Sky’s POV

I had been instructed to give the reaction of our own written Korean songs to Universe, so I’d called everyone to meet at the boys’ dorm for the feedback.

Learning the choreography had been so ridiculously intense and it was so humid outside in June, I was sweating like crazy.

I pushed my hair back and wiped the sweat off my forehead as I approached our tiny dorm.

“Here, do you want this?”

I turned to see Eun Suk handing me a handkerchief. I nodded and took it, wiping my face.

“Thanks, I’ll give it back to you later”, I said, not wanting to give her back a dirty sweaty handkerchief.

She shrugged, replied, “Whenever is fine” and turned around, and only then did I realize that Myungsoo was also there with us.

“Okay, I’ll see you next week then?” , Eun Suk asked him, and Myungsoo nodded.

They briefly hugged and then Myungsoo left, waving a hand at me before he did so.

I just nodded, feeling completely awkward with everything I’d just seen.

And then I saw Eun Suk’s face- she looked completely and utterly blissful.

She was absolutely glowing.

She could walk into a pole and not feel a thing right now.

I stared at her in confusion for a few seconds, but then just shook my head and ignored her.

She’s a weird one.

I opened the door of the dorm and Eun Suk walked in.

But as she walked in, I noticed her scent. It was light, floral, and airy.

No longer cigarette smoke.

I pushed myself to just ignore her, and stepped past her once we were both inside the dorm.

“Everyone here!?”, I called, and all the members rushed to the dining room.

“I’ve got the feedback on our songs”, I announced.

“And?”, Chan Hee asked. Everyone huddled around me eagerly. 

I grinned, “All songs approved, of course.”  

There was a cheer and we all exchanged high fives.

“We’ll get feedback on the choreography this evening, and then we can start recording the Korean album”, I added, and all the members were so excited.

“We’ll finish the Japanese and Chinese albums in the next three days, and we’ve also got to work on choreography for the Star Dance Battle”, JiHyun reminded us.

I nodded in response, eager to start practice. I knew I was tired, but something about this was just so exhilarating. I’d never imagined meeting or working with people who were just in love with music and dance as I was… and here I was, working with nine of them.

“Hey, JiHyun oppa”, Shim Jang asked, “Do you know who you’re working with for your drama?”

JiHyun nodded, “I got the call today.”

“Who?”, Soori asked.

“Well, let’s see… I’m the main male lead, the second male lead is Song Joong Ki… And the two female leads are Shin Se Kyung and Ha Ji Won.”

“You…”, Jaesun said, putting a hand on JiHyun’s shoulder, “are a lucky man.”

“Wait, wait, wait”, Gongchan spluttered, forcefully separating JiHyun and Jaesun from each other “does that mean you-you’re going to k-kiss them?”

JiHyun shrugged, “I guess, if I have to.”

“You can’t”, Chan Hee blurted out suddenly.

Everyone was silent at Chan Hee’s reaction and then JiHyun laughed easily and said, “And why not?”

I could see the blush Chan Hee was fighting back, so I quickly said, “Because you can’t betray our Gongchan!”

I prodded Gongchan in the back discreetly, and Gongchan faked a laugh and took this opportunity to grab JiHyun’s face in-between and smooch his cheek.

The girls squealed and laughed. Jaesun doubled over laughing. Kyuhyun simply looked mildly impressed, with one eyebrow raised.

Then, Jin’s phone rang. She jumped up and cursed, “We completely forgot about the photoshoot, Kyuhyun!”

She grabbed Kyuhyun’s hand –I felt a weird feeling here- and pulled him out the door.

I shook my head. Today was a strange day… I needed to clear my head…

“I’m going to go practice our choreography…”, I announced and started to leave.

 “We were going there too, can we join?”, Soo Ri asked, pointing to herself and Shim Jang.

I nodded, and the three of us headed out together.

 And though I certainly headed out with the single thought of going to the dance studio, Shim Jang somehow guided us to the boba tea shop instead.

0.0

What am I doing with my life?

Chan Hee’s POV

JiHyun had convinced the Presidents that Universe needed new dorms. Dorms where one, it was bigger and had more bathrooms, and two, one where we could live together in and collaborate whenever possible.

I completely agreed, but I couldn’t deny the risk we were taking by saying we lived in one house… so I asked JiHyun if we could perhaps find two houses next to each other connected by a tunnel or hallway or something.

So JiHyun had decided to take me with him while looking at houses, so we could compromise on something.

I hadn’t counted on me blurting out that he couldn’t kiss anyone right before we went shopping for houses, though…

I sighed as he drove us to a nice neighborhood a half hour away from the three Entertainment companies in Seoul.

“What’s up?” , he asked automatically.

 I just shrugged and replied, “Nothing… I just… I made everything really awkward, didn’t I?”

“Well”, JiHyun replied easily, “What were you supposed to say? It would have been awkward if you’d said, “Yeah, kiss her, kiss her”.

I laughed despite myself. That would have been pretty awkward.

“See, JiHyun?” , I said, “I know… without a doubt in my mind… that my other half is LuHan… but sometimes…”

I bit my lip, am I going to regret whatever I say?

“Let’s go look at some houses while you collect your thoughts”, JiHyun said easily, sliding into a parking space.

There he does it again! Puts me at ease… he always knows… exactly what to say.

We entered the Offices, and JiHyun tapped the front desk and asked, “Excuse me, we’re here to look at some houses?”

“Oh, newlyweds?” , the lady asked.

I could see that JiHyun wanted to face palm himself but he simply shook his head and said, “Can we see some houses?”

“Of course, let me just lead you to…”

JiHyun’s phone suddenly rang and he picked it up.

“Hello?”

Because I was standing right next to him, I could hear the voice on the phone.

It was a soft, feminine, voice, almost like Soori’s, but more naturally seductive.

“Hello? Oh, is this JiHyun-sshi?”

“Yes”, JiHyun responded.

“This is Shin Se Kyung… I heard from the director that you were cast for the new drama…”

“Yes, yes, that’s me”, JiHyun replied.

“Oh, all right, I just wanted to say it’s nice to meet you and I hope we work well together..”

“Yes, thank you, I’m sure we will… I probably should have called you first…”

“Oh, no!  It’s my pleasure to call first…I really enjoy your music…”

I was getting more and more frustrated with this ego- conversation until I finally tapped JiHyun’s arm and asked aggressively, “Are we looking at houses today or not?”

JiHyun smirked at me and raised his eyebrow.

I turned to walk out the door and into the car, but he grabbed my arm and motioned for me to wait.

“Se Kyung-sshi, I’m really sorry but you’ve caught me at a rather busy time… I will call you back later.”

I struggled against his grip, but my god, he was really strong.

“Yeah, thank you-OW!”

I’d bit his arm.

I looked at him with my eyebrow raised and he finally got off the phone.

“You have some serious patience issues”, JiHyun muttered grumpily, rubbing his arms, but he finally shut off his phone and we walked together to the set of houses for display that the lady had pointed out.

Gongchan’s POV

“WELCOMMMEEE TO DREAM TEAM 3, WHERE ONE SECOND DEFINES THE WINNER!”, the three MCs, Yoo Jae Suk, Heechul, and our Universe’s Kyuhyun, shouted aloud.

“Today”, Yoo Jae Suk announced, “We have the couples races of three different categories: Male Couples, Female Couples, and Both Gender Couples, isn’t that right, Kyuhyun-sshi?”

“Yes”, Kyuhyun replied, “that’s right. There are three different courses today, each with five obstacles. Since these are couple races, one member will do the first, third, and fifth obstacles, where their partner completes the second and fourth, which are generally the tougher obstacles. And now, Heechul-sshi, would you like to introduce our competitors?”

“Yes, I would!”, Heechul responded obnoxiously,  causing the crowd to laugh, “Please welcome the Male Couples: Myungsoo and Sunggyu, LuHan and Chanyeol, Kikwang and Yoseob, Yunho and Changmin, Eunhyuk and Leeteuk, and Minho and Taemin!”

The crowd was going absolutely wild at all of the male “couples”.

“And”, Yoo Jae Suk announced, “the Female Couples: Jia and Min, Minzy and CL, Yoona and Taeyeon, Krystal and Amber, Eyoung and Uee, and finally, Chan Hee and Jin!”

At this point, CL, Taeyeon, and Krystal seemed to be the crowd’s favorites.

I was starting to feel really anxious- the crowd was huge and we’d never practiced with so much energy from the crowd members…

“Gongchan?”, Soori whispered to me, “We have to walk out together…”

I nodded, taking deep breaths to calm myself down.

“And, finally”, Kyuhyun took over, “the Both Gender Couples: Junho and Suzy, Nichkhun and Yuri, Jaejoong and JiHyo, Wooyoung and IU, Doojoon and G.NA, and finally, King and Laiqa! Good luck to my dongsaengs from Universe!”

I looked up at the announcer’s booth and saluted Kyuhyun, thanking him for cheering me on. He must have known I would have felt nervous. Thanks, hyung.

I walked in a state of daze, out to the courses, as they began to describe each obstacle.

Men’s Course.

Women’s Course.

Both’s Course.

The Men’s Competition went by quickly and furiously, with LuHan and Chanyeol defeating Yunho and Changmin by half a second, and Yunho and Changmin had barely beaten Eunhyuk and Leeteuk. Chan Hee was screaming like crazy with the rest of the fan girls as the results came up:

LuHan and Chanyeol 48:00:02

Yunho and Changmin 48:00:38

Eunhyuk and Leeteuk 48:01:01

Myungsoo and Sunggyu 48:04:22

Kikwang and Yoseob Failed to Finish at 5^th Obstacle

Minho and Taemin Failed to Finish at 4^th Obstacle

You could literally feel the tidal waves of cheering and excitement crash over you as LuHan and Chanyeol took a victory lap, slapping fan’s hands as they went.

Chanyeol also came over and hugged Chan Hee, cheering her on for the next Women’s race.

We went straight to the next obstacle course, where all the idols had their microphones checked and then lined up.

Jia and Min were first, and failed to finish when Jia’s hands slipped on the fourth obstacle bars, and she dropped into the water, to disappointed groans and moans.

Minzy and CL did manage to finish with a decent score of 1:20:05.

Next up was Yoona and Taeyeon, who were a good pair, and helped each other to get first at 1:11:49.

I could see Chan Hee starting to get nervous in front of me.

Krystal and Amber were both amazing, throwing their whole bodies into it. Krystal, in particular, was so agile, her body was so graceful as she ran, tumbled, and jumped…  I guess I could see why Kyuhyun liked her so much… Amber was also a fighter, despite slipping on the bars, she held on with one hand and finished. They posted an amazing 56:52:00.

Eyoung and Uee had everything going for them, but Uee stumbled on the first block of the third obstacle and fell. Eyoung, who I’d gone on a few dates with before (as Soori had pointed out to me…), was very cool about it, diving into the water to help Uee get out.

I cheered for them, and saw Soori threw me a suspicious glance.

Soori and I both screamed loudly for Chan Hee and Eun Suk, both of whom were extremely tense as they got up there. The crowd was nearly silent… they were not the favorites here, compared to old-school girl groups SNSD, f(x), After School, and 2NE1.

I knew their routine now… Eun Suk would do the second and fourth obstacles while Chan Hee did the first, third, and fifth.

Chan Hee pressed the button, and was off in a flash- balance was her strong point and she used advantage of it to sprint across the cubes quickly, before they toppled. She was across within seconds and slapped Eun Suk’s hand, who raced up the stairs to the next obstacle, which were the five yoga balls.

“You need to throw your body! Go, use your body weight!”, Chan Hee screamed at Eun Suk. It could clearly be heard because of the microphone.

I saw all three MCs clearly laughing their head off at Chan Hee’s screaming.

Eun Suk did throw herself, clearing the yoga balls with ease, and slapping Chan Hee’s hand, who zipped off and jumped onto the first block, which tilted forward. She barely kept her balance, but tumbled onto the next block, and barely skidded to a stop before going over. But she gathered herself and skipped across the next three in one and a half seconds.

“Go!”, Chan Hee shouted, touching Eun Suk’s hand.

Eun Suk ripped across and threw herself before catching the bar, clearing half the bar with one jump. The water automatically starting spraying onto Eun Suk, but she held strong. The audience couldn’t help but start to cheer for them now, and had started up a shouting of “Jin, Jin, Jin, Jin!”.

Meanwhile, Chan Hee, who was so focused, she didn’t realize that none of the MCs were even bothering to commentate anymore, because her yells were far more entertaining, started her shouting again.

“LEFT, RIGHT, NOW YOUR LEFT HAND, NOW YOUR RIGHT!”, she shouted at Eun Suk, who was almost finished with the monkey bars.

“I KNOW!”, Eun Suk finally shouted back, and the audience dissolved into laughter.

Eun Suk took a risk and jumped to the small landing block even though she still had a few monkey bars left. Eun Suk slipped, and skidded off the landing block, everyone gasped-!

But she grabbed onto the landing block with the fingertips of her right hand, and stretched her left hand up to slap Chan Hee’s hand before letting go and tumbling into the water.

Chan Hee ripped down the stairs to the final obstacle- with 22 seconds on the clock.

She grabbed the swing, flung herself onto it, and swung as far back as she could- she let go- her arms splayed out- and she grabbed the thing hanging down that enabled her to climb onto the landing platform in safety.

The audience was absolutely roaring, and Yoo Jae Suk was exclaiming over the microphone, and Chan Hee dashed across the final strip of the platform and slammed her hand on the button- 26:07:03.

Even the male idols were cheering, thoroughly impressed by the time Chan Hee and Eun Suk had put together. The fans were just beside themselves, and they screamed when Chan Hee and Eun Suk held hands and bowed in front of the fans.

They climbed down from the obstacle course, hugged us, and made their way to the winners’ chairs, where Chanyeol and LuHan greeted Chan Hee with excited hugs and high fives. Myungsoo snuck up when the cameras were looking elsewhere to quickly throw a towel over Eun Suk, who was soaked and probably freezing cold.

So, the results were posted for Dream Team 3 Women’s Competition.

Chan Hee and Jin 26:07:03

Krystal and Amber 56:52:00

Yoona and Taeyeon 1:11:49

Minzy and CL 1:20:05

Jia and Min Failed to Finish at 4^th Obstacle

Eyoung and Uee Failed to Finish At 3^rd Obstacle

It was the turn for the Both Genders’ groups now…

My heartbeat started racing like crazy.

Calm down, Gongchan, calm down.

Jaejoong and JiHyo, obvious crowd favorites, were up first, and posted a challenge right from the start with a quick 1:00:09.

I had to stop myself from groaning, what if they were all that good?

I’d make a fool out of Universe…

“Gongchan, you’re turning pale, are you okay?”, Soori whispered to me.

I just nodded, watching Nichkhun and Yuri start their own turn at the course.

Nichkhun had some trouble with the second obstacle, the spinning figures, and lost precious time there, but Yuri, who was a lot more athletic than I expected her to be, came close to making up all that time. She was way quicker than JiHyo. They came in with a 1:03:02, earning both cheers and groans from the crowd, as their performance came just short of winning.

Wooyoung and IU were next, and though IU seemed very agile, she fell at the third obstacle, when her foot caught on one of the cylinder landing platforms. She clung on to the side of the platform for as long as she could, but after 40 seconds had passed, her strength gave out, and she slid down.

Although I felt bad for IU and Wooyoung, I had to admit, a part of me appreciated the fact that even if we lost, we wouldn’t be the only ones.

Next was Doojoon and G.NA, Doojoon would have won if it had been by himself, but although G.NA was decent, she was a little slow, getting stuck halfway on the fifth obstacle. They resulted with a 1:12:07.

Next were Junho and Suzy. They were also a crowd favorite, and everyone anticipated them to do well. Besides me, I saw Soori’s hands clench into fists…

Is she angry? Why is she so angry? She’s never like this…

“Soori?”, I asked, and she turned around to face me.

Something in her eyes flickered, but she hid her feelings from me and forced herself to smile.

“Yes, Gongchan?”, she asked sweetly.

I hesitated and then I shook my head and said, “Nothing… I… I just wanted to apologize for making you feel bad that one day when I picked you up from Lotte World…”

Soori just shrugged and said, “It wasn’t really-”

Suddenly she stopped talking as the sounds of the crowd overwhelmed our conversation.

Junho and Suzy had just claimed first with a time of 56:51:58.

“Oppa”, Soori asked me, as we watched them run a victory lap, “are you really sorry?”

My eyebrows scrunched up. What is she talking about? Didn’t I just apologize?

“Yeah?”, I replied.

“Then let’s claim first place”, Soori replied, and then we stopped talking as we switched on our microphones and headed to our spots.

“King and Laiqa!”, Heechul sunbae announced. There was some cheering for me, but a lot more for Soori, since she was, after all, a Jung.

Still, I spotted a fan holding a banner that said in glitter letters, “FIGHTING, KING!”, and my heart rose.

I was no longer as nervous as I was when I had been sitting, watching everyone.

Now was my turn, and fail or win, I was ready. 

Soori was taking all of the balance obstacles (first, third, and fifth), since her years of ballet would help her with those, while I focused on the strength ones, which, hopefully, my acrobatics training would help me with.

Soori hesitated, bracing herself, and then she slapped the start button, and sprinted across the first set of ladders with no trouble at all. The crowd roared in approval at her speed, and then she met my eyes, and I could see the fire burning in her eyes just before she slapped my hand.

“Go!”, she yelled, and I sprinted to the second obstacle.

I flung myself, jumping over the first spinning figure, and catching the second one. I use my legs to hook myself around the third one, and used my core strength to swing myself around and grab the fourth one with my arms again. I pushed myself off, barely landing on the platform, and slapped Soori’s hand. I ran off to wait at the fourth obstacle, while Soori went to the third one.

She was off, I heard her take a deep breath before she swung off, and she swung so high, she cleared the entire thing. I was afraid she’d injured herself when she fell with a loud thud, and I cried out, “Hey, are you okay!?”

I tried to help her up, but she grabbed my hand and pushed me towards the next obstacle, yelling, “Go, go!”

Winning this must mean a lot to Soori…

 I stumbled onto the first pinwheel and almost lost it right then and there. I had to use my knees and all of my core strength to hold onto the pinwheel as it went around once. 

I barely jumped onto the second pinwheel, when my shirt got tangled in my arm, I ripped at it, but couldn’t get it loose, so without thinking, I just ripped my entire shirt off and barely managed to jump onto the third one. My abs and arm muscles felt like they had been tattered to shreds and I felt dizzy. Still, I leaped onto the fourth one, and across- I was through! I slapped Soori’s hand and though she looked at me with concern- my breathing was really rough- I motioned with my eyes for her to continue, and she did.

She effortlessly crossed the last obstacle, and with a yell, she slammed her hand on the finish button.

The time?

56:51:02.

One more second and we’d had been late, I thought to myself, before I was embraced passionately by Soori.

And then Kyuhyun, who had abandoned his MC post to cheer us on, embraced us with such great force, that all three of us toppled into the cold water.

But it felt refreshing as we plunged into the water together.

It felt just wonderful.

I raised my arm in victory, and hugged Soori close to me. She was laughing, and the sound was so beautiful. And Kyuhyun was clapping, whistling, as excited as I’d ever seen him be.

“Thank you!”, Soori yelled to the crowd, and then we were roughly hugged by Chan Hee, Eun Suk, LuHan, and Chanyeol, who had left the winner’s chairs to congratulate us.

Eun Suk laughed as she ruffled my hair and wrapped a towel around me. I hugged my noona tightly.

The results were posted right then.

King and Laiqa 56:51:02

Junho and Suzy 56:51:58

Jaejoong and JiHyo 1:00:09

Nichkhun and Yuri 1:03:02

Doojoon and G.NA 1:12:07

Wooyoung and IU Failed to Finished 3^rd Obstacle

In order to show gratitude for our fans, all of the participating groups came to pass out drinks, and the rest of Universe, even JiHyun, who had been busy performing for Immortal Song 2, came to help pass out drinks during his break time.

The sun was about to set and it was freezing cold, but the director had handed large puffy coats to all of us.

I met the two teenagers who had been holding the FIGHTING, KING! sign, and agreed to take a picture with them, despite the fact that I probably looked terrible.

I sincerely thanked them for cheering me on, and handed them drinks. Meanwhile, Jaesun, who was a huge crowd favorite, had just gotten his hat stolen by a tiny baby. Jaesun pretended to be upset, but then laughed and petted the baby’s head before continuing to pass out drinks.

A lot of girls asked Kyuhyun and Sky for photographs, and screamed at them how good-looking they were.

A lot of boys were asking Shim Jang to perform for them, and she obliged with a short high-speed popping segment and even the other idols at Dream Team were impressed, watching her. She humbly bowed afterwards and simply laughed when a boy asked her to marry him.

Shim Jang called back cutely, “Well, I’m a little busy at this point in my life!”

Eun Suk and Chan Hee were getting a lot of praise for their performance and a lot of comments on their strange “teamwork”.

A lot of people also seemed to notice that Chan Hee and Chanyeol were siblings only now, and it seemed to take a lot of people by surprise.

Suddenly, I realized a teenage boy was giving Soori flowers. I walked over to them and heard him call her “amazingly beautiful” with an “angelic voice”.

Suddenly, it was bitterly cold and I felt the need to rush everyone to the car.

I shoved Soori in the van and then grabbed Eun Suk, who was speaking with Myungsoo and batting her eyelashes at him.

These two girls! I swear…

I let in only Jaesun and JiHyun before slamming the door shut.

Hmmph, have to keep these girls under control!

Then, my phone busted out our debut song. I had to fidget for a little bit, as the phone was in my pocket, but I got it out on the last ring and answered it.

“Hello?”

“Hello, is this Gongchan-sshi?”

“Yes, who is this?” This person’s voice is vaguely familiar.

“This is Park Im Kyung, the director of Two-Faced Beauty?”

Oh! “Yes, hello, director!”

“Congratulations. You’re one of the four male leads.”

Oh. My. God.

“I-I am?”

“Yes. Tell your two friends thank you, not only for allowing you to audition again, but also for allowing us to find a singer as talented as you.”

“I will, Director”, I said. Embarrassingly, my voice choked up.

“Gongchan?”, Soori asked timidly.

“I will look forward to seeing you next week. I mailed the schedule to your manager.”

“Yes, I-I- thank you.”

“Of course. I’ll see you, Gongchan-sshi.”
The phone hung up, but I couldn’t let go of the phone.

Finally, Eun Suk pried the phone away from my ear and said, “Gongchan? Can you hear me? Is something wrong?”

“I made it”, I whispered.

“What?” , JiHyun asked.

“Wait-“, Jaesun said, and I could see that he got it, “Gongchan, don’t tell me you-you’re-“

“I’m CASTED!”, I screamed.

The driver in the front seat jumped, but JiHyun and Jaesun both shouted with joy and clambered over their seats to the back seats to hug me.

The girls squealed as they were shoved to the side, but I embraced both JiHyun and Jaesun tightly, trying not to let my emotions completely overwhelm me.

I got in! I’m casted! All those nights… all those…

“JiHyun”, I choked out, “Jaesun, thank you.”

The girls were utterly bewildered, and exchanged looks that clearly confirmed my insanity, but Jaesun and JiHyun both understood, and JiHyun probably knew how much it meant to me even more than I did, because he’d gone through this process before.

“Um…”, Eun Suk said, “we girls will just stick with telling you congratulations.” 

Jaesun laughed and sat on Soori’s lap and JiHyun sat on mine, and we were quite a cramped, if not happy, group on our way home.

And in the other van, Chan Hee, Sky, Shim Jang, Soo Ri, and Kyuhyun were celebrating the fact that the companies had approved our choreography as well, and also celebrating the fact that Kyuhyun and Soo Ri had both been hand-picked by Marc Jacobs to feature the new Marc Jacobs London and USA.