Melody's POV

The music flowed through you leaving you breathless at the end of the performance. Staring out at the crowd you were unable to believe that the cheers were no longer solely for Super Junior, but for you and your friends as well. You felt someone grab your hand on each side and pull you down into a bow before dragging you off stage. Reluctantly you left with the deafening noise of the crowd following you into the darkened hallway. However you quickly found yourself distracted by the sudden smothering of your four friends.

“We did it! We finally made it!” Hara chanted while bouncing up and down.

You looked down at the tiny face of IU still shocked by her presence. “Wh-what? How?” You stammered out.

“I believe I can explain.” Mi-Na spoke up. “After I overheard one of your ‘heart-wrenching’ conversations with IU I knew you two would be insufferable without her in the group…so I made a phone call to my father.”

“And that’s it?” You asked incredulously.

“Yup.”

You started to laugh uncontrollably and pulled Mi-Na, a girl you once considered your rival and enemy, into a fierce one-armed embrace. “I don’t care how you did, I’m just so thankful that you did! You’re the best.”

“Ugh let go… I hate mushy stuff like this.”

You only let go after you gave her a quick peck on the cheek unable to resist goading her a little bit before dancing out of reach.

“We’d better check on Amber and Victoria. I’m sure they are having a difficult time right now and could use our support.” You suggested resulting in the five of you quickly making your way back to the waiting room.

What you expected to find was two extremely upset girls; instead you were showered with confetti and streamers.

“What the heck?!” You yelled after being thoroughly startled.

“I’m so sorry…” Victoria began.

“…we wanted to tell you” Amber continued.

“…but the agency forbade us.” Victoria finished saying.

While shaking your head to rid it of the confetti you asked them to explain in more detail.

“About a week ago we were approached by the person in charge of the current project and informed that we wouldn’t be selected as final members. However they said that if we had the patience in just over a year they would be debuting another girl group that they wanted us to be a part of. They’ve already chosen the other three members, but have been holding off on releasing them because they want to develop our skills for a little longer. We accepted.” Victoria explained.

“Don’t be mad!” Amber interjected.

“Mad? This is absolutely wonderful news! I’m so happy for you guys!” You replied. “By the way what’s the deal with Hyorin I thought for sure she’d be selected.”

Amber looked over at the corner of the room which Hyorin occupied seeming none the worse for wear. “We heard about that too, apparently she got an offer shortly after the first episode aired to debut with another company. The deal was too good to pass up so she took it, but SM refused to let her leave until after the completion of the reality show contract.”

“That’s incredible. No wonder she never appeared stressed about any of the competitions.” Hara rationalized.

You nodded. “Yea that certainly explains a lot.”

“Well now that we’ve filled in all the holes for the moment we had better get changed and head to the after party before someone comes looking for us.” Ailee instructed everyone.

“Always the responsible one aren’t you?” Hara .

She looked properly affronted. “What? No I’m n..”

“Oh just be quiet Ailee we all know that you just like to act mature when really you have a secret obsession with puppies and anything cute.” You interrupted successfully ending her protest. She threw her hand up in the air in surrender before heading to her bag for a change of clothes.

Doing the same you slipped on a pair of skinny jeans in a vibrant teal color and topped it with a comfy oversized caramel sweater before you noticed what everyone else was wearing.

Hara had on a slinky black dress and heels, while Ailee had on a form fitting sequin skirt complete with a matching blazer. Mi-Na and IU were no less impeccably attired in feminine dresses that accentuated their doll-like appearance.

“Well I feel significantly underdressed…” You muttered.

“Mel what are you wearing? Do you want to blend into the background after you just stepped into the spotlight?” Hara scolded you.

“It’s too late to do anything about it now, besides at least I won’t stick out as much to the annoying photographers who are more than likely going to be in attendance.”

“I suppose you’re right.” Hara conceded. “Oh by the way now that the show is over you can start wearing your necklace again.”

“Uh you’re right I almost forgot. Thanks for reminding me.” You quickly dug into the outside zipper pocket of your backpack and pulled out the necklace your brother bought for you. It clinked oddly when you pulled it out causing your eyes to rivet on the two charms that lay side by side.

One was the original music note charm given to you by your brother, the other one was a silver star surrounded by small diamonds. You knew that upon closer inspection there existed an engraving inscribed within the star that you could recite by heart…

“Until the day we are able to stand on the same stage…” You whispered to yourself.

You recalled clearly the night you were given the charm and by whom. It was just after midnight signaling the day of your birth and your selection as Ryeowook’s solo partner nearly three months ago. Taemin-oppa gifted it to you as a reminder that he would wait for you to pursue your dreams before asking anything more of you as a girlfriend. You swallowed back the tears as you reflected on how much you’ve grown up over the course of the world tour. It was needless to say that you weren’t the same girl you were when you left. After a moment of indecision you left the charm where it lay next to your other one and slipped the loop over your neck before following your friends out the door.

The after party was being held in the large VIP banquet hall backstage. You gripped the necklace nervously, a gesture that had been developed over the years during times of great stress. To you it was almost worse having to face all your close friends and family than an entire crowd of strangers. Regardless you swallowed thickly and walked quickly in behind Hara, who all but strutted in with her arms spread wide announcing your arrival.

Everyone gathered clapped and cheered making you feel suddenly embarrassed under all the attention. You discreetly slipped along the wall and tried to find your brother. You were so distracted while trying to search the crowd that you didn’t see the person leaning against the post in front of you. Gracelessly you bumped headlong into them with a painful hit to the head.

Vigorously you rubbed your forehead where you’d connected and began to apologize “Forgive me I wasn’t watching…” You looked up recognizing Kyuhyun-ssi. “Oh it’s just you.”

“We’ve got to stop meeting like this.” He teased, easily brushing off your rudeness. It was a banter you’d quickly established after the fiasco in China and one you’d kept alive throughout the rest of the tour. “So what mischiefs are you up to this time you minx?”

You blushed self-conscious about your sneaky behavior. “I’m uncomfortable with all this attention from so many respected seniors and I just wanted to find my broth…” Quickly you shut your mouth after you realized what you were about to say. Unfortunately Kyuhyun wasn’t a math genius for no reason. He was quickly able to put two and two together.

“Ahhhh I believe you were about to say something Melody.”

You silently shook your head and tried to back away, however Kyuhyun simply followed.

“I believe you were about to answer one of the many questions I’ve had about you since we first met. Perhaps how you never seem to talk about your family for example…” He surmised.

Trapped and with nowhere else to go without drawing attention to yourself you made a split second decision. Relax, just breath this is Kyuhyun I’m talking to here, not some random reporter. I can trust him.

“Alright you win, as per usual.” You admitted causing him to smile. “I was trying to find my older brother, who as you no doubt have guessed by now is another celebrity in our company.”

“Yes I’ve already gathered that, but not quite his exact identity.”

You crossed your arms and glared up at him. “Well then go ahead and use your amazing deduction skills to wow me.”

He tapped one of his long fingers against his chin, a pose he often reverted to when deeply thinking. “Well let’s see the Shinhwa and H.O.T. hyungs are too old and if it was a member of Super Junior you wouldn’t have come to me for help, which only leaves DBSK logically.”

You raised an eyebrow at him silently encouraging him to continue.

He scanned the crowd looking for the members. “Let’s see two of them are easy to spot right away so it can’t be Yunho or Changmin otherwise you wouldn’t still be looking for him. Junsu only has his twin brother and wouldn’t be able to keep having a younger sister secret for long. That means it can only be Jaejoong or Yoochun. My initial instinct says it’s Jaejoong based on the fact that he is known to have a lot of sisters, however I know he is the maknae of the family… so your older brother is obviously Yoochun.”

“Obviously.” You replied dryly. “If people are able to figure that out as easily as you just did I’m screwed.”

He winked. “Relax little one there aren’t too many gifted individuals like myself in existence at the moment.”

“None as modest either…” You replied.

He chuckled with amusement. “I never said I was perfect...”

You coughed to hide your initial reaction, which was to laugh in his face.

“I see you’ve finally learned a little control over hiding your feelings.” He teased. “Though it won’t be as easy to read you anymore at least it will be more of a challenge. One I look forward to undertaking.”

“Do you have a smart retort for everything?” You asked.

He shrugged his shoulders. “Just about…”

“Fantastic.” You responded sarcastically.

“I think so.” He answered purposely ignoring the sarcasm in your voice. “But in all seriousness do you want help finding your brother?”

“I don’t think that will be necessary.” A husky voice replied from behind you.

You felt a protective arm slip over your shoulders in silent warning. Kyuhyun quickly caught on and bowed before making his escape, but not without raising an eyebrow at you first.

Shrugging out from under your brother’s arm you looked up into his familiar face.

“Hello there Oppa…”

A/N: I hope that helped fill in some of the holes from the previous chapter and helped to answer some of your questions. As always comments are greatly appreciated and help motivate me to write faster. Continue to subscribe and all that good stuff. :) Happy reading   -Sarah