Keep your eyes opened for this chapter! This chapter might be the ugly duckling of the story at first sight, but it could easily turn into a beautiful swan as this story evolves.

In Seoul, South Korea...

Kicking a pebble in my way, I puffed my cheeks out in annoyance as I pulled at my sweater. Grumbling and making my way down the nearly empty streets, I stared at my shoes nervous at the thought of returning home. With a fifty on my latest history test, I wasn't exactly too ecstatic of returning home as I knew the reaction coming from my mother wouldn't be pretty.

My eyes glued to the floor and my black Nikes as I walked, I found myself stopping as a person stopped me. A little girl was kneeled on the floor, poking at the a puddle of dirty water along with tiny bits of dirt from a nearby flower store. Her eyes met mine as she repeated her sentence.

"Mister, I hurt myself." Sticking her hand out towards me, I noticed the tiny cut on her tiny hand as she frowned and continued. "It hurts."

My eyes darting from her face to her hand, I cleared my throat as I collected my thoughts. "Where's your mom and dad? Your parents?" Staring at me with her big brown eyes, her eyebrows furrowed together as if she was angry.

"I don't like them. They didn't watch over Mr. Beary. Mr. Beary left home." Crouching by the puddle again and poking her hand without a cut into it, she continued to play with it, not minding how dirty it was. After watching her for another moment, I pulled my water bottle out of my backpack and told her to stand up. Kneeling to her height, I remembered how I had ran away from home when I was younger. Of course I regret it now as it was rather immature of me to do so, but I also remembered how I was unable to handle all the emotions I had at that time.

"Listen, Mr. Beary left home for a reason. I'm sure Mr. Beary will be back." I said, trying to sound convincing. After all, I could only assume that Mr. Beary was her stuffed teddy bear by his name. But then, I could always be wrong. Nevertheless, I was never good at this kind of stuff anyways. Instructing her to wash her hands using the water from my water bottle, she complied as she commented on how dirty the puddle was.

"If the water was so dirty, why were you playing with it?" The girl stared back at me as her eyebrows were furrowed together as if she was trying to remember. "You don't have to tell me. But what you have to tell me is your parent's phone number. Do you know it?"

"Mommy said that I should call 119 if I'm lost." The girl mumbled as her fingers were on the edge of her shirt, playing with the pink fabric. Nodding and pretending to comprehend what she was saying, I resorted to asking another question.

"Do you remember where your parents were before you left them?" Pointing her finger to the left or her, she nodded.

"I saw a dog there. It was big. Like... this big." Spreading her arms out wider, her eyes followed along as she empathized how big the dog was. Nearly face palming myself for getting into this sticky situation, I smiled and concealed my disappointment. Remembering the police station I had passed by not too long ago, I held my hand out.

"Let's go find your parents." Nodding the girl took my hand and commented how hungry she was and how her parents had promised her a steamed bun, causing us to take a detour into the bakery and buy her one. I admit it probably wasn't the best choice, considering the fact her parents might been worrying to death, but I wasn't about to let the girl starve.

Arrival At The Police Station...

"Her name is Kim Eun Jae." I said as the Eun Jae kept yanking my hand, pointing out her observations of the police station. The man in his uniform, sent me a quick look as he confirmed that it was the girl who the couple who'd stopped by earlier was looking for. Punching in some numbers, he told us to wait aside as he spoke to the parents via phone and Eun Jae handed me the empty bag as to tell me she was finished with her bun. Her parents arrived shortly after. 

"Kim Eun Jae!" A rather short woman pulled Eun Jae into a hug as the person I had assumed to be the father, stood watching. Scolding Eun Jae for running off so carelessly and frightening them, the father turned to me and gave me a slight bow as a sign of thanks.

"Thank you so much! I was worried to death, but it eases my heart to know Eun Jae was in the hands of such a nice person! Thank you!" The woman turned me and gave me a bow just like her husband had given me and I smiled back in response. 

Gosh, this is really giving me a headache. I want to be at home, playing games and focusing on how NOT to get scolded by my own mother. I'm over twenty years of age and I'm still worried about getting scolded by my mother? What kind of life is this?

"It's fine." I responded as the woman took Eun Jae's hand.

"Well, we'll be on our way now. Have a good night!" As they were about to leave the police station, Eun Jae wriggled her hand out of her mother’s grasp and ran towards me as she stuffed her hands in the pockets of blue pants. Pulling something out, she held out to me as I stood there, staring at the unexpected gesture.

"Take it, mister. It's pretty." From what I could see, it was a lump of dirt. Or rather an object covered in dirt. "I found it and dropped it in the water by accide-" I stood there as she fumbled with the word "accident" and she smiled at me. "Thank you for taking care of me, mister."

I wanted to decline her offer, but under the watchful eyes of her parents who looked at me as if I was an angel, I wasn't about to break that image. Smiling and taking the rather dirty gift from her I ruffled her hair with my clean hand.

"Just make sure you listen to your parents from now and don't get angry at them, okay?" Nodding, she hugged my legs (seeing that she wasn't tall enough to give me a proper hug and I've grown taller ever since I had left the entertainment industry) and didn't let go until I hugged her back.

"I will!" Skipping back to her mom and dad, she waved good bye as they did the same. Watching them leave, I stared at the lump of dirt Eun Jae had given me, wanting to scrunch my nose up. However, I knew that the man in the uniform from before was still watching me and I stuffed the "gift" into my backpack instead.

Though my heartfelt lighter than before, I was still anxious of returning home and facing my happy mother who would surely turn into a disappointed one. Dragging my feet out of the elevator and hitting the pass code to get into the apartment, I was welcomed by the smell of fanciful dishes my mother had rarely prepared. Of course my heart was immediately heavy from the smell as I forced myself to pretend to be light-hearted.

"Dong Ho!" My mother's sharp voice snapped me out of my phase and I stood there, rigid. 

Does she know?

"What are you doing home so late? A friend of yours came to visit and you weren't even home to keep him company!" She scolded, hitting my head lightly. "He's in the living room so hurry up and greet him." Throwing my backpack aside, I eagerly headed into the living room, curious to see who came to visit out of the blue.

"Hey, Dong Ho~." Seeing Xander's face pop up before me scared me out of my wits as I mumbled back in response. It was odd how I haven't kept in contact with him for a while and how he had suddenly popped into my home without a notice. 

"What brings you here?" I asked, trying to keep it casual. Perhaps Xander was still the idiot of a hyung I knew back then. He certainly seemed like it.

"Well, I heard you were going to America with the rest of them soon." Xander commented as he plopped onto the leather sofa. "It was rude not to invite me! I heard you guys even told Kibum! Well isn't it just obvious to who you guys favor more." Xander snorted as he pretended to be hurt.

"We figured that you'd be in Hong Kong or something. Busy with your own career as an actor." I answered, sending him a look as he poked fun at it.

"You're still that cold maknae, aren't you?"

"And you're still that idiot of a hyung, aren't you?"

"That's not fair! You copied my sentence!" Xander pointed out, throwing a cushion at me as I caught it in time.

"Hey, watch it! This cushion is worth more than you, you know!" I protested as I threw the cushion aside. Laughing, Xander moved away from me on the sofa.

"And I'm worth more than you." Sticking his tongue out, my mother pops her head into the room, wiping her wet hands dry on her apron.

"Alexander, it's been a while. I'm so sorry that I was able to welcome you properly. It was just that I was in the middle of preparing dinner." Pulling Xander into a hug, she patted his back, treating him like her own son. Of course, she had tried giving me hugs as warm as those, but I wasn't exactly too enthusiastic with skin ship with anyone. Xander on the other hand, seemed to really enjoy the hug.

"It's okay. I understand. I shouldn't have just come unexpected anyways." He laughed as my mother's face brightened at his kind words. To be honest, my mother was quite fond of Xander and Kibum as they had taken care of me when I had joined the idol group with them at a young age. Not to mention, my mother had liked the easy going personality Xander had, as opposed to mine.

"Well, dinner is ready. So, let's eat first." 

Dinner went by quicker than I had expected as I focused on eating, not really minding what my mother had to say. It was mainly a conversation between Xander and my mother, while my dad and I ate in complete silence, focusing on nothing else besides the food. As dinner had come to an end and Xander and my mother were fighting over the dishes, the door bell rang and Xander urged her to open the door instead of dealing with the dishes.

"Dong Ho, go open the door!" My mother ordered as she continued to insist that she would never let a guest wash the dishes. Xander was in for a good fight. When it came to arguing, my mother had never failed to win as she shared a similar trait as I have. Being stubborn.

Opening the door, I was genuinely surprised when the rest of my hyungs stumbled in. Along with Sunggyu, a few other hyungs tumbled in, sheepishly as one last calm figure walked through my door. Surprised. I was surprised.

"Dong Ho, your mother told me to check up on you instead!" Xander's voice shifted my thoughts from them to him as he popped out of the kitchen. Surprised to see Sunggyu here as well, he didn't hesitate to question them. "What are you guys doing here?"

"I assume the same reason why you're here." Sunggyu answers as he breaks out into a smile. "Well, Jun wanted to pay you a visit as you are his hyung now." Sunggyu directs his attention onto me as he pulls Jun over and comfortably drapes his arm around Jun's shoulder. Did I forget to mention how tall he was?

"Pay me a visit? You guys didn't have to. After all, we'd see each other at the airport in a bit over a week." I answered, trying to seem cool and fine with all these happenings. I wasn't. Especially when Jun had come into my place uninvited. I can't exactly pinpoint why I felt so hostile around him, but I knew I had to have a good reason for it. His aura... was strange.

"I just wanted to make the atmosphere during the trip a lot better!" Jun chipped in as he sent me a smile. Though his smile seemed fake to me, I ignored it and tried my best to keep my composure. It was hard to do so. Especially in front of someone you didn’t necessarily like. "I figured that I should try to get closer to you, hyung so we can act as friends over the trip."

Act? Sounds good. If there's anything that I had gained from being in the group, it would've been the acting career I had when I was an idol. I can act, but I'm not sure about you. Looking a bit fake there buddy.

"I'm not that easy to get along with." I shrugged. "It might be hard for you to stick with me."

"Our Dong Ho here, is a blood type B. He's pretty harsh here and there." Sunggyu warned, placing his hand on my shoulder as Jun broke out into a smile.

"I'm a blood type AB. I think we can get along just fine." Laying his hand on my shoulder, I felt my body tense up and I could suddenly sense the tension and dark atmosphere between the both of us. Maybe they were unable to notice tension because if they did, they didn't do anything to lighten the atmosphere. "You know, it's often the blood types B and ABs that get... misunderstood. Don't you think?"

"Huh...? Yeah." I muttered in response as I moved out of his reach.

"Dong Ho, bring this fruit platter- oh. I'm sorry, I didn't welcome all of you in." Looking apologetic, my mother quickly ushered them into the living room where they settled in. "Dong Ho, bring them some drinks."

"What do you guys want?" 

"Water!"

"Soda!"

"Milk tea with condensed milk and lots of sugar." My eyes met Jun's and the tiny bit of warmth in his eyes had faded away completely. The smile I had tried hard to plaster on my face faltered and I nodded in response. It was odd how hostile I felt towards him. Completely odd.

As I stood in the kitchen pulling a few cups from the cabinets and getting their drinks, I hesitated as I stared at the half-made milk tea. The emphasis on "lot" was odd. It fit perfectly in the sentence, but the way he had emphasized it, wasn't in a very friendly or silly way. In a sense, it sounds like something one would say when they were mocking another person.

And for some reason, it made me feel guilty hearing it.

Ten Minutes Later....

"Come get your drinks, you lazy bums!" I called as I struggled to carry four cups at once. Of course my mom had scolded me for carrying it in such a fashion, but I wasn't a waiter. I wasn't about to serve my hyungs like one. Xander, being the helpful one, helped me carry the rest of the drinks over and I was left with the cup of milk tea.

"Where's Jun?" My muscles tensed up once again as I realized that Jun was nowhere in the living room. Not bothering to look up from their drinks, Sunggyu answered.

"He said he had to use the bathroom." He answered as he pushed Xander away from him as Xander was gleefully poking at him. Placing his drink on the table, I excused myself and headed to the bathroom to his said destination. I couldn't trust him. 

And I was right not to.

He wasn't in the bathroom. Breaking out into cold sweat, I moved towards my bedroom to see my door opened a bit.

Oh no.

Pushing the door open with a harsh push, Jun calmly looked up from the object he held in his hands and glanced at me. Smiling, he held the object up and commented on it.

"This is cool. Where'd you get this?" The object he held in his hands was small gold pocket watch. Flinching at the sight of him holding the pocket watch, I found myself feeling uneasy as I debated on whether or not I should grab the pocket watch from him. While it seemed like a good idea to take back what was rightfully mine, I felt as if the object would be better off in his hands rather than my hand. It sounds crazy that I'd give the person I didn't like too much something of mine, but for some reason it made more sense to give it away rather than keep it at that very moment.

"If you like it that much, you keep it." I shrugged as I averted my gaze to all my other belongings. He didn't seem interested in my other belongings as he attentively traced the pocket watch with his index finger, smiling.

"Really? Are you sure? It looks like the pocket watch is expensive though." He turned the pocket watch in his hand as he looked up at me. 

"Yeah, well... if you like it that much... consider it a gift from a sunbae." I answered, trying to look around my room for any possible missing items without him noticing. To be honest, I had no idea that I even had the pocket watch. So, in other words, it was not of any importance to me.

"Well, thanks!" Giving me a small smile, he tucked it into his shirt pocket as he sat on the chair by my desk. "Do you like to read?"

"Not too much." I flinched as he picked a book up from my desk, flipping through the pages with ease as if this place was his. "Don't you want to go out and drink your milk tea? It won't taste good cold."

"No thanks." His voice had a cold edge to it and it was a shame that I couldn't have seen the expression on his face as he had held my book up to his face, covering it as he said it. With a lighter tone he added, "I'm sure my hyungs already tampered with it. Or drank it." It annoyed me so that he had put extra emphasis on the word, "my" as he had been doing so with other words. It was like he was trying to hint at something, but I couldn't get. It frustrated me so.

"Well, let's head out to the living room to hang out with them. My room is a tad bit boring, don't you think?" Now it was my turn to hint at something. Without looking up from my book, he casually answered.

"Not at all. I don't find your room the least bit boring." Before he had replied, I had doubts that he caught onto my hint but after his answer, I could tell he had caught on. Why he didn't want to comply was beyond me. However, it was bugging me and rather unnerving to be with this jerk. Before I could chew him out in a subtle way, the door to my room flew open as Xander came flying onto my bed.

"Tell me what the two maknaes are doing here alone. Jun, we're about to leave as well. Let's go out to the living room and socialize before we leave!" Xander smiled brightly at the both of us, pulling me by the back of my favorite blue shirt (though I like the color pink, this shirt is still my favorite) and pulling Jun by the sleeve of his red hoodie. "How you fitting into Pollux by the way?" Xander smiled at Jun as I rolled my eyes without them catching sight of me doing so.

"I getting along just fine." Jun answers, sending Xander a smile. "Sunggyu hyung treats me well and Gikwang helps me with my vocals." Breaking away from Xander's grasp, I headed to the living room by myself and plopped down on the sofa next to N hyung as he stifled a yawn.

"Dong Ho, sometimes I wish I could be you." N said, getting up to stretch. "No pressure or stress from schedules, but in the end I suppose I do like being an idol in a way. I can do what I like and get money, but the stress and pressure is- just bringing my dream down a bit." Sitting back down on the sofa, he let out a sigh. "I also wouldn't mind having a week or so off. As for now, we've been stuffed into a busy schedule with all sorts of promotions. Lucky you."

"Well, you guys have a few days off in America. Counts as a break I guess." Jun and Xander make their way into the living room.

"Well, I guess we'll see you then! As for now, we have to head back to the studio to practice our old dances a couple more times." Sunggyu says as he forces himself up and off the sofa. "Come on guys, let's practice well for our fans in America."

Leaving, I couldn't help but feel relieved when Jun walked out the door with the others. Closing the front door, I was surprised to see my mom standing in front of me with her arms folded, holding up my test paper.

"Shin Dong Ho, what is the meaning of this?" With a brow raised and a stern look drawn across her face, I felt myself shrinking. I was a blood type B of my sake. Instead of answering her with a tiny voice, I answered her loud and clear.

"I failed my history test. No big deal. I'll just do better on my next test." With an audible sigh, my mother shook her head.

"I'll let you off just this once. Fail another one and you can forget your plans of going to America!" She warned, handing me my test paper back. Slipping it back into my backpack, my fingers brushes against something... wet. Pulling it out in alarm, I stood in the middle of the hall staring at the lump of dirt that might as well could've been mistaken as a lump of turd.

Tempted to throw it out, I remembered the little girl who had given it to me. Eun Jae had said it was pretty. Holding it up under the light, I still couldn't see the beauty of this so called object.

Since she called it pretty, I'll wash it off. If it really isn't pretty or worth the keeps, I throw it away. As simple as that.

Washing the object off in the bathroom, I watched as the dirt, little by little came off. The next thing I knew, I was sitting in my room staring at the object, tracing the words with my index finger, I smiled. 

It was a light purple stone-like crystal attached to a keychain with words engraved into the stone.

The strongest power in the world is Time. Every second counts.

For some reason, I felt a strange connection to the words. Time- really was the strongest power in the world as it takes time to do things, time to find the things we love, and time to do the things we love to do. In reality, every second does count.

And for some reason, I thought of death.

And probably for the same reason, I let a few words slip from my mouth.

"Without that second..."

"I could've been dead by now."

A/N: Well, a slightly longer chapter than the other ones. xD I lost inspiration halfway through the chapter but thanks to star4square for suggest Pollux as the group name! Supposedly, Pollux is the name of a star bigger than the sun. Thanks again, star4square! I was also stuck as I couldn't find any members for the group as I wanted them to be all older than Dong Ho. If any of you guys have any sugestions, please leave them in the comments below! So in this chapter, it was kind of a filler but it did get some things moving here. Be sure to remember this chapter as the ugly duckling! Keep your eyes open! *hint* *hint* 

Anyhow, hope you all enjoyed~