Amidst the flying confetti and balloons, you blink your eyes twice. "Ehwa won?"

"Politics," Hangeng whispers to you.

"Ah."
 

BACKSTAGE
All of you go backstage to congratulate Jongwoon and the others. When you get into the tent however, there are a LOT MORE people than earlier. It's almost completely packed. You and the guys reach the Seoul High section but there are so many people inside-- strangers mostly. Donghae and the others somehow are able to squeeze in. You decide to just wait outside until the commotion subsides.

Suddenly, something warm and fuzzy plops down on your head. It's a blue beanie.

"What the-- Jiwon!" you say.

"Wah, Haneul, you look so cute~" Jiwon says.

You try to remove the beanie but she pulls it down over your face and says, "I'll let you have that for now. I need to go find Kwon Jiyong! Later!"

...

 I can't see anything cause of the beanie. Uhh, I'm just gonna hide my face in here until my other friends come back out. Although this kinda feels... awkward.

You feel the beanie slowly being pulled up and a bright light hits your eyes. You squint at the flash of the rotating spotlight and when your vision clears, you see this creature in front of you.

"Omo," he says taking a bite of the side of his ice cream cone. "You're a funny one. What school are you from?"

"Oh, I'm from Seoul High. Wait a minute, aren't you the host?"

He straightens up and smiles at you as he puts out his hand to shake yours, "I'm Song Joongki. And you are...?"

"Haneul. Kim Haneul," you smile back and shake his hand with your unsprained one.

He looks down at the handshake and his head to one side. He has a playful grin on and his eyes start twinkling like crazy-- like how a kid would look like when he opens a big present on Christmas Eve.

"It's nice to meet you... Miss Kim Haneul."

"You too, Song Joo--"

 WAIT A MINUTE, HE JUST CALLED ME MISS????

You notice that he hasn't let go of your hand. Wide-eyed, you look back into his mischievous pupils, staring at you intently. "Come with me," he says. He pulls you to a corner of the tent where there's not as much people. He puts Jiwon's blue beanie on his head, then faces you squarely and asks, "So what's the story?"

"How did you--"

"Don't underestimate me. I bet someone has already found you out at your school, right?"

"... Yeah..."

"How many?"

"Just one."

"HAHA, really?? Gosh, I thought Seoul High students were smarter than that. How did that one find out about you?"

"I was carelessly swimming..."

"Ah. So he didn't REALLY find out himself," he laughs. "Aigoo, this is so interesting. I can't wait to see how things turn out. Thanks so much."

"For what?" you ask, puzzled.

"Life has gotten quite boring. Same old. School, work, and other stuff. But THIS? This is SOMETHING."

"YOU are really something," he chuckles.

"Uh, hahaha," you chuckle nervously.

"Isn't it difficult?"

"Sorta. Yeah. But I need to finish school. This is the only way."

"I see. Well, don't worry, Kim Haneul," he ruffles your hair. "You'll always find ways to get out of your situation. Just make wise decisions, arasso? I'd hate to see a cute girl like you get her dreams crushed."

...

 You feel your cheeks heating up. You bite your lip and smile a bit. "T-thanks..."

"Have you ever considered auditioning for an entertainment company?"

"Huh? Not really. I don't think I'm good enough for that stuff."

"Come on, the trainees I've seen used to be SO BAD when they first entered. Now, they're pretty good. You know Shin Donghee? He entered SM Entertainment not too long ago, and now I hear that the higher-ups are planning to train him in hosting. You can do that too!"

"Well... I'll think about it," you say.

He smiles at you and pokes your cheek. "If you decide to join one, give me a call or something. I can help you get around. Can I get your number?"

"Oh, I don't have a cellphone..."

"REALLY?? Oh, well, you can have my extra one," he takes out a suave-looking white Samsung phone.

"I can't accept something like this. It's fine... Thanks anyway."

"No no, the Samsung company gave this to me because I hosted this event. Take it. I don't need another phone," he says, wrapping your fingers around the cellphone with both hands.

"Thanks so much, Song Joongki-sshi," you grin gratefully.

"That already has a SIM card. My number is already saved on there. Send me an SMS so that I can save that number on my phone too."

"Oh, alright."

Before you are able to send the message, someone calls out your name. "HANEUL!"

You look and see Kim Kibum waving at you. "Oh, Song Joongki, I need to go. Thanks so much for the cellphone again! I'll update you, if ever."

Joongki gives you a wink. "See ya around, Kim Haneul."

Blushing, you run to Kibum. "You watched??" you ask surprised.

"Yeah, with the whole student council. We stayed near the back though because we were afraid that Siwon might lose his focus if he saw us. Was that guy bothering you?"

"No, no, he gave me a cellphone," you grin, showing him your new phone.

"Hahah, pretty cool. You just met him?"

"Yeah, he hosted the program."

"Ah, I see," he glances at Joongki who is busily finishing his ice cream cone. When he notices Kibum looking at him, he holds up 2 fingers and wiggles them up and down. You giggle. Kibum looks back at you with a raised eyebrow. "Let's go in to see the others now."

"Okay."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"AGAIN, GOOD JOB, GUYS!" Ryeowook is saying. His face is blotchy and his cheeks are wet with tear stains. "I never thought I'd be able to see my song actually being performed. And you all did it so well."

"I never thought I'd be able to sing in public," Jongwoon says biting his lip and smiling. "Thank you so much for considering me. Thank you, Ryeowook."

"Yes, even though we didn't win, we did our best," Heechul says. "Actually, I think that we did really well."

"I agree," Jungsu says. "Honestly."

"Aish, I really thought we'd win," Youngwoon says. "Either us or maybe those other 2 bands at the start of the competition. CNUBLUE and FCIsland, I think. Were those their names?"

"No, Youngwoon," Sungmin chuckles.

"Omo, finally, Haneul is here," Heechul says, noticing you at the curtain.

You wave to all of them. "Congratulations on an awesome performance, guys! You took me by surprise at the second song. Who wrote that?"

"Jongwoon did," Heechul grins. He puts an arm around Jongwoon, "This guy has finally blossomed. Thank you, puberty!"

"PRESIDENT-NIM!" someone shouts.

Siwon looks behind you and his eyes go wide. "Woah, what are you guys doing here?"

Kibum smirks, "Did you really think that we would miss out on watching you doing something other than work? Think of this as a student council outing, President-nim."

"Hahah," Siwon chuckles. "Well, thank you for watching, guys. I hope my image as a president has not been tainted because of what you saw earlier."

"NO, president-nim! You were so cool!" a student council member says.

"Yeah, if anything, our respect for you has grown even higher," another one says.

"I would say the same, president-nim," Ryeowook adds. "You were able to make a connection with your fellow students. That is a feat that we had been waiting for you to achieve."

"I thought I had already achieved everything," Siwon mumbles under his breath. "Anyway, I had... ahem... fun. If you guys remember, the prize for winning the competition is a cruise trip for the whole band--"

"OH MY GAH, YEAH, AISH THAT'S REALLY--" Youngwoon interrupts.

"AHEM," Siwon clears his throat, interrupting Youngwoon in turn. "So, I've decided that since we all gained something from this experience, you all deserve a cruise trip as well. But for us, we'll have it in my dad's private cruise ship so everyone involved with the band can go. Not just the band members," he winks at you. You grin at the news.

"THAAAAANK YOU, PRESIDENT-NIIIIM!!!" you all shout.

"Are we included, president-nim?" a student council member asks.

"Yes, yes, that will be the location of our next student council conference so you'll have to go whether you like it or not," Siwon replies.

"And I thought we were finally gonna have a vacation," an officer whimpers.

"I have a question for all of you," Donghae says, butting in. "This is English okay?? What is the abbreviation for the word 'Following:'?"

Siwon answers, "ff:"

"--HOORAY!!!" Donghae and Hyukjae shout by themselves. Everyone is quiet. You facepalm yourself.

"That is the lamest thing I ever heard you guys say," Sungmin says.

"Yeah, it's really lame, I'm dying," a high-pitched voice says from behind you.

"SSAEKKI!!!" Hyukjae shouts, pointing at the guy.

"EUNKYANGKYANGKYANG!!" the guy laughs.

"Guys, meet my servant, Kim Junsu," Hyukjae says.

"Ya, you're MY slave, Hyukjae," Junsu says.

"Well, actually most of you already know him," Hyukjae says, ignoring Junsu's counter remark. "Oh, Kim Haneul, meet Kim Junsu. Kim Junsu meet Kim Haneul. Aish, you're both Kims."

"Annyeong, cousin-sshi~" Junsu says cutely.

"Uh, hahaha, annyeong," you can't help but grin at the sight of this guy.

It's like he has the brain of a 6-year old. xD

"We were classmates in middle school before this jerk moved away," he says. "Here, I even have our class photo from our last year as classmates."

"Look at that guy, sitting like a frog," Junsu says.

"You're sitting like a rebel!" Hyukjae shouts.

"NO, I'M NOT! I'm sitting like a princely model!" Junsu shouts back.

"AISH AISH, STOP IT!" Heechul shouts louder. "Once these two start, you'll never see the end of it." =_=

Junsu turns to the Sungmin, "Ya, Sungmin, I heard that the others have finally been scouted. It's about time."

"Mhm," Sungmin replies. "The agents were in here earlier. Siwon is going to ask his parents first about it though."

"I hope to see everyone in the training room~" Junsu sings.

"Knock knock!" someone else says.

"YOU!!!!" Heechul shouts and charges straight towards you.

Okay, maybe not at you. He jumps on Youngwoon standing beside you but Youngwoon is able to evade the fierce Heetiger.

Wait, Youngwoon is sitting on the table. And Youngwoon wouldn't evade Heechul. He'd just charge back at him at the same time. So... if this guy beside me isn't Youngwoon hyung, who is this? O_o

"Annyeonghaseyo, I'm Lee Hongki!" the guy says, bowing.

"Looking at him makes me feel itchy because I feel like I'm looking at myself," Youngwoon says, scratching his arm.

"Why does that make you feel itchy?" Hangeng asks.

"Because he's so polite and he looks like me and seeing him like that shows me how I'd look like if I were polite!" Youngwoon scratches some more. "It's like a dejavu nightmare or something."

"HAHA, you're the evil Hongki, Youngwoon," Heechul says. "This kid treats me well."

"I can see that," Youngwoon laughs at the Heechul who had fallen to the ground and is now dusting off his pants.

"You took the video earlier, right, Haneul?" Heechul asks you.

"OH! You were the guy singing onstage!" you exclaim. "You were so good! I'm sorry I didn't recognize you in your casual clothes and without your makeup. Also because for a moment, I was debating with myself whether Youngwoon was the one over there or the one standing beside me."

He laughs heartily. "That's okay, hyung. And I'm sure that I'll be hearing that more often now that Youngwoon hyung and the others will be joining SM Entertainment."

"OH!! THAT'S what you meant by agents and stuff?" you say. "Oh gosh, congratulations a hundred times, guys!!!! And yes, Heechul hyung, I took the video." :P

A loud voice on the speaker calls, "Paging, Kim Junsu and Lee Hongki. Kim Junsu and Lee Hongki. Please proceed to the meeting location."

"Oh, we've got to go. Bye, guys!" Junsu waves with both hands.

"See you around!" Hongki says, grinning.

...

"Phew, what now?" Heechul asks.

"BACK TO THE HOTEL!!!" Donghae and the others race ahead of you. Donghee grabs Ryeowook by the waist and carries him along. On the other hand, Siwon goes off with Jiwon and the rest of the student council.

HONGDAE HOTEL

When you and the others finally arrive at the hotel, this is what welcomes you.

"They're taking up all the space on the bed," Youngwoon scowls.

"Aish, let them be," Heechul says. "Let's go out and enjoy our night in Hongdae!"

"Drinkeu?" Hangeng asks.

"Yes, Geng, durinkeu," Heechul replies. "Jungsu, we're going out for now~ Don't wait up for us."

The door closes and you're left in the room with Jungsu and the other sleeping idiots.

"Where do we sleep?" you ask Jungsu.

"I'm not sleeping for crap. I'm going outside," he says, taking his wallet and walking out the door.

The door opens again and he asks, "Haneul, come with me. Nope, this is not one of the choices you have to make for this fanfiction. This is a command from your hyung."

Go out with Jungsu.