Back in Korea, Nicky was at the photo shoot  for the Tourism campaign. She was wearing a traditional Korean Hanbok waiting for the final pictures when Sungmin, Yesung and Leeteuk entered the place. “Noona!” shouted Sungmin when he saw her. She looked at them with a smile on her face. “Boys! What are you doing here?”  she asked. “Came to see you” Leeteuk responded looking at her.  She looked amazing in the Hanbok and he couldn’t get his eyes off of her. “Aren’t you supposed to be at the recording studio?” she asked. “Neh. Also at hair stylist.” Yesung said. “You look gorgeous” Leeteuk said smiling and looking at her. “Oh! I look strange” she responded blushing. “Noona pretty” Sungmin said with a chuckle. “Wear more Hanboks” Yesung added. “I thought this was just for special occasions, right?” Nicky said looking at her clothes. “Yes, like weddings” Yesung said getting closer to Leeteuk and elbowing him. Leeteuk just laughed and looked at him. “Nicky-sshi, we’re ready for the shooting.” The photographer said. “Sure! I’m coming. I’ll see you at the studio guys. Take care!” she said as they hugged her. “You look very gorgeous” Leeteuk whispered in her ear as he hugged her making her blush. “Stop! I’ll see you later” she whispered back and left.

The boys were down at the recording studio checking the songs for the new album. They were extremely excited about it but it was exhausting. After that they had the appointment for their new looks and Nicky arrived as they were done. Sungmin and Shindong were the first ones to be ready. “Oh my goodness! You guys are blondes!” she said looking at them. Shindong did a small turn for her to see and Sungmin got closer so she could touch his hair. “You guys look amazing! Who else is ready?” she asked and Yesung came out of a room. “Yesung! Is that a dark red? I love it!” she said touching his hair. “Yeah, cool right?” he said moving his head. Eunhyuk got out as well and he got next to Nicky. “Hyukie! You have dark hair! Wow! You look even more handsome! “ she said looking at him and he smiled blushing. The rest of the boys came out and walked to her side. “You all look so handsome! “she said looking at them. Leeteuk got closer to her and she gasped when she saw him. “Teukie! You’re blonde now!” she said with a chuckle. “You like?” he responded smiling. “I’m dating a blonde” she said in a low voice and laughing. “Hot blonde” he said winking at her and she laughed.

Upstairs, someone asked for a meeting with Lee Soo Man. “How may I help you? Is everything Ok?” Lee Soo Man asked the girl sitting in front of him. “Yes sir. I….I have a question.” The girl asked.  “Go ahead.” The older man added. “Are idols allowed to date managers?” she asked shyly. Lee Soo Man looked straight at her with a questioning look and a small smile on his face. “Taeyeon-sshi, are you interested in a manager?” he asked with a chuckle. “NO! No sir. It’s not me.” Taeyeon responded surprised by his question. “Ok then. IS the idol a minor? A trainee?” he asked. “No, sir.” Taeyeon responded looking down. “We don’t encourage relationships but I understand that after a certain age, all human beings need a companion. If none of them are minors I won’t interfere, as long as the idol’s career remains unharmed. Did I answer your question?” he added.  “Y-yes sir.” She responded with a serious face.  “Taeyeon-sshi, you are still very young. Don’t get complicated, take your time.” Lee Soo Man said with a smile on his face.  “Oh! I’m ok, sir. It was only a question.” She replied with a small smile on her face.  “Thanks for having me” she added standing up and leaving the office. Lee Soo Man laughed as she left the office. Jung Hoo entered the office to give him some papers and found him laughing. “Everything ok sir?” Jung Hoo asked smiling. “Yes, yes. It’s just that a jealous girl is like a river. It may look calm on the surface but the insides are uncertain!” Lee Soo Man responded laughing. “I don’t understand” Jung Hoo replied smiling.

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The boys were taking the pictures for the new album. The theme was “Beautiful Men”, and boy were they beautiful! They all looked very different, specially Kangin.  “Sungminnie! You look like a girl!” Nicky said touching his hair and he just made cute faces for her. “Sungmin-ah! Man up!” shouted Kangin tired of his cuteness. “You look pretty as well Kangin!” Nicky said laughing and pinching his cheek.  “Shindong! You look like an Ice Prince!” she said getting closer to him. “Me! Me!” Eunhyuk said getting closer to Nicky. “You are gorgeous as usual Hyukie!” she responded. They were called to take their places and the pictures were taken. Leeteuk would look at Nicky from time to time, making her smile every time their eyes met. She was trying to be careful since the people in the room didn’t know about their relationship, so she kept distant from him. Once the photo shoot was done, the boys were allowed to go home to change and then return to the recording studio.

In the dorm, the boys were taking baths and changing clothes; getting ready to return to the SM building. Leeteuk went to his room and started to play something on his keyboard. He grabbed a pen and a notebook and started writing, he was inspired and he had to sit down to write the music and lyrics lingering in his head. Nicky knocked as she rested her head on his door frame. “Hey, what are you doing?” she asked. “Jagiya! Come!” he said motioning for her to come in. Nicky entered his room and sat next to him. “Are you ready?” she asked kissing him lightly on the lips. “Neh” he responded placing an arm around her waist. “What are you doing?” she asked again. “Music” he responded closing the notebook so she couldn’t see it. “Oh. Don’t put it away, I don’t understand it anyway!” she said laughing and he kissed her. “Get ready, we leave in 10 minutes” she added standing up and walking out of the room. “Arasso. Love you” he said looking at her. “I love you too” she responded leaving the room. He opened the notebook again and kept on writing, and playing some notes on the keyboard. He smiled thinking of her, and the words kept flowing in his head.

Back in the studio, the boys worked very hard to finish the recordings on time. Nicky kept feeding them candy and sweet tea to keep them awake; but her idea backfired as she noticed how windup Eunhyuk and Sungmin were getting. The songs were beautiful and very diverse: some deep ballads and some dancing hymns; this album was going to be epic without a doubt.  Leeteuk left the studio for a while and went to see Lee Soo Man. “Good evening sir” he said bowing as he entered his office. “Leeteuk-sshi, come in. How may I help you?” Lee Soo Man said. “I have a petition sir.” He responded placing some papers on the desk. “A petition? I hope it’s not for a vacation!” the older man said laughing. “No, sir.“ Leeteuk responded laughing as well. “I want to include a song in the album” he added. “A song? Written by you?” Lee Soo Man asked. “Yes, Sir. Here it is” Leeteuk responded giving him the papers. Lee Soo Man grabbed the papers and started reading. Once he finished he had a smile on his face and looked at Leeteuk with  knowing eyes. “It’s for her, correct?” the older man asked. “Yes, sir” he responded smiling and blushing a bit. “It’s beautiful. She’s going to love it.” Lee Soo Man said giving the papers back to Leeteuk. “Thanks, I hope so” Leeteuk responded. “Let’s make a deal. We will include that song in the repackage along with some others we have in mind.” Lee Soo Man said. “Perfect. Thank you sir.” Leeteuk responded excited. “Just give it to the producer so they could arrange for you to record it. She……she really got you crazy in love.” Lee Soo Man chuckled after saying that and Leeteuk laughed blushing a bit. “I…..I want to make the relationship public, Sir” Leeteuk said looking up at him. “You’re a grown man, I can’t tell what you can or can’t do when it comes to love. And you’re going to the army, we can deal with it. But I’m sure that I’m not the one you need to convince about going public! Is she ok with it?” Lee Soo Man said laughing. “Not yet. She worries about the reactions and the company’s approval” Leeteuk responded.  “You have the company’s approval….now convince her!” the older man responded and they both laughed.

All the songs were recorded and now they were dealing with the dance steps. They spent all day long rehearsing and learning the new choreographies, it was extremely exhausting for them. And on top of that they still had individual schedules and they all got into the gym to look their best, by the end of their long days they were completely tired.  The SNSD girls were watching them practice since they were using the same room to rehearse. Taeyeon was very attentive to Leeteuk, always smiling and giggling non stop. She only changed her demeanor when Nicky entered the room, looking at her with a serious face. Jessica and Tiffany noticed Taeyeon’s behavior and decided to do something about it. They liked Nicky and they were happy for Leeteuk, so they were not going to let Taeyeon ruin their happiness. When the boys were given a lunch break, the SNSD girls took the room to practice some old dance steps and Jessica grabbed Nicky. “Unnie come here!” she said moving her closer to Tiffany. “Dance with us!” Tiffany said tying a knot on her shirt to expose her tummy. “What? No! Tiffany, stop!” Nicky said trying to lower her shirt. “Come on! Just one! You know the steps!” Jessica said as she made a small pony tail with Nicky’s hair. Taeyeon noticed the girls and looked at them wondering what where they doing. Leeteuk looked at them smiling, seeing Nicky laugh and play with the others was fun to him. He sat down wondering what they were going to do. “Unnie! Let’s dance!” Jessica said turning on the music and running next to her. ‘Gee’ started  blasting through the speakers and they started dancing; Nicky just looked at Jessica and Tiffany laughing in the beginning but then danced as well. She knew the choreography thanks to Sungmin, they practiced together. Her movements looked more fluid, probably because she was curvier than the other two girls. Sunny and Hyoyeon started dancing as well and everyone was laughing and clapping at them, except for Taeyeon. Leeteuk’s attention was exclusively on his girlfriend and there was nothing she could do about it.

When the song was over, they all clapped at Nicky and she just blushed. Leeteuk hugged her and whispered something, which surprised her and she playfully hit him in the arm. The girls left the room so the boys could finish rehearsing and Taeyeon looked at the two younger girls with a serious face. “What was that?” Taeyeon asked them. “What? We were just having fun with our unnie” Jessica responded. “We know what you’re trying to do Taeyeon. Leave them alone” Tiffany said looking at her. “Who’s side are you on?” Taeyeon said feeling exposed. “No side. We are just doing what’s right. You should do it too.” Jessica said and they left, leaving Taeyeon embarrassed all by herself.