“Everyone? We’re home!”

Leeteuk called out from the hallway.

“I need something to eat,” Heechul mumbled while he threw off his shoes. “I’m starving.”

“I’m sure Wookie will make you something if you ask him, Chul.”

“Wookie!”

They sauntered into the living room. Heechul immediately wrapped himself around Ryeowook’s neck begging him to cook something up.

Shindong looked up when Leeteuk sat down next to him with a contented sigh.

“How was the radio show?”

“The show was fun, but the meeting afterwards was a bit long. How were things here?”

“Quiet for a change,” he chuckled.

He gestured to the others. Eunhyuk was reading his manga, nestled in a corner of the room. Kyuhyun was playing video games on the couch and Donghae was fast asleep with his head on Kyuhyun’s lap. Leeteuk smiled tenderly at that last scene.

“He must have been tired.”

“He tired himself out, you mean,” Kyuhyun muttered without looking up from his video game.

“Tired himself out?”

“He’s been browsing old photos and videos. From since our debut. He kept muttering how great our fans are.”

Heechul had released Ryeowook to let him cook and walked over to the others. He cooed at the sight of his sleeping dongsaeng.

“He’s so cute.”

Kyuhyun gave him a small sideways glance.

“Leave him alone, hyung.”

“And who are you to tell me what to do, evil one?”

He tiptoed to Donghae and squatted down. He lifted a long finger to teasingly along Donghae’s nose. Kyuhyun sighed.

“Seriously, hyung…”

Donghae stirred from his sleep with a small groan.

“Wake up, sleepy head. Hyung is home.”

They all rolled their eyes at that. Donghae blinked and stared at Heechul for a while before he realized his face was only inches away from his own. He jerked back with a gasp.

“Hyung!”

“Hi, little fish,” Heechul grinned.

Donghae looked around in a daze. He noticed he’d fallen asleep on the couch and looked up at Kyuhyun. He yawned.

“You’re a comfortable pillow, Kyu.”

Kyuhyun snorted.

“Thanks.”

He clambered up so Heechul could sit on the couch too and sleepily leaned against him.

“What got you so tired, Hae?” Leeteuk asked.

“Looking at old pics,” Donghae muttered.

Something triggered in his mind and he suddenly looked a lot more awake.

“Hyung? What are we doing for our anniversary this year?”

They all turned their attention on him.

“I don’t know,” Leeteuk answered surprised. “Why?”

Donghae shrugged, resting his head against Heechuls shoulder again.

“I was just wondering. We’ve been doing a lot of costumes lately, so I thought we could switch it up a little this time. But I’m coming up empty on ideas.”

“Something different, huh?” Shindong hummed.

“Yeah, something for the fans. But… not just for them. More like from them too.”

Donghae reached for his handphone and started scrolling through some pictures.

“I mean, the ELF’s know us by heart.”

“And then some,” Kyuhyun shivered.

Eunhyuk nodded in sympathy.

“I’m not talking about the sasaengs.”

Heechul took over the phone to see all the fan gifts they’d gotten over the years.

“I just want to show that we know them too.”

“How?” Eunhyuk frowned. “All our ELF’s are different.”

Donghae groaned.

“I know.”

Leeteuk chuckled at his reaction.

“You’re almost thirty, Hae and you’re still such a kid.”

“He’s a cute kid,” Heechul protested and patted Donghae on the head.

Donghae squirmed away from the gesture and glared at him. Heechul snickered.

“Maybe we could do something with the sapphire blue or something?” Eunhyuk suggested. “Design something for the ELF?”

“Like what?”

Eunhyuk groaned too, burying his face in his manga.

“I don’t know. This is just too hard.”

Everyone fell quiet.

“How about fanfics?”

Leeteuk started coughing, Shindong quickly patted his back. Eunhyuk dropped his manga in horror. Kyuhyun even forgot about his video game.

“Uh, what…. What do you mean, hyung?” Donghae asked with a small hint of fright.

Heechul grinned. Now they all backed away.

“Fan fiction. You know; the stories about…”

“We know what fan fiction is, Heechul!” Leeteuk interrupted quickly.

He scoffed at their reaction.

“I’m actually serious. You wanted something inspired by the fans, right?”

They backed away even more. He sighed.

“Have you read any of those stories? I’m not talking about the ones, but there are some pretty good stories out there, you know.”

The others immediately balked at the idea, but Donghae hesitated.

“What about those stories, hyung?”

“We could hold a contest or something. Offer a reward for the best one?”

“Are we supposed to go through them all? We’ll be scarred for life,” Shindong shivered.

“Not if we set up rules,” Kyuhyun stated easily. “No ero stuff.”

Shindong gave a half smile.

“Oh, you take out all the fun in this.”

Heechul chuckled.

“But it could work…” Eunhyuk nodded. “I mean, it is from the fans.”

“You can’t be serious about this?” Leeteuk asked weakly.

“What’s going on?” Ryeowook suddenly asked.

He walked into the living room with a plate of delicious smelling food.

“Wookie, you’re an angel!”

Heechul leaped up in excitement. Ryeowook chuckled when Heechul grabbed the plate and retreated back onto the sofa, ignoring all the envious stares from the others.

“So what were you guys talking about?” he asked while he perched on the arm of the couch.

“Fan fiction,” Kyuhyun answered.

“Huh…?”

“What do you think, Wookie?”

Eunhyuk got up and squeezed himself between the others on the couch. Kyuhyun grumbled, but moved over to make a bit more room.

“Hae wants to find something for our anniversary. Something to get to know our fans. Heechul-hyung suggested fan-fiction.”

“Fan fiction?”

They looked up. Kangin, Sungmin and Siwon walked into the living room.

“Why are you guys talking about fan fiction?”

Leeteuk sighed. They might as well discuss this with all the members. Knowing Heechul, he wasn’t going to let this go easily. And they really did need to find a project for their anniversary.

“We’ll explain when everyone gets here. Where’s Yesung?”

“On his way. He wanted to get some coffee first.”

The others nestled around the coffee table. Kangin and Sungmin threw some cushions on the floor. Siwon grabbed a chair from the kitchen.

“I’m home,” came a quiet mutter from the hallway.

Yesung looked up in surprise when he saw everyone in the living room.

“Is something wrong? Why is it so quiet here?”

“We were just talking,” Shindong smiled in amusement.

Heechul waved his chopsticks to Leeteuk, signaling that he needed to do the talking since he was too busy eating. The food Wookie made was too good to let it grow cold. Leeteuk rubbed his neck and sighed.

“Donghae wants something new for our anniversary.”

Siwon blinked in realization.

“Oh yeah, that’s not too long from now.”

“Time flies,” Kangin nodded. “When you’re not in the army…”

Yesung gave him a sympathetic pat on his arm.

“We were just thinking up ideas. For a project that would involve our fans.”

Sungmin frowned.

“Involve our fans? How so?”

Leeteuk hesitated, but grumbled it out anyway.

“Heechul was thinking of a contest. About fan fiction.”

“Oh…”

Ryeowook chuckled.

“That would definitely be something new.”

“I don’t know…” Kangin spoke. “I’m not sure I can handle reading all those stories about, you know, me… Some of that stuff is pretty scary.”

“Yeah, that would be scary,” Eunhyuk chuckled.

He quickly pulled his leg back when Kangin tried to swat him. Donghae and Kyuhyun snickered.

“So put up some rules or something,” Yesung shrugged.

They quieted down, actually considering the idea. Heechul polished off his food in record time, putting the plate on the coffee table with a satisfied sigh.

“Hae seems to think it’s a good idea.”

He glanced at the younger who nodded in agreement.

“So let’s see how everyone else thinks about it. Anyone absolutely against it, raise your hand.”

Leeteuk scoffed at his obvious tactics.

“No one? Great, that’s settled then,” Heechul announced with glee.

“Hold it,” Leeteuk grumbled. “Do it properly.”

Heechul rolled his eyes.

“Fine. Who agrees to a contest for our fans, writing fan fiction?”

Donghae and Eunhyuk raised their hands without hesitation. Ryeowook easily joined in. As well as Shindong and Siwon. Heechul glared threateningly at Kangin who shrugged. 

"I'm not sure about this. But I'm going along with the majority." 

Leeteuk watched with wide eyes as Yesung, Kyuhyun and Sungmin raised their hands as well. 

“Well… if that’s what everyone wants…”

Leeteuk felt a headache coming on, but nodded.

“I’ll have to have a talk with the company then.”

Heechul grinned, but nodded in gratitude. Donghae’s eyes shone bright in anticipation.

“Kyu, you can set up the website for this,” Yesung suggested.

“What?! Why me?” Kyuhyun protested.

“You know computers,” Shindong shrugged.

“Oh, come on. You can’t stick me with all the work just because I like a computer game or two.”

“Sure we can,” Kangin grinned.

He dropped his large hand on Kyu’s shoulder and chuckled at the younger’s disgruntled face.

“Stop complaining, Kyu," Leeteuk huffed. "You’re not the only one who has a big job to do. I have to talk the managers and the company into liking this idea of a fan fic contest.”

Leeteuk leaned back into his chair, already tired just thinking about it. Kyuhyun quietly continued to mutter while he got up and walked to his room. He turned in irritation.

“I’m going to need coffee! Lots of it!”

The others chuckled when the door closed behind him. Leeteuk could only sigh.