The next day, the boys reached Seoul at 10 a.m. As the plane landed, Zheng stood up from his seat and clapped his hands. The boys, waking from their sleep, flinched their eyes open at the sound. He announced, "Boys, we've reached Seoul!" Their eyes sparkled, and all sleep disappeared.
The boys stood up freshly, and DK raised his hand and shouted, "Concert over—now let's see the girls!"
The boys raised their hands with him and echoed, "Concert over—let's see the girls!" DK grabbed his bag and began dancing and jumping around. Zheng chuckled at his energy.
The boys collected their luggage and exited the plane. As they stepped into the airport, they breathed in deeply. Minghao said softly, "Guys, we came here two months ago. The girls were crying as they waved at us. Now... we should surprise them by visiting them."
The boys nodded, and Wonwoo said, "Yeah—don't inform the girls yet."
But DK, being the good and obedient boyfriend he is, was already messaging Nian to say he'd reached Seoul. Scoups noticed and panicked.
"Yah! DK, don't message her!"
DK turned to him—click. The message was already sent.
The boys all placed their hands on their heads and opened their mouths in disbelief.
Joshua lunged, grabbed DK's phone, and quickly deleted the message. DK blinked in confusion.
"What happened?"
Mingyu replied, "DK, we're going to surprise the girls! But you're texting your girlfriend without even listening to us?"
DK's eyes widened. "Ah~~"
Dino smirked. "Waa~ DK, you're a really good boyfriend. She should be proud to have you."
DK blushed, eyes shrinking in shyness, while the rest of the boys sulked at him playfully.
Minghao chuckled. "Let's go to the girls' house, guys!"
They nodded, lightly slapped DK's arms, and laughed.
Zheng watched them from the entrance and muttered with a chuckle, "Just now landed, and the chaos already starts…"
As the boys entered the van, they sat in their seats, looking happy.
Zheng turned to them and said, "Boys, look here."
They all looked.
"Today, we'll be going to the company."
The boys' faces turned pale.
Jun sulked. "Zheng… what's in the company? We visit it every day…"
The boys nodded in agreement.
Zheng laughed. "Jun, it's not a vacation. There's a meeting—you'll be busy today."
The boys glared, eyes wide.
Hoshi pointed dramatically at DK and Minghao. "Zheng, we planned to meet the girls today! Look at these two—pitiful faces! What'll they do when they can't see their girlfriends even though we're this close?"
Zheng sighed. "You guys should really take up acting. Very impressive."
He gave them a thumbs up, then added with a serious tone, "But I won't let you meet them today."
The boys pouted, leaned back in their seats, and kicked their legs like children.
"You can meet them the day after tomorrow."
DK stood up in shock. "What… day after tomorrow?!"
The boys stared at Zheng, stunned.
Woozi asked, "Zheng, why? Do we really have that packed a schedule?"
Zheng nodded as he giggled and sat down.
DK's lips trembled. "Minghao, tell me honestly—can you wait two days to meet Xuanye?"
The boys turned to Minghao.
He answered firmly, "No. I won't wait. If I get the chance, I'll see her."
DK's eyes sparkled. The rest of the boys burst out laughing, unable to contain it.
Minghao blinked like a proud puppy.
DK grinned and said, "We're in the same boat!" and hugged him.
Vernon sighed. "These two… they'll never change. Now Minghao has turned into DK!"
The boys nodded, laughing harder.
—
On the other side, Nian and Xuanye were working on the interview. At 11:30 a.m., Nian placed her files down and rubbed her eyes.
"Xuanye, we've almost covered everything, right?"
Xuanye nodded. "Yeah, Nian. We've taken all the key points. Let's review after lunch."
Nian smiled, took her phone, and checked the chat.
Her eyes froze.
"Xuanye, look! Loudie messaged me… but he deleted it."
She looked worried.
Xuanye smiled warmly. "He must've sent it by mistake. Don't overthink. And anyway, there's still two more days left in their two-month tour. I don't know what those boys are doing…"
She grinned. Nian, still confused, messaged DK:
"What happened? Why did you delete the message? When will you return?"
She stared at the chat, worried. Xuanye patted her hand to comfort her.
—
Meanwhile, in the van, the boys were talking when DK's phone pinged.
He saw it was from Nian.
"Nian… I want to meet you but they're not letting us," he said emotionally.
Woozi rolled his eyes. "DK, what now? Why are you acting again?"
DK shot him a bombastic side-eye. "I'm not acting! Look—Nian messaged me asking why I deleted the message… and she said… she misses me."
The boys looked at him with pity.
Boo warned, "DK, don't message her back! It'll ruin the surprise!"
DK's fingers hovered over the keyboard.
Jeonghan warned, "DK, if you type, I'll smash your phone. You won't be able to message her ever again."
DK groaned. "If you smash my phone, I'll message her from Minghao's."
Minghao immediately hugged his phone. "No! I won't give you my phone. Or else I can't talk to Ye!"
DK whined, "Minghao, just now we shook hands and said we're in the same boat! But now you pushed me out?!"
Minghao smirked playfully. "I didn't push you, DK. You weren't even in the boat."
DK blinked.
Woozi clutched his stomach, laughing. "Emotional damage!"
The boys hid behind each other, dying of laughter.
DK sulked, crossing his arms. "I won't take anyone on my boat. I'll travel alone. I'll see Nian!"
They all burst out laughing again.
—
As they reached the company, they got off the van.
Zheng said, "Guys, go to the meeting room and sit. I'll go ahead and inform them you've arrived. Take your luggage and head in."
The boys nodded.
Jun whispered to Joshua, "Why is he laughing? We didn't even do anything."
Joshua laughed. "He looks happy. Maybe he talked to his wife?"
Jun got shy, and they chuckled.
The boys walked through the busy entrance, reached the meeting room, and saw a crowd of staff outside.
Scoups asked one staff member, "Sir, why are so many people here?"
The man just chuckled and shook his head.
Zheng appeared again. "Boys, what are you doing? Go inside!"
They turned to him. Vernon asked, "Zheng, what's going on here?"
He played innocent. "Nothing. Just go inside."
They entered, confused—until they saw him.
PD-nim.
The boys dropped their luggage in shock and their smiles widened.
Their voices trembled.
PD-nim turned with a bright smile. "Boys, it's been a long time. How are you?"
Eyes welling with tears, they ran toward him and hugged him.
He patted their backs. "I'm very happy. We got to meet again."
The boys nodded, holding back tears—while Zheng stood near the door, watching with a warm, proud smile.