Jason’s POV

I stormed into the Pledis building and marched straight past the receptionist’s desk and into the CEO’s office despite her warnings not to. I didn’t care if he was busy or not. How dare him. How dare he try to screw with my life like this just for his own entertainment! He glanced up from his computer screen and stared at me with shocked eyes before nervously glancing back and speaking into his microphone, dismissing himself. When he was done he yanked his earpiece out from his earlobe and threw it angrily down on the desk, glaring at me.

“I was on an important video conference!” He scolded.

I ignored his remark. “When were you planning on telling me about China?” I asked, stopping in front of his desk. He narrowed his eyes at me and scoffed.

“Who makes the orders around here; you or I?”

“I don’t need to be here!”

“Korea Pledis Headquarters is the only office that will take you!” He snapped back at me. “Don’t you get it? Nobody else wants you; not after the mess you created.”

“If I created such a mess, then why are you sending me back there? They made it entirely clear that they don’t want me there!”

He sighed then sat back in his office chair. “Because the boys need a translator.”

“Then hire one. Last I checked, choreographers don’t accompany their artists overseas.” I wasn’t going to budge. It was ridiculous that he was sending me on some trivial errand of his just because Minhyun and Aron didn’t speak Chinese. There were plenty of people in China that could speak Korean; why not hire one of those?

“Why are you so stubborn?” He asked. “I’m doing this for you.”

I raised a brow. “For me? How is making me go back there possibly doing me a favor?”

“So you can clear the air between you and all those fans-”

I laughed. “Fans? That’s not the word I’d use. More like ‘vultures.’”

“Regardless, you’re going, not just for 2DREAM, but for yourself.”

“Then I quit.”

“You signed a contract. Unless you want to pay the hefty fine for breaking it, I suggest you start packing your suitcase for China.” He threatened. I clenched my hand into a fist by my side and then angrily stormed out from his office. I exited the main entrance to the Pledis building and screamed out in frustration. I didn’t want to go back there. They’d eat me up alive the moment I set foot in the airport. Not to mention I’d have a lot of explaining to do to the people around me who I had led to believe that I was just ‘happy-go-lucky Jason from Jeju.’ I wasn’t from Jeju… dammit. I wasn’t as happy as I seemed on the outside. I always had a smile on my lips, but behind that smile was an entirely different story. But I didn’t want to burden people with my past; hell, I didn’t want to be burdened by it anymore either. I came to Korea to forget and move on. But it seemed Pledis had other plans for me, didn’t they?

Life wasn’t fair…

I’ve never done anything wrong. If I’m guilty of a crime, it’s being too naïve and trusting of the people around me. I’ve learned my lesson… I’ve learned it in life’s cruelest way. But I was fine now. I was happy living with Aron and Minhyun inside of that house. I was happy I met good people like Ren and his attractive older brother Minseok. Even though I could be a pain in the sometimes, everyone still put up with my crazy antics. I was just… happy. And now Pledis was trying to make me go back and face my worst nightmare. It felt like my new happy world was crumbling around me. I could almost feel the walls starting to collapse. But I couldn’t let the others see that. I don’t want sympathy. I just want to live. I just want to smile. I just want to be strong.

I glanced down at the clock on my phone. It was already late. I needed to get back before the others started to worry. Would they worry…? For the most part they all had a love/hate relationship with me, but we were all still friends, right? I didn’t want to think about it. I’d probably end up hurt if it were otherwise. I hopped on the bus and quickly made my way back home. As I arrived at the front gate I spotted Minhyun exiting the house, locking the door behind him. I froze in my tracks; was Minhyun about to go search for me…? I felt my chest tighten. I was touched. A big smile spread across my face and I slid past the gate and stopped in front of him. As Minhyun finished locking the door he turned around. Not expecting to see me there, he jumped literally three feet into the air, placed his hand over his chest and screamed before falling backwards and grabbing onto the wall.

“Oh my god, what are you doing there?!” He stammered.

I smirked, remaining silent.

Minhyun angrily stood back up and threw his arms to his sides. “Ah, seriously! To think I was about to waste my time to go out and look for you when you were out here all along!” He spun back around, shifting the keys in his hands and about to unlock the front door again. “Even after you went on a date with my boy-”

I took several steps toward him before leaning forward and wrapping my arms around his back, giving him a tight hug. Minhyun froze and then glanced over his shoulder, giving me a questioning look. I rested my cheek on his shoulder blade, smiling sadly. “Thanks, bestie…”

“H-huh? What’s wrong with you now?” He asked nervously.

I shook my head and then released him.

Minhyun slowly turned to face me, digging his hands into his jean pockets. He was silent for a while before finally gathering the courage to say something. “Do you… want to talk about it?”

I gave him a startled look. “Hm?”

“About… what’s in China?”

I forced a fake smile on my lips. “What’s in China?” I asked, playing innocent.

“There’s a reason why you stormed out of here like that. There’s something you don’t want to see in China, isn’t there? Or perhaps… someone?” He asked.

I shook my head. “Nope!” I replied cheerfully. “That’s not it at all. Sorry, Min, but you’ve got it all wrong.”

“So it’s not your ex?”

I paused as he mentioned him. The familiar sting that struck my heart whenever his name was mentioned was back again. I glanced back up at him and gave him a goofy smile. “Of course not! Why would my ex be there? And that was a long time ago.” I replied, trying to make my way past him and back inside when he stopped me.

“So then why don’t you want to go?” He asked. “You’re always asking the rest of us questions that make us god-awfully uncomfortable. Now it’s my turn. Why don’t you want to go to China?”

I laughed. “Because China is awful!”

Minhyun paused. “What?”

“Forreal! There’s so many people there! Why would you want to go to a place where there’s barely room to breathe? I’m very claustrophobic, y’know.”

Minhyun gave me a skeptical look. “And you threw a fit over that?”

I pouted. “Don’t make me try to explain myself. You know we’ll both be out here all night long.” Minhyun immediately stepped aside, granting me entrance back into the house. I smirked then happily skipped back inside. As I entered everyone glanced up at me from what they were doing. “Everyone’s lovable little rascal is baaaac-” I paused in horror when I noticed Mel laying on the living room floor, gnawing on Enrique’s horn. I screamed then ran to him, snatching my stuffed unicorn out of Aron’s puppy’s claws. I pointed down at Mel. “SOON.” I warned.

Aron glanced up from his magazine on the couch. “Leave him alone, you freak.” He said as he flipped the page. Mel rolled onto his side and then climbed onto his paws, standing his ground. The small dog started barking at me.

“I will eat you.”

Mel growled at me.

“That’s it; Ren, get me the biggest pot we have!” I ordered. Ren suddenly stood up from sitting at the dining table. Aron immediately glanced over his shoulder and glared at him.

“Are you crazy? Don’t listen to him!” Aron exclaimed.

Ren blinked. “Huh?” He gave us a puzzled look. “Oh… I guess I chose another terrible time to get a glass of water, didn’t I?” He scratched his chin. “I really have terrible timing, don’t I?” He shrugged then walked over and pulled a glass out from the cupboard, filling it up with water. Aron glanced back over at me.

“Are you good?”

I paused then smiled. “Yep, I’m good.” I gave him a thumbs-up.

“Good.”

“Good for all of us.” I replied.

“Why do you always have to make everything weird?” Minhyun scowled from behind me.

“Whatever, you love my weirdness!” I fought back. Minhyun glared at me as he folded his arms across his chest. I playfully narrowed my eyes back at him. After a couple of seconds of silently bickering Minhyun gave up, rolled his eyes and walked away. I glanced around the room, looking for JB but he was nowhere to be found. I glanced at Aron. “Where’s manager-nim?”

“His study. It’s down the hall. Knock before you enter. He gets all prissy if you don’t.” Aron warned, I’m guessing from personal experience.

I nodded. “Got it. Knock before entering.” I replied then made my way down the hallway, looking for JB’s study. When I found the right room I noticed there was a big sign hanging on the door which read ‘KNOCK FIRST.’ Hm… I guess Aron was right about this whole ‘knocking’ thing. I smirked and then loudly kicked open the door. “Sup???” I shouted.

JB literally jumped up in his seat and then scrambled to close all the windows on his desktop. He glanced over his shoulder. “Don’t you knock?!?!” He stammered. I tried to sneak a peek at what was open on his screen. Obviously he was trying to hide something that he didn’t want any of us to see. A sly smirk spread across my face.

“Were you looking at ?” I teased. JB’s face turned a deep shade of red.

“No!” He exclaimed.

I narrowed my eyes at him. “Was it gay or straight ?” I asked.

JB’s eyes were as wide as plates. “Neither!”

“Oh, no way! You’re into that animal stuff, aren’t you? That’s nasty!!!”

“I wasn’t looking at !” JB replied defensively.

“Well, since the question’s out there, what are you, by the way?” I asked.

“I beg your pardon?”

“Do you like the V or the D?”

“I have a fiancé!”

I stared at him with wide eyes, pausing. “…Is it a woman?”

“YES SHE’S A WOMAN!!!” JB exclaimed angrily, slamming his fist down onto his desk in annoyance. I chuckled, folding my arms across my chest while still clutching on tightly to Enrique.

“Heyyy, good for you, buddy! Didn’t know you were such a ladies man!” I nudged him with my elbow. “So then, what were you looking at?”

“It doesn’t concern you.” He replied. I ignored his last comment and leaned over him, reaching for the keyboard and typing in the code that brought all the closed windows back up again. JB turned several shades of white as I realized that he had several music programs opened on his desktop, one of them being Sound Studio. I pursed my lips together and raised a brow, glancing back down at him.

“What is this…? Do you produce too?”

JB blinked. “Too?”

I glanced back down at his screen. He had already mixed several beats and rhythms together. “Do you mind if I take a listen?” I asked, not really waiting to hear his response before grabbing the headphones from off his desk and hitting play. I closed my eyes as the music started to flow out from each speaker, spilling into my ears. After listening to the song in its entirety, I removed the headphones and thought for a moment. I was actually surprised. JB knew how to produce music? Granted, it was still rough around the edges… but it wasn’t half bad.  I glanced back at JB. “What is this…?”

JB glanced off to the side. “It’s just a side project.”

“For what?”

“It doesn’t concern you.”

“Is it for 2DREAM? Are you trying to produce a song for 2DREAM?” I asked.

“No.”

I paused. “Then is it for Kang Baekho?”

JB stared at me with big eyes. “What, but-”

I smirked. “I didn’t know, but now I do! Haha!” I cheered. “So you’re actually still helping the guy out on the side, huh?”

“Can you keep a secret?” JB suddenly asked.

I shook my head. “No, not at all.”

“Then never mind.”

I shrugged. “Do or don’t; like you said, it doesn’t concern me.” I replied. Wait for it, wait for it… 3… 2… 1-

“Kang Baekho has signed under my name. He is no longer a part of Pledis, but he is my artist now. It is my goal to help him return to the music scene again.”

I frowned. “Kang Baekho can’t return with a song like this…”

He gave me a startled look. “Why not?”

“Because Baekho is a legend. He needs a legendary song. This… it’s decent. Something that 2DREAM could pull off. But Baekho needs something better.”

“How would you know?” JB asked defensively.

I smirked. “I produced back in the day. I was actually pretty famou-” I cut myself off when I realized that I had said too much. “Anyways, I feel the same way you do. I don’t even know the guy, but I can see the big influence he had on 2DREAM and how much his presence is missed around here. He has a pretty unique set of vocal folds. It’d be a shame if the world can’t hear it anymore, y’know?”

“What are you saying?”

I leaned forward. “Mind if I help?”

Ren’s POV

[2 weeks later]

I stood outside my classroom door, waving to each student as they poured out from my room and into the hallways. It was finally summer break and I would be releasing my students out into the world for a month until they returned to me. I wished them a fun, safe holiday before sending them off. I was happy that my workload would decrease for the month, but at the same time I knew it wouldn’t make much of a difference. There were several things left on my mind to worry about. Baekho would be going in for surgery soon. I would be leaving for China tomorrow morning for a week and then JR would be here when I returned. I had so much anxiety running through my veins that I felt like I would develop an ulcer from all the worrying I’ve been doing. I took a deep breath. Everything is going to be fine, Ren. Just take it one day at a time. Whatever happens, happens. Stop trying to control everything and let the universe move on its own.

I had spoken to JR the other day. He wished me a good, fun, and a safe trip as well as return, much like how a loving, responsible boyfriend should. I still hadn’t brought myself to tell him. I figured that if I should tell him, it should be in person. I owed him that much at least to not be so much of a coward. I knew he’d probably be even more heartbroken if I had broken things off with him over the phone. Over the past two weeks my communication with Baekho was kept at a minimal. We mostly texted each other at night before bed but even then it was harmless flirting. I think I was still in denial about how nice Baekho was treating me. I don’t think that initial shock would ever go away. Kang Baekho actually liked me… it wasn’t a dream.

Speaking of Baekho, his surgery was in a couple of days and I would be away in China while he was under. Minseok reassured me that everything would be fine, and that he’d be there with him. Of course he’d be there; he’d be the audiologist on the surgical team. Minseok never missed an opportunity to troll me. What else were older brothers for? He kept his word about keeping me away from Baekho’s house. He said he felt awful about it, but I understood that he was just trying to keep me out of trouble. I reassured him that everything was fine. But I was worried for Baekho. Would he be okay? I wanted to be there for him. I sighed. I needed to just focus on my schedule. First China, then JR, then Baekho. I would eventually get to be by his side, but for now, I needed to go home and finish packing.

Later that evening I found that it was just Jason and I alone in the house. Aron and Minhyun had something to attend to on their schedules before we left the country. For being alone with the otherwise loud redhead, it was awfully quiet inside the mansion. Too quiet. What was he up to? He had been acting strangely these past two weeks ever since JB delivered the news and Jason had fled the house in a fit reminiscent of a toddler. I wondered what was going on with him. He had been very secretive lately. Usually he was a very outgoing person, but lately after returning from dance practice he’d go straight to his room and lock the door behind him, oftentimes not coming out until late at night. Curiosity got the best of me and I decided to pay him a visit. I had a feeling that I would regret it, but I tried to ignore it.

I knocked on his door. Rather loud music had been playing on his speakers until it suddenly stopped. I heard Jason’s heavy footsteps approach the door until he finally switched the lock and pulled it open, peeping his head outside. He stared at me with his large brown eyes. “Yo.” He smiled.

I tried to look past the crack in the door. “What are you doing in there?”

A sly smirk spread across his lips. “Why? Want to join me?” He shot me a wink. I placed my hand on his forehead and pushed him back.

“Stop it.”

Jason laughed. “I tried.” He joked. “So what’s up?” He still refused to let me inside.

“What are you hiding in there?” I asked, raising a brow. Why didn’t he want to let me inside of his room?

“A dead body. Don’t tell anyone.”

“Jason.” I scolded.

“Ah, fine! Come in. It’s a mess though.” He replied then swung the door open. My mouth immediately gaped open. There were piles among piles of magazines and books haphazardly stacked upon one another inside of his room. In the corner of the room it looked like there might have been a bed underneath more piles of paper and mountains of clothes. I would actually believe him if there really was a dead body inside the room. With as much junk as he had laying around, you’d never know if there was one or not. I glanced down at my hand and started counting my fingers.

“You’ve only been here for a few months! How did you manage this train wreck???” I asked. I could only imagine what Baekho would think if he saw Jason’s cluttered room. And he threw a fit over my slightly messy room? Baekho would go into cardiac arrest the moment he stepped foot in here. I started picking up a pile of messy papers on his bed so that I could find a place to sit. As I sifted through the papers I realized what I was looking at: it was sheet music. I curiously glanced over at Jason who was in front of his Mac desktop on his computer chair, kneeling like the crazy person he was instead of simply sitting in it like a sane person would.

“Don’t stifle an artist!”

“You’re an artist?” I asked.

“Duh.” He replied as if it were obvious.

“I had no idea you wrote music.”

“Nu-uh, I told you a long time ago I used to play around with music production on my computer.” He replied, eyes glued to his desktop screen.

“Sorry…” I muttered, glancing down at the sheet music in my hands. My thoughts began to wonder. “Hey, Jason?”

“Mmhmm?”

“Were you… serious when you said you’d like to see the three of them together again?” I asked. “I mean, Aron, Minhyun and Baekho.”

Jason nodded. “Yep.” I paused, debating whether or not I should ask him. Jason could be a great asset to the team of people already willing to help Baekho out. I had spoken to the hair and makeup artists down at Pledis; the girls agreed to come running with their kits the moment we called. They wanted to help Baekho too. I was surprised by the turnout of people starting to show up and offer their support for the return of DREAM. We had the stylists down, we had JB, and we had Minseok. All we were really missing was someone like Jason, who was a double threat. He could dance and apparently he knew how to write music. I wondered… would Jason be willing to help Baekho out as well?

“What have you heard about Kang Baekho?” I asked.

“I heard that he’s a douche.” He immediately replied.

I chuckled. “Well… yeah, besides that.”

“That he’s really passionate about what he does. I admire that about a person, I really do. That’s the extent of what I know. That, and well, he got kicked out of Pledis for a reason that you seem to know about but are unwilling to share.”

I hesitantly paused. “Jason, if I told you what that reason was, could you keep it a secret from everyone else?”

Jason kept his gaze fixated on his computer screen. “Nope.” I could see a smirk on his face. He held his hand up and I could see him silently counting down on his fingers. I narrowed my eyes at him.

“I’m being serious!”

“So am I. The length of time I could talk is longer than the length of The Great Wall.” He spun around in his chair to face me. “I am a Chatty Cathy.”

I knew he was lying. Jason knew the boundaries of basic human etiquette. A secret like Baekho’s he would definitely keep. “Baekho was in an accident; I’m sure you heard about it on the news.” I replied. Jason nodded. “But that accident cost him his hearing. He is considered Hearing Impaired. He’s not deaf, but… it’s a struggle for him. He wants to return to the stage, but Pledis is keeping him down, making sure it doesn’t happen. All of us are trying to help him and I was just wonder if perhaps, you might-”

“Help him?” He asked, cutting me off.

I nodded. “Yeah.”

“With what?”

“With whatever help you can offer him while keeping it a secret.” I replied. Jason went silent for a moment, lost in his own thoughts. It was a while before he spoke again.

“I’ll help him… but on one condition.” He replied.

I blinked. “Condition?”

Jason smirked. “Get me a date with Minseok.”

I fell onto my side on his bed in disbelief. Was he serious? My brother would never go for this! Sure, I might have asked crazy favors of him in the past, but by far this would have to be the craziest, most ridiculous request of them all. If I asked Minseok to go on a date with this whacko, he’d probably beat me up. I sat back up. “After hearing about your date with Aron, for the good of humanity, I cannot subject my hyung to that as well.”

Jason laughed. “I did that to Aron on purpose. Aron is such a robot; I did that to liven him up a little! I assure you, I’m not as crazy as I come off on a normal basis. I’m human too.”

I sighed heavily. “Still… I don’t know. I mean, I’ll ask, but I can’t make any guarantees he’ll say yes.” Hyung, don’t kill me…

“He has to go on a date with me as soon as we get back from China! No ‘ifs’ ‘ands’ or ‘buts.’ He has to say yes.”

“I’ll see what I can do.”

“Call him right now.” Jason demanded. I looked at him with wide eyes.

“Are you crazy?!”

“Yes,” Jason replied. “Now do it!”

I silently cried on the inside as I brought my cellphone out from my pocket. I couldn’t believe I was actually doing this. My hand practically shook as I selected Minseok’s number and it started ringing. After a couple of rings, to my dismay, hyung actually answered.

“What now???” Minseok’s annoyed voice poured out from the phone.

“H-hyung…” I was terrified to ask.

“I don’t have all day. Hurry up.”

“I have a favor to ask of you.”

“Which is…?”

It was now or never. Sigh. Here goes. “Would you be willing to go out on a date with Jason?”

There was a long pause on the other end of the line. “…Which one is Jason?”

This was so embarrassing. “The redhead.”

“Hmm…”

“You don’t have to-”

“Okay.”

I blinked. “’Ok,’ as in ‘no,’ or ‘ok’ as in-”

Minseok laughed. “I’ll do it, little bro.”

“R-really? Don’t you even want to know the reason why-”

“Not really. If it involves you asking, it’s got to involve something crazy. I want to spare myself the headache of finding out why.”

I couldn’t believe Minseok so easily agreed to this. He knew this was Jason we were talking about, right? No, I couldn’t question him. I just needed for him to accept this because this meant that I fulfilled my end of the bargain and now Jason was obligated to help out Baekho. I quickly hung up with Minseok and stared at Jason with eyes full of disbelief. Jason was nervously biting his lower lip and gripping the armrests to his chair.

“Well?” He asked.

“He said… yes.”

Jason tumbled out of his chair and hit the floor. I shot to my feet and knelt down to help him back up. Jason immediately latched onto me and embraced me in a tight hug. “Oh, Ren, you’ve made me the happiest man in the world!”

I laughed. “Um, yeah, okay.” I tried to pull away but Jason still held on. I awkwardly patted his back. “Let go any time now; it’s getting a little weird.”

“Ahaha! Sorry! I’m just so excited!” Jason replied then released me.

“So you’ll help Baekho?”

Jason nodded and gave me a thumbs-up. “You bet I will.”

Minhyun’s POV

The four of us awoke bright and early in the morning to catch our flight into China. Aron, Ren and I all dressed down in normal street clothes. Jason, much like many of the other things he ever did, was over the top and completely hid his entire face behind large sunglasses, a cloth mouth mask, a baseball cap, and a hoodie drawn over his head. I silently shook my head as the four of us received strange stares as we made our way out into the terminal. As we arrived at customs Jason climbed to the back of the line and stealthily gave his passport to security, acting as if he almost didn’t want the rest of us to see it. When I questioned him about it, he said it was because he had a goofy passport picture. Somehow I believed him and let it go. The four of us, along with JB, were later allowed to board the plane and we each took our seats in first class. Ren went for the window seat on the left side of the isle, put his bags in the overhead bin and sat down. Aron took the seat next to him, following up on his word to keep his distance from me, at least in public. That left me with the empty seat beside Jason. I sighed before placing my bags in the storage compartment and taking a seat beside him.

“Looks like they can make you go to China after all.” I teased.

“Ugh, don’t remind me.” Jason replied, still wearing his getup.

“Will you take that off? You look ridiculous.”

“I can’t; I’m sick!” He exclaimed.

I rolled my eyes. “Sick? That’s a bit of an understatement. You look like you’ve caught the Ebola virus.”

“Hate all you want, bestie. Your hatred only further fuels my love for you.” He replied then leaned closer to me. “You can’t tell, but I’m smiling underneath this mask right now.”

“Then take it off!”

“Don’t yell at your hyung!”

“You’re not my hyung-”

“GUYS!” Ren exclaimed.

“Why won’t you let me love you?!?!” Jason waived his hands at his sides in emphasis.

“GUYS!!!” Ren snapped. “We haven’t even left the ground yet and already you’ve started bickering! Stop it or I’ll separate the two of you!”

Jason sheepishly brought his head down like a small child being scolded. “Yes sir…” Wait, what? But Jason was several years older than Ren… ah, nothing made sense anymore.

I shook my head in silence. I pointed at Jason. “It was his fault.” Ren gave me a stern look. “Fine.” I folded my arms across my chest and slumped back in my seat. I glanced over at Aron who had a small, amused smirk in the corner of his lips. I picked up my pillow and chunked it at him. It hit his head and then bounced off into the isle.

“What did I just say?!” Ren exclaimed.

I immediately turned away, focusing my gaze outside of Jason’s window. Jason peered over the rim of his sunglasses at me. “I’m rubbing off on you, aren’t I, Minhyun?” I stared at him in horror as the pilot’s voice began to pour out from the speakers, addressing takeoff. Oh my god… Jason rubbing off on me? That was the most horrible thing ever! I heard Jason begin to cackle from underneath his face mask at my misfortune. Why me? Why my life???

A couple of hours later we arrived in Beijing. One of the things I noticed when we stepped out of the plane and into the airport was that Jason was right. China was freakishly overcrowded. There was hardly room to walk. Aron, Ren and I all glanced around in fascination. Jason, on the other hand seemed to be awkwardly timid. He hunched over as he walked, as if hiding, hoping that no one would notice him. Of course people would notice a freak like him. If it wasn’t the hair, it was the bizarre sunglasses and face mask. If we didn’t know any better, he could probably be mistaken for a punk-rock ahjumma. But I digress. JB quickly led us out of the airport where we were met outside by a black van sent by the Pledis China office. All five of us climbed inside and we were taken to first thing to the studio to make acquaintances with the Chinese staff members. After arrival, as we climbed out of the van JB stopped in front of Jason and removed both his ridiculous sunglasses and face mask.

“Don’t make a fool out of 2DREAM in there.”

Jason darkly glanced off to the side, not at all pleased that JB had removed his cover. “I’m well aware that there’s a time and place to be serious.”

“I was just reminding you.” He replied. “We’ll follow you.” JB instructed. Jason hesitantly took the lead and started walking to the front of the building with the rest of us quickly following suit. JB’s words just now had been strange. Why would we follow Jason? Whatever the case, Jason seemed to know where he was going, almost as if he had been here before. He was awfully familiar with the halls and turns inside of the building. I stared in amazement at the various photos of the gorgeous singers and actors/actresses that the Chinese branch of Pledis represented. Every hall we turned featured several faces on the walls, but one face in particular seemed to be pictured more than the others; a slender brunette with nice facial features. He appeared to be some sort of a singer and musician, depicted sitting beside a piano and microphone in several photos. At the same time, he also seemed to be a dancer. A triple-threat, perhaps? Whoever he was, he was obviously one of the company’s biggest cash cows.

We didn’t stop until we reached what I presumed was the CEO’s office. Jason stopped in front of the receptionist’s desk and began speaking in nearly flawless Chinese. Odd; for someone who claimed not to know it, he sounded as perfect as a native. This raised yet another red flag for me from Jason. It seemed the more I got to know him, the more I realized that… well, I didn’t really know him. None of us really did. All we did was take the cheerful, strange and awkward choreographer of ours for granted. We never really questioned his background or his other talents besides his obvious one he had in dancing. What other languages did Jason speak besides Korean, English and now, apparently, Chinese? Where was Jason really from?

As Jason finished up speaking with the receptionist, she allowed us entrance inside of the office. He glanced back at us over his shoulder. “Let’s go inside. He’s waiting for us.” Aron and I nodded then stepped through the door which Jason had held open for us. JB and Ren followed us inside. Once we were all gathered inside of the room the CEO smiled at us from his desk, making particular eye contact with Jason.

“2DREAM，非常欢迎你到Pledis的中国公司。我们很荣幸有你在这儿。”(“Welcome to the Pledis office in China, 2DREAM. It’s an honor to have you here.”)

Jason translated.

The CEO smirked at Jason. “ 你离开中国已经有多久了？”(“How long has it been since you fled the country?”)

Jason gave him an uncomfortable look. “几年了。”(“A few years.”)

“你硬着头皮去了韩国公司？”(“You went crawling to the Korea office?”)

“中国公司联合起来吧我踢出去，我哪儿有其他选择？”(“What choice did I have? The China office conspired behind my back to kick me out.”) Jason replied with a smile. 

“我不知道你在说什么，你是自找的。”(“I have no idea what you are talking about. You created that mess on your own.”)

“我们是不是对2DREAM有点不礼貌？”(“We’re being rude to 2DREAM, don’t you think?”)

The CEO smiled. “当然，2DREAM，请坐。”(“Of course. Please, 2DREAM, take a seat.”) He waved his hand out to the sofas spread out across his large office. Jason turned to us.

“Take a seat.” He said in Korean. All of us nodded before sitting down.

“我非常高兴你们停止了忙碌的工作。我们在准备我们最红的明星明天的演唱会，自己也非常忙。你是否听说过他？他的名字是Leo。”(“I’m glad you stopped by on your busy schedule. We’re busy ourselves too; we’re preparing for our biggest star’s concert tomorrow. Perhaps you’ve heard of him? His name is Leo.”)

Jason paused before glancing back over at us. “He’s glad we stopped by. He says they’re busy getting ready for Leo’s concert tomorrow.”

“Leo?” I asked. Jason shifted his gaze downward as he nodded. I made a mental note of the sad expression that washed over his face at both mentions of Leo’s name. I’m guessing this ‘Leo’ guy was the one that had his pictures plastered all over the walls. I was also starting to put two and two together in realizing that Leo was probably someone Jason knew… or perhaps, maybe it was something more than that. Could it be…? Was Leo the man that Jason had mentioned to me in confidence several weeks ago when Aron and I had split? Was Leo Jason’s first love?

The CEO nodded, reaching forward and placing several tickets down on the table in front of us. “明天，你们会当一个非常有名的设计师的模特儿，但你们的工作应该在Leo 的演唱会时间前结束。希望你们能参加他的演唱会、支持他。”(“Tomorrow you will be modeling for a famous designer, but your schedule should end just in time. I hope you all attend Leo’s concert and support him.”)

Jason pursed his lips together before translating. “He says he wants you guys to attend Leo’s concert after you finish your schedule.”

JB leaned forward. “Yes, 2DREAM will be there.”

Jason translated.

The CEO smiled. “好！非常高兴听你这么说！那我不打扰你了。请到你们的旅馆登记和在中国玩得开心一点。2DREAM，祝你们有个愉快的一天。”(“Good! Glad to hear it! I won’t keep you any longer. Please, do go check into your hotel and please enjoy China. Have a good day and a nice visit, 2DREAM.”) He glanced back over at Jason. “还有你...我会在那儿见到你吗？”(“And you… can I expect to see you there?”) He smirked.

Jason smiled back in annoyance. “支持那个害我落到这个地步的负心汉？”(“Support the man that tore me down?”) Jason chuckled. “让我想想。”(“Let me think about it.”) He replied before turning back to us and switching back to Korean. “He said we can leave now and blah, blah, blah.”

JB glared at Jason before nervously glancing back at the CEO. He politely bowed, said thanks with the rest of us and then we all stood up and left the Pledis building. Aron, Ren, Jason and I all climbed into the back of the van. I spread the pile of tickets out in my lap; there were five tickets, one for each of us. I glanced back at Jason who had sat in the far back seat with Ren. He looked lost in his thoughts as he folded his arms across his chest and stared out of the window. I glanced back down at the tickets. I wondered if Jason would actually want to go to this event with us. We were kind of obligated to go now, but that was just 2DREAM. Ren and Jason weren’t required to go, but they could if they really wanted to. Somehow I knew Jason probably wouldn’t.

The ride to the hotel room was a long one. For the longest time we were stuck in the infamous Beijing traffic that we as foreigners had only heard about. What should have been a twenty minute ride to the hotel turned out to be an hour and a half long. Regardless, we got there in one piece. When we were in the lobby, as JB was checking in and getting us our room keys, Jason drew his jacket hood over his head and cowered. I raised a brow and stared at him but said nothing about his strange behavior. Just then we suddenly heard loud screams from across the lobby.

“Fu Long Fei!!!” A couple of girls came running our way. Aron and I, both used to being approached outside did what we always did and quickly turned our backs to them, stepping behind Ren who suddenly went into bodyguard mode despite his stylist status. Ren defensively spread his arms out, protecting the two of us and shielding us with his thin frame. To our surprise though, these girls weren’t here to see us. “Fu Long Fei-”

Jason glanced darkly out from underneath his hood, speaking in Korean. “Sorry, who?”

The two girls gave him a puzzled look before apologizing in broken Korean. “Sorry, we thought you were someone else. You look just like him…” They replied then left as quickly as they had come. Once they were gone Jason remained standing still, refusing to look back at us. JB finally returned back and paused, giving us a confused look.

“What’s going on?”

“I don’t… know.” I replied, still staring at Jason who was frozen in place. Just now, what was it that those girls referred to him by? Was it ‘Fu Long Fei’? I made a mental note to remember this name. Somehow I had a feeling that this name would be an important one while we were here in China. JB dismissed his question and handed me a room key.

“2DREAM stays in one room, choreographer, stylist and manger stay in the other.”

Jason suddenly snapped out from his unusual behavior and smirked at Ren. “I’m a big fan of cuddling.”

Ren folded his arms across his chest and scowled. “I am not sharing a bed with you.”

I glanced at Ren. “It’s either Jason or JB. Personally, I’d choose Jason over JB. JB’s snoring can shake an entire building.”

Ren shuddered before glancing uneasily back at Jason. “You better not touch me.”

“I promise nothing.”

“Jason!”

Jason stuck his tongue out at Ren. “Deal. With. It.” Ren sighed in defeat and followed after Jason and JB as Aron and I made our way into our own hotel room. Once it was just the two of us I placed my bags down on the bed and sat on the edge, blankly staring out from the window and into the cityscape that surrounded us outside. Aron walked up from behind me and wrapped his arms around my shoulders. Normally I would have been touched by such a gesture, especially from him, but right now my thoughts were elsewhere. Jason was being just plain strange. More and more red flags were starting to rise ever since the night he stormed out. Was Jason really from Jeju? He spoke fluent Chinese? Nothing seemed to fit. I was beginning to believe that instead of being from Jeju, Jason was from China, based off of his knowledge of both the language and the Pledis office here. He knew far too much to not be from China. Not to mention that name those girls who supposedly ‘mistook him for someone else.’ But if he was from here, why was he trying so hard to deny it, or hide it? Nothing made sense.

“What’s wrong, Min?” Aron asked.

I didn’t know where to begin. Do I confirm my suspicions about Jason, or do I keep it to myself? What if I was wrong? I didn’t want to cause trouble for anyone. But it was worrisome; just who was our choreographer really? Did we need to be careful around him, or was he someone who was on our side? Maybe I was completely misunderstanding everything about him. Maybe all of this was nothing. But before I say anything, I want to make sure of it first. The only way to find out would be from the direct source; I would have to speak to Jason. But would Jason be willing to talk, or would he just change the subject again?

I shook my head. “Nothing. It’s nothing at all.”

The next morning all five of us awoke early and made our way to the photo shoot set. It was an outdoor shoot that took place at a temple. Both JB and Ren looked well rested except for Jason, who looked like a train wreck. As Ren was helping me get dressed inside of the fitting tent I glanced down at him and asked him how last night had gone with Jason. Ren gave me a puzzled expression.

“I gave in and agreed to share the bed with him, but instead he fell asleep sitting up in the armchair in the corner of the room… is he alright?” The two of us glanced over at the lifeless looking shell of a choreographer who stood silently on set, holding a foam cup of coffee and staring out into the scenery around him. He looked dead tired.

“I wonder.” I replied, stepping back and away from Ren before traveling over towards Jason in my designer robes that I would be modeling in just a few minutes. I stopped next to him and pointed at the coffee in his hand. “It’s going to get cold.”

Jason snapped out of his daze and smiled at me. “Ah, thanks, man.”

I nodded. “Listen, Jason… are you ok?”

“Why wouldn’t I be?”

“You’ve just… seemed on edge lately.”

“I’m fine; just tired.”

I stared at him with uncertainty. How long was he going to try to keep up this charade? I was beginning to lose my patience with him. It was time to stop beating around the bush. “Who is Leo?” I suddenly asked. Jason spun around and looked at me with wide eyes. He forced another familiar smile on his lips.

“You saw who he is; his picture’s all over the office.”

I folded my arms across my chest. “No, I mean, who is he to you?”

Jason paused. “No one.”

“Am I your best friend or not?” I asked, earning a surprised look from Jason. “That’s how I can tell when you’re lying. You might be able to hide it from the others, but I can read you like a book, Jason.”

Jason smirked, staring down. “Best friend… I’ve wanted to be called that for the longest time. But somehow, hearing it in this context, it doesn’t feel as nice as I thought it would.” His voice trailed off sadly before he glanced back up at me. He chuckled. “What can I do? I guess you’ve caught me; Leo is my ex.” He shrugged, digging his fingers into his jean pockets.

“Jeju; it’s another lie, isn’t it?”

“You’re quite the detective, Min. You’re smarter than you look.” He replied. “That’s right; I’m Chinese. Born and raised.”

“Why did you keep it a secret?” I asked. “Is he the reason why you didn’t want to come back?”

Jason pursed his lips together. “That’s part of the reason, anyways…” His voice trailed off. “Min, do you know what it’s like to be truly hated…?”

I wanted to ask further but I was suddenly called back to the set. “We’ll continue this discussion later.” I assured him.

Jason smirked. “I’m not looking forward to it.” He said as I turned my back to him and ran on set. For the next five hours Aron and I both worked meticulously on the set with the photographer, the only time we stopped was for lunch. During our lunch break I had searched for Jason but he had run off somewhere. How convenient. He really mustn’t have wanted to finish our little talk. Giving up on trying to find him, I sat down beside Aron who was busily munching away while scrolling through his Ipad since his phone had no signal out here in China. I wordlessly took it from him and opened up a search browser. Aron glared at me but let it slide, continuing to eat his lunch. As the search browser opened I typed into the tool bar the name: Fu Long Fei.

A long list of websites, mostly in Chinese, popped up, along with several pictures. I tapped on the pictures first. There were numerous pictures of the redhead we had all grown to tolerate standing beside the man I recognized from the Pledis office and whose concert we were supposedly attending tonight.  Looking at the pictures, I could tell that the two were insanely close. I went back to the list of websites that had popped up. I tapped on a link to his profile background. The first information that appeared was that he was a graduate of the Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts. Well, that explained where he received his dancing background. It also mentioned that he had a history in several aspects: modeling, acting, film, producing, music… the list went on. Actually, Jason’s credentials were quite impressive, given who he portrayed himself as. Why would he choose to hide all of his accomplishments? I continued to read. According to the website, it said that Fu Long Fei had once been a part of an idol band called ‘JBOY3,’ which later disbanded and turned into ‘JL.’  But then, JL too had disbanded due to negative rumors circulating around Fu Long Fei, or rather, Jason. What these rumors were, I couldn’t figure out. They weren’t listed on the website. I tried looking at Fu Long Fei’s Weibo account. Listed in the comments section were what looked like a lot of angry remarks. I couldn’t tell what they said; I couldn’t read Chinese. But he had received a lot of them on each post he had made. In fact, it seemed like he had abandoned his Weibo altogether, since the last post he had made was several years ago.

I closed the search browser and handed Aron back his Ipad. I sat quietly for a moment, letting everything I had just read sink in and digest. For some reason I felt guilty. I felt like I was spying on Jason, rather than asking everything directly from him. But I also knew that if I had asked him about it, he’d probably try to lie again. When I had spoken to him earlier, he finally admitted that he wasn’t from Jeju and that instead he was from here. He also admitted that Leo was his ex. He also made that startling last comment about being hated. What were these negative rumors circulating around Jason? Were they the reason why he ultimately packed up and left China?

“Min, they’re calling us. Time to get back to work.” Aron replied. I nodded then stood, quickly following him back to the set.

When the shoot was finally over and we were given our freedom, we returned back to our hotel rooms. Of course, Jason had never re-appeared. Ultimately we had to face the fact that he would be fine without us and that he’d be able to make it back on his own, seeing as he was the only one of us that was fluent in the native language. However, it was to our surprise to run into him back at the hotel. As we were standing in the lobby waiting for an elevator, when it arrived and the two doors slid open it revealed a shirtless, soaking wet redhead in swim trunks with a towel draped over his shoulders. We all stood in silence, staring at him. I clenched my fist by my side before stepping forward and grabbing both ends of his towel.

“Just where the hell were you?!” I snapped, shaking him back and forth. All this time I had been wondering where he had went, and it turns out that he was back at the hotel swimming pool?! Jason gave me a bewildered look before trying to pry my hands from around his upper arms. Growing frustrated with him, I threw him into the corner of the elevator and stepped inside. I quickly shut the doors behind me, not allowing the rest of the group to board. They could catch the next one. Right now Jason and I still had much to discuss.

“What is wrong with you?!” Jason exclaimed.

“What’s wrong with me? No, what’s wrong with you?! Why did you disappear like that?” I snapped back at him.

Jason narrowed his eyes at me. “Was I the one being photographed? I’m just the choreographer. I’m no one; I’m not even supposed to be here. it; I don’t want to be here.”

“You’re ‘no one’? That’s not what your internet profile says, ‘Fu Long Fei.’” I replied, earning a startled look from Jason. He angrily removed the towel from his shoulders and threw it on the floor.

“You ran an internet search on me?” He scoffed. “Unbelievable.”

“Because you won’t tell me anything!”

“Because I don’t want to remember!” He screamed back at me, completely losing all of his cool characteristics about him. He paused for a moment to collect himself before glancing back at me. “Some things are better left forgotten; in order to live, in order to move on, sometimes we have to forget the past.”

Jason started to walk out from the elevator as we arrived at our floor. I grabbed him by his wrist, preventing him from going any further. “You told me not to run from my problems, but what are you doing?”

“So what? I’m a hypocrite. Surprise; I’m not perfect either, Min.”

“Tell me; who is ‘Jason’? Who is ‘Fu Long Fei’? Who is the person that we’ve entrusted our entire careers to, and why is he hiding behind some mask? I can’t be your friend if I can’t trust you; I won’t do it.”

Jason stared at me for a long while before glancing around us. He motioned for me to follow him back into his room. I did as he asked and followed him. As we entered Jason took a chair from inside the room and placed it underneath the handle, jamming the door shut and preventing Ren or JB from entering with their key. Once we were completely alone in the room Jason sat down on the small table in the corner. “You ran a search on me; you should know the gist of it. What else could you possibly want to know about me?”

“I want to hear it from you.” I replied.

“‘Fu Long Fei’ was an overachiever. He was a successful, rising C-pop artist on his way to the top. But there were people inside of the company that didn’t like that idea, and so they got rid of him. ‘Jason’ is simply the guy trying to live on and survive after being kicked out from his native homeland.”

I paused. “What happened? Why did JL disband? Was it because of Leo?”

A small smirk spread across his lips. “I dunno.” He replied. “There’s two sides to every story. Did Leo betray me? You’d have to ask him.”

“What do you mean? I thought you said Leo was your ex.”

“He was.” Jason replied.

“Didn’t he love you? Then why would he try to get you removed from the company? What did he do?”

Jason glanced down at the carpeted floor. “Love? Maybe. I thought I was in love. What we had was something that nothing else could compare to. If there is anything I am guilty of, it’s being too naïve. I genuinely didn’t see it coming when the company hired some woman off the street to file a police report against me, saying I ually assaulted her at a nightclub.” Jason scoffed. “How ridiculous is that? I’m gay. Needless to say, the fans turned against me and neither the company nor Jason stood by my side to defend me. Can you believe it? My own teammate and boyfriend didn’t come to my rescue.”

I stared at Jason in shock. I had no idea that this had ever happened to him. To be betrayed by his own company? I couldn’t even imagine. When I thought U-ie had turned against me, I felt so dumbstruck that a fellow family member in the company would do such a thing to me. When I found out it wasn’t her, I was both disappointed and relieved. I was disappointed because the culprit turned out to be my own mother, but relieved because I was reassured that my Pledis family would never purposely hurt me. What Jason went through… he must have hurt a lot. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know…” My voice trailed off. “How could he do that to you…? I can’t imagine…”

Jason heavily sighed, staring up into the ceiling. “People talk a lot about first loves. About how great they are, about how ‘innocent.’ Is a first love really all that innocent? A first love is so inexperienced… people are bound to make mistakes, several, in fact. Sure, what Leo did, or rather, didn’t do, hurt, but the deepest wound I received was from the ‘fans.’ Thousands of people who claimed to love me all turned their backs on me the moment the story hit the news. They attacked all of my social networking sites, leaving me hate messages and telling me to kill myself. Were they crazy? Kill myself? Did they think that just because I was an idol that I couldn’t read and that I wouldn’t see those spiteful comments? I read them. I read them all. The company, rather than defending me, kicked me out. They got what they wanted. There was a period of time where I couldn’t even go to the store without having eggs or other objects thrown at me. There was just so much hatred out there. I was confined to my apartment for months before I realized that staying inside was no way to live. I didn’t want to die, but I didn’t want to continue living this way. That’s when I abandoned ‘Fu Long Fei’ and travelled to Korea and became ‘Jason.’”

I shakily sat down on the edge of one of the beds, letting Jason’s words sink in. I couldn’t believe all that he had gone through. Jason had been through hell but yet, he was still able to smile and play around like he did. I had underestimated him. No, I had deeply underestimated Jason. I hated him at first. I thought of him as a man stealer and then later just an annoyance. But knowing what I did now, knowing that we connected in several ways than one, I felt… closer to him. I respected him now. Hell, I admired him. I wanted that ability of his not to dwell on the past and focus on the future. I wanted to face each new day with a cheerful smile like he did. Jason; there’s so much more to you than meets the eye and I didn’t know that. I feel apologetic towards you…

“Are you going to go to that concert?” I suddenly asked.

Jason glanced down at me. “Hm?”

“It’s understandable if you don’t.” I replied, not wanting to pressure him. After all, he didn’t have to go.

“I’ll go.” He said.

I stared at him with wide eyes. “What?” I asked, shocked.

“My best friend is going; I want to go too.” A small smile spread across his lips. I stood up and approached him.

“You don’t have to-”

Jason playfully smirked. “Going to concerts is our thing, isn’t it, bestie?” He gave me a thumbs-up sign. I stared at him for a moment before chuckling and shaking my head. There he was. There was the playful redhead that we had all grown to love.

“Try not to get us kicked out this time.” I replied, referring back to how he got us personally escorted out from G-dragon’s concert the last time.

Jason pouted. “I’ll try.”

I laughed. “Good.”

Later that night the five of us all met down in the hotel lobby. Ren had taken the liberty of dressing all of us, Jason included, like rock stars for the night. He had even given JB a fashionable blazer to put on. Of course, Jason teased the life out of him, referring to JB as ‘PSY,’ much to JB’s dismay. We hurriedly made our way to the concert stadium in Beijing. Despite our best efforts, we were late yet again and ended up having to wait a while to get through the front doors. As we entered the arena JB each handed us a ticket. Jason took the ticket in his hand and shoved it into his pocket, slowly turning his back to us as we were making our way to our seats.

“I’ll join you guys later; bathroom.”

I tilted my head to the side and raised a brow. “Don’t linger too long.”

He smirked. “I think I can handle it.” He replied then left the four of us, disappearing outside. I pursed my lips together. Was Jason trying to run away? He really didn’t want to be here, did he? I suddenly felt bad. I didn’t pressure him to be here. In fact, I told him to stay, but he insisted on coming. Now that he was here, was it suddenly too much? Seeing Leo’s posters everywhere was intimidating enough as it was, but the fact that we had third row seats and Leo would be merely feet away from us was nearly staggering. I regretted having asked Jason to come.

The four of us took our seats. The chair next to me remained empty: it was Jason’s spot. We waited for several minutes for his return until the lights dimmed in the arena and classical music started erupting from the stage. Suddenly a bright light illuminated the center of the stage, revealing the man that I had been told was Leo, sitting in front of a grand piano, his fingers swiftly gracing they keys. I sighed and was about to get up to go look for Jason when suddenly the redhead entered the end of the row and flopped down in the seat beside me. I stared at him with wide eyes.

“You’re back.” I replied, shocked.

Jason placed his index finger over his lips and ‘shh’d me, telling me to be quiet with a smile. I nodded then returned my attention back to the performance. Leo’s smooth voice started to pour out from the speakers as he sang into his microphone. The entire time he performed I kept stealing glances back over at Jason, making sure he was alright. For the most part he was calm and collected, but towards the ending of the song I noticed something was wrong. Jason was staring up at Leo on the stage with a pained smile spread across his lips. At the same time, I noticed two silent tears trickle down his cheeks. I was shocked. This was probably the first and probably the last time I would ever see Jason cry. I could tell he was trying to be strong, but his bottom lip was trembling. It tore me up inside seeing our cheerful choreographer in so much inner turmoil. I wordlessly reached over for his hand in his lap, giving it a squeeze. Jason glanced over at me and gave me a sad smile before shifting his gaze back over towards the stage. For the remainder of the concert I kept my hand on his, giving him comfort and reassurance whenever he felt like he was about to break down. I was there for Jason because I wanted to. I was there because I was Jason’s best friend.

After the concert was over the five of us were invited backstage by the management. We accepted, but I had told Jason that it was fine if he waited outside in the lobby. He shook his head. He seemed determined to meet with Leo face to face once again. Although I was against it, I couldn’t exactly stop him from seeing him. The five of us stood waiting behind the curtain. After a couple of minutes had passed before Leo came strolling backstage, ripping his microphone from his face and throwing it on the floor in annoyance. As he shifted his gaze back upwards and spotted Jason standing in the midst of our group he literally paused in his tracks in what seemed to be a fit of panic before he quickly turned away and disappeared into one of the dressing rooms. I furrowed my brows. Well, that was kind of rude. We had come all the way from Korea, were basically obligated to attend this ’s concert and the least he could do was at least greet us, Jason aside. I already formed my opinion of this ‘Leo’ guy and it wasn’t a good one. A few minutes later Leo returned after having redressed into his casual clothes. He stopped in front of us, looking past Jason and smiled.

“2DREAM，欢迎你们来到中国。”(“2DREAM, welcome to China.”)

Jason hesitantly translated.

“We’re glad to be here.” I replied, being the leader of 2DREAM. Jason translated.

“我非常荣幸能见到你们。”(“It’s an honor to meet you.”) Leo said.

“It’s an honor to meet you too. You were terrific.” I lied through my teeth. I didn’t like this guy, especially knowing what he did to Jason.

“谢谢。你们一定很累；我不耽误你们了。”(“Thank you. You must be tired from your schedules; I won’t keep you.”) He replied, keeping the conversation short and sweet. Good. I wanted to get out of here. All five of us nodded and dismissed ourselves. We had made it off the stage and halfway down the hallway before I realized that Jason had stayed behind. Growing worried, I quickly ran back for him. I stopped when I realized that the two of them had travelled and stopped in a corner of the hall and were talking to one another in Chinese. I stayed hidden behind the wall, trying not to interrupt.

“你怎么会在这里？”(“Why are you here?”)

Jason scoffed. “ 难道我不能参加演唱会吗？”(“What, I can’t attend?”)

“因为你，我的表演根本不像样！！！”(“Because of you, my entire performance was flawed!!!”) Leo exclaimed.

“那我先走了。”(“Then I’ll go now.”) Jason replied.

“难道你什么也不想对我说吗？”(“Don’t you have anything to say to me?”)

Jason paused. “ 你有什么想对我说吗？”(“Don’t you?”)

“我还是天天在想念你。”(“I still think about you every single day.”)

“笑话，我不想念你。”(“Funny, I don’t.”)

“符龙飞...我永远都不可能不爱你... ” (“Fu Long Fei… I never stopped loving you…”)

“你背叛我那天，你已经不爱我了。”(“You stopped loving me the day you betrayed me.”)

“是Pledis指示我做的！！”(“Pledis made me do it!!!”)

“你可以不听从它们。”(“You didn’t have to listen.”)

Leo paused. “ 不是每个人都和你一样；有些人是会听从指令的。”(“We’re not all like you; some of us actually obey our orders.”)

“看看你现在的样子，你高兴吗？自己一个人高高在上。”(“And look at where that got you. Are you happy where you are, alone at the top?”) Jason sighed. “活着不应该是这样的。”(“That’s no way to live.”) He started to take off towards my end of the hall. I panicked and slid further down the wall as to not get caught eavesdropping, despite not understanding a word they said. I froze when I heard the sound of a struggle. I glanced back over the wall and spotted Leo grabbing a hold of Jason’s right arm while Jason was trying to break free.

“我当然很孤独！我当然痛恨这些日子！你难道不以为我会后悔几年前我所做的一切吗？我后悔！符龙飞，求求你，我们合好吧。我还是爱你的。”(“Of course I’m lonely and I hate it! You don’t think I regret what I did all those years ago? I regret it! Fu Long Fei, please, let’s make up. I still love you.”)

“我不想和你合好。”(“I don’t want to make up.”) Jason replied. Leo began to tug on his arm, trying to pull him away with him but Jason dropped to his knees on the floor. “我说了我不想和你合好！！”(“I don’t want to make up!!!”) He screamed.

“你还是爱我的，对吗？”(“You still love me, don’t you?”)

As I heard Jason scream at him I emerged from hiding and approached his side. Jason glanced up at me from the floor with wide eyes while Leo glared at me for intruding. I reached for Leo’s grip still on Jason’s arm and I pried it off of him, throwing his hand to the side. I grabbed Jason’s wrist and pulled him up from off the floor. “Hyung, get up.”

Jason froze. “W-what… what did you just call me?” He asked in shock.

“You heard me, hyung. Get up. Let’s not be pathetic. Come on.” I replied as Jason shakily stood on his own two legs and allowed me to pull him out from the hall. I could feel the hatred radiating from Leo’s glare as he watched us leave. Luck was on our side; he didn’t follow us out. Instead he held his head up high and marched away angrily. Once it was just the two of us further down the hallway Jason pulled his hand away and stopped dead in his tracks.

“Minhyun…” His voice trailed off.

I stopped then glanced over my shoulder at him. “What are you doing? Come on, let’s go before we get caught in the traffic again!” I urged him.

A wide smile crept upon Jason’s lips. “Thanks, Min.” He replied then caught up to me, throwing his arm around my shoulder, forcing me to lean downwards due to the height difference. “You rock.”

I smirked back at him. “I know I do.”

“Conceited~~~! Heh.” Jason teased, still walking forward. I laughed along with him. I was happy that he was happy despite all the turnouts he had in life. He could have just chosen to stay in the hotel room. He could have left us when he went to the lobby, but instead he stayed, and that took a lot of courage that probably none of us had. Fate had an awfully strange way of working. I don’t know why those things that happened to Jason did, but it was for a reason, perhaps, to send him to us. Through his awkward and unconventional ways, he managed to help us move forward and it was my only hope that he would continue to do so, possibly paving the way to better greatness for 2DREAM. And who knew? Maybe, just maybe Jason might hold great influence over DREAM as well.

Baekho’s POV

My eyes slowly flickered open after having been medically induced since earlier this morning. I winced as the light from the white hospital room began to enter my field of vision. Sitting by my side, flipping through the pages of a book, was Ren’s older brother, Minseok. He glanced over at me and immediately closed the book as he realized that I was finally conscious. He stood up and removed a small flashlight from his coat pocket, shining it in my eyes.

“Baekho, how are you feeling?”

It took a couple of minutes for me to fully wake up enough to comprehend his question, but when I did, I wish I hadn’t. On the left side of my skull I felt a mind numbing, out of this world type of pain spreading from the back all the way up to my forehead. I began to moan. Minseok took notice of my extreme discomfort.

“Baekho, what’s going on?” He asked again. It felt like my skull was being sawed in half. I winced and groaned even louder. Minseok shook my shoulder. “Baekho answer me! On a scale of 1 to 10, how much pain are you in?”

I could barely speak I was in so much pain. “T-ten!” I screamed. “My head, my head….”

Minseok paused, giving me a startled look. “You’re not supposed to be in this much pain…” His voice trailed off. He glanced over his shoulder. “DOCTOR!!!!”

“My head…” I moaned. “Ren… where’s Ren? I want Ren…”

Minseok stared at me. “Ren’s in China, don’t you remember?”

“I want Ren!” I exclaimed in mind agonizing pain. I was delirious. I gripped tightly onto the handlebar on the side of the bed. Tears began to trickle down my face. I was trying to keep strong but I couldn’t. It hurt so ing much.

“Ren’s not here!” Minseok exclaimed in a panic. He looked over his shoulder in a rush. “Where’s that damn doctor?! DOCTOR!!!”

I began to scream as I rolled around in my bed. “It hurts… it hurts so much!!!”

“DOCTOR!!!” Minseok called out again. Finally a team of white coats entered into the room and rushed by my bedside. I reached out for Minseok’s hand. Minseok glanced down at it with wide eyes.

“Minseok… make it… make it stop…. Help me…” I pleaded him.

Minseok took my hand in his and squeezed it firmly. One of the nurses beside me injected me with a sedative. “I’m going to take care of you; you’re an important person to him, so you’re an important person to me.”

“Help me…” My voice trailed off as I felt myself losing consciousness.

“You have my word.” Minseok replied before shifting his attention back to the surgical team. “Get him back into the ER, now!”