March 2017

Cheongdam, Seoul, South Korea

Park Joongsu was positively giddy as he waded through the throng of fans stalking the front entrance of the SM Entertainment building off Seolleung-ro in Cheongdam. He happily took the small gifts and notes from the fans even as security rushed him and his fellow Super Junior member Kim Heechul through the front entrance. He will forever be grateful to Super Junior fans, to the Ever Lasting Friends or ELFs, who had stuck with the group through more drama than was seen nightly on KBS, SBS, and MBC combined. The ELFs had waited for them, literally and figuratively, and supported them, no matter what. Yes, there were always those fans with the “holier-than-thou” attitude who thought that they could dictate what the group did or how the members acted, but most of their fans, their real fans, understood and supported the group through triumph and tribulation. And now, they were about to emerge from the longest period of hiatus, 2 years with no major album release or activities because the members had to fulfill their military duty.

With a group that was 13 strong to start out, they knew that the period of their military enlistment would be more drawn out than normal, and it had been manageable until it was time for Lee Hyukjae, Choi Siwon, and Lee Donghae, or EUNSIHAE as Joongsu likes to call them, to fulfill their military obligations. Because they were all so close in age, with Hyukjae and Siwon being born only 3 days apart and Donghae just 6 months thereafter, and with the 3 of them being such integral workhorses on the group’s songs and promotional activities, it was impossible for Super Junior to be active in the “interregnum,” especially with Kang Youngwoon still fighting his personal demons, with Kim Kibum all but abandoning the group for a quieter life, and with Lee Sungmin having a ridiculous war being waged against him by some insane fans who were offended he chose to be happy and marry the love of his life.

But now, with less than 5 months until they got their EUNSIHAE back, the group was finally getting together again to talk business. This was the first official meeting to plan for the new album and promotional activities. Joongsu didn’t want to make it look like the absence of the 2 youngest members, Kim Ryeowook and Cho Kyuhyun who were just at the beginning of their military tours, was trivial, but they would be a full 9-member group again on this album, and that was what was needed to make a full comeback. And it will be 9 members, Joongsu told himself. He would see to it that Youngwoon and Sungmin came back to the group as full members again, the crazies be damned. And if any of the executives or PR gurus at SM Entertainment didn’t like it, well, then they’ll just have to deal with it. This was part of why they had insisted on setting up Label SJ. They were going to fully control their affairs, business or otherwise, from now on.

As he and Heechul made their way through the front entrance, Joongsu chuckled as he did every time he entered this building. There were many things for which Lee Soo-man could legitimately claim genius status, but putting the main business offices of his vast entertainment empire on a narrow road by the Han river with only one entrance and exit, affording no escape from the throngs of fans was definitely not one of his brighter ideas. Despite the building, jokingly referred to inside the company as the house that Super Generation built, being only a few years old, SM Entertainment was already quietly looking for a new location north and west of the Cheongdam and Apgujeong areas, somewhere that afforded more privacy, more security. There had been several incidents with fans who bordered on being deranged, but there was really no solution until they moved to a more secure building. In the meantime, they will continue to run the gauntlet every time they came to work.

For his part, a bemused Heechul remained quiet as he and Joongsu entered the 11^th floor conference room. He had not seen Joongsu so happy in such a long time, and he hoped that his friend would stay happy. Joongsu had been through so much in his life, and yet he kept on giving and giving to others. Heechul wanted so desperately for things to go well, without any drama, without any controversies. He wanted them to go back to the time when Hangeng was still around, when they were young and foolish and happy. But Heechul also knew that he had a role to play in the Super Junior family, and that was the part of a smartass. It was a good mask that he used to hide his true emotions. It was a good tool he wielded when he wanted to do good and didn’t want to take any credit for it. Most folks around them, even most of the members, were fooled by it. He had been able to use it for the past 2 years, but now the one member who could always rip away the façade and peer deep into his soul was coming back. The bastard would be back in August and he will start saving Heechul’s soul again. Not that he hadn’t already done it many times over, but Heechul was not going to give him the satisfaction of knowing that. Heechul was the smartass, the rebel, the crazy one, after all.

“What are you so happy about?” Shin Donghae asked as Joongsu and Heechul took their seats next to him and across the table from Youngwoon, Sungmin, and Kim Jongwoon. Shindong had been out rather late the night before, and a 9 AM meeting time was not good for his health. “And why isn’t Kyuhyun here? He’s not going into the army until May.”

“Kyuhyun has his annual checkup today,” Jongwoon answered. No more explanation was needed. Even after 10 years, Kyuhyun still lived with the after-effects of the traffic accident that almost took his life, nearly took four of them away. His doctors monitored him closely to make sure that his lungs were okay, that he didn’t have any adverse effects of the splenectomy, and that his lacerated liver remained functional. And once a year he entered Seoul National University Hospital for 2 days to have a thorough physical to make sure there were no problems. “I don’t even know why he chose to go through basic training, he could have taken the medical exemption they offered.”

“You know he won’t be satisfied with that,” Sungmin interjected. “Especially when he sees what Donghae and Siwon are doing. He feels like he needs to do his part, to pull his weight.”

“Pull his weight my . He just wants to show he can do anything Captain Korea can do.” Heechul cracked, making everyone around the table laugh.

“Okay boys, enough,” Lee Soo-man couldn’t help but smile as he saw his sons, for that’s what he considered all of them to be after such a long time, falling into their familiar personalities. “We’re here to talk about the next Super Junior album and 2018.”

“Yes we are,” Leeteuk answered as they got down to business. “Now that we will have 9 members again…”

“Nine?” One of the SVPs from Label SJ interjected, looking up from his notes. “But I thought it was only seven, at least for this first comeback album, perhaps in 2019 there can be….”

“Nine.” Leeteuk stated calmly, looking not at the SVP, but directly at Lee Soo-man. The unasked question, the unspoken challenge, hung in the air as the two men stared at each other.

“Yes, nine.” Lee Soo-man finally stated, a smile forming as he looked around the room at his sons.

Joint Operations Military Hospital

Daegu City, South Korea

“This is bull…sir.” The declarative statement made the flight surgeon, a one-star general in the Republic of Korea Air Force, jerk his head up and glare at the young soldier in front of him.

“I will forget you said that, soldier, given the circumstances. I won’t a second time.” General Im sternly reprimanded Choi Siwon. He understood how the young man felt, and he always hated this part of his job, but they were still in the military, and protocol had to be followed. “Now, as I was saying, the only real alternative here is a transplant. We will explore all options, but your best chance is with a transplant.”

“But what about the new experimental treatments at the Cleveland Clinic in the US?” Siwon pressed. He had called his father as soon as this had all started three months ago, and his father had been pulling in all kinds of favors to get the latest information on treatments, especially in the US and Europe. It didn’t matter where they had to go…they were going to beat this thing.

General Im took his glasses off and rubbed his temples. He had known Siwon for all of his life. He and Siwon’s father had served together in the Special Forces in their younger days, and they were still as close as brothers. He knew how driven Siwon was, and he knew how hard Siwon will fight for what he loved. “Siwon, as I told your father, that treatment is highly experimental, and highly dangerous. I’m not sure it’s a chance worth taking.”

Siwon was about to argue again, but he was stopped by the third person in the room, who had remained quiet, partly due to shock, until now. “Siwon, please, stop. I…I need time to think…to process all of this.”

“You take all the time you need, Lee Donghae, but I’ll be damned if I’m going to lose you, if Jiwon is going to lose you, if we’re all going to lose you to this disease. I’ll give you mine if I have to, but you are not going to die because of that bad ticker inside you.”