♠ TWENTY ♠

"Leaving so early, child?"

Seulbi was adjusting the wrist cuffs of her blouse when Lee Jungyeop, fresh out from bed, greeted her from the dining table. "Good morning abeonim. I'm afraid I have to, I've got a lot of things on my plate today."

"I'm going to have a word with Han about this and ask him to transfer some of your scheduled appointments. I will be the one to handle them. Mrs. Cho, my phone please--"

"Abeonim, it's fine. You already have that convention on your hands, so I'll handle it."

"Join us for a quick breakfast, at least!"

"It looks like Sunggyu's quite happy to be eating my share though."

Guilty that he had been caught red-handed taking his third round of food, Sunggyu grinned innocently, returning the whole pile of sausages one-by-one onto the main platter. "There's still more on the way, Young Master," one of the maids informed him. He didn't waste the chance to dump everything back onto his plate.

"I have a better idea!" Jungyeop announced, clapping his hand together, "Since I can't be there for moral support, why don't you take Sunggyu with you so he could continue learning firsthand how we run this business?"

"His stress levels are running high with Mrs. Im and college together, let's leave it at that for now."

Early in the morning and here she was already shooting him down. Sunggyu knew he had to buy his way into this one. He determined to get to the root of Seulbi's rather confusing stance on her heiress position. Outwardly, she had been obedient to the letter. Her perturbed aura that only seeped through when she thought no one was watching was another story.

"For all you know, I could actually help you! I'm good with money; I can keep it as well as I earn it! I'm pretty good at closing deals. And, I have good creative input-- things that you should have already known by now. What makes you think I can't handle it?"

That answer seemed to have pleased Jungyeop even more. "THAT'S MY BOY RIGHT THERE! The Lee genes run strong in this one!"

Seulbi could only sigh as she seated herself down for breakfast. "Get dressed. We're leaving in ten minutes. And Sunggyu?"

"Yes?"

"The moment you complain of a stomachache, I'm going to request for the biggest needle for your IV drip. Consider yourself warned."

Timidly, Sunggyu set his "take-out" plate back down, giving a polite, embarrassed bow before heading upstairs.

<<<< >>>>

Allowing Sunggyu to tag along wasn't such a bad idea after all. The heiress was in high spirits since they managed to finish way ahead of schedule with his help and were currently on the way back home. "So the university's Spring Festival is tomorrow; it's going to be a music festival this year," Sunggyu began before treading carefully around the ticking news bomb. "I heard Eye Candy is performing."

"I'm not going. My appearance there is only going to cause a ruckus," Seulbi quickly shot down. Her dealings with Myungsoo have been kept to a low maximum now that their 'mega fight of the century' (as people coined it) had been hyped up and blown out of proportion. Fortunately, both camps managed to keep the containment of this information strictly campus-bound.

Sunggyu cleared his throat, deciding that this was the right time to pry information. “Are you really going to let society walk over you so easily? Let loose for once!"

"That's easier said than done."

"Lee Seulbi you have the best of everything that this world has to offer. You have money, power, a good education, a good family-- heck you can go to retirement as early as now if you want to! But have you ever truly lived your life the way you see it? The way you want it to be?"

His carefully crafted words have made their mark, right in the bull's eye. He could sense that she was internally troubled by them. “You might not understand it just yet,” Seulbi began quietly, "All that comes with a price. Exactly because everything's there, everything about you has already been carefully planned and set. It's not so easy to break out of, but once you manage to overturn the game plan, everything comes crashing down. What then becomes of you?"

“You get up. You pick up the pieces. Then you move on. Because no matter how much life screws you over, and even if you're barely hanging on by the slightest sliver of the thinnest thread, you'll always have control over some aspects of it," Sunggyu said with such a knowing smile. He could see an interested, hopeful, yet hesitant sparkle in Seulbi's eyes when he said that. "Let me show you. Shimgoon, do you think we can make a quick side trip?”



"This is your perfect analogy for making life choices? The grocery?"

Sunggyu could only smile and nod proudly at his billion-dollar idea.

Fortunately for him, the place didn't disappoint her, not one bit. Seulbi didn't know where to start looking and kept getting her attention grabbed by anything colorful and interesting that passed her line of vision. "So this is a 'Home Plus'. Sunggyu, are you sure this place doesn't come with a map?"

She threw the punchline so fast, Sunggyu ended up guffawing at her corny joke. When he realized she was being serious and that she had never stepped into a grocery in all nineteen years of her life because she was part of a sheltered family, he burst into another round laughter. "Do you want me to hold your hand so you won't get lost, princess?" he mocked and she frowned. "I kid, I kid!"

Casually, he strolled forward ahead of her, grabbing a shopping cart on the way. Seulbi teetered after him, not wanting to get lost in this big of a maze Sunggyu called the 'grocery'.

"Forget the map, I think I'll be needing GPS for this place," Seulbi murmured in awe as she peered across wide, never-ending aisles of grocery products. "It's like a giant treasure hunt. How do you even find things in here?"

"There are numbers on the shelves, and they have whatever goods occupying them written below that number. I admit, you can get lost on your first time around, but it really doesn't hurt to ask."

"Oh~"

"Just stick to me and you'll be fine."

The Lees directly took their meat, seafood, and vegetables directly from Grade A and organic sources, but the rest of the everyday things such as milk and eggs, cooking condiments, laundry detergent, and the like were taken from your everyday grocery store. Of course, all this went unknown to Seulbi and the rest, whose only task was to get to the dinner table for meal time. "Do you want to check out the drinks or the potato chips section first? Your call," Sunggyu asked.

No response.

"Lee Seulbi, are you even listening?" He turned to look behind him and he stopped breathing. Seulbi was nowhere in sight.

Did she run off on her own or did she fail to keep track of him? She could have been stranded at any aisle by now. But getting lost like this-- seriously, what was she? Five? Worst of all, Nam Woohyun was going to kill him once he found out he had lost his precious baby cousin in one of the biggest grocery stores in the city!

Gritting his teeth, he did a quick backtrack, carefully looking left and right through each aisle. He would have called her, but her phone had been entrusted to Shimgoon to divert any further business calls, making it a useless option. Seulbi. couldn't have gone very far... unless she had been suddenly kidnapped. Sunggyu forced himself to move faster and not be so pessimistic.


"Alright, please hold on."

That was definitely Seulbi's voice. Sunggyu half-ran to that direction to find Seulbi standing on tiptoes, with her tongue sticking out cutely as she tried to reach for a jar of orange marmalade on the far end of the top shelf. Her fingertips were barely brushing against the side of the bottle, her reach lacking a couple more extra centimeters. He wanted to strangle her so badly on the spot-- she disappeared just for a jar of jam?

It was only then when he noticed a much shorter elderly woman on her opposite side, patiently waiting. Seulbi must have spotted her having some trouble and slipped away to provide some assistance.

"Need help?" Sunggyu offered, making his presence known.

"Oh, hey Sunggyu," she greeted as Sunggyu reached over and easily snagged the jar she needed, handing it to her. "Here you go, halmeonim. Thanks, cousin," she greeted, quickly shooting down whatever assumptions the elderly lady might be having about the two of them. "I was just..." her words faltered as he glared at her, "... helping out..."

"Don't make me put you in the cart trolley," he threatened with a whisper audible for only her, before flashing his best smile at the elder.



They looked like they were hoarding for an upcoming zombie apocalypse with the amount they were piling. Seulbi went particularly crazy, for once ignoring all the health hoo-haw their resident nutritionist kept lecturing them cousins about, dumping chips and other snacks into the cart. Sungyeol's mouth would have been watering so bad. This beat his little snack stash anyday, both in price and variety. The guy only stocked up whenever they went to the Lotte Duty Free shops at the airport and it was nothing compared to this. "It's 1000 won per jumbo bag, so I piled three in!" Seulbi exclaimed in glee!

"You know Woohyun hates this brand," Sunggyu tutted, staring at the bag of chips with scorn.

"I know, but it's only because it gives him pimples. Sadly, I don't give a damn. Put it in."

"I hate this brand! It's a rip-off! 30% chips, 70% air-- just looking at it makes me sick."

"I'm the one eating it, not either of you, so cart it," Seulbi argued, pouting when Sunggyu playfully chucked the bags into the top shelf and away from reach. "Yah! Sunggyu!"

Admittedly, it was refreshing to see Lee Seulbi acting less stuck-up and robotic, and more like your average girl-next-door for once, and he liked that. He liked that a lot. For a moment, Sunggyu had almost forgotten that she was the heiress to a multinational conglomerate. As Seulbi continued to grumble about the chips, he started sorting through the chilled drinks section.

“Orange. I like orange juice the most. It reminds me of California."

"Who asked for your opinion?"

“You seemed like you were taking mental note of whatever I picked, so I thought I’d make your life easier,” Seulbi shrugged. "If I knew any better, I'd say you're using this as an excuse to do a background check on me."

Sunggyu swiped the fizzy apple drink off the shelf instead. "Look how conceited this person is! Move!" he brushed off, avoiding her gaze. Seulbi, thankfully, had no idea how spot-on she was, in one aspect or another.

<<<< >>>>

"Barbeque flavored seaweed. Who would have thought? How did you even find these?"

"I used to live off free samples."

The two ended up kicking back in the car, reclining their respective seats to the fullest capacity while binge-snacking on their purchases. Seulbi didn't even seem to mind if he nudged a bag of chips over to her with his feet. The perks of growing up around the male species. Every disgusting little trait they had became pretty much normal in her books.

Her phone rang and Seulbi took the call, straightening up in the middle of it. Her serious expression was back on. “Something came up. I need to head back to the hotel, and--"

"And?"

"I'll need you to step out of the car. Take a cab home, the rest of our cars have been deployed out. Woohyun and Dongwoo are using their cars." True enough, the second years were out on their own gimmick tonight while Sungyeol and Sungjong were at a common friend's birthday dinner. "Like right now."

"Right now?" Sunggyu repeated as he looked around. They were nearing an intersection on one of the busiest streets of Seoul. What kind of emergency was this that they were so desperate? Shimgoon had no qualms with Seulbi's strangeness and irrationality for the day and pulled over after she directed

A wad of cash had been shoved towards him, together with two bags of potato chips. "Here's some money. Bye!" And with that, Seulbi pulled the car door close. Sunggyu let out an annoyed sigh as he watched the sedan speed away. Here he was, abandoned on the intersection with no way of getting home.

Meanwhile, back in the car, the heiress was biting her pinky finger to relieve her tension, berrating herself for such a bad lying scheme. "Young miss, I think that it was way too suspicious of you to suddenly boot the young master Sunggyu out like that," Shimgoon chuckled, informing her that he was already in on the plan as well.

"What else could I do? Abeonim told us to keep it a secret from him at all costs!" Seulbi groaned. "But that's the least of our worries right now, Shimgoon. Knowing him, he's going to wander off in rebellion or march his straight to the hotel and if he finds out we're not there, the whole plan would be completely ruined. It doesn't help that he's one of the sharpest pins in the toolbox." 

"Well, it is going to take him awhile to flag a cab down, but you're right. We need to make sure that he doesn't follow."

She couldn't just leave him there. Rush hour was bound to happen anytime soon and it would be more difficult for him to flag a cab down. After mulling about it for quite a while, Seulbi finally decided to pull her phone out of her bag and dial in a phone number. No one else was home anyway, meaning the coast was clear. It took quite awhile before the person on the other line managed to pick up. “You're not supposed to be calling so casually when I'm at headquarters.”

“Knowing you, you're just pulling out of the company basement. Listen, Soo, I’m sorry to call you at an inconvenient time, but that favour you owe me?”

“What about it?”

“I’m invoking it right now. It concerns Sunggyu.”

There was silence on the other line before Myungsoo spoke again. "And what if I refuse to comply?"

“Well, I guess you'd like to listen carefully to what I'm about to tell you. In the next chapter of Naruto— yep, the one that’s supposed to be out tomorrow?“

“Yah. You’re not like this. Stop it.”

If there was one thing Kim Myungsoo hated, it was being spoiled for any upcoming chapter of his favourite manga series. The guy preferred to read the Korean translation, since the “essence of the dialogue” as he put it was more retained. The English translations on the other hand, came in just as soon as the actual release in Japan: a day earlier than the Korean scans. She was using his weak points against him and he was getting agitated, Seulbi could tell. She suppressed an amused giggle before plowing on.

“— well, someone gets you-know in battle and then…”

“DON’T!” Myungsoo screeched so loud, Seulbi had to pull her phone away from her ear. “Okay, okay, what do I need to do?”


Flagging a cab down at this hour was futile. In the end, Sunggyu took the subway to Daekyung, deciding to wait out the rush hour at the nearest cafe before trying again. He had made his location known to Sungjong only during the train ride and now he was making his way in to the nearest Starbucks. Apparently, someone was already waiting for him by the sidewalk, leaning on the side of his parked car with his arms crossed over his chest. Sunggyu's eyes immediately locked with the deep obsidian ones of Kim Myungsoo. The guy's gaze was seemingly boring a hole through him, it was scary.

"Look, Woohyun's not here. I don't have time for you--"

“Get in,” Myungsoo ordered, cocking his head towards his car.

The nerve! And what makes him think he would? Sunggyu didn’t care if he was acting like some hard-to-get girl. The last thing Sunggyu wanted was to spend an awkward car ride alone with this person. “I’d rather walk myself, thanks,” he dismissed.

"Don't make this harder for me and just get in."

"Oh yeah? Why should I?"

“A favor. I owe her one, and she decides to use it against me now," Myungsoo admitted as he straightened up. Sunggyu's temper flared up even more. Seulbi had sent this guy over? “This is a suicide mission on my end, getting you home, wherever that may be."

"If you're just going to about it, might as well drop the favor and leave."

"As much as I dislike it, it would be going against my principles if I went against my word.”

The resemblance in how they approached things was uncanny. “The noble prat, this one. I see why you’re the very best of friends,” Sunggyu muttered, his words laced with sarcasm. Despite his pride, a free ride was still free and really, the ones with issues against this guy was the whole Lee family combined. Why should he pick sides to something he really wasn't part of?


The car ride was surprisingly... okay. For most of the time, Myungsoo didn't mind Sunggyu, Sunggyu didn't mind Myungsoo; and everything was peaceful as they cruised away from the areas that were starting to buildup with the rush hour traffic.

"You must mean a lot to Maxene for her to call in a debt favour from that incident,” Myungsoo murmured to himself as he turned right around the corner, but nonetheless still making it pretty audible for his passenger to hear.

"You must mean a lot to Seulbi too if someone as independent as her thought of calling you for help," Sunggyu coolly pointed out as well. No words were shared after that, each other's words had given them something to mull about during the car ride. In the end, it was Myungsoo's ringing phone that had disrupted the temporary silence created.

A frown marred Myungsoo's handsome features after he had picked up and listened to the person on the other line. "What do you mean Byunghee can't?"

"It is what it is, dude, the guy's seriously effed up big time. Where are we going to find a replacement frontman in a short amount of time? The gig is tomorrow!"

Myungsoo ran a frustrated hand through his brown locks as he tried to think of a solution. His line of vision landed on a blank-looking Sunggyu, who had busied himself by playing a solo game of 'Red Car, Blue Car' in his head, and he ended up staring for quite awhile.

Lee Seulbi, for once, I admit, you are god-sent.

Before Sunggyu could properly label him as downright creepy, Myungsoo broke eye contact. "Hyuk, gather the rest at the usual, and be there in fifteen minutes. I might have your answer." With that he ended the call, addressing Sunggyu this time. "You're coming with me. We're taking a quick detour."



They had driven off low-end, dingy part of Seoul. Exactly what business did Kim Myungsoo have in this part of town? He pulled the car over outside some run down building. The Jeguk heir got out, and not wanting to be left alone on this dimly lit street, Sunggyu scrambled to follow as well. A cold draft of wind blew, sending more chills running up and down his spine.

"Walk. No one's going to bite," Myungsoo instructed.

For all he knew, Myungsoo was really part of that underground gang he was rumored to be in and his mob of cronies could have been waiting to beat his head in. He realized that Seulbi's little favor might be the only thing keeping him him alive for now. With heavy footsteps, he followed the heir inside, descending down the dingy staircase. Myungsoo pushed a door to the right open to reveal a brightly lit room.

"So what's the big plan, pretty boy?" Hajin, the bassist, greeted as he spotted Myungsoo entering their underground practice room along with someone unfamiliarly familiar. "Who's this?"

"Eat your heart out," Myungsoo replied as he sat himself on one of the couches. "He's from 'Beat!'. You're all welcome."

Myungsoo's sudden revelation had caused an excited commotion among the people there and they began to crowd and tower around Sunggyu. "Dude, shut up!" Kyungjong squealed, almost on the verge of spazzing as he approached Sunggyu. "Shut up!"

Sunggyu frowned, "I'm not even saying anything. And you, how did you find out?" he asked, pointing an accusatory finger at Myungsoo before memories of a certain cute little girl crossed his mind. "Kim Dasom, seriously. I even pinky-sweared and you betray me like this."

"Where did you find him?" Do-il asked from the corner, where he was setting up his drum set. Sunggyu frowned, put off by how he was being referred to like a hot item sold on store shelves.

"Connections here and there."

"In the nick of time too!" Jihyuk, their guitarist, laughed gleefully. "Byunghee would have pissed in his pants if he was here! Imagine, the very frontman of Beat!. What are you all waiting for-- Jeguk, get up. We have to double time if we're going to make this plan of yours work," he added, kicking the couch that Myungsoo was currently lazing on. "Would you like anything to drink, sunbae? It's on us!"

"Wait, hold up," Sunggyu cut through, massaging the bridge of his nose. All of this was just very confusing. "What's going on?"

"You're Kim Sunggyu-sunbae from Beat!," Do-il began, twirling his drumsticks between his fingers once before giving a polite bow. "It's an honor to be playing with you. The guys are big die-hard fans, especially our Byunghee. I think he'd like your autograph permanently tattooed onto his forehead."

"Eye Candy was practically conceived because of you guys!" Hajin exclaimed. "Your cover of Muse's Hysteria went into a serious hype after your street gig at a local fair. We were still bouncing, young, fresh middle schoolers when we saw that. It was kind of sad when you... err... disbanded. But how come you don't do gigs anymore?"

To be honest, they disbanded in good terms, with everyone seemingly wanting to walk different paths of life. But for Sunggyu who had left his quiet hometown in Jeonju to move into the big city of Seoul, driven by his passion for music, he was lead to believe that it happened because their brief stint had been a total failure. They were too young, too foolish, they said. They grew up and wanted out.

"You're fronting for our band in Byunghee's place, sunbae, are you not?" Jihyuk asked, snapping the guy out of his reverie. "He can't make it tomorrow. He's got other life matters to attend to."

"His girlfriend's giving birth!" Kyungjong piped, earning him a heavy knock to the back of his head, courtesy of Hajin.

Sunggyu didn't know what to do as the boys looked at him expectantly. It was very fulfilling on one's part to have influenced a bunch of boys to go and make their own music, and as much as he really wanted to help in an emergency situation, he wasn't exactly in the best position to do so now that he was publicly affiliated to Woohyun and company. Then again, that didn't stop Lee Sungjong (and even Lee Seulbi) from trying to befriend Kim Myungsoo. People didn't care much about it anyway (though he couldn't say the same for the Woollim heiress).

"Can I speak to him in private for a minute?" Myungsoo volunteered before tugging Sunggyu aside. "Listen up, I'd like to offer you a deal, quid pro quo--"

Now where has he heard those words before? Sunggyu shuddered; the two new generation bosses were on similar wavelengths that he felt a bit spooked. It was like he was talking to Lee Seulbi's male version. "No, no, no! I am not getting fooled into any more deals ever again!"

"Why drag it out? Don't lie to yourself, you look like you want to," the heir pointed out as he stuffed his hands into his pockets. 

"Do you even realize how much trouble this is going to cause?"

"I am well aware, but I'm out of working options right now, to be honest. And besides, are you really just going to let the kids down just like that?"

Sunggyu couldn't respond, as if there was still something that was biting him from within. "You're afraid, aren't you?" Myungsoo quietly questioned.

"Of taking the stage again? Please, you're kidding me."

"No. Of life. If you don't have any balls whatsoever to face it, your pathetic self is going to wallow in self-pity for the rest of your life. Are you really going to let society walk over you like that? Did the wealth and comfort of the Lee family get into your head? What a complete joke. And to think I've actually expected you to be different from the usual freeloader."

Although he hated to admit it, Kim Myungsoo was right, as he echoed the same words he himself had told Seulbi yesterday. What was hindering him now was his slight apprehension to step foot on stage due to his self-declared failure. That was something he hadn't settled with himself yet, and the guy seemed to know that.  Why was he even hiding in the first place? These boys were living proof that their efforts had not been in vain, that pursuing music wasn't something to be ashamed of. Besides, if Seulbi wasn't going, then it was highly likely the rest would stick around her, and not go as well, so he had nothing to worry about regarding explaining.

"You'd better be worth it," Sunggyu finally sighed, agreeing to do it, challenged by Myungsoo's pep talk.

"You'd better be working your off too. Eye Candy definitely won't disappoint."

<<<< >>>>

After a long night of practice, they had stopped by at the local chicken shop for the usual chicken and beer. Having gone without dinner, Sunggyu willingly joined them. The rest of them had left a good thirty minutes ago, but Sunggyu had insisted on ordering some more as payment for overtime. Myungsoo had no choice but to comply. They ended up gorging on chicken wings and downing several bottles of beer in silence that they became unaware of the current time.

"That's enough, I'm supposed to drive you home," Myungsoo groaned, starting to feel the slight buzz in his system. "Where do you even live?"

"The second floor, west wing," Sunggyu slurred, completely hit as he knocked over a bottle of beer with his arm.

"West wing to where?"

"Lee Seulbi's mansion, of course! We live together," Sunggyu blurted, completely busting his cover of being Jungyeop's prized scholarship student without being aware of it. Even Myungsoo didn't know that Sungjong lived with Nam Woohyun's family, which made the whole thing even more suspicious. A plethora of emotions resembling quiet anger was starting to bubble up within the Jeguk heir, and before Myungsoo could stick nose in to pry even further, his ringing phone just had to ruin the building momentum.

“YAH! KIM MYUNGSOO! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH SUNGGYU?”

Myungsoo pulled his phone away from his ear. Even Sunggyu had to cringe upon hearing Seulbi’s loud, uncharacteristic screeching through the phone. The girl couldn't help but go into panic mode when she found out that she had come home before Sunggyu did. She couldn't even respond to any of her grandfather's questions regarding his whereabouts.

“I’m borrowing him for the mean time. You only told me to drive him home, you didn't specify a time,” Myungsoo responded nonchalantly. There was another series of yelling before he handed the phone over to Sunggyu. “Yours. Watch the ear drums.”

"WHERE IN ING HELL ARE YOU?!? Do you have any idea what time it is?!? You should have reached home ages ago!"

Sunggyu tried to respond back, but his words came out as a chorus of uncontrollable hiccups and giggles. He could hear the person on the other line sigh deeply. "You're drunk, aren't you? Tell Myungsoo to keep his phone on ready. Stay where you are. I'm picking you up." The dial tone beeped through, indicating the Seulbi had hung up the call.


“Has the young master been located? Is he safe?” Shimgoon questioned. They were currently preparing to leave the estate once again.

Seulbi nodded solemnly. “Yes, he's well aware that we're on our way to him. But first I'll need to head to the kitchen. There’s something I need to borrow.”

“I can have it prepared for you beforehand, agassi. What is it that you wish to procure?”

“A garbage bag. Barf bag precaution.”



Seulbi must have asked Shimgoon to go over speed limit because they arrived at the location that Myungsoo had texted in no time. Sunggyu was too hit to even notice her presence there, almost completely passed out over the table. The first thing the girl had noticed was the litter on the table that the two had created. Mountains of chicken bones could be seen, together with several scattered bottles of alcohol. "Did you... did he drink and eat all this by himself?" Seulbi asked, her face turning darker than storm clouds.

"Most of it."

"Why did you let him eat four whole boxes of chicken?!? His stomach can't take it if he eats too much!"

"How was I supposed to know that?"

"Any sane person would start questioning his sanity after watching him finish his second! And you-- you were supposed to bring him straight home!"

He felt his anger boiling even more after Seulbi snapped at him. Here she was raging up a storm, getting extremely territorial and protective, all because of Kim Sunggyu. Just what was this guy to her? Her boy toy? He could only watched intently as she and Shimgoon pried the guy off the table. Seulbi ended up slapping a thick wad of cash on the table to foot the bill in Sunggyu's stead and she didn't even spare Myungsoo a second glance as she made her way to the exit. Knowing that she was mad at him made Myungso feel dreadful about himself. Ever since they were little, she had rarely gotten mad at him, so being on the receiving end of her sudden bursts of anger told him that he was seriously in the wrong.

"I'm sorry. I'll take both of you home," he offered quietly, his sincere way of apologizing.

"No need. I've got Shimgoon to do that," Seulbi shot down before her tone softened. "Don't drive home in this state, alright? It's dangerous. I'll call your driver."



Aside from Seulbi, Sungjong and the rest of the gang, he was also admonished by some of the elderly attendants and maids for causing quite a ruckus at the normally peaceful estate. Jungyeop was also disappointed at the uncalled-for drinking spree but was a bit more forgiving. After all, this wasn't the first time one of his grandsons had come home wasted. "Boys will be boys," he murmured.

The next morning, he woke up with a massive headache and an upset stomach, forcing him to stay at home to rest and recuperate. As the maid attending to him brought him breakfast in bed, he noticed that there were two bowls set on the tray. Before Sunggyu could even think about helping himself to an extra serving, the maid turned him down. "The other one is for the Young Miss. I'm supposed to take this over to her right now. I wonder if she's awake yet."

"Seulbi? She hasn't gone to the hotel yet?" Sunggyu asked, scratching his head.

"She still wanted to go to work at five in the morning, but sajangnim made her stay at home to rest. Our poor agassi looked extremely exhausted; she's been up all night, tending to you."

Upon hearing that, he felt guilty. So despite his pounding headache and all, he dutifully carried Seulbi's bowl of congee to the family room she frequented in. She was so tired, she had passed out on the couch and her attendants didn't have the heart to disturb her, instead bringing over her blanket. By the time he got there, Woohyun was already tending to Seulbi, carefully tucking her in as he sung a sweet lullaby. Soothed by Woohyun's melodious, velvety voice, Seulbi eased in further into her pillows with a small smile on her face.

"Oh. I didn't notice you there," Woohyun spoke, finally noticing his presence there, clearing his throat out of embarrassment. Sunggyu acknowledged his display of vocal chops with a small nod of his head. The guy was, in honest to goodness, a really good singer.

"I was just here to drop this off," he replied, raising the tray. "But I guess she isn't awake yet. I'll send this back to the kitchen then."

"That alphabet? Did he say anything?"

Nam Woohyun, always on his toes. Truthfully, Myungsoo didn't say what exactly; he only mentioned having some important leverage on information-- both Seulbi and his. If he told Woohyun now, who knows how reckless this person's next move would be? Sunggyu thought it best to accomplish their deal to settle this quietly. "No, nothing at all."

"Anything related to L always spells bad news for this family. Don't meddle into his business," Woohyun sternly warned.


Sunggyu really thought about reconsidering fronting for Eye Candy, but pulling out last minute was too much of a cheap shot, and he was building up too much excitement just because of it. His deciding moment came when the band members called later that day.

"Hyung! Sorry for being too perky, we've been up all night! We changed up some parts of the arrangement and slowed down the song's tempo like you suggested, and by golly, it's a masterpiece!" Kyungjong greeted cheerfully through the phone.

"All it needs is your vocals, and we're good to go!" Jihyuk piped.

"Don't be overconfident. We still need to run a few more rounds with him." That was Myungsoo's lazy drawl on the phone. "So are you bringing your over to last minute rehearsal or are you too hungover to comprehend all of this right now?"

"Shut up, I'm fine! I'll meet you after lunch, geez!"

There was no turning back now. What Woohyun and the rest didn't know wouldn't kill them anyway.

<<<< >>>>

When Seulbi finally woke up from her nap, it was a little past noon and her stomach was already gurgling. Upon looking around, the first thing she noticed was a post-it note placed on the coffee table beside her.

"Brought you breakfast and lunch but you were still asleep. I told the kitchen to have them re-heated when you're up. Sunggyu," it read. With no intent of skipping meals, Seulbi walked herself over to kitchen to satiate the hunger pangs in her stomach. Shimgoon had attended to her once he had gotten word that she was awake.

"Sunggyu?" she asked as she helped herself to some congee.

"The young master has already taken his lunch and is currently in his room, resting. He has also been asked by sajangnim to stay at home. Sajangnim himself has gone to the hotel today to oversee today's work. Woohyun has also gone ahead in the morning to monitor and take care of the university event as vice president; the rest have immediately followed shortly after lunch."

"Ah," Seulbi nodded. With Sunggyu knocked out from his hangover and her family and friends gone, she was left absolutely free of schedules for rest of the day. The first few hours of bumming around had been fun, but with no one to share it with, it slowly turned into boredom. Sunggyu had yet to appear from his self-exile in his bedroom even if it was late in the afternoon.

"Still asleep? Just how bad is that hangover of his?" Seulbi asked, heading to his room once and for all to check on him. She knocked on the mahogany doors, and when no response was made, quietly slipped in. The lump underneath the comforter on his bed was an unusual shape. Suspicious, Seulbi pulled the covers back, only to find pillows underneath it.

He wasn't in the bathroom. He wasn't anywhere in the house, or the estate for that matter; and the maids haven't seen him since lunch. Sunggyu's backpack and favorite highcut sneakers were gone, and his window had been left wide open. By this time, it all made sense in Seulbi's head now. She should have seen it coming-- knowing Kim Sunggyu, he was perfectly capable of playing hookie like this.

"Agassi?" Shimgoon questioned once he found Seulbi with a face mask on, squirming her way into her spring parka. The heiress was inconspicuously dressed; it was out of her usual, as if she was trying to disguise her identity.

"Please ready the car, Shimgoon, we're heading out."

Daekyung University was the destination in question. Seulbi wasted no time and made a point to convene with the rest of her cousins. She found them looking around some of the food stalls, tailing around Woohyun, who was busy relaying orders via the walkie-talkie. "Hi Bumblebee!" Dongwoo waved, calling her over once he managed to spot her. "I thought you weren't coming over!"

Seulbi hushed him before pulling the high collar of her parka over the lower half of her face. She managed to pull most of them over to a secluded corner. The current head count, excluding herself, was five. Seulbi wanted to rip her hair out after confirming that. "He isn't even with you?!?"

"Who? Gyuzizi?"

"YES! Where is he?!?"

"I thought you and Sunggyu-hyung were supposed to be at home resting?" Sungjong asked, a bit confused.

"That prat ran away despite being confined at home! It was quite obvious where he was headed, that's why I ended up here!" the girl gritted as she continued scanning around the area from behind the wide tent.

And to make matters worse, Eye Candy was just about up. Talk about impeccable timing; everything was going her way alright! The heiress pulled her hood over her head and buried half her face into the high collar once again, just to avoid being seen and causing further mayhem to their already blown-up situation. The whole group's brows furrowed simultaneously after hearing the booming announcement, but in the end, they decided to pay attention to the projected screen from their little nook behind one of the tents.

Seulbi paled considerably after the stage lights flashed on. “That is NOT Eye Candy!”

“What do you mean it’s not—?”

With a shaky finger, Seulbi pointed towards the stage, specifically at the band’s front man, which was definitely NOT Byunghee. With all the eyeliner, leather apparel, and tousled rockstar-esque hair, the group barely recognised their very own Kim Sunggyu. His aura was also different; he exuded much more charisma and confidence in sharp contrast to his rather lazy, timid, hyung image at home. Everyone's jaw dropped in disbelief, and apparently so did the rest of the crowd that was expecting Byunghee together with Eye Candy.

“Oh god," Sungjong gasped. "What is he doing up there?”

“I ALREADY WARNED HIM NOT TO-- WHAT THE FRICK IS HE DOING ON STAGE WITH THAT ALPHABET?” Woohyun practically roared in anger. It had taken all of Hoya’s, Dongwoo’s and Sungjong’s strength to restrain him from making a big scene.

“I can’t watch!” Sungyeol whimpered in his extreme unease, shielding his eyes from the sight. “I can’t watch hyung embarrass himself on stage like this!”

"We have to get him out of there! Right now! For all we know, this could be a set-up of some sort that this hyung was foolish enough to get caught in!" Hoya gritted. "Or worse, he could have been forced against his will into this!"

“Gyuzizi, I hope you know what you’re doing!” Dongwoo sputtered, almost letting Woohyun out of his clutches due to preliminary shock.

“Kim Sunggyu, do I always have to clean up after your mess?!?” Seulbi was thinking along the exact same lines with her cousins. Out of her frustration, she started to push forward and make her way to the stage with full intent of rescuing him from imminent embarrassment. It didn’t matter if her cover was blown— she would personally drag him off that stage if she had to.

[Because (Live - Infinite Second Invasion): ver.1 || ver. 2]

The apprehensive crowd was immediately silenced once Sunggyu had dropped the first few notes. Dead silence slowly turned into crazy, fanatic cheers as Sunggyu's smooth, honey vocals continued to work its magic, quickly winning the crowd over. People, the female population especially, were turning into instant fans. Sunggyu was dazzling with confidence as the stage progressed.

Dongwoo nudged the younger boy. “Jjong, did you know about this beforehand?”

“No…” Sungjong murmured as he looked to the stage, in complete awe at his hyung's display of vocal chops. “I’ve known him for almost my whole life now and I’m just as blown away as you all are.”



In high spirits, Sunggyu and the boys of Eye Candy gave their final bows of thanks before getting off the stage after their short setlist. The boys of Eye Candy gave each other high fives and pats on the back for a job well done, eventually pulling Sunggyuto join in on the fun before they were all separated by their respective sound technicians who would claim back the cables and headset equipment for the use of the next performers on the lineup. Myungsoo had barely handed his unplugged cables to his guitar when a hand shot out through the flap of the backstage tent, yanking him sharply through it, with guitar still slinged on.

"Where'd Jeguk go?" Hajin questioned, noticing his sudden disappearance.

"Maybe he needed a really bad potty break," Kyungjong shrugged.

Meanwhile, Myungsoo found himself face-to-face with a bundled up Seulbi. The heiress was a whirlwind of emotions; he couldn't decipher what she was bound to say next. "If you're going to yell at me again, I'll have you know that he agreed to help out," he began, beating her to it before she could lash out at him.

"I wonder on what terms though," Seulbi replied quietly, having already caught on to his drift. "I'm only going to say this once, Myungsoo. You can curse at me and spite me all you want, but leave Sunggyu out of this."

"You're pretty territorial over someone who's just newly entered your life," Myungsoo spat, betraying more bitterness in his tone that he was supposed to let on. "Normally, you don't let outsiders into your life so easily."

"He's not just someone to me."

Her words puzzled him.

"My cousin," Seulbi finally breathed, ending the brief suspense. "Sunggyu is my long-lost cousin, Henry. He's family. When abeonim wanted to give up on life shortly after being confined to the hospital, we sought out to find him, and by some miracle, we managed to do so. If it weren't for Sunggyu, abeonim wouldn't be alive and well right now."

The information was just a bit too shocking to process so suddenly. He had read everything from the wrong frame, but now every detail suddenly fit, from Sunggyu's sudden appearance, to why the cousins and Seulbi kept him so close and protected, to why the guy was practically residing at the esteemed Lee mansion. The lost heir had come home. To Jeguk, that meant that a fourth heir was underway, who could potentially threaten and change up the market dynamics. By showing her hand this early on, Lee Seulbi had just given him the upper hand by putting Kim Sunggyu potentially in the line of fire. Myungsoo couldn't understand why she was doing something as reckless as that. "You're entrusting me with something as big as this?"

"Yes, but not as Jeguk's heir," Seulbi mused, "I'm entrusting this to you as my friend."

Now the ball was in his court and everything that happened from here on out was completely up to him. Did he really have the heart to hammer the final nail in the coffin down? Wasn't betraying her trust once already enough? Lee Seulbi was making an extremely huge gamble here on the basis that Myungsoo would be willing to protect their secret as her friend. 

"I get you. I get what you're trying to do. Typical Lee Seulbi, always the tough one to read through," Myungsoo finally sighed, leaning against one of the supporting poles. "Closed one moment, open the next."

"But you always manage to do so, even until now," Seulbi responded wistfully. "Am I ever even closed around you though, I wonder?"

Myungsoo found that he had no answer to this and it troubled him.



Sunggyu had just wormed his way out of the chaos backstage with his backpack in tow, ready to head home when he heard simultaneous cries of "HYUNG!" filled the air. The Lee family, together with Dongwoo and Sungjong was rushing towards him, causing him to freeze in his tracks.

.

"You're all here? I-I can explain!" Sunggyu stammered, preparing himself for the scolding of his life, but instead of harsh words, he was met with crazed cheers and praises from the boys. No one could even care less if Sunggyu shared the stage with L-- if putting him up on stage was meant as a plan to ridicule, well, the joke was definitely on the Jeguk heir and his cronies.

"Idiot. I'm somewhat in charge, of course, I wouldn't miss this for the world," Woohyun yapped. He had even momentarily forgot that they were supposed to be keeping Sunggyu's profile on the down-low and began his proud babbling, clapping the older guy on the back. "Don't tell me they forced you to it?"

"They didn't. Though it is technically Dasom-ie's fault they found out." This time around, he was willing to recount his experiences with Beat! to them without feeling any shame or self-depreciation. All it took was a little courage to face the music head on once more!

Seulbi finally appeared from the direction of the backstage tents, her face looking somber the moment her eyes had landed on him. "I'm going home," Seulbi announced as she pulled her hood back on, not even sparing the group a sideglance as she stormed to the direction of the parking lot. "Coming here was a huge mistake."

They could only watch as her retreating figure finally disappeared into the crowds. Worried, Woohyun ushered everyone else to follow after his distraught cousin to see what was wrong.

Sungyeol's face was seriously distraught after that. "So we don't get to see Epik High?"

"Your cousin is hurting and you still have time to think about Epik High? As much as I want to attend to Seulbi, you know I can't just leave my job assignment."

With heavy hearts, they all piled into Dongwoo's car and drove home after Shimgoon's chaffeured car. They decided on mutual agreement that they wouldn't breathe a word to anyone, not even to their own grandfather. They arrived home in a split of a minute after Seulbi did. Lee Jungyeop was already waiting for them to come home. The moment he saw Sunggyu coming through the main hall, he got up and made his way towards them.

"Sunggyu."

He immediately gave a 90-degree bow, expectant on receiving another scolding for running away and troubling everyone yet again.

"SON, YOU WERE AMAZING!"

"Huh?"

"I've seen your gig! As expected from my grandson! You completely brought the house down!"

"You were there? No? But how?"

There could only be one person in this household who was capable of making such a feat possible. Everyone turned towards their resident techie for some answers. "I may or may not have tapped into the video crew's system and streamed it back here at home," Sungyeol whistled, backing away. "What?!? Abeonim said he wanted to watch! Epik High might still be on in awhile..."

"You're not mad I escaped home without permission?"

"Mad? No!" Sunggyu could have sworn that the elder teared up slightly as he patted his back, "You take after your father very, very well, my Sunggyu. He would have been very, very proud to see you on that stage tonight. It's such a shame I wasn't able to see you live! Please tell me that wasn't a one-time thing!" Another wave of compliments came from the rest of the boys, which made Sunggyu beam proudly.

Everyone looked at Seulbi expectantly for her reaction because she hadn't bothered to join in on the conversation since she arrived, but she only gave a small pained smile in response. "May I be excused, abeonim?"

Jungyeop was confused, but after receiving a few hints from Hoya and Sungyeol, he eventually gave in. "Yes you may, child." Once Seulbi was out of clear earshot, he turned to the boys for some answers as to why Seulbi was so upset, but they only shrugged.

"It's my fault," Sunggyu admitted. "I'm not sure why, but I think it's accumulated insult to injury."

"She just needs time before re-engaging," Jungyeop comforted. "It's probably just a small misunderstanding, like your usual squabbles. It'll be fine, I promise."

Only problem was, this was the first time that Seulbi was seriously upset with him. And this time, the problem wasn't just going to magically fix itself.

A/N: Uh-oh, trouble in paradise. How's Sunggyu going to fix this? How would you want him to? Also, it looks like the whole Lee mansion is in cahoots for something *wink*, and Sunggyu's not part of it. Part 2 to this fiasco will unveil it all, so keep posted, guys! Again, if you have anything in mind right now, leave a comment! It would mean so much to hear feedback from you guys!

PS: I'll just leave these two easter eggs (it's not even easter) here! Who else is excited for Sunggyu's comeback? MEEEE!