Prologue

The Runaway

        

"Ladies and Gentlemen. We have touched down at Incheon International Airport at exactly 7:13 AM. 2 minutes early from our schedule. Thank you for boarding British Airways, and we hope to see you again soon." I stood up, carefully, as I saw that the person beside me was still snoring away, despite the rough landing at the tarmac. I reached up, got my cabin luggage, and sat back down again, waiting for the other passengers to file out of the plane. I shook the person next to me.

"Lily, wake up. We've landed, get your carry on luggage, and meet me outside. I need to make a phone call, regarding our arrangements with SM Entertainment and their showcase next month," I said. I frowned as I saw that she hadn't moved an inch. Oh god, I didn't wanna yell this early in the morning, considering that six of our companions were still fast asleep. As soon as I saw the last passenger filed out, I did my best to use my authority as octet leader. "Guys!" I barked. Everyone flinched and immediately woke up, some were still groggy, however.

How could I blame them? I mean, our London performance last night didn't exactly end well, due to some technical difficulties, the microphones had shut down, and we were forced to give it our all, and use our bodies to project our notes, considering the size of the Royal Albert Hall. 'That must've left everyone drained,' I thought to myself.

"Guys, we've arrived. Come on, nice, bright and morning faces. I'm expecting we'd see some reporters today." Alright, I was never one to act really leader-like with this group, considering that I'm not the eldest. But, in our case, Allegro, our octet, needed all the internal support it can get. Just a few years ago, right after we evolved from being a high school octet to an international singing group after trying our luck with some companies in Britain and France, right after our high school graduation, our conductor, Monsieur de Grance, had died, after a long battle against Lung Cancer, and he had inaugurated me as the leader of the octet, in the most emotionally traumatizing way possible. Right before he had died, he asked for me to come to the hospital he was confined in, and told me that I was the only one left to help Allegro, and he trusted in my abilities to help the group grow. Monsieur de Grance trusted that I would lead, nourish, and continue the legacy Allegro has made for itself.

How can I say no to a dying man? I humbly accepted, and with that, the wrinkles on his face had unseemingly melted into one of a bright smile. A smile I haven't seen in ages, a smile that was only reserved as to when we perform in concert halls. And with that, I knew that he was at peace. He was like a father to me, to us, rather. And the best thing we owed him was peace. That day, he talked about those angels that he said had always sung with us during our concerts, how he was so happy that he could hear them brightly now, how he was happy and content that he was going to meet these angels and his family on the other side, how he was so eager to prepare his tenor voice to sing with them. I cried that day, at his hope, at his child-like yonder.

A few days later, Monsieur de Grance had died, peacefully in his sleep, his wife had offered me his music sheet binder, and inside was a letter addressed to each and every one of us to take care of the music that we had created together. To this day, I still keep that binder with me. As we had all come to realize that Monsieur de Grance not only left us with music but with a concept of a legacy. A legacy we wanted to continue, to thrive.

And this scene, waking up with a groggy start, was the exact opposite of how we wanted our legacy to be. "Come on, guys. I get that we're all tired, but we need to go. I promise we'll be at our hotel by noon, and you guys can rest there, while I run our errands." The members had all woken up, and sulkily grabbed their bags, and headed for the exit. "That's the spirit! Come on, Allegro, let's keep moving!"

After passing customs and getting our luggage, my stomach started growling. Out of all the members, I wasn't able to eat dinner, the night before, due to my exhaustion.

"Hey, can we grab some breakfast before leaving for the hotel, Viola?" Our youngest member, Lily, asked. "I'm starving."

"Yeah, me too. Alright, everyone have some breakfast, and meet back at Arrivals in exactly thirty minutes. Okay?" Everyone nodded their heads, and took off. I walked around the outlets for a moment, before deciding to settle down at a quaint tea shop, just a few walks from the Arrivals Section. I opened the door and was politely greeted by the barista. "Uhm, I'll have a Milk Earl Grey and two pieces of Cannoli." After putting my order in, I went over to one of the long tables with a long couch as a seat, and sat down. I pulled out my iPhone and began to read one of my saved novels.

I felt the couch shift a bit, but paid no heed to it, it's just another customer. I continued to read until my order arrived, and thus, I put my phone away and began to eat. I began to ponder on the things we could do while we wait for the showcase that was scheduled next month, like as in worthwhile things, that tourist bullcrap can wait. But then again, the members may want to travel around the city first, before getting to work, we deserve that much of a break, after a successful European tour. Well, I did plan to bring them over to Jeju Island for a weekend or something, just to loosen them up a bit and to break them in with living in Korea.

I checked my watch and saw that I only had about five minutes left before the designated meeting time. So, I quickly stood up, grabbed my bag, and went out the door. As I put on my earphones, I had unseemingly drowned the whole world out. Until I heard faint screaming behind me.

"Miss! Excuse me! That's my bag!" I heard someone yell in broken English. I turned around and I met with someone's chest. I looked up to see a man with dark, wolf-like eyes, jet black hair, a tall stature, and a sheepish smile. "I got your bag, too." I looked at him. Then, I reached into the bag I was holding and I saw that they were boy clothes. I had my music sheets in mine. Ugh , now, I have to put my Korean classes to use, I took up Korean language classes before we flew here, just enough to get myself around and engage in conversations.

"Ahhh, sorry. Kamsahamnida," I bowed to the man who looked shocked. "Uhhh-?" He smiled at me. "I'm really sorry about your bag, though," I said in Korean.

"It's okay," He said. "You know, reporters have been looking around for you guys everywhere. Allegro? I've heard of you guys."

"What?" I asked in shock. He smiled at me, before showing him his Performers' ID for the showcase. "You're-"

"Viola! We need to go! Reporters are filing in like mad!" My other companion, Marie, yelled from across the hall. I looked back at him, gave him one last smile and bow before running off to get to my group.

I looked back to see him heading to his group as well, a boy band, of some sort. "Over there! Exo's there too!" I heard a reporter screech. "Agh, Allegro and EXO at one area! We've hit the jackpot, guys!"

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