“Uki, you can’t leave,” Donghae, Leeteuk, and Sungmin said simultaneously, all standing up at the same time.

My eyebrows raised a fraction of a centimeter as they looked from one another’s faces, the rest of the members staring at them.

“Oh, I can feel the tension in the air,” Kyuhyun said, looking the other direction, a couple of the other members following suit.

Donghae sighed and came up to me. “Look, I don’t know what their reasons are for wanting you to stay, but you know what mine are.” He took my hands and kissed them, saying, “Please don’t leave so soon.”

I blinked. For a second there, just for a second, I forgot it was Donghae who kissed my hands. I thought for a second that it was…

I blinked, slipping a glance at Sungmin, who looked at me worriedly. I took a deep breath.

“I’m really sorry to leave so soon after we just started mending things, but…It’s college. What am I supposed to? Classes start in a couple of weeks, and I need to be there,” I responded.

He still had hold of my hands as he said, “Uki, you still have a couple of weeks.”

“But I have to go home and get everything else. I mean, this isn’t me going to UCLA or Pepperdine, or some other college an hour’s drive from my house in California. This is Cambridge, 5500 miles away from my home. It’s going to take some time to get used to, and I have to be there. I-I’m sorry, but my mind is made up. And there isn’t anything you or anybody else in this room can say to change that,” I said, pulling my hands from his grasp.

“What if I told you that Jiwon was at Cambridge?” a voice asked quietly.

I peered around Donghae’s tall frame and snapped a glance at the table.

“Who dares mention that…That…That NAME?” I demanded.

Siwon turned to look at me. “I didn’t want to tell you earlier because you were so excited about going, but this is just ridiculous that you’re leaving us so early. Jiwon got accepted into Cambridge, taking the same classes as you are. Mom told me two weeks ago. If you go now, she’ll be registered for the same classes as you at the same time during term.”

“SAME CLASSES AS ME?! WHAT HAPPENED TO WANTING TO BE A DOCTOR?!” I exclaimed, anger coursing through my veins. “How dare she?! Oh, but this is just TYPICAL Jiwon. Never could get anything on her own, so she just HAS to go and steal everything that I do!”

“Who’s…?” Leeteuk asked Siwon.

“Jiwon is my other younger sister, older than Uki by three years,” Siwon explained. “And obviously, they don’t get along very well.”

“That is just SO like her! She NEVER wanted to become a lawyer until I wanted to be! SHE IS JUST SO…SDKLGJKLHLIDHRGIERHYGNSLKDNGBRIWHGWIEPTY! I HATE HER!”

“Now, now, Uki, the good Lord doesn’t look kindly upon those who carry hatred within themselves,” Siwon told me.

“Oh save it, Siwon. I don’t need you preaching a sermon to me while that SHE-DEVIL is running my dream school amuck! Oh, I’ll show her. She better keep an eye out. I’ll come outta nowhere and TAKE HER DOWN.”

“How come we’ve never met Jiwon? Or even knew she existed up until now?” Ryeowook asked.

“Jiwon never believed in mixing with the rich and famous. She refused to meet Super Junior because she thought it would ‘taint her reputation,’” Siwon explained. “Yeah, I don’t understand it either.”

“Oh, she doesn’t need to meet Super Junior to ‘taint her reputation,’” I said, “’cause she’s perfectly capable of doing that herself!”

“Uki, calm down,” Siwon said.

“HOW CAN I CALM DOWN WHEN I JUST FOUND OUT THAT SHE IS TAKING THE SAME COURSES AS ME AT THE SAME SCHOOL?!” I exclaimed. He just didn’t understand what that witch has put me through in the past! SHE WAS PART OF THE REASON WHY I NEVER WANTED TO MOVE BACK TO SEOUL…EVER!

“So…Are you leaving?” Sungmin asked me meekly.

“To hell with leaving! I put up with that for sixteen years of my life! Now that I’m finally rid of her, you think I’m gonna go back to the same school with her?! Ain’t gonna happen, buddy.”

Siwon smiled. “So you’re staying, then?”

“At least until the next term. There is no way in Hell that I’m gonna live with that she-devil again.”

“I don’t know who this Jiwon chick is, but I sure am liking her at the moment! She’s the reason you’re staying, which means no cooking for me!” exclaimed Ryeowook happily.

Alex laughed. “Amen to that!” she said, high-fiving him.

Donghae looked at me as everyone else was celebrating. I was still visibly shaking from rage.

“You gonna be okay?” he asked me.

I shut my eyes and took a deep breath. “Yeah, I’ll be fine,” I responded, opening my eyes to look at him again. “Let’s just get this show on the road, eh?”

I smiled, letting him know that everything would be okay.

~~~~

“Oh Bonamana,” I said to Alex backstage.

“I know, right?” she said, laughing slightly. “I’ve heard this song a million times and then some.”

I smiled at her. In more ways than one, she was just like Donghae. Not only did they share physical similarities, but their personalities, as much as either one of them hated to admit it, were also very much alike. They were both beyond goofy, they had their moments of immaturity, and they both had issues with being alone.

“So how’re things with you and Kyuhyun?” I asked, watching as the guys were dancing and singing. It seemed like someone was missing though. Hmm…

“Wait, what?” Alex asked, giving me a panicked look.

I looked up at her, giving her one of those looks. “Oh don’t even try to deny it. I wasn’t in Korea but two hours, and I could already tell that you were head over heels for the guy.”

“Well…I could say the same about you and Leeteuk,” Alex responded, still looking a bit panicked.

“Ahh…Trying to avoid the question, I see? Not a good sign, Alex.” I laughed, looking at Leeteuk with his near shirtless self. Ahh, that guy. “But yes, I’ll admit. Ever since I was younger I’ve always crushed on Teukie. And it’s always been there, in the back of my head, but now that I’m older, I know better. I mean, he’s about to go off to the army soon, he’s ten years older than I am, and he’s…Well, he’s almost like my older brother.”

“But we can all see it, Uki,” Alex said, “everyone in the house. Even my brother, who would rather kill himself than admit it, knows it’s there. Everyone knows all except for you two.”

I looked up at her again. “Alex, you’re ridiculous. I may like Leeteuk, but I know for sure that he doesn’t like me. Besides, like I said before, there’s nothing that can happen between us. We’re just too…Distant.”

“Whatever you say, Uki, but you can’t fool me.”

I smiled at her. “You can’t fool me either, Alex. I know you’re practically in love with Kyuhyun, no matter what you may say to try to convince me otherwise.”

“Uki—”

“Ah, ah,” I said, holding my hand up to her. “No need to explain anything. You’ll come around soon enough, just watch.”