Maybe I had overdone it, but it was the quickest way, and we didn't have much time. As I guided my friends inside my father's private plane, I felt nervous. It was one thing to hear about my heritage but another thing to actually see it with your own eyes.

"Wow...just wow...." Matthew said, mouth agape, as he was the one to follow right behind me. All the flight personnel was there and bowing to me. "Miss Sakuma, welcome back."

I thanked them as I continued walking to the sitting area, where all kinds of pastries and fruit platters were spread out.

The entire plane was beige and white, with golden details, mostly golden lotus flowers, our family's Siegel.

I quickly glanced behind my shoulder to check if everyone was still there. They were. Nobody had high-tailed it out of here.

Yujin was rounding out the back, his hands on Choonhae's shoulders. She was trying to plaster on a smile but was failing. Zhang Hao was in front of her, talking excitingly to Keita. While Ricky was walking with his hands in his pant pockets, not that impressed with what he was seeing. It was definitely not his first time on a private plane.

"Choonhae, come sit with me!" I said and pointed at a four-seater. Somehow Yujin had also taken that as his invitation, and pushed my best friend through the line of my other friends to come and take a seat with me. He sat down on the opposite side, at the aisle. While he had pushed Choonhae to the window seat opposite where I was sitting. Matthew sat down next to me.

Ricky and Zhang Hao got seated on the two-seater on our left, while Keita was left with a luxurious seat behind my back. He didn't care, though. He just leaned into our seats while we talked.

"Thank you for inviting us on this trip, Billie," Choonhae said with an exhausted voice, her eyes almost shut already. She had been at the hospital every day and night for the last week. Chanbin was recovering but slowly. He had made me stay in his hospital room a little longer the other day and begged me to take her away for a few days. He will be in there for at least another week before he goes home to recuperate further.

The competition was over for him.

And for all of us, it had been suspended for two weeks. We had all been in complete shock, seeing something like that happen in front of our eyes. I will never forget the horror of seeing him collapse or the pain on Choonhae's face while she screamed in Lux's arms.

I shivered as I turned away from those thoughts. "Of course, it's my pleasure!"

It wasn't long before Choonhae dosed off, and Yujin asked if I had blankets anywhere. One of our stewards carried a beige cashmere blanket from one of the closets, and he tucked her into it like a little burrito.

*****************************************************************************************

Taking my friends for a long weekend to my elderly home was something I was also afraid of. I didn't bring many friends over. For about eight months a year, we lived in a penthouse in Tokyo city, and the other four, we spent at our beachside mansion on the other side of the country.

The mansion had ten bedrooms, twelve bathrooms, a large infinity pool overlooking the roaring ocean, and several dining and living areas. It also had an entertainment room, jacuzzi and sauna, an indoor heated pool, and an elevator to get you from the downstairs to upstairs rooms without any hassle. Again everything was sleek and modern, with beige and golden accents but primarily white furniture.

Gasps and words of surprise followed me into the house as our staff took care of everyone's bags.

We were greeted with a purple cocktail with a cotton candy top layer.

I turned towards my friends and clinked my class to theirs.

"Welcome to Sakuma Mansion, guys! Thank you for being here."