He needed a break. That was what he needed. Therefore he would take one.

Manager hyung had said no, which only discouraged him a little. When Changmin wanted something, he got it. No, it wasn't the celebrity in him that took responsibility for this philosophy. It was just how he was.

After weeks and weeks of endless work, hardly any sleep and the nonstop questions without answers, he was tired. When he'd asked for a vacation, he got none. So he was going to take what was rightfully his.

That's why he was here, in the last place anyone would expect him.

Standing in the rain, in one of the smallest towns in America in a state hardly anyone paid attention to, Hendersonville, North Carolina. It was muddy and he was trudging through the thick brown muck towards where he had set up a secret place to stay.

He knocked on the front door of the little farm, waiting patiently.

An old lady answered the door, a toothless smile prepared on her face. She nodded to Changmin and opened the screen door.

"You must me Changin'." She said, mispronouncing his name.

"Yes, ma'am." Changmin responded in the English he'd been studying lately, ignoring the new name.

"Come on in, sweetie!" She called. "We gotcha room ready for ya and everythin'."

Changmin walked in, his bag still slung over his shoulders and removing his muddy shoes in the doorway. The old lady kind of looked at him when he did this, but then seemed to remember the Asian tradition and walked away. She lead him down the hall with walls made of wood with hardwood floors and Changmin immediately knew he'd probably get tired of the drawling brown someday but he'd deal with it today.

She opened a door towards the end of the hall and he walked in obediently with her following.

"This'll be your room Changin'." She said in her twang. "I hope you enjoy. Dinner'll be ready soon and I'm sure you want to meet the rest of the residents. Thirty minutes 'til then!"

With that, she exited the room.

"Thank you!" Changmin called after her and thought he heard a grunt as an answer.

Changmin looked around with a sigh. It was a bit old fashioned for his style, but he could deal. He threw his bag on the ground and shook his wet hair out of his face.

He slowly began unpacking, trying to memorize where he put everything where he could find it.

His prize possession, Dong Bang Shin Ki's first album signed by all the members, was placed carefully in a drawer beside his bed. He looked at it longingly, desperately missing his members. But he was so tired that he almost forgot about it and closed the drawer.

Changmin took his cell phone out of his pocket.

So far, there were no calls, no texts. But he was in a different country and he honestly didn't know if he still had signal here. He checked and saw that, yes, he did. He shook his head as the screen popped up with a text message and Wrong Number sounded through the little room.

He reluctantly opened it to find it was Yunho, their beloved leader.

"Where are you Changminnie-sshi? Practice was supposed to start an hour ago!"

Changmin slammed his phone shut then opened it only to turn it off and shoved it deep within a drawer under all his cloths.

He was going to forget all about it. He wasn't going to think about how much practice time they were going to lose, all the programs and radio shows he was supposed to appear on, all the appearances and performances and awards shows. They were all going to disappear for a while.

Changmin changed his cloths, then, getting out of the wet ones and making himself more comfortable. He looked at his watch and saw that thirty minutes had passed.

He walked out of his room and down the hall. He followed the delicious smell towards the kitchen, walking in to find two women working at the stove. No, one could've only been eighteen.

"Ah, Changin'!" The old lady called, one of the women cooking. "Nice o' you to join us! This here is my granddaughter, Destine."

The other woman turned around and smiled at him. Changmin realized she couldn't have been older than eighteen. She looked so young. Her hair was long and black, her eyes a dark greenish hazel. She had pale skin but darker cheeks and a brilliant smile. She was truly beautiful and had Changmin's heart racing and his eyes glued to her.

"Hello." She said clearly, her voice more normal English than her grandmothers. "I'm Destine. You're from South Korea?"

"Yes." Changmin found the will to nod. "I'm…Changmin. My English isn't that good but…"

"That's okay." She smiled. "We'll teach you."

"Do you live here, too?" Changmin asked, hope lighting his eyes.

"Yes, I do." She said, turning the stove down a little. "My room's right next to yours actually. So if you need anything, just knock. I won't be here on school days, though."

"Our Destine is graduating this month." Her grandmother said proudly, as if announcing Destine had won the Nobel Prize. "After so long, I feel so old!"

She walked up and hugged her granddaughter lovingly and patted her cheeks.

"They grow up so fast!" Her grandmother called as she walked off to set the table.

Destine laughed lightly. "She's really sweet."

She turned back to the stove and slowly stirred the contents.

"What are you making?" Changmin asked, shoving his hands in his pockets and taking a step forward.

"Mashed potatoes." She said. "You've probably never had them, but they're really good. We're having steak tonight, which you probably have had. Grandfather makes amazing steak!"

"I've never really tried American food." Changmin admitted. "Well, unless you count pizza."

"It's technically Italian." Destine laughed.

"Ah, that's true." Changmin blushed and scratched the back of his head.

"What do you do for a living?" She asked him.

"Ah? Do? Like, a job?" Changmin coughed nervously. "I'm a…businessman back in Seoul. I'm on vacation."

"Vaction? Here?" Destine shook her head. "Once I graduate, I'm getting out of here. Going somewhere else and never turning around…"

"Why do you say that?" Changmin asked curiously.

Destine turned to him and grinned. "You ask a lot of questions, Changmin. Maybe someday I'll tell you."

Changmin watched her as she turned and took the pot off the burner and turned off the appliance. He looked longingly as she walked out of the room and away from him.

He turned back around, catching himself on the counter. What part of that girl gave him weak knees?