In the village of Shinhwa Changjo, many looked with hungry eyes upon the Six. But the men were not worried because the SHCJ were covetous and too busy squabbling over who would devour whom to actually do the deed. Until one group stood and said , “We will feed you all.”

“How?” All the other stans exclaimed.

“”We will make a soup for the whole of Shinhwa Changjo to share. They will nourish us all.”

“Not our Hyesung! He’s much too slender and delicate.”

“Not our Junjin! There’s no one else to climb the trees for our fruits.”

“Not our Eric! We have to have our leader.”

“Not our Andy! Our precious maknae, you can’t!”

“Not our Minwoo! Who else can lead our dances?”

The Wannistans sighed and looked at their idol wishfully. “We will share.”

Hearing this made Kim Dongwan very proud that his fans would be so selfless but also very worried because he didn’t want to become soup. There was nothing to do but to help. He stepped confidently forward. “You are in luck, Shinhwa Changjo! I will make a most delicious and nutritious soup. I even have a large cooking pot. Follow my instructions and you will have a wonderful Wannie Soup.”

The Shinhwa Changjo cheered and clapped and sang the fan chants in his honor while the other Five watched him with suspicious eyes. After the SHCJ had quieted, Dongwan began giving orders. “First we must build a large fire. It will need to stew for hours, possibly a full day so we will need wood to replenish the fire as it cooks.”  Women ran to find wood. As they brought the arms full of branches, Dongwan picked through them. “No! These are too wet. Put them over there to dry. No! These are too green. Put them in another pile to age.” Only a few were deemed worthy and the campfire grew so slowly that it was two days before Dongwan declared it ready to light.

They all stood around the fire in the waning light of day and held their hands up to feel the heat radiating from the fire. Kim Dongwan stepped forward again. “It is time to fill the pot with water. Only the purest of water is fit for my soup. Bring me water from the mountain streams as it runs from the snow to the meadow.”

“Ya! Why would you make them do that? There’s a well right in the village.” Eric gestured to the single well that provided water for the village.

“You want me to use their only water to make this soup? It would take all the water in the well to fill half this pot and then we would have nothing to drink and would still need to fill the pot the rest of the way. No. This is better for our Shinhwa Changjo. They deserve the best ingredients. Do they not?”

The Shinhwa Changjo agreed that they deserved the best and hurried off to form a line to pass the water down the mountain. As the night and day turned, the tired SHCJ began to sip at the pots of water being passed down so that soon only a cup was being poured into the pot. It took three days to fill the pot.

Kim Dongwan had smiled as he watched the Shinhwa Changjo work. Soon it would be time to put the pot on the fire and then the real fun would begin. He found two long poles and carved them smooth as all the Shinhwa Changjo rested after finishing the second task.

When they woke, they gathered around the fire again as Dongwan told them how to slide the poles through the pot’s handles and lift it up and over the fire.  “Now,” he said, “we gather ingredients.”  He pulled out a bit of paper that began to unwind until it touched the ground. “I know that you are from all over the world so these should be no problem.”

The Shinhwa Changjo looked at Dongwan with mouths hanging open.

“This will take forever to get!”

“Oppa! We’re hungry now!”

“Oppa, why?!”

“Tsk tsk tsk. Are you doubting me? You want to make me taste very good, right?”

The tired Shinhwa Changjo shook their heads (no, of course we don’t doubt) and nodded (of course we want you to be tasty) but mostly they stared with a glazed over look in their eyes.

“O..oppa? What do we eat in the meantime?”

“There is some very tasty grass right over there. Perhaps you could roast it close to the fire?”

They took the list and divided it up. Messages went out across the world and slowly the parts drifted in - a spice from one family, a sack of potatoes from another and on and on. After a month, the list was complete.

Dongwan added each ingredient one by one and slowly a delicious smell drew everyone to the village center. He looked at all the Shinhwa Changjo and his fellow members very solemnly. “I suppose it’s time to choose which parts you want to put in. We should only put in my very best parts. I think we should start with my dancing skill. Since I am the lead..”

“YA! What are you saying?” Minwoo cut him off. “I’m the best dancer. If dancing needs to go in, it should be mine.”  Minwoo took off his sandals and threw them into the pot. It glowed and his legs seem to become less muscled. He sank to the ground with a satisfied smirk on his face.

Dongwan nodded. “Very well. Since you insisted. Next, my voice. As the lead vocal..”

“BAH!” Dongwan was cut off again. This time by Hyesung. “Don’t you dare! You know my voice is better. Don’t you dare give them  the second best.” Hyesung unwound the scarf around his neck and put it in. The pot glowed again and Shin Hyesung gestured silently with a rude finger what he thought of Dongwan’s attempt to claim that he had the best voice.

Dongwan looked embarrassed now. “Uhm…my athletic ability!”

“Wrong!” A hat sailed through the air and Park Junjin tripped as he tried to move closer.

“My brains! You can’t deny I’m smart!”

Minwoo answered. “And who was it who studied law in order to win our lawsuit?” Eric pulled a pen from his pocket and handed it to a Shinhwa Changjo to put in the pot. He sat down and grimaced as the pot glowed. A bit of drool ran down the side of his mouth.

“I cooked. My soup is the most delicious soup in the history of soups.” He looked at Andy.

Andy shook his head and walked forward to put in a single garlic clove. “You didn’t do any of the actual cooking, hyung.”  The pot glowed again and Andy looked confused for a moment.

Dongwan looked at all the fans around them. “What’s left? What can I give you? Will you take my heart?” He looked at the tears slowly flowing from the eyes who had loved all of them so much. “Ah, but I think it is not my heart that is the best.” He wiped a tear from the cheek of a girl and dropped it into the pot.

There was an immense explosion of fireworks from the pot and as the light faded, Dongwan saw the bodies of all the Shinhwa Changjo and  other five members lying unconscious around the village. He smiled then and stepped up to the pot with a spoon.  He tasted the soup and smacked his lips. “AAhhh. Just as I promised. Wannie soup is the best.”