.”
Min Jae nodded and flipped his suitcase lid closed. Unlike Seo Joon, he didn’t have nearly as much to pack. He did take great care of his grandmother, going so far as to do things his roommates would consider unspeakable. Things that had gotten him to where he was. “I definitely do. What about you?”
“We’ll mostly be with my dad’s parents, like for the charye and seongmyo. But we’ll spend a little time with my mom’s, too.My mom’s parents don’t really like my dad. And they each try to outdo each other with food. I’m gonna get so fat.”
“You’re already fat,” Dae Hyun countered as he dragged his suitcase off the bed. “Well, I’m out of here. See you fuckers in a few days.”
Min Jae, Woo Jin, and Seo Joon all showed him their middle fingers in unison, making them all chuckle. Seo Joon was next to depart, politely bowing to each of them before leaving. Min Jae waited for Woo Jin to finish packing before walking out with him.
“Hey,” Woo Jin said, “Do you need a ride? My parents are picking me up. I’m sure we could drop you off at home.”
Min Jae smiled, inwardly terrified of Woo Jin seeing his home. “That’s nice of you, but I’ve got it covered.” He’d take the train, of course, avoiding both Woo Jin seeing his house and a likely uncomfortable car ride with his parents. “But, thanks.”
Woo Jin smiled back. “Of course.”
The pair stopped behind the mass of contestants waiting to pick up their phones, keys, and other personal effects the producers had taken from them. Min Jae was anxious to contact his grandmother and remind her of his visit. Not that she’d forget, but you never knew. That had been one of the hardest parts of leaving for the contest. He had to assume that she was fine, that the care service had been doing their jobs, that nothing terrible had happened.
A familiar, full-throated laugh caught Min Jae’s attention. Leo. Which meant Andy must also be nearby. Min Jae strained to listen in without turning around.
“–so my folks flew in to meet me here,” Leo was saying in English. “You’re totally welcome to join us. You could share my hotel room with me. I’m sure they’d love to meet you.”
“Wow,” Andy replied, "that's awesome they came all the way here to see you. Honestly? I’m kinda looking forward to a little me time. You know?”
Leo huffed. “I hear that, man. My parents’ll prolly be pissed, but I plan to spend at least one whole day sleeping. It’s why I got my own room.”
“Good call. It’ll probably be the same for me, since there’ll hardly be anyone here. And my family doesn’t really do all the Chuseok stuff anyway. Too American.”
Leo chuckled. “Same, but only cuz it's the Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival for us. I’m gonna eat so many mooncakes this weekend. I’ll probably gain five pounds.”
Min Jae almost laughed at Leo echoing Woo Jin’s joke. He glanced at Woo Jin, who’d stood up on his toes to check the line progress instead of eavesdropping.
“Oh, yeah.” Andy huffed. “I keep forgetting you’re Chinese. Your Korean’s so good.”
“Just covering all my bases. Gonna be an idol somehow, right?” Leo and Andy both laughed. “At this point it’s prolly better than my Mandarin. I’m so out of practice.” Leo snorted. “You’re lucky you only had to learn Korean. It’s so much easier to pick up.”
“I thought about learning Mandarin, too, or maybe Japanese, but my only other language right now is Spanish. Hola, me llamo Andy. Soy coreano de California.”
Leo snorted. “If this doesn’t work out, you could always be a mariachi.”
Min Jae couldn’t remember what mariachi meant, but it made Andy laugh. He tuned out from the rest of their conversation, finally approaching the table at the front of the group, and letting what he’d just learned about Andy drum around his mind a bit. Andy was planning on spending the holiday alone. Or, alone except for the show staff that had also chosen–or were forced–to stay behind. Not much of a celebration. Then again, Andy admitted that his family was “too American” to observe holidays like Chuseok.
What if–no. Min Jae slapped down the thought before he’deven finished having it. The last thing in the world he needed was to strain his already complicated relationship with Andy even further by inviting him to spend the weekend with him and his grandmother. His grandmother who, as recently as the night before Min Jae left for the show, had complained about never meeting any of his friends. Except Andy wasn’t really a friend. He was a colleague who Min Jae was friendly with, and then only recently. A friendly colleague who had the disturbing habit of haunting him at the least convenient times. A colleague who Dream Makers, at that very moment, had shipped him with.
Min Jae’s mind ground to an immediate halt. Was he crazy? Was he really considering asking Andy to come home with him? Especially after hearing him turn down almost the exact same offer from Leo, who Andy was actually friends with. But, maybe–
“Kwon Min Jae?”
Min Jae shook off his mental paralysis. “Yes.” He grabbed the packet containing his keys, wallet, and phone from the PA seated at the desk, offering a slight bow. “Thank you.”
Min Jae stepped away, opening the packet to grab his phone and turn it on. A flood of messages appeared on the screen. Mostly from his grandmother, who’d probably forgotten that he didn’t have his phone with him. None from any clients, thankfully. He grabbed his wallet and keys, stuffing them into his pocket, before–
