Chapter 5

"A previous band?" Jeongmin, who had been present when Youngmin told them what he had heard Haruka say, asked. 

"Yes, and he doesn't wan anyone to know... Or so I felt... He left as quickly as possible." The tallest explained. "But why would he hide it? Minwoo, he didn't tell you anything, right?"

"Not really... But..." the younger trailed off. "He once mentioned I reminded him of his brother... That's all..."

"Hmm... Why don't we just ask him?" Hyunseong suggested.

"No more being straightforward, Hyunseong." Donghyun lightly bonked his head. "It failed epically last time."

"Sorry..."

"We need to ask someone who knows Haruka better than we do." the leader said. "Someone who has been with him for a long time."

"Simon, you mean?" Kwangmin asked.

"Yes. We need to talk to him." Donghyun said. "We need to go to the hospital."

"But we are not sick." Hyunseong protested. 

"So?"

"They might not let us see him without a previous appointment." their faces fell into a frown. It was useless...

"Oh wait!" Minwoo spoke up suddenly. "I will ask Haruka about him. I'm sure he wouldn't suspect anything." It sounded like a good idea. Haruka would probably think Minwoo was just being curious, unlike if Donghyun or Youngmin bring it up. Jeongmin rarely speaks to haruka, Hyunseong can't really be focused enough and will goof around one way or a another, and of course, if Kwangmin does it, Haruka would think that he and his twin have been plotting for this. Minwoo was the best choice, and so, he went on his mission. 

It was 3 p.m., and Haruka had already taken permission to leave early. One his way out, Minwoo caught up to him. Haruka stopped, but regretted it because, in a matter of seconds, he was tackled into a death hug.

"I was so worried about you!" Minwoo exclaimed.

"G-get off...!" Haruka squirmed to get away, and soon, Minwoo had mercy on him and let go. 

"Sorry..." Minwoo apologized with an innocent smile drawn on his face. "Say, I wanted to ask you something..."

"And that is...?"

"Does Simon-san live here in Korea?" now that was an unexpected question. Haruka didn't think anyone would ever want to meet Simon again in their lives. In his opinion, Simon was annoying. In what way, that he didn't know. Yet, Haruka couldn't deny he valued Simon as a friend, even if he sometimes didn't like his overreacting ways...

"Here..." Haruka blankly handed him another paper. "Excuse me, Minu, I need to leave." With that, haruka left the building. Minwoo laughed quietly. haruka didn't even suspect he was acting. His mission was done. Now they need to go to Simon. He stred at the paper in his hands proudly. Donghyun was surely going to be happy with him.

"That...was fast..." was what Donghyun said.

"I know. Haruka didn't seem to suspect anything I did. I don't think he knew I was acting."

"That's wierd... I thought he would question you..." Youngmin mused to himself. "There must be something wrong..."

"It doesn't matter now." Minwoo smiled. "We have the adress. If we can find out what's bothering Haruka, we will be able to help him." The rest agreed. They decided, after asking their manager for that pewrsonal favour, to go to where Simon resides and ask him about Haruka. After their daily practice, that is...

"This is where he lives...?" the six stood in front of the gates of Simon's house. It was a two-storey house with a nice foreyard, a light blue fence and various types of plants and trees around. It was built Europian style, and looked quite cozy.

"Are we all going to talk to him...?" Kwangmin asked.

"Well, we are all here..." Hyunseong trailed off.

"Okay... Let's go." Donghyun said as he pushed the gates, which were unlocked, and they all stepped past them. They took a couple of steps before they reached the front steps of the porch. Just them, Youngmin heard something growling in a distance. 

"What was that?" he asked, shaking a little.

"Is it a dog?" Minwoo glanced around. "I don't see anything."

"It's getting dark, anyways... We won't be able to see it if it's hiding." said Jeongmin. In an instant, something as large as what would be a small bear pounced onto Hyunseong, throwing him on the grass, pinning him down. It was growling quietly.

"Hyunseong!" "Hyung!" they yelled at the same time. The ambusher soon ceased growling, what came next was Hyunseong's giggles.

"Stop..Stop it! It tickles..! Stop!"  the thing pinning him down soon stopped his face and set him free, trotting away to fetch something. They could now see it was a very large hound that looked too much like a wolf, with light silver fur and blue eyes. It came back, holding a ball in his mouth. it placed it in front of Hyunseong and wagged it's tail, barking and urging him to pick it up and throw it. Hyunseong did, and the 'dog' ran after it, fetched it back, and the process went on.

"It's... a dog..?" Minwoo asked. 

"No, it's a wolf... A large one, too." They all turned to see Simon walking out of the house, holding a black cat. He walked down the steps and waved at them, then held the cat's paw and imitated a waving motion. "Say 'Hi!', Blackie." The cat yawned and hit Simon's arm lightly before jumping out of his arms and resting on a nearby garden chair.

"These are yours?" Minwoo asked.

"No, they belong to Haruka- Ah!" As soon as the name escaped his lips, the wolf pounced onto him andwagged it's tail excitedly, as if expecting to see Haruka walk by or so. "He is not here, Houseki..." the silver wolf let out a whine and got off, walking away in disappointment. "He was just keeping them here with me."

"Oh... I see." 

"Why are you here anyway?" Simon asked, tilting his head.

"We want to ask you some questions..." Donghyun said. "About Misashi..."

"I see..." Simon nodded then smiled. Let's go inside, shall we?"Being a man of good manners, Simon led them in to the sitting room, where he usually hosted his guests. It was a room of dark colors, with tow dark red sofas, two armchairs, a bookcase, a small cabinet and a fireplace.

"Looks cozy..." Minwoo said with a small smile. 

"Here, have a seat." They all sat down. no sooner than they did, a young boy, about 4, walked in. He had his hands in his pockets, and looked a lot like Simon, except for his heterochromatic eyes; one red, one blue. Unlike kids his age, he wore a bored expression as he stared at the six idols.

"Seriously, you patients are becoming weirder day by day..." He muttered in a bored tone. 

"These are Guests, not patients, Chiisai..." The young boy rolled his eyes. 

"Whatever, old man..." he walked back to where he came from. Simon shook his head.

"Sorry about that... He doesn't like visitors..."

"Is he your child?" Minwoo asked suddenly before being nudged by Youngmin. "Ow...!"

"That's rude..." the older whispred.

"Sorry, I was just curious..."

"It's okay, Youngmin." Simon smiled. "I don't mind it at all. Being curious is not wrong." then he turned to Minwoo. "Yes, he is my son. He's almost five, yet he's acting mature, just like his father was..." he muttered the last bart with a sigh. "He doesn't seeing people, let alone meeting people he doesn't know..."

"Yeah, I can see it..." Donghyun chuckled. Simon decided to return back to the original topic.

"So, what is it that you want to ask of?"

"Haruka... He is hiding something..." minwoo said, face falling into a light frown. "he seems to be bothered by something about his career, but he would never tell us anything."

"He almost revealed it to me, but as soon as he realized it, he left, and I couldn't question him..." Youngmin added. Simon rupped his chin in thought.

"So it's about them again, huh...?"

"You know, right?" Minwoo asked quickly. "Please, tell us." Simon sighed and shook his head.

"I.. can't tell you that... I promised Haruka not to say a word to anyone..." he said, then added. "But I can give you a glimpse of Haruka's past as an idol. It can help..."

"Please do." Donghyun urged him to go on.

"Haruka's career started back when he was 4... He started as an actor along with his twin brother, and the two were famous for their roles as elves in most fantasy dramas and films."

"You mean the Elven Duo?" Hyunseong cut in.

"Yes. The twins were successful, and they soon started taking on bigger roles, and when they were 13, they stopped acting and attended a music academy, after their father managed to persuade their manager to speak to the CEO about it. Seeing it would greatly benefit the agency, Terumi and Haruka started to train on singing. At that academy, their natural musical talent caught the eyes of their seniors. One day, they both got an offer to join one of the most famous up-coming bands in the academy. None of the twins were interested, as they had their own plans for the future." 

"So they turned down the offer?" Donghyun stated more than questioned.

"Exactly. They both refused to work under the command of someone else." Simon nodded. "No sooner than that, they recived another offer from on of the teachers at that academy. He was an idol, and he would go to the academy to teach music. He was a master at classicals, a type of music Haruka was interested in, and so he took the offer to be tutored by that teacher. During that time, I worked as Haruka's personal doctor. I accompanied him to all his lessons. I had to make sure his body and mind were in perfect condition. That was my sole purpose." he paused, then went on. "Haruka had a different personality. He is a child to the core... No matter how hard he tries to become serious or act mature, he is as innocent as a child. I've never seen him lie, he has never really intended to hurt anyone." Then he laughed. "Now I'm talking too much again. Let's go back to the topic. In the same year Haruka started taking lessons from that teacher, a small group of students started making plans to form a band. They were 4; Haruka's younger brother Mitsu, a boy named Kuro, a composer called Miru, and Haruka's cousin, Shoutsu. The four were of average grades, but they all loved music. They all had their special talents."

"Wait..." Jeongmin cut in. "Mitsu, you say...?"

"Yes."

"Do you know him, Jeongmin...?" Minwoo asked. 

"Yes... Isn't he that songwriter? The one that woked for a band called 'HARUKANA Boyz'" At this, Hyunseong remembered something.

"That's right! Now I remember him. I remembe all of them. They were 8 memebers, I think... And they appeared on Weekly Idol a couple of times." he said.

"Yes, we were even hosted in the same talk show once." jeongmin added. Simon blinked.

"So you remember them now?" he said. "I thought I would need to narrate everything."

"What do you mean?"

"I can't tell you more than this. You should hear the story from Haruka."

"Wait, what about the four?"

"HARUKANA Boyz had 8 members as you said. The four are one half. The others were an actor called Kaitou, Haruka's teacher, Makoto, and the twins, Haruka and Terumi." Simon said finally.

"The names sound so familiar.... Can it be... We knew them all along...?" Donghyun mused in a tone of disbelief. Then it hit him. "We need to go now." He got up. "Thank you for your help."

"I'm glad I was of good help to you. but please don't tell Haruka I told you."

"We won't. Thank you." The six left the house to find their manager waiting for them outside. They got into the van and the ride back to their appartment started.

"What is it, hyung?" Minwoo poked Donghyun, who was deep in thought. "What did you find out."

"Two years ago, I rememeber stumbling upon an article... But I can't recall it clearly..."

"About Haruka's band?"

"Yes."

"We should look for it when we go back home." Kwangmin said and Youngmin nodded. 

"I don't know..." Hyunseong yawned. "I'm tired..."

"Me too." Minwoo agreed. "We need sleep so we can practice tomorrow. Our concert is in three days..."

"You are right..." Donghyun  sighed, but he was going to look it up, anyway. And so, that night, he searched through a drawer filled with old magazines. Sometimes he wondered why they kept them, but he was thankful. At least he had a place to look through.

"Gotcha.." he smiled as he pulled out that certain magazine he remembered. Flicking through the pages, his eyes caught a certain headline.

'HARUKANA Boyz Disbanded!

After stopping the production of their newest film, HARUKANA Boyz' rapper, AmeTeru has declared he will be resigning, stating that he cannot put up with his leader's ways. The leader, HaruKaze, stated that Teru was just spreading rumors, which caused a clash between the two. 

"The fights between these two are too much intese and useless." says R.K., the main vocalist. "I don't think any of us can put up with HaruKaze's orders. He's getting too bossy."

On Monday, 21 of January, HARUKANA Boyz' manager, Kasaki Shirou, announced that the musical group has been disbanded as the memebers have clearly shown their unability to continue. Shocked and betrayed, HaruKaze fell into a nervous breakdown. His personal doctor stated that HaruKaze can no longer carry on with his career as an idol as his health was getting worse day by day.

"HaruKaze's mental health is getting worse everyday." says the famous doctor and surgeon, Simon Swift. "His career was the reason for his breakdown. Getting away from it is the best solution." He also added. "He might be able to make a comeback, but on finding that his health starts to get worse again, he will stop."'

"HaruKaze..." Donghyun murmured, staring the the picture of the former idol. "How couldn't I notice it earlier...?" That face was so familiar, yet he couldn't see it. He failed to see that HaruKaze has been by his side all this time.