"Hey, h-hey, Jae! You never told me...what oppa means!" I slurred, watching Sang and Joonie attempt to make up their own secret handshake. The two boys repeatedly swatted at air, mistakenly passing over each other's hands every time from their tremendously impaired coordination. Min-Soo cackled beside me, carelessly knocking over the bottle of soju he'd been clinging onto all night and laughing even harder until tears sprang into his eyes.

"Oppa, oppa, oppa!" Jae chanted in my ear, leaning on my shoulder for support at the eight-person table we were seated at. These are the most lovable and chaotic idiots I have ever met.

"What does it mean?!" I insisted, gazing intently into his glassy eyes.

"What does...anything mean?" he mumbled, a puzzled look coming over him as he stared back just as attentively.

"Why's Myung always calling Min-Soo 'oppa'?" I clarified with a soft giggle. Sunni choked on his drink after overhearing us from two seats away, shooting a stunned look in Myung's direction.

"Girls say it to mean 'older brother,' but sometimes it's seen as more...flirty," Jae explained at last, stifling a laugh. "Fans call us that a lot, and Myung and Min-Soo have a song they're working on that has 'oppa' in it. They think it's funny 'cause the fans love saying it, but they don't actually go around calling each other that. Some fans think it means 'daddy,' like the kink."

I don't know if I should be amused or horrified, so I'll just go with both. It's horrifically amusing.

Right on cue, Myung raised a fork to his lips and started—poorly—rapping the song Jae had mentioned to a medium rare sliver of steak. Chung-Ae meanwhile glared daggers Jae's way from the seat adjacent to Myung, clearly too sober to handle drunk dinnertime karaoke.

"Congratulations, Miss Sparnak," Mr. Park said suddenly, startling me with his abrupt appearance behind my chair. Beaming a cheerful smile, he handed over a small white envelope with the other half of my paycheck.

"Thank you so much, Sir!" I gasped, tucking the check into my jacket pocket for safekeeping. He left with a satisfied chuckle, and I turned towards Jae.

"Teach me something!" I ordered, making him jump and smash his knee against the underside of the table.

"W-What?!" he groaned, rubbing his knee tenderly.

"How do you say 'hello' in Korean?" I asked.

"Annyeonghaseyo," Sunni answered for Jae, the former rising to his feet to stretch, "or annyeong."

"Annyeonghusheyo...?" I slurred, hiccupping at the end. Grinning, Sunni shook his head.

"Annyeonghaseyo. It's like asking, 'are you at peace?' It's more formal than annyeong, which is just, 'peace.' It also translates to 'hello' or 'hi,'" Jae elaborated, taking another sip of his soju—apparently that stuff is pretty popular with these guys.

"Oh...annyeonghusheyo!" I slurred again, waving goofily at Sunni.

He forced a smile in return, but his eyes were screaming, "someone help this poor lost child." Honestly? It's understandable.

"Tata," Min-Soo mumbled, effectively butchering my name—it's fine, I just found out earlier his fans are called dumplings, and he goes by Min-Soup of all things. "How you...here?" he asked, narrowing his eyes thoughtfully. Are we talking philosophically or...?

After conferring with our trusty translator, Jae explained the question, "he wants to know why you were at the homeless shelter, why you came with us."

Time to give them the play by play.

And boy are drunks easy to entertain! The members sat glued to the edge of their seats, listening intently to every word Jae translated. I couldn't help but giggle when Min-Soo gasped at what Derrick had said to me, Joonie openly voicing his disgust beside him.

Eventually, we all rode back to The Mark together, some of us completely tuckered out by the time we arrived and almost needing to be carried to the elevators. I'm not ashamed to admit I was definitely one those people.

Sunni wrapped an arm around my waist to stabilize me when he noticed how I swayed in the crisp night breeze. He led me inside quietly behind the other idols, and we climbed to the penthouse aboard the packed-out elevator—which was even more fun after Min-Soo drunkenly pushed all of the buttons.

Once we reached the suite, everyone parted ways and bee-lined towards their respective rooms. Humming a tune, Sunni herded me over to my bedroom door calmly, pausing when I stepped inside.

"...you shouldn't listen to him," he murmured softly, watching me kick off my shoes with a strange gleam in his eye.

"Who?" I yawned, yanking my ponytail holder out and shaking my dark, chestnut hair free.

"That judge, he doesn't know anything," he sighed, running a hand through his blonde locks tiredly. "Goodnight," he mumbled and wandered off before I could even get a word out.

"G-Goodnight!" I called after him, a little caught off guard. Since when can he speak English that fluently?! What a little fraud!

Then again, maybe he's a genius for pretending he doesn't know what I'm saying half the time? Poor Jae. His leader is an English-speaking fiend.

Stumbling over to my bed, I flopped down onto the crinkled duvet covers with a heavy sigh and felt the world slip away into a peaceful oblivion.

Between you, me, and the lamp stand, I wish that peace would've lasted a little longer.