Minhyun’s POV

I tossed on my side underneath the covers of my bed to see Aron sleeping peacefully next to me, cradling his pillow with his right arm while resting his left on the surface next to him. I glanced down at his right hand and wove my fingers in between his, gently squeezing it. As our skin made contact I was surprised; I still had that same floating feeling in the bottom of my stomach that I had back when I secretly admired him from afar and we were nothing but just band mates. It was amazing to see how far we had come since then. Aron still had his unanswered questions from his past, but the fact that he was able to surprise me with a 100 Day Anniversary event and our intense session that lasted practically the entire day, it was proof enough that he had moved on from it all. He was able to open up his heart again and I was the lucky one that he had opened it up to. All this time it felt like I had chosen Aron, but in reality, he had really chosen me, hadn’t he?

I smiled. I remembered he was initially afraid to let me inside and come to me. All the countless and innocent flirting from my side didn’t go by unnoticed after all. Aron had probably been onto me from the start, hadn’t he? Ever since Pledis made us sign that ‘skinship contract.’ He had probably known all along, only he played dumb to protect his fragile heart. Aron was like that… Aron Kwak, you’ve got to be the most clueless, ungraceful person I’ve ever met, but… I know it’s all a lie. I know you’re more intelligent than you lead the rest of us to believe. Instead of being this emotionless robot you’ve transformed yourself into, the more I get to know and fall in love with you, the more I realize that you’re actually quite sensitive. You don’t want to be hurt any more than the rest of us do, which was why you cast away your true self, isn’t it? All this time you’ve only ever thought of me. Even when we broke up because of my mother, you were still concerned for me. You didn’t give up. You fought to have me back. You even agreed to date me in secret because you knew, didn’t you? You knew that I couldn’t be without you.

Aron… All this time I’ve blamed you for being a fool, but the real dummy was me, wasn’t it? I always criticized you for not trying hard enough when in reality you were the more giving one than myself. All this time you’ve been the selfless one and I’ve been the selfish one. But Aron… I don’t want to continue being selfish anymore. I want to prove it to you just how much you mean to me. As long as you’re by my side, we’re an invincible team, aren’t we?

Aron’s eyes suddenly flinched as he pursed his lips together as if he were having a bad dream. I continued to watch him as his thick brows sunk to a furrow. I reached out and placed my left hand on the side of his cheek and kept it there. His large brown eyes suddenly snapped open and he gave me a startled, confused look.

“Were you dreaming?” I asked. Aron nodded. “What was it about?”

A faint smile spread across Aron’s lips. “I don’t remember.” He quietly replied, glancing down at our intertwined fingers down on the bed. He glanced back up at me, this time with a real, true smile. “I love you.”

I smiled back at him. “I love you too, you big idiot.”

“Idiot?”

I nodded. “I can tell when you’re lying to me…” My voice trailed off. “Was it her? Were you thinking of her?” I asked, referring back to Aron’s first love.

Aron shook his head. “She’s been the furthest thing from my thoughts lately.”

“Really?” I asked, surprised. “Then who-”

Aron leaned over and planted a kiss on my forehead then pulled away. “I was thinking about Baekho.” As soon as he said this I shot up in bed, ripping my fingers from his hand and folding my arms across my chest.

“Really, Aron? Him at this time?” I pouted. “Do you have a thing for Baekho too?”

Aron chuckled. “Oh god no.”

I smirked. “Good.”

“I dreamed a dream about… well, DREAM.” He replied.

“Oh?” I asked, curious.

He furrowed his brows, lost in thought. “But it wasn’t a good one. I dreamt that we had gone back to him to propose getting back together again but he shot us down straight in our faces, not giving us another chance.”

I stared sympathetically at Aron. “You really want the three of us to be back on stage together, don’t you?” I asked, touched. Out of all of us, Aron had been the quietest one when it came to Baekho’s accident and the turnout of DREAM. He had never really expressed his opinion, except when we both promised to wait for him. “Aren’t you the least bit curious about what became of Baekho, Aron?” I asked, bringing up the same conversation we had a while back.

“Of course I am.”

“And?”

“I don’t want to upset him. I feel like by me knowing what’s wrong with him will only make Baekho more uncomfortable about his situation. Of course I’m worried about him; we only spent several years by his side.”

“But still… Aron, you’re the only one who doesn’t know about him.”

“I don’t want to know.” He firmly stated.

“Aron…”

“When the time comes, I want to face him the same way we faced the same Baekho in the past. No matter what’s wrong with him, he’ll always be the same person to me. I don’t want to treat him differently or feel sorry for him. I’m sure he wouldn’t want that. Right now… I’m sure Baekho is trying to hold onto the last bit of normalcy he remembers… I feel this is the only thing I can do for him.”

“Always thinking about others inside that quiet head of yours… Hey, Aron?” I called out to him, rubbing my chin.

“Hm?”

“If I ask you to go somewhere with me, will you go?” I asked, suddenly changing the subject. Aron slowly sat up in bed beside me, giving me a questioning look.

“Where to?”

I shook my head. “That wasn’t the question. Will you go with me, even not knowing where?” I asked. Aron stared at me in silence for a while before reaching out and placing his hand back over mine, caressing his thumb over its surface.

“I’ll follow you wherever, Min.”

“Why?” I asked.

A small smile crept upon his lips. “Good question.”

“I could be asking you to follow me to an abandoned warehouse to harvest your body for organs, for all you know.”

He shrugged. “I’m short; there’s nothing they’d want.”

“Then why?” I asked. Aron leaned over and wrapped his arms around me, resting the side of his head against my back.

“Because I’m head over heels in love with you, Min…” Aron replied quietly, making my heart melt on the inside. I placed both of my hands over his on my waist.

“I-Is that so?” I asked, trying to play it off like I wasn’t touched even though I was. Dammit. I was on the verge of tears…

“Your perfections, your imperfections… even the way you call me ‘idiot’ all the time and yell at me. I like it all.”

“You must be a sadist.”

Aron laughed into my back. “Maybe… All I know is that everything… it all means absolutely nothing if I can’t have you with me.”

“Can I borrow it?”

“Huh?” Aron pulled away, confused. “Borrow what?”

“Your strength…” I sighed, staring blankly across the opposite end of the room. “I have a feeling I’m going to need it, the place we’re going…”

“Min… don’t tell me…” Aron’s voice trailed off as he was finally putting two and two together. I nodded.

“I’ve had enough of this; it’s time to end whatever this is with my mother. It’s my life. How I dress, who I date- those are my decisions and mine alone. I don’t want to date you in secret anymore, Aron. You don’t deserve that kind of relationship. To hide it is ridiculous; you hide things you’re ashamed of and I’m not ashamed of you or what we have. I want to be free…”

“You don’t have to do this for me, Min.” Aron reassured me. I nodded.

“I know I don’t have to.” I replied. “I want to.”

Aron squeezed my shoulder before slowly turning me to face him. I glanced back over my shoulder and was met by his soft lips grazing against mine. I returned the kiss before pulling away and leaning into his bare chest, scared of what would happen in the future. Aron… after all you’ve done for me, this is the least I can do for you. Standing up to her once and for all- it’s been long overdue and I’m sorry. I’m sorry that it’s taken me this long, but now I’m certain it’s something I need to do. You and I, we’re in it for the long haul, aren’t we? We’re in this far too deep to just give everything up for the sake of that crazy woman who still sees me as her doll. It’s time I start living my own life, and the first step I want to take in that new direction is to make you happy for once. All I’ve been doing is taking and taking without giving. I know I haven’t been easy on you; hell, I know there’s times where I’m a downright pain to deal with, but you stuck with me through thick and thin. Now it’s my turn to show you just how much you mean to me. I’ll do it, Aron. I’ll do it all for you.

Ren’s POV

“Welcome back, Baekho.”

“Welcome back?” Baekho asked. I smiled back at him.

“To a world of sound.” I replied.

U-ie suddenly stood up in tears and hugged Baekho, sobbing into his chest. “Thank god… thank god everything is fine…” I watched as Baekho placed both hands on her shoulders and pulled her away from him. With tears in his own eyes he looked down at her and smiled.

“You don’t need to worry about me anymore. Live freely now.” He replied. U-ie nodded and bowed repeatedly, thanking him for reassuring her that everything was okay again. Minseok approached him.

“So how is it?” He curiously asked, eyeing the hearing aid anchored on his left side. “It’s probably not like before, but it’d definitely an improvement, right?” Baekho stared back at Minseok, remaining silent for the longest time before suddenly throwing his arms around him, embracing him. I met Minseok’s gaze as a look of bewilderment spread across his face before he settled down and grinned in amusement. He lightly patted Baekho on the back, pointing at me on the side. “Watch it, man. Your girlfriend’s like… right there.”

My jaw dropped and I glared at my hyung. As I was about to protest I decided to let it go. Ugh, Minseok, that troll! Whatever the case, Baekho definitely heard that remark of his, seeing as how he released him and started laughing. I pouted and folded my arms across my chest in defiance.

“It doesn’t even matter. I can hear again… I can hear. Minseok… I don’t think I can ever stop telling you thank you.”

Minseok grinned smugly. “Well no one told you to stop-”

“Hyung!” I scolded. Minseok laughed, leaning forward with his hands on his hips.

“Helping people and making a difference in this world is what I strive for. If there’s something you believe in, I’ll certainly give you a hand; this is how I’ve always lived my life. That’s why when Ren called me and asked for me to help you, I came running. Him and all these people in this room today, they all believe in you. They all see something inside of you that maybe you don’t see for yourself. But I know that my work here will fail in comparison to the great things you’ll probably be able to achieve from now on. Ren and I, we just gave you that little push of confidence to get you started.” Minseok replied, placing his right hand on Baekho’s left shoulder. “The rest is up to you now.”

Baekho smiled. “I understand… but still. Thank you.”

Minseok smirked. “Just treat my baby brother right and we’ll call it even, hmm?” I stared at Minseok with wide eyes, surprised that he would say something like that. Hyung really did care for me, didn’t he? All those crazy things he agreed to do for me, keeping my internship a secret and helping out a friend in need… he didn’t have to do any of it. But he did so simply because I asked him to. He never objected or put up a fight.

“You won’t have anything to worry about.” Baekho replied.

“Hyung…” My voice trailed off. Minseok turned to look at me. “Thank you. For everything. Just… thank you.”

“How much longer is your internship?” Minseok asked. I glanced down at my fingers as I counted out loud.

“One… two… Two more months and then I’ll finally graduate.” I replied.

“And then?” He asked. “And then will you tell them everything?” He was referring to how both of our parents still had no idea what I was doing behind closed doors. That’s right; my parents still believed that I was just a Deaf education teacher. They didn’t know about the fashion internship with Pledis and 2DREAM.

Baekho gave me a curious look. “What’s all this about?”

I forced a smile on my lips. “Oh, it’s nothing.” I lied. “Anyways, today’s all about you, Baekho. What do you say? Do you want to go outside and hear everything that you’ve missed for so long?” I asked, quickly trying to change the subject. They all knew that I was pursuing my dream of fashion designing the second time around in college because the first time was spent pursuing my parents’ dream. However, the one thing they didn’t know was that I was doing it secretly against my parents’ knowledge or wishes. The reason why I had never mentioned that part was because it wasn’t exactly something I was proud of. If Baekho, Minhyun or Aron found out… would they feel like they had been used? I didn’t want to find out. I wanted to keep everything a secret until it was finally over and I graduated. Baekho glanced over at the front door, pondering my question. He looked frightened, but yet, at the same time excited.

“That sounds like a good idea.” Minseok chimed in, sensing my discomfort. “The noise levels in the house are different from what you might experience outside, where everything is much louder. If you expect to go back on stage, where the music is amplified x10, going outside is the first step you must take.”

Baekho self-consciously nodded. “Yeah.”

“You can do it. We all have faith in you.” Minseok replied.

“Besides, there’s someone that I want you to meet.” I said, taking Baekho by surprise. He tilted his head to the side and stared at me with questioning eyes.

“Who?” He asked.

“The second man that’s responsible for Kang Baekho’s return.” I replied, still a bit hesitant to introduce Baekho to Jason, mostly because… well, it was Jason. Although he was a nice enough guy, he came on a bit strong towards everyone at first. I also knew Baekho. Baekho had a short fuse, and Jason was the type of person that intentionally liked to set people’s fuses off, making them uncomfortable. I could only imagine how terrible their first encounter might be. But in order for the comeback to work, they had to meet and learn to work together.

Baekho smiled. “Tell him I’d like to meet him then.”

I laughed nervously. “Yeah? I hope you remember what you said later…”

“What?”

“Nothing!” I said, taking this moment of opportunity to hide behind Minseok. Minseok narrowed his eyes and gave me a dumb stare before walking off, leaving me pouting behind him.

“Baekho,” JB finally spoke up, placing his hand on Baekho’s right shoulder. “I have some big news to tell you.”

“Big news?” Baekho thought for a moment then laughed. “What, are you getting married or something?”

JB responded by smiling.

Baekho’s eyes went wide with shock. “No way! Really?!” Baekho pulled JB into a brief hug. “Congratulations… wow, I can’t believe it.”

“That I’m getting married?” JB asked.

“No, that someone actually said yes.” Baekho joked, earning a playful nudge in the arm from JB.

“Don’t worry; we plan to have the wedding sometime after your comeback. She understands how important you coming back means to the both of us.”

Baekho shook his head. “No, JB, don’t push aside your happiness for mine-” He protested.

“Punk, your happiness is my happiness. Besides,” JB leaned in close. “She’s also a big fan of yours. Which leads me to my next question. It’s our biggest hope that you’ll say yes to singing at our wedding.”

Baekho smiled from ear to ear as he hit JB on his back. “It’ll be an honor to sing at my father’s wedding.”

“You’re going to make me cry again, you little rascal… But thank you, Baekho. This will mean a lot to her… to us.” JB replied and patted Baekho one more time on his shoulder before finally excusing himself. I reproached Baekho, standing by his side. With my hands behind my back and shifting my weight from my heels to my toes, I grinned as I looked up at him.

“I’m excited.”

“For what?” He asked.

“For the things to come.”

Later in the evening after Minseok, U-ie and JB had left I helped Baekho get dressed to go outside. I dressed him in a black t-shirt with a white graphic print on the front, a pair of faded/destroyed blue jeans, white sneakers and a black beanie which I gently slid over his hearing aid, hiding it. Baekho glanced at his reflection in the mirror.

“You really can’t tell with this thing on it, can you?” He asked, referring to the beanie. I nodded as I handed him a pair of one of his designer sunglasses.

“Not at all.” I replied, taking a silver watch from his collection and snapping it on his right wrist before wrapping a silver chained cross necklace around his neck.

“I look… normal.” He said almost as if he were shocked.

I stood directly in front of him and looked him straight in the eye. “You are normal. Regardless of what you wear. Clothes can only do so much for a person’s confidence. The rest comes from inside.” As I said this Baekho smiled and then knelt forward and pulled me into a kiss. He gave me a quick peck before pulling me into a hug.

“I don’t know what I would have done without your help, Ren. Before you came along I was so close to giving up. If you hadn’t of saved me from myself, I would have never known some of the things I know now. Both you and your brother taught me a lot about people with hearing impairments and Deaf Culture, people that I once knew existed but I pretended not to know about. But I can’t do that anymore… after everything that I’ve gone through, after everything that I’ve learned… Everything that I do from this point onward isn’t going to be for myself, but for them.”

“Baekho, that’s an amazing thing to say… Maybe one day-” I cut myself off.

“One day what?”

I waved my hands. “It’s silly.”

“No, tell me.” He insisted.

“You don’t… have to. But it would mean a lot to my students if you would drop by and surprise them. That’s all.”

Baekho paused. I suddenly felt so embarrassed bringing this subject up with him. I knew that he had just recently opened up his mind to the Deaf world, but I didn’t want to force him to do things that he had no interest in doing. “Are they all deaf?”

“Some of them are. Some are hard of hearing, like you are and rely on hearing devices.”

“How could they know who I am? I know I sound ignorant, but…” His voice trailed off. I shook my head.

“You’re ignorant because you do not yet know. Baekho, deaf people listen to music everyday just like I do. Remember when you said you could ‘hear’ the sound of my heart through its vibrations? That’s exactly how deaf people listen to music. They can feel the beat, feel the rhythm. They might not be able to hear your voice, but they know what good music feels like. I know for a fact that DREAM has some big fans inside of my classroom. I’ve seen all the pencils, folders, etc. with your faces on it.” I laughed. Baekho smirked.

“Really?”

“Of course!”

“Then I might have to stop by sometime… That is, after I comeback of course… If that’s alright with you.”

I jumped up and down excitedly, squealing like a teenage fangirl. “Baekho that would be so awesome!!!”

“Settle down,” Baekho replied, amused. “Are you my boyfriend or my fan?”

“Can’t it be both?” I pouted.

“Stop being cute.”

“Don’t blame me. Blame my mom for making me this way.” I stuck my tongue out. Baekho took a hold of my jaw and squeezed my cheeks with his thumb and index finger before playfully shoving me to the side. He exited his room and started making his way downstairs.

“Wait for me!!!” I followed Baekho outside of his house and the two of us piled up inside of his car. After getting buckled in and starting the engine, Baekho paused, staring quietly down at the radio. I shifted my gaze from him and the stereo back and forth before taking the initiative to turn it on. I turned the knob and the sound of heavy rock music started pouring out from the speakers. Baekho, startled, jumped back in his seat as the sound of drums and screeching guitars reached both of his ears and sent a signal through his ear drum. His eyes went wide in shock and bewilderment. He turned his head to look at me.

“I haven’t…” His voice sadly trailed off. He placed both hands over his mouth as tears suddenly formed in the corner of his eyes. He seemed to be stuck deeply in a state of disbelief.

“You haven’t what?” I asked.

“I haven’t listened to the radio in months.” He replied, turning back to stare some more at it. “I forgot what it was like.” I placed my hand over his which was resting on the clutch and squeezed it firmly. “You never realize the joy in the simplest things until you’ve lost them, isn’t it?” He asked.

I sadly nodded. “That’s the case for most people. We take for granted what we were born with when there are others born without or have lost those things and are more deserving of them than we are. That’s why when life keeps me down, I try not to think of the glass as half empty or half full. I try to just be thankful that there even is a glass and grateful that there’s something inside of it.”

“I thought it was impossible…” Baekho quietly replied.

“Hm?”

He glanced over at me from the stereo. “The more I listen to your voice, the more clearly I can hear the sound of your heart. And the more I hear your heart, the deeper I feel myself falling for you.” He replied, strumming my heartstrings. I felt my heart tighten inside of my chest as I was moved beyond words. I smiled, fighting back the tears of happiness that threatened to fall.

“You’re in trouble, Kang Baekho.” I replied, catching him off guard. “You’re never getting rid of me now.”

Baekho laughed. “Have I ever been able to get rid of you?”

I shook my head. “Nope.”

“I wouldn’t have it any other way then.”

“Let’s get going, shall we?”

Baekho paused. “Where should we go…?”

“Hmm… Someplace that won’t be too overwhelming for you. Remember, this is just your first day back into the world of hearing. You need to take it one step at a time.” I thought for a moment, thinking of all the possible places that we could go. “Is there a park nearby?” Baekho nodded and then shifted the gears in reverse, driving out of his front driveway and pulling out into the street. He shifted the gears into drive and together we traveled down the road until only a few minutes later we arrived at a public park. The park had a small playground and there must had been about a dozen children playing on it while several dog owners stood in the grassy meadow playing Frisbee with their animals. The noise ratio was loud, but it wasn’t overbearing when comparing it to say, a rock concert, something which Baekho definitely wasn’t ready for.

We stopped and parked the car on the side of the street. I unbuckled my seatbelt and reached for the door when I noticed that Baekho hadn’t even budged. I glanced back over at him to see him blankly staring out the windshield at a group of teenagers messing around on the small blacktop basketball court next to the park. As I looked at the group, I noticed that there were three boys playing happily while tossing around a basketball. I glanced back over at Baekho who had a solemn expression painted over his face.

“You miss them, don’t you?” I finally asked.

Baekho sadly smiled. “I don’t know.”

I shook my head. “No, I think you do. Your pain is evident.”

“I don’t want to say that I miss them… Mostly because I don’t want to feel like a fool when I find out that they don’t miss me at all.”

“No, Baekho, that’s not it! That’s not it at all!” I exclaimed. “Baekho, they miss you, trust me! I promise you that they do!”

Baekho scoffed. “Aron? Maybe. Minhyun? Probably not. Not after all the terrible things I said to him… When I found out I lost my hearing, I went crazy. I took my anger out on everything and everyone. Minhyun just so happened to be the first one to visit me, and so he became my target by default. When I learned that I was out of DREAM and they had replaced my leader status with Minhyun, I lost it. I yelled and screamed at him, sent him threatening text messages… I even went so far as to tell him to kill himself. I was horrible to him, Ren. He’ll never forgive me.”

“Baekho, if there’s something I’ve learned about Minhyun by spending all this time underneath the same roof with him, it’s that he has a big heart. Trust me, there’s still enough room for you inside of it. Aron and Min, they both miss you. Not a day goes by that your presence isn’t missed inside of that house. Minhyun isn’t the type to hold grudges and he forgives and accepts easily. After all, when I moved in, Min was the first and only to initially welcome me into the household while the rest of you were plotting to get rid of me, was he not?”

A small smile spread across Baekho’s lips as he remembered the cruel things he and Aron did to me. “That’s true.”

“During your absence, JR left Pledis and he was replaced by a new choreographer, the very man that I want to introduce you to that will play a crucial part in your comeback. He and Minhyun didn’t have a good start at all, but now the two are almost inseparable and they’re the best of friends. Trust me, Minhyun can and will forgive you.”

“Maybe.”

“Baekho, I’m curious.” I said. “Have you ever given any thought to getting back together with DREAM?”

Baekho smiled. “Of course… It’s where I got my start. But it’s impossible. I’m no longer a part of Pledis. They’ll never allow me to go near them again.”

“Are you saying that you would love to perform with them again someday?” I carefully asked. Baekho nodded.

“Someday. But it’ll probably never happen.” He replied, finally unbuckling his seatbelt, opening the door and stepping outside. I quickly did the same and followed him as he started making his way out into the middle of the grassy meadow. He stood there in complete and utter silence, taking in his surroundings. I stood by his side and listened to the sounds around us; there were the sounds of various conversations, dogs barking, children laughing and screaming while at play, birds chirping and tree branches swaying in the wind. I glanced at Baekho, who had turned several shades paler as he tried to process all of this new information suddenly coming in for the first time in a very long, long time. His short blonde hair began to stick to his forehead underneath his beanie as he began to sweat profusely. I quickly grabbed him by both of his arms as I noticed him begin to sway and lose his balance. I helped him sit in the grass and began to fan him with my hand.

“Take deep breaths and try to relax. Try not to think of all of these sounds as hectic, but calming. The sounds that you’re hearing? They’re the sounds of nature, the sounds of earth. Process it one at a time instead of everything all at once. Do you hear that? It’s the sound of the wind.” I replied, trying to help put Baekho more at ease.

Baekho shakily nodded. “I-I hear it.”

“And that? Do you hear that? It’s the sound of birds chirping. They’re communicating with one another in their own special language. Isn’t it beautiful?”

Baekho nodded. I continued onwards.

“And that’s the sound of children laughing. They’re doing what children do best; playing. It’s the best time of their lives right now. They’re free from all the worldly troubles that plague adults. Listen to their laughter; doesn’t it bring you back to happier times?”

Baekho shifted his gaze down to the ground. “I didn’t… have a happy childhood. I was alone for most of it.”

I got down on my knees inside the tall grassy meadow and held his face in both hands. I looked down at him in silence as the wind ran through the blades of green grass and through my long hair. I leaned down and kissed him on the lips. “You’re not alone anymore. I’m here with you now.”

“Ren…” Baekho replied, touched.

“I love you, Kang Baekho.” I finally said for the first time ever towards him. Baekho stared at me with wide eyes. His bottom lip trembled.

“I’m relieved… no, happy-” He replied, staring at me with teary eyes. “That you waited for him to turn it on so that I could hear those words 100% from you.” He replied. He was on to me. Lately the words ‘I love you’ had been freely escaping from Baekho’s lips, but they had not once came from mine. And he was right. I had been waiting for this moment because I wanted to make a special moment even more special for him. I wanted to make the day that his hearing aid had been finally switched on memorable so that he would never, ever forget it. And I couldn’t think of a better way. I couldn’t have been more right. My words, my actions… it worked. Just one look at the expression on Baekho’s face said it all; he was moved. “Say it again…”

I smiled. “I love you, Kang Baekho.” I repeated myself.

Baekho pulled me into him and buried his face into my chest. “Again…” He whispered to me, sounding as if he were about to cry. I wrapped my arms over his shoulders and gently began to caress his back.

“I love you.”

Aron’s POV

I climbed outside of Minhyun’s car and followed him down the front sidewalk that led to his mother’s house, an apprehensive, nervous feeling in the bottom of my gut. Although I appreciated the thought of Minhyun trying to persuade his mother to accept me, I knew how hard it was going to be on him. But he insisted that he needed to do this, if not for me, then for himself. I came here today with him knowing full and well not to expect much. I knew his mother despised the very thought of me. She definitely wouldn’t accept me. But this meant a lot for Min, which in turn meant a lot to me. If he wanted me by his side for support I wasn’t about to let him down. With each step we took it seemed like the walkway grew longer and longer, taking forever for us to arrive at her front doorstep. When we finally did, Minhyun froze in place as he had lifted his hand to knock. Standing behind him, I placed my hand on his left shoulder.

“Everything will be alright.” I reassured him. Minhyun nodded then took a deep breath before hesitantly knocking on the front door. After standing for a couple of minutes in silence, Minhyun knocked again. Was she not home? Right as I was about to tell Minhyun that we could try again later, the door slowly started to open, revealing a middle aged woman with beautiful young features completely adorned in designer clothes and jewelry. Her eyes widened in shock when she spotted Minhyun standing on her doorstep.

“Minhyun… I wasn’t expecting you home.” She sounded surprised. Surprised, but happy to see him. “What brings you here, dear?”

“Mom, we need to talk.”

She tilted her head to the side. “About what?” Minhyun reached for my hand behind his back and pulled me out to his side. She narrowed her eyes as quickly as she spotted me. She stared at me in what looked like disgust as she folded her arms across her chest. “I was about to ask you to come in, but you’re not bringing that thing in here with you.”

“Thing?” Minhyun asked in shock.

“Isn’t it? Isn’t that what one calls their ‘plaything’?” She asked, staring me down. “That’s all he is, isn’t he? Another one of your toys that you’ll later discard once you’re done playing with it?”

“Mother!” Minhyun angrily exclaimed, taking a step towards her. I grabbed him by the elbow and pulled him back, stopping him from whatever it was he was about to do. She eyed my hand on his arm and glared at me.

“I would appreciate it if you didn’t touch my son in front of me.” She said with venom in her words. I silently let my hand drop back down to my side. Minhyun glanced back at me with angry eyes; he was obviously displeased by the fact that I had listened to her request. What else was I to do in this situation? I didn’t know what to do any more than Minhyun. Not only that, but I was terrified of being here. I wanted to be here because Min had asked me to be here, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t scared. I was only human, and I had never before experienced this sort of prejudice.

“Why are you doing this? Why are you being this way? Haven’t you had enough? Why are you like this?” Minhyun asked.

“You are the very essence of me; don’t you understand? Everything you do is a reflection off of me. If the world finds out that my son is gay-”

“I’m sorry, but just who are you again?” I finally gathered the courage to speak up to her. Both Minhyun and his mom looked at me with stunned expressions on their faces. “Are you Lee Hyori? Who is your agency? Who represents you? Why don’t I know your name or recognize your face?”

His mother scoffed, offended. “That thing dares to speak to me?”

“Thing? My face, along with your son’s face, is on the wall of every Korean teenage girl’s room. Who knows how many international rooms we are lucky enough to have made it on. I guarantee you, my name is more well-known than yours. What kind of reputation do you have to uphold and to who? Who gives a damn about you?”

“I will not stand here and let you speak to me like this in my own house!”

“How long are you going to continue to leech off of your son’s shadow? Face it; he’s successful and you’re not. Instead of being jealous, you should be supporting him. If you can’t be happy for him and all the things he’s accomplished, then that’s your loss. Minhyun is an amazing, talented person, but he’s suffering under your reigns. All the things you’ve said to him and forced him to do… it’s taken a toll on him. Look at him! Does this look like the picture of health?!” I snapped at her, shaking Minhyun by my side and referring to the fact that he was still drastically underweight. Although we had made some progress, something like eating disorders took time to come back from.

She held her nose in the air and scoffed. “I don’t know what you’re talking about; he looks fine.”

“Mom, I’m sick!” Minhyun exclaimed, snatching her attention. “Look at me! I need help!”

“Minhyun-”

He cut her off. “Because I’ve never been able to please you, I’ve grown up hating myself! I hate myself so much!!! I can’t even look at my own reflection in a mirror or watch my own music videos without turning away in disgust. The only time I’m ever happy is when the number on the scale goes down. I know I’m underweight and I know I shouldn’t feel this way and I hate the fact that I do. Whenever that number goes up, I feel just the opposite. I feel miserable, so miserable I could just die. Do you understand what it’s like to live day by day just barely holding on? Aron… Aron’s the only person in this world that is able to distract me from these depressing thoughts of mine. He’s the only one that can make me happy.”

My heart hurt as I heard his words. It was hard to listen to the way the person I loved the most talk about himself. Minhyun’s mother gave him a sympathetic look. “I didn’t realize…” She glanced back at me before shifting her gaze back down to her son. “Why him? Why couldn’t it have been a girl?”

“Because I’m gay!!!” Minhyun exclaimed. “I don’t like them!”

She stared at him with stunned eyes. “Why? Why not?! What does he have that a woman does not?!”

“Probably nothing… but to me, he’s everything.” Minhyun replied.

“I absolutely can’t and will not accept this.” She stated straightforward.

“You will.” Minhyun replied, taking a stand for himself. “Or you won’t, but you will no longer be able to continue to be a part of my life. I will cut my ties with you and no longer call you ‘mother.’ If we see each other on the streets, I’ll pretend like I don’t know you even though on the inside I’m sure it will kill both of us.”

“What makes you so sure of yourself?” She narrowed her eyes at him.

“Remember that pre-debut photo incident? As far as I know, that’s called defamation of character and it’s against the law. I can put you in jail for what you did to me.” He threatened.

“Minhyun!” She exclaimed.

“But I won’t.” He quickly replied, earning surprised looked from both his mother and I. “I won’t because you’re my mother and deep down, somewhere in that heart of yours, I know you still love me, even if it’s just a little bit.”

“Minhyun, I’ll always love you-”

“Then prove it. Accept Aron- accept the fact that I’m gay and that I like men, or step out of my life with the promise not to interfere ever again. The third option is to sign a restraining order.”

“Minhyun!” She exclaimed, hurt that he would mention a restraining order against her.

“I want to be able to live peacefully, mom… but you won’t let me do that, will you?” Minhyun asked. She gave him a hurt look before going completely silent for a couple of minutes. Minhyun and I remained standing motionless on her front doorstep as she contemplated the choices he had given her. After what seemed like an eternity later, she finally opened to speak dejectedly.

“Minhyun… of course I’ll let you do that… I’m ashamed to admit that your mother was wrong…” She glanced up at me and slowly extended her hand out, waiting for me to take it. I stared down at it with wide eyes. “If you mean that much to him… then maybe there’s a reason worth finding out why.”

A small smile slowly spread across my lips as I took her hand in mine and shook it. Minhyun placed his hands over his mouth and sobbed. She released my hand and turned over to her son, wrapping her arms around him. “I’m sorry I was such a bad mother to you… I just… I wanted to be an idol when I was your age, and I was very close to achieving that dream but I had to step away from it all because I became pregnant with you. Minhyun… the day you were born was the happiest day in my life. Through you I saw my dreams, and so I pushed you to become the person that I wish I could have been. I’m sorry that pushing led you to hating yourself and becoming sick… I’m sorry… If there’s anything I can ever do to make the pain go away, tell me and I’ll do it. Just don’t say you’ll disown me… You’re all I have left in this world. No amount of money or fame can ever replace you in my life.”

“Anything…?” Minhyun asked, trying to pull himself together. “Then apologize to Aron, invite us in and get to know us better.”

I stared wide eyed at Minhyun before shifting my gaze over towards his mother. She hung her head down low and bowed to me. I took a step back; I hadn’t been expecting this outcome at all. Never in a million years had I expected for her to apologize to me. “I’m sorry… Won’t you please come inside?” She asked me as she slowly stood back up. I glanced at Minhyun who nodded at me.

“I…” My voice trailed off. “I would love to.”

Baekho’s POV

After our visit to the park, Ren stopped to make a phone call to someone important he said he wanted to introduce me to. He hadn’t said much about it, other than his name was ‘Jason’ and that he was the man responsible for helping me produce my comeback. After the phone call ended, Ren turned to me as he pulled the door open to the passenger side seat in my car. He hesitated before climbing inside, almost as if there was something on his mind. I climbed inside first and waited for him to join me. Once he had sat he sighed.

“I’m sorry.” He suddenly said, taking me by surprise.

“You’re sorry? For what?” I asked.

Ren shrugged. “I don’t know. I just figured I’d apologize firsthand before you meet him.” He replied, buckling his seatbelt into place. I gave him a strange look. What was that about? He cut me off before I could ask. “JB and Jason rented out a dance studio for a couple of months just for your personal use. We’ll be heading there now to meet with him… but… can you promise me something?” He asked.

“Uh, sure?” I asked. Why was he acting so strange?

“Jason’s a bit… eccentric. Actually, I wouldn’t even call him that. His methods are rather unusual and he has this way about him… Anyways, can you promise to just keep your cool, no matter how much you might want to hurt him?”

“Oh, come on, Ren. He can’t be that bad.” 

Ren nervously laughed. “Yeah, remember what you said when you’re standing face to face with him.” He replied. “You’re right. Jason… he’s not a bad guy. If you give him a chance, I’m sure you two will find that you have a lot in common. He offered to help you when he had no obligation to. For the past couple of months he’s even been working on the track without having even met you. Although he’s a bit strange, he’s harmless. He’s been through a lot just like you, but he continues to move forward rather than let the past shape his future. I really hope that you two can get along.”

I smiled. “Ren, maybe you haven’t noticed this, but I’ve changed a lot since the accident.”

Ren nodded. “Believe me, I’ve noticed. You’ve become so mature. It’s attractive.” He replied, shooting me a wink. I laughed.

“Choi Ren, are you hitting on me?”

Ren devilishly smirked. “Maybe.”

I patted him on the knee. “Settle down. We have someplace to be.” I replied, placing my hand back on the clutch and shifting gears. Ren pouted.

“Okay… maybe later?” He asked hopefully.

“I had no idea you were this wild. You look so innocent.”

Ren laughed. “Yeah… looks can be deceiving sometimes, Baekho.” He continued to make cute faces at me, making me smile. No wonder why Minseok said he had a hard time telling this little demon in disguise ‘no.’ Who could say no to a face like that?

“Maybe later.” I replied. He smiled back at me as I started driving down the street. As the vehicle started moving Ren rolled the window down and extended his arm outside, feeling the warm breeze caress his skin as he closed his eyes. I smiled as I watched him out of the corner of my eyes, still keeping my main focus on the road. It was times like these that I admired him. Ren found joy out of the simple things in life, didn’t he? I noticed this back when we were at the park, when he took the time to point out each and every individual sound to me. Who in this day and age noticed things like that? It wasn’t everybody who took the time to stop and notice the beauty in sound and nature. Most people were too busy with their everyday lives to notice these things. But not Ren. Sure, he was busy with his internship and soon he would be returning to his teaching job once summer vacation was over, but he still took the time to notice them. I admired this aspect about him. No matter how fast the world was moving around us, Ren still kept his own two feet firmly planted on the ground. Ren said that I was his inspiration, but truth of the matter was that he was an inspiration to me. He was proof that despite how dark and hopeless some things might seem, if we just take the time to stop, look and listen, we can discover a spec of light, a glimmer of hope in that darkness. After all, he did it with me, didn’t he?

I parked the car as we arrived in front of the dance studio. The two of us climbed out and crossed the street before entering the building. When we entered, we were led to the practice room that Ren had said that JB and this ‘Jason’ guy had pulled the strings into renting out for my return. As I pulled open the door we were met by the sight of a thin yet toned tattooed redhead in a white tank top and baggy black shorts dancing around to the musical score of a song that I had never heard of. He stopped the music as he spotted our reflections in the mirror. He spun around and smiled widely at Ren.

“Ren! I see you finally upheld your end of the deal.” He smirked, eyeing me from head to toe.

I glanced at Ren. “What is he talking about?”

Ren sighed. “He punched Minseok in the nose and broke it. I told him that if he finally apologized to him that I would introduce him to you.”

I stared at Ren with wide eyes, pointing at Jason. “You mean that’s what happened to him?” I asked in shock before a smile spread across my face. I remembered every time I had asked Minseok about that awkward bandage on his nose he refused to answer me or quickly changed the subject. Ren nodded.

“Yeah, Jason happened.”

“Let’s have a look.” Jason replied, walking in several slow circles around me until it came to the point that continuing to watch him made me feel dizzy. “Hmm… not bad, not bad.”

“What in the world is he doing?” I asked Ren.

Ren shrugged. “It’s probably a part of his process.”

“Process for what?”

“That’s probably only something he and god knows about.” Ren replied. Jason suddenly stopped in front of me, placing both hands on his hips before leaning forward and staring at me with a serious expression written over his face.

“I shall call you… Shnookums.”

I started to charge at him. Ren held me back. “Remember, it’s part of his process… Just let it go and let him work. Please?” Ren pleaded. I stared at him before finally sighing.

“Fine...”

Jason smiled. “Yay. Oh, where are my manners? I’m Jason from Jeju.” He extended his hand out for me to take. I glanced down at it and stared at it for a brief moment before finally deciding to take it. I glanced back up at him with a raised brow.

“Jeju? That doesn’t sound like a Jeju accent.”

“And how would you know, Mr. Hot Shot?” Jason replied defensively, pulling his hand away.

I leaned forward and stopped barely an inch away from his nose. “Because I’m from Jeju.”

Jason made a circle with his lips as he had just been caught. He sheepishly glanced off to the side. “Did I say Jeju? I meant…”

“Just tell him the truth!” Ren exclaimed, facing me. “This weirdo’s name is actually Fu Long Fei, and you’re right, he’s not from Jeju, he’s from China.”

I stared at Jason. “Fu Long Fei?” I asked.

Jason smiled.

“You’re the Fu Long Fei?” Both Jason and Ren paused as if they hadn’t expected for me to recognize this name, however, I had. I remembered hearing about the unit he was in called ‘JL’ back when I was still a trainee. They were self-written and self-produced and shot to the top very quickly before a scandal broke out and the unit broke up. I see… so this… this was what Ren meant when he said that Jason and I had a lot in common. We both had reached the top at one point and then had everything taken away from us.

Jason raised a brow. “Do you know me?” He pointed at himself.

I smirked. “It appears I’m not the only legend in this room.”

Jason laughed, scratching the back of his head. He glanced over at Ren as he pointed at me. “Now that’s how you an ego. I like this guy.”

“It’ll be an honor to work with you.” I replied. He smiled back at me.

“Same here! But first things first…”

“Hm?”

“Can I touch your face?”

“JASON!” Ren exclaimed, stomping his foot down on the ground. “Remember the G-Dragon incident…” He replied, embarrassed.

“I know! It was great, wasn’t it? G-Dragon noticed me!”

“He threw you out!” Ren exclaimed.

“And Min too. Don’t forget Min.” He smugly smiled.

“Of course I couldn’t forget Min- he’s the one who told me, you crazy lunatic!” The two began to bicker like a couple of teenage girls. I couldn’t help but smile as I found the whole situation amusing. “There will be no face touching! Not now, not ever, understand?” Ren said, losing his patience with him.

“Why not? I was going to let him touch mine.”

“Uh… I’ll have to pass.” I replied.

Jason pouted. “We’ll just have to go without the formalities then.”

“How is touching faces formalities?” Ren face palmed himself. Jason ignored him.

“Just call me hyung, alright? Now follow me.” He waved me over as he stopped in the middle of the practice room.

“Uh… sure.” I replied, stopping right next to him.

“Now tell me, Shnookums, do you know how to twerk?”

“Oh my god I’m leaving…” Ren replied, throwing his hands up in the air and exiting the dance studio. I quickly glanced over my shoulder and watched him leave with pleading eyes. My heart sank. Ren… don’t go without me… don’t leave me here alone with him!

Minhyun’s POV

After spending the entire evening with Aron at my mother’s house, we finally returned back to 2DREAM’s mansion. As we drove back, Aron was quiet the entire time, which wasn’t anything out of the norm. Every now and then I would glance over and steal peeks his way; however, I noticed something unusual. He had a small smile in the corner of his lips that never seemed to fade. As I noticed this I quietly smiled and gripped the steering while in my hands. Aron was happy, wasn’t he? So was I. At first I had been terrified of showing up at her place. I was almost certain that she would have slammed the door in our faces and refuse to accept us, but I had gotten through to her. For the first time in several years I was able to stand up for myself and tell her how it was and she listened to me. She accepted me… she accepted us.

“What’s on your mind, Aron?” I finally asked him. Aron remained staring ahead of him, his gaze fixated on the road.

“Nothing.” He replied.

“It doesn’t look like ‘nothing.’” I .

“I just…” His voice trailed off. “I couldn’t think of a better early birthday gift-”

SLAM!

I hit my foot on the brake pedal, stopping the car in front of a stop light. The car came screeching to a stop. Oh . That’s right, his birthday was coming up! How could I have forgotten? What kind of boyfriend was I? First I forget our 100 Day Anniversary and next I forget his birthday! I’m terrible, really, I’m so terrible… A bewildered Aron slowly turned to face me in the seat.

“What the hell was that all about, Min?!” He screamed at me.

“Don’t yell at me!” I cried.

“You made me grab the ‘OH ’ bar!”

I narrowed my eyes. “The what?” I asked. Aron pointed up at the small handle bar that car manufacturers placed near the top of the windows on the ceiling of the car for passengers to gain leverage while climbing in and out. I glanced up at it and then down at Aron and stared at him in silence.

“That’s what we call it in America. It’s what you grab when you’re in the car with a lunatic driver.”

“But why is it called-”

“Because it’s what you literally shout when that lunatic driver does something wreckless!”

I brought my hands over my mouth and started to laugh hysterically. “Oh my god, Aron. You’re insane.” I replied then took off driving once the light turned green again. Aron smirked then turned and looked outside of his window. A few minutes later we arrived in front of the mansion to find Ren standing in front of the door. He must have just arrived, seeing as how he had just taken his keys out from his pocket. The two of us climbed out and joined him at the front door.

“Hey, Ren, can I speak with you for a sec?” I asked. Ren gave me a questioning look and nodded as he unlocked the door. He pushed it open and stepped to the side, allowing Aron to enter alone before pulling it closed behind him.

“Yeah, what’s up?”

“How’s… everything? You know, with Baekho?”

Ren gave me a surprised look before smiling at me. “Everything’s great. I don’t know how much JB has told you, but he received surgery for a hearing aid and we just switched it on earlier today.”

I stared at him with wide eyes. “Oh my god… really? You mean Baekho can-”

“Hear?” He smiled. “Yeah.”

Tears suddenly formed in the corners of my eyes as I was overwhelmed by a sea of happiness. I started waving my hands in front of my face to cool myself off. “It’s a relief… It’s such a relief…”

“Are you that happy for him?” Ren asked.

“Of course! Ren, Aron and I, we both miss Baekho like crazy!”

Ren laughed then smiled. “Believe me, he misses you too.”

I paused. “W-what?”

“He wants to make amends with you.”

“Really?” I asked, shocked. After all those horrible things he had said to me… I never once forgot all that he had said because receiving them from him was like the shock of the century for me. It hurt so much emotionally that I felt physical pain as well. But I took it all in stride. I knew that Baekho was going through a lot and had no one else to take his pain, anger and frustration out on so I willingly became his punching bag. To hear that Baekho actually want to apologize to me… that accident really did change him, didn’t it?

“Baekho will come to you in his own terms when he’s ready. He’s like a frightened puppy right now; he’s afraid you won’t accept his apology.”

I was stunned. “O-Of course I’ll accept his apology!”

Ren smiled. “You and I both know you will, but he doesn’t. So just sit tight and wait. Baekho will come around eventually.”

I nodded. “I’ll wait.”

“Was that all you wanted to ask me about?” Ren asked. I suddenly paused. My eyes lit up with remembrance as I was finally reminded of why I had stopped him earlier.

“Ah! That’s right! Aron’s birthday is coming up!”

Ren’s eyes went wide. “Really?” He pulled out his phone and checked his calendar. He gasped. “Oh my god, you’re right. It’s in three days… wait a minute…” His voice trailed off.

“Huh? What is it?”

“It says here that it’s also Jason’s birthday as well.”

I gave him a strange look. “You mean to tell me the two of them share the same birthday?” I asked. I couldn’t believe the coincidence. Ren nodded.

“It appears so.”

I groaned. “Now I have two forgotten birthdays I have to plan for!!!” I crouched down and frantically ran my fingers through my hair.

“Two?” Ren asked, holding two fingers up.

I nodded. “Well, yeah! I can’t just celebrate my boyfriend’s birthday and forget all about my best friend’s-”

Ren giggled. “You like Jason. How cute.” He teased. “The little guy finally grew on you, huh?”

“Little? He’s older than both of us.”

“But he’s got the attitude of an eight year old and he needs to constantly be watched, so in my eyes he’s little.” Ren shot back.

“What should I do? I wonder why Jason didn’t mention it before…” My voice trailed off. Normally people were excited about their birthdays, weren’t they?

“Maybe he didn’t want anyone to know…” Ren replied sullenly.

“But why wouldn’t he?” I asked.

Ren shrugged, sitting down next to me on the front door step. “Who knows? It’s Jason. That guy works in mysterious ways. For as long as we’ve all known him, it’s never been easy getting him to talk about himself. When I introduced him to Baekho earlier today he still tried to cover up who he really was. Maybe Jason… just doesn’t want to stick out anymore. Maybe he just doesn’t want any attention and wants to blend in.”

“But it’s his birthday… It’s the one day out of the entire year where you’re allowed to be selfish. You’re telling me Jason just wants to skip it?”

“Maybe he still feels alone here in Korea.” Ren pursed his lips together.

“Ridiculous.” I replied, refusing to believe it. “He has me, doesn’t he? Am I not enough?” I hated to admit it, but I was a bit hurt. Did Jason really not see me as his best friend after all, despite all the chasing he did after me, despite everything we had ever been through? I angrily rose to my feet and entered the house. As I stepped inside I spotted Aron’s dumb dog rolling around the floor with Jason’s toy again. I marched over to him and yanked the stuffed unicorn out from underneath him. “This is Jason’s, not yours!”

Aron, who had been sitting on the couch scrolling through his phone suddenly glanced up at me. “What in the world is your problem now?”

I angrily turned to Aron. “You know this belongs to Jason and you know how much it means to him, and yet you still continue to let that mangy mutt of yours chew on it?” I snapped at him. Aron gave me a startled expression.

“Min, it’s just a toy…”

“It’s not ‘just a toy’ to him! It’s special!” I replied, waving the stuffed animal around in the air as I pointed over at Mel who had rolled onto his feet and jumped on the couch beside Aron, seeking protection against me.

Aron scoffed. “Special? There’s probably a million of those out there. What makes that one so special?”

“Because you gave it to him!” I exclaimed. “Because you gave it to him, Aron… Think about it; we’re the only people in Korea that guy even knows. Don’t you think he ever gets lonely? We’re all he has… No wonder he feels so alone that he can’t even share his own birthday with us!”

Aron stared at me with wide eyes. “Birthday?”

I folded my arms across my chest. “It’s the same day as yours.”

“What? I had no idea… It’s in three-”

“Three days? Yeah, I know. So what are we going to do about it?” I asked. At that moment we were joined by Ren who had finally stepped inside. As he shut the door he paused.

“You guys never threw Jason a ‘welcoming ceremony’ into the house, did you?” He asked, slipping out of his shoes before joining us in the living room. We both looked at him with curious looks on our faces. Ren sat down beside Mel and began to scratch behind his large ears. Mel curled up in a ball on his lap.

“Welcoming ceremony?” I asked.

Ren pouted. “The way DREAM ever so-graciously welcomed me into this household… How come Jason never got any of that? I’m a saint compared to Jason.”

Aron and I both exchanged devilish looks before I spoke up. “He’s right… Our past stylists, JB, even Ren all received the ‘welcoming ceremony.’”

“It’s not going to be easy.” Aron replied.

“Why not?” Ren asked.

“Just think about it; how do we troll a troll?” Aron pursed his lips together and glanced up at the ceiling as if it somehow held the answer up there.

“Good god, you’re right. He’s like the king of trolls.” Ren slapped his hand across his face. The room went quiet as we all began to ponder the possibilities of how to surprise Jason and catch him off guard. “What does Jason hate the most?”

Aron suddenly sat up as an idea struck him. “Got it!” He snapped his fingers. “We’ll use Mel!” Mel looked up from Ren’s lap.

“I know it’s no secret that he hates Mel, but how in the world do you plan to use-”

“Mel, play dead!” Aron pointed down at him with his index finger. Mel immediately rolled into his back and went stiff as a board, all four of his limbs sticking up straight in the air. Ren and I both leaned forward and stared at the frozen creature. He was so perfectly still it looked like one of those taxidermy animals that hunters collected as trophies and hung around and displayed in their living rooms. I poked Mel in his side. He didn’t move. “He can stay like that for hours…” Aron grinned devilishly. I smirked.

“Hours, you say?”

Jason’s POV

[Three days later]

After returning back to the house from spending the entire first half of the day down at the studio in Pledis, the first thing I immediately did was kick off my shoes. Ah, thank god it was finally time for some relaxation. As I entered into the kitchen I walked past Aron, who had been standing at the refrigerator and drinking from a water bottle. He stepped to the side as I tried to get inside the fridge to get my own bottle. As I unscrewed the lid and took a sip he stopped me.

“Ah, that’s right, JB called and asked for me to go pick something up down at Pledis real quick. Would you mind keeping an eye out for Mel?”

I frowned. “Can’t somebody else do it?”’

Aron shook his head. “Afraid not. Minhyun’s at a hair appointment and Ren’s out on a job that Pledis sent him out on. That only leaves you. Please? I’ve been noticing Mel’s been a little under the weather lately. It’d mean a lot to me if you could watch after him. It’ll only be for an hour or so. Until I get back.”

I sighed. “I guess…” I muttered, not at all liking the idea of spending my relaxation time watching over the spawn of Satan. “Where is he?”

“He fell asleep watching TV.”

I blinked. “That dog is spoiled, you know that, right?”

Aron grinned. “What can I say? He’s my little prince.”

“He’s food.”

“He’s not food.”

“He is.”

“Fine. Whatever. Don’t eat him. I’ll be back.” Aron replied then stepped past me and into the living room, kicking on his shoes before leaving the house. Once he was gone I put my water bottle back inside of the fridge and closed the door, walking past the living room where the supposed creature was napping and traveling down into my room. I gathered my things and hopped in the shower and washed. As I walked out of the bathroom I scrubbed my towel through my wet hair, drying it. I paused in my plain white t-shirt and black basketball shorts as I reached the middle of the hallway, listening out for the sound of little paws pattering around on the wooden floor. I didn’t hear anything. Well that was strange. The overgrown rat was still sleeping? I must had been inside the shower for over an hour. Curiosity getting the better of me, I traveled back into the living room.

“Yo, Mel, you alive?” I called out as I approached the couch. I froze when I realized something wasn’t… right. I ran over to the side of the couch as I spotted Mel lying directly on his back with his four tiny little legs sticking out straight in the air. I poked him. Dogs didn’t usually sleep this way, did they? Oh, … “M-Mel???” I asked, shaking him. He remained motionless. I shrieked. Oh my god. Was it dead? Did Mel die?

“Mel, Mel- don’t do this to me. On the count of three, you’re going to wake up and everything’s going to be just fine, alright? Ready? One… two… three! Ah, ! I killed Aron’s dog!” I placed both hands on top of my head and began to pace around in circles. What do I do? What do I do? I knelt down and picked the tiny dog up in my hands. It remained frozen and motionless. Oh my god, rigor mortis already set in! The dog was dead! I began to run around the entire area of the living room with the statue-like Mel laying on his back on the palm of my hands. I paused. Wait a minute… food? Wait, what? Not food! That just adds insult to injury! Hey, Aron, yeah, I just killed your dog. Don’t worry though, ‘cuz I ate him! Ah! Aron’s going to kill me…

I suddenly tripped over the edge of the rug inside of the living room. I crashed to the ground. As I did so, Mel proceeded to tumble out from my hands and rolled across the floor. When he stopped he was still frozen solid. It was almost as if I had dropped a statue. The damn dog didn’t even budge. I screamed. “MEL! Oh my god, what happened to you? You precious gift from above! I promise if you just wake up I’ll never threaten to eat you again! I… I’ll even give you Enrique! I know how much you love him!” I leapt up to my feet and scooped the dog up from the floor and placing him underneath my arm. I needed to do something and I needed to do it quickly before Aron returned home and murdered me for neglecting his dog. I ran towards the front door and kicked on my shoes. Towel still draped over my head, I reached for the handle and pulled the door open, about to make a run for it outside when suddenly-

“SURPRISE!!!!”

I blinked. What?

“HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JASON!” Minhyun, Aron, Ren and JB all exclaimed from outside the door. The four of them had been gathered around a large circular cake that Aron had been carrying in his hands. I froze. What in the world… birthday? Me?

“G-guys…?” I asked, nearly seconds away from tears.

Aron pointed at Mel underneath my arm. “Mel, awaken!” He instructed. The once lifeless dog suddenly came back to life and barked.

“Arf!” His tail wagged happily as he wriggled in my hands. I glanced down at him in shock.

“H-He’s alive…”

“Of course he’s alive, silly.” Aron replied.

“Y-You mean this was all just a cruel, cruel trick?” I asked. JB walked around and patted me on the back.

“It’s not a true birthday inside this household unless someone cries.” He replied. I stared down at the cake which had the words ‘Happy Birthday Jason’ written on it in red frosting. I knelt down and placed Mel on the ground. The little black and brown dog went running to his master. As I stood back up I wiped the tears from the corners of my eyes with my arm and removed the damp towel from my head.

“You guys got me.” I replied, smiling.

“We sure did.” Minhyun smirked. “Mel, you precious gift from above!” He teased me.

“Shut up~!” I pouted, sniffling.

“That makes you one of us now.” Aron replied, catching me off guard.

“Huh?”

“Think of it as a long overdue initiation ceremony into the household. They do it to everyone new inside the house. Want to know mine? They duck taped me to my bed.” Ren replied. I smiled at him.

“Really? I’m in?”

“Of course you’re in, dummy!” Minhyun exclaimed.

“Aron… I’m touched. You almost killed your dog for me-”

“Um…” Aron replied.

“Just so that I could be a part of your little family! Really guys, this is amazing. I’ve never felt like I belonged somewhere as much as I do here. This is the best birthday ever.”

“Does anyone else think this is a little weird?” Ren asked. Everyone ignored him.

“You do? But then… why didn’t you tell us that it was your birthday today? We were surprised to find out from Ren’s calendar rather than the person himself. It left the three of us wondering if maybe the reason why you never said anything was because you were feeling… I don’t know, lonely?” Minhyun asked. I sheepishly rubbed the back of my head, feeling rather guilty.

“To be honest, I’ve been so busy running around and taking care of things that I totally forgot it was! It completely escaped from me, haha!” I watched as all four of their faces went blank. Aron glanced over at Ren and Minhyun and the three of them nodded. He took a step forward with the cake and Minhyun and Ren each secured a hold on each of my arms, holding me in place as Aron shoved the cake in my face, giving me a firsthand taste of its chocolaty goodness. As I lifted my face from the cake Minhyun suddenly took it out from underneath Aron’s hands before shoving the short brunette’s face into it as well.

“Happy birthday to my two favorite trolls.” Minhyun replied. As Aron dug his way out of the cake he laughed along with me. I smiled at all four of them as they all laughed. It was moments like these that were impressionable to me. Sure, their prank was rather cruel and uncalled for, but now that I had realized that Mel was indeed alright, I felt relieved and happy. They wouldn’t have done this if they didn’t think of me as someone special, would they? After all, I saw the way they looked at and treated Ren. Everyone in the house adored him. And why not? He was a good person on the inside and out. If they did something this cruel to him and accepted him the way they did now, I felt… loved. I felt like I had finally found a home inside of Korea. Packing up and leaving China was by far the hardest thing I ever had to do in my life, but by far it was the greatest decision I had ever made. It was funny how life worked out this way… I had left because I was miserable, but inside Korea I found something even greater and worth sticking around for. Becoming 2DREAM’s choreographer and joining their household was probably the best thing to ever happen to me and I… I was grateful for everything.