Five active members of Super Junior are sitting together in a secluded area of SUM Café. Fans are not allowed there. Leeteuk, Heechul, Shindong, Eunhyuk and Donghae are conversing about nothing in particular with a plastic cup of coffee in front of each one of them. 
“I applaud you, Hyukkie,” Leeteuk says staring at the younger guy in front of him. “Your Tom and Jerry stunt with Yesung hits daebak, our ELF seems to like it very much.”
Lee Hyukjae shrugs with ‘swag’ and smiles proudly. “ELF will like whatever I do. My every single fanservice hit daebak, Hyung.”
“You’re so cocky,” Donghae beside him pouts. “I want to get famous with Yesungie Hyung too…” he sighs. 
“You two are the most boring ones. ELF won’t notice the two of you together, two commoners,” Eunhyuk snorts while Leeteuk and Heechul laugh. 
“Yeah you two together just aren’t made for sensational fanservices,” Heechul joins the conversation. “Do something daring, racy or incredibly stupid and ELF would notice.”
Shindong who was just busy scribbling something into a piece of paper looks up at his team members and chimes in. “Talking about Yesung Hyung, is it only me or are his fanservices with Siwon getting so hot lately?”
All the members seem like they simultaneously realize what Shindong means. 
“Now that you mention it, really…” Leeteuk mutters. 
“But they’ve been like that since forever, though,” Heechul quickly say. “It’s just normal for them.”
“Not really, no,” Eunhyuk starts, disagreeing with his hyung. “Me and Hae are fanservice. We planned everything through but Yesung Hyung and Siwon seem to surprise each other on stage. Like if Siwon hugs Hyung, Hyung will really be taken aback… Like there’s no coordination at all.”
“And they still hug and whisper to each other all the time, even when no fans are around… Remember, Eunhyuk-ah? In the car I saw them sleeping next to each other, holding hands, and Siwon’s head was on Hyung’s shoulder while Hyung’s head on top of Siwon’s?” Shindong asks Hyukjae. 
“Maybe Yesung’s cute little hands are just too comfortable to be held,” Heechul smiles sheepishly and he drinks his coffee while looking at his lap. 
“Indeed,” Donghae answers. “But Hyung wouldn’t let me hold his hands that long.”
“Maybe you’re not his favorite,” Shindong teases the youngest at the table. 
“But I am his favorite after Siwon,” Donghae glares at Shindong. 
“Nobody is allowed to hold his hand the way Siwon does,” Leeteuk says calmly with his fingers caressing his chin like an old man. 
“I think I am his favorite after Siwon,” Eunhyuk smirks teasingly at his same age friend. 
“Whatever,” Donghae rolls his eyes. But a few seconds later his eyes are gleaming with enthusiasm again. “Guys I have a weird story to tell you…”
Heechul sighs in relieve when Donghae gets interrupted by waiters coming to their table bringing foods. 
“Woah, look at how huge this steak is,” Heechul says, attracting everyone’s attentions to Shindong’s food by pointing at it. “I can’t eat that much,” he looks solemnly at his own pasta in front of him. 
“Are you forgetting that you’re in a diet, Shindong-ah?” Leeteuk frowns looking at Shindong’s food. 
“I will ride my bicycle around town tomorrow Hyung, I promise,” the chubby dancer answers sheepishly. 
Heechul feels relieved that the members have stopped talking about Yesung and Siwon. Donghae apparently forgets that he was about to tell them a ‘story’ and is now looking at his plate happily. 
The diva of SJ grabs on his fork and happily leads the members to say, “We will eat deliciously!”
Everyone starts digging their foods and for a minute or two those five guys are completely silent. Only the sounds of chopsticks, fork and knife are heard, along with the munching of everyone. 
“You shouldn’t have ordered that, Hyung,” Eunhyuk suddenly says to Shindong. “Siwon ordered it when he just got discharged and he was having a hard time the day after. The guilt of eating a steak that size basically ruined his diet. He said that to me.”
“I won’t feel guilty, I’m not Siwon,” Shindong doesn’t pay much attention to what the younger says. He’s been dieting like crazy for this comeback and he’s still as plump as ever! No harm to stop dieting just for a day, right? 
“Ah, talking about Siwon, I have a story…” Donghae pauses his eating. 
“Hey Donghae… your tofu soup looks delicious,” Heechul tries his very best to distract the youngest. “I want some,” he quickly stabs his fork into Donghae’s pot and a second later a delicious looking soft tofu has moved onto his plate. 
“Yah Hyung! My tofu!” Donghae yells. Looking at his tofu on Heechul’s plate with regret. 
“Aren’t you bored of this menu already,” Heechul snorts. “You ordered this almost every time.”
“What’s with the stealing, Chul-ah,” Leeteuk says in a bored tone. 
‘At least that fishy boy stops talking about Siwon already…’ Heechul his lips, hoping nobody pays attention.
“You were saying, Hae…?” Eunhyuk’s voice makes Heechul’s satisfaction blows. 
“Huh? Oh, right! My story!” Donghae exclaims. “So this happened a few months ago, when Siwon and I were still enlisted together…”
“Ah, how long has it been, Hae?” Heechul awkwardly asks him. All the way while glaring at Eunhyuk. 
“Has it been… six months?” Donghae is so easily distracted. “I think so? Or less?”
Heechul swears he really hates this situation. The situation where he is the only person who has to keep a huge secret from everyone. Not only s, but the whole world might be affected by this huge secret he keeps. It sure drives him crazy from time to time… 
“Ah, continue your story!” Shindong harshly says, getting impatient. 
“Oh, right!” Donghae puts down his spoon and chopsticks to focus on what he’s about to tell s. 
 “So it was after a long weekend, Siwon and I were free for several days. He got back to the dorm earlier than me and right when I was about to commute to the dorm he called me on my cellphone,” Donghae pauses to drink his coffee. “I was surprised, why the dorm called me but it was just Siwon asking me to get his hat from his apartment. That idiot forgot to get it into his bag when he commuted back.”
Heechul sighs, because he gets an idea of what the younger might tell them. 
“That was an apartment I’d never been to before. Maybe his newest asset or something, and he told me the password to just get in and search for it.”
“Crazy, he’s got apartments everywhere…” Hyukjae says with envy. 
“How many does he have, really?” Leeteuk says with a dreamy voice. 
“Well I got into the apartment and I was so surprised to find Yesung hyung there…”
“What?” Leeteuk chokes on his food, and Heechul pats his back lazily. 
“Yeah Yesung hyung was there laying on the only bed in the apartment. He was asleep, but he looked so pale and a piece of cloth was on his forehead, with a basin on the bedside table.”
“He was sick?” Eunhyuk asks curiously. 
“Maybe, I didn’t dare wake him up. But I notice that things were weird in that room…”
“Woah what happened?” again, Hyukjae and his curiosity. 
“So the bed, and the bedcover were so messy, save for the little spot where Yesung hyung laid being sick inside a blanket. And I can smell… you know…” Donghae now looks awkward, he scratches his head. 
“What???” Leeteuk, Shindong and Eunhyuk all are scooting closer to Donghae to hear better. 
“Aw! Aw what the is so spicy here!” Heechul screams all of a sudden, making his teammates jolt on their respective seats. “Oh what the hell, is it ginger? Like really now?” The second oldest spits some of his food into a saucer, as if the thing he spits hurts him so badly. 
“Drink, Heechul-ah,” calmly leader Leeteuk gives him a glass of fresh water and Heechul drinks it with super ecstatic action. 
“Haish what an attention seeker you are,” Shindong mocks Heechul. “It’s just a ginger.”
“You don’t know!” Heechul dramatically winces. “I wish I can sue this café. But this is our company’s café…”
“Hae, continue your story,” Eunhyuk doesn’t seem to be disturbed by what happened to Heechul at all. 
The younger nods and mutters, “Where was I?”
“You said the room smelt…”
“Oh yeah. The room,” Donghae pauses to look at all of s dramatically. “Smelt of… you know, .”
“Ugh the aftertaste,” Heechul winces, loudly. “Yikes!!! I wouldn’t wish this to my worst enemy!” He gets up from his seat and overly acting like the taste of whatever that was, is still lingering in his mouth by jumping around. 
But his efforts are in vain because no member budges to look at him, they are all too busy gasping and shaking their heads. 
“Do you…”
“Uh huh…”
“No way…”
“Ew…”
“For real????” Heechul sits back down and feigning surprise to Donghae’s story. 
“I don’t lie. It’s the truth,” Donghae nods smugly. “It’s like some activities were done there by the looks and the smell of it.”
“And Yesung just laid there, just like that?” Leeteuk whispers. 
“Yes. He looked so pitiful…”
“He’s not… you know… not… , right?” Shindong asks in horror. 
“He’s not , for sure,” Donghae shakes his head. “I didn’t dare to check. I saw the hat, just grabbed it and ran away as fast as I could.”
“Why didn’t you check?” Eunhyuk asks the solemn Donghae. 
The guy hesitates a bit before answering. “I don’t know, that was like a blur. The moment I saw Yesung hyung lied there I just couldn’t think or process anything.”
Shindong and Leeteuk grab their coffees at the same time and gulping them like crazy. 
“It was just too shocking…” Donghae continues. “And I got a feeling that if I dared to ask Yesung Hyung what happened to him, we would get super awkward.”
“Oh,” Eunhyuk nods in agreement. “Awkward indeed.”
“So they…” Shindong puts down his empty paper cup. “You know, do you guys think they really had… ?” he whispers the last word as if afraid the whole world might hear. 
“I can’t believe this,” Leeteuk mutters. “But somehow, I’m not really surprised…”
“I don’t wanna believe,” Donghae says groggily. 
“Me too, I don’t know, I just could imagine them being like that,” Shindong tells the truth. 
“But why didn’t you tell us about this earlier?” Eunhyuk demands his best friend.
Donghae shrugs. “I don’t know, maybe I was in so much denial that my brain told my heart that what I saw was just a dream…”
“They’re gay?” Eunhyuk sighs. “How… When… I can’t wrap my head around this…”
Heechul takes a careful look and observe each of s’ reactions to the news carefully. Actually, their reactions are a lot calmer than he himself, along with Yesung and Siwon, had thought. They don’t really look disgusted, just surprised and in disbelief. That’s a good sign. 
s are good people after all. They’re not bigotic or extremely homophobic. Now it’s time for him to do the least he could do: damage control. 
“Guys, just let it go,” Heechul chooses to open his mouth at last. 
All eyes are on him now. Realization appears on the faces of everyone except Donghae. 
“Did you know something?” Hyukjae quickly takes the bait. 
Heechul sighs, closing his eyes and opens them again to face the curious looks of s. “It doesn’t matter. That happening was not your business. Not our business.”
“But…”
“Listen to me, okay?” seeing Heechul being super serious and solemn like this, all the members can’t help but obey what he says. He just has the charisma. “What happened was their business. It doesn’t affect the team, we just need to accept it. They are our members, our friends. Respect them.”
“What about the public? If they know…” Eunhyuk talks back. 
“Why do they have to know?” Heechul lets out a strict smile. “They won’t know.”
“But…” 
Heechul stops Leeteuk by putting his index finger to the older’s lips, shushing him. 
“We can just keep it a secret, okay?”
“How?” this time it’s Shindong’s turn to object. 
“Simply never talk about this to anyone,” Heechul calmly looks at each of the members. “Not a word, outside us five. It’s even better if we never mention it ever again in our lives.”
“What about Kyuhyun and Ryeowook, Hyung?” Donghae, who has been listening to Heechul solemnly, opens his mouth. 
“Never say anything to them. Let’s make sure that if they know about YeWon, it’s not from of us.”
“So you’ve been knowing something about them, right, Heechul?” Leeteuk stares straightly at the younger beside him. 
“Yeah,” Heechul admits. “They chose to open up to me, and I really appreciate them for that.”
“Since when…”
“Let’s say, I will tell them that you guys have found out about them and I’m sure they are gonna tell you what they wanna tell you,” the second oldest says wisely before gets up from his seat. “I gotta go, Knowing Brothers now… Gotta go. Bye kids!”
Heechul basically runs away from the scene, leaving all s who are still stunned and in disbelief. 
The diva smiles half relieved half excited. This has gone better than what he expected. 
*** 

Yesung feels his palms are sweating and Siwon lifts them into his lips and kiss them to calm him down.
 This is the moment that the couple has been terrified of, but they are partly excited to do. They will come out to their members, finally! 
Heechul talked to them about the members finding out about them, and advised them to just tell them the truth. The members are basically the couple’s family members, and they have the right to know about everything. Well, to a certain extent. 
Heechul will also accompany the couple to give his emotional support. Moreover for Yesung, since he has been really terrified and almost get all hysterical at first. 
“Remember, they are our friends, our family, Baby. They will understand,” Siwon kisses his boyfriend’s hair softly and Yesung takes a deep, deep breath. 
“I support you, don’t you ever forget that,” Heechul adds. “I will check for everything to be under control.”
Yesung smiles half heartedly at Heechul but then he reaches out to grab the older’s left hand. “Thank you so much, Hyung. You’re really nice to us.”
“You two are good people, it’s the least I could do,” Heechul answers right at the time when the elevator’s door chimes open. 
The three men get out of it and start to walk towards their dorm’s door. 
Only Shindong and a manager lives there for now, and SJ is basically using that place for any of their meetings or gatherings. It is a great place to avoid curious fans or medias since the security of the apartment is good. 
All the active members are sitting in the sofa in the living room waiting for them. Siwon and Yesung smile awkwardly at them while the members are watching them with curiosity and expectations. 
“Hi, guys,” Siwon says rather formally. 
Yesung can’t find anything to say to s so he just smiles sheepishly, while looking at his own sock-covered feet. 
“So Siwon and Yesung have something important to say to you,” Heechul helps. “Please listen to what they have to say.”
Donghae tries his best to smile warmly to the two guys standing before them. He actually feels pity for his Yesung hyung to be this uncomfortable. On the other hand, Leeteuk, Shindong and Eunhyuk look tense. They don’t say anything but looking expectantly at Yesung and Siwon. 
“Uhm,” Siwon clears his throat. Yesung looks up at him with wide eyes and solemn expression. “I’m sure you guys have known about our relationship. Yesung Hyung, and I,” the tall man pauses to take a glance at his boyfriend beside him. “Are in love.”
Yesung blushes upon hearing that and he looks away. 
“I just want you guys to know, and to give us your blessings,” Siwon continues while grabbing Yesung’s left hand. 
“Um…” Leeteuk, the leader of the group gets everyone’s attention. “I’m happy to hear that you guys are so happy together, and are in love, but maybe you could tell us more of what you two are going through.”
“Tell us, tell us!” Donghae suddenly squeals like a little kid. 
“Sssh!” Eunhyuk elbows him. 
“Yeah, Siwon-ah, we are happy for you two, but we can’t help but being curious,” Shindong shows a light smile. 
“Thank you, you guys,” Siwon looks ten times more handsome once the solemn look on his face vanished upon hearing and seeing the reactions of s. 
“Yes, thank you,” now it’s Yesung’s turn to speak and all eyes are on him. It’s the first time he speaks since he got in that room. “We are still the same people, we are still the same Yesung and Siwon you know… so, please, please support us. And accept us.”
“Awww Hyung,” Donghae with tears all over his face basically stumble to Yesung’s small body to bury him in a tight hug. “Of course I accept you, and bless you!”
“Hae…” Yesung awkwardly wraps his hands around the younger’s body to return the hug. 
“Come on guys… hug them!” Heechul says in a super cheerful tone and he envelopes Yesung, Siwon and Donghae in his arms. 
Leeteuk and Shindong finally get up from their seats to hug their other members. They are doing a group hug with more than one person crying. 
Yesung, Siwon and Donghae are sobbing while Shindong pats Siwon wisely on his back. Leeteuk tousels Yesung and Siwon’s hairs and smiles a mother smile. 
But Yesung looks up and finds that Eunhyuk is still away from the group, only staring emptily at them. 
“Hyukkie,” he calls softly. 
Siwon hears that and he gestures for the members who are hugging him to let go of him. Everyone’s attention is now at the main dancer. 
“What is it Eunhyuk-ah, tell me?” Siwon asks forlornly. “Can’t you… support us?”
“How are we gonna keep this a secret? How?” Eunhyuk says with a low voice. “If anyone ever finds out… we’ll die.”
“Yah Hyukjae I told you we can keep this a secret by not talking about it to anyone other than ourselves!” Heechul says in a high pitched voice. He looks so annoyed for some reason. 
“Wait Hyung, just let me talk to him,” Siwon approaches his same-age friend and hugs him. 
Yesung bits his lips and shakes his head sadly, making Donghae hugs him again to console him. 
“I’m sorry Eunhyuk-ah, I’m so sorry for troubling you like this,” Siwon says, still hugging the other. “I know this is hard… but please, please help us?”
“You could jeopardize our group,” Eunhyuk tells him rather coldly. He doesn’t even return the hug. “And this one is huge.”
“Nonsense!” Heechul nags. “How many times do we get in scandals? Countless times! But we got through it and are still as strong as ever!” His face is getting redder and he looks furious for some reason. “We won’t break just because of this!”
“Hyukjae-ya I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry,” Yesung basically begs and he lets go of Donghae to walk toward the main dancer. 
“We have been really careful, super careful all this time,” Siwon tousles Eunhyuk’s hair. “And for years our plan have workes flawlessly.”
“What plan?” Eunhyuk quickly asks. 
“We always do skinship on stage, right?” Yesung says softly. “And the fans never suspected anything. Because we simply just act natural. That’s our plan.”
“In fact their plan worked out so perfectly that even you guys, their closest friends, had never suspecting anything for these six years!” Heechul smiles cheerfully, looking at Eunhyuk as if he wins. 
“Oh yes, that,” Siwon lets Eunhyuk go and approaches Yesung instead. “We have been dating for six years, guys. You had no single idea.”
“WHAT?!” Leeteuk, Shindong and Donghae are shouting in disbelief. 
“Yes… so we can put the problem of people finding out about them at the furthest back of our minds,” Heechul looks at Eunhyuk in particular. 
“Re…really?” Eunhyuk mutters. 
“Tell us when it begins! Tell us!” Donghae squeals in demand. 
“Aish…” Heechul rolls his eyes. “Start with ‘how’!”
Eunhyuk finally looks at Siwon and Yesung with an apologetic smile. “Okay then… tell us,” he says. 
Siwon and Yesung bury him in a hug instantly. 
“I’ve been in love with Yesung Hyung since we were living in Cheonan,” Siwon says after they are all comfortably sitting on the couch or in the carpet around it. “And I waited so long to get his heart.”
“Awww…” Donghae teases. 
“What? Before debut?” Leeteuk asks. 
“So that’s why you never joined us when we were judging female artists and rank their beauty?” Shindong confirms. 
“Yea… I’ve never liked any females, so what would I know?” Siwon shrugs. 
“I started to feel something for him in 2010, I think? We got closer and closer and he confessed to me in late 2011…” Yesung looks at his boyfriend with a red face. 
“Christmas eve,” Siwon grabs Yesung’s hand and they look at each other lovingly. 
The members are all watching them with a new realization. How many times did they see YeWon being this lovey-dovey with each other and they didn’t even bat an eye about it? But now, that they all have found out about the relationship, it looks twenty times more intimate and romantic. 
“Ya ya ya! Just because everyone knows about you know, it doesn’t mean you two get to act like this in front of us!” Heechul playfully teases. 
“You did this kind of thing all the time,” Shindong starts. “And we found it normal for you skinship lovers so we never took it seriously…”
“Exactly,” Leeteuk chimes in. 
“I’m fine with it,” Donghae joins. “It’s just… so normal. I’m used to them being that way.”
“I bet fans feel the same,” Siwon smiles, tearing his attention from only Yesung to his friends. “We barely have any shipper, us two.”
“At least they won’t demand you to do racy things the way Eunhae shippers are,” Eunhyuk, who feels better now about the couple, pouts. “I love them and all, I mean they’re super supportive and sometimes are just too… creative…”
“Oh yeah Hyung, now tell me what happened to you that day… you know, when you were sick in Siwon’s apartment?” Donghae elbows Yesung while smiling naughtily. 
Hearing that, Yesung turns super red and he buries his face in his palms. He shakes his head, refusing to answer. 
“That was my fault,” Siwon answers instead, holding back a smile seeing his boyfriend being embarrassed. “We did it too much and Yesung hyung got sick after that… too tired…”
“And you just left him alone after that? What a jerk,” Donghae frowns. 
“No, gosh you two, stop talking!” Yesung nags. “Siwon had to go early in the morning and I was fine until after a few hours later. I was supposed to go home but I felt so sick so I could only treat myself there and that’s when you came.”
“Poor Hyung,” Donghae lays his head on Yesung’s shoulder and caresses his arm. 
“Siwon here is a horse,” Heechul snorts. “He knows not when to stop…”
“I knew it,” Shindong looks at Siwon with judging eyes. “Sometimes I swear I saw Yesung hyung limping even…”
“Shut up!” Yesung screams in embarrassment. “I’ll order some chinese food and we have to stop talking about… that…” and with that he gets up with his phone in his hand and walk away to make a call in the balcony. 
The rest of the afternoon is filled with happiness for Yesung and Siwon. Now they have all their members’ blessings and support and they don’t have to hide anything anymore. 
Contrary to their fears before, keeping this as a secret in fact strengthen the sense of responsibility and friendship among the SJ members. Now they know they could rely on their band members for their secrets and that is one of the greatest feelings ever. To know that you have so many close friends to share your pain and gain. 

*FIN*