Chapter One:

Hope and Painful Truths

 

“Mom, I’ll get them after the audition. I promise,” I told her with a smile as I sat the two, giggly six year olds on her couch.

 

“Jongmin. Yunah. Please be good for grandma and grandpa, okay? Mom will be back in a couple of hours,” I told them as I kissed their cheeks and gave them a big hug which they returned.

 

“Ne, eomma! I'll make sure this troublemaker doesn't do anything bad,” Yunah spoke firmly. Out of the twins, she has always been the most level headed and responsible, unlike her brothers who was everything but.

 

“Hey! I’m a good kid! I don’t need you looking after me,” Jongmin exclaimed in mock horror, fully aware of his own troublemaking ways. I looked at him pointedly when I heard his tone, knowing that he was going to prove himself to be difficult instead of cooperative.

 

“Not today, Min. Just be good and listen to your grandparents AND your sister.”

 

“Why her? I’m the oldest!” He spoke back, crossing his arms and taking on a familiar pout that made my heart wrench uncomfortably.

 

“We’re the same age!” Yunah retorted, mirroring his actions.

 

“I came out first!”

 

“How do you know that?!”

 

Their bickering continued and I shook my head, looking up at the clock in exasperation. I didn’t have time to calm them down because I needed to make it across the city to the audition venue, so apologetically, I looked up at my mother. She looked at me back with an amused smile as she ushered me over to hug her.

 

“Don’t worry about them, honey. Your father and I will keep them under control. Focus on your audition,” she spoke as I walked into her awaiting arms. I could feel my nerves wash away as her warmth embraced me.

 

“Thank you, eomma.”

 

She only shook her head as she let me go and looked at me.

 

“Goodluck, butterfly. Focus and I know you’ll do great. Your father also thinks the same.”

 

I smiled back to her and turned to say one last goodbye to my twins before exiting the house and sprinting to my car. Now, I only have forty minutes to make it to the venue.

 

I drove out of the tightknit neighborhood, pulling onto the busy roads of Seoul in my pursuit for to Cheongdamdong. I turned off the radio, relishing in the silence as I continuously ran my solo routine over and over in my mind. I’ve been preparing for this audition for months and as the day approached, I’m sure that I physically ran the routine for my parents, the twins, and my friends at least one hundred times. I could probably perform this routine backwards, blindfolded, and with my hands tied at this point, but that doesn’t alleviate the multitude of nerves that I’m feeling because this was more than just an audition. Its an opportunity to follow and accomplish a dream I’ve had since I was a young girl. A dream I’d given up on and thought was impossible.

 

BEEEEEEEEEP!

 

I mashed on the break, stopping my car just in time before I rammed into the back of a taxi. I looked around to see that traffic was at a standstill and wasn’t going to move anytime soon. Another setback that I just don’t need this morning.

 

“No no no. COME ON!” I yelled, hitting my steering wheel in frustration.  This just HAS to happen to me TODAY of all days. I thought as I looked out at the sea of red lights and blaring horns surrounding me.

 

Yep. This just had to happen…

 

I sat back in my seat, sighing. I needed to calm down and accept that maybe it just wasn’t my time. There’s a plan for everyone and this audition was just not apart of my plan. I must accept it and I must let this opportunity g-

 

“Riyoung!” A yell followed by a loud thump to the passenger side of my car broke me from my internal musings. I jumped, startled by the sudden outburst and looked to see a familiar goofy smile filling my car’s window.

 

“Hong!” I exclaimed, unlocking the passenger door and motioning him to come in.

 

He opened the door and slid into the seat, escaping the frigid Seoul weather for the toasty atmosphere of my car’s heater. He placed his palms in front of the vents, sighing in contentment as his fingers began to warm and the heat radiated against his palms, expelling the winter chill. His eyes found me and his eyebrows knitted together as he took in my outfit of black leggings; a thin jersey, grey leotard; and an army green parka. Not exactly winter appropriate, parka or no parka.

 

“Where are you headed, Ri?” He questioned. One of his eyebrows quirked as he continued to scrutinized my choice in clothing. I giggled at the look on his face, used to his daily critiques and judgement.

 

“Well, if you must know Park Hongjin, I am on my way to an audition,” I paused. “I mean, I was on the way to an audition but it would seem that I will not be making it anymore.”

 

I sighed, overly defeated and exasperated. My kind of luck should be that of which is locked away in Pandora’s box and never seen from again.

 

“Yes you will.”

 

It was my turn to raise an eyebrow in scrutiny.

 

What is he talking about? There’s no way I will make it to the audition, even if this traffic magically began to move at hyper speed to get me there. I’ve accepted my failure. I don’t need him putting wishful thinking into my head.

 

“Hong, what are you talking about? I’m not going to make the audition.”

 

“Yes you will!” He exclaimed, hope etched in those wide set, brown eyes. “How long do you have until the audition starts?”

 

“Ten minutes and these cars aren’t moving anytime soon,” I sighed.

 

“That’s right. These cars aren’t going to move, but you are.”

 

Now I was both baffled and intrigued. What is he getting at? I’m going to move?

 

“Look, from the direction you’re headed, it seems like you’re on your way to Cheongdamdong which is a thirty minute walk from here. If I remember, you were the fastest runner our high school track team ever had. If you leave now and sprint, you’ll make it there in ten minutes, fifteen tops,” he spoke quickly and my mood began to lift with each word. He was right! I probably could run there in time.

 

“But what about my car?!”

 

“Give me your keys and I’ll drive it there when the traffic gets moving.”

 

I swear I could kiss him if he didn’t already have a girlfriend.

 

I unbuckled myself from my seat, reaching into the backseat to grab my backpack that I used in place of a duffle. I took off my parka and stuffed it into the bag before leaning over the seat and giving him a hug.

 

“This is why we’re best friends. You’re a lifesaver, Hong!”

 

I let him go and scrambled out of the car as he slid over to the driver’s side with a bashful grin.

 

“Aww, shucks! Just get moving and make it to that audition. Pass and that’ll be thank you enough.”

 

“Most definitely!” I said as I began to jog away.

 

I had almost made it across the crowded road way when I heard him shout to me where he should bring the car.

 

“SM Entertainment!! I have a permit in the glove compartment!”
 

Then I was off the road and onto the sidewalk, sprinting for dear life.

 

Unknown PoV

 

“Okay, guys. Today we have a meeting with the writers at SM today, but it seems we’ll be a bit late due to this traffic,” our manager relayed to us from the passenger seat. We hummed in return, settling back into our seats in preparation for the long wait ahead of us. It never failed that Seoul traffic would be backed up at some point in the day, but we were grateful for the bit of down time it provided us in between our hectic schedules.

 

I grabbed my headphones from my bag, plugging them into my phone and then into my ears. I shuffled through a few songs before finding the one I wanted and sat back in my seat. I need a nap but I know it’ll take me a few minutes before I’ll be able to really fall asleep so I focused my attention outside the window.

 

Unlike the congested roadways, the sidewalks were pretty empty except the few people that had chosen to walk today. The smart people that had chosen to walk. Honestly, I would prefer to walk but being so well known made walking difficult so cars were my current salvation.

 

I watched for a couple minutes, almost on the brink of sleep when I saw her. She zipped past my hazy vision like a blur but I was able to see her and wake up fully. Her long strides and hurried steps as she seamlessly ran the sidewalk, gracely and narrowly missing other pedestrians in her path. It was as if she were dancing around them as she moved, curling out of their way, but it wasn’t her run that first caught my eye. It was the look of elation that painted her features, brightening her smile as she passed, but also, the gut wrenching familiarity of her entirety that made me take out my headphones and hear the other guys begin to question the young woman, too.

 

“Isn’t that?”
 

“No way, Baek. It couldn’t be-”

 

“-she died years ago…”

 

There hushed whispers still reached my ears no matter how hard they tried to keep me from hearing them, but something in their words made me execute my next action. So, as if I were being pulled along a string, I opened my door and stepped out of the car, yelling as loud as I possibly could.

 

“Riyoung!!”

 

Riyoung PoV

 

I halted mid stride, skidding to a stop from the velocity that I’d propelled myself along the sidewalk. It was like a beacon in a hazy night but I’d heard it as clear as day and something in me lurched from the familiarity of the voice.

 

I turned around, searching behind me for the voice, but I couldn’t see anyone who looked as if they’d called to me. And I couldn’t spend anymore time searching, so after one last pass over the crowded road, I turned and fell back into my pace en route for the audition.

 

3rd Person

 

“Kai! What were you thinking! Someone could have seen you,” Suho yelled at the young man, worry filling his voice. No one paid him any mind though as they were all too shell shocked by the revelation Kai’s action has caused.

 

It is her. She responded. She’s not dead.  Kai thought as a long gone aching in his heart returned, rearing its ugly head.

 

“But I thought… But they said... ,” Chanyeol whispered in confusion.

 

“I know, Chanyeol. We all thought the same,” Chen patted the younger’s back, confused himself.

 

They were all confused, but more so, they all felt betrayed. They’d been told that she died. They’d been told that she was in accident and that she had died, but right there, before their very eyes, she stood -- alive and NOT dead. And to toughen the blow they’d all just received, she hadn’t bothered coming to look for them. After all these years, she didn’t contact them. She didn’t contact Kai. She loved them right? She loved him right?!

 

Chanyeol looked at his dongsaeng, his brother, and clenched his fist at the sight before him. Kai was broken again after all those years of healing and getting past her death. He’d come to terms with it enough to move on with his life, but now, it was like a fresh wound that had been ripped open by none other than the person who had caused it. His rigid frame and b eyes being enough evidence of the pain that was encompassing him from the inside out.

 

How could she do this to him? Didn’t she love him?! Sure, hurt us, but not him! He loved her!

 

Chayeol’s mind roared as he ripped his eyes away, sitting back in his seat and focusing on containing his anger. Sure, he was regularly a happy person but when it came to those he cared about, he couldn’t act as if it was nothing. She’d hurt Kai. She’d hurt him. She’d hurt everyone.

 

He wasn’t going to let this go.