Leeteuk was walking down the hospital's hallways, car keys in hand. However, his mind wasn't focused on where he was going. Instead, it was concentrated on the words Siwon had recently disclosed to him.

Sungmin's disease is spinocerebellar degeneration disease.

For some unknown reason, the cerebellum is shrinking, but not only that, the nerve cells within are also regressing.

In other words, they're dead. 

Leeteuk handed the paper work to the receptionist behind the desk who gladly accepted them. He patiently waited for her to return by replaying the words over and over again in his mind. He didn't want to believe it. He just couldn't believe it. His fifteen year-old Sungmin acquired an incurable disease? Who would believe such a thing?

"Here are the medications."

The receptionist bowed to Leeteuk, and being the angel he was, bowed back to her and forced a smile onto his face. However, as he read the medication information, his mind wandered back to the doctor's words.

From my knowledge, there hasn't been a single patient who was fully cured.

Leeteuk held onto the bag tightly as he made his way through the hospital and into the private office of a specific doctor. Eventually, he arrived in front of the door and knocked, waiting for an answer from within. Once he heard the gentle, "Please come in," he opened the door and stepped inside. Siwon whirled around in his chair and faced the distressed-looking Leeteuk.

"What's wrong?"

"M-mianhe, but may I see the MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) and the test results again?"

"I-I want to get confirmation from other doctors..."

"So, you're saying you want a second opinion?"

"N-neh. Another doctor's suggestion, I mean." 

Siwon thought for a while before finally saying, "I concur on a second opinion."

Siwon stood up from his chair and strolled over to his cabinet containing data and files of all his patients. He shuffled a bit, looking for Sungmin's profile, and pulled out a large envelope, including the MRI scans.

"I can also refer you to another doctor." Siwon said.

"T-Thank you." Leeteuk hesitated.

"But...I'm warning you now. During this time, Sungmin's disease will begin to develop." Siwon cautioned.

"Sungmin's ability to move about freely is limited in time. Keep that in mind. To make the most of the time Sungmin has left, you first off need to accept and understand your son's illness."

"You have informed me that Sungmin's disease is incurable. You can't possibly think that I'm going to accept this." Leeteuk retorted, his patience wearing thin. 

Siwon gazed at Leeteuk and sighed. He sat back down in his chair and pulled out a pen from his pocket. He began to write something down onto a piece of parchment.

"Make sure Sungmin takes his medicine."

"Neh."

Siwon handed Leeteuk the paper work with the MRI scans and watched his retreating figure, anticipating the future that awaits him and Sungmin. 

"Let's eat!"

Sungmin, Ryeowook, and Henry were all gathered around in their classroom, their desks properly placed so that all of their lunches could fit on the tables. Each of them opened their own homemade lunches, admiring one another's delicious-looking delicacies.

"Sungmin's lunch looks so yummy!" Henry exclaimed, Ryeowook nodding his head violently in agreement.

"Teukie Umma is a nurse so he's really strict on nutrition. Sometimes, it can get really annoying, but I enjoy it nonetheless because the food tastes so yummy!"

The three of them ate their lunches happily, appreciating spending time together.

Leeteuk hurriedly returned to his own office at his hospital. He was carrying bags and bags full of books. However, they weren't any books. They were books all on spinocerebellar degeneration disease. He rushed into his office and dropped the bags onto the table. He then placed the envelope containing the MRI scans into a drawer beside his desk. Leeteuk faced the monitor and the computer. He moved the mouse around, clicking on the icon that read "Internet." Hastily, he typed in "Spinocerebellar Degeneration Disease," in the search box. Hitting the enter key, the page loaded with the results of his search. He continuously scrolled down, displeased with the first couple of explanations of the disease.

Oh, what's this?

"Do your best!"

Shindong gave an encouraging smile, and headed off towards the teacher's longue. Sungmin was handed a large stack of papers for the choir competition and decided to head back to the classroom with Ryeowook and Henry.

"Mmm...Sungmin you have so much courage, don't you? Saying 'My appa owns a bread shop.'" Ryeowook declared.

"But look how great this is! The song for the competition has finally been decided." Henry exclaimed happily.

The three of them looked at the title of the song they had selected to sing for the choir competition. It read, "March 9th."

Sungmin sighed, knowing that something was clearly missing.

"We need an accompaniment..." He muttered. While Henry and Ryeowook were happily looking over the song, Sungmin had his eyes on someone else. He saw Seohyun talking with Sunny, again, and concluded that this was the last chance for him to ask. The other two were examining one of the copies of "March 9th," while Sungmin gathered up all his courage once more and strolled into the classroom and straight up to Seohyun's desk.

"Seohyun. Do you still refuse to do the accompaniment for the choir competition?"

Henry and Ryeowook were watching their friend from the doorway, afraid to cause any trouble between the two.

"Of course! It's too troublesome." Seohyun sneered, issuing Sungmin a discontent look.

Kyuhyun was at the back of the classroom with Kibum and Heechul, minding his own business. However, he glanced over and saw Sungmin with Seohyun, catching his full attention. He ignored his two other friends and concentrated on the conversation going on between Sungmin and Seohyun.

"But, Seohyun-ah, you're the only one that can do it! Please..." Sungmin put on his best aegyo face with his puppy eyes sparkling. Though it would affect most people, Seohyun was, unfortunately, unaffected.

"Even if you beg I still won't do it." Seohyun coldly replied.

Seeing how Sungmin was in trouble, Kyuhyun sighed and concluded in helping the little bunny out.

"Seohyun, you're really good at the piano, aren't you?" Kyuhyun asked, nonchalantly.

She looked up, startled, by the sudden voice. Seohyun gazed at Kyuhyun for a while, and Sungmin noticed her face was becoming a slight shade of pink. To hide her blushing face, she looked down, finding the desk to be quite interesting.

"N-not r-really..."

"Come to think of it, Seohyun participated in the Junior High School choir competition and played the piano." Kibum revealed, smirking.

"You should do it." Kyuhyun added.

"W-well if Kyuhyun-shii says so, I-I guess I have no other choice..."

Henry and Ryeowook glanced at each other and beamed at one another in victory. Sungmin held the biggest smile while Kyuhyun chuckled mentally at how easy it was to make Sungmin happy.

Tsk. Too easy.

He was about to leave the room, but abruptly stopped at the doorway and looked at Seohyun.

"Thank you."

This caused Seohyun to madly blush, making Sunny beside her giggle. Sungmin watched the retreating figure of Kyuhyun, Kibum, and Heechul, but as he was about to turn around himself, he could have sworn he saw Kyuhyun whirl around and smirk at him.

M-maybe I was imagining it...

"Minnie~ why are you blushing~"

Ryeowook was on the left side of Sungmin while Henry was on his right. They both had their eyebrows raised, questioning why Sungmin's cheeks had altered into a shade of red. Unaware of this only caused Sungmin to blush even harder and smack his two friends playfully on the shoulder.

"Y-yah! D-don't scare me like that..."

"Seohyun-ah, thank you."

Without waiting for a reply, Sungmin hurried out of the classroom with a giggling Ryeowook and Henry behind him.

Pabo, Kyuhyun...

The sound of a printer working echoed through the silent office room. Leeteuk sat there as he waited for the papers to print. One by one, the pages continued to slide out of the printer, while Leeteuk grew anxious with every passing minute. Finally, after what felt like hours to him, Leeteuk promptly seized the last of the papers and returned to his desk, reading them over.

Speaking difficulties.

Writing difficulties.

Motor imbalance disorder.

Although this information was terrifying to Leeteuk, he still didn't want to believe any of this was true. He didn't want to believe that this was happening to Sungmin. However, one sentence especially caught his eye, making his heart skip a beat.

There is currently no cure.

"Seohyun definitely likes Kyuhyun for sure, don't you think?"

Sungmin, Ryeowook, and Henry were in the school gym, dressed in sweat pants and wife beaters, as they prepared for their dance practice that day. The three of them were performing their stretches when Ryeowook suddenly brought up this topic, causing Sungmin to lose his balance a bit and stumble, luckily not falling over. He felt warmer on the inside and his chest started aching for some unknown reason. The words that had left Ryeowook's mouth displeased him, but he ignored his thoughts, disregarding the strange emotions and feelings that were stirring inside of him.

"T-that's what I thought too. I mean, they have been classmates since Junior High School..." Sungmin stated, awkwardly laughing afterwards. However, the pain in his chest wouldn't go away and neither did the hotness he felt. He decided to sit down and rest for a bit, believing he was only tired after such a long and exhausting day, only to have it continue with this training. Just then, Shindong's and Nari's voices sounded throughout the gym, unfortunately cutting Sungmin's break short.

"Gather around!"

The response was chaotic as students were assembling before the two dance teachers, their sneakers squeaking against the glossy gym floor and the sound of shuffling feet, echoing everywhere within the building. Sungmin and his friends hurriedly rushed over and pushed their way towards the front to hear what their trainers had to say.

"This Saturday, there will be a dance competition against SM High School. Be prepared, they are very talented dancers. But, I know we can do it. Nari will now read off the list of people who will be participating and representing our school in the competition." Shindong disclosed.

"Third year: Minho, Taemin, Jonghyun. Second year: Key. First year: ....Sungmin." Nari smiled at Sungmin as she read off his name while Henry and Ryeowook were practically jumping for joy for their friend. They were hugging him excitedly while the latter stood there, utterly dumbfounded by what he had just heard.

"Isn't this great?!" Henry shouted, hopping up and down.

"It's amazing!" Ryeowook added, following Henry's actions.

Sungmin giggled cutely at his friends' reactions, but grinned at them nonetheless.

"Well then, let's practice!"

As everyone disassembled from each other and raced towards the stage, Sungmin, still a bit shocked from the news, was at the back of the formation.

"Sungmin, do your best!" Shindong encouraged as Sungmin shuffled past him.

"Neh!" Sungmin confidently replied.

On the other side of the gym, the experienced dancers were hanging about, performing astounding dance movements as always. Among this group were two sophomores who were wandering about the gym, eyeing the lower classmen intently. Donghae and Zhou Mi were walking along the gym's walls when a particular person caught Donghae's attention. He saw Sungmin heading towards the stage as he glanced back. This action was not unseen by Zhou Mi who decided to banter the fishy a bit.

"Do you think he's a great dancer?"

"Or do you think he's a great guy?" Zhou Mi questioned, a smirk evident on his face.

Donghae shook his head slightly while pushing his taller, Chinese friend playfully, though a smile was plastered on his face. He continued to stroll until he realized Sungmin was approaching him, causing him to stop in his tracks and gaze closely at the other. They made eye contact, allowing Donghae to issue Sungmin his signature smile, inducing the latter to turn a deep shade of red. He returned the smile, nonetheless, and was about to walk off when Donghae's next words made his heart skip a beat.

"Sungmin, hwaiting!" Donghae proclaimed, demonstrating a fist pump in the air.

The younger chuckled softly and smiled brilliantly at the older. He advanced towards the stage and stood in the center while everyone gathered around, awaiting Sungmin's performance. He permitted his body to feel the rhythm of the music before carrying out any movements. Sungmin began to maneuver his body, left to right, up and down, his hand motions following. Eventually, he was dancing in sync with the song, perfectly.

In the Biology Room, Heechul, Kibum, and Kyuhyun were inspecting a tank containing fish. Well, at least Heechul was while Kyuhyun was tending to other matters. However, Kibum was awfully bored and uninterested in watching aquatic creatures swim around in water.

"This is Biology?" Kibum complained.

"Of course. Since you can't touch the fish and the fish can't touch you." Heechul indicated in a 'as a matter of factly' manner.

Kibum groaned in annoyance at how Heechul could act and behave this way with fish.

Seriously?! Fish?!

He stared at the diva beside him who was admiring the swimming organisms intently. He face palmed himself as his question was answered by the expression Heechul had on his face.

"Kyuhyun, you're Hangeng's brother, aren't you?" Heechul questioned suddenly, his expression totally changing into a serious one.

Kyuhyun kept silent, though his movements were discontinued as he looked down at the turtles in their tanks. Without waiting for a response, Heechul continued on.

"Come to think of it, you're a lot like Hangeng. He always tended to the turtles too..." Heechul claimed. 

Kyuhyun who was seated quietly at one of the lab stations rose and walked out of the classroom, leaving Kibum and Heechul behind to watch his retreating figure.

"You shouldn't talk about his brother, Heechul..." Kibum muttered.

"You do know he...passed away, right?" He added.

Heechul kept his head down and looked down at his hands, choosing not to speak. Seeing this, Kibum sighed and focused his attention back on the fish tank in front of him, no matter how boring it was just examining the fish swim around.

Yes, I do know...

And heck do I miss him...

Outside, Kyuhyun was sitting on the staircase, inspecting the turtle by holding it in his hands. He held it carefully by its shell, flipping it around in his hand, finding it the most interesting creature ever.

Hangeng, I miss you...

Though often, he would hold in his tears to be strong, he allowed a single tear trickle down the side of his face. Kyuhyun reached up with his free hand and touched the salty substance, rubbing it between his fingers to dissolve it.

"According to these tests, we can rule out anemia."

Leeteuk was sitting in a doctor's office, intensely listening to every word the doctor had to say as he analyzed Sungmin's results.

"T-then being sleep deprived can also cause this hormonal imbalance, c-correct?" Leeteuk responded hopefully.

"No. There is no clear evidence that not having enough sleep can be the cause of this."

"Then, how about next time, I'll bring Sungmin here for you to examine him?"

"If the doctors over at Seoul University Hospital have already analyzed him, then there's no mistaking it."

"B-but..."

"Leeteuk-shii, mianhe, but this disease isn't hard to diagnose. The MRI scans explain it all..."

Leeteuk's hopes were shattered after hearing the last words escaping the doctor's mouth.

N-no. T-this can't be true...

S-sungmin....