Days turned to weeks, and weeks turned to months, and finally... it was the date they had all dreaded, the Performance Unit's solo stage.

Junhui didn't know how they did it, but they managed to keep the whole thing a secret until now. He knew that it was largely thanks to Seungcheol and Jeonghan covering up for them for the most part, however.

He sighed as they did their last round of mic checks, this was it. Before this, he had spent every waking moment possible with Jihoon, and when he had to slip out for practice, he would always get Jihoon something as a substitute, like a stuffed animal or a key chain, which Jihoon would pretend to not want but line them up securely at the side of his bed or along his desk so that they'd be the first thing he sees every morning.

"All right, Performance Unit. We either go big or go home." Soonyoung said solemnly as they did their signature pep-talk circle position, except this time with only four people.

"Literally." Minghao added under his breath.

Meanwhile, the rest of SEVENTEEN gathered backstage, some warming up their vocals, and others stretching on the floor, anticipating for their turn on the stage. Seungcheol glanced at Jeonghan and nodded, a look of understanding shared between the two oldest members. The leader turned to the scattered members, "All right, guys, this is it, gather 'round."

There was a flurry of noises as the members pumped themselves up, running and forming a circle around their parent figures. Somehow, the circle seemed smaller than usual... "The Performance Unit still aren't here yet?" Seungkwan asked, counting off the gathered members.

Seungcheol sighed heavily, "They will not be performing with us today."

"What?"

An explosion of noises exploded, but this was all expected.

"You knew and you didn't tell us?"

"Let's all calm down and focus on the performance-"

"There is no performance without the Performance Unit!"

Seungcheol let out another sigh, waiting for the noise to finally quiet down, but only due to the staff's hushing, "I know we all have mixed feelings right now, but they didn't want us to worry. Let's put ourselves in their shoes for a while."

The members listened intently as their leader, with the aid of Jeonghan, explained the whole story, all the while reminding them that the Performance Unit always kept their feelings in mind, which was why they asked for their situation to remain a secret.

By the time it had ended, it was already their turn. The group filed into the preparation space with heavy hearts, the majority of them still unsure of how to react. Seungcheol glanced over at Seokmin, Mingyu, Hansol, and Jihoon in particular, trying to read their expressions.

There was worry in Seokmin's eyes, but his expression looked determined as they faced the stage.

Mingyu's eyes darted back towards the waiting room, probably thinking about whether he still had time to call Minghao or not.

Hansol's face was relaxed, but the way his hands shook slightly as they finally left for the stage didn't escape Seungcheol's gaze.

As for Jihoon... he seemed indifferent.

The group got into position for the live stage, and Seungcheol could still feel the heaviness hanging in the air, but he knew they had to put up a good show for the Performance Unit as well. Still, the stage seemed abnormally empty without them.

To his surprise, the first couple of numbers passed by smoothly, and Seungcheol was starting to think they were going to get through the entire showcase with no problem until they got to Jihoon's solo stage.

He watched in shock as Jihoon missed his starting note, the vocalist leader just stood in the center of the stage, seemingly zoned out. The music stopped abruptly as the staff sensed something odd, words of worry buzzed from the audience as well.

Just when Seungcheol was about to go up and bring Jihoon down, afraid that he's finally having a meltdown, the small figure drew in a shaky breath as he spoke into the mic, "Today is a very important day for someone close to me."

The buzzing instantly quieted down, and Seungcheol could feel the other members hold their breaths along with him.

"That person has always been trying their best to be positive, even when the situation seemed hopeless. They always tried to make those around them smile, even when they had problems of their own. That's why... they've always kept their worries a secret from everyone else, shouldered them on their own." His grip around the microphone tightened as he took another deep breath, "Just like right now. They are standing on their own stage, fighting all by themselves, but we can't be there for them..." Jihoon felt his voice crack, "Even though they were always there for us."

Seungcheol was frozen in his spot, his eyes grew wide as he realized tears were beginning to slide down Jihoon's cheeks, it felt like a flashback to when they had their first win, except this time, the tears weren't due to happiness.

"So I'm begging you... please let me go to them," Jihoon choked out in-between light sobbing, bowing his head down towards the audience, "I know this is very unprofessional of me... but I don't want to take their existence for granted ever again. I'm begging you... Please..."

Seungcheol felt movement next to him, and before he could react, Mingyu and Hansol had walked on stage, standing on either side of Jihoon, matching his bow with their hands on his back, rubbing gently.

"Please let us go." The two said in unison.

Seokmin followed a little afterwards, looking at the crowd earnestly, "Thank you all for coming today to support us, but I'm afraid there is someone else that needs all of our support more right now." With that, he too, bowed deeply.

"There are supposed to be thirteen people on SEVENTEEN's stage, and without a full cast, we cannot call ourselves SEVENTEEN, nor do we have the right to claim this stage," Seungcheol announced, coming on stage himself, glancing sideways at Jihoon reassuringly, "Please let us retrieve the rest of our members so that we can return, and properly perform as SEVENTEEN." A bow.

One-by-one, the rest of the group began to flood back onto the stage, forming a line and bowing to the audience, "Please."

Cries of sympathy and encouragement came from the audience, which soon gathered and became one single chant, "Go!"

Jihoon watched in amazement as the light-sticks swayed in complete unison, the chant growing so loud that he felt the ground shake. Wiping his tears with the back of his hand, Jihoon bowed along with the group, "Thank you!" His voice had never been in worse condition, but he felt that it was the least of his worries now.

The group immediately jumped off stage and scurried out of the venue as some staff members tried to stop them while others threw encouraging words at them as they successfully broke free from the crowd, running as fast as they could to where the Performance Unit was with Seungcheol and Jeonghan as their guides.

"This will be our last song, thank you all for coming today!" Soonyoung called, surprised by the amount of people who came. But it isn't nearly enough. He thought to himself bitterly, but grinned brightly anyway. It was important that they showed the best side of themselves even at the very end.

"We covered this song with honest feelings, and we hope it will reach your hearts!" Chan added, sending out a heart cutely.

"Without further ado, let us present to you, 20!" Junhui announced just as the music started.

Junhui closed his eyes for the first few beats, his own heartbeat had not slowed down at all since even before the performance began, as he opened his eyes, he thought he saw some movement in the back. Late arrivals? This is a little too late isn't it? Junhui laughed to himself, but then grew more puzzled as he squinted, Now that is way too many late arrivals. He watched as one, two, three... nine shadows filed into the back row.

The lights briefly circled into the audience, and in the split second they crossed over to the back, Junhui made out the familiar figures of their group members, their costumes were hard to miss.

Countless different emotions flooded all at once into his mind, but his first reaction was to smile widely up at the now extremely crowded back corner, "I wanna be your morning, baby, from now on, be alright!"

Seungkwan let out a whistle as they watched the Performance Unit present their cover of 20, "I was not expecting him to be able to reach the high notes."

Seokmin nodded in agreement as he looked down proudly at whom they've always known as their dancers, completely slaying it on stage with not just their stage presence, but with their vocal skills as well.

"You know... I kind of get where the company is coming from," Jihoon muttered softly to Seungcheol, "they all have such amazing talent, and yet they have to give up on showing it off because of their unit's position. But here... they don't have to hold back."

Seungcheol didn't respond as he watched Junhui's reflection locked dead center in Jihoon's eyes, the latter completely mesmerized by the dancer's glow on stage. "You know what I believe? I think they're shining because they want to show their best to the ones they love. The fans, their families... and you, in Jun's case."

Jihoon snorted, but didn't bother to come up with a retort. He just wanted to focus on enjoying the performance, and you can bet that he was one of the loudest screamers by the time the song ended.

Immediately following the end of the show, a brief fanmeet was made for the Performance Unit, the dancers viewed it as some sort of goodbye to their fans, at least it would be the last time they meet them as members of SEVENTEEN. It may seem cliche, but thanks to the last-minute tickets bought by the nine late arrivals, they just managed to reach the company's given quota. On the bright side, their career wasn't over, but on the down side, they still had to say goodbye.

They were all too surprised to see the other nine members in the line-up, each coming up to shake their hands, high-five them, exchange a couple of words, and congratulate them on a job well done.

Seungcheol was the first to greet Chan, taking his hand in a firm grip, "You've grown."

"But you will still forever be the baby." Jeonghan added from the side, nudging Seungcheol away so that he could give his claimed baby a hug, "Call home often. Remember that this will always be your home, and you're always welcome to return to it." The older male muttered, unwilling to let go of their precious maknae.

Chan nodded, only managing to pat Jeonghan's back weakly, his mouth already trembling and his tears were dangerously close to falling.

Jisoo placed a hand on Jeonghan's shoulder comfortingly, his other hand coming around to give Chan a tight hug as well before pushing Jeonghan along so that they didn't clog up the line more than they already had.

Wonwoo, Jihoon, Seokmin, and Mingyu had followed suit, murmuring words of congratulations and (in Wonwoo, Seokmin, and Mingyu's cases) awarded Chan with bone-crushing hugs.

Seungkwan was far more emotional, before Chan could cry, Seungkwan's tears were already overflowing as he clutched onto the younger's shoulders, "But he's still a baby!"

"Seungkwan, the other hyungs will be with him."

"WHY ARE THEY STEALING OUR BABY?! KIDNAPPERS!" Seungkwan continued to scream as the '97 liners came back to drag him away.

Chan had to take a second to figure out whether to laugh or cry at Seungkwan's reaction, but before he could come to a conclusion, he found himself face-to-face with the one person he didn't think he'd have to be in this situation with.

"I know I've said this countless times already, but you're amazing." Hansol showed his usual lop-sided smile, his hands tucked in his pockets.

Chan returned a smile in kind, "I would kill to hear it a couple more times though..."

"Till the end of our lives and even beyond." Hansol promised, flashing his usual cheesiness around Chan.

"I said only a couple more." Chan joked, reaching over to give Hansol a hug, but the latter flinched away.

 "Don't... I won't be able to let you go." Hansol murmured, but leaned over to give a soft peck on the younger's cheek.

Chan watched as Hansol proceeded down the line, not turning back even once.

So don't let me go...

Having survived Seungcheol's, Jeonghan's, and Jisoo's "hyung-talks", Minghao braced himself for another "Don't do drugs, don't go with strangers, don't get lost on tours" talk from Wonwoo, but the '96 liner simply offered him a hand, smiling slightly, "Take care of Jun."

"You're always welcome to stop by and babysit." Minghao had joked lightheartedly, returning the smile and handshake.

"Yeah, make sure he stays out of trouble." Jihoon added onto Wonwoo's words, giving him a congratulating handshake and squeeze on the shoulder, "Like... pull him back when he tries to wander off screen during V-apps and other live broadcasts."

"I think that would be harder for him to do now that he only has three others to compete with." Minghao grinned.

Seokmin had pulled Minghao in for a generously big hug, "Call me every week, no, every ing day." He only let the latter go after making him promise that.

Seungkwan and Vernon each gave Minghao a warm hug, wishing him the best of luck in the near future.

Finally, it was Mingyu's turn, "How am I going to sleep without you?" He immediately whined, holding onto both of Minghao's hands tightly.

"I'll call you every night, how's that?" Minghao kept his smile on, even though he's already died countless times inside just thinking about the possibility of him separating from Mingyu, and now it was finally coming true.

"It won't be the same... do you think you'll be able to sneak over at night?" Mingyu's eyes shined hopefully.

"I'll... see what I can do?" Minghao laughed, giving Mingyu's hands a tight squeeze.

 Mingyu nodded happily, his hands slowly slipping out of Minghao's as he continued along the line.

"I never knew this day would come, we made such a great team." Seungcheol had said, gripping Soonyong's hands tightly in his, "And now you're going off with your own, huh?"

"Yup, and you bet it'll be even better!" Soonyoung boasted, but Seungcheol could hear the slight crack in his voice.

Seungcheol pulled his choreographer in for a tight hug, "I know it will."

Jeonghan came up to pinch Soonyoung's round cheeks, rolling them around against his palms playfully, "Never change, SEVENTEEN's 10:10."

Jisoo followed afterwards, grinning widely at Soonyoung, "Yo, Hosh."

"Yo, Josh." Soonyoung returned.

The two continued to grin in a moronic way at each other, no words needed to be exchanged for them to understand each other. That was how it's always been.

Wonwoo gave a firm handshake, murmuring words of encouragement, "They're going to be tough to handle, are you sure you're ready to be a father?"

"Don't worry about nothing~" Soonyoung replied confidently.

Jihoon's lips were pressed into a hard line, and if Soonyoung didn't know better, he would have teased, "Aw, Jihoonie, are you about to cry since you're going to miss me sooo much~?" And Soonyoung didn't know better, so that was exactly what he did.

To his surprise, instead of swinging his fist or rolling his eyes at Soonyoung like he usually did, Jihoon only muttered with a broken voice, "Of course, idiot, you're my ing best friend," Jihoon's voice shook as he reached up and hugged the taller male, "and the best partner anyone could ever ask for."

Mingyu had to pry Jihoon off Soonyoung before the security guard could, he quickly pushed the older member along but not before bringing Soonyoung in a bone-crushing hug himself.

Soonyoung hadn't noticed that tears were already flowing out of his eyes as Seungkwan entered his vision, "You have to cry prettily!" The younger insisted in-between sobs.

"Speak for yourself!"

The rest of their conversation was pretty much made out of blubbering noises as neither could form proper words, both reduced to sobbing messes.

Hansol pushed Seungkwan gently along, massaging his shoulders in a comforting manner. He only gave Soonyoung a high-five, but the latter felt that he would never forget the sting it left afterwards.

Seokmin approached him, smiling brightly as per usual, "What are we going to do now?"

"What do you want to do?" Soonyoung replied, attempting to clean himself up from his crying match with Seungkwan.

"Well, I recall you talking about marriage at one point." Seokmin teased, taking Soonyoung's hands in his and drawing them close to his chest, "Let's talk more about that after things have settled for both of us."

Soonyoung nodded so hard he thought his head was going to roll off.

"So the prince is finally resigning." Seungcheol joked, patting Junhui on the back with a little too much force than he had intended, causing the other to wobble slightly.

"You wish. Once a prince, always a prince." Junhui responded with his usual confidence, returning Seungcheol's pat with less force.

"I'm sure. Invite us to your kingdom one day."

"Often, you mean."

Jeonghan hugged Junhui affectionately, "You're sure you're going to be okay without me as your translator?"

"Come on, you know how much I've improved." Junhui laughed, returning the hug, "I am going to miss your constant nagging though." Jeonghan rolled is eyes at this, but ruffled Junhui's hair affectionately.

Jisoo smiled encouragingly at Junhui, hooking his arm around him for a quick hug, "I'll call you up to teach me Cantonese if we ever go to Hong Kong again."

"I'll be waiting." Junhui replied, giving his hyung a reassuring shoulder squeeze.

Wonwoo was the next in line, he was never a man of words, but Junhui honestly didn't expect him to be so blunt, "I'm going to miss you." After a long pause where Junhui wasn't quite sure how to react, the younger male added, "You ."

"That's more like it." Junhui joked, pulling Wonwoo in for the tightest hug he could muster without breaking the other's rib cage, "And I'm going to miss you a hundred times more, ."

Seokmin treated Junhui to his usual bright smile that would liven up anyone's spirit, then gave him an equally warm hug before moving along.

Mingyu gave Junhui a bear hug as expected, muttering in a sulking tone, "Please don't steal Minghao away from me."

"Really, Mingyu?" Junhui chuckled, but returned the hug, assuring him that he wouldn't dare.

"The dorm is going to be so quiet without you." Seungkwan pouted, tears still flowing.

"You'll make sure that doesn't happen, right?" Junhui smiled, brushing the younger's tears away gently. Seungkwan sniffled, but nodded.

Hansol first extended a hand for Junhui to shake, but then changed his mind and hugged the older instead, "You were the best, hyung."

"Still am." Junhui replied, ruffling his favorite dongsaeng's hair as the latter gradually but unwillingly pulled away. 

Junhui's smile slipped slightly when Jihoon came up, staring up at him with clear but reddened eyes, "Woozi-"

"Jihoon." Junhui blinked, wondering why Jihoon was referring to himself in third person. The shorter male rolled his eyes, "Jihoon. I want you to call me by my real name at least once."

Junhui swallowed a lump in his throat as he held Jihoon's face close to his, "I'll say it as many times as you want, Jihoon."

The two were eventually pulled apart by the other members, all reluctantly, of course. The rest of the members eventually had to step off the stage to make more space for the other people in line.

The Performance Unit gathered at the front door with all their belongs packed, taking one last look around the dorm they had practically grown up in, the practice room they both dreaded and loved, and the living room that seemed so quiet now compared to its usually rowdy atmosphere with the members all trying to squeeze themselves into the few sofas they had.

Finally, it was time.

Soonyoung pushed open the door, his eyes grew wide as the rest of the members lined up in front of their van.

"What's all this?"

Seungcheol took in a deep breath, then yelled out in his leader voice, "One last time, Say the name!"

"SEVENTEEN, thank you very much!"

The nine members bowed at the same time as the Performance Unit members gaped in shock, hurriedly trying to put the members back upright, stating that it was embarrassing, and they didn't do anything to deserve such formal treatment.

"Nope, you've done more than deserved it. We are the ones who don't deserve you." Seungcheol explained as the members parted to let them in the van.

"Don't say that..." Soonyoung swallowed, feeling the tears coming back.

"But we will become a group that you'll all be proud to return to one day. So let's all try our best to work for that day." Jihoon stated, coming up next to Seungcheol.

The Performance Unit members only nodded dumbly, unable to form words as they each got in the van, watching as the vehicle drove away from the group. They didn't stop looking back towards their old members until they could no longer be seen.

"Those idiots. We're the ones who will become a group they will be proud to welcome back." Soonyoung hissed, tears dripping down once more. The other three reached over to comfort him, nodding in agreement.

That's right, this isn't the end. We will definitely come back, no matter how long it takes.