Minhyun’s POV

The following morning we awoke and went straight to work. 2DREAM was expected to appear on several talk shows throughout the day and there was little, if any time, to rest. Ren was really put to the test today. We appeared on at least four different shows plus two interview sessions and each appearance required a different set of clothes. By the time our last appearance was over, poor, exhausted Ren was found snoozing in the backseat of the van. To Jason’s luck, he didn’t have to be our translator today. Each TV show we appeared on provided us with a translator, and so at each stop Jason remained put in the van. As Aron and I returned to the vehicle, we tried our best to enter as to not awake either of the two sleeping individuals. I imagined they were both tired, both for individual reasons. Ren because we simply wore him out. Jason, on the other hand, was probably emotionally drained from the trip back up here. Although Aron and I tried our best to be quiet, apparently JB didn’t get the memo. He hopped inside the front passenger’s seat and slammed the car door behind him.

“Alright, who’s hungry?!” JB exclaimed, not looking back. Both Aron and I glared at him for being so rudely loud. Jason suddenly snapped out from his nap and swung his arms and legs out, accidentally hitting Ren in the face.

“I WANT FOOD!” Jason shouted.

Ren winced then sat back up, rubbing his eyes before pouting and silently glaring at Jason who dared to wake him from his slumber. The look on his face was priceless. I sighed then sat back in my seat. It was of no use to be quiet any longer. I leaned my forehead on my palm, resting my elbow on the chair armrest. “I suppose.”

“Do they have a McDonald’s?” Aron asked.

I rolled my eyes. “You’re such an American.”

“’Murica.” Aron smirked at me.

“That’s why you’re so skinny; because you refuse to eat the local cuisine and the American fast food chains are rare and expensive here in Asia.”

Aron folded his arms across his chest in defense. “At least I eat.”

I glared at him. “Aron.” I warned.

“Sue me for being an American; I can’t eat anything weird!”

I shook my head. “You’re so frustrating.”

Jason leaned over towards Ren, whispering loudly into his ear, pretty much defeating the purpose of whispering. “Lover’s quarrel.” He said. Ren nodded.

I pointed at Jason in the back seat. “I swear to god, I will go back there-”

“Yay~!” Jason cheered then glanced over at Ren rather rudely. “Get up. My bestie wants to sit next to me.” Ren scoffed, folding his arms over his chest and giving him the cold shoulder as he faced the other direction. He refused to get up. Jason pouted then glanced back at me. “Sorry. He won’t move and I don’t think I can lift this heifer.”

Ren immediately glanced back at him with wide eyes. “Did you just call me fat?!” He exclaimed in shock.

“No, dear, I’m saying elephants are skinny-”

“I’ll kill you!” Ren lunged for him.

“All you had to do was move!”

“Forget it!” I shouted. “I’d rather die than go back there!” I turned my attention back over to JB. “For the love of god, where are we going?”

“Pledis.” He replied, ignoring the commotion going on between our choreographer and stylist in the far backseat. “The Chairman said that Leo personally invited us to attend his evening meal.” As soon as those words escaped his lips I spotted Jason tense up. I pursed my lips together. Leo invited us? Why did I have a feeling that Aron and I had nothing to do with his invitation, rather, it was just an excuse for him to get close to Jason again? I had a churning feeling in the bottom of my gut that Leo was probably up to no good. Jason obviously didn’t want anything to do with him anymore. He had let go of his feelings for him a long time ago when he had gathered up the courage to leave China. Leo was the only one still holding on to a one-sided love. I glanced back at Jason who had pried Ren off of him and was sitting still, staring darkly at his shoes lost in thought. He suddenly looked back up and made eye contact with JB in the front.

“Let’s go.” He surprisingly replied.

“Are you sure?” I asked.

Jason smirked. “Why not? You heard him; Leo personally invited us. Let’s go see what it is he wants.” Although he had a smile on his face, Jason sounded bitter. Aron shrugged his shoulders and sat comfortably back in his seat while Ren seemed to pay no attention to the discussion at hand. I glanced back at JB and nodded. If that’s what Jason wanted… then alright. I too was curious to see what possible tricks Leo had up his sleeves. If anything, I’d be there for Jason for moral support. He supported me once when I was in an emotional wreck. The least I could do was return the favor. The driver took off with the Pledis office our destination.

About an hour later the five of us found ourselves standing in the Chinese Pledis building again. Jason had led us all the way into one of the meeting halls where the artists or staff would typically gather for their meals. When we arrived we already found Leo sitting in the center of the large, rectangular table, waiting for us. He stood as we entered, extending his left arm out.

“2DREAM, 我很高兴你们能在那么短的通知内见我。请坐。”(“I’m glad you could join me on such short notice, 2DREAM. Please, take a seat.”) We all glanced at Jason who translated for us. We bowed and thanked him before taking our seats. I sat down next to Aron across from Leo while Ren and JB took the chairs next to me, leaving Jason with the only available seat next to Leo. Jason smirked while rolling his eyes before taking his seat. I immediately felt sorry towards him. Maybe I should have taken the seat next to Leo… but then, maybe it was a good thing I hadn’t. I probably would have strangled him before the staff arrived with the food. Regardless, Leo seemed quite content with the seating outcome. He had a subtle, smug little smile on his face. I instantly hated him. The impression he had left me with the previous day at the concert wasn’t a good one and even still it continued to be negative.

“Thank you for having us, Leo.” I responded as 2DREAM’s leader.

Leo, who had been too busy staring at Jason, quickly glanced at me before glancing back at his object of affection. Jason hesitantly translated my words into Chinese for him. Once he understood, he smiled in acknowledgement. “当然，我们是从不同国家的歌手，但我们都生存在Pledis的大家庭里，不是吗？”(“Of course; we’re in different countries, but we’re all one big Pledis family, are we not?”)

“I suppose you can say it like that.” I replied.

Suddenly the staff arrived with the food in several plastic bags and containers. They began to distribute them out between all six of us in the room. When they finished dividing up the food they exited, leaving us in peace. Or rather, the opposite of peace. Aron, Ren, JB and I were all tense because none of us knew Chinese. The only one of us that did also happened not to have that great of a relationship with the person that had invited us out here to begin with. The room was filled with an awkward silence. I felt my skin begin to crawl as I continued to observe Leo eyeing Jason throughout the entire course of the meal. It bugged me that he had used us as an excuse to get to Jason. It bugged me that I didn’t know what his hidden agenda was. Was he doing this because he truly missed Jason, or because he wanted to mess with him? I couldn’t take it anymore.

I glanced at Aron beside me who was slowly picking at the food in front of him with his chopsticks while making a sour grimace. He resembled a child who was being forced to eat his green beans before desert. I quietly elbowed him and he immediately glanced up at me. I leaned over and whispered to him. “Do you trust me?” I asked.

Aron blinked. “Hm? Uh, yeah, I guess so… why?”

I shook my head and resumed forcing myself to slowly eat what was on my plate. I still didn’t want to eat. I still had my own problems when it came to food. Of course, something like that would never go away so easily. But I also knew it was rude to refuse food in a foreign country, especially when the host went so far as to pay for the bill. Jason was silent throughout the course of the meal. The only time he ever spoke was when Leo had said something to us, in which he quickly translated before returning to stuffing food down his throat. I believed he was purposely overeating to avoid having to speak to Leo beside him. Still, Leo continued to watch him as he ate, making both Jason and I extremely uncomfortable.

“符龙飞，你真能吃。”(“You’re eating too much, Fu Long Fei.”)

“我不在意我的身材。”(“I’m not watching my figure.”) He muttered back.

Leo chuckled. “不管怎样，你还是一样帅。”(“You still look good, regardless.”)

“嗯。”(“Whatever.”)

“你一定有很多韩国男生追求吧。”(“You must have a ton of Korean boys chasing after you.”) Leo smirked.

“刚好相反； 他们往另外一个方向跑。”(“It’s the opposite; they run away from me.”)

Leo gave him a surprised look. “你还没失去你的幽默感。”(“You still haven’t lost that sense of humor of yours.”)

“嗯。”(“Whatever.”)

“你在韩国有没有男朋友？”(“Do you have a boyfriend back in Korea?”) He suddenly asked. Jason paused, scoffed, and then slammed his chopsticks down on the table.

“不可理喻.”(“Unbelievable.”)

I glanced over at Jason. I didn’t understand a word of what was going on between the two of them due to the language barrier, but from what I observed from their body behavior, I could tell that Leo had just asked him something that made Jason completely uncomfortable. I didn’t have to be a genius to guess that Leo had probably just inquired about his personal life. I silently stood up from my chair and circled the table, stopping once I was standing by Jason’s side. I slowly reached forward and patted Jason on the shoulder.

“Hyung, are you done eating?”

Jason tore his heated gaze away from Leo and started to glance up at me. “Yeah, why-”

I swept forward and grabbed him by his chin, gracing my lips against his. As I did this the entire room went silent. Over in the corner I could hear Aron drop his chopsticks down on his plate. I felt all eyes on me, especially Leo’s. JB immediately stood up, the sound of his chair scraping against the floor startled me.

“That’s enough!” JB stomped his foot on the ground. I broke our kiss and took a step back. Jason was frozen in shock. “Minhyun, outside, now!” I wordlessly began to follow JB out into the hall. As I left I glanced over my shoulder and gave Leo a ‘, back off’ look before exiting. I heard Leo loudly scoff at me, but I didn’t care. Once I was outside alone with JB, he exploded at me, giving me a lecture about how relationships inside the company were absolutely forbidden. He obviously had no idea about my ‘not so pretend’ relationship with Aron. I rolled my eyes, only further irritating my manager.

“Will you stop?” I asked.

“W-what?!?!”

I raised a brow. “Are you done?”

“Hwang Minhyun!”

“Are you blind? Leo is obviously Jason’s ex and he obviously invited us here to make him uncomfortable. Just because Jason isn’t your star doesn’t mean we should be subjecting him to this kind of torture. You have no idea how painful it is for him just to be here, do you? Behind that smile is a lot of pain. He’s just too foolish and idiotic to let you see it. Just because you won’t take a stand for him doesn’t mean I won’t; screw it. Jason is my friend. I’m not going to let Leo try to hurt him again.”

JB gave me a surprised look before glancing back into the room. “There’s really nothing going on between the two of-”

“God no!” I exclaimed, looking at him like he as crazy. JB sighed with relief.

“Alright, then. Sorry I overreacted.”

“Hmmph.” I replied before storming my way back inside. I could feel Leo’s eyes piercing into me as I took my seat back down next to a rather silent Aron. I glanced over to him; he looked really torn up over what I had just done. I began to feel instant regret. Aron, I didn’t do it to hurt you. I did it to help Jason… I glanced back over at Leo, who was finally giving Jason some distance and completely shunning him. Jason still seemed to be in shock over what I did. As we made eye contact he snapped out of it and a small, subtle smile spread across the corners of his lips as if he were silently thanking me. I nodded then turned my attention back over to Aron, who refused to even look at me. Aron… I’m sorry…

Aron’s POV

When we returned back to the hotel after an uneventful meal with that over-glorified pop star, I marched into the lobby alone, leaving the rest behind. When I realized that JB was the one that had our room keys I found myself being forced to wait for them to catch up. As they stepped inside I held my hand out to JB.

“Room key.” I said. JB messily reached for his wallet and began searching for the card. I took this moment to glance at Ren. “Forget it; I want to room with you tonight.”

Ren blinked. “Huh?”

“JB, switch spots with me tonight.”

JB paused, scratching his head. “Uh, okay then.” He replied, handing me the room key to Ren’s room instead. Minhyun flashed me a hurt look. I don’t care. You think what you did didn’t hurt me more? Ha. You said I’m the one that usually makes the stupid mistakes. No, Min. You just made the worst one right in front of me. Nothing you say can make what you did alright. I can’t… I don’t want to see you for the rest of the night. I’m downright pissed. I took Ren by the arm and pulled him into the elevator with me. The rest of the group piled in and we rode it up to our floor. When we arrived, I yanked Ren out of the elevator with me and I opened the door to his room, slamming it shut in front of Jason’s face before he could enter with us.

Once we were inside, Ren threw my hand from off his arm. “What the hell, Aron?!” He glared at me.

“Ren, you saw that, right?” I asked, startling him. Ren gave me an uneasy look. “Please, tell me you saw what happened. Tell me I’m not losing my mind or going insane…”

Ren shifted his gaze down to the floor. “Yeah, I saw…”

“Do you know why he did that…?” I asked, wondering if maybe Ren knew something I didn’t know regarding the relationship between Jason and Minhyun. Thinking back on it, the both of them had been acting rather strange these past few days. They seemed a lot closer than what they used to be. First Jason started acting strange. Then Minhyun seemed to join him in the charade. He thought I didn’t see it, but I caught him holding Jason’s hand during the concert. Rather than making a scene, I let it go. It didn’t mean that it didn’t still bother me though. I was already feeling uneasy about the relationship between the two of them, but tonight’s fiasco really took the cake. Minhyun ing kissed Jason. Why?!

Ren shook his head. “I’m sorry, I don’t…”

I ran my fingers through my bangs. “Ren, I’m losing it. I really am. I used to be all calm and collected but now I’m a pile of nerves when it comes to Minhyun. Ever since he broke up with me I’ve been on edge. We fixed our problem, but it’s made me realize that nothing is ever certain anymore. Does he really love me or not?”

“I don’t think I’m the one you should be having this conversation with…”

I turned back to him and grabbed him by his shoulders. “Does this place have a bar?”

“I think so… but why-”

“I need a drink. Go with me.”

Ren’s eyes widened. He waved his hands in front of him frantically. “Oh, no. Alcohol and I don’t mix. Don’t you remember the last time I drank? I ended up causing Baekho a national scandal…”

“You don’t have to drink; just go with me. I don’t want to be alone. I might cause trouble if left alone…” My voice trailed off. Ren sighed heavily before giving in.

“Alright, fine. But only because I’m looking out for your image.” He replied then turned the knob to the door, pulling it open. A sullen looking Jason was standing outside, debating on whether or not to knock. I immediately looked past him, ignoring him as I entered the hallway with Ren, following him back to the elevator. Together we rode it all the way down to the bar. To my luck, the bartender actually understood English and was able to take my order down without much trouble. The two of us sat at the bar counter for hours. Neither of us really said anything. I was never much of a talker to begin with. Ren just sat with me, watching over to make sure I didn’t do something stupid. I don’t know how much I drank. I ordered drink after drink to help numb myself of the pain of being betrayed by Minhyun. All I know is that Ren never put a stop to how many I ordered. Finally, it was the bartender that informed me that he was cutting me off. Looking after my image my , Ren. After being denied anymore, Ren took me by my arm and helped lead me back to the room.

I staggered inside, loudly banging my hands against the walls as I struggled to keep my balance. I had achieved my goal, which was to feel numb. Hell, if you had even asked me what my name was I probably wouldn’t have been able to answer you. I stumbled over, falling on top of the bed that Jason was laying on, who was flipping through a Chinese magazine. He immediately sat up straight to reach for me.

“Are you alri-”

“Don’t touch me!” I drunkenly yelled at him, rolling off the bed and tumbling onto the floor. I sat up and pointed at him. “You’re the enemy.” I muttered.

Jason gave me a strange look. “How much did you drink?”

“Like… three?”

Ren shook his head. “It was eight.”

“Good god, Aron.”

“Don’t scold me!” I exclaimed. “You’re the last person that should be scolding anyone, man stealer!” I curled into a ball and laid on my side on the floor.

Jason gave me an amused smirk. “Stomach is starting to hurt, isn’t it?” He asked. I nodded, groaning. Jason stood up from the bed and walked over to his suitcase. He began zipping compartment after compartment, digging for something. When he finally found what he was looking for, he pulled out a small bag full of toiletries. He dangled the bag in front of us. “I brought it for myself, thinking that I was the only alcoholic in the group, but it seems you might need it more than I will.”

“What is it?” Ren asked.

“Traditional Chinese stomach medicine. Works wonders compared to that generic, over-processed crap you find in commercial stores.”

“I don’t need your help.” I muttered.

Jason smiled down at me. “Suit yourself. It’s here if you change your mind.” He replied, setting it down on the small table in the corner of the room. He stretched his arms out. “I don’t know about you guys, but I’m not tired at all. Anyone want to join me for a swim?” He asked, glancing back down at me. “Except for you. You might drown.”

Ren rubbed his chin as if he had given it serious thought. “Yeah, okay, sure, why not? Sounds like fun.”

“Awesome!” Jason cheered, grabbing his swim trunks from outside of his suitcase and entering the bathroom to change. I watched as that traitor Ren began to search for his. Unlike Jason, Ren simply changed in front of me, having no shame at all. After he had pulled his swim trunks on, he turned to see me giving him a look of disgust.

“I have seen all of you before. There are no secrets between any of us anymore.”

I drunkenly gasped. “You’ve looked at my…”

Ren smirked. “It’s okay; skill is all that matters, right?”

I covered my crotch in shame. “You’re teasing me because I’m drunk, aren’t you?”

“Hell yes I am.” Ren giggled. Jason suddenly emerged from the bathroom.

“No way, you’ve seen it?!” He exclaimed, looking my way. Ren nodded. Jason sullenly pouted. “Lucky… How was it?” Jason asked.

“I feel very violated right now.”

Ren extended his thumb and index finger, squinting his eyes in the process. “It was about like this…”

“Oooh…” Jason replied with fascination.

“Pfft; if you’re into that kind of thing.” Ren replied teasingly.

“It’s not small, it’s big!!!” I exclaimed, not realizing the words that had just escaped my mouth. Both Ren and Jason shared a tooth-bearing smile before they both began to giggle like a couple of school children. I immediately turned red. “I hope you both get a cramp and drown.”

“I’m just teasing you. Sober up quickly, Aron.” Ren smirked before following Jason out of the room, leaving me alone. Once they were gone I grabbed both sides of my stomach and winced in pain. I felt my insides turning in knots. I immediately leapt up onto my knees and crawled like a spider into the bathroom, throwing the toilet lid up and emptying my entire stomach into the bowl. When it felt like I could possibly no longer throw anything back up I collapsed to the floor, silently cursing at myself for doing this to my body. I rarely drank, if ever. What the hell was I thinking? Maybe Minhyun was onto something. Maybe I genuinely was just stupid. Regardless, this hurt. A lot.

I flushed the toilet and crawled back out into the room, staring at the small traveler’s bag that Jason had left on the table. I contemplated digging into it. Who knew what strange things I’d find inside of one of his bags. There was also the factor of my pride. I didn’t want to accept his help. Even though he wasn’t the one that kissed Minhyun (at least, not this time), it still hurt. I didn’t want anything to do with him. I winced in pain again as I felt my stomach churn on the inside. Ugh, screw pride. I was hurting. I crawled over to the bag and ped it, emptying its contents out onto the floor. Several different things fell out: a razor, skin care products, lotion, cologne, a tooth brush, tooth paste, and then several different silver packets. I picked them all up and glanced at them, frowning when I read that they were all labeled in Chinese. I couldn’t tell which was which. Were they all medicine?

My stomach churned again. Screw it; I didn’t have time to play guessing games. I tore one of the silver packets open from the top and then threw my head back, consuming the liquid contents inside. I fell onto my back on the floor, closing my eyes and waiting for the medicine to take effect. About a minute had passed before I realized something… strange. I didn’t feel better. If anything, I was starting to feel worse. I wobbly sat up. As I did so, I felt a strange fizzing substance emerging from my mouth. I brought my hand to my lips and patted it, pulling it back to observe it. I stared in horror at the white foam that covered my fingers. What the…

Panic struck me. I quickly stood and ran drunkenly towards the door, pulling it open and running to Minhyun’s room for help. Something was wrong. Something was gravely wrong. I began pounding on the outside of the door. Minhyun finally emerged, pulling the door open and literally screaming once he saw me foaming at the mouth.

“Oh my god, Aron!”

The sounds of JB’s heavy footsteps could be heard running towards the door. Once he laid eyes on me he screamed as well. “Holy hell, what’s wrong with you?!?!”

I tried speaking, but only more foam emerged from my mouth, trickling down my shirt and falling onto the floor. I started freaking out. I mouthed the words ‘help me.’ At that moment we spotted Ren and Jason returning down the hall.

“The pool was closed…” Jason replied dejectedly, staring down at the ground. He jumped as he glanced up and spotted the mass of white from emerging from my mouth. Ren placed his hands over his mouth in horror.

“Oh my god, what happened to you?! We were only gone for ten minutes!” Ren exclaimed.

Jason calmly walked up to me and placed his index finger on the foam that had fallen onto my shirt. He pulled his index finger back and strangely sniffed it. He paused for a moment before glancing back up at me with a serious, ticked off expression on his face. “Did you eat my shampoo?!”

Everyone froze.

I stared at him with wide eyes. “ASDFGHJKL!” I replied, being unable to speak due to the sheer amount of foam erupting from my mouth each time I spoke.

“You did! I can smell it!” Jason stomped his foot, annoyed.

Minhyun placed both hands on his forehead. “You’re so embarrassing!!!” He whined, turning red.

Jason reached for my wrist and began to tug on me. “Come on, let’s go, buddy.”

“Where are you taking him???” Ren asked.

“Hospital. He needs to get his stomach pumped or else he’ll die.”

“Die???” Ren exclaimed.

I glanced over my shoulder as Jason continued to tug me with him. “MINPHUN!” I called out. Despite being hurt earlier by him, I wanted him by my side. Minhyun continued to look at me in horror.

“You’re so stupid! Go by yourself!” He shot back. JB grabbed both Minhyun and Ren, not giving either a choice, and dragged them down the hall with Jason and I. All five of us exited the hotel and made an emergency dash to the hospital. By now I was hysterical. The foam wouldn’t stop coming. Due to the sheer amount of nerves my legs became useless and Jason and JB both had to carry me into the hospital on their shoulders. Needless to say, the nurses were startled by a screaming, foaming at the mouth Korean man being brought in. Several nurses came running our way.

“发生了什么事？！”(“What happened?!”) The first nurse asked.

“他吃了什么？？？”(“What did he eat???”) Asked the second.

“洗发精”(“Shampoo.”) Jason casually replied.

“洗发精？！”(“Shampoo?!”) They both exclaimed in unison before giving me a crazy stare. A third nurse came running with a stretcher. Together all three of them, along with Jason and JB, lifted me up and placed me on the bed. I was still screaming. I’m going to die. I’m really going to die, aren’t I? Mother, I’m sorry. I know no parent ever wants to bury their child first, even worse for stupidity. This wasn’t the way I planned to go… I continued to scream hysterically as the nurses began to quickly rush me down the hall and into the ER. As I left I could hear the laughter of Jason and JB, laughing at my stupid misfortune. Those jerks!!!

Several hours later, I blankly stared up at the white ceiling. I was in a daze after having been heavily sedated in order to calm me down. Without it, they wouldn’t have been able to perform the procedure. I had my stomach pumped and all of the shampoo successfully removed, but dear lord that hurt. I could barely move. After being given the okay to come in, the four of them joined me by my side one by one. Minhyun was the first to join me. He narrowed his eyes at me.

“Why do I even with you? God, Aron, you’re such an embarrassment!” He complained.

I woozily sat up in the bed. “Embarrassment…? Who do you think it was that caused me to drink?” I asked. Minhyun lessened his eyes and pointed at himself in shock.

“Me?”

I scoffed. “What in the world was running through your mind when you kissed Jason?”

Minhyun paused. “I thought you said you trusted me-”

“That was before you locked lips with him!” I angrily exclaimed. Minhyun took a step back and folded his arms across his chest. He gave me an annoyed look.

“How does it feel to finally be on the other side of the rope? This feeling you’re experiencing is called ‘jealousy.’ How do you think I felt about the relationship between you and Jason when he first moved in? I felt that way for months!”

I shifted my gaze downwards. He was right. Because of my naivety, I caused Minhyun to feel miserable for such a long time. I didn’t like the way I felt now. I could only imagine the turmoil I put Minhyun through. “Sorry.” I murmured.

A small smile crept upon Minhyun’s lips as he looked at me with eyes full of sympathy. “To be honest, I’m kind of glad you got jealous. It means you really do feel something. You’re actually human, capable of growing jealous and overprotective of me… it’s… cute.”

“But why did you do it?”

“To help a friend out. You should ask Jason to tell you the story, but he and Leo go back quite a distance.”

“So you don’t-”

“Like Jason?” Minhyun laughed. “Why? I have my favorite little troll right here.” He replied, rubbing his hand against the surface of mine. I smiled warmly at him. It felt like a big burden had just been lifted off my chest. Thank god there was nothing between the two of them and I had been worried over nothing. Our relationship would be just fine now.

Jason loudly entered into my hospital room. “Hey, buddy! Want some conditioner to go with that shampoo?”

I glared at him. Minhyun elbowed Jason in the stomach. “Stop it.”

“What? I’m just saying, I saw he didn’t tear into my conditioner and was honestly wondering if-”

As Ren entered the room, followed by JB, he rolled up the magazine he had been carrying and struck Jason on top of his head with it. Jason cowered and placed both hands on top of his head. Ren shifted his gaze to both me and Minhyun. “Children. All a bunch of children. I don’t know why I put up with any of you.” He shook his head.

I smirked. “Because you love us.”

Ren sighed. “Maybe a little bit…”

“GROUP HUG!” Jason exclaimed. I pointed at the door.

“Get out.”

“Aww…” Jason pouted. The five of us laughed together and everyone sat by my bedside. To be honest, I was glad to still have Minhyun by my side, even if I was such an embarrassment to him at times. As long as he continued to put up with me and my crazy antics, which seemed to have quadrupled since Jason’s arrival, everything would be fine. I just hoped that we could continue to stay together for a long time without any more bumps along the way.

Baekho’s POV

As I woke up from receiving my second surgery, I found myself alone in my hospital room. I tiredly glanced around. I froze for a moment, trying to concentrate and focus my thoughts on my hearing. Could I hear any differently? No, it still felt the same. I couldn’t even hear the faint humming of all the electrical medical equipment in the room. I felt my heart sink. Why wasn’t this working? I had received the BAHA implant, didn’t I? Or was the surgery not a success after all? Would I ever be able to return to the stage? Was my career actually over? I couldn’t accept this…

Minseok slowly emerged into the room in his long white coat. He nervously stood by my side. “How are you feeling today, Baekho?”

I grunted.

“Any pain?” I slowly shook my head. I spotted Minseok sigh with relief before taking a seat next to me beside my bed. “Listen, Baekho, you and I need to discuss something.”

“Why can’t I hear any different?” I asked.

Minseok smiled. “Because it’s not yet.”

“Why not?” I asked stubbornly.

“Because you’re not healed from the surgeries yet.”

“Oh.” I quietly replied.

“It will be at a later time. Anyways, Baekho, what I need to discuss with you is regarding the first surgery and the reason for the second. One of the surgeons on the team made a grave mistake, something that should not have happened. Baekho, what I’m trying to tell you is this: you have a potential lawsuit on your hands.”

I stared at him with wide eyes. “Lawsuit?”

“You can file for medical negligence against the surgical team involved.”

I paused. “But… you were on that team, weren’t you?”

Minseok hesitantly nodded. “It was not my mistake, but I will take responsibility for not having noticed the error sooner.”

“I don’t know.” I replied, unsure of anything.

“Baekho, I don’t think you understand the gravity of the situation at hand. This could be a million dollar lawsuit-”

“I don’t need money.”

“Baekho-”

“A lawsuit would garner publicity, that of which I do not want and cannot afford. People would want to know what happened and why. I can’t risk that, no matter how angry I am. Don’t you get it? I have to get up on that stage at least one more time… I have to at least say I tried. And then, there’s the matter of you.”

Minseok paused. “Me?” He asked, shocked.

I scoffed. “The old me would have sued you in a heartbeat… but that guy… he changed me.” My voice trailed off. “How could I possibly sue his brother? Does that make any sense?”

Minseok sadly smiled. “Kang Baekho, the difference between you and I is our age. You are only in your early twenties. I, on the other hand, am already in my mid-thirties. I’m a grown man that knows right from wrong and when to take responsibility for my actions.”

“But you even said it wasn’t your fault.” I corrected him.

“But I was the audiologist on the surgical team.”

“And that means you should take responsibility for someone else’s mistake?”

“That’s part of growing up.”

I scoffed again. “You’re frustrating, just like him.”

Minseok smirked, leaning forward in his chair. “Baekho, can I ask you a personal question…?” He suddenly asked, catching me off guard. I glanced over at him, pausing for a moment to try to decipher him. What was he planning on asking me?

“What?” I gave in to my curiosity.

“What are your intentions with my brother?”

“Huh?”

Minseok tiredly leaned on the armrest of his chair, smiling. “You probably don’t remember this; you were delirious at the time, but you kept on asking for Ren before you were pulled for emergency surgery. My question is: why?”

“Why…?” I repeated his question.

“I’m sure you’re more than aware Ren is already in an established relationship.” Minseok reminded me. For some reason, it felt like I was suddenly being scolded by him. I didn’t like it. It wasn’t like I was the one that made the move on Ren. Sure, I had almost kissed him that one time, but I stopped myself. And nobody but Ren, JR and I knew about it either. I stopped myself because I knew it wouldn’t be right. Just like all those other times when I felt myself slipping. There were several times when I wanted to just wrap Ren in my arms or try to kiss him again, but I couldn’t allow myself to do it. He belonged to somebody else. It wasn’t my place to swoop in and try to take something that was promised to another, regardless if I liked JR or not.

“I am.”

Minseok gave me a surprised look before letting it fade away. “I’m not here to pass judgment. I just-”

I cut him off. “I never laid a finger on him.”

“What?” He looked at me with wide eyes.

“I had feelings for him, but I always kept them silent. Sorry, but the one that made the move was Ren, not me.”

“And so you accepted, even though you knew about JR?”

I scoffed. “It’s so easy to make assumptions when you’re on the outside looking in, isn’t it?” I replied accusingly.

Now it was Minseok’s turn to scoff. He raised a brow in irritation. “You think I don’t know what it’s like? I might seem calm and collected now, but that’s because I matured with age. I’m surprised Ren never told you, but back in the day, I used to be quite the player myself.”

“Player?” I smirked with annoyance. “Me?”

Minseok smirked back at me, remaining silent. Although he chose to say nothing, his silence said it all. He was actually accusing me of being the type of person that played with others hearts for his own entertainment when I was nothing, I repeat, nothing like that at all.

“I grew up raised by nannies. All the time I could have spent chasing, pursuing girls, was spent on two things and two things only: singing and gaming. I sang because it took away the pain of the empty loneliness my parents left me with. I gamed because I had no friends. Even when I entered the trainee program with Pledis I kept to myself. It took years for me to even want to converse with my label mates. I’ve only been with one girl, but that came and passed. So, tell me, can you call me a player still?” I replied, filling him in on a bit of my personal background that really only Ren, Minhyun and Aron knew about.

Minseok gave me an apologetic look. “I apologize. It was rude of me to make assumptions.”

“Ren made the move. And I fought it. I fought hard. I yelled at him. I screamed at him that what he was doing was wrong. Hell, I even gave him the ultimatum that it was either JR or me, not both. I am not the type of person to share, nor am I the type of person that takes what isn’t his.” I folded my arms across my chest. “I might be an apparent , but even I have a conscience.”

Minseok smiled at my last comment. “What is it that you like about my brother?” He asked. I glanced back at him, dropping my arms to my side. “Ren is such a nuisance. He’s messy, short tempered, unorganized and always pissing someone off with his bold ‘in-your-face’ attitude.”

I laughed then winced in pain as I felt slight pain in the back of my head from the sudden movement. “That’s exactly why I hated him in the first place.”

“Really, now?” Minseok asked, amused.

“I told you about our first encounter. He mistook me for someone else. Our second encounter was when he arrived at the Pledis office, introducing himself as our interning stylist. Back then I was a part of DREAM, and we were notorious around the entertainment industry for chasing out all of our help. We saw Ren and thought ‘this will be easy,’ but by far he has been the most difficult challenge for us to get rid of. We declared a war on him and the little bug had the nerve to declare war back on us. He fought us back. We did stupid, childish things such as taping him to his bed and writing ‘LOSER’ on his forehead as he slept. And what happened? He got back at us by destroying my room, hiding our clothes, even going so far as to hide our wi-fi.”

Minseok was grinning from ear to ear. “Yeah, sounds about right.”

I raised a brow. “He’s always been like this?”

“Always. Minki always had a thing for getting even. I can’t tell you how many times he got me in trouble with our parents. It’s that angelic little face of his; its deceiving.”

I scoffed. “Tell me about it.” I agreed with him. “At that time, I was angry at the world. I was at the top, but yet, I was still lonely. My band members tried to be my friends, but there was always a gap of noticeable distance kept between us. I always felt so alone… And that’s why I put up this type of standoffish front. I tried to intimidate people so that they would try to keep their distance from me. I figured ‘if they can’t get close, they can’t hurt me.’ But Ren… he saw through that guise. He saw right through it and wouldn’t leave me alone. He nagged me to death with his annoying talks of friendship. Even though I kept pushing him away, he never gave up on me. Ren was the first person to actually try with his amount of determination to become my friend. And then somewhere in between our feelings got mixed up…”

“So falling in love was a complete accident then…” Minseok’s voice trailed off.

“Love?” I stared at him with wide eyes.

A smirk quickly spread across his lips. “What you just described to me just now? That’s love.”

I scoffed. “How would you know? Have you ever been in love?”

“Of course not.” Minseok replied.

I raised a brow. “Really? Why not? I’m sure you’ve been in plenty of relationships in the past.” I replied, judging him simply based off of his appearance. I wasn’t blind. Minseok was an attractive person to well, just about anyone that had eyes. But he was a different type of ‘attractive’ than Ren. Ren was what one would call ‘beautiful.’ Minseok, on the other hand, was what you would consider ‘handsome.’

Minseok leaned in closer to me. “Want to know a secret?” He asked with a serious look on his face. “Because there’s no one that I can possibly love more than myself.”

“Conceited.”

Minseok smirked. “Maybe. But I just haven’t found that one person that’s up to my level and I doubt I ever will. But I’ve never been the type of person that needs to be in a relationship just to be happy. I am perfectly content if he or she never comes along.”

“Isn’t that… lonely?” I asked.

“I suppose for others it would be. But I’m okay. I’m doing what I love. I get to restore and gift the power of hearing. I get to create, develop, build, and install amazing technology that helps others. I don’t know what else could be better…” Minseok replied, looking off into the distance. “I still remember the first time I switched on a born-deaf baby’s cochlear implants. The startled look on her face and the joyous tears on her parents’ faces when she heard her first sound… it was magical. Their happiness was all because of my hard work and effort. When you’re doing something that you truly love to do, you don’t notice the small things like loneliness.”

I paused for a moment, letting Minseok’s words sink in. It was only months ago that I was still on stage, singing, doing what I was born to do. I agreed with what Minseok had told me; when you’re doing something you love, nothing else matters. When my parents were always away, I sang to fill the void and it always worked. But right before the accident I felt lonely. Was I not enjoying singing as much as I used to? When did the happiness I achieved from singing stop? I suddenly felt troubled. Maybe… was singing just not meant to be for me? This thought scared me. I wanted more than anything to return to the stage. Hell, I even elected for surgery to receive a hearing aid that would supposedly help me in my goal. Not to mention the people that were helping, trying to prepare me for my comeback. It wasn’t fair to them to start having these self-doubting thoughts.

I felt Minseok’s eyes on me, as if he could tell that something was bothering me. “But, you know, that’s just me. The Choi family has always been a bit off; what works for us might not work so well for others. I mean, just look at Minki and I. I took the driver’s license test once after watching an instructional video. Minki, on the other hand, took two years of driver’s educational classes and failed the test more than twice. People are just born different. Cheer up. You’ll be back up there soon enough. If you’re brave enough to dream it and want it, you’re brave enough to do it.”  

I smiled. “Yeah, maybe you’re right.”

Jason’s POV

The next morning after Aron’s little hair-care product related incident, the five of us finally returned to the hotel after he was released from the hospital. Of course, the jokes didn’t stop. The beauty of the magic was that I had even gotten their manager, JB, in on it as well. As we rode the van back to the hotel, the first thing JB did was plug his iPod into the vehicle’s speakers, selecting none other than After School’s song, ‘Shampoo.’ Not even Ren or Minhyun could stifle their laughter at Aron’s misfortune. There were a couple of times where Aron was pretty close to climbing out of the van and walking into traffic on the crowded, slow-moving highway, but alas, after realizing that it would be too long of a walk he settled back down in the backseat. Aron refused to talk to any of us for the rest of the day. What a sore loser, heh.

After meeting in the lobby, the five of us parted. Aron and Minhyun went to their hotel room and the remaining three of us returned to ours. Once it was just Ren, JB and I confined in the room, Ren turned to JB. “Today’s our last day in China, isn’t it?”

JB nodded. “It sure is.”

“What’s 2DREAM’s schedule?”

“Relaxation.”

Ren raised a brow. “Really?” He asked with hope in his voice. The poor kid had been working hard ever since we got here. And I thought I had energy. Ren seemed to be a never ending battery. He probably needed a break.

“Sweet!” I exclaimed.

JB glanced me way. “Not you.”

I paused then blinked. “Not me?”

He shook his head. “Pledis has scheduled a public appearance for you.”

I stared at him with wide eyes. “They what?” I asked in disbelief. “They can’t do that; I’m no longer their star. I’m a choreographer, for Christ’s sakes… besides, I’m not even with this branch of the company anymore-”

“It wasn’t the Chinese office that ordered it.”

I froze. “What…?”

“It was the Korea headquarters’ call. Fu Long Fei is scheduled to make an appearance at the news station and go on air regarding the situation that happened all those years ago.” JB replied. I suddenly shut down. I felt… betrayed. How could they… why would they do this to me? Go on air as ‘Fu Long Fei’? To do that would be a death wish. I suddenly remembered the CEO’s words before I left. He had told me that the reason why he wanted for me to come on this trip was for me to clear the air with my so called ‘fans,’ but I didn’t take him literally. JB glanced at Ren and then pointed at me. “Ren, you have one more job out here before you’re off the hook.”

Ren furrowed his brows in confusion. “What’s going on…?”

“Transform Jason into Fu Long Fei one last time.”

“Fu Long Fei…?”

I pursed my lips. I was beginning to realize that I couldn’t hide underneath this persona anymore. At least, Pledis wouldn’t let me. I shifted my gaze down to the ground. I couldn’t bring myself to look at Ren. I felt like I had just been caught in a lie. And it wasn’t just any lie. I had lied about who I was.

“Who is Fu Long Fei?”

“Me.” I muttered.

Ren tilted his head to the side. “You?”

“Fu Long Fei was a Chinese idol quite a few years back. I only recently found this out myself. He had a national scandal and then retreated to Korea for safety. The person you know as ‘Jason’ is actually a singer, songwriter, producer, musician, actor, model and dancer.” JB replied.

Ren stared at me with wide eyes. “You are?”

“Yeah.”

“Jason was at the top of his game. He shot to fame when he self-produced his first album, which stayed at the top of the charts for over a month. He’s actually quite talented. Ren, he’s already agreed to help Baekho make his comeback.”

Ren paused. “You mean… you asked him too?” JB and Ren shared a confused look together. “You mean to tell me that you used me to get a date out of my hyung?” He glared at me.

I sheepishly looked away, digging my hands into my pockets. “I was always planning on helping, Ren… can’t I have a little fun too? I’ve already been throwing my heart and soul into producing his comeback track with JB. Once we get back I’m going to practically live at the studio trying to develop his dance routine.”

“You mean the song is already done?”

I nodded. “It just needs the vocals.”

Ren huffed. “I won’t kill you then.”

“Aren’t you mad…? I lied to you about who I was.”

“We all have our reasons for doing what we do. I’m sure you had yours too. But I’m sure ‘Fu Long Fei’ is hardly any different from the Jason that we’ve grown to know. You’re not a bad person. You’ve proved that through your many actions. You’re a tad strange, but you’re not out here to hurt any of us. You’re here to help and support, and that’s why I trust in you.”

I smiled. “Thanks, Ren.”

Ren smiled back before dusting his hands off. “Alright, let’s do this. Let’s get you ready, Fu Long Fei.”

Several hours later the five of us arrived at the broadcasting station. Although it was my scheduled event, both Minhyun and Aron showed up for support. I was a nervous wreck. The entire ride to the station I was biting my fingernails, dreading the moment I were to step out of the van. Did people still hate me like they did all those years ago? It was truly frightening. I didn’t know if they would rip me to shreds or hear me out. But maybe Pledis was right. Maybe it was time to finally set things straight. I had to at least try to get my side of the story out there. Whether or not the people of China listened wasn’t my problem. In order to fully move on from the past I had to confront my fears. If that meant going live on public television, so be it.

The moment the van pulled up to the side of the news station, a hoard of people began surrounding it. JB was the first brave soul to exit. He hopped out of the front passenger seat and was almost drowned by the angry mob outside. He managed to swim his way to the side of the van and he grabbed the handle. I stared out of the window with wide eyes full of fear. My heart was racing. I didn’t want to go out there. They would kill me if I did-

“Aron, you cover him from the back. Ren, from the side. I’ll cover him from the front. On the count of three we all go, got it?” Minhyun suddenly ordered, surprising me.

“Guys…”

“You’ve always had our back, and now we’ve got yours.” Minhyun replied, climbing in front of me and staring intently out of the window. “One… two… three!” He exclaimed. The others latched on to me as JB pulled open the door and Minhyun charged full speed ahead, pulling me with him. As I was pulled through the sea of angry bodies trying to swing, claw and grab at me, I fearfully shut my eyes. Minhyun continued to charge ahead, not stopping until we finally reached the building. He yanked open the door and Aron and Ren practically threw me inside. The two of them heavily caught their breath before JB was the last to stumble inside. He threw his back against the entrance door and sighed loudly after having survived the apocalyptic mob. Although Ren, Aron and Minhyun all appeared to have been beaten up, we all made it inside in one piece.

“The things we do for this guy…” Aron said, still catching his breath.

Minhyun smirked. “He’s done crazier things for us.”

“That much is true.” Ren chuckled.

I waved my hands in front of my face like Miss Korea. “I’m not going to cry. I’m not going to cry.”

“Good. You’ll mess up your makeup and we’re already late. Get moving!” JB ordered, going back into strict manager mode. I nodded then quickly followed him deeper within the building. We were later led by an down to the studio room where the interview was to take place. As I approached the stage I paused in horror as I realized that apparently I wasn’t doing this interview alone. Waiting for me with the reporter sat none other than the man that I was trying to desperately escape. What in the world was he doing here? Hadn’t Leo had enough of trying to ruin my life, or did he so desperately feel the need to continue with it? Was he here because of Pledis? Just what were they trying to pull on me?

I stopped dead in my tracks and shook my head. “I’m not going; I’ve changed my mind.”

Leo glanced my way as he heard my voice. A smile spread across his lips. “符龙飞！”(“Fu Long Fei!”) He called out to me, grabbing the reporter’s attention. She spun around in her chair and immediately stood to greet me. Leo had made it impossible for me to leave now.

“请坐。”(“Please, take a seat.”) The reporter said, motioning the chair next to Leo’s. I pursed my lips together hesitantly before slowly taking a seat beside him. I wasn’t sure of anything anymore. What was I doing here? “我们一会儿就要直播节目，请做好诚实回答问题的准备。”(“We’ll be going live in a few moments. Please be prepared to answer all of the questions honestly.”)

I mentally scoffed. I wouldn’t have a problem telling the truth. The problem lied with Leo. Whatever truth I tried to unravel, he’d probably do everything in his power to cover it up. And truthfully, I was tired. I didn’t want to play this game with him anymore. I just wanted to move on from my past and him. Was it so wrong to want to try to be happy? I had already lived my dream, even if it was for a short time. But I was content. That part of my life was over now and I had accepted it. Now my dream was to live modestly and earnestly. I didn’t need any of the fame that I had achieved under the name ‘Fu Long Fei.’ Fu Long Fei was a person I didn’t know any longer. He was a complete stranger to me now. Besides, I was happy just being ‘Jason’ because living as him I felt like I was finally free to be myself without any of Fu Long Fei’s burdens. Fu Long Fei represented entrapment; Jason represented freedom.

The cameras started rolling. “今天，我们请了特别的嘉宾上我们的节目；我们欢迎前流行乐团JL到节目现场。流行音乐歌星Leo和争论的前歌星符龙飞已和我们团聚最后一次，让我们有进一步了解几年前使乐团提早解散的事。Leo，符龙飞，请与我们分享今天再次在一起的感受。”(“Today we’re airing a special news story; we’re here with former pop duo JL here in the studio. Current pop star Leo and controversial former idol Fu Long Fei have reunited with us one last time to shed light on the incident that happened several years ago that resulted in the premature disbandment of the popular group. Leo, Fu Long Fei, please tell us how it feels to be together once again.”)

Leo smiled. “能再次见面的感受非常好。”(“It feels great to meet once again.”)

I stared at him with distrust in my eyes. I’m not going to fall for your lies anymore, Leo. I’m not as gullible as I used to be in the past. I nodded uneasily. “对。”(“Yes.”) I lied through my teeth.

“符龙飞，听谣言所说，你有关于性侵犯的诉讼。这件事到底是不是真的？你是怎么处理情况的？事情发生时，你是怎么想的？”(“Fu Long Fei, according to the rumors, you were hit with a lawsuit regarding possible ual assault. Was there any truth to this incident? How did you handle the situation? What were the thoughts going through your mind when this occurred?”)

I forced a smile on my lips. “我被告是真的。但我能确定性侵的事件根本没有发生。关于怎么处理情况..... ”(“It’s true that there was a lawsuit. Regarding the validity of the argument, I assure you that it was false. As for how the situation was handled…”) My voice trailed off. Was I allowed to tell the truth? Would Pledis strike back at me if I were to mention everything that they had done to me?

“你是说没有处理情况。”(“It wasn’t handled.”) Leo suddenly replied, surprising me.

The reporter stared at him with wide eyes. “你的意思是？”(“What do you mean?”)

“Leo-”

“提出的警察报告是伪造的。事情发生的晚上，符龙飞根本不在事情所发生的夜总会。他是跟我在一起。事情根本没有被处理。公司太注重我的单独活动，根本没有帮助符龙飞。最后，在我们意料前，谣言已散播全国，逼符龙飞离开公司。”(“The police report that was filed was entirely fabricated. The night of the incident, Fu Long Fei wasn’t even at the same night club where it supposedly took place. He was with me. As for how the situation was handled, it wasn’t. The company was too busy focusing on my solo activities to pay Fu Long Fei any attention. Before we knew it, the rumors spiraled out of control, forcing him to leave the company.”)

I stared at Leo. Was that it…? Was that the real reason why Pledis didn’t come to my rescue, or was this another one of Leo’s lies? He had lied once before. I wouldn’t put it past him to lie once again. I wanted to believe that he was truly being sincere and finally coming to my rescue, but he was several years too late. If he had wanted to play the role of ‘good guy,’ he would have stood up for me when the incident first occurred, but he hadn’t. He left it alone. He let me get gravely hurt… I took a deep breath. “我心里是怎么想的？我心里想：怎么可能那些曾经说爱我的饭，现在全都恨我？我感觉我会窒息而死。我对我自己说：我要死了。为了虚假的是被恨....我不知道该怎么做。我把自己在恐惧里封锁起来。我不知道自己怎样继续活下去。最后，我决定放弃全部。”(“What were the thoughts going through my head…? ‘How could so many people who once claimed to love me, hate me so much?’ I felt like I would suffocate. I thought to myself ‘I’m going to die.’ To be hated for something that wasn’t true… I didn’t know what to do. I locked myself up in fear. I didn’t know how to continue on living. Finally, I decided on giving it all up.”)

“放弃自己的梦想不痛苦吗？”(“Wasn’t it difficult to give up on your dream?”)

I shook my head. “我是为了活下去才做的。谁说我把梦想放弃了？我放弃了表演和说唱，当我没有停止梦想。当一扇门被关上时，另一扇会打开。原来的计划可能被更改，但这可能是世界引我向一个更大的目标前进。”(“I did it all to live. But who said I gave up on my dreams? I gave up on performing and rapping, but I never stopped dreaming. When one door closes, another one opens. The original plan might have been altered, but maybe it was the universe’s way of trying to lead me to something even greater.”)

Leo stared at me in admiration. “你快乐吗？”(“Are you happy?”) He suddenly asked. I paused before nodding.

“终于，我非常快乐。”(“Finally. I’m very happy now.”) I replied quietly.

Leo pursed his lips together. “好。”(“Good.”) He said with a sigh. “那就好。”(“It’s a relief.”)

“Leo…” I was stunned. The reporter continued to ask the both of us several questions. Before we knew it, the interview was done and over with. When we finished both Leo and I stood and exited our way out into the hallway. As soon as I stepped out, I spun around and faced him. “你在那儿说的都是真心话吗？”(“Did you mean what you said in there?”) I asked, my heart aching. I had to know. Instead of choosing to ignore him and the past, I wanted an answer to all the unsolved questions.

“你辛苦了那么久但我帮都没帮。我以前说过：你一直都在我心上。你消失的那天后，没有一天我是不担心你的。我想念你，但也非常关心你过得怎样。我希望你没 事。如果你因我做或没做的事儿很我，我会想你道歉。对不起，我没有站在一身边。对不起，我只想到自己，听Pledis的话，没有替你讨回公道。”(“You went through a lot of pain and I did nothing to help. As I said before; you were always on my mind. After you disappeared not a day went by where I wasn’t worried. I missed you, but I was also concerned for your well-being. I just wanted for you to be okay. If you hate me for what I did or didn’t do for you, I apologize. I apologize for not taking a stand for you. I apologize for not thinking for myself and listening to Pledis when they told me to keep my mouth shut.”)

I shifted my gaze down to the ground. “你太晚了。我们之间的爱情故事已经结束了。”(“You’re too late. Our story is over.”)

Leo smiled sadly. “我知道。很不幸的，我不能改变历史，但我能改造未来，你的未来。是我叫他们来访问我们的。是我说服韩国公司送你回来的。我想弥补我所对你做的一切。我这么做是为了让你开心的继续走下去，就算我在你的生活里已经不存在了。你值得我这么做。”(“I know. Unfortunately I can’t fix the past, but I can try to attempt to fix the future, or rather, your future. I was the one that asked for the interview. I was the one that convinced the Korea headquarters to send you here. I wanted to right my wrongs towards you. I did it so that you could move forward and be happy, even if that means I am no longer a part of your life. You deserve that much, if not more.”)

I felt tears start to well up in the corners of my eyes. Dammit. Crying was so not my style. But I was touched that even after all these years, Leo had still thought about what he had done to me and even went so far as to bring me back to finally put the past behind us. Leo had finally apologized. He finally went on air and stood up for me. Whether or not his version of the story was true didn’t concern me. There would always be two sides to every story. I already knew my version and he knew his. To each of us, our stories were correct. It was probably easier to leave it at that than to waste more precious time on the subject trying to figure it out.

I lightly punched him in the chest. “你这个。”(“You jerk.”)

“对不起。”(“I’m sorry.”)

“你知不知道我花了多长时间恨你？”(“Don’t you know how much time I spent hating you?”)

Leo sadly smiled. “现在你可以不再恨我和与你的新男朋友幸福。”(“And now you can finally stop and be happy with your new boyfriend.”) He replied, probably referring back to when Minhyun kissed me during dinner the other day.

I stared at him with wide eyes before punching him again. “笨蛋；他不是我的男朋友。你认为还有另外一个人有能力支付我吗？”(“Stupid; he’s not my boyfriend. Do you really think there’s another person out there that’s capable of handling me?”)

Leo chuckled. “不可能。”(“It’s impossible.”)

“当然不可能！”(“Of course it is!”) I exclaimed. “这样下去，我会一辈子孤零一个人！”(“At this rate, I’ll be single for life!”)

“不会的。符龙飞，你是个好人。迟早会有人看出你这一点，然后深深地爱上你。我祝福你们，希望你能跟他永远幸福。”(“I seriously doubt that, Fu Long Fei. You’re a good person. Sooner or later someone will recognize that feature of yours and fall deeply in love with you. To whoever he is, I wish the both of you good luck and happiness.”)

I sadly smiled back at him. “谢谢.... ”(“Thanks…”)

“我得回去Pledis了。”(“I have to get back to Pledis now…”) His voice trailed off. “再见，符龙飞。”(“Goodbye, Fu Long Fei.”) He said, raising his hand and slowly starting to wave. I slowly brought mine up to my chest and feebly started to wave back. For some reason this ‘goodbye’ didn’t feel like a normal one. It really felt as if we were saying it for the last, final time. I felt my chest tighten as it grew harder and harder to breathe when I realized that this probably really would be the last time I ever saw him.

“再见，Leo... ”(“Goodbye, Leo…” )

And thank you.

Ren’s POV

I practically kissed the ground once we landed back at the airport in Seoul. Finally, finally we were back in Korea! I had never been more glad or grateful to be back home. After JB had dropped the four of us back at the mansion, Jason went immediately to his room and repacked his bags. When we had asked him what he was doing, he said that he had a lot of work to do down at Pledis and that he would be staying there for a while. None of us questioned him. I ran straight to my room and grabbed my phone. I turned it on and scanned through my missed contacts. Apparently I had several missed messages from Minseok. I raised a brow. Hadn’t I told him before I left that I would be in China? Regardless, I started playing each of his voice messages starting from the order that they were received. The first message was normal. Minseok had informed me that Baekho had just arrived for surgery and everything was going well. I smiled then tapped the next message. The tone in Minseok’s voice had changed from neutral to worried. He had told me that Baekho had awoken from surgery, but due to complications, he would be undergoing a second emergency surgery.

The phone slid out from my palm and hit the floor. My heart raced. Baekho… I shakily knelt down and picked up my phone, this time tapping the third message that Minseok had left. He sounded deeply apologetic. He explained to me that Baekho’s second surgery was the result of medical malpractice. I couldn’t believe my ears. Malpractice? How could this even happen? Was Minseok not on the surgical team? Where the hell was he when this was taking place?!

I angrily shoved my phone in my pocket and marched back out into the living room, walking past the others and quickly leaving the mansion. I knew Minseok didn’t want me anywhere near the hospital or Baekho, but I didn’t care. If I didn’t go see him now, I’d go absolutely crazy from anger and worry. I hopped on the next bus into town and made my way to the hospital. After arriving and managing to get a hold of Baekho’s room number, I practically ran all the way to his room. I arrived to an open door. Laying inside was an alert Baekho, smiling and laughing with my older brother who stood at his side. Without a word I angrily marched inside, startling Baekho. Minseok turned and glanced my way.

“Ren, when did you get back-”

I grabbed his wrist and yanked Minseok out of the room with me, pulling him into the hallway where I practically shoved him against the wall. “I trusted you with him in my absence!”

Minseok gave me a bewildered look. “Ren-”

“I trusted you, but where were you?!” I screamed at him.

Minseok narrowed his eyes and grabbed me by the shoulders, violently shaking me. “Get ahold of yourself!”

“No! You hurt him! You hurt Baekho!”

“Baekho is fine!” Minseok exclaimed.

“No, he’s not! He’s hurt!!!”

“Ren, Baekho is fine!!! Look!” Minseok angrily pointed back inside of the room. I followed his finger and spotted a shocked blonde sitting upright in his bed, watching the two of us. I paused as the anger slowly started to subside.

“He’s… okay?” I asked, my body feeling numb. I had been stricken with so much worry and grief that I couldn’t think clearly. I grabbed Minseok’s white coat lapels and leaned forward, resting my forehead on his chest as I fought the urge to cry. Minseok rubbed me on my back to comfort me but it was no use. I was a wreck. I wasn’t able to enjoy my time fully over in China because I had been secretly worried about Baekho the entire time. Coming home to this news wasn’t exactly the ‘welcome back’ that I wanted.

“He asked for you several times, you know.”

I paused, bringing my head up from his chest to look at him. “He what…?”

“The first thing he did when he woke up from surgery was ask for you.”

Tears began to roll down my cheeks. “That’s not funny, Minseok!” I pouted.

Minseok rolled his eyes and smirked. “You really think I’d make up something so corny?” He asked. I glanced back over at Baekho in his room with eyes full of longing. Somehow I think Minseok sensed this within me. “What are you doing? Get in there.”

“R-really?” I asked in disbelief.

Minseok held up his index finger. “I’ll allow it this one time.”

“Thank you, hyung!” I wrapped my arms around his shoulders and squeezed him tightly before leaving him and dashing to Baekho’s bedside. As I stopped in my tracks beside him, Baekho glanced up at me with a warm, pleasant smile spread across his lips.

“Welcome back, Ren.”

JR’s POV

I stepped out from my terminal with my rolling suitcase in hand. I glanced at all of the signs around me, all of which were written in Korean. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath before exhaling. Home. I was finally back home. I reopened my eyes and smiled, grabbing my suitcase and continuing down the walkway. I caught a taxi as I exited the airport building. I climbed inside and the driver asked me where I wanted to go. I smiled at him and then told him the address to DREAM’s mansion. Before I had left New York, I had made arrangements with Aron, Minhyun and Ren about letting me spend the week with them. None of the three objected. As the taxi took off, my heart leapt with excitement over the fact that I would finally, finally be getting to see my boyfriend for the first time in over five months. Words could not express how much I missed him or how much I had been looking forward to seeing him ever since my boss granted me this early vacation.

As the taxi neared DREAM’s mansion location, I rolled down the window and stuck my hand outside, letting the gentle Seoul wind caress my skin. I had missed Korea so much. I had missed the people, the food, and the friends that I had made within Pledis. Simply put; I missed everything. But now I was finally back, even if it was only for a short time. Truth be told, even if they had only given me a day, I would have gladly taken it and made the trip even to spend just 15 minutes with Ren because to me, he was worth it.

When the car finally arrived at the front gate, I paid the taxi driver and watched as he drove away. Now that I was alone, I stopped in front of the speaker and rang the buzzer. Minhyun’s voice excitedly poured out.

“JR! It’s great to see you! Come on in!” He exclaimed and unlocked the front gate. I smirked then entered the grounds, stopping in front of the door which he met me at. He warmly greeted me and let me inside of the mansion. As I entered, I glanced around inside, taking in my surroundings. Not much had changed since the last time I had saw this place. Minhyun took my suitcase and brought it inside. “I can’t believe you’re actually here, Mr. Broadway. I thought you weren’t coming until tomorrow.”

“Me either. I got switched to an earlier flight.” I replied. “Where’s Ren?”

Minhyun pursed his lips together and shrugged. “He went out earlier. He shouldn’t be out much longer. Anyways, come! Tell us all about New York!” He practically dragged me inside the living room, sitting me down on the couch. As I sat I took notice of a small black and brown dog sitting on one of the armchairs, gnawing on what looked to be a rainbow stuffed unicorn. I raised a brow and tilted my head in confusion, pointing over at it.

“What’s that?”

Aron emerged from the kitchen with a bottle of water in his hands. He took a sip. “My puppy Mel.”

“What in the world is he chewing on?”

“Enrique.” Aron replied.

“Who?” I gave Aron a crazy look.

Minhyun sighed. “It belongs to our crazy, childish choreographer.”

I laughed. “Oh, really? And how’s he working out for you?”

Minhyun groaned. “Terribly. He’s shortened my lifespan by at least 30 years, that’s for sure.”

“Sorry to hear that. Does he do a good job at least?” I asked.

“He’s pretty good. You’ll probably meet him later. Right now he’s down at the studio.” Aron replied, taking another sip of water. Just then the three of us were distracted by the sound of the front door opening. Ren suddenly emerged from behind, carrying several large books in his arms. As he spun around he stopped dead in his tracks and gasped loudly.

“JR!!!” His books suddenly fell and stumbled down onto his toes. Ren winced in pain and shrieked. “!” He replied, still making eye contact with me.

“Well, hello to you too, stranger.” I smirked.

Ren paused before nervously chuckling. “W-w-welcome back…”