I don’t know how to tell you how sorry I am, but it really takes a long time to break the author’s block and found some ideas. Enjoy the chapter, and I love you guys and Hourglass to just leave the story alone <3

February 8, 2006

“No schedule?” Sehee asked Daejung, surprised.

“Yes, I cleared your schedule for four days,” he said.

“Oh, okay,” she replied and got up, no longer feeling sleepy. She had grown accustomed to not having a free time for years. It felt foreign for her to have at least four days of holiday.

“Hey, are you sure it’s four? Don’t you think it’s quite a long time?” She asked her manager and he raised an eyebrow.

“Four days starting from today, and be quiet. The girls don’t know about it,” he told and she frowned.

“So it’s only me?” Sehee asked.

“Yes, and you should be grateful,” Daejung lightly scolded the leader.

“What did I do?” Sehee asked, frowning. “Why am I excluded from promoting?” she asked, slightly worried.

“Okay, look. You girls always checked up at the hospital right? And your stress level is too high, very high. Boss told us to give you some rest, enjoy your day,” Daejung explained and Sehee looked at him.

“But I’m…not stress at all,” she stated, confused.

“Just go, and don’t worry about the girls, hm?” he said.

“I don’t know about you, but it feels like you’re kicking me out,” Sehee said with a light smirk.

“Whatever,” he replied, watching as the leader headed back to her room, excited.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

“Is it true that you’re dating him?” Daejung growled at Yumi who was staring at her feet. She had no courage to look into the manager’s eyes at all. Hyejin, their other manager was standing next to Daejung, with no smile on her face. It was no secret that Yumi was very close to Yoochun. But she, they had always thought their relationship was more to oppa-dongsaeng.

“I asked you a question,” Daejung said as calmly as he could.

“We want to settle it now, we don’t want to bring it to the president,” Hyejin said to the young idol. Hyejin let out a frustrated sigh and turned to Daejung.

“Call Sehee,” she said.

“She’s out,” Daejung said and Hyejin pursed her lips, just remembering that the leader had gotten five days of schedule-free.

“Soomi?” Hyejin asked and Daejung checked his notebook.

“She’s getting ready for her vocal practice. Call her,” Daejung said and Yumi looked up.

“Please don’t call unnie,” Yumi said softly. Hourglass was a girl group so they didn’t take beating like TVXQ or Super Junior. Their punishment worked in a different way. It worked in different way for each member.

“I might just call all the members and asked them about this,” Hyejin threatened.

“Hyejin,” Daejung shot the woman a glare. “Are you two dating?” he asked and Yumi hesitated. Her mother had always taught her to be honest, and no one will scold you. But no, it never actually worked that way.

“SONG SOOMI!” Hyejin literally roared, venting her anger and frustration out.

“Yes, we do,” Yumi quickly confessed. She didn’t want to drag her Soomi unnie into this. The two managers were the one who asked for the question, but they didn’t want to hear that answer.

“For how long?” Daejung asked through his gritted teeth and Yumi looked down. Gosh, what did she even do to receive this kind of torment?

The door creaked opened and Soomi peeked inside. “What’s wrong?” Soomi asked.

“Come in,” Daejung said and the older girl entered the room. The tension was so thick that Soomi swore she could cut it with her manicured nails.

“How long has Yumi and Yoochun been dating?” Hyejin asked and Soomi’s eyes widened, glancing at the maknae.

“So you knew it too,” Hyejin muttered. Soomi’s face didn’t show that she was surprise of the news, but she was shocked that the managers knew.

“Please unnie,” Yumi begged.

“How long?” Hyejin asked again.

“I don’t know,” Soomi replied honestly.

“How long have you known about this?” Hyejin changed her question and Soomi bit her lower lip.

“Since last year,” Soomi answered and Hyejin shut her eyes in frustration.

“Go get ready for your vocal practice,” she said and Soomi bowed, before leaving the room. Daejung’s phone rang and he let out a sigh before answering it. A couple of ‘yes’ was heard before he hung up.

“You’re coming to the office,” Daejung told Yumi.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 “Hello, Eunsung ah,” Leeteuk smiled, flashing his dimple at the younger girl.

“Oh, hello,” Eunsung said awkwardly, avoiding his bold gaze.

“Do you have a schedule?” Leeteuk asked with a friendly smile, but it kind of bothered her.

“I’m going for dance practice,” Eunsung told.

“Oh,” Leeteuk said and Eunsung glanced at the older, handsome guy. He seemed kind, a kind hearted leader, one who understood and cared for s.

“When are you free?” Leeteuk suddenly asked and Eunsung’s eyes turned wide.

“Ne?” she asked, and Leeteuk chuckled at her adorable face.

“I was wondering if we can hang out,” Leeteuk said.

“Oppa, although I want to, you know we can’t,” Eunsung said, biting her lips. It would be a lie if she said she wasn’t attracted to this man. She was, and he was very charming. Her mother would be happy but…her work was on their way. And she wouldn’t sacrifice it.

“Just a friendly hangout, you know, to the neorebang,” Leeteuk said, trying to hide his disappointment.

“I’ll ask Soomi unnie to tag along,” Eunsung said.

“Yeah, sure,” Leeteuk smiled. “I’ll see you later,” he said and she nodded, giving him a small smile. Eunsung let out a sigh before entering the practice room.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

When Yumi arrived at the office, Yoochun was already inside. She was told to stay outside for a minute while Daejung headed inside. She saw Yoochun’s head bowed as he stood still, and she felt so guilty. She saw Daejung walked towards the door and calmed herself.

“Come in,” her manager said and she bit her lower lip as she walked in.

“Annyeong haseyo,” she bowed respectfully at the representative.

“Yoochun here had told me everything, and I understand. You two are still young and foolish,” he started and cleared his throat. “Yumi-ssi, how much do you want to be in Hourglass?” he asked and Yumi looked up, wide-eyed.

“Sir,” she said, obviously shocked. The representative continued to look at her, judging her. “I’m a part of Hourglass. It’s my life,” Yumi answered and he smirked lightly.

“But it seems you don’t really care about Hourglass. You starting a relationship with Yoochun was a clear evidence that you don’t give a damn about Hourglass. The fans, the reputation, the members, the company,” he said and Yumi felt hot tears welling in her eyes. She wasn’t going to cry in front of them, no she wasn’t. She was stronger than that.

“I’m sorry, I truly am,” Yumi said, her head lowed.

“Just because DBSK and Hourglass are rising right now, that doesn’t mean you can slack off,” the representative said, looking at both of the idols. “What about you, Yoochun-ssi? Do you still want to be in DBSK? Because there are many other trainees that would die to replace you. They would die to become stars,” he said.

“I made a mistake and I promised you I will never repeat it again,” Yoochun said regretfully.

“I wonder what will happen when Yunho and Sehee hear of this,” he said and Yoochun and Yumi looked up in alarmed. “I wonder what will happen to them since they didn’t take care of their members,” he said with a smirk, noticing the worry looks of the idols in front of him.

“Please, don’t involve them,” Yumi said briskly.

“I’m sorry. Yunho hyung had nothing to do with this,” Yoochun said and the representative laughed.

“Funny, you never know do you? Every time you made a mistake, your leader gets the blame. It’s cruel, really. But we couldn’t help it. It’s the way it works,” the representative said.

“Kwon Yumi, Park Yoochun, I’m making this clear. I will not see you two near each other unless the situation couldn’t be helped. You two will stay away from each other, no communication, no eye contact. Understand?”

“Yes sir,” both of them said.

“Good, Yumi ssi, you can go,” he said and Yumi bowed, before heading out with Daejung.

“You’re very lucky you’re still in Hourglass,” Daejung hissed as they walked to the parking lot.

“I’m sorry-”

“Stop. You don’t understand. Both of you are popular idols. The fans suspected that you two are dating and if it’s confirmed, you two are dead. You don’t know what they are capable of. You will lose everything,” Daaejung scolded and Yumi nodded.

“Kwon Yumi, you’ll lose everything!” Daejung stated firmly and Yumi nodded.

“I understand. I’ll focus on Hourglass,” Yumi said bitterly although she knew it would be hard to do as she said. She was dating with Yoochun for almost or was it already a year? She was still in love with him. This was impossible.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Soomi could no longer go to shopping mall without having her fans following her. She was famous, yes, she was known for her powerful vocal, yes, her beauty was acknowledged, yes. But a part of her life was missing. She was trapped.

She couldn’t go meet her friends freely. She couldn’t find the right guy because she didn’t know they wanted her because they love her or because she was popular. She was lonely when she had nothing to do. When she got a break, she will just sit around, doing nothing. She wanted to go and socialize, maybe went for a drink or something. But that would affect Hourglass and herself if she was caught.

Crazy.

“Can I help you, sweetheart?” the ahjumma asked and Soomi smiled.

“Yes, a serving please,” she said and the ahjumma smiled.

“Of course,” she said and got her a plate of tteokbokki ready. Soomi had a free day tomorrow, and she had walked around tonight, wanting to feel the air. She had been walking around, with a mask and her hoodie. It was a cold night, and she thanked the ahjumma for the hot spicy rice cakes.

She heard someone approaching and she lowered her head, as she continued munching the rice cake.

“Can I have a serving please, ahjumma?” the guy asked. His voice sounded like he was a handsome guy. Soomi sighed, it wasn’t like she was desperate. She was never a desperate person when it came to a relationship. But the hectic idol life made her empty. Work, work and only work. She found herself lost in attempt to keep her popularity and achieving more.

What did Sehee say again? Yeah, you lost your humanity when you became popular. It didn’t mean they became cruel and stuck up, it meant you couldn’t live. You sold your soul to the company and permitted them to take over your life.

Soomi enjoyed singing more than anything. She was born to be a performer. But she found herself lost interest in music. She wondered why. The fans were the only thing that kept her going.

“Excuse me?” someone touched her shoulder gingerly and Soomi jumped. “Aren’t you…” he trailed off and Soomi blinked. She was lost in her thought and being brought back to the world abruptly, she was still confused.

“Do I know you?” she asked, didn’t want to appear rude.

“No, no, of course not. But I know you,” the guy said and after a while, realization hit her. Right, she was a celebrity.

“Oh…do you want a signature?” she asked, pulling the mask down to talk to him easier. He nodded with a grin.

“Yes please,” he said, fishing out a book from his backpack. Soomi smiled kindly as she took his book and flipped the pages.

“Wow, you write songs?” she asked when she saw the pages with lyrics and notes. The guy scratched his neck, embarrassed that Soomi would ask him that.

“I’m not that good,” he replied with a shy laugh.

“I think it’s beautiful,” Soomi said, scanning the lyrics over. She found an empty page and signed there. “What’s your name?” she asked.

“Jiyong,” he replied. Soomi wrote some note to him and Jiyong looked at her focused face.

“There you go,” she said and met his eyes before he looked down.

“Thank you, I hope you…uh,” Jiyong who was lost at word, didn’t really know what to say.

Soomi laughed, “It’s nice meeting you. I hope we can see each other again,” she said. “I have to go, I’ll see you around,” Soomi said and waved at him. She only said that out of kindness, out of politeness. Never did she think they would meet again.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Next day

“Younggeun ah!” Mai turned around quickly when she heard her nickname. Donghae ran to her, seeming breathless.

“Oppa, wae?” she asked when Donghae came to a stop in front of her.

“Are you free?” he asked urgently and she nodded.

“I just finished my vocal practice,” she told.

“Good, I got a call. Dad was admitted to hospital and I have a music show. I couldn’t see him. Please, take a bus or a train and go meet him,” Donghae said urgently and Mai had never seen him so worried, so vulnerable.

“I will, don’t worry alright? He’ll be fine. You focus on what you’re doing, I’ll send him your best,” Mai said, hugging Donghae tightly. It had been two years since she last seen her family. She realized how much she missed them and how much she cared for them

The busy schedule had distracted her and she felt guilty for not thinking about her family. She didn’t even have the time to miss them when they clearly think about her all the time. She pulled away from Donghae and kissed his cheek, bidding goodbyes. She called her managers quickly and informed them the news.

They were against it, but after some pleading and crying, they told her they would send her but only an hour later. Mai said yes, that she would be waiting for them, but she was already running to the bus station. Anything could happen, and she couldn’t risk being late.