Jaejoong grimaced in front of the mirror with obvious nervousness. He adjusted his blue tie and patted his hair gently.

"Are you sure that I look alright?"

Akiko assessed his outfit. Jaejoong was wearing a formal dress shirt paired with fancy business pants. His hair was blow-dried professionally off to one side in a handsome manner.

"You look more than perfect," Akiko answered truthfully.

Jaejoong sighed and busied himself with his tie, pulling it against himself. "Aish! What if I look stupid? Or lame? You know? What if I--"

Akiko made an exasperated sigh. "Oh gosh! Look what you did to your tie! It's all wrinkled up now!" She exclaimed, smoothing the material against Jaejoong's chest.

Jaejoong blushed. "Never mind. I'm fine. Well, I think so. Anyways, do you really think that talking casually with Yunho and Changmin again is the best way for us to communicate?"

Akiko nodded carefully. "You have no idea how much they miss you."

Jaejoong's heart warmed. He hadn't expected to hear such a thing about Changmin and Yunho.  Although he missed them, too, Jaejoong used to think that Changmin and Yunho despised him because he left their group. But to hear that they missed him sent happiness through Jaejoong. I hope that they'll be happy to see me.

~ ~ ~

"I'm gonna cry, man."

"Oh god. I cannot believe it. Let me cry with you."

Changmin and Yunho were shoulder on shoulder, their eyes filled with joy. Jaejoong stared at them awkwardly while Akiko smiled to herself at seeing such a sight.

Omo! I've been waiting so long for this to happen! I never expected myself to be able to witness such a reunion! I"m so happy!  Akiko thought with cheerfulness. She peeked at Jaejoong. He looked happy but nervous. One look at Yunho and Changmin told Akiko that they were overfilled with happiness to see Jaejoong again after so long.

"Thank you, Akiko," Yunho said. "Thank you for bringing Jaejoong here to let us see him."

Jaejoong grinned widely. "Yah! You make it sound as though I was being held in prison or something."

Changmin snickered. "Oh, hyung. You are definitely not the prisoner at the moment."

Everything became quiet as Changmin's words filled everyone's mind. Akiko was puzzled over his message. What does he mean? Could it be. . . ? Ani. I can't just assume things. I have to make sure. But. . . What if I'm right? What if--

"Are you saying that you and Yunho are. . . the prisoners?" Jaejoong asked in a quiet voice.

Yunho looked at his feet. "Jaejoong, Changmin never said that. Right, Changmin?"

"R-Right," the sudden nervous fellow replied.

Akiko pondered on their responses. Jaejoong had been wondering the same thing that Akiko had. Akiko couldn't help but feel pity for Yunho and Changmin. So, everything is true? Did Jaejoong, Yoochun, and Junsu really disband from TVXQ because of the unfairness of the SM company? Are Yunho and Changmin going through the exact same thing?

"Don't lie to me," Jaejoong said to them. "I've known the secrets for years. You can't deny it."

Akiko spoke before she could stop herself. "Deny what?"

"Being treated like slaves by SM." Changmin answered somberly.

Akiko gasped. "Mwuh?"

Yunho shook his head. "DOn't say anymore, guys. We don't want to break our fans' hearts."

"No," Akiko said. "I wanna know what you guys are going through. As a fan, I can't just let you get away with not telling me about something important like this. Please. I won't tell. It'll be confidential."

"She's right," Jaejoong said. "Akiko is a dear fan. She won't tell anyone. Besides, if she wants to know, we should tell her."

Yunho and Changmin exchanged worried glances. But they nodded their heads solemly. "Alright."

Jaejoong flexed his arm. "Who wants to tell her about it? Or should I start?"

When no answer came, Jaejoong breathed in deeply before begining his speech. "When we were all young, clueless boys who wanted to shine in the spotlight, SM Entertainment came along and wove us into their ropes. We signed a contract that was way too long and unpromising. Nothing about it was safe. It was all risky and stuff. Well, we didn't know that until later on, though. After we became a hit, after gaining so many fans and hearts, SM started to get mean." Jaejoong said in a low, uncomfortable voice.

"Oh. . . ," Akiko whispered. "Please go on."

He nodded. "We were all given a busy, rushed schedule. There was barely time to sleep, eat, or even think. They made us do a bunch of concerts, perform at events, and a whole lot of other stuff. It was stressful. Then, we found out that we were all being given different amounts of profit, even though the contract says that all five of us were supposed to get equal amounts of money." 

"That's not fair!" Akiko blurted out without thinking. She blushed as she noticed that she was interrupting Jaejoong. "Mianhe, please continue."

"Anywhoo," Jaejoong continued. "Yoochun, Junsu, and I were the ones who had the least amount of money. Soon, SM started being bias. They favored Yunho and Changmin over the rest of us. They gave them more restting time, less busy things to do. Also, Changmin started to sing much more lines than us."

"Yah!" Yunho shouted, standing up.

Changmin pushed Yunho back, placing his hand firmly on his shoulder. "Be quiet, Yunho. You know it's true."

Yunho bit his lip. "Sorry."

Jaejoong gave an apologetic look. "It's fine. I'd feel the same, too. But, yes. That's what happened. Yoochun persuaded Junsu and I to disband. None of us liked being treated so poorly. So, after a long time, we agreed. But it was difficult to decide on. I really didn't want to leave. However, I didn't want to stay in such a cruel place. Neither did Yoochun and Junsu. When we left, we even tried to persuade Changmin and Yunho to come. Although they were treated better than us, the company wasn't very good to them, either. But. . . Changmin and Yunho decided to stay."

Jaejoong breathed out deeply as he finished the story. Changmin and Yunho looked displaced. They didn't like the way Jaejoong had told the story. To them, Jaejoong made it sound as though they were the lucky ones. Akiko now understood everything. She trusted Jaejoong enough to know that he spoke the truth. Besides, this wasn't news. Many articles had been written after TVXQ disbanded. All of them were about the possible reasons why Jaejoong, Yoochun, and Junsu left TVXQ.

"Thank you for telling me," Akiko said. "I know that it must be hard for you to retell such sad events, Jaejoong." She eyed Yunho and Changmin. "And I know it must be hard to hear such things from a friend, Yunho and Changmin."

Changmin shrugged blankly. "It's the truth. Nothing can change it."

"Which is why we can try to change what happens next," Akiko said.

Yunho blinked. "What are you talking about, Akiko?"

Akiko's eyes brightened as her plan formed. "Don't you want to be together again?"

After several pauses, the boys all nodded their heads in silence. Akiko clapped her hands together.

"Then you should!" she cheered.

Jaejoong gave a nonhumorous laugh. "Akiko, you know that such a thing can never--"

"Of course it can!" She cut him off. "If you could disband and become JYJ, why can't Changmin and Yunho disband too?"

"They wouldn't come with us the first time. I don't think that they'll come this time either." Jaejoong argued.

"Ahem," Yunho cleared his throat. "They, the people you are speaking of, are right here."

"Yeah," Changmin said. "Who says we can't disband and form another group, like JYJ?"

Yunho winked. "Or make a group with us five again?"

Jaejoong's eyes widened in shock, but a small, hesitant smile formed. "B-But. . . Will you two be able to?"

Akiko's words rang throughout the room: "Always keep the faith."