JB’s fist clenched, his anger growing, “I didn’t. I didn’t want this. You were the one pushing me, you were the one who insisted that this was for the best!”

Rian’s face flushed, “It is. And there’s nothing more to be said about it.” She turned, striding away.

“Lee Jikyung! How long more are you going to keep lying to yourself?!”

Rian didn’t look back.

JB slammed his fist into the wall, releasing a yell of anger. He fumed, and slammed his fist into the wall again, ignoring the intense pain. Blood welled up at his knuckles, but he just spun around and stormed back to his room.

Rian leaned her head against the wall, blinking her tears back. Her lips moved inaudibly, her sight blurring, “I’m so sorry…”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Siwoo tossed his bag onto his bed and sat down at the desk, sighing. He glanced out of the window; what a total waste today had been.

Just then, the door flew open and JB stormed in. He slammed the door shut behind him so hard, the door shook on its hinges. Siwoo watched, wide-eyed, as his bandmate stalked to his bed, swearing furiously. After a moment, Siwoo asked tentatively, “Did…did you talk to Rian?”

Siwoo took JB’s furious kick at his table to be a yes, “What happened?”

JB looked up, his eyes angry, “What do you think?”

There was a moment of silence as Siwoo surveyed his leader, “You’ve changed again. You seem more like your old self.”

JB looked up, his thoughts disrupted by Siwoo’s sudden comment, “What are you talking about?”

“Ever since you broke up with Rian, you stopped becoming the JB we knew. You became a cold bastard. You started treating all of us coldly, like strangers. You made no attempt to make up with Rian, even though all of us could see that she was hurting. You became the type of guy who would backstab all his friends just to succeed. That was the guy who told the President he wanted a solo debut, the guy who selfishly decided to lead Eden on stage despite the consequences. But now…it’s almost as if you’ve changed back. Become the old you. The you who would do anything and everything to get Rian back, the you who would protect your friends at all costs.” Siwoo replied, his lips curling into a small smile, “You’ve become my best friend again.”

After a pause, JB’s lips tugged upwards in a reluctant smile, “Now that you mention it…”

“What the hell happened, anyway? Why did you…why…I don’t know. Both Hyorin and I found it really weird, but you wouldn’t talk to me and Rian wouldn’t explain either, so…” Siwoo’s voice trailed off and he raised his eye, staring curiously at JB.

“I…I don’t know. My father…my father was dying, and I’d promised that I would do anything to debut and succeed. Anything. Except…” JB looked down, his eyes downcast.

“Rian. The President said that to debut you had to breakup with her. And you couldn’t do it. Not at first, at least.” Siwoo spoke. This much, he knew.

“Yeah. And then…and then my father died. And I couldn’t be there with him.”

“Because we were training for our debut. It was the final test, to see if we were ready to debut. And the trainers wouldn’t let you leave. You argued with them because of it, but they wouldn’t let you go. And so you stayed. You didn’t realize that…that it was your last chance to see him.” Siwoo remembered that incident clearly…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Flashback: 2 years ago; Oz Entertainment Training Room

“I really have to go!” Woo-jae said desperately, casting the trainers pleading gazes, “My mother called, she said my father’s condition was worsening!”

The trainers’ gazes were cold, “Go ahead, then. But if you go, then Kim Jongin will take your place in Eden, and you can dream on about debuting for the next few years.”

Siwoo watched on worriedly as Woo-jae’s eyes widened in shock. The future leader hesitated, his expression frantic. He ran his hands through his hair, casting his gaze about desperately. The HershE members glanced at each other as they watched Woo-jae. Rian was about to go to her boyfriend when she remembered where she was, and stood down; the trainers were disapproving of their relationship, and going to him would just make things worse for him.

Woo-jae took a deep breath to calm himself, closing his eyes. After a moment, he opened his eyes again, much more composed than before, “I’m ready. Let’s begin.”

He and Siwoo danced together in perfect unison, their voices ringing out in the training room. As they came to a halt, the trainers nodded, impressed. After a moment, the head trainer stood up, “Not bad.” He glanced at Woo-jae, looking at him with new eyes, “Looks like you are as good as they say.”

Woo-jae allowed himself a small smile of triumph. Siwoo nudged him, “Stop smirking.”

Rian smiled widely, proudly at the trainer’s praise. Woo-jae turned around to look at her, and she tried to give him an inconspicuous thumbs-up. Woo-jae’s smile broadened.

“However…” The trainer looked up at Rian with piercing eyes, “Your…relationship is unsatisfactory to us. If you were able to settle all your affairs by the next month, you are guaranteed a debut. Otherwise…” His voice trailed off ominously. Woo-jae’s smile faded at once; Rian, too, looked unsettled by the trainer’s words.

All of a sudden, Woo-jae’s phone rang. The trainers glanced at each other and the head trainer spoke again, “HershE, your test will be in a weeks’ time.” Together, they rose and strode out of the room.

Woo-jae hurried to his phone and picked up, “Hello? Omma…what? Now? But I…” His voice trailed off as he listened, his face slowly turning ashen. The phone slipped from his grasp; it hit the ground with a thud.

Rian hurried to her boyfriend’s side, “Woo-jae, what’s wrong?”

Woo-jae slowly the spot, his expression full of disbelief and shock, “My father…my father didn’t make it…” And then he burst into tears.

Hyorin and Siwoo exchanged a stunned glance, neither of them able to believe what they had just heard.

Rian’s eyes went wide with shock. Her lips trembled, her eyes moist, as she wrapped her arms around Woo-jae and hugged him gently as he wept.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“And after that, you broke up with Rian.” Siwoo continued.

“I didn’t want to. But…my father…I had to do it. I just had to fulfill my promise to my father, and I would do anything to do it.” JB replied.

“But now you’re regretting it?” Siwoo asked.

JB smiled bitterly, “After coming back to Kirin, after remembering everything that the five of us had been through…I just couldn’t do it anymore.”

There was a long silence. Siwoo got to his feet with a smile, “Well, welcome back.” He clapped his best and oldest friend on the back, and pulled him into a tight hug.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

JR flipped lazily through the album of photos he had in his hands; it was a collection of photos from their first year in Kirin. As he studied the photos, his eyes widened at the sight of a familiar face and he called, “Yah, Yoojin, take a look at this!”

Yoojin strode over to his best friend, “What is it?”

“The advanced class photo. Look at it.” JR showed Yoojin the photo. Yoojin frowned, not understanding, “Advanced class? Yeah, I remember we used to fight with them a lot…”

“Your…your ex-girlfriend was from the advanced class right? What was her name?” JR asked. Yoojin nodded affirmative.

“Jikyung.”

JR pointed out two faces, one male, one female. Yoojin narrowed his eyes, studying the picture carefully, “That’s Jang Woo-jae…JB?!” His eyes went wide in shock. JR nodded, “It’s him, isn’t it? That’s what I thought too. And…and this one…” he pointed at the girl.

Yoojin hesitated before looking carefully at the photo again. And this time, he staggered, shocked beyond belief.

“Rian is Jikyung?!”

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The plot thickens! Heh sorry for the late update guys, but I've been busy with my exams and block tests, so I haven't had much time to update. I hope you guys liked this chapter!

Not much interaction between the pairings in this chapter; it mostly explains what happened between Rian and JB last time, and JB's behaviour at the start of the story. In any case, this is where the story starts to deviate from the actual show. I've changed the backstory of the main characters, such that all of them (that includes all the idols) studied at Kirin, at least for the first year. And yes, Rian was Yoojin's ex girlfriend. All of them have much more complicated relationships, and this is where Yoojin starts to come into focus more; the main love triangle, as you may have guessed, is Yoojin-Rian-JB. Sora...not so much. 

As i mentioned previously, the main friendships is amongst the Eden and HershE idols; Siwoo, Hyorin and Ailee will be becoming a lot more important from this chapter on. Also, EXO members appearing in the next chapter, as well as some other idols! Anyone excited?

Guys, please do comment and subscribe. It gets kind of depressing when no comments come in...thanks!