She wakes up to pounding on the door. She looks at the clock across the room to see it is only 4 in the morning.  She gets up sleepily and shuffles the door. She opens the door and close her eye from the bright hallway light.

“Hey sleepy head.” Minwoo greets.

“What are you doing here? Wait who is this?” Nicola blinks a few times to try to adjust her eyes to the light of the halls and is a little confused on who exactly is at her door. She tries to place her hand as a visor to shade her eyes. Minwoo tries to help her shade her eyes. She blinks a few times and finally sees Minwoo standing there smiling and trying to be helpful. She quickly jumps back, surprised, and tries to fix her hair by smoothing it down. Minwoo enters the apartment with a little bow.

“Nicola, I forgot to tell you we were coming so early. The boys have a video shoot today.” Kwon enters the apartment to start making breakfast. The boys sluggishly drag their feet one by one in and fall to the floor to sleep some more anywhere they can.

“Someone just woke up.” Donghyun teases. He ruffles her hair as he passes.

“Hurry and go get washed up. We need to leave soon.” Kwon instructs from the kitchen. Nicola quickly gets ready. Kwon let’s everyone eat who was willing to be awake and then off they went to the recording spot. Nicola was falling asleep in the car along with Youngmin.

“Nicola, Youngie, it’s time to wake up. We are here.” Minwoo teases Youngmin by pinching his cheek. Youngmin glares at Minwoo sleepily. Nicola yawns and leans on the van when she gets out for support.

“I will carry you. You are about to fall down.” Donghyun chuckles.

“I’m fine.” She mumbles in English. Hyunseong translates.

“Let me give you a piggy back ride then.” Donghyun says again. She yawns while thinking for a second then agrees. She lays her head on his shoulder and drapes her arms around his neck.

“Hyung! I want to carry her.” Minwoo pouts.

“Minwoo, you are not much stronger than she is.” Kwon laughs.

“I want a piggy back ride.” Youngmin yawns.

“Don’t even think about it.” Kwangmin warns. Youngmin doesn’t even hear him but keeps moving forward until they reach the dressing room. He then slumps down on the couch next to Nicola to get some more sleep. After another hour of sleep, the crew is done setting up the set and it’s time for the boys to get ready to film. Nicola is behind the cameras with the boys as they wait for the water to fill up.

“Why is there water?” Nicola watches the water level rise.

“To make it look cool, duh.” Donghyun teases her.

“You’re being mean! I’m telling!” Nicola jokes. She clings to Minwoo’s arm. “Oppa, Donghyun Hyung is being mean.” Minwoo looks over at Donghyun.

“Hey!” Minwoo shoots him a look. For being the youngest, his opinion matters the most. He was treated like the leader almost.

“Hey! I was just joking.” Donghyun tries to defend himself.

“Hyung, you know you shouldn’t be treating girls like that. You are suppose to be a gentleman.” Minwoo goes over to scold Donghyun.

“Boys, go to the set. From the top.” The director orders. They get in place but not long before Kwangmin slips. The director asks for them to come out of the water. Kwon, Nicola, and the other boys are giggling at Kwangmin. He is soaked from his shoes up to his belt.

“I need a hug.” Kwangmin goes towards the members. They run away. He goes towards Kwon.

“Don’t you do it.” Kwon backs away.

“Nicola!” Kwangmin yells. “You are a girl, you like hugs right!” Kwangmin chases after her. Nicola hides behind Minwoo and Youngmin. “Youngmin! My hyung!” Kwangmin tries to hug his twin but Youngmin makes a break for the other side of the room. Kwangmin finally gives up. They being practice outside of the water. Then after that restart, Youngmin had a few errors on his part. They review the take. The choreographer points out that Youngmin is a second behind Kwangmin. They take another cut and still Youngmin is unable to get it right. They take two more cuts and still it doesn’t come out right. The choreographer is no pleased. The twins now practice to try to line up their moves. All of the boys are exhausted but still shooting isn’t done. Youngmin beings to get frustrated by what he is lacking. He has put too much pressure on himself to do better. The makeup artists gather around to fix his hair and his makeup but the tears threaten Youngmin’s eyes. Minwoo and Kwangmin fear Youngmin will be a little too frustrated and let his emotions out. Nicola slowly comes over to see what’s going on. She slides by the staff to Youngmin. She takes his hand in hers and pats his hand with her free hand to say it will be okay. They all take a five minute break and then back to filming. After shooting the group shot, and then all the individual scenes, filming is done. The boys go change and dry off. The only staff remaining now was the cleanup crew. Nicola and Kwon wait for the boys to return from the dressing room. They wait for the boys out of the way but where they filmed the video.

“The choreographer was a little strict.” Nicola looks up at Kwon.

“It’s just how they are.” Kwon assure her.

“And Youngmin?” Nicola questions.

“He has a lot of pressure being put on him.” Kwon sighs. Nicola nods.

“It just seems like he was being too hard on Youngmin.” Nicola glances at Kwon. Kwon drops the subject.

“Your father called me today while the boys were taking a break.” Kwon pauses. “He will be back in about a month. He wants you to call him, so he can tell you about the details of your aunt.”

“Will the boys be a while?” Nicola asks.

“Yes, they take forever to get ready.” Kwon nods.

“Okay, I will be right back then.” Nicola pulls out her phone and dials her father’s number. She walks down the hallway pass the door of the boys’ changing room and down  two flights of stairs. She sits down on the stairs and waits.

“Hello?” Her father speaks in English.

“Dad?” Nicola also switches to English. “Do you have time to talk?”

“I sure do.” There is a long pause then he sighs.

“Dad, I knew from the start you didn’t go for the reason you said. I don’t have an Aunt Alex.” Nicola stars.

“I know. I hoped you picked up on that. Your mother is more or less trying to get custody of you. She is now making lies. Honey, it doesn’t look good for us. You might have to go back to the States. It doesn’t help that my family has basically disowned us from the family because of my marriage to your mom. I knew it would probably upset you if you had to go back to the States but it’s her word versus mine and you’re not of age yet. I really hope you understand that I’m doing all I can so you can choose what life you want.” Dave sounds as if he is about to break down.

“Dad, I don’t want to live with mom. She is too strict and her parents look down on me as it is since I’m obviously do not look Korean. I heard what her mom’s friend said that one day. She did not know I could hear them let alone understand them, but she told grandma that I seemed like a blemish to the name since you guys are splitting up.” Nicola’s voice shakes. The tears fall down her face. She buries her face in the sleeve of her jacket. “Mom wasn’t always like this but lately, she just seemed like she has been crazier than ever. She is like a whole other person. She wasn’t always like this.”

“I know…I just don’t know what changed about her…” Dave’s voice quivers again.

“I’m going to go dad, I think Kwon is looking for me.” She lies.

“Okay honey, I just wanted to let you know what was happening. I’m going to try my best to show them that you want to stay here in Korea and I might have to fly you out here just to have you tell the court. I’m going to try to make things right okay. You tell me how you want them and I will fix it for you. If you want to live in the States, then you are allowed to. I will find some way for you.” Dave assures her. They say their goodbyes. Nicola keeps her face buried and tries to regain her composure. She uses her phone as a mirror and fixes her makeup so no one knows she was crying. A few deep breathes; she is on her way up the stairs with a little smile on her face just as she had left.

“Was everything alright?” Kwon questions. The boys are with him.

“Yeah, he just wanted to tell me my aunt was doing alright now.” Nicola smiles.

“You look like you have been crying. Your nose is red and your eyes are a little puffy.” Minwoo asks, worried.

“I was being clumsy and fell going down the stairs. I’m alright though.” Nicola covers for herself. “I just teared up a little.”

“Yah, you need to be more careful.” Minwoo pats her head. “Come on clumsy.” Minwoo directs her to the stairs.

 

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:D as i said, here is the update! ^-^ please comment for it makes me work harder and so i will update sooner. :D i have part of chapter 4 started but its not finished....hope you like this so far! ^-^