Junhui was triumphant. Minghao was exhausted. They opened the door to the little apartment they called home and when Soonyoung saw them he jumped up from the couch.

“Are you really here?” he asked with a mixture of joy and confusion and Minghao just nodded. “Jun-gē convinced my parents to let me stay.” Soonyoung charged towards them like a ball of energy and they both squealed as he squeezed them tight into a group hug. “Does Seungcheol know?” he asked and they shook their heads. “I’ll tell him!” he said as he ran back to the couch and searched frantically for the phone dropped in his excitement.

Three days later four excited boys sat around a big table in the company meeting room. Minghao was clutching a big yellow envelope that had been couriered to their apartment. It contained his passport, all his ID and documents, and to his surprise a cheque. He excitedly handed the whole lot over to Seungcheol when he entered and he took it to make copies for the company records. “I’ll take you to open a bank account later,” he said to Minghao who sighed with relief. He had been keeping his cash in the bottom drawer of his bedside cupboard and when he added the cheque he would finally feel like his head was above water. He sent a quick text to his Dad thanking him for the money before putting the phone back in his pocket.

Kim Mingyu walked in with the CEO and some other department heads. Minghao tried to sit up straight and pay attention but his eyes kept wandering to the boy by his side. He listened absentmindedly as they talked about image and concept, dates and timelines, and Minghao wasn’t even able to focus. He didn’t care. As long as he was by Junhui’s side he didn’t care what they were doing.

Finally the CEO stood and everyone else quickly stood and bowed as he walked out. The other departmental heads left too leaving Seuncheol and Mingyu behind with the four boys. “Isn’t this exciting!” Junhui said as he turned to Minghao. “What? Sorry I was having trouble concentrating.” He smiled and Junhui smiled back at the boy’s distraction. “We’re recording in two weeks and filming out debut music video!” Minghao looked at the five faces staring at him and broke into a grin. “Really?” the room exploded into laughter at his surprise. “What were