Woohyun didn't realize what was going until Sunggyu's fist collided with his cheek for a second time, and he had sensed the copper taste of blood on his tongue.

"WHAT THE ARE YOU SPEAKING ABOUT?! ARE YOU ING OUT OF YOUR MIND?" Sunggyu's face was red with anger as he gripped Woohyun's collar with too much force, almost chocking him. 

"I think I already told that what I'm going to say will sound crazy. So can you please let me explain first."

"NO! You said enough. So don't bother with your lies and just leave." Sunggyu released the guy with a last push.

"I got that piece of information from eavesdropping on Mrs. Kim and Madam Jo's conversation. And believe it or not, those two NEVER lie to each other. So I think that we have no other choice other than to believe it."

Sunggyu was still hoping that the other was drunk or just joking, but the seriousness in Woohyun's voice killed that little flame of hope.

"You know I don't trust you. There's a lot of possibilities that this is a trap planned by t-that woman. I still didn't figure out her exact motive but it's probably something not good. I mean why on earth would her obedient right hand come all the way to my house to tell me something so absurd and dangerous in the middle of the night, obviously risking his life if caught, while he know that I loath him?" Sunggyu ranted in one go.  

"First of all, I won't be caught." Woohyun started, making Sunggyu scoff.

"You wouldn't know if one her men is following you right now."

"Oh please, she barely knows any of those guys. They all work under me and take my orders. So if one of them is following me, I'll probably be the first to know. Plus, I was disguised." he pointed to his cap, mask and  sunglasses that were long forgotten on the table. It kind of convinced Sunggyu, but he was still refusing to believe anything the elder said.

"Second, the chairwoman is the forward type, she doesn't play games with her victims. There's two steps she go through while dealing with all of her victims; first threaten then attack. Simple and unfortunately effective. By other means, if this was really one of her doings, I won't be here and you'll probably will be in an abandoned warehouse, waiting for someone to find your dead body."

The way Woohyun spoke the last part made Sunggyu wince. 'He seems to have witnessed this for many times.'  he sat back on the couch.

"Why did you chose to tell me? Why didn't you tell Eunji?"

"Because Eunji wouldn't use it against her mother. Instead, she'll try her best to keep it a secret from you, since you're the one who'll suffer the most because of it." Woohyun paused to clear his throat, and Sunggyu caught the pity in his eyes. "But you, I know you'll take the right decision." he continued.

"You do know that you don't have any proof." the youngest voice was more hesitant this time.

"I still can't believe it too, even though I heard it with my own ears. As for the proof, I didn't want to go through all the trouble of getting evidence and rise suspicion around me, while I know that you would doubt any piece of paper I show you. So I'll leave that part for you."

Woohyun's words were too convincing for Sunggyu's liking, since believing in them was the last thing he wanted to do.

"But to do that I'll need to get-"

"This?" Woohyun cut in, sliding a little plastic wrap, containing exactly what Sunggyu wanted. "This is the hardest part for you, while it was the easiest for me. You can take the lead from here." he added.

"I think I told you everything I wanted to. We will meet again if the results are positive." he stood up, turning to leave.

"Then I hope we won't meet ever again." Sunggyu mumbled, but the other caught his words.

"Me too Sunggyu, I hope that it's just a lie or a misunderstanding, otherwise, things are going to be very hard for both of you." Woohyun's tone had the same hint of pity Sunggyu saw earlier in his eyes.

That night, sleep was the last thing in Sunggyu's mind, Woohyun's words replaying over and over in his mind like a broken record, and each time, he would shrug them off, reminding himself that the guy was a betrayer and a liar and could be manipulating him. 

But no matter how many times he did that, he couldn't stop them from getting to him. They were playing with his mind and emotions in all the possible bad ways.

And when the first ray of sunlight peeked through the window, he was still sitting on the floor by his bed, head hanging low.

'You're the one who'll suffer the most because of it.'

'Not as much as she suffered all these years.' he replied to Woohyun's previous comment, a tear finally making it way down his cheek.

He was fast to wipe it with the back of his hands.

'NO SUNGGYU!! Woohyun's words are all lies. There's no proof.' he scolded himself. 

But his weak side had another different point of you. 'You forgot to say yet. There's no proof, yet.'

-

"We just finished with exams? I'm not dreaming, right?" Sungyeol asked in a disbelief. 

It was their last day at school, and the beginning of their winter break. 

"I can't believe it! We certainly need to celebrate! OUCH!! Why did you that?!" he glared at Myungsoo who had just smacked the back of his head.

"The showcase is in two days. We still need to practice." he answered him coldly.

"Ah, I almost forgot about that. Sunggyu, did you speak to Miss Lee?"

The said boy was zooming off, not even listening to their conversation.

"Earth to Sunggyu!" Bora called, but nothing happened.

The boy was bought out of his trance only when Eunji shook his shoulder. He gave her a confused look, seeing the concern written all over her face. He then noticed the other four pair of eyes focused on him.

"Sorry guys, what did you say? I think I was kind of distracted." he smiled sheepishly.

"You've been really stressing about the showcase lately, haven't you?" Bora pursed her lips, not liking the way he's been acting lately. None of them did.

"Yeah. You can say so." he forced another smile. It only made his acts more suspicious.

In the last two weeks, everyone was too busy with the final exams, so they didn't realize it at first, maybe because he knew too well how to mask his feelings. But they weren't his friends for nothing, as they started to catch on how he started to change. He became a lot quieter than before, always lost in his thoughts and he started to smile less, and even when he did, it was forced. 

Eunji tried really hard to make him speak, but he always blamed it on the tests and showcase. She really tried to believe his obvious lie.

"Anyways guys, today's our last day at practice. As for tomorrow I want you all to sleep in and relax as much as possible. I don't want you to over stress about it. Okay?"

They all mumbled a low 'yeah' as they took their spots in the abandoned night club.

Their last practice didn't last for long as they did it perfectly, the result of weeks of hard work. They all were too tired to hang out longer so they bid each other goodbye and parted ways. 

Eunji was disappointed when Sunggyu refused her invitation for dinner, saying that he wanted to go home and sleep. She let him be anyways.

But Sunggyu was lying again. That night he had another training session with 'Master Sungjong'.  They trained for three days a week, and Sunggyu was showing a good improvement, at first. 

Being distracted was the best way to fail to avoid all the hits Sungjong launched at him.

"How many times do I need to tell you to clear your mind?" the eldest yelled, as he smached Sunggyu's body on the floor, taking him by surprise.

Sunggyu growled because of the pain, that was by then familiar. He stood again, body soaked in sweat.

He got himself in position again, waiting for his trainer to attack. He saw the eldest legs move upward and he knew what he exactly needed to do, but again, he was too slow, and the kick sent him flying through the room.

"Yah Lee Sungjong! Can't you go easy on me? I'm still a newbie, you know!" the youngest growled again.

"First, it's Master Lee. Second, you've been dodging my hits and attacking just perfectly two weeks ago, so you're definitely not a newbie anymore. Which leads me to the third point, you can't let your thoughts control your moves."

"I'm really trying!" Sunggyu defended himself. "But they're don't seem to leave me alone." he added in a low tone, averting his eyes elsewhere.

Sungjong sighed and sat next to him.

"There's a lot in common between fighting and singing. You need to clear your mind to be able to focus and reach the right notes too. But with singing, you get many chances on stage, so even if you mess up at first, you can always go back and do better. On the other hand, you only get one chance when fighting. If you mess up in a fight, you can lose your life, or someone dear. And once a life is lost, it'll never be back. With that in mind, do you think you can let yourself get distracted during a fight?" he looked straightly in Sunggyu's eyes, and the latter understood what he was implying.

Sunggyu was doing all of that to be able to protect Eunji. He couldn't afford being weak against his thought and lose her. They were living a risky life and danger was hiding in every corner. He needed to be always ready and focused. 

'I'd never forgive myself if I lose her.'

He stood up determinately and got into position. Sungjong smiled.

"Okay, if you can knock me off you're allowed to go home. You have an important day after tomorrow anyways." he stood up as well. "One, two, three. START!!"

Sungjong started to take careful steps toward Sunggyu, trying to get as close as possible to get a hold of his shirt and maybe flip him, but the youngest was imperceptibly fast and managed to stay out of his reach. 

The trainer was done with experimenting, sensing that his trainee was more focused, so he started getting faster with his  attacks. He first tried kicking him again, but all of his attempt was dodged by Sunggyu. Without losing any time, he sent his fist flying with all his force to the boy. But his fist was blocked by the latter's palm and before he could realize it, Sunggyu had got hold of his arm, he turned around, his back almost touching with Sungjon's chest if he didn't send him flying over his head and to the ground. It all happened in the span of seconds.

"Assabyung!" Sunggyu jumped in triumph, punching the air in triumph. 

Sungjong was still recovering from the counter attack he got, whimpering and cursing his trainee under his breath. 

'But at least I got him to relax a little bit.' he smiled. 

-

The next day went in a flash, most of them spent it sleeping and resting, preparing themselves mentally and physically for the big day.

The showcase was held in a little theatre that the school rented, and most of the audience were students and their families. The first row was reserved for the entertainment companies' representatives, while the second for the professors. 

Students who were supposed to perform had to go to the venue since morning for rehearsals and to get prepared for the real show. 

"Costumes?" Sunggyu asked.

"Check." Krystal tapped a huge red suitcase laying on the ground.

"Makeup?"

"Check." Eunji held a huge makeup kit box.

"Instruments?"

"Check." all of them said in unison, each, except for Sungyeol, holding his instrument. 

The restaurant owner allowed them to borrow the instruments from the night bar and Sungyeol had already settled his drums at the backstage.

"I think that's it for now." he smiled at them. "We should get ready then." he looked at his watch, two hours to go.

They took turners in changing their outfits and doing their makeup. Eunji was in charge of the makeup part, since she was probably the most experienced in that field, while Krystal did her best to make their hair presentable.

"I didn't know we could look this cool!" Sungyeol said in disbelief as all of them stood in front of the huge mirror of their waiting room, staring at their reflections.

He wa wearing ripped jeans and an oversized denim shirt with a lot of words and patch over it, his dark brown locks were slightly curled. Myungsoo had a pair of white pants on with a denim button up, his black hair styled up. Sunggyu was wearing dark ripped jeans with a white button up and his caramel bangs were smoothly covering his forehead. 

Krystal was wearing  a dark blue skirt, a white shirt and a light denim jacket. Her newly-dyed red hair was wavy and fell perfectly over her shoulders. Bora was wearing denim shorts, a white t-shirt and a light denim baggy shirt that she left ed, surprising everyone with her new short haircut.
Eunji had a beautiful denim dress on that almost reached her knee level with a sleeveless white jacket. 

"Good job Krystal, we definitely look like a band." Sunggyu gave the said girl an approving smile.

"Come on guys, the show is about to start. We can watch from backstage until our turn comes." Myungsoo said.

The show started by Mr. Lee Jungyeop welcoming his guests and thanking students for their hard work. His speech didn't last long and Miss. Lee took her turn in introducing every performance.

The first two performances were the first years, as a warming up, but it didn't mean that the performances weren't amazing.

"Sophomores! You're on in thirty seconds, get ready." one of the staff called for them.

Each of them put on his earpieces. 

"One last thing!" Sunggyu said. 

He held his hand out in the air. They understood his gesture and formed a circle, one by one putting their hands over his.

"It's our time to shine guys! Burn your chest and cold down your heart!" they all smiled, trying to hide their laughter.

"Sunggyu, that was extremely cheesy! Bora giggled. 

Said guy just rolled his eyes. "Okay, let's shout fighting on three. One, two, three!"

"FIGHTING!!" they all said in unison, raising their hands up.

The staff gestured for them to go on stage. Each one of the settled in his spot. Sunggyu on the piano's stool, Sungyeol behind the drum set, Krystal stood behind the keyboard at the back. Myungsoo and Bora stood in the front holding their instruments, while Eunji sat between them on a stool, her guitar in hand.

The stage and the whole theatre was swimming in darkness, everyone waiting for the band to start. Sunggyu made sure that everyone was settled before he took a deep breath and started playing the piano. It was the cue sign for the first stroboscope to light up and shine over him.

Seconds later, Eunji joined with her guitar and another spot lightened over her. Bora was the first to start singing, then Krystal, Myungsoo and Sunning successively.

As they reached the chorus, all the stage was lit and a beautiful cloud of fake white smoke was covering the sound of the stage. The second verse went by smoothly and before they realize it, the second chorus went by as well, reaching the of the song; Eunji's high note. After the last chorus, the song ended with the sole sound of piano, just how it started.

All the lights were cut again, for a few seconds. A Loud round of applause and a whistles echoed in the theatre. When the lights were back, the six teenagers were forming an horizontal line in the front of the stage, each one with his mimics in hand, while the applause were still as loud. 

They bowed deeply to their audience. When the applause has died, they greeted the audience and took turns in introducing themselves.

"I hope you enjoyed our first stage." a few cheers were heard from the audience as Sunggyu resumed speaking. "The first song we performed is a song we brought to life together, it's called 'Together'. A song dedicated for people dear to our hearts, that helped us a lot and always stood by our sides. Please anticipate the rest of our performance. Thank you for attending and I hope you enjoy the rest of the show with as much enthusiasm." Sunggyu bowed again, his band mates doing the same.

While he was speaking, the staff took their chance to take away all the instruments, since they didn't need them for their next two stages. 

Each one of them proceeded to stand in his designated spot. At cue, the music started booming from the loudspeakers and their bodies started to move to the sound, going through the dance routine they practiced for hundred of times. 

It was a remix between H.O.T's Candy and  Big Bang's Sunset Glow and Last farewell. Their dance moves were smooth but sharp, approved by the headmaster of H Dance School Jang Dongwoo himself. The most challenging part was to sing perfectly while dancing, which never seemed so challenging for them, not after the tough breathing exercises Sunggyu forced them to do.

The switch to the next song was barely noticeable as Sungyeol started rapping to G.O.D's One Candle. They closed their performance with them standing back into a line, clapping their hands and singing the chorus, the audience clapping along with them. 

By the time they went backstage after bowing last time to the audience, the cheers and applause were still booming through the theatre.

"OMG WE DID IT!" Krystal screamed, jumping happily with Bora

.

They were still a little bit out of breath but they still smiled widely and gathered for a group hug. They were beyond happy to finish with no mistakes and to have the audience cheer for them that loudly. 

Miss Amy came rushing to them, sporting one of her widest and most proud smile.

"That was amazing! i'm so proud of you!" she clapped for them. "I didn't expect you to do such a heartwarming performance, but I'm glad you did!" 

They bowed, thanking her for the rare praise. 

"I need to go back on stage. Good job everyone!" she then left in a rush.

"We better be celebrating this tonight." Sungyeol raised a threatening index to the rest.

"Dinner on me. You all did great!" Sunggyu announced with a wide grin.

"Really?! You're the best Gyu!" Krystal gave him two thumbs up.

After the showcase finished, the audience and the performers went out of the theatre, gathering in the lobby. Parents were congratulating their kids and families were taking pictures together. 

Sunggyu, Eunji and Myungsoo stood at the side enjoying the view. Sungyeol was squeezed in a hug by his mother, Krystal was posting for hundreds of pictures with her elder sister, Bora was jumping with happiness because her father could make it and actually watched her perform.

"Myungsoo you didn't tell your uncle about the performance huh?" Sunggyu gave a disapproving look to his friend.

"I DID!!" Myungsoo defended himself. "But he had an emergency at work and had to go to Japan." he added.

"If you say so." Sunggyu didn't look convinced.

"I really did! For your information, our relationship is getting better." he insisted, and Sunggyu couldn't help but smile proudly.

"Then I'm really glad that you're opening up for him." he tapped his shoulder.

"Kim Myungsoo-ssi?" a voice interrupted their warm moment and Eunji couldn't help but frown at the sight of the man.

Myungsoo turned right away, not really surprised by the call. "Lee Hoya-ssi, you actually came." he shook the man's hand.

"Yeah, and I didn't regret it. Your performance was really good. And your self composed song was very heart-warming." he directed his words to the three of them.

"I'm glad that you liked it." Myungsoo smiled.

"Here," Hoya handed him his business card. "After what I saw today, I can't help but offer you a chance at my company. It's really hard to over-look the amount of talent you and your friends have. If anyone of you is interested, I'll be more than glad to welcome him or her to my company." he added in his business-like tone. 

"Myungsoo took it and looked at it for a second. "We'll see about it." 

"Myungsoo-ah!!"

"Ahjussi?!! When did you come?" Myungsoo asked the middle aged-man approaching them with a big bouquet of flower.

"I finished with work earlier that expected, so I took the first flight and came in time for your performance, which was really amazing. Good job son!" he hugged him briefly.

"Thank you! I'm glad you could make it, that means a lot to me." Myungsoo smiled genuinely, taking the bouquet from his uncle.

Only Sunggyu was aware of the way Hoya tensed at the sight, or how he fisted his hands, hurt flashing in his eyes.

"You too guys, you did greatly." the man turned to Sunggyu and Eunji, who bowed thankfully.

"YO GUYS!! IT'S PICTURE TIME! COME HERE!" Sungyeol called from the distance.

"I think I better get going then." Hoya looked at their awaiting friends. "Keep up with the hard work, you guys have a great potential." 

The three bowed at him as he left, but Eunji couldn't help but notice the way Hoya and Sunggyu looked at each other knowingly and her boyfriend smiled in a comforting way to the elder.

She raised an eyebrow at him but he only mouthed 'later' to her.

The group picture was nothing but missy. Myungsoo had his electronic guitar up in the sky, Sungyeol was doing some weird owl face, Bora was laughing at him hysterically, while Krystal gave them a dirty judging look. Eunji was laughing too, her eyes turning into crescents and teeth in display and Sunning had a stoic expression, looking so done with life.

-

"Cheers!" they clacked their soda glasses together. 

As promised, Sunggyu took them to the family restaurant next to the 'Infinite night club' for dinner. The table was filled with all kind of dishes and side dishes, everyone obviously taking advantage of Sunggyu's wallet.

"One year to go guys, and we'll be free!" Sungyeol shouted dreamily.

"No more school and no more tests, yaaay!" Krystal cheered.

"You know it's going to be harder after graduation, right?" Bora commented,, making Krystal pout.

"Yah! Why are we thinking about that now? We're here to celebrate!" Sungyeol snapped. "Plus let's enjoy all of this food, we can't let Sunggyu's money go to waist, right?" he smiled mischievously.

"Well we deserve this after all that hard work." Myungsoo added. "Plus the performance was perfect today, no mistakes at all." he said proudly.

Myungsoo's words got him two different reactions. Sungyeol, Bora and Krystal were nodding fervently, while Sunning and Eunji shook their heads, confusing the rest.

"Myungsoo was out of breath during the chorus of 'Last Farewell'." Eunji remarked.

"Sungyeol missed a beat during 'Together'." Sunggyu added.

"And Bora made a mistake at the choreography during the transition from 'Sunset glow' to 'Candy'."

"Krystal didn't accompany me at the closing of 'Together' too." Sunggyu finished.

"You noticed that?" Krystal smiled sheepishly.

"How did you notice all that?" Myungsoo looked at them with his mouth wide open."You guys are completely perfectionist."

"Just perfect for each other!" Bora commented, making both of them laught shyly.

Silence fell for a while, with each one of them stuffing food into his mouth.

"So Sunggyu, when are you going back?" Sungyeol asked.

"December 26th. I'll be back by the beginning of February."

"More than a month without you? How are we going to live without you?" his tall friend demanded drastically.

"I don't think that you should be the one saying that." Krystal noted, all the heads turning to Eunji, who averted her gaze, blushing.

"Yeah, it'll be really lonely for her if you're not here." Bora said emphasizing the word 'lonely'.

"Who's going to be lonely? Me? Definitely not!" Eunji's face became shades darker as she faked a scoff.

"Don't worry, I'll miss you too." Sunggyu ruffled her hair, smiling warmly.

"Stop it." she mumbled in  embarrassment.

"What about you guys? What are you going to do when I'm away?" he turned to his friends.

"Probably working. My parents are still salty about the practice room fight and I still need to buy a new drums set." Sungyeol answered.

"Me too. The guitar I want is kind of expensive compared to my last one." Myungsoo joined in.

"It's going to be really boring without you then. But I think we'll finally have our time and do whatever you refuse to do with us." Krystal high fifed Bora, both already having plans in mind. "And don't worry about Eunji, with the plans we have in mind, she'll barely have time to notice that you're gone." 

"Girls are sure scary sometimes." Sungyeol scowled at the way the two girls smiled devilishly.

"Ah, I remembered! The restaurant here is searching for new waiters." Eunji snapped her fingers. "When I went to hand the club's key to the boss earlier, he told me how the restaurant is getting more crowded than before and that he was short on staff. I think you two should talk to him before anyone else."

 
 
"That sounds like a great idea! I think no need to start job hunting huh?" Sungyeol smiled in satisfaction.

"What about this guys?" Myungsoo raised the card he previously got from Hoya. "You sure that none of you want to consider his offer?"

"I still want to graduate from Woollim high. You know if we accept to be trainees we have to move to another school, so no." Sungyeol replied.

"Me too. I don't think I want to be a trainee either. I don't like those slave contracts." Bora added.

"Especially that rule about no dating. Ugh! I hate to even think about it." Krystal shivered at the thought.

"What about you Sunggyu?" Myungsoo asked.

"I want to go to college first, that was the deal with mom anyways. Finish high school in her then go to college. Plus, I'm not that much after fame." he shrugged absent Mindy.

"So you're going back to the States?" Bora asked in a disappointed tone.

Her words made him realize what he just said, and that everyone was looking at him with the same way Bora did. 

He chuckled. "Weird how when I first came, I was so eager to leave but now, I'm too recusant to do so. I still didn't speak to my mother about it, but I'm thinking of finishing my studies and even settling in here in the future. I can't leave you guys have fun without me!" he smiled widely, making them sight in relief.

Sunggyu started considering that choice after the two first months. He didn't he'd enjoy his stay that much. But the more he got closer to Eunji, the more he became more sure about his choice. He just wanted to speak about it directly with his mother, not over a rushed video call. It was a serious decision after all.

"Just the thought of not having you around is already boring dude!" said Sungyeol.

'and scary.' Eunji thought. 

The rest of the dinner contained a lot of nonessential talk and laughter, even though they didn't drink anything alcoholic. Sunggyu padded the bill with a forced smile, because in the inside, he felt ready to kick them for ordering that much of food. 

"Guys! Let's go for a second round!" Sungyeol suggestion almost gained him a punch from Sunggyu.

"YEAH! Let's go to the karaoke!" Bora and Krystal supported him. Eunji smiled and Myungsoo didn't object either. So Sunggyu had no other choice but to tag along.

"But I'm not paying!" he warned them.

Well, he ended up using his credit card for a second time that night. It was worth it anyways, with the amount of fun they had in there. But exhaustion eventually kicked in with a severe headache and Sunggyu had to leave the room to wash his face and have some fresh hair.

"Are you okay?" Eunji joined him in one of the hallways of the building, handing him a bottle of water.

"I'm fine. I think Sungyeol's shouts made me kind of dizzy!" his response made her chuckle.

Silence engulfed them, each drifting back to his thoughts.

"You didn't tell me what was that early with Hoya." she commented.

"Ah, about that..." Sunggyu proceeded with telling him about Hoya's request.

"Sunggyu! I can't believe you're trusting that guy!"

"I'm not, I'm just doing what I think the best for my friend. We're probably the only ones who know about this. I can't stand not doing anything about it. I feel bad enough of hiding the truth." he explained.

"Me too. I really want to tell Myungsoo, but I know that hiding the truth is the best thing we can do for now."

"Tell me what? "

Eunji and Sunggyu's eyes widened at the voice and turned to find Myungsoo standing their, looking furiously clueless.

"What is that you want to tell me?"

I'm finally updating again!  I'm really sorry about the long wait. I'm not even satisfied with this chapter. it took me a lot of time to write it and I had to stop in the middle because my laptot broke down. by the time it was fixed I was already buzy with exams. from now on, i'll go back to updating regularly (once per week).

Anyways, tell me what you think about this chapter and what do you think Woohyun had told Sunggyu? 

See you next chapter! have a good night/day wherever you are :**