He was small, weathered, and whipcord lean, and he had worn the uniform for nearly twenty-two years. The last thirteen of those years had been spent in the training of his countrymen. In a country where a minimun national service is required of every able bodied male, the number of different types of people he had dealt with over the years boggled the mind. Celebrities as newly minted 'citizen soldiers' was not a new one for him.

Five of them ... from the same group ... at the same facility ... at the same time ... just did not happen. Five from a notoriously broken group .... He had gone as high as he could go and then around to the backdoor in his quest to find out how this had been arranged, to no avail. He was informed, finally, that the assignments were correct.

The five of them stood relaxed in front of his desk, even though he had simply sat and looked at them for long enough that most people become uncomfortable and start to fidget. Taking an envelope from his desk drawer, he rose and walked around to stand in front of them.

"Gentlemen, we have an unusual circumstance here. This was obviously arranged. how ... I have not yet been able to determine. What I need from you is simple. Train together or apart?" He let the question hang as he took note of each expression. The man standing on the end was also examining each face. Turning to look at the officer again he answered simply "Together".

"I would like to know if you ... any of you ... had a hand in arranging this." He made sure that his tone conveyed that this was merely a request for information.

"No, sir", the same tall man answered for all, "In fact, we were quite surprised when we realized that we had all been assigned here".

After one more studied look at their faces, the commander gave a small sigh and ce more to Yunho. "Well then, we may never figure out how it was done. This, by the way," he continued, holding the envelope in his hand out to Yunho, "is for you. It came, addressed to you, in my official mail pouch." His single raised brow told Yunho how highly irregular that was.

Puzzled, Yunho accepted it. The commander just nodded when he started to open it, then stopped, unsure what protocol might be. Tearing open the end, he pulled out the stiff doubled card stock. Staring up at him were five very young, very familiar faces in Santa hats and reindeer headbands. He vaguely remembered this photo shoot from years before. He opened it wondering who on earth would be sending him a Christmas card here.

Everyone in the room had watched in quiet curiosity, and then slight concern, as first amazement, then joy, then laughter overtook Yunho. Jaejoong, unable to stand the suspence any longer, snatched the card from Yunho's hand. As the members crowded around Jae to see what had set their leader off like that, Yunho caught his breath and spoke to their new commanding officer.

"Sir, I think our mystery is solved." Yunho retrieved the card from Jae's unresisting hand and offered it to the older man.

Inside, each of their names were printed with their new titles, designations, and serial numbers. Below that was a hand written message . . . .

Merry Christmas ....Love, Cass...