Gongchan’s POV

“Hello, you are Gongchan-shhi, yes?”, the casting director asked me.           

I was standing center stage, with a panel of five judges in a row directly in front of me.  

My heart was absolutely thundering in my chest as I stuttered out, “Ye-yes”, and bowed.

I thought I heard frantic whispering behind me as I bowed, but I couldn’t look back.

Stay focused, Gongchan. You have to leave a good impression. You need to do well here… because… because… I really want this part.

“Do you know what musical you are auditioning for?”, a stern grandmother from the far left said. 

“Ye-yes.”

“Tell me about this play.”

I continued to hear whispering behind me but I flatly tried to focus as I recited, “Two-Faced Beauty is about a girl with double personalities. She is absolutely gorgeous and kind to those who seem to possess money, merits, and looks, and is terrifically terrible to those who lack in any of the three areas. This play records her relationships with four different men and how it changes her perception on life.”

There was dead silence.

“Is that… all?” , the main casting director asked me, skeptically.

 Crap, what am I missing…? No… I recited it perfectly… What…?

“Yes…yes, that’s all.”

“All right, well, sing for us, please”, the grandmother requested.

Suddenly, I felt it all crashing down on me.

I’m not good enough. I missed out on something… I messed up completely…

My voice started singing acapella, but even to me, it sounded hollow, and completely emotionless. I struggled to try to make it sound like it did during rehearsal, but suddenly, my voice cracked on a high note.

This is a nightmare. I swear this isn’t real. It can’t be.

I finished the song two lines early and hastily bowed and left the stage, leaving the judges mumbling behind me.

I shut the door and collapsed to the ground.

I heard something like a pair of feet run by the doors on the other side, but my mind wasn’t registering anything.

What had I… just done?

Jae Sun’s POV

I’d totally nailed it. I just knew it. MC-ing had always been easy for me, I naturally thought in a way that sounded like announcing. The only mistake I’d made was when I was walking out. I hadn’t really been looking in front of me and had smashed right into the closed door. Other than that, though, I’d been extremely successful in making the directors laugh and applaud with delight.

Score.

I hopped off the van and entered the dorm smiling. I wondered who my partner was going to be-

Crash!

What the heck was that!?

I sprinted towards JiHyun and Gongchan’s room, which was the room where the sound had room from.

Crash!

I threw the door open, nearly ripping off the door handle in the process.

I could not believe my eyes.

Gongchan, our maknae Gongchan, was throwing his things everywhere in the room. Books bounced off the walls and clothes were scattered on the floor. Gongchan picked up his pillow and slammed it into the wall.

What…? What happened?

“Gongchan!”, I yelled and ran to him. I grabbed the pillow out of his hands and tossed it aside before grabbing both his arms to stop him from throwing anything else.

“What do you think you’re doing, huh? What the hell is wrong with you?”, I shouted at him.

This is not the Gongchan I know.

Gongchan didn’t say anything, just stood there, surrounded by the mess he’d made.

“Gongchan…”, I said, suddenly unsure of what to say. I feel like I’m standing in front of a stranger. I let go of Gongchan’s arms and stepped back.

Gongchan looked at me as I backed away. He must have seen something like fear in my face because he slowly and calmly told me, “I lost my cool.”

Trying to make both of us feel more comfortable, I replied light-heartedly. “I’d say”, I told him, raising my eyebrows at the mess he’d made.

“I screwed up at my auditions for the musical… I screwed up like you wouldn’t believe. I practiced so hard for that. Every night… and then I just… lost it. Pushed away any chance I might have had…”, Gongchan sighed and sat on the bed.

I bit my lip. What can I say? He did practice with everything he had… He stayed up past midnight for the first time in his life…

Suddenly, the door creaked open.

JiHyun hyung walked in.

Gongchan and I both looked each other with guilty “Uh oh” faces, thinking of the mess the room was in.    

But JiHyun totally ignored the state of the room and addressed Gongchan directly. “Gongchan, you want to be in the musical that bad? You know you’re asking for an extremely musically challenging role sought by hundreds of other actors? You know you don’t have a name for yourself in the theater world right?”

Gongchan hesitated at this suddenly serious JiHyun, but slowly and firmly nodded his head. “Yes.”

“You won’t be able to sleep for five days, is that okay?”, JiHyun asked Jason, without laughing or smiling. JiHyun was dead serious right now. 

Gongchan nodded again.

“This is what I want you to do. Use this gig we have to clear any negative feelings you still have inside you. After the gig, you and I are going to practice outside all night, so bring a jacket”, JiHyun ordered.

“Hyung… all night?”, I asked weakly, thinking of how Gongchan could barely stay up past midnight. Plus, he has Dream Team 3 TryOuts tomorrow.

“Or give up”, JiHyun answered without a pause.

I looked worriedly at Gongchan, “Don’t push yourself too hard. It’s just a musical! There’s always another one!” 

Gongchan looked down at the floor, thinking, and he said slowly, “But there isn’t another musical like this one, Jae Sun hyung.”

He looked up at JiHyun, “I’ll do it.”

JiHyun nodded and simply said, “Get ready for the gig. Oh, and Jae Sun, Kyuhyun’s been asking about your sister.”

I groaned. Crap, crap, crap. Why is she so stubborn? I told her to text him back!

“What?”, Gongchan asked me, wide-eyed.

“Nothing”, I muttered, feeling a headache coming on. “C’mon, we have to get ready for the gig.”

Kyuhyun’s POV

Krystal still didn’t text me back, but Taeyeon did. Taeyeon noona had texted me ,”Heard you guys have a gig today? Hwaiting! ^^ Kyu~ Thanks for treating me to dinner yesterday!”

I grinned at her texting aegyo and texted back, “Thanks, Noona! Yeah, no problem. Last night was fun.”, before slipping the phone back in my pocket.

I examined myself in the mirror, and then, pleased with what I saw, walked out to the main stage, where everything was being prepped.

I saw JiHyun absent-mindedly strumming some chords on his electric guitar. Since today was a gig, all of the members who could play instruments were playing instruments.

Chan Hee was on drums, Jin was DJ-ing when needed. JaeSun was on keyboard and I was on upright piano. Sky and JiHyun were on electric guitars, and Soo Ri, who had learned bass specifically for this gig, was on electric bass. Gongchan and Soori were sitting as singing, and Shim Jang, who absolutely insisted that she could not sit still at all, was given the freedom of dancing while all the other members weren’t. XD

I smiled. Little kid has spunk.

I was about to join JiHyun when I noticed two figures talking to each other at the edge of the stage.   

That’s Sky for sure… who’s he talking- Krystal?

I watched as she threw her arms around Sky. Sky just stood there, not embracing her, but not resisting, either. What the hell?

I sprinted across the stage and pulled Sky back, away from her.     

“Krystal?”, I said, puzzled. What is going on?

 “It’s not-“, Sky started, but I immediately cut him off, “You shut up for a moment, Sky. I want to hear this from you, Krystal.”

Sky sighed, but I didn’t pay attention to him. Krystal just scoffed and folded her arms, turning her head from me.

She’s really getting on my nerves.

“Care to explain why you’re ignoring my texts?”, I asked her, “You too busy texting this kid?”, I said through gritted teeth, nodding at Sky. If she likes him, then why the hell didn’t she just tell me?

“Kyu-“, Sky started again, but I shot him an obvious glare that spelled out, “ S H U T U P.”

 “Be clear about your intentions”, I said coldly to Krystal before turning my back on her.

But I heard her retort angrily, “You be clear about your’s.”

“What?!”, I said, spinning back to face her again. When have I ever done something that made her questions my intentions? Is she stupid?

Krystal could see the anger in my eyes, but she fired right back at me, “What about when you took Taeyeon unni to dinner last night? Or when you went to the park with Yoona unni last week? Kyuhyun, what am I supposed to think!?”

“They’re just my FRIENDS!”, I yelled at her, exasperated. In the midst of the yelling, I saw Sky carefully edge away from us.

“Well, what does that make me? We haven’t been to the park or to dinner. Seems like we’re less than friends, Oppa! What do you want from me? Do you really even like me, Kyuhyun?”, Krystal yelled back, furious. I could see tears threatening to spill from her eyes.

Crap. I didn’t mean for her to… It wasn’t supposed…

I stood there, helpless, and totally at a loss for words.

What am I supposed to say? I…I…

I heard a sharp whisper from the sideline and saw Sky and Jaesun huddled behind the guitar amps. So that’s where Sky had gone, to get Jaesun. JiHyun was also there, having stopped strumming chords on his guitar to come watch the show. Apparently, Gongchan was also part of the audience, cheering me on. 

“Tell her you like you, you idiot!”, Jaesun whispered to me.

Oh, right… yeah…

I took a deep breath, braced myself, and said awkwardly, “Krystal, to be honest, I-I actually-“

“Honest? Yeah, I kind-of figured you were just lying to me this whole time”, she said bitterly. A tear raced down her cheek and she turned abruptly and ran off the stage.

What? Utterly confused and lost, I stood there on stage, wondering what I’d said wrong… What? What?

I turned to face the other three with my mouth open. What?

“You”, JaeSun said, fuming mad, “Are a total idiot!”

“Wait, me?”, I said, incredulously, “What did I do wrong?”

“Why didn’t you just tell her?”, Jae Sun yelled at me, and punched my arm.

“Ow, Jae Sun…”, I winced, massaging my arm.

“Well, to be fair, she did kind of rush to a conclusion”, JiHyun said, trying to hide a smile. He was obviously finding this hilarious, while I felt like complete crap.

“Kyu… you’re not mad at me, are you?”, Sky asked me in a small voice.

I avoided his gaze and said, “I was before. But I think I get it now. She’s just doing it to get back at me.”

Sky nodded and said, “Tell her next time, okay? I’m tired of trying to be the nice guy to her. It’s not like I can just roughly push her away or something.”

“Yeah”, I replied, and then turned to Jae Sun, “Sorry. Sorry for making your sister cry.”

Jae Sun glared at me harshly for a minute and then sighed and dropped his gaze. “Whatever, she’s an idiot.”

JiHyun laughed and ruffled Jae Sun’s hair lightly, “Come on. This gig is going to be the best concert ever. Let’s set up.”

Chan Hee’s POV

I was flipping through a magazine while getting my hair done. I came across a picture of Yoona and Seohyun posing with my brother, Chanyeol, and LuHan. The hell is this?

Scoffing, I threw the magazine onto the makeup counter.

SM needs to stop dragging SNSD and Exo together.

“Just call them, then”, Soo Ri said.

I looked over at her. She’d picked up the magazine I’d just thrown on the counter and flipped to the page with said picture.

“They seem to be having fun by themselves, there’s no way I’m going to call them and ruin it for them”, I said, but I was feeling the jealously squirming in my stomach.

Hmmph. Fine. SNSD? What’s SNSD?

Soo Ri rolled her eyes at me and got up from the make-up chair to change into her outfit.

Whatever. I’m going to go scream out my feelings during this gig, I thought, upset but not willingly to admit I was upset.

When everything was set-up on stage, I went backstage with the other members, waiting for us to be announced.

“And please welcome the Collaboration of Chrome and Epik Love!- UNIVERSE!”

 The screams were absolutely piercing.

“Why does it sound so loud?”, Shim Jang asked us, as we started walking out.

“They’re closer to the stage than normal”, JiHyun replied, and as we walked out, we could see that this was indeed true.

The closest fan could easily be touched with just a stretch of my leg…

Oh my goodness. I can feel it, so much more than before. I can feel the energy out there… and it’s directed as us. I-this… this is amazing…

In concerts, the audience was enormous, but there was a very visible barrier between the audience and us. We were the performers and they simply cheered us on. We were very much in our own bubble on stage.

But here- there was no place to hide.

“Don’t get too carried away”, was JiHyun’s last whisper to us, and then we started the gig.

We started with “JayWalking”.

Our band started up playing, and Kyuhyun started to sing his part first.

The crowd simply swayed their arms for us as Kyuhyun was singing in rough, powerful, but somehow endearingly gentle voice. Soori joined a few moments later and the crowd started clapping along to the beat of the bass and drums.

All fears of losing beat on the drums were gone as the audience began to clap louder and louder. There’s no way I can lose the beat when they’re clapping just as I’m drumming. I shot Soo Ri a smile, and she grinned back, and I could tell she was thinking the exactly the same thing on bass.

We came to the instrumental, and Sky rocked out on his electric guitar solo. The crowd broke into loud applause and roars, which became screams as we hit the last note of the song.

By the fifth song, all of us were sweating, but playing absolutely effortlessly. We literally “rode the crowd” as we played along. Half the time, I couldn’t even hear my own drums playing right in front of me, so I fearlessly beat away, so lost in the sweat, the heat, the yelling. I couldn’t hear a thing, but I could feel our music pounding away, sweet, crazy, and amazingly emotional all at the same time. There was no fear even though we were out of control.

This is freedom, I thought. There really are no restrictions.

Suddenly, our fans started to scream our fan chant at the top of their lungs: “CHAN HEE! SHIN! A.N.! L1GHT! SKY! LAIQA! JIN! KING! JASON! SHIM JANG! CHROME! EPIK LOVE! WE ARE ONE! UNIVERSE! UNIVERSE! UNIVERSE!”

JiHyun nodded at us as he took center stage for his guitar solo- the last piece of the night.

He signaled the beat to us and then we began together, as one. Truly, as one.

I never thought that playing music would be so enjoyable, so free. For once, it isn’t about competition or stress. For once, it’s nice to just play with my friends.

I closed my eyes as JiHyun’s solo filled my ears, and although it really was effortlessly on his part, I could feel the years and years of practice he’d put in.

The crowd was roaring, screaming, waving, dancing, but the only thing I could hear was our music.

Our music.

a/n: thanks --candy for the poster. <3  okay... as promised:

Spin the Bottle Q & A

Tablo asked Soo Ri: Who are the members you feel most distant from and do you want to get to know them?

Answer: The boys in general because us girls don't really get to interact with them a whole lot. Yes, I want to get to know them.

Chan Hee asked Eun Suk: Which female member are you on good terms/comfortable with? Which male member?

Answer: Comfortable and Good Terms are not at all the same thing. I am, unfortunatly, most comfortable with you in Epik Love! ... I can't believe I just said that, but as you know, we are NOT on good terms. Picking a male member is hard... I trust Sky and JiHyun oppa the most because Sky knows the most about me and JiHyun seems very understanding and encouraging... but I'm most comfortable with Gongchan, cause I can order the maknae around. ;D
There. Answered your question. Happy?

Sky asked JiHyun: I want to know...as a leader, what do you think you've failed to do?

Answer: Truthfully, I've been the biggest failure in this entire group from the beginning. Unlike you and the other passionate members, who did music because of your love of music, I did music to achieve other goals. I didn't start because I love it; I did it to run away. Ever since I realized this, I've been working hard to change it, and hopefully, this has shown as I live and work with all of the members, but... I'm not really all that strong, I just pretend I am when I need to lend others my strength. I don't know if you will understand, but at least try to sympathize with me. I know you're disappointed with your hyung.

Sky’s Reply: I'm not dissapointed with you hyung. This may sound awkward coming from me, because I don't really expess myself often but you truly are strong. Although you may not realize it, you have to be one of the strongest people I know, but....that doesn't mean you have to be strong all the time. You have members that carw and love you that are here to lend you strength as well. Just know they as a dongsaeng I'm always here to lend you strenth whenever you need it. With your music, hyung...although you may have started it for some other purpose right now, after our group debut, you've put passion into this debut. This may sound like a bunch of crap coming from me, but I'm not dissapointed in you hyung. I'm PROUD of you. This kid that a lot of people think has no emmotion, is proud of you hyung. This is probable the most words you've see me say (or write) but I hope you know hyung, all of this comes from my heart.

Gongchan asked Soori: If you and me switched bodies for a day, what would you do?

Answer: Gongchan, I want to eat candy as much as possible~

Jaesun asked Chan Hee: Chanhee noona, what would you do if Chanyeol started dating a Universe member?

Answer: I would probably make her life a living hell for ever thinking about going out with him but if he's happy with her then I would learn to get used to her as my brothers girlfriend.

Doojoon asked Sky: If you could become famous for just ONE thing, what would it be?

Answer: Hyung...i think...i would want to be famous for my selfless-ness. Not that i need to be recognized or anything! But i think lots of people see idols as stuck up peoplenow and days...and i want to change that. I want people to see me going out and helping people, helping my members, and so on. So...i hope this makes sense. If not, then I'll try harder to explain what i'm trying to say!

Soo Ri asked Kyuhyun: Why did you choose L1GHT as your stage name, what’s behind the meaning of it for the character?

Answer: L1GHT is basically the word 'light' with a number one. It's supposed to represent how there's only one true light. Since light is the way out of tunnels, caves, and other constricting places, I'm supposed to be what leads people to a new "world".

Soori asked Jaesun: Jaesun oppa, in what situation do you feel most uncomfortable? And if it's actually happen, how do you want for people around you to react?

Answer: Soori dongsaengie, I feel most uncomfortable when the person in front of me is walking slightly slower than me, so I have to walk at an awkward speed to try and get passed them, tripping in the process. When it happens, I hope people around me don't notice my awkward foot movements xP

Reply from Soori: My brother is so funnyyy. xDDD

JiHyun asked Gongchan: So I'm leader and you're maknae. Say the roles were reversed for 1 minute. What would you make me do for that one minute?

Answer: Hmmm, I'll feed you lots of candy and make you grow taller?
But actually I'll just give you free time~

Kyuhyun asked Shim Jang: If you could change the sleeping arrangements(?), who would you give the couch to?

Answer: I would give the couch to Eun Suk.

Jaesun asked Yoseob: Yoseob hyung, what was the most awkwardest/stupidest thing you've done in front of the Beast hyungs?

Answer: Awkwardest moment? Probably when Doojoon hyung was trying to teach me a flip and I slipped and my crotch landed on his face. That was pretty...um... awkward. I really couldn't look him in the face without blushing for weeks, and it was bad, cause we had to go out together on interviews and stuff. Yeah, so, the last words I'll say to you as a mentor: "Don't slip and land with your crotch on someone's face." It makes life easier if you don't do it. Right....

Mithra asked Soori: Out of Universe, who is the one member you are the most jealous of?

Answer: I have to admit that I'm jealous of Shim Jang the most.
I'm jealous of her dance, that she's dancing like it's her life, that she embraces every moves.
I'm also jealous of her personality, that even she's that amazing she still the kind, funny and lovable person.
She seems enjoying her life much, like she doesn't have any problem in mind, like she live a perfect life.
I am being to much, aren't I? *chuckles*