Chapter 1:  2005 - So Everything Started the Way It Ended

With an unanswered phone call.

Jaejoong puts the phone back to it's receiver, crestfallen.  He stood inside the phone booth, full of thoughts.  It was when the person next in line knocked on the phone booth's glass side that he finally snapped out of his reverie.  He stepped away from the phone, allowing the person to use it.  Chang Min, his best friend stood not far away, looking so handsome and studious in their grey school uniform.

"Let me guess, the call went to the voicemail.... again?" said the tall teen with a knowing expression.

Jaejoong shrug, pretending to be indifferent though they both know he was not.  

"I don't know why you are still so hopeful.  Your dad is a trash, what did you expect from him?" said Chang Min.  "I mean, no offense----"

"What I expect, Shim Chang Min is the rent money!" snapped Jaejoong impatiently.  "Mr. Lee already gave me enough time!  We are the only one who haven't paid our rent.  My grandma has no money to begin with.  Last time he came, he promised he would pay everything."

"Last time he came was last summer and even then, he was only here because he was escaping from his gambling buddies," said Chang Min pointedly with that ironic expression that always make Jaejoong want to hit him.  

Although Jaejoong would never admit it to his friend, he was right.

His heart sank.  Last summer, his father had came home with his customary guilty grin.  His grandmother had beat him up with her walking stick (as per their routine whenever his father reappeared from whichever hole he had crawled out from).  His father came home with a thick wallet this time, having won big in a game with his----- peers.  He had to run away because said 'peers' suspected the nature of his win, which was probably rightly so, and he had to find a place to wait out their anger until they cool off.  

After getting hit and then subsequently having his wounds tended to by the tearful perpetrator herself, his father started talking big, as per his habit; boasting about what he had achieved (mostly winning in gambles and card games).  He started promising them things, to buy his mother a new tv (to outdo their next door neighbour who always bragged about her policeman son), to buy Jaejoong a new uniform, to pay the rent of the hovel that they were currently living at.  Although Jaejoong was sceptical at first, it was hard to remain so after his father brought home a new set of tv one day.  Then, he gave Jaejoong money to buy a new uniform; he could finally wear one that did not have any patches and would fit him right for once.  Two days before the school term was to start, his father disappeared again.  His grandmother cried and then fell ill as she ought to do, and now, the responsibility to pay the rent fell on Jaejoong's shoulders again. 

Maybe he could start working part-time again?  That was how he had been paying the rent until the restaurant that he was working at closed because the owner was relocating to Jeju Island.  Working during the weekdays was out of the question because school lasted until night.  Perhaps the weekend then?  Wasn't the newly opened The Coffee Beans been having some work openings?  He was no barista, but he could do a decent job as a waiter----- or a dishwasher.

He failed to notice Chang Min's scrutinizing eyes on him, too busy wallowing in self-pity.  "You know, I told you that my dad would be more than happy to help you out."

Jaejoong groaned in annoyance, "I told you, no.  Thank you for offering, but I think I will figure everything out myself."  A part of his heart would love to leap in joy at his friend's offer for help (God knows the Shims have more than enough money to spare to help him out), but a bigger part wished that Chang Min would put a stop to this incessant offer to help.  He'd already received enough help from other people to begin with. He'd loath to think how he would have to grovel at Mr. Shim's feet the way he had to grovel at his grandmother's former employer who was currently funding his study (not that he was ungrateful for that help of course).  And.... the moment he received the cheque would be the day the balance between him and Chang Min shifted, because he just knew a small part of his brain would forever remember that help and he would unknowingly downgrade himself from a friend to a sidekick.  At least Chang Min was better than his grandmother's former employer's son.

Chang Min appeared as though he wanted to say something, but decided against it.  

It was still early in the term and their History teacher was ill, so their afternoon class was canceled.  They walked past the throngs of people in the busy street of Myungdong, both lost in thoughts.  As they waited to cross the road, the giant billboard perched on the side of Silhwa Mall flashed, displaying a video advertisement.

A beautiful young girl appeared on the screen, standing in front of a bunch of other girls who had been blurred out.  'Are you the one we are looking for?' was written in white cursive.  Then, the smilling face of famous actor Lee Jung Nam adorned the screen, 'If you have what it takes to be a star, join SM Entertainment's Annual Audition------'