They finally finished filming the MV and then rushed it to production. The MV was released a few days before the album, which had been ready for distribution for a while. The song debuted at #3 and climbed to number one within the first week. The views were in the millions in the first 24 hours. The next weeks were full of performance stages, variety show appearances, interviews, and VLives.
The song reached an All Kill and the album reached Platinum status quicker than any of their others. They were at the top of their game. Kihyun did an OST collab with EXO Chen. It was a powerful rock song, and their vocals were on point. This was my dream collab and I was ecstatic. I was even more excited because it was something I had mentioned to him a while back, just in a random conversation. I tried to stay out of their business because they obviously knew what they were doing, but I was thrilled that he had liked my idea and ran with it.
They were leaving to go on tour in less than a week, and I was trying not to get anxious about it. First, I was going to Japan with him, then I was going to meet up with him in Atlanta later. I would attend the show there, then go with him to Dallas, Houston, and then LA for the final show and Melody's movie premier. We would fly home together after that.
Jisung had asked me to meet with a couple of new artists on behalf of the Atlanta gallery while I was there. I would still be going back in the fall for a couple of weeks due to the events we had going on, but I was hoping Minhyuk would be able to travel with me that time since he would be free from the contract then.
I was dreading the two months without Minmin. My sunshine was going away, and we had not been apart like this since I moved here. I no longer felt complete without him. We are two halves of a whole. We are complete when we are together.
In the days before he had to leave, he spent as much time with me as he could. It was difficult for him because he was so busy with preparations, his shows, and all the other things that come with being one of the hottest groups in the country and the world, but I could tell he was trying really hard to make time for me. I was trying to be strong and not let him see how poorly I was dealing with his impending departure.
I was packing my bags alongside him as we prepared to leave for Japan. I was excited about going to this first show to kick off the tour but the dread of being apart still loomed in my thoughts. I tried to focus on the present and enjoy it as much as possible. I could see in his eyes that he felt it too.
The Japan show had a special fanmeet attached to it. The show was sold out. We landed against a sea of Monbebes and press. I tucked myself in beside Minhyuk. Changkyun and Wonho helped shield me. Some of the fans were screaming not very nice things at me. Minhyuk stopped and glared at them and shook his head "no". They calmed down and we kept going. It was rather uncomfortable and made me a bit nervous. Minhyuk stopped in front of me once we got clear and put his hands on my arms. "Don't worry about them, princess. They just want to be you," he gave me an adorable smile which pulled me right out of my black hole. I smiled back at him and he kissed my forehead. We continued on our way.
As soon as we got checked in to our hotel, all 8 of us went in search of food. We ate, did a little sightseeing, and I bought a couple of souvenirs to send to Tori and Bobby. I filled the memory card again on my camera. There was just so much to see, and thankfully the fans we encountered along the way were nice.
They had to go for soundcheck, and I watched from the front row since I would be backstage during the concert tonight. That decision was based not on the airport incident, but on the fact that my seat had been mistakenly sold. To make up for it, I got lots of attention from all the members while I stood in for Monbebe. This was the most fun I had experienced in a while, nudie times with my hubby notwithstanding.
The car took us back to the hotel to eat and get ready. Minhyuk always has to eat before he goes on stage. It was very close to the venue, so it didn't take long to get there. Watching from the wings was an interesting perspective and I really felt like a groupie again. I loved getting to see the behind the scenes of their performance.
Between stages, when they came back to change, I got kisses and hugs. In many ways I liked this better, but I really loved being front row to watch him up close. I would take either and enjoy it. We didn't get the opportunity for another green room adventure here.
They were still wound up when we got back to the hotel. They each had their own room this time, but we all gathered in Shownu's room, which was the largest one, until they worked off the show energy. They did a Vlive together while I hung back and watched. Then they played out some of the funny things that happened and picked on each other playfully. We had food delivered because they work up quite an appetite when they are on stage.
Min and I got back to our room and worked off even more energy. We finally slept. When we woke up the next morning, they had to leave for the next city... and I had to go home. We laid in the bed as long as we could, just holding each other. I wasn't ready for this. It wasn't like I didn't know this would happen, but this was the first time and I just wasn't ready. I held back tears because I did not want to make him feel guilty. It wasn't his fault, it was just his job.
He saw me trying not to cry and said, "it is only a few weeks, jagi. And you will be joining me soon. And we will talk every day, just like when you left me to go home. I think that was harder because I didn't know if you would come back. Now I know I have you." He pulled me tighter against his chest.
"Did you really think I might not come back?"
"Well, I hoped you would. I just could not be sure. It was such a huge decision for you to come here and when you left, we really had not made plans and... well I just wasn't sure."
"Oh Minmin, I never realized that. I started trying to figure out a way to come back as soon as I got on the plane. Of course, at that time I was thinking of another vacation, because like you said... we really did not make plans. And I was not sure what to expect. I thought you might forget me after I left."
"Sunny-ah, you have been in my head and my heart since that day I met you for only moments. You reached in and grabbed me and wouldn't let go. There is no way I could have forgotten you, especially after the time we spent together." That made it harder not to cry and a couple of tears escaped down my cheeks. He smiled and wiped them away. "You have me now. I am yours and you are mine. This tour will be over quick and we will be back together soon. I love you, my princess."
"I love you too, Minmin."
His phone began to ding, alerting us that time was up. He stroked my hair and kissed me once more before we got up and showered. We packed up the few things that we had scattered around the room and there was a knock at the door. It was Changkyun coming to collect us.
It was time to go and we all met again in Shownu's room. We had a quick breakfast of coffee and Onigiri, Japanese rice balls. A bellboy came and loaded all our bags onto one of those luggage carts and escorted us to the elevator. Min held me while we descended, and I laid my head against his chest. Wonho patted my back and gave me a sympathetic smile.
We climbed into the van first and sat in the furthest seat. He held my hand and brushed his thumb across the back. I looked at him and smiled, "please don't worry about me while you are away. I will miss you terribly, but I will be cheering you on every step of the way. I will be watching every VLive, stalking every fan café, Universe, and Twitter post, all the fan cams, and thinking of you every minute of the day."
He smiled and looked a bit relieved. "I know you will, and I will miss you too. I will call you every day. I will send secret messages on the VLives," he laughed.
Wonho turned in his seat and said, "Noona, we will take care of him, don't worry." His sweet bunny smile melted my heart.
"I know you will. You guys have been taking very good care of each other since long before I came along," I smiled back at him. Min squeezed my hand and I looked back at him.
"Just think of how it will be when we are together again," he winked, and I giggled. He reached over and cupped my cheek. I leaned my head into his hand and kissed his palm. He unfastened his seatbelt, raised the armrest and leaned over, kissing me softly and tenderly, "I love you, Sunny-ah. I love you more than you know."
We arrived at the airport and my heart started pounding. Our flights were leaving within 30 minutes of each other, but we had to go to different gates. We tried to get them as close together as possible.
There were dozens of Monbebes, waiting for them. It was really creepy how people knew their schedules. As usual, the guys protected me from the crowd. They were like my very own bodyguards.
We got through security together and they walked me to my gate, then we would have to part. The guys each hugged me in turn, then Minhyuk held me tightly, burying his face in my neck. "I love you, Sunny-ah. I love you so much. I will be back soon, and we will talk every day."
"I love you too, Minmin. I am already counting the days until we are together again. I am looking forward to Dallas. Only 8 weeks to go," I sighed. He put his finger under my chin and lifted my face.
"That will fly by and will be over before you know it." He tried to be positive and I loved that about him. My happy virus and sunshine. I nodded because I was afraid to speak. He cupped my face in his hands and kissed me. He wasn't worried about us being in public. There was no reason to hide and his sense of propriety was cast to the wayside. It was a long kiss, one of the ones that makes my toes curl and insides melt.
I clung to his shirt when the kiss ended. I kept it together somehow and did not cry. I wanted to be strong for him. I did not want tears and red eyes to be the last thing he saw of me for 8 weeks. So, I used every ounce of strength I had and smiled at him. "Make them melt. Make them scream your name. Make them weak in the knees. But remember who makes you feel that way." I winked at him and gave him my sexy smile.
"You got it, princess, and you can look forward to all those things when we are together again," he gave me one last quick kiss and smiled. "I love you." He blew me a kiss as he walked backwards, leaving me alone. I kept my smile and blew a kiss back and said, "I love you."
Once he turned away, the tears began falling.
~~~~
Oh no! They are apart again! Will Sunny be able to deal with it? Will Minhyuk?
That is the life of a star, I suppose.
Fun fact, the photos in this update are ones that I TOOK in 2019 at the Atlanta We Are Here show. It was an absolutely magical night. I was fortunate enough to meet all 7 of them during High-Touch and Min took the gift I made for him at Send-Off. The way he looked at me during High-Touch inspired this story. I know it was just my imagination seeing what it wanted to see, but still... 💕