Sigh…

Eric breathed out, his body was a bit worn out after all that adrenaline rush. However, his excitement remained inflated. After catching his breath, he glanced around the room and grinned.

In his field of vision, he could see that s were also puffing their breaths, yet their expressions were glowing with happiness. Their stylists were busy fixing their makeup because every single one of them was drenched in sweat.

As Eric finished on changing his clothes, he smiled at the members and asked:

“Do you hear something?”

“What?” s asked back.

“The sound of Shinhwa Changjo calling for us.” The loud chanting of Shinhwa-san was echoing in the stadium and even reached their backstage area.

“We shouldn’t make them wait then.” Minwoo grinned as Eric led them back to the limelight.

“So you won first place for a local rap competition?” Eric’s dad raised his eyebrows at the sudden news that his son just broke to him.

“Yes.” Eric nodded proudly. He didn’t expect his dad to praise him, as he knew that his dad had a different plan for his future.

“You entered a rap competition without consulting us, your parents?” His dad stretched out the words. There was anger in those words.

“I’m sorry about that. But you wouldn’t have let me if I told you about it. You would say I have little chance of winning and that it would be a waste of time. And look, I won first place. I know I have the talent for this, dad.” Eric politely explained his actions.

“Well, that does not mean you will be forgiven. You better get good scores for your end of term test or else I will reduce your allowance.” His dad was stunned for a second after listening to Eric’s explanation. He didn’t know that Eric could argue that well considering he’s just a teenager.

“I will get higher scores, but there’s something I want to tell you. I want to pursuit a music career. As you can see, I have talent for rapping. If I audition for big competition such as American Got Talents, X Factors, etc, there’s a chance that I can make it big. I can also try those big Korean entertainment companies like SM, YG, JYP. Please, let me follow my dream.”

“And what if you don’t make it. There are many people that are more talented than you, younger than you and more multi-talented. How will you support yourself until you succeed? I and your mother have plan for you. We want to either become a professor or a doctor. I know that you’re an intelligent kid, you can get into any of those if you put about 50% of effort into studying. You know how tough our situation is. War can break out at anytime. We want you to have a bright future, in case we can’t be there for you. And it’s true that we can’t be by your side forever.” His dad questioned. He was thinking that perhaps Eric was just having a sudden interest that would be worn out over time.

“Dad, I have a full plan for my future. In my teens year, I will do whatever I want. I want to follow my heart, make mistakes and learn. In my 20s, I will be an actor. I want to try on my different lives that I can not experience in real life. In my 30s, I will open my own entertainment company. Then, maybe in my 40s, I will become a university professor or just travel the world. I know it’s not the path that you want to go. I know that it will tough and you always want the best for me but I want to pursuit my dream and happiness. There will be times I need your help, but I will try to solve everything that is within my capability before that. I will finish high school, get into college and have part time job to support myself. It’s not like I’m dropping out of school but I might miss some classes if I enter big audition programs.” Eric replied with his laid out future that he had been dreaming off for the past year. He had been thinking about his future ever since the teachers started to ask students to fill out survey about future career.

“I’m still against that. You can do whatever you want as a hobby but not for a future career.” His dad firmly said even though he was actually partially swayed by his son determination. He wanted to wait for a bit longer, to see if his son would really follow his passion or it was just a fling before he could show his support.

“I understand. I will prove that I can succeed.” Eric replied.

“!” Henry swore out loud as he freaked out in the toilet and raised his feet up. There were three brooms suddenly swept through the gap under the door, the gaps under the wall between toilets invaded into his space.

There were loud familiar laughter from three sides.

“Whose idea was this?” Henry angrily asked his friends after he got of the toilet.

“I think you know who already.” Joon said while giggling like crazy.

“Eric!” Henry shouted.

Eric shrugged his shoulder, as if it was not his fault that his friend got a great fright.

“Just what is in that head of yours? Last time were ketchup and mayonnaise. Don’t you know how much time I had to spent showering again?” Henry grabbed Eric’s collar, but it was just their regular habit, not a real threat.

“But you did get back at me with you honey and mustard combo. That was so sticky.” Eric defended.

“Alright, but next time, do it to someone else. Also remember to call me in.” Henry grinned as he let lose of Eric. “But I really wonder, why do smart people always have an eccentric side to them. Like you and your pranks.”

“Remember last time when he ran around the balcony of your house? And then suddenly used a spray can to create flames. Lucky we didn’t have to call fire brigade.” Joon had stopped from his laughing frenzy to recall crazy things that Eric did.

“Well, those will be good stories for me tell when I become a star.” Eric half-jokingly said.

“A star?” His friends gasped with eyes wide opened.

“Yes, I want to be a rapper.”

After a few failed auditions, Eric was accepted into SM Entertainment. Life as trainee was tough as he had to survive on one simple meal a day with ten plus hours of training, especially in dancing. However, he made it through the thick and thin as he had s.

They were awkward at first but after some bondings, some misunderstandings, some failures, some fights and some make ups, they were like blood brothers. Even the shyness member would open his heart and voice out his concerns and care. They all had their shared dream and working toward it. Perhaps due to their frank, open-attitude, they were able to stick together and made a name for themselves.

Even after their contract had ended…

“You got a solo offer?” Dongwan asked Minwoo.

“Yea, I believe you got offer too?” Minwoo looked at Eric.

“Yea, about six times more than our previous contract.” Eric disclosed.

“What?” Dongwan gasped. “And I don’t even have an offer.”

“Look, I want us to be all together, as Shinhwa.” Eric firmly proposed.

“I agree.” The rest of the members voiced.

“Since we had made a fair bit of money, how about we all chip in to create our own company? Wouldn’t it be great to manage ourselves?”

“Indeed, you’re a Shinhwa otaku, always thinking about Shinhwa.” Junjin commented.

And that was how Shinhwa Company was created. Eric and Minwoo was co-CEOs, and the other four members were shareholders.

Due to the rising popularity of Shinhwa, the world had turned their attention to South Korea. Many people began to explore the culture, the history, the country. Some even started campaign and fundraising to help with the current war.

It was the encore stage of their 10th anniversary. Eric was running around as he performed his rap part. He was so thankful that Shinhwa Changjo had also been there to support them. He was glad that he had chosen to walk down this path. There were a lot of struggle in the past, but he had his irreplaceable members, those dorks that would also by his side even though they fight from time to time.

Eric was glad that during his darkest time, the time that he lost his family, Shinhwa Changjo and Shinhwa were there for him. They were his light in the dark, his last straw. They had shown him that he still got another family, that he was not alone in this vast world. Indeed, music brought people together, it had changed their fate by intertwining their lives.

His future was not just in his hands, but also in the hands of those are close to him, those that he held dear.

The members were saying their final ment, one by one. Each of them had a story to share, whether it was happy or sad, they still shared them, as their had been through alot together with them, they desired to know. Also, it was like a family meeting, where one can be comforted after sharing the hardship.

As Eric was the last to speak, his mind was running wild to organise a speech.

“First, I would like to thanks by decreased parents. They had brought me to this world and supported me. I know I had gone against their wish when I decided to be rapper, but I don’t regret it. Mum, dad, I hope that you can be proud of me if you can see where I am at the moment. I have my beloved members and also, my beloved fans. I love you.” Eric paused for a second to swallow down the choking feeling of emotions rushing.

“Second, I would like to thanks Shinhwa Changjo. We have been together for 10 years, we wouldn’t be together as Shinhwa if it weren’t for your unending love and scolding. I love you. And third, our members, I love you guys.”

Eric smiled as he knew he had chosen the right path. He was happy.

(Image credit: http://forums.soompi.com/en/topic/58-shinhwa-eric-moon-%EC%97%90%EB%A6%AD-moon-jung-hyuk-%EB%AC%B8%EC%A0%95%ED%98%81/?page=1016)

You can guess right, the pic depict a happy successful Eric :)