Thursday Afternoon

"Numbers 29 and 30, you guys are up next! Please come on deck!"

"Okay you guys, they're getting closer to our numbers! Don't freak out!" 

The guys snickered at Mira's statement, making her frown. "If anyone's freaking out, it's you! You keep bouncing up and down! And it's making me want to pee," Chen stated, who was mirroring Mira's movements. 

"I know. Eeeep~ Sorry!" Mira gave off her eye smile and apologized, but they could still sense that she was nervous. The guys were nervous too, but they had something to be more worried about. Despite the outcome of their audition, the Oh family plan to have a dinner regardless when they find out. They even plan to invite Kai's mom since they used to be close and since Kai has filled her in.

But they couldn't worry about that now, not right before the auditions. But once tomorrow hits, that's when they could worry. 

Chen suddenly announced that he had to use the bathroom or else he would explode. He was followed by Baekhyun, then Tao, then Kai, leaving Mira by herself in her seat. They apologized and said they'll be quick, but she didn't worry. Guys are always fast when they use the bathroom. Their numbers were 51 to 55, so they still had time considering that each performance ranged from a minute to 5 minutes the most. 

Like she thought, the guys came back in a quickness and they watched their competition for spots while they waited for their turn. 

"Psst!"

"Hey, psst!" 

Mira and the others looked back, only to surprised to see the guys a few rows back. Sehun, Chanyeol, Kyungsoo, Luhan, and Lay! The four including Mira ran to the back and sat in the row in front of them. 

"Sick! You guys came!" Tao got all giddy and excited to see his friends who came to support them. 

"Of course!" Lay ruffled the younger's hair and looked at Sehun and the others. "They swear they came for Mira only, but I know deep down they came to support you all." Sehun rolled his eyes and said nothing, admitting nothing, while Chanyeol expressively cheered them on with a smiling Kyungsoo next to him. 

"Aish, stop being so stubborn, Sehun! Ma was right when she said you're stubborn and head-headed," Mira joked, immediately making Sehun speak up, "Am not!"

"Are too!"

"Am not!!"

"Are too!"

"Oh how I miss this brother-sister bickering from you guys," Luhan said sarcastically, receiving laughs from everyone. 

"Numbers 48 to 50, you guys are up next! Please come on deck!"

"Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god, oh my—" Mira started freaking out but Sehun told her to calm down and gave her encouraging words. "C'mon Mira, you got this!" And in a lower tone, he whispered, "Do it for your mom. I'm sure she's watching and praising you for being an amazing girl. Make your mother proud."

Hearing these words come from Sehun's mouth made her want to cry happy tears, but she it up and nodded gleefully. "I'll be cheering for you, Mimi!" Kyungsoo chanted, while Chanyeol cheered as well. "Fighting, Mimi!"

"You guys will do amazing! We'll be cheering for you guys from back here!" Luhan smiled and did two thumbs up.

"Yeah, you guys have nothing to worry about, everyone else looks boring," Lay teased, glancing at the group who was up on stage performing a hip-hop piece. Compared to Mira, Kai, Chen, Baek, and Tao, they were nothing. They looked like beginners. As a dancer himself, Lay knew that Mira and them were powerful dancers, although Chen was questionable at times.

"Numbers 51 to 55, you're up next! Please come on deck!"

They all let out sighs to calm their nerves. Knowing that their friends were there to support, Mira and the other four knew that that by itself was enough to give them the confidence and energy they needed to put on a great performance. The rest of the group cheered their friends on and moved a few rows closer to see better.

Once on deck, the five of them were shaking out all of their nerves and even stretched a little. Baekhyun said a little prayer to himself while Tao joined in. Chen went over a few moves that he wanted to review, Mira was on the ground stretching out her legs, while Kai was fanning himself with a pamphlet he found on a table.

The stage manager called them onto stage when it was their turn and the five of them took their spots and stood in the first formation. Before the music started, the rest of the guys cheered and yelled out for the five on stage and received shushes from some viewers who were taking it up the .

Then the music started and they were already into their routine. For the first formation, Kai was center, while Baekhyun and Tao were mirrors, and Chen and Mira were mirrors.

With Baekhyun's song choices, Tao's edginess, Chen's happy personality, Kai's choreography, and Mira's cleaning, their performance turned out to be more than great. Not one step was missed. Not one move was too small or too big. Each of them were able to hit the moves accurately in unison and they all sensed it because after the first couple of seconds into the dance, their nervousness disappeared.

All they cared about was having fun and it was evident in their smiles. They worked so hard and diligently that they weren't going to give up.

They gave off their best and it resulted in a fun, entertaining, and powerful performance. The ending was the opposite of how the whole routine was, which surprised and amused the judges. The five ended in a cute way with Kai, Baekhyun, Chen, and Tao carrying Mira as she laid across their arms, showing off her eye smiles and doing a cute pose.

Sehun, Kyungsoo, Chanyeol, Lay, and Luhan all whistled and hooted once their performance was done, and the audience that were there to support their friends unmistakably cheered for them as well, while the rest of the people who had to audition were both speechless and awestruck as they clapped their hands.

The five bowed before taking their leave and once off the stage, they hugged each other and shared their laughs and smiles.

"Finally! It's over! We gave it our all and I couldn't be more proud of you guys!" Mira applauded her friends. 

"All the hard work definitely paid off, thanks to you, Mira!" Tao replied, appreciative that she agreed to join them even though it was last minute. He even lifted her off the ground with Chen's help and placed her on their shoulders as they rooted for her. She sat comfortably on their shoulders and covered her face in embarrassment. 

After celebrating with each other, they decided to finally meet up with the others to celebrate together. Sehun suggested to eat out together. "Let's go get some boba and some fried chicken! You guys were amazing!" He high fived Kai, Chen, Tao, and Baekhyun, then ran up to Mira and gave her a warming hug. 

"Especially you, squirt! I'm proud of you and I'm sure I'm not the only one." Sehun looked up, making Mira look up, only to make her smile.

They all agreed with Sehun's idea and they were all at the boba place again with Mira this time as they celebrated a successful audition. Kris came over to their table to serve them their drinks, food, and desserts in congratulations for Mira, Kai, Baekhyun, Chen, and Tao. "Man, I wish I was there to see! I've never seen Mira dance but I'm sure you're a beast! In a good way."

"She is! It's mind-blowing," Kyungsoo added, putting pieces of crispy chicken onto his plate. "She has this quiet, innocent, cute girl image, but when she dances, it's as if she's a new person."

"I'hanks, Soo!" Mira received the compliment well. 

"Hopefully I'll be able to attend your guys' dance show if I'm not working. I'll cheer you all on! Fighting!" Kris chanted before leaving to go back to work the cash register. They all didn't hesitate to eat. In a short amount of time, the five bags of crispy spicy chicken were almost empty and their boba were almost finished as well, leaving the crepes and waffles left to eat.

Mira randomly hushed everyone and spoke up. "Hey guys, I just want to say something real quick." All of their attention went straight to Mira and wondered what she wanted to say. As silence washed over, she gave them an innocent-looking smile.

"I just want to say thank you to each and every one of you for being so supportive of not just me, but for each other. I know it must've been awkward, uncomfortable, and difficult for you guys to come together because of me. And I apologize for bringing that upon you unexpectedly, but being with you guys seriously made me feel at home. Thank you for all your love, hope, friendliness, and protection." She couldn't have felt more grateful and appreciative towards them.

All of the guys smiled and sent adoring looks to Mira. She wasn't the only one who felt like that though.

"I think it's safe to say this and I'm speaking for everyone – We feel grateful to you for coming into our lives and for bringing everyone together again. As a group again, we don't have to try so hard to ignore one another." Chanyeol joked, making the others chuckle and laugh because it was true. They all tried so hard to ignore each other because they were all so close before. "And now with you, you've brought happiness back into our lives and we appreciate all that you do for us. I hope that we could all remain friends for a long, long time."

Mira was trying hard not to cry, so she tried her best to give off a smile.

"Aww, honey, don't cry!" Lay got up from his seat to comfort her and his simple action made her want to cry even more.

"Hahaha, now she's going to cry," Luhan predicted and turned out to be right. Tears ran down Mira's angelic face, making Lay take her in for a warm embrace, while Luhan rubbed her back.

Whenever someone says not to do something, it only makes it worse. It's like telling someone not to look but then they have that urge to look.

Little sobs and sniffles could be heard from her and she still looked cute. She turned out to be like a little sister they wanted to always protect and look over.

Luhan wiped her tears and smiled back. "Agh, I'm sorry you guys... I'm just so touched and happy. I don't ever want to lose you guys. Promise me that will never happen," Mira asked as she held out her pinky like a little girl. Everyone was surprised to hear her say that and to see her stick out her pinky. It was exactly like before. Even if she can't remember the past, her actions are still the same.

Without hesitation, they each held out their pinky one-by-one. With this, Mira felt reassured and it up. She felt blessed.

"We promise," Sehun answered truthfully and sincerely and without having everyone say it out loud, he knew they all felt the same. There was no way they were going to let her or each other go again. They all smiled and retracted their hands.

"So when will we find out when you made it?" Sehun asked. "Well, we'll find out tomorrow if we made it," Kai replied, making Sehun scrunch his face together. Kai rose his eyebrow, "Why the face?"

"Because we already know you made it," Sehun simply answered, making Kai, Mira, Chen, Baekhyun, and Tao feel like they did an outstanding job at the auditions.

Kai directed his answer to Sehun, "Yeah, we'll see. Hopefully." Kai glanced at Sehun with hopeful eyes then towards Mira, which made Sehun look at her too. They wanted this for Mira. They just wanted for her to be happy.

Friday

Dashing like a mad man in the hallway towards the dance room, Mira rushed out of her home room once it hit lunch time to see the results of the audition. Nearly bumping into people and even open locker doors, she barely yet safely made it to the dance room.

It was already filled with so many people that it was a lot more stuffy in the dance room than it was a moment ago in the hallway. Sehun, Chanyeol, and Kyungsoo were already there and were some of the few people in the front. She caught their eyes and they ushered her to come over.

"Mira!"

She turned around and was met with the rest of the group who were eager to see the results. She advised them to follow her and they listened as they s their way to the front to meet up with other three.

"Damn, excuse you."

"Look at all the guys she hangs out with."

"Who does she think she is? Cutting all of us, just because she has those guys as her bodyguards? Gold digger."

She could care less about the glares and rude comments that were aimed at her because all she cared about were the results. It wasn't her fault that she had handsome, talented guys as her friends and that the other girls were jealous that they didn't have what she has. She didn't need all that drama. This was one of the reasons why she didn't like having girls as friends.

Although, the guys couldn't help but hear the comments that were towards Mira. They knew they shouldn't have, but they crept in closer to Mira as if it would help shield her. It would probably only make it worse and spark up more rumors and lies, but they wanted to protect her, if possible.

High squeals were heard from the back of the room signaling to everyone that Mrs. Kwon and Mr. Jang had walked in with the results. Behind them were Lay and Luhan, who were known as the student helpers.

"Back up everyone! We need to get through. Thank you!" Mr. Jang yelled out and in a matter of seconds, everyone took a few steps back in order for the teachers to pin up the results, but ended up running up to the wall again after their teachers walked away as Lay and Luhan managed to get to their friends.

Mira was being pushed and shoved by annoying, pushy girls, making is highly difficult for her to see the pages. Sehun called out to her and told her he would look for her, and she gratefully agreed. Kai managed to pull her out of the swarm of students in one piece while the others followed and waited for the answer. 

Even Sehun had a rough time attempting to get out of the sea of students but managed to break out. Mira ran up to Sehun with worried eyes. "Soooo? Did we make it or not??"

Sehun sighed and looked her straight in the eyes. "Uh, maybe we should get something to eat or something," he said with a serious tone as he looked at Mira then the guys, making Mira worry and with that, she already knew that they didn't make it. He always bribed her with food whenever he wanted to cheer her up. She let her head fall forward in defeat and accepted the truth.

"Because... YOU GUYS MADE IT!!" Sehun shouted out excitedly, grinning as he rose his hands up in the air. Mira shot her head up and the once worried pair of eyes became hopeful eyes. "Are you serious?!" She shrieked, turning behind her and hugged Kai and Baekhyun, then Chen and Tao, then everyone else. 

"Damn dude, I seriously thought we didn't make it," Baekhyun let out a sigh of relief as he pressed his fingers against his temples. "Thank goodness though."

"I didn't doubt it once. I knew you guys were going to make it through. Congrats!" Lay assured them with his bright smile, exposing his cute dimple. They all caught their breaths and regained control of themselves before heading out to have lunch. Now they could enjoy the rest of their day at school.

Although Sehun and the others knew what was to be expected later on in the day and the more it neared, the more they dreaded the day. They had to put on a bright smile on for Mira though so she won't expect a thing.

"Come on," Baekhyun offered, "Let's go enjoy the rest our break. We can all celebrate later!" He managed to put on a smile in the time being, but he was feeling something that he was sure everyone else was feeling.

Deep down he was scared.

Scared of what may happen tonight.

Scared of what may happen to Mira.

Scared of what may happen to their group.

Scared of the unknown.

For this evening, everyone agreed that they would bring at least one thing that they believed would help Mira to remember her torn past. From pictures, to notes, to drawings, and even to gifts that they gave each other.

It was a long shot, but anything was better than nothing and tonight they were going to try their best.

Was it screwed up that they planned to do this right after she received good news about making it through their auditions? Maybe. But with their senior year already almost half way through and if they plan on being together until the end, wouldn't it make sense to do this sooner than later?

Mira was helping her parents set up the dining room and cook, while Sehun has been sitting silently on his bed with his door locked. Mira knocked on his door a couple of times earlier to request for his help, but he simply lied saying he was still getting ready.

He was already showered, groomed, and dressed, but he just needed time to tame his nervousness and thoughts.

Sehun pulled his knees up to his chest and leaned his head on top of his knee caps. He was ready to let in the unknown. Or at least he believed he was. He was ready to accept the consequences. There was no way he could back out. No one could.

He was ready to be confronted with guilt and rejection. All the hope he once had has shrunk down immensely. How was he supposed to act around her after all of this is done? Unlike the others, he lives with her and he's known her the longest.

Why was he even worrying? He's helped her and comforted her before, so why is this any different? He knew very well why and he hates to admit it. At least with Mira's birth parents, they will always remain in the past. Her mother unfortunately will never be able to come back. Her father, well there's a possibility he can come back but highly unlikely.

But Sehun and his parents will see Mira after tonight. The next day, and the day after tomorrow, and the day after the next. She can't forget and run away from him or the others so easily. They'll be a living reminder of her angst and sorrow if this does go down the wrong path.

Se