Author’s Note: Thanks to everyone who commented and subscribed. You guys are the daebak! Anyway, I’m sorry for making the careless error of turning Donghae’s manager into a man. I realized that she was a woman in Chapter One and turned into a man in Chapter Seventeen. I’m really sorry for that. Now, I edited Chapter One and finally turned her into a him. Haha! How silly of me.

Oh, and I also made another silly mistake in Chapter Seventeen. I replaced the statement "some country up north" to "some country in Asia".

If you want a more dramatic effect while reading this chapter, I’d recommend that you listen to Sarah Bareilles “Gravity” here. It was the song that inspired this fic and I hope that you like it.

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D O N G H A E

The Global Friendship Day Concert took place in the courtyard of one of Taiwan’s most luxurious hotels. The stage was set in between two, towering willow trees – their branches cascading majestically on the dewy grass. In front of the stage were small banquet tables draped in immaculate white cloth and adorned with silk ribbons of various colors.

A buffet table was placed by the wall at the far end opposite the stage. There were also small paper lanterns that gave off diffused golden glows as they hung from the branches of trees.

You see, this was no ordinary concert. It was an invitation only party so only privileged guests were allowed to enjoy this event. Manager Kim informed us that leaders from countries all over the world will be attending.

“Is President Obama coming?” Siwon asked enthusiastically, but our manager just shrugged his shoulder and smiled.

We weren’t the only ones performing either. Because this was an international event – international artists were also set to perform. There were a Japanese jazz band, an American pop pianist and singer (Sara Bareilles is her name, I think), a European children’s choir and of course, a whole bunch of Chinese singers.

Pretty soon, guests of different nationalities began to fill the area. There were Africans, Arabs, Caucasians and Hispanics. Listening to them talk in their own languages was a treat. I smiled to myself, but then I was suddenly bombarded with thoughts of that foreign isolated island…

“Hae! What are you still doing there? We’re going to perform next!” It was Eunhyuk and he was waving at me frenetically from backstage. Hurriedly, I made my way towards him and tried to forget altogether about that secluded country.

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“Ai ni de mei yi tian…” Ryeowook finished off “Destiny”.

We were then submerged into a sea of applause. Some of the foreign dignitaries even gave us a standing ovation.

“Thank you, Super Junior M,” the emcee spoke to us in English from his podium below. “The audience really enjoyed that inspiring and refreshing tune.”

We bowed together and exited one by one.

“Gentlemen!” Manager Kim flagged us down as soon as we arrived backstage. “I’m going to introduce you to the foreign guests. Who knows it might increase your popularity even more.”

“Sweet!” Henry pumped his fist in the air.

We were led out into the guest tables and pretty soon, we were surrounded by people of varying features, clothes, skin color, accents and smiles. We met Ms. Julia, the Prime Minister of Australia, Mr. Singh, India’s Minister of Culture and many more.

Finally, we were led to a table at the far corner – right next to the buffet tables. The rest of Super Junior M were eyeing the food with greed and anticipation. Kyuhyun and Sungmin were no longer paying attention to Manager Kim as he introduced the next set of guests. They were too busy planning their “attack” on the buffet table. I chuckled to myself.

“Gentlemen, I want to introduce to you the King of Dokbayo,” my ears perked upon hearing Manager Kim’s words.

What?

Dokbayo?

I found myself smiling rather widely. The mention of Dokbayo, the chance of meeting a person from there – no, this was not just any ordinary person, this was their king.

Their king.

This was the man who ruled the people.  

Wow. Just wow.

And what if he liked our performance? Would he allow Super Junior M to hold a concert in their country? My smile got wider and wider. My heart began to pound against my chest with immeasurable speed.

The king was a jolly looking man – a bit heavy in the middle with thinning hair. His eyes turned into small slits when he smiled making him look like a cat. He had a warm aura that seemed to make everyone around him automatically comfortable.

“Hello,” Super Junior M greeted him in English and bowed afterwards.

Please, Mr. King, I thought to myself.I hope you liked our performance.

“Ah, yes, hello! Nice to meet you!” the King laughed heartily.

Up on stage, the American artist was singing while playing the piano at the same time. Her voice was deep and flowed like silk. She sang, “Something always brings me back to you. It never takes too long…”

“You seem like very nice men. Now, I’d like to introduce my daughter to you,” the King said with a wink. He gestured towards the princess who sat right behind him.

The King stepped out of the way, giving us a full view of his daughter. The princess was slender, had dark wavy hair and had on a beautiful black dress. She had her back turned against us. Then she slowly, ever so slowly, turned around.

I almost fell back in surprise when the King’s daughter, the princess of Dokbayo turned out to be no other than…

I gasped. “Yoona?”