A/N: Hi, guys! First, you’ve probably noticed that this story finally has a story banner! Hooray! Actually, I put it up a couple of days after I posted the last update. I meant to do them together, but I forgot about the cover. Go, me >.> Anyway, I had it especially commissioned. Lol I know the fic’s already ending by the time I got a cover for it, but better late than never, right? xD What do you guys think about it? :3

Anyway, here’s the final chapter before the Epilogue! Enjoy reading! Also, for the first time, I have a playlist suggestion. It will be most apt to listen to DBSK’s debut song “HUG” for the last part of this chapter.

And just a head’s up, writing this (the second/last scene, at least) even made me emotional. You’ve been warned of the feels that this chapter may cause.

Everything should have been perfect for the reunion performance already.

Final preparations for the SM Town concert venue were closed to being finished already. The line-up for the old DBS5K songs that will be performed then had been finalized. It’s also been known that Cassiopeia’s been making grand preparations for the reunion performance; the old OT5 fan chants were being resurrected and practiced. Best of all, with things fixed between Yunjae again (which also led to Yunho being in good terms with Yoochun and Junsu once more), DBSK’s bonds were back to what they were before. The group members were united and cohesive again.

Again, everything should have been perfect already.

Should have.

But still not exactly.

How can perfection and completeness ever be achieved when one member will be forever missing?

The devastation that Changmin’s death brought to his four hyungs was palpable. Not to mention that it also made rehearsals for the reunion performance very… problematic. OT5 songs were going to be performed in the concert. Five-member songs. But now, despite the reunion, there were only four members.

The big question now was this: What will happen to Changmin’s parts?

It was a very sensitive question, especially with the maknae’s death still so recent.

But there was nothing else to be done; the question had to be addressed. The concert was drawing closer than ever. They needed to decide what adjustments will have to be made to the performance of the songs.

The stage director was also saddened by the loss of Changmin, and he was very sympathetic to the pain he knew that Yunho, Jaejoong, Yoochun, and Junsu were going through. But someone still had to be rational and practical about the whole affair. And most unfortunately, the responsibility fell upon him in this case.

Of course, though, with DBSK’s bonds fixed again, the stage director had a hard time arguing with them. DBSK was working as a unit again, and the four members stood together. And they especially stood their ground firmly on matters that concerned their lost but still very much beloved maknae.

The first aspect that was argued over was what will happen to the dance routines. With Changmin gone, the OT5 dances (like pretty much everything DB5K related, really) will be incomplete. There’s going to be a vacant position wherever Changmin is meant to be dancing in the routines. What the stage director suggested was to place a dancer with a mask to fill the position, like what happened when Jaejoong was injured during the Rising Sun period/concert. It was the most practical solution.

But just because something was practical didn’t mean it was accepted and used.

Most expectedly, Yunho, Jaejoong, Yoochun, and Junsu protested.

“But it was done before when Jaejoong was injured!” the stage director tried to reason with them, pointing a finger at Jaejoong.

“That was temporary!” Yunho countered. “Changmin’s place in the dance won’t be filled by a masked dancer! Not for our reunion performance in SM Town! In fact, not ever!”

“’Not ever’? Well, what do you plan, then?!” the stage director demanded, incredulous and even more aghast that by ‘not ever’ part. “The dances will look incomplete!”

“We are incomplete!” Yoochun argued hotly. He could understand where the stage director was coming from; really, he could. The man was only doing his job and trying to make the performance good, after all. But having a masked dancer fill Changmin’s parts in OT5 songs? No… Just no. Like what his leader said, not ever.

Yunho, Jaejoong, and Junsu nodded vehemently in agreement with Yoochun’s words. If the stage director’s main worry was that the dances will look incomplete, DBSK really was incomplete now. Why worry about looking incomplete when in fact they really are?

For the four hyungs, having a masked dancer fill Changmin’s position in the routines was like trying to cover the maknae’s loss. They would never stand for something like that. They were crushed by the loss of Changmin, but they will forever acknowledge that loss and live with the pain it brings them every single day. It was the least they could do to respect the magnitude of Changmin’s sacrifice, after all.

Heck, in fact, the “maknae” position still belonged to Changmin. With him gone, Junsu was technically the maknae. But Junsu would never, ever even think of acknowledging himself as the maknae. “DBSK’s maknae” will always be Changmin. That matter was uncontested.

The stage director could only gaze helplessly at the stubborn expressions on the four members’ faces. “But the dances will look incomplete…” he had to say yet again. Then, he tried to change his approach. He said, “The fans! You want the concert to be good for the fans, right? You want the performances to be good for the fans?” The stage director tried to use the boys’ love and gratitude for Cassies to sway them.

Jaejoong simply raised an eyebrow at this. “The fans will also take our side on the matter, trust me.”

“Yeah. Besides, it’s not like the fans don’t know why the dances are now incomplete…” Junsu intoned quietly.

Like the four members, Cassiopeia was also suffering from Changmin’s death, after all.

“Fine, fine,” the stage director sighed wearily. He was glad that DBSK was united as group again. That they’ve got each other’s backs again. The man didn’t have to like it when it was used against him, though. However, while he may not like it, he knew how to recognize defeat.

So, that’s how the “compromise” was made between DBSK and the company. For the new songs that they will perform in the future, the routines will be made for four members. But whenever they danced old OT5 songs? The dance routines will have an empty space.

An empty space that reflects the void in their hearts, both of which caused by the loss of their precious maknae.

The stage director, however, still had another matter to address.

“Okay, the dances will be incomplete, but for the singing parts – ”

“You’re not having some ghost singer take Changminnie’s parts!” Jaejoong fired up at once.

“No, of course not! Of course not!” the stage director said immediately. Which was wise, for the glare he received wasn’t just Jaejoong’s but also from those from the other three members. “There are a couple of other options, though…”

The four members frowned, knowing right away they won’t like those options as well.

“Well, you gu