Warning: This Chapter is rated NC-17 for language.

[Flashback: July 2009]

Sitting outstretched on his ever-so comfortable bed, Yunho sat quietly reading a book and relishing in the stillness of the moment. So many hectic and chaotic events were about to unfold tomorrow. The lawsuit would be filed in the morning and their world would be change forever. Their seemingly perfect life will turn into every one of their fans worst nightmare in just a matter of hours and he knew that he had to stay strong for the sake of his brothers. The thoughts of all the dangers that lay ahead of them made Yunho anxious. Tomorrow would be the beginning of their new lives together, where they could live freely, but he couldn’t help but worry.  No matter how wonderful the prospect of their new lives seemed, a nagging feeling was quickly welling up inside him and it had everything to do with the Chairman. Their intimidating boss had been acting strangely lately which caused Yunho to feel on edge. Could they really pull this off? Will they really get away from him? Will he just let them go? Questions like these had been plaguing Yunho the last few days causing him to toss and turn and lose hours of sleep.

“Tomorrow, needs to hurry up and get here already.” sighed Yunho as he gently rubbed his eyes.

Over the last few months, he and his brothers had been prepping everything, down to the smallest details, for the day they were going to file the lawsuit. They had acquired a safe house in Pusan, arranged secret travel arrangements for all the members, packed only the necessities, and even said goodbye to their families in preparation for a long separation. They were all well aware, and willing to, spend months –if not years- in hiding from the company until the lawsuit was settled. The more Yunho thought of everything that was supposed to happen tomorrow, the unknowns began to weigh heavily on his mind as he sighed heavily.

“I hope everything goes well tomorrow.” thought Yunho “I have to get everyone out safely.”

After realizing that he had read the same paragraph in his book almost ten times, he frustratingly closed the book and placed it gently on the bedside table, then closed his eyes and tried to settle his mind. After a few moments, he heard a gentle knocking on his bedroom door and looked up to see a smiling Changmin looking back at him.

“Hyung, I’m heading out now.” said Changmin.

“Alright, say hello to your family for me and be safe Minnie.” answered Yunho.

“I will.” promised Changmin “I will see you at the safe house.”

“Love you Minnie.” smiled Yunho.

“Love you to Hyung!” answered Changmin as he smiled brightly, turned, and left the room.

As Changmin closed the door behind him, Yunho sighed heavily and closed his eyes once more. “My little Minnie is so carefree sometimes.” he thought as he slowly started to drift off. Before blissful sleep could overtake him, Yunho was startled by the buzzing of his cell phone from the bedside table. With a groan he reached down, grabbed it and looked in surprise at the caller id.

Incoming call

Chairman

Apprehensively Yunho decided to answer the call and with his shaking hand lifted the phone to his ear.

“Hello?” stammered Yunho.

“YUNHO, WHERE ARE YOU?” asked the Chairman in a harsh tone.

“In my room.” answered Yunho hesitantly.

“We have something to discuss, you and I.” started the Chairman in a condescending voice “I would advise you to be at the offices in less than twenty minutes.”

“Umm…” stuttered Yunho.

“It would also be in your best interest not to test me on this.” advised the Chairman and then quickly hung up the phone.

Pulling the phone away from his ear and glaring at it intently, Yunho began to fear the worst. “What was that all about?” thought Yunho.

“Could he know?” questioned Yunho out loud in a fit of pure panic.

The thought of what would happen if the Chairman really did know, frightened Yunho to no end and in a flash he jumped up and darted down the hallway toward the living room. As he entered the living room the sound of his running caught Junsu, who was sitting quietly on the couch watching television, off guard. Junsu turned around to see him frantically putting on his coat and shoes.

“Where are you going Yunnie?” questioned Junsu urgently.

“Oh!” stuttered Yunho when he realized that Junsu was in the room.

“I… I have to head to the studio for a little bit.” answered Yunho.

“What in the world for?” asked Junsu in a pleading voice “It’s not safe there.”

“Don’t worry I will be quick. I just need to get something important I left there.” Yunho lied.

“Umm…Alright Yunnie.” agreed Junsu with an uneasy smile.

“Trust me. I will be back real soon.” promised Yunho as he flashed a quick smile and bolted out the door.

As Yunho sped through the wet and busy streets of Seoul, he could only think about the Chairman. Was he aware of everything? What would happen if he was? Would they be safe? What would the Chairman do to them? In mere moments, a trip that would have normally taken him thirty minutes in this traffic was over, as Yunho found himself already at the company. After parking his car quickly, Yunho ran across the parking lot and stopped in front of the building’s double glass door. With a heavy sigh, he opened the door and worked his way half-way across the spacious lobby floor before he was stopped by four of the Chairman’s personal guards.

“Sir, we’re here to you.” informed the tallest and more intimidating member of the four men. “Please follow me.”

“Alright.” answered Yunho cautiously as one of the guards behind him gave him a soft nudge.

As the men shuffled into the nearby elevator and the doors closed, Yunho glanced at the guards faces trying to gauge the situation. He quickly realized that whatever the Chairman had to say to him wasn’t going to be good, as each one of his guards carried a scowl upon their faces. As they exited the elevator and made their way toward the Chairman’s office, Yunho began to feel even more anxious and even somewhat frightened at what he may be walking into. When they reached the doors one of the guards knocked on the door, signaling their arrival, and then quickly opened the door. Yunho’s growing fear came to a head as he felt paralyze. He couldn’t move. He didn’t want to face what was about to happen. He couldn’t bring himself to step into that room. Noticing his hesitation, the two guards standing behind him gave him another gentle nudge but Yunho didn’t move. Frustrated, the two men then grabbed him by the shoulders and pushed him into the room with a hard shove.

“There you are.” said the Chairman sternly as he glanced up from his desk and glared at Yunho.

Looking down at the watch on his wrist, the Chairman flashed a condescending smile.

“And, on time too. What a good boy.” scoffed the Chairman.

“You can go.” said the Chairman as he glanced at the four guards in the room “I won’t have any problems with this one.”

As Yunho watched the men leave, the thought of being alone with the Chairman –with no witnesses, frightened him. Stepping back to distance himself from the intimidating man, Yunho looked at him cautiously.

“Well.” started the Chairman “Don’t you think it’s about time you own up to your little plan?”

“What are you talking about?” stammered Yunho like a small child.

“No need to play coy with Me.” scoffed the Chairman “did you not think that I had friends in the Seoul Prosecutors Office?”

“Foolish child.” declared the Chairman as he laughed manically.

“OH !” thought Yunho “We’re caught!”

“So the question now is what I should do about this little plan of yours.” continued the Chairman.

“There’s nothing you can do!” blasted Yunho in a fit of defiance “It’s going to happen, one way or another!”

“Oh, you think so?” question the Chairman slyly as he drummed his fingers on the stack of envelopes piled on his desk.

Standing up from behind his large desk, the Chairman grabbed the stack of envelopes and walked up to face Yunho eye-to-eye. Glaring intently at the young man in front of him for a moment the Chairman began show signs of pure disgust.

“Before you go ahead with your little plan, you might want to take a look at these.” advised the Chairman as he handed the envelopes to Yunho. “These are a quite interesting read if you ask me.”

“What is all this?” questioned Yunho softly as he glanced down. He noticed that each one of the envelopes had something written on them. As he flipped through the envelopes the first one was labeled:  “Junsu”, then the next: “Changmin”, then the next: “Yoochun”, and the final one: “Jaejoong”.  When Yunho eyes stopped on Jaejoong’s he frantically opened it up without even thinking. Yunho eyes widened as his eyes fell upon the envelopes contents.

“WHAT THE HELL IS ALL OF THIS?” yelled Yunho.

“A precaution, just for this kind of situation.” answered the Chairman “Each one of those envelopes holds enough false evidence to put each one of your so-called beloved brothers in prison for a very long time.”

“Let’s see if I remember them correctly.” gloated the Chairman “Junsu and Yoochun: Embezzlement, Changmin: Corporate Espionage, oh and my personal favorite, Jaejoong:  ual Exploitation of a Minor.”

“Who would have thought that Jaejoong would have a thing for little boys?” laughed the Chairman maniacally.

“This is BULL!” growled Yunho as he slammed the envelopes on the floor in a fit of anger. “You son-of-a-!”

“Now Now.” teased the Chairman “You best control that temper of yours.”

“What is it that you want?” asked Yunho with a sigh as he resolved himself to the fact that he was now at the mercy of such an evil man.

“You have a choice.” retorted the Chairman “Do what I order you to do and this information will never see the light of day. Don’t, and those documents will be filled with the prosecutor’s office an hour after your lawsuit is filed. It’s your choice. Save them or ruin them.”

“The Chairman told me that he would allow you, Su, and Chunnie to leave but he would not lose Minnie and me.  He went on to say that taking care of “Two Brats” was easier than tending to the needs of five.” continued Yunho.

 “He threatened me with the safety of all of you and ordered me to summon you and Minnie to the company.” Yunho sighed.

“He made me lie to you both!” yelled Yunho as he broke down into tears.

Jaejoong, stunned at the story that Yunho just told him sat there looking at his best and most beloved friend in disbelief. The combination of guilt and anger rose up in Jaejoong’s heart as the thought of what his Yunnie had to do, and had done, just to keep them all safe settled in his mind. Standing up with his fist clenched, Jaejoong couldn’t stop himself from thinking vengeful thoughts about the Chairman. The Chairman had tricked them both. He conned Yunho in betraying his family, turned around a few hours later and did the same thing to him, and they both fell for it.

“I’m going to kill him!” growled Jaejoong.

Through the midst of tears streaming down his face, Yunho mustered up all his strength and said “Now you see? “

“It’s all my fault. Had I stuck to the plan and stayed at the house, we wouldn’t have been put in the positions to choose.” cried Yunho “And you wouldn’t have had to go through all that pain.”

“Because I wasn’t strong enough, because I wasn’t smart enough and because I failed as a leader, I couldn’t protect you and you suffered for it.”

“You have every right to hate me Jae. I don’t deserve your love or forgiveness.” whispered Yunho as he buried his head into his hands and continued to sob uncontrollably.

Jaejoong looked down at Yunho and felt his heart break into a million pieces. Before he realized it, he was on the ground with his arms wrapped tightly around Yunho.

“Don’t say that!” pleaded Jaejoong in a sweet and soft voice. “I could never hate my Yunnie. I love you.”

Yunho reached up and put his hand on the gentle arm that now surround him and sighed.

“What are we going to do now?” asked Yunho as his voice cracked “We can’t go back and change the past.”

“Yes we can!” declared Jaejoong “Let’s go!”

Jaejoong grabbed Yunho by the wrist and carefully pulled him up to his feet. Opening the nearby rooftop door, Jaejoong glanced back at his confused friend and said “Don’t worry; It’s my turn to protect you.”