Key and Onew arrived at SM Entertainment. Key rushed inside, with Onew trailing from behind. “Hyori sunbae, is Uncle Lee in?” he asked the receptionist.

Hyori smiled. “He’s in,” she told him. “Would you like to see him?”

Key nodded. “Yes, it’s urgent.”

“Go right in.”

“Gomawoya!” Key ran all the way to the office just as Onew reached the reception.

Onew groaned as he jogged to the office; Key sure had a lot of energy today. But then again, it has to do with Hae Rin, so there really was no surprises.

“Uncle Lee!” Key cried out as he burst in.

Lee Soo-Man turned around in his chair and looked up from the documents he had been reading when he was interrupted. “Kibum, what’s wrong?” he asked.

“Uncle Lee, you know Hae Rin, right?” Key asked.

Lee placed the papers on the table and started signing them for approval or rejection. “Well, yes,” he replied. “The girl you talk about a lot. What about her?”

Key blushed but decided to ignore it. There were much more important matters than his feelings for her right now. “Her mom is Nam Hyun Mi.” He dropped the bombshell.

Lee dropped the pen he was holding. “Nam . . . Hyun . . . Mi . . .?” he repeated slowly, making sure that Key was right.

Key nodded. “She’s your child,” he went on and his draw dropped. Key was talking about Hae Rin. “We can’t prove it, but a DNA test can.”

“But . . . Hyun Mi . . .” Lee was obviously trying to sink in the information. He shook his head slightly. “She left me. How do you know it’s Hae Rin?”

Onew walked in. “I just got a call,” he said, holding out his handphone. “Uncle Lee, someone left a box of stuff from Hyun Mi. There’s a bunch of letters and Hae Rin’s original birth certificate.”

“Where’s Hae Rin?” Lee asked.

“Hospital. She got hurt,” Key said, looking down. He did not want to say anymore to remember that awful memory of her on the floor in a puddle of blood.

“I have to see her.” Lee stood up and began walking out of the office. “Excuse me, boys.”

“Key, we better get home,” Onew told her brother. “Jin is looking for us.”

Key nodded and they left the office.

Back at the SHINee apartment, Jin put the phone down. “I just called the boys. They were at SM Entertainment for some reason,” he said.

“Boo Yee and I will go to the hospital,” Minho spoke up to him.

“Hae Rin just called me,” Boo Yee added.

Jin nodded. “Okay, you two be careful.”

Minho and Boo Yee headed outside to an awaiting black SUV.

As Boo Yee got into the car with Minho behind her, she said, “She sounded a little frustrated. Do you think she’s okay?”

He closed the door and took his girlfriend’s hand in reassurance. “Well, it must be from the anesthetic or something. Don’t worry.” He kissed her and she closed her eyes.

“I hope she’s okay.” She laid her head on Minho’s shoulder, who wrapped his arms around her.

“Boo Yee, I know this is the wrong time,” hespoke up, “but, um. I love you.”

Boo Yee looked up, surprised. “Um,” she said lamely, trying to think of something to say.

“I know we’ve only been together for three weeks,” he blabbed, “but I feel this connection between us. And it’s okay if you —”

Boo Yee giggled. “Choi Minho,” she said in a teasing voice, “you’re so cute when you’re nervous. And I love you, too.” She kissed him and he kissed her back. In the middle of the kiss, Boo Yee felt Minho smiling.

Hae Rin braced herself for the worse as the doctor opened his mouth.

“Miss Kim, you’re three weeks pregnant.”

Hae Rin felt like fainting. “What? I can’t be!”

“Your tests show that you’re positive,” the doctor went on. Sensing she needed time, he hastily said, “I’ll leave you alone now. . . . And you’re free to go whenever you choose.” He left.

“I can’t be pregnant! There is no way!!” Hae Rin refused to accept it. “I’m too young. I’m freakin’ sixteen!” But deep down, she had a feeling she was. She had slept with guys, men even, before and they had not used protection nor had her brother given her pills. But she cannot believe that it was true! She cannot be pregnant!

She pulled out her cell phone and called Boo Yee, asking her to come. The minute she hung up, the door opened and some stranger walked in.

Hae Rin grew suspicious. “Who are you?”

“I’m Lee Soo-Man,” he said.

“Why are you here?”

Lee Soo-Man looked like he was trembling. “I - is your mom . . . Nam Hyun Mi?” he asked. He was feeling a sense of hope in this girl before him.

Hae Rin hesitated to answer but decided to tell the truth. “Yes. How do you know her?”

“She was my girlfriend,” Lee replied. “But that’s beside the point. Can I ask you something?”

“Y – yes,” Hae Rin said slowly.

“Do you have a birthmark on your shoulder?”

Hae Rin reeled back. After all, what sort of stranger comes up to you in your hospital room asking you about your mom and a birthmark on your shoulder? “Yes,” she replied, frowning. “What has that have to do with it?”

Lee hugged her. “You’re my daughter!”

Hae Rin pulled away from this man. This man must be psycho or something. “What do you mean?” she frowned at him.

“When your mom left, she gave me this.” Lee pulled out a picture of her as a baby.

Hae Rin looked at the picture, then back at Lee. Realization hit her. “You’re m - my . . . dad?”

John nodded. “Yes.”

Hae Rin hugged him and let the tears fall she was holding back earlier.

This means she was free!