Friday evening, Zhou Mi called to check if Henry could come to SM Entertainment's practice building once more. They made up to meet the next day around 12:30 when Zhou Mi hoped to be off for his lunch break.

When Henry got to the building the next day, though, he could only spot Eunhyuk and Donghae taking pictures outside with some girls. Raising an eyebrow, he waited until he was noticed. Seeing Donghae grin and wave at him to follow along, the three of them went inside, Henry hurrying a little to catch up with the two. "Do those girls know they just took photos with dance teachers?"

The couple laughed. "Nope!" Eunhyuk replied. "Sometimes it's quite a lot of fun to go out and act as if we've been trainees for a long time already and if those girls take photos with us and publish them everywhere, they'll help increase our popularity and SME has to let us debut," he revealed and Donghae laughed and nodded.

Henry shook his head, but he couldn't help but grin anyways. "Seriously? You guys are evil!"

"We know~" Eunhyuk replied and waved at the secretary - not only saying hello but also showing like that it was okay for Henry to accompany them. The youngest bowed his head towards the secretary and smiled warmly. Since this was a huge entertainment, no one had noticed him walking in and out already a few times. During the time he had worked for the label, he had gotten a temporary pass.

They went to the cafeteria - one of the two places Henry, too, was able to find at that point without problems. The other was the practice room where Butterfly were learning their choreographies and how to play their violins.

Entering the cafeteria, he realized one thing he knew he should have noticed before: That Eunhyuk and Donghae both were off also meant Butterfly and SHINee were on their lunch break.

Mina was the first who noticed him. "Henry! You're here!" she called out with a bright smile, causing a ripple of turning heads and people looking up from their food or their discussions.

Taemin instantly jumped up and came running up to him like always, hugging him. "Henry~!!"

Some of the others laughed and Zhou Mi patted a spot next to himself that was still free. Henry carefully freed himself from SHINee's maknae and smiled at him. They walked to the table together and sat down. Looking around, Henry found everyone he knew from the company - exept the CEO of course - to be sitting at the table. "Hey guys~ How are you?"

He got mixed replies from everyone at once, no one seemed to want to wait for another person to finish speaking first. As Henry listened and tried to figure out what exactly everyone had to say - which was impossible, but he nevertheless tried - Zhou Mi offered him a fork. He briefly glanced at the older and smiled thankfully, but there was barely anything on the plate he knew he could eat without being in pain, so he only picked out some pieces of potatoes as he continued to listen. .

"So how have you been?" Chris asked when everyone quieted down for a second, seemingly done with their first flood of experience.

Henry swallowed quickly at the question that was directed to him. "I'm good."

"We heard you were pretty much knocked out after the concert," Key added and eyed the Canadian curiously.

Said man shrugged lightly. "That's true. I honestly wouldn't have thought it could be that stressful to work... Or to simply teach someone how to play the violin." He smiled sheepishly.

"Well, we're not just someone - we're twelve. That's a lot more work, of course," Butterfly's leader Junho replied with a grin.

Henry nodded. "That's true as well."

"He should've just come to us," Taemin mused with a pout.

Chris leaned over the table a little to be able to view SHINee's maknae. "So what would he have been supposed to teach you, huh? You couldn't even hold a violin right if you wanted to, and Henry neither came to admire your dancing nor your singing, baby boy."

"Yah, you're even younger than him! Just because you can do neither doesn't mean you're allowed to be like that towards Taeminnie!" Key instantly defended his band mate.

"I am one of our lead dancers! It's you who can't dance, not me!" Chris instantly backfired.

"Yah, shut your mouth! You're talking to an elder!" Key argued and stood up.

Zhou Mi sighed. He had obviously given up on trying to keep those two from arguing at some point. It wasn't the first time Henry witnessed Key and Chris throwing a fit either, so he simply went back to eating and turned his attention back to Taemin. "I'm sorry, Taemin, but Chris is right. I came to teach the violin. I've never even learned how to dance or sing, so I couldn't have helped you with anything even if I had wanted to," he replied softly, not wanting Key to also start yelling at him because he agreed with Chris.

Taemin sighed and pouted even more. "I know~! But I still would have liked to spend more time with you, hyung!"

"I'm sure I can visit some more in the future," Henry promised, instantly evoking a smile from SHINee's youngest band member. Satisfied, the boy went back to eating, so he himself could do the same.

Butterfly's manager eventually lost it and yelled at both Key and Chris to get it together, sit down, and quietly eat their meals or they wouldn't get anything to eat for the rest of the day. With a muttered 'torture!' from both boys, all three of them sat down again and continued eating.

Eunji spoke up again eventually. Her voice was quiet, but since none of the others was talking, she could still be understood clearly. "Thank you for having taken on the effort to teach us, Henry-sshi. That really means a lot to us." She made eye contact with their temporary teacher, then looked down again quickly when she realized Henry was looking back at her.

The Canadian young man smiled happily. "You're welcome. Even though it was stressful, I also had a lot of fun working with you guys. I enjoyed coming here. I'm really grateful I could make this experience."

"Manager-hyung told us you two will go to Canada soon?" Jonghyun asked and looked up.

Henry nodded. "Zhou Mi said he wants to go anyways to look for ways to promote you guys in Canada and since I would really love to see my best friend from home again, the CEO agreed to pay for my flight." He beamed at the thought.

"Woah, that's great!" Sandeul commented and gave him a thumbs-up. The others around the table nodded and hummed in agreement.

"You must have left a really good impression then," Eunhyuk commented between two bites.

"Really?"

Eunhyuk nodded, but since he was eating, Donghae answered, "We usually don't get enough money for such a big trip."

"So maybe it also has something to do with him being thankful and wanting to do something for you because of your condition," Zhou Mi added.

Seventeen pairs of eyes looked at him in confusion. "What condition?" Yejin asked eventually.

Eunhyuk and Donghae looked at each other, the two managers and the actual violin teacher looked at Henry. Said boy looked down. "Umm... I guess they didn't tell you so you wouldn't be worried... I have cancer. Terminal. No, it can not be healed," he replied quietly, already giving some of the answers he knew would have come up anyways.

For a moment, it was dead silent around their table. No one seemed to still be eating. When Henry looked up, he could see them all staring at him in shock, frozen in place. In the end, it was Chris who spoke up. "And you just keep that a secret from us?"

"I just thought-"

"Yes, exactly, you thought it was better for us! But maybe we would have liked to know! We told you everything about us. Just be fair enough to do the same to us," Chris replied and Henry could see anger in the older's eyes as he got up and left. No one went after him.

The Canadian looked down again. No matter how often people turned away from him, it still hurt every time.

"Hey, don't cry," someone said next to him and he already thought that person was talking to him when he heard a sniffle in response.

"I-I'm not." Henry could identify the speaker as Taemin and when he looked up, he could see Onew handing his band mate a tissue.

"Really, Tae, don't cry," Henry repeated. "It's okay. I've lived with this for a few years already. It's fine."

"How much longer..?" one of the girls asked, but her voice broke before she could finish her sentence. When Henry looked up, he couldn't figure out who had asked that question. Not wanting to answer, he remained quiet until Eunji turned away, followed by everyone else slowly looking down. They understood he didn't have a lot of time left.

"I'm sorry. I should go now," Henry said eventually and stood up, but suddenly the others rose with him.

Mina excused herself quietly and left. Jaehyung spoke up instead, "Please, stay at least a little longer. If you won't be able to see many more of our concerts or come over for a lunch together many more times, then at least stay with us for this one," he said and his voice sounded firm. It was one of few occasions that Jaehyung talked directly to him, usually Henry had noticed the other to be rather quiet, but the sincerety in his voice made him nod slowly and sit own again. The others followed his example.

"I just thought... Maybe you'd need some time to take in that information..."

"There is no way we will spend the small time left with you wasted and sending you away," Nayeon agreed with her band mate and even though her voice sounded like she was about to start crying, Henry could hear she meant every single word she said. He looked at the people who were all looking back at him. SHINee, Butterfly, the two managers, the two dance teacher, and the violin teacher. None of them turned away. None of them rose to argue that he had to leave. They all held his eyes for a moment.

And suddenly, Henry could feel tears burning in his own eyes.

"Oh no, I was serious when I said no one should cry!" Onew called out.

The Canadian boy turned to the other side and hugged Zhou Mi, trying to hold back the tears. They stuck to his side. They didn't judge him. They accepted him even though he had a disease that could not be healed anymore. They accepted him and were not afraid.

"Thank you," Zhou Mi replied quietly, speaking for his boyfriend. "It really means a lot to him. You must know, his friends from Canada turned away when they found out about this... Ever since, he has hated telling anyone about his disease. He's afraid everyone might be like them, that everyone will turn away because of the way fate cursed him."

"We would never turn away!" Taemin argued and without a warning, another pair of arms was wrapped around Henry's middle and he felt a head being leaned against his back. That small gesture of affection and trust just caused Henry to cry even harder despite trying to hold it back.

"Yah, there are only so many tears that can be shed per year, do you all plan on using up the rest of tears left in that huge pot the man up there is supposed to have?" a rough voice asked and Henry knew Chris had come back. And he was certain the other would cry as well.

"Do you need a tissue?" Onew asked and when Henry looked to the side, he found a white piece being held out to him. He nodded and slowly let go of Zhou Mi to grab the tissue instead and blow his nose.

"Thank you, Onew-sshi."

"You're welcome."

Chris had remained standing and now looked at a clock. "We have to leave now, don't we?"

The others looked at the clock hanging in the cafeteria and unwilling murmurs could be heard. "But how do you expect us to practice well now?" Mina asked.

"Can't we have the day off?" Nayeon emphasized.

When their manager shook his head, Daehyun asked, "But we can at least finish early, can't we?"

"Or would it be better to stay occupied?" Junho looked around and no one argued. They were probably all unsure what to do now, Henry figured.

He stood up. "You all should follow your usual schedule. Nothing has changed, after all. But I will most certainly come by to visit you." They all stood up, so Henry did the same.

"Oppa," Eunji spoke up quietly and rounded the table until she stood in front of something. "There's something we wanted to give you." She smiled up at him.

SHINee and the other adults stood as well and Junho suddenly held something in his hands that was wrapped up like a present. "This is for you, hyung. From all of us. SHINee, Butterfly, our managers, Eunhyuk-hyung, and Donghae-hyung." Glancing at the violin teacher, Henry could see the man felt uncomfortable, so he flashed him a smile before looking back at Junho. "Keep us in good memory. If you ever forget us, we will find you and haunt you!" Butterfly's leader promised and handed over the present.

The rectangular felt a little like a book, but it was too big and too thin... Almost like a children's book! "Thank you," he replied and was about to start unwrapping the present when he recalled the fact that was something you didn't do in Korea. "Ah, I'm sorry. I'll do it at home. Right?" He looked up at Zhou Mi insecurely and the older nodded, making Henry smile. Some of the girls giggled at his mistake. He turned to the band and bowed at all of them. "Thank you very much!"

"You're welcome," Eunji and Junho replied in the name of both groups, the managers, and the teachers.

They all bid each other goodbye and Henry felt like this was the second hardest goodbye, right after the one he had had in Canada. But he knew he would see these people again.

Zhou Mi gently placed a hand on his back. "C'mon, I still have some time, let's go somewhere else, alright?"

Eunhyuk whined from the other side of the table. "I couldn't do anything with my boyfriend