Athena pulled up in front of the hotel where Jaehyun and the boys were staying. She texted him saying she was outside and he replied by Facetiming her. Thinking it was him, she decided to pull a silly face, only to be surprised it wasn't him who showed up on the screen.
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It was Mark and Lucas. She could hear them both laughing and so did she. She took a screenshot to show her friends later. "Hey, what's up?" said Lucas. "I'm outside! Let me know when everyone is ready." She replied. "We're all good. Jaehyun hyung just left his phone out and couldn't respond so we thought we'd do it for him." Said Mark. "Hey! Get off my phone!" Jaehyun exclaimed as he grabbed his phone out of Mark's hands. "Sorry, Athena. I don't know these two." He said jokingly. "It's fine, bro. But me waiting any longer than I should won't be. I'm parked right outside the entrance so I'll be kicked out in a few minutes. Also I'm starving so hurry up." Replied Athena. "Got you. We'll be down soon." Jaehyun said smiling. Athena just gave him a blank look and hung up.
The four boys walked up to the red SUV waiting for them. Jaehyun sat in the front while Johnny, Mark, and Lucas sat in the back respectively. "Hi, guys! I haven't met you yet. You must be?" Athena questioned as she looked over her shoulder to face the unfamiliar passenger. "I'm Johnny." He said with a smile and an extended hand. She took his and shook it. "Nice to meet you, Johnny. I'm Athena." She said with a grin. "Okay, everybody's probably hungry so we best get going." She added. There was a unanimous "Yeah" from the boys as she began the drive.
Athena walked to the door and held it open for the guys as they came into the store. She waited for a bit at the entrance to find her friends. She heard her name and she turned to see Irene waving her hand. She led the boys towards them and placed her bag on a chair opposite Catriona. "Everybody, this is Jaehyun, my cousin's brother-in-law," she said as she gestured towards him, "this is Johnny," she motioned towards him, "and then this is Mark, and this is Lucas." She grinned proudly as she remembered the names of the new persons. "Now, gentlemen, these lovely ladies are as follows: Irene," she said as she pointed at the head of the table, "Catriona," she nodded towards her, "and of course, we have Gabriella." She used both hands to gesture towards Gabriella as though she were presenting some sort of painting. They all exchanged their "Hellos" and "Nice to meet you" formalities. Irene spoke next and said "We already ordered so you can just leave your things here and go order."
"Okay. Cool beans." Replied Athena as she led the guys to the counter. They returned with their numbers and sat with the group. Irene looked at Mark and Lucas and recognized them as the two guys Athena ran into the day before. She gave Athena a look and she understood. She gave Irene an "I'll explain later" kind of look and Irene smirked. "So, how was y'all's flight into San Antonio?" She said to break the silence. "It was pretty long and tiring," stated Mark, "Johnny hyung was so tired that he actually fell asleep as soon as we got to the hotel." He snickered.
"Johnny what? Hyung?" inquired Gabriella. "It's like 'Kuya.' They're Korean kasi." Explained Athena. "Except for me." Interjected Lucas, "I'm half-Chinese and half-Thai but since I live in Seoul, I've adapted to the honorific system." He added. The girls' eyes widened and said "oh" collectively before Athena said "That's cool." Gabriella looked at her with a smirk. "What?" she asked warily. "Nothing. Ate Athena is mixed too. Her dad is half-Irish." Gabriella added. "Oh is that why your last name is Tyrell?" Asked Jaehyun. "Yeah, it's Irish." Athena replied with a half-hearted chuckle. "Cool, cool." Said Lucas as he nodded. "Since we all come from cultures that respect the age hierarchy, who is the eldest and who is our youngest?" asked Mark. "Irene is the eldest out of us. She's turning 24 this August." Said Catriona. "Then me, I was born in '95. Then Athena 'cause she was born in '98 and then Gabriella. She just turned 18 this year." She explained further. "Oh, so you and I are the same age." Said Johnny with a smile. "I'm the eldest one in our group too so I know how it feels to babysit." He told Irene sympathetically. She laughed at the statement. "Glad to know I'm not the only one." She responded. "Jaehyun is the second eldest and is only a year older than Athena while Mark and Lucas are a year younger than her." Johnny added. "Oh, more Kuyas for me." Mumbled Gabriella to herself. "It's okay. One day you'll be the Ate." Said Athena as she patted Gabriella's head. They spent the next hour and a half getting to know each other over their food. They laughed and jested their fill before heading out the store. The rain had started to pour by then and began to get heavier. They all ran to the cars to avoid getting soaked. "I'm just going to call Ate Irene really quick," she said as she dialed on her phone, "Ate, we can't go to the Gardens because of the rain. Where else can we go?" she inquired. "We can go to one of the shops at the Quarry and just chill there for a little bit while the rain settles." She replied. "Sounds good. It's not that far either. We'll just meet up there. Text me which shop you guys choose to go to."
