A/N: Annyeong!  Hope everyone’s having a good day today!  And if you aren’t, cheer up because I’m presenting to you the third chapter of OOLW!  Kekke, sorry for that comment there, I was a bit high when I was writing this part~ Anyways, on with the story!

[Present Day]

“Ugh, that was painful,” Junhyung complained as he massaged his sore elbows.  The rest of the members nodded in agreement.  They have just had an intense choreography session from their instructor, in which some members had a little bit of trouble with the difficulty of the dance moves.  This caused BEAST to delay their homecoming for an extra three hours in order to fix up their mistakes.

Doojoon pushed himself from the corner wall.  “Okay kids, kaja.”  The leader pushed back the loose strands from his sweating forehead and addressed.  One by one, the members slowly rose up from their sitting positions and walked out of the studio, with Dongwoon closing the door behind.

After an hour of showering and cleaning up, they trudged out into the well-lit corridors with fresh clothes and slightly happier expressions.  Doojoon lead them to Cube headquarters’ main reception desk, when suddenly Yul pushed the glass doors open and entered inside.  She stopped when she saw BEAST standing before her.

“Oh Yul-ah, annyeong!” Doojoon greeted with a wave, earning one from her in return.  She gave each of them a rather flustered smile. 

“A-annyeong,” Yul stammered, earning a snicker from Yoseob.  “Nice suit Yul-ah,” he teased, hiding behind Junhyung’s shoulder in attempt to smother his chortle.  The rapper smirked.  Yul glared at them.

“Yah, respect your elders,” Yul mockingly scolded, making Yoseob turn his head back and pout.

“But we’re of the same age!”  The aegyo master whined with an accusing finger.

“Too bad Yoseob-ah, I’m still older,” Yul grinned. 

“By only two days…” Yoseob grumbled, making Yul and the other members laugh.  Then she checked her watch.

---

Aw shoot, I’m going to be late if I continue to fight with Yoseob like this.  The president is expecting me after all, and I’d hate to face him even if I was a minute late.

“Mianhae guys, I have to run.  CEO Hong wants to see me,” I said while straightening my blouse.  Doojoon nodded, but Hyunseung and Kikwang both raised their eyebrows.  “It’s for the Cube’s current trainees,” I answered in response to their questioning looks.  Kikwang’s mouth soon formed an “O”. 

“Neh, so now I have to report to him about their assessments.”  I replied, my lips curving up in recognition when the members gave me amused smiles.

“Yul-ah, you’d better go easy on them,” Junhyung nagged, but I could tell he was happy on the inside.  He understood.  All of them did.

“Don’t I always?” I nagged back jokingly, and shook my watch.

“I’d better go. Annyeong, Doojoon-oppa, Junhyung-oppa, Yoseob, Kikwang-ah, and Dongwoon-ah.” I secretly giggled when I saw Yoseob frown after his name was called without any honourifics.   My head inclined in a slight bow of farewell and my flats began to stride across the gleaming tiles.  

“What about me, Yul-ah?” A voice called after.  I turned to see Hyunseung with a sad pout.  I grinned.  So he did catch on. 

Here goes nothing… 

My heart skipped a beat as I walked back to Hyunseung’s side, while the rest of BEAST regarded us with curious gazes.  I tugged on his white sleeve, which meant my signal for 'lower your head'.  He did, and I whispered something in his ear. 

“Aish, you guys are making me late!  If the president says anything, I’m blaming it on you!”  I ‘merong’ ed at the six men before waving a final goodbye and disappeared behind the elevators.  Once in the metal contraption, I caught my blurred reflection upon the argent walls.  My cheeks were red. 

Lee Yul, you cheesy idiot…

---

The smile never left my lips as all of us walked out of Cube Headquarters.  As my eyes adjusted to the warm sunlight I watched as the streets of Cheongdam-dong go by its daily bustle.  A black van was parked outside the building, which meant that our transportation had arrived.  I saw Dongwoon hurry down the stairs first in order to get the good seats while Kikwang strolled beside me and Junhyung trailed lazily behind.

“Hyung, what in the world did noona say that made you this happy?” Kikwang asked, darting again to look at my face and pulling a ‘dumb-kwang’ expression.  I chuckled.  In reality, Yul and Kikwang are of the same age, the latter only younger by two months.  But he just likes calling her that as a term of affection.  “Not telling, Kikwang,” I sang, both of my feet stepping on the cement sidewalk.

The six of us piled into the van with managers Jiyong-hyung at the wheel and Joongun-hyung nodding off beside.  We took off.

“Yah, that kind of reminds me of Yul-ah’s first encounter with us,” Yoseob said, while making himself comfortable in his seat.  Kind of impossible, since he’s squashed between Doojoon and Dongwoon. 

“Oh yeah, wasn’t that during our trainee days?”  Kikwang piped up.  Like Yoseob, he was forced to sit in the middle back due to Junhyung’s exceptional love for a window seat and his obedience with his hyungs. 

“Yup, she still wore a suit back then,” Yoseob teased, earning laughs from the rest of us.  I absentmindedly listened to their conversations, but soon found myself drifting into thoughts of Yul again: the contours of her crisp black suit along with a mid-length A-line skirt, the silver engraved studs that were partially covered by her long hair, the sounds of her flats clicking away as she walked across by, her makeup-free face which always give her a fresh look of radiance-

“Hyunseung-ah,” Doojoon’s voice drawled.  I snapped out of my reverie.  “Uh, what were we talking about again?” I put on a dazed expression.  The other members laughed.  I felt more confused. “No seriously, what were we talking about?”

The five of them looked at each other nostalgically.  “Remember the time when Yul-ah first worked with us?”  Junhyung said.  “She was such a cold and mean person!”  Yoseob fake-sobbed, clutching his fists in front of his face to emphasize his point.

“Yah, hajima,” I flicked Yoseob’s head.  “Easy for you to say Hyunseung-ah, she liked you the most,” Yoseob retorted while rubbing the back of his head.  Doojoon chuckled.  “Maybe, but all I can say is that I’m thankful to her and for what she has done to make BEAST the way is today.”

The rest of us nodded in agreement.  I knew each of them was thinking his own meeting with Yul.  Not wanting to feel left out in a way, I replayed the same flashback.

---

[Three years ago]

“Okay guys, that’s enough for today,” Our choreographer said, while the six of us threw ourselves onto the floors.  We were drained from this dance practice.  Yoseob and Kikwang both slicked back their forehead bangs back into their caps, while the leader and maknae looked dead as the latter leaned against the mirror wall, with the elder lying across his lap.

I crouched down, feeling the burn and soreness of my legs increase.  Junhyung was already packing his stuff and walking towards the door.  “Yah, kids.  Let’s go.”

“Wae…” Doojoon mumbled from underneath his round hat.  I stood up and arched my back.

Crack…crack…  I’m getting old…

Please Subscribe to read the full chapter