“I don’t know what’s going on there but both of you are leaving as soon as possible,” their boss demanded, face filled with anger, which made him look like a tomato.

Both Woohyun and Myungsoo groaned in distaste. “Can we at least do a performance before leaving?” Woohyun quietly requested.

“Yah! You’re in no position to negotiate!” their boss shouted into the microphone on his end, which was in turn amplified by the speakers on their end. The pair was videoconferencing their boss, who was back in Seoul. The pair flinched and covered their ears as the loud voice of their boss filled their hotel room.

Myungsoo then timidly pleaded, “But what about our fans?” He proceeded to lower his head, avoiding the piercing gaze of their boss.

“Fans! What fans do you have left?” their boss continued to yell at the top of his lungs whilst the two poor souls covered their ears and looked away, both unable to form eye contact with their boss.

Just then their manager walked in. “Hyung-nim, I don’t mean to eavesdrop or interrupt but I have a suggestion. Maybe we could pair up with some local artists over here in exchange for community service. This will allow them to gain back their image and trust from the public. It would be a waste for them to fly over here and not perform.”

Their boss tapped his chin as he considered the proposal that was put forth, finally he came to a conclusion, “This is your last chance, make full use of it.” With that, he switched off his end of the call.

“Yay! Yes!” the boys jumped on the beds in joy, with huge smiles plastered on their faces, only to remain quiet down after spotting the stern face of their manager.

“Great! What trouble did I get myself into?” their manager puffed, throwing his arms into the air.

“Hyung-nim gomawo!” Woohyun jumped towards him. Myungsoo followed suit and soon, the boys hugged him like a piece of stubborn gum.

“Go away! I have a lot of things to settle,” their manager whined, dragging the duo along with him towards the door.

“What work? We can be of some help.” Myungsoo offered.

“Well… if that’s the case, Woohyun can look up for community services while Myungsoo search for local artist companies. Get in touch with them to make sure that they are willing to work with us.” Their manager instructed and went back to his work.

Woohyun filled his cheeks with air, almost looking like a hamster, before huffing it all out, “How on earth am I supposed to look up community services? Especially local ones!”

Myungsoo then called out, “Dips on the laptop!”

“Yah!”

Sunggyu’s P.O.V.

Since Howon and Sungjong have left the house, I’m left all alone, besides the two going at it. I decided to leave the house if not I’ll go mad, listening to all the noises that are filling it. I grabbed my jacket and opted to take a stroll with nowhere in mind. Breathing the cold, still air of the night and listening to the soft, crisp cricket sounds in the dark, I tried to clear my mind of the troubles that bogged me down in the past few months. I walked endlessly till I realized that I had stopped at an old dance studio. “Omo, who’s still using it at this hour?” I mumbled to myself. I trudged carefully into the place, only to stop outside the door where the light was flowing out. “Hayoung-ssi?”

“Oh you scared me!” the said girl cried and slipped on the wet floor. Luckily, I ran forward and caught her in time if not she would have injured her head. But this was not what I wanted…

“E-Erm… oppa I-I’m alright…” Hayoung’s face was flushed red as my face was just inches from her. And so was mine. I looked down to where my hands were placed. I had both arms wrapped around her waist, preventing her from falling backwards.

“E-Erm… m-mianhae…” I pulled her back up on her feet and released her from my grip. From today onwards, I cannot look at her in the eyes. I’m so embarrassed I had to look away but the mirror in front revealed everything. For a moment, we looked into each other’s reflection and turned away abashedly. I let out a cough to break the silence, “Gwaenchanhayo?”

“Ah neh neh…” Hayoung murmured.

I coughed once more, changing the topic of our conversation, “So what are you doing here?”

“Ah… I’m cleaning the dance studio. Sungjong oppa told me that all of you may need to use it next time… so here I am…”

“What? He made you clean the whole studio?” I raised my voice, echoes followed throughout. “Ah… mianhae…” I apologized after realizing what I did wrong. “So… do you need any help?” I offered whilst fiddling with my fingers. Hayoung opened to speak but I cut her short, “Wait it’s okay. I’m glad that I can be of some help.” I picked up the fallen mop from the ground and started cleaning.