Chapter 4: Problems and Disbandment 

November 1997

Hyesung was in  the training room trying to concentrate on the lyrics for their debut. Lee Soo Man announced that they will be having their debut next year on March with their debut song RESOLVER. He looked at the clock and sighed heavily. It was already 10 in the morning but Eric and Minwoo were still not around. The two went clubbing with S.ES and maybe they overslept.

He clicked his tongue in annoyance but stayed silent since he didn’t want to sound like a nagging mother. He, himself sometimes sneak out sometimes and go clubbing with H.O.T’s Kangta and Ji-hoon.

Junjin introduced Kangta to him and they became really close due to their similarities. Kangta introduced Ji-hoon to him and they became inseparable. 

“WHERE’S ERIC AND MINWOO?” A loud voice made him jumped . He turned around and saw their manager fuming in anger.  Dongwan, Junjin and Andy quickly looked at each other but none of the said a word. “OH! YOU’RE NOT GOING TO TELL ME????”

The manager turned to Hyesung and pointed at him, “HYESUNG, WHERE THE IS YOUR LEADER?”

Hyesung felt his body trembling and his knees were shaking tremendously. He quickly bit his lower lip and lowered his again, “I –I don’t know”

“THAT’S IMPOSSIBLE!” The Manager shouted on his face which made Hyesung shut his eyes. “YOU ARE HIS BESTFRIEND ! YOU DON’T EVEN KNOW WHERE IS HE RIGHT NOW??”

-Yes, they  have became closer but the bestfriend thing didn’t come from his mouth. It was Eric who proclaimed they are best friends. They became closer when they moved to old H.O.T apartment which only has 3 rooms. The manager assigned the roommates and to his surprise, he had to share a room with the alien.  He was fine with Eric’s playfulness and weirdness but what he couldn’t bear is this handsome guy really likes skinship and he hates skinship with him.  He knows Eric knows it because it’s their practice to give a goodnight kiss or hug to everybody before sleeping. Hyesung kisses and hugs everyone except Eric which made Eric to be clingy to Hyesung. He keeps on asking for Hyesung’s kiss or hugs.  -

“Stop screaming at my hyung!” Junjin shouted as he ran to Hyesung. He put his arm around Hyesung’s shoulder and glared at their manager, “He told you he doesn’t know!”

Dongwan and Andy quickly ran to them and stayed together. This is not new to them. This is a scene which you could see almost everyday in their training room. Sometimes the manager hurt them and beat them physically but they endured it since they have each other. They wanted to debut together.

The manager smirked , his vein just popped out on his forehead. He raised his hand to slap Junjin but Dongwan grabbed his arm, “What the-“

“Stop hurting my members!!!!” Dongwan screamed. “If you hurt one of them, I will leave!”

“No!” Hyesung said in panic. “Don’t say that Dongwan!!”

Andy , their little adorable maknae burst into tears as he watched his hyungs . He knelt on the ground and pleaded, “Please … don’t hurt my hungs”

Hyesung, Andy and Dongwan stopped and stared at Andy. Soon they started crying and hugged their maknae.

“Get on your knees!”The manager shouted as he pointed at the ground, “You won’t stand up nor talk unless I tell you!”

They quickly got down on their knees but the manager was still fuming. He walked behind Hyesung and smacked him on his head . “Ha! Trying to cover for your members huh?”

The smack was a bit strong that his head hit the floor. At that time he almost lost his consciousness. He couldn’t hear a thing and his eyes became blurry.

“Aish SHIBAL!” Dongwan stood up angrily , ready to attack their manager  with his fist. “I’m gonna kill you ing bastard!”

Junjin with his tears looked at Hyesung then to Dongwan. He didn’t know what to do but when he saw Andy went to Hyesung’s side and hugged him, he quickly stood up to kick their Manager’s balls.

“What is this all about?” They heard a familiar thrilling cold voice. They turned and saw Lee Soo Man at the door. The old man was smirking while staring at them. “You children are really something.”

Junjin and Dongwan angrily knelt on the ground and lowered their heads but at the back of their mind, they already killed their manager.

“This is the first time I saw trainees fighting their Manager with fist” Lee Soo Man continued as he walked towards them. “Did I make a mistake in putting all of you in a group? Each and everyone of you is stubborn and troublesome , I thought you guys would make a very strong team work. Oh..yes..you have incredibly strong team work. I can see how you cover and fight for each other. “

They could hear Lee Soo Man whispered something to their Manager before the old man scoffed while looking at them , “Let’s see how stubborn you children can be. Stay on your knees. No one moves unless your manager says so. .. or else you gotta say good bye to your beloved leader and main dancer.”

With the Lee Soo Man left their training room leaving them crying silently on the floor.

2 hours has passed when they heard footsteps running towards them.

Hyesung cursed inside. What took these two too long? I can’t feel my legs anymore. My left knee is aching again. Aish! 

They saw Eric and Minwoo’s eyes grew larger when they saw their members kneeling on the floor. Their adorable little maknae was crying too hard that his nose became red and his eyes became puffy.

“Do you like what you see?” Manager said while pointing at the members, “Everytime you make a mistake, the whole group will suffer for you.. We have no choice but do this”

No one answered. Everyone just kept their heads low. “This is the first time to have such stubborn trainees. What makes it more impossible to believe is Lee Soo Man put the  6 of you together.”

He turned to Eric and Minwoo, “I know they were covering for you. You two went clubbing with S.E.S right??”

Eric and Minwoo didn’t answer. They couldn’t help but feel guilty for their members. The manager then pointed at Eric, “Leadershii…. Aren’t we clear about dating ban?”

Hyesung quickly looked at Eric. What? Is Eric in a relationship now? He felt a tug in his chest. Suddenly he couldn’t breath properly. His hands were cold as ice. He knows he likes Eric more than a friend but he never wish for something more than friendship. Or he did? Now he’s not sure. Why? Why does it ing hurt  like this?! He knows someday Eric will have a girlfriend and it’s not impossible because he’s so lovable. Everyone likes him even he, himself, a guy likes Eric. He told himself to prepare his heart when Eric got himself a girlfriend but not this soon. He’s not even sure about his feelings yet. But why does it hurt him this much?

“Lee Soo Man told me a while ago that the both of you could go home..not in your apartment but in your hometown” The manager said and everyone’s eyes grew larger. Andy began to cry harder , Dongwan and Junjin shook their heads while crying. Hyesung was there… staring blankly at Eric.

“I’m quitting too!!!!!!” Their little Andy shouted but the moment the manager shouted at him to shut up he quickly complied and went back to kneeling.

Eric and Minwoo went back to their apartment but they didn’t cry especially Eric. He just looked straight at his manager’s eyes and said. “Fine. I don’t even need you and this company!”

They were packing their clothes in Eric and Hyesung’s shared room they didn’t know that the members were just outside the door listening to them.  The manager told them to stop the two members from leaving and tell the two to render 10 hours extra training for this week as a punishment.

When they heard how excited Minwoo when Eric invited him to go back to U.S they thought these two members were not even sad at the thought of leaving the group so they planned to punish them.

“Ya!” Hyesung said with his arms crossed . The two members looked at him with guilt in their eyes, “You guys  haven’t gone yet?”

He saw Eric staring at him  with his sad teary eyes so he quickly turned to Minwoo , “If there’s a chance, we’ll meet again”

He intentionally said those words coldly and he even smirked at them.

“That’s it?” Eric asked as he grabbed Hyesung’s shoulder, “I know we did something wrong but could you send us home without hard feelings? Don’t be like this Hyesungie”

Minwoo looked at Eric  then Hyesung, somehow it feels like he was watching a sad love movie.

“What can we do about it” Hyesung asked still not looking at Eric. “We’re only trainees , we don’t have a say in this and infact you guys really pissed Lee Soo Man off this time. I can’t blame him. It’s your fault.”

He could feel Eric’s grip on his shoulder became tighter and heavier. 

“Hyung” Junjin said with his teary eyes and shaky voice, “Let’s keep in touch”

Minwoo and Eric walked towards Junjin and hugged their dongsaeng. Dongwan was about to say something when their little Andy ran inside the room while crying.

“Hyung! You don’t have to go” Andy said while wiping his nose and tears, “The manager told us that you don’t have to go anymore”

“Aish!” Junjin and Hyesung smacked Andy’s head, “You’re too early! They’re not yet crying!”

The six of them started laughing forgetting about the hurt and anger they’ve experienced that day.

--

Hyesung was already lying on his bead trying to sleep when he heard Eric sighed behind hi