Seung Ho walked down the aisle looking at the 5 new candidates. He nodded his head as he studied them.

“Pretty good,” he said to them.

“Alright,” he clapped his hands for attention.

“All of you know how it’s done. Tae Min and Ki Bum will jump on each of you. If you’re still standing after 5 minutes, then welcome to Sechskies.” Only 2 of the 5 guys lasted the beating. “Okay,” said Min Ho. The two newest members to join are...“

“Wait!” a voice shouted, interrupting Min Ho. Everyone looked over to see who it is. Seunh Ho stared at the young boy who was walking towards them.

*What the hell? Damn! This kid looks like Ji Yeon!* he thought.

*I must be losing it. How come I keep seeing her today?* Min Ho looked at the new boy curiously.

“Yes? What do you want little man?”

I looked at Min Ho.

*Gosh, he developed an attitude*, I thought. I took a deep breath. This is it. “I want to join SechsKies.” A guy I recognized as Lee Hyun Woo busted out laughing. He placed his hand on top of my head.

“You? How old are you boy? 15? 16? And how tall are you now? 5’?” I moved his hand away for him. “No. I’m 18 and I’m not 5’, I’m 5’3.” That remark made all the other members except Seung Ho laugh. I looked at him curiously and realized he was checking me out.

*Oh no*, I thought.

*Please don’t recognize me*. Seung Ho held up his hand for the others to stop laughing.

“Hey, if he wants a chance, then we’ll give it to him.” Then he turned to face me. I felt my heart thumping loud and prayed he couldn’t hear it. He placed his hand on my shoulder. Dang, he smells good, I thought as I tried to suppress a smile.

“Look kid,” said Seung Ho to me.

“You have to be jumped on to join. These 2 guys (pointing at Tae Min and Ki Bum) will kick the crap out of you for 5 minutes. If you’re still standing, you’re in.” I nodded my head. I knew I had to last because I’m doing it for Seung Ho. I stood there as Ki Bum and Tae Min began to hit me. Tae Min threw the first punch and it gave me instant pain. He’s even stronger than my stepmom, I thought. Ki Bum kicked me and I was knocked to the ground but I kept pulling myself up. Seung Ho looked at the helpless boy who was struggling to stand up. He doesn’t understand why but when he looks at the boy, images of Ji Yeon replaced him. Right now in his eyes, it looked like it was Ji Yeon being beaten up by Tae Min and Ki Bum. He couldn’t help it.

“Stay down!” he yelled to the boy. Everyone stared at Seung Ho. Both Tae Min and Ki Bum stopped hitting the boy because they were surprised that Seung Ho was being nice out of nowhere.

I heard Seung Ho yelling for me to stay down. My ears listened but my legs wouldn’t. I refused to stay down. No matter how many times they hit me or how hard, I managed to get up. Finally 5 minutes was over and I was still standing.

“Am I in?” I asked in a weak voice. I saw Seung Ho staring at me with a surprised expression.

“Yes, you’re in.” he said patting my shoulder. I smiled and fainted into his arms.

Seung Ho held the boy in surprise. He realized the boy had fainted. Usually he would let go if someone fainted on him, but this time he held on tight. The other Sechskies members and the 2 new recruits looked at Seung Ho in a strange manner.

“Uh, hyung,” said Min Ho, as he patted Seung Ho on the shoulder.

“What?” asked Seung Ho, as he continued holding the boy.

“What should we do about the new recruits?”

“Give them instructions and show them to their rooms. We’ll have a meeting tomorrow.”

“Okay.” They all left but once in a while, they all would glance back looking at Seung Ho, who was carrying the boy in the other direction.

---> to be continued...