Leila nodded, "Yes, I'm going to be roomed with one other Z-Tune dancer."
Leila laughed, before adding "He offered to let me find my own place but I said no.”
G.K. felt the smile that had been glued on his face for the past day and a half slip slightly. He sat up straighter, "Honey, why didn't you say yes?" He pouted.
Kibum rolled his eyes, "G.K. why would she want to pay for a place when she could live somewhere much nicer for free?”
They began to bicker amongst themselves and Leila couldn’t hold back her laughter.
They really are too much,
she thought.
G.K. grabbed her hand which drew her attention from his arguing group mates.
He looked at her intensely before asking for what had to be the hundredth time since she had agreed to come to Seoul, "You're sure about this right?"
Leila decided to tease him and say, “Well it'd be kinda late to change my mind now, since I already signed my contract."
A worried expression immediately settled itself across his handsome features.
Leila scooted closer to him, aligning their thighs, as she entwined their fingers." I'm sure."
G.K. knew he probably shouldn't keep asking, keeping bugging her about it, but he couldn't help himself. He couldn’t stop worrying that at any moment she would change her mind, and resent him for making her come. However; every time he asked, her answer would remain the same. She was sure she wanted to go.
G.K. looked over to where his group was still fighting over who was over their house more, and rolled his eyes.
"We better take Leila back home; she has to do more packing. And I'm sure she wants to see Marcia and her sister, not spend her last day here with you." He announced, drawing his group's attention.
"Unfortunately you'll be seeing them every day from now on." He mumbled to her, succeeding in making her laugh.
***
All five guys wanted to come along to take Leila home, much to G.K.'s chagrin.
"Can I ever get rid of these people?" He grumbled to himself, as he chose a seat in the van next to Leila.
Kwan heard his complaint and answered him earnestly, "I wouldn't count on it.”
Later when they pulled up to Leila's loft building, G.K. got out of the van, and she followed him. As she expected the others all piled out of the vehicle to come inside as well.
G.K. looked them in agitation. "Where are you going?"
"Where does it look like? We're coming upstairs." Kibum answered, leading others as he moved past G.K. toward the building's door.
Leila inched closer to him, hugging him around the waist. "Why are you so upset? You should have guessed they would do this."
G.K. shook his head, "But guessing they would, is different from them actually doing it. Now that they're here, they won't want to leave soon. They'll want to stay, eat all of your food, and drive you crazy."
Leila laughed, "There's no way I'd rather spend my last day."
G.K. smiled, placing a kiss on her lips, before they moved hand in hand into her building.
Chapter 22
The guys left much later, as predicted, after stuffing themselves with food and then watching a few movies with the girls. Luckily for them all, they were ones that Young hadn't seen, so they hadn't had to deal with him trying to spoil the film; however he couldn't resist adding his commentary, which elicited the typical violence from the other group members.
At the hotel, G.K. and Kai headed to their joint hotel room. Once Noel had left to return to Korea, Kai had re-joined his cousin in their shared hotel suite.
Kai entered ahead of his cousin, but came to an abrupt halt just beyond the threshold causing G.K. to run squarely into his back.
"Ah! Kai what's wrong with you..."
G.K.'s words trailed off when he spotted his father sitting on the sofa, head bent downward.
G.K. released a breath as he moved to stand next to Kai.
Tension crackled in the air as G.K. called out to his father. "
Appa
, what are you doing in here?"
His father looked up at him, his eyes red rimmed. He looked as though he hadn't shaved in a while, the grey and black hair covering his chin and cheeks.
"Do you know how long your mother and I have been married?" He asked, voice rough.
G.K. didn’t understand the significance of the seemingly random question. “
Appa
what does that…”
But his father’s eyes narrowed and he repeated his question. “Do you
know
how long your mother and I have been married?”
"
Ye
, yes, it’s been 20 some odd years right?" Kai answered.
G.K.'s father nodded, "Twenty-five years. We married when I was just twenty-three; your mother was twenty-one then."
He said as he absently fingered a short stack of papers that sat next to him on the couch.
G.K. eyed the papers curiously, as his father continued, "I remember when I met her father. He looked at me like I was something he’d found on the bottom of his shoe. And her mother was no better, in fact I remember a time when she told Minsoo that she knew a young man who was more suitable for her. Right in front of me."
Kai spoke, "And you're telling us this why? So we'll feel sorry for you? Is that what this is?"
G.K.'s father looked over to Kai with vacant eyes, "No, I want you to understand."
G.K. rolled his eyes, "What is there to understand? You were wronged by
halmoni
and
harabeoji
, and now that's how you justify treating Noel badly."
"
Aniyo
, no," he interrupted irritated, "I'm telling you because I want you to understand me!"
The older man stared past them to a spot on the wall. "I wanted to succeed, I HAD to succeed. I needed to prove to them that I could be successful, that I was worthy of your mother's love. It is why I pushed you so hard. Every time I saw them, I could see the disappointment in their eyes. They would complain about my lack of accomplishments. How your mother's money was affording our life. They never saw my career in the entertainment world amounting to anything. And when you boys showed such promise, such talent, I saw my chance!"
Kai frowned, "So you run us into the ground, work us to death. Ruin our lives? Did you think this would help you?"
He gave a slight nod, "If you all became successful, then I did also. They all would see that I was more than a farmer's son." He said with a faraway look in his eye.
G.K. also frowned, "And this is supposed to justify why you treated Noel the way you did?"
"
Ye
, yes, Noel could have ruined your career. There could have been a huge fall out because of Kai's relationship with her. It could have ruined everything we worked for, everything I had worked for..."
Kai waved off the last of his statement. "So what is it that you want? Forgiveness? I haven't heard from you since our breakfast. I thought you had already left."
G.K.'s father's face grew stormy as he grabbed the papers that sat beside him, throwing them towards Kai.
Kai moved back, the stack missing him by an inch before falling to the floor with a small thud. "I'm here because of this! Do you see those? They're divorce papers! Your mother had an attorney fax these to me! She wants to..." his voice broke slightly, "She wants to leave me, over this."
G.K.'s eyes widened, his mother hadn’t been kidding when she had told them she would make everything right in her family, whether it was with his father or not.
"You haven't apologized to her?" He asked.
"I have!" His father answered, "But refuses to forgive me until I make amends with you.” He said sitting back on the bed, resting his forehead on his hands. “I can’t lose her…” he murmured, sounding tortured.
Kai and G.K. looked at one another, communicating silently, before they both nodded in understanding.
***
Leila awoke the next morning, her stomach doing flip flops. She glanced around her room, which was pretty much all packed. She would only be taking the majority of her clothes, shoes, etc. on the plane today.
Sam, who had decided to take her room and stay in New York with Marcia, would ship the rest to her new apartment in Seoul in a few weeks. Leila lay in her bed staring at the ceiling, for what felt like hours.
This is it Leila, today is the day. You'll be Seoul this time tomorrow...
Sam walked in, smile gracing her pretty face.
"Wake up lazy butt, Marcia and I made you breakfast!"
Leila sat up instantly, "Did you make muffins?" She asked sniffing the air that held the scent of blueberries.
Sam nodded, "Yup, you're favorite blueberry. They aren't from scratch or anything, but they're pretty good, if I do say so myself." She finished with a blow to her fingernails before dusting them on her shirt.
Leila stood from the bed, stretching lightly.
Sam watched her silently for a moment, "How you feelin’?" She asked suddenly.
Leila paused in putting on her robe before sitting back down on the bed.
"I’m petrified. What if I don't like it there? What if I absolutely hate it?"
Sam came over and settled next to her, before grabbing her sister's hand.
"Don't think like that. You're going to more than like it. You’ve always loved an adventure right?" Leila nodded, biting her lip.
"On top of that you have a man who loves you, that's going to be right there supporting you. You get to keep dancing, which is what you've always wanted...don't stress Lei. This will be one of the greatest times in your life.”
Leila looked at her sister, to gauge the sincerity in her words. "You really think so?"
Sam nodded, "I know so."
Leila pulled her sister into a tight hug, "I'm going to miss you so much." She whispered.
"I'm going to miss you too."
They stayed that way for a few moments longer, and were still tightly hugging when Marcia came into the room.
"Oh I see how it is, you don't invite me for the weepy, I'm going to miss you hug."
Sam and Leila separated, laughing at Marcia's words and pouting face.
Leila quickly stretched out an arm, motioning for her to join them. Marcia didn’t hesitate, and was soon included in their embrace.
***
T4L and their staff arrived at JFK airport several hours before their long flight was to board. Leila was coming separately with Sam and Marcia a little bit later.
Kai, G.K., and his father had talked for a long time the night before. While G.K. and Kai still didn't completely understand his father's logic for treating them and Noel the way he had, since he himself knew what it felt like to have your loved one’s family dislike you for things you had no control over, they felt as if they both had greater insight into what made his father tick.
They had both forgiven him and had agreed to tell their mother once they returned home. G.K.’s father had thanked them and had finally left early in the morning as the sun made its way over the horizon, leaving the divorce papers where they lay on the floor.
G.K. knew that his relationship with his father wouldn’t change overnight, but he could only help that their long hear-to-heart would be the first step in the process.
G.K. sat with Jinyung and his other group members in a secluded VIP area that was near their gate. They had already gotten through security, and were merely waiting for the time to board.
G.K. shifted in his spot, his eyes wandering toward the entrance of the room in expectation of Leila’s arrival.
He’d offered for them to pick her up on their way to the airport, but Leila had insisted on coming with her sister and friend.
G.K. glanced at his watch. They had a little over an hour until they were allowed on the plane, and Leila was nowhere to be seen.
Maybe she changed her mind,
he thought.
G.K. gnawed on his lip, as his anxiousness increased with every passing moment he didn't see Leila's face.
***
Leila gripped Sam and Marcia tightly inside of the airport terminal. She had checked in her luggage and was now standing near the security check stations.
Tears freely slid down her cheeks and theirs as well, as they hugged fiercely.