[A/N: We're getting past events again!]

A car pulls up right beside yours. You instantly recognize the driver. Leeteuk, Sungmin, and Eunhyuk, hop out of the car. You open up your door and hop outside. 

"감사 [Kamsa], 형 [hyung]," you say, bowing to them.

"안녕 [Annyeong], Jaehwa," says Eunhyuk. 

"How's Kyuhyun?" asks Sungmin.

"Euuuuuuuuuuunhyuk!" calls Kyuhyun from the car. "Suuuuuuuuuuuungmin!"

You shake your head. "Does that answer you question?" 

Leeteuk pops his head through the open window. "How much did you drink?"

Kyuhyun grins. "Not muuuuuuuuch...." 

You roll your eyes. "Three bottles." 

Kyuhyun calls from inside, "형 [Hyung], did you know that Jaehwa isn't an 오빠 [oppa]?"

You facepalm yourself. "It's like he's getting worse every minute," you mutter.

Sungmin bursts out laughing at Kyuhyun's oh-so-brilliant observation. "Yah! What is going on with you Kyuhyun?"

"Shut up!" cries Kyuhyun, suddenly sounding much louder than before.

You roll your eyes again. "Let's go."

Leeteuk nods. "Sungmin you can drive them home. Eunhyuk, you should probably get in the back and watch Kyuhyun."

Kyuhyun shouts in protest, "아니 [ANI]!!! I don't want to hear Suuuuuuuuungmin's voice! He can take yoooooooooour car! And Jaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaeeehwa can ride next to meeeeeee."

Sungmin exchanges a glance with Leeteuk. "I don't really want to hear Kyuhyun shout like that the entire time."

Leeteuk lets out a sigh. "Fine!" He hands over his keys to Sungmin. "I'll drive him home." He looks at his keys longingly for a moment, seeming to dread the prospect of having to hear Kyuhyun's drunken slurrs over the time it takes to get back to the dorms. He turns to you. "If you want to, you can ride with Sungmin, so you don't have to put up Kyuhyun any more."

"Whaaaaaat?! Jaehwa neeeeeeeeeeeds to staaaaaaaaaaay!" Kyuhyun cries through the open window.

You shake your head. "I'm not going to make you two suffer alone." 

Eunhyuk chirps up. "Don't worry. I'll hop in back though." He climbs into the back seat, sitting next to Kyuhyun. 

After a moment of quiet, Kyuhyun's voice is heard loud and clear. "You're not Jaehwa!"

"Yah! Stop touching me, Kyu!"

You hop in the passenger side as Leeteuk takes the driver seat. You wave out the window as Sungmin pulls away in Leeteuk's car. You turn your attention to the backseat to find Kyuhyun's head snuggled into Eunhyuk's neck. You give him a look of sympathy. "감사 [Kamsa], 형 [hyung]."

He gives you a gummy smile. "No problem, Jaehwa. It's better that I'm back here."

Suddenly, Kyuhyun takes a fist and whacks Eunhyuk in the chest. 

"Ow!" Eunhyuk gives a cry. "What is wrong with you?!" 

"I wanted to sit next to sit next to Jaaaaehwaaaa!" he whines in response, not realizing he repeated several words. 

"Is he always like this when he's drunk?" you ask.

Leeteuk responds, "Depends."

"Sometimes, he's really happy. Other times, he's pure evil," replies Eunhyuk.

"Ah," you respond, thankful that Eunhyuk is in the back instead of you.

After a few minutes, it gets relatively quiet. Kyuhyun has resorted to just some random babbling, and it is now safe to talk more. Eunhyuk seizes the opportunity. "So, how did the performance go tonight?"

"Pretty good," you respond. "It was a lot of fun actually." You pause for a moment, preparing to say what's been on your mind for awhile. You take a deep breath, staring out the window at the brilliantly lit street that continues to fly past as the car continues its journey. "There's actually something I've been meaning to talk to you guys about."

"What's that?" asks Leeteuk, slowing down at a traffic light.

"I need some advice, but I'm not sure how to go about it." You let out a breath, fogging up a little spot on the window for a brief moment. "I want to start focusing on my career again."

Eunhyuk frees himself from Kyuhyun's grasp for a second, leaning forward with a gummy smile. "That's great Jaehwa! When are you going to start?"

You look back at him with a small smile. "Well, that's the thing. I'm not sure. I'm too old to start training again and frankly, I'm not sure if anyone will accept me because I'm too old."

Leeteuk scoffs. "Too old? What are you talking about? Do you remember how much older I am compared to you?"

"네 [Ne]," you reply. "You're five years older than me."

"And do you remember when we met?"

"네 [Ne]," you respond.

"Well, don't you remember what you said to me?" He glances briefly from the road for a moment to glance at you.

"Well..." you start to respond, but are cut off by another one of Kyuhyun's outbursts.

"Yaaaaah! You're the same age as meeee," he grins cheekily.

Eunhyuk shakes his head. "Jaehwa-ah, I think you would do great out there. I don't think it matters how old you are or not. I think you really do have what it takes."

You let out a breath. "감사 [Kamsa]. Problem is, I really don't know how I'm going to do it. My father pretty much told me that my career is over and that I should give up any ideas of chasing after that dream again. I'm really not sure how to even begin. I figured I might just start training however I can at the dorms when you guys are all away, and then maybe go from there."

"It's a good place to start," says Leeteuk.

"Yeah!" adds Eunhyuk. "Then when you think you're ready, we can figure out a way to get you in the business."

"아니 [Ani]," you reply. "I want to do this on my own."

"Well, we can at least help you train," responds Eunhyuk with another grin. "The roof is a good place to practice..." He trails off for a moment, his eyes revealing that some wheels are turning in the back of his mind, coming up with an idea. "Yah! How about after I'm done with schedules tomorrow, we can go practice? I'll start teaching you some of the latest dance moves."

You think for a moment, staring out of the window. You see a giant billboard advertising for SM, bringing an image of your father to mind. You have to prove him wrong.

"Sounds good."

****

2003.12.26 (December 26, 2003)

You walk into the practice room, knowing it to be empty, since no groups are expected to rehearse in here. You're technically not supposed to be here, since you are not a trainee, but since your father is a manager, no one is going to say anything about it if you are discovered. You pull your CD from your bag and head over to the little boombox in the corner, failing to notice the  figure huddled in the opposite corner.

"Using the practice room without your father's permission again?" you hear from somewhere behind you. You whirl around, your eyes widening to the size of saucers. 

As soon as you recognize the owner of the voice, your eyes shrink back down to their normal size and a grin forms across your face. "Yah! I know you're not going to tell. Besides, you're technically not supposed to be here either."

The boy gives you a sad smile, different from the one that you are accustomed receiving from him. 

"Yah! What's wrong with you, 형 [hyung]?" you ask, raising an eyebrow.

He tries to force a smile, but his eyes show that there is really no point in attempting such a feat. He lets out a sigh. "You know what today is, right?"

You look at him for a moment, pondering. It hits you. Duh! How stupid can you be! Today is the day Junsu is debuting with TVXQ! [DBSK]. You've only been trying to help Sungmin overcome his disappointment over the whole matter and get him encouraged for trying again...

You let out a sad smile. "미안해 [Mianhae], Hyukjae." You cross over to the other side of the room to the corner where he is sitting. You take a seat on the floor, crossing your legs like a pretzel. "You'll get your chance again," you say, looking at him with an encouraging smile. 

His chest moves down, exhaling a deep sigh. "I hope so," he pauses briefly, looking up at the ceiling. "Now I know how Donghae felt when they dropped 'Smile'."

You know that he will continue to speak in just a moment, so you just nod in acknowledgement for him to continue.

He continues. "It's just kind of hard, seeing Junsu debut when we rehearsed so much and even did the photoshoots and recorded some songs... and then nothing. All that hard work. All those late nights practicing. I feel like it just went all down the drain."

You nod, getting that feeling of déjà vu. Sungmin made several comments to you that echo Hyukjae's current words. 

Hyukjae sighs, still staring up at the ceiling. It's obvious that there's still a lot going through his mind at the moment, but he either doesn't want or know how to express his thoughts. 

You lean back against the wall yourself, stretching your legs out in front of you. "I know that what I say is going to sound kind of stupid, coming from someone who can't even convince her father that she's ready to start training, but I'm just going to go ahead and say it anyway." You turn your head to glance at him. "You ok, with that, 형 [hyung]?"

He nods. 

You turn your attention to the ceiling above you for lack of anywhere else to look. "The way I see it, is that yes, you did spend a lot of time and energy on all that, but won't all that experience just make you stronger for when you do get into a group that debuts? You will already be familiar with the whole routine of things, and you will be more prepared for when you have to spend long nights rehearsing." You shrug. "I don't know. It's just a thought." You let out a soft sigh. You glance at him for a moment. "What I do know for sure is that whenever you do debut, you're going to be a real hit with your dance moves and rapping skills." You grin at him. "But of course, you won't be able to get the title of 'dancing machine'. You already know THAT belongs to me." You elbow him in the side, trying to spark some life in him. 

He releases his attention from the ceiling and turns it to you with a gummy grin. "Is the humble Jaehwa asking for a dance battle?'

"Maybe..." You say, tilting your head away from him.

"Arasso."

****

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