I was sitting in one of the chairs in front of my sister’s giant mahogany desk. It was so cool that my baby sister of all people managed to become one of the youngest in SM Entertainment’s history to be a corporate advisor to Kim Young-min, CEO of the most powerful entertainment industry in all of South Korea. At age thirteen, a couple months shy of her fourteenth birthday, Uki had been working with SM for a little over a year now, and all her predictions about numbers and big group hits were always spot on. And she really thinks she had found her calling. What better job is out there for Uki? She sits here, making important phone calls, signing important papers, yelling at important people, and giving important advice about the company to one of the most powerful men in South Korea. Yeah, that’s right, she was my baby sister.

“No, no, that just won’t do! I want SNSD to debut now, and not a moment later!” she yelled angrily into the phone. I looked up from my phone to look at her. She looked so right at home it was ridiculous! She paused, her eyes moving back and forth rapidly across the papers spread out on her desk as if the answer to all her prayers was sitting right in front of her face. “No! That is unacceptable! You just watch, they’re going to be the biggest and newest girl group in all of South Korea, and if you don’t debut them now, you’ll be sorry for all the money lost later!”

I smiled to myself. Ahh, she was just so funny sometimes.

She let out an exasperated breath. “Fine, be stupid about it then! Go ‘head and wait two more years to debut them, and we’ll just spend the next two years crying at the amount of money we’ve lost over your stupid decision!”

She hung up the phone angrily and scribbled something on a piece of paper just to chuck it into her wastebasket right beside her desk.

“Who was that?” I asked curiously.

“That idiot of a chairman Lee Moo San or Soo Man or Moon Man, or whatever in the hell his name is. He’s too stupid to be the chairman of a company like SM! He doesn’t know how to treat anybody with respect and he makes horrible financial decisions. He’s going the be the ruin of this company and I will laugh at the person who will end up suing this company in the future thanks to his stupid decisions! UGH! HE DOES NOT DESEVE TO BE THE CHAIRMAN!”

I laughed at her. “Yah, Uki, calm down, okay? Everything will turn out fine.”

She sighed and scribbled something else on a sheet of paper. “I hope you’re right, oppa. So. How are the rest of the guys doing?”

When I realized that she wasn’t going to look me in the face while talking to me since she was so wrapped up in her important paperwork and whatnot, I turned my attention back to my phone and said, “They’re doing great, actually. They really miss you and wanna see you again sometime and they’re just really anxious for the debut already.”

She sighed heavily and said, “I’m working on it, I promise you, I am. You have no idea how hard I’m working to have you guys debut already. You guys have worked ridiculously hard and you most definitely deserve it.”

I laughed at her and gave her one of those looks. “You’re thirteen and sitting behind a desk that’s three times your size, pretty much controlling one of the biggest entertainment companies in the country. How did this happen again?”

She looked up at me and gave a little laugh. “Well, I’ll tell you right now that mommy and daddy are none too happy about my decision to take a break off of high school for this.”

“They’re right, you know. Education should always come first.”

“Yeah, I know, but this was just too good an opportunity for me to pass up. Almost like you auditioning.”

I smiled. I loved how Uki and I could just get each other sometimes.

“Besides,” she continued, “I’ve already been accepted into Pepperdine and UCLA. I’m getting my masters either way. Heh. That rhymed.”

I laughed. “You’re sucha dork!”

There was a knock on the wooden oak door. “Miss Choi?”

“Come in, Hwa Young,” Uki responded, still staring intently at the paper she was scribbling on.

The door opened and the rest of Super Junior 05’s members tumbled in, followed by Kim Young-min, Lee Jong-in, and Lee Soo-man, the CEO, CFO, and chairman of SM, respectively. Otherwise known as three of the most powerful men in the entertainment industry of South Korea.

I immediately stood up, bowed to the men, and joined the guys. Uki looked up at the men.

“Young-min, Jong-in, Soo-man, sirs,” she greeted, bowing her head respectively. She stood up, motioning to her chairs. “Please, take a seat. Hwa Young, coffee for the fine gentlemen, please.”

“Right away, miss,” Hwa Young, Uki’s assistant and receptionist, answered, bowing her head, and leaving out the door. She had the courtesy of shutting the door on her way out.

“What brings you here for such an honored visit?” Uki asked the three men, sitting back down in her chair.

The guys and I squeezed onto Uki’s couch and some of the chairs available to us.

“Unfortunately, a very sad predicament, Uki,” Kim Young-min said, a heavy tone enveloping his voice.

“I don’t seem to understand,” Uki said, a confused expression on her face.

“Miss?” Hwa Young said, entering with a platter of way more than just three cups of coffee in her hands.

She went to Young-min, Jong-in, Soo-man, and Uki first before she came to us.

“Thank you, Hwa Young,” Uki said, sipping at her coffee.

Hwa Young bowed again and left, shutting the door once more.

I listened raptly along with the other guys at what was about to happen. Surely Super Junior 05 was about to debut! I mean, why else would they call all of us into a meeting like this?

Kim Young-min sighed heavily and said, “There’s no easy way to say this, but someone has brought it to our attention that you have had relations with the members of Super Junior 05 in the past?”

“Relations? As in…Dating?” Uki asked, definitely confused at this point.

“No, no, as in, you’ve had contact with them before? As in, before you took up this position and before they have debuted,” Lee Jong-in clarified.

She thought for a second and said, “Yes…? I mean, one of the members is my brother. I was bound to talk to them at some point in my life.”

Kim Young-min frowned sadly. “I see. Well, this makes this announcement even more heartbreaking.”

“Sir, if you’d please, just come out with it?” Uki asked politely.

The three men looked at each other. I noticed that Lee Soo-man didn’t even look the least bit sorry for what was about to come next.

“We are very sorry to say this, but Super Junior 05 cannot debut with us,” Kim Young-min said somberly.

“WHAT?!” Leeteuk exclaimed, shooting out of his seat. Everyone tried pulling him back down, but there was no stopping him. “Some of us have been working as trainees for you for over five years, and you’re telling us that we can’t debut with you guys?! Where do you expect us to go?! YG?!”

“Leeteuk!” Uki yelled, stopping him in his rampage. “Please, mind who you’re talking to.” Then she turned her concerned gaze back to Kim Young-min. “Sir, please, explain this. I don’t understand. I mean, they have been working very hard for this. I’ve seen their rehearsals. They deserve to debut more than any other group here! They have twelve times the talent, twelve times the appeal, twelve times the members. You can’t just tell them that they can’t debut with SM after two years of training, some after five years! This is ridiculous! Absolutely unacceptable and ridiculous!”

“Uki, we are sorry to report this in such a way, but there is just no way around it,” Lee Jong-in said, sounding very sincere.

“You see, as I’ve said, someone has brought it to our attention that we can’t let Super Junior 05 debut because they have had prior relations to you,” Kim Young-min explained.

“Are you accusing me of nepotism?” Uki asked, obviously irritated.

“Not us, other members of the company. They believe that you have been pulling the right strings in order for Super Junior 05 to debut as soon as possible since one of the members is your brother and the other members are your prior friends,” Kim Young-min continued. “And believe me, the three of us, Jong-in, Soo-man, and myself, have been thinking long and hard about this decision, and we have concluded that you are too valuable a player to lose from our team. You make spot-on predictions, your financial advice is remarkable, and your branches’ work rate has one of the highest efficiency rates in the entire company! We can’t afford to lose you over some band.”

“Some band?” Uki asked quietly. “Some band? Super Junior is not just some band. Super Junior will be THE band.” Her voice began to gradually increase, her hands turning into fists on her desktop. “And if you’re honestly going to let the opinions of mediocre workers at the most powerful entertainment company in the industry guide your decision over those of someone who have made spot-on predictions, who has excellent financial advice, and who has one of the highest efficiency rates in the entire company, then you all are just as stupid as they are.”

“Excuse me—”

“I am sorry, but no excuses are available for such unacceptable and childish behavior,” Uki interrupted Kim Young-min. Then she paused and stood, confidence and boldness radiating from her tiny body. She gave a look to all of us sitting along the back wall who looked at her with a scared and uncertain expression and I noticed a small tear roll down her cheek as she said, “I hereby resign my position here at SM Entertainment.”

“Uki!” everyone in the room exclaimed, all except for Lee Soo-man. I was really starting to hate that guy.

“Why in the world would you do this for?! Throw away all that you’ve worked for, all that you’ve earned,” Kim Young-min asked, so aggravated that he was now standing up, leaning over Uki’s desk in desperation.

“In order for Super Junior, a band who deserves it the most, to debut,” she said slowly, sadly, “I would do and give up anything.”