Should've Held Onto You (CHA EUNWOO)

3 - Astro

"Is it really you?"

Mr. Kim believed in nature helping kids learn, so we were outside, having a nature day in front of the school. It was really sunny out, and when Sumi caught sight of me, she dragged me along with her. The rest of the class was running around and talking over on the other side of the campus.

"Ne," I smiled, hugging her again. Seeing her again made me realize just how much I had missed her. "I missed you so much."

She abruptly ended our hug, smacking my shoulder.

"Yah!" I held my arm. "What was that for?"

"That's for leaving me!" She paused, looking down sadly. "I'm so sorry we fell out of touch."

I frowned, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Sumi... it's no ones fault. We just got busy. There's a sixteen hour difference from here to there, it's amazing we stayed in contact that long. I'm just glad to be back." I grinned at her as she smiled.

"I'm so glad your back! We have so much catching up to do!" She jumped a little, holding my hands as I laughed. "Are you here for good?" Her eyes went wide, hope filling them.

"Hopefully. My mom's job moved her back here. They said it would be more 'permanent', and both my parents really wanted to come back. I think I'll be here a while."

We caught up a little bit. She asked a lot of questions about America and my friends there, and I couldn't interrupt her constant stream of inquiries to ask her anything.

"Did you-"

"Pabo!"

"Huh?!"

"Let me ask you some questions!" I laughed.

She smiled sheepishly. "Mianhe, I'm just so excited to have you back."

There'd been a a question I needed to ask the whole while we were outside. I hated to ask, but I needed to know. With feelings of reuniting with Sumi and being back home came feelings of remembering them.

"What happened to Bin and Dongmin?" I asked quietly, and Sumi stopped in her tracks, looking at me with an apologetic glance.

She cleared her throat. "About that.."

Just as she had started talking, a group of kids came walking on the main entrance path, laughing and chatting loudly, just like they had earlier in the classroom before Mr. Kim quieted them down. I glanced over at Sumi to see her gazing at the group, a worried look laced her features.

"What is it, Sumi? Who are th-" I stopped mid sentence, realizing who the kids were surrounding.

At the center of the group were six boys. I didn't know four of them, but front and center was Moon Bin and Lee Dongmin, smiling at the girls twirling their hair around them. For some reason it hurt. I hadn't seen them for so long. We had all changed.

Nudging my shoulder, Sumi grabbed my hand and led me over to a bench, but I couldn't stop staring at them. Who were they anymore? Why were they so popular?

"Come here." We sat on the bench, but my eyes were locked on Dongmin.

A girl in the group pushed through, grabbing Dongmin's arm, squealing, "Eunwoo! Saranghae!" He laughed, saying something I couldn't hear. My stomach hurts. Who's Eunwoo?

"Astro."

"What?" I finally turned to look at Sumi. "What did you say?"

She sighed. Gesturing to the six boys, she explained, "Those boys are Astro. I guess I'll start from the beginning." She had my full attention now. "When you left, we had the annual school talent show. Eunw- Dongmin and Bin really wanted to participate. This was literally days after you left. They got together a group, and they performed. They got scouted by an entertainment agency, Fantagio Entertainment, and they were accepted. They haven't debuted yet, but.. everyone here knows they'll make it big."

"Wae... So, they're Kpop stars. That's what you're saying?"

"Kpop rookies is a better term I suppose."

It's a weird feeling to know the boys you grew up with were now stars. As happy as I wanted to be for them, I don't think they wanted me around anymore.

"That one right there," she pointed at the tallest boy who looked happy and young, "That's Yoon Sanha. He's a year younger than us. He has a great voice. The shorter one with the brown hair is Park Minhyuk, also known as 'Rocky'. He's.."

"Attractive."

"Hot," We said at the same time, making us laugh a little. She continued, "He's the main dancer, and he's very talented. He's our age. The other two are Kim Myunjun oppa, or MJ, he's the shortest and oldest, and he's a fantastic vocalist, and Park Jinwoo oppa, or JinJin, he's a rapper and the leader and the blonde one. They're both seniors."

After looking them all over, my eyes landed once again on them. "And then.."

"Then there's Bin. His stage name is Moonbin, and, as you know, he's an amazing singer. He's gotten really good at dancing too. Then.. Lee Dongmin.. or Cha Eunwoo. They're all known by their stage names here. Even I call them that now."

Scrunching up my eyebrows, I asked, "I thought Dongmin wanted to be an actor?"

She shrugged. "He's a good musician and singer. This will get him into show business. He enjoys it, don't worry."

I scoffed a little, watching him interact with everyone. "Looks like it."

Sumi frowned, "Miyeong.. they signed a contract with Fantagio. They had to change their numbers. They didn't want to leave you."

At that, I met her gaze. "Really?"

"Really. I didn't even know they were training until about a year after you left."

I let out a sigh of relief as everything made sense now. For some reason, I wanted to cry, but not because I was sad. They were doing what they loved, and it felt great to be back.