"Yah! When's the food going to be done?" probed Junsu "We're starving here, Jae!"

"Be patient, it's almost done." reassured Jaejoong.

It had been almost two weeks since Jaejoong had his meltdown over seeing Yunho at the airport and from the outside, he seemed to be back to his old self. Junsu and Yoochun sat in the living room watching Jaejoong in complete and utter amazement. Fearing the worst, they fully expected their beloved angel to revert back to four years ago and stay that way. However in a mere matter of days, Jaejoong went from a complete mess to joking and carrying on, as if nothing had happened. Somehow, even though it seemed that everything was going to be alright, Junsu and Yoochun weren't completely convinced that it was over. Often times they had caught Jaejoong staring off into space, thinking intently about something, and they would quickly become worried simply because of the look on his face. He always looked as if his heart was breaking all over again. Trying to stem the tide of Jaejoong's suffering, they made sure to distract Jaejoong every time they caught him acting this way. Hoping to keep his mind off what ever it was that was tormenting him. 

Jaejoong was standing in the kitchen preparing lunch for everyone and smiling cheerfully. Yoochun and Junsu always loved to watch Jaejoong cook. His cooking skills were that of a seasoned chef, but he had never really had any formal training. It was not only his hobby, but also his passion. He took great delight in, not only preparing amazingly delicious food but  also sticking to his belief that if it didn't look beautiful on the plate, then it wouldn't taste great. Jaejoong was a stickler for perfection when it came to his cooking. Being able to cook for the people he loved, gave him the opportunity to show them his love, even when he didn't have the courage to confess it outloud. He hoped, that with every bite, his loved ones would understand how he felt. Often, he would create an entire dinner with some specific visual theme. Yoochun and Junsu looked forward to these the most, as they were always querky and cute. Would today's dishes be pretty or querky? They didn't know, and to them, that was part of the fun. 

"It's ready." proclaimed Jaejoong with a smile on his face "Let's eat."

"Yay!" cheered Junsu and Yoochun in unison.

The table was elegantly decorated with pristine silver-rimmed white bone china. Glistening silver untensils were placed delicately over gently folded white linen napkins, and a bouquet of fresh blush-pink roses sat beautifully in a small crystal vase in the middle. The precious ceterpeice was surrounded by a huge selection of dishes each elegantly presented in their own little bowls. The table was not only stunning, but colorful. Yoochun and Junsu stood looking at the table in pure amazement. 

"Wow! Jae you've out done yourself this time." Junsu praised.

"This is stunning. I could swear I was at a five star restaurant all of a sudden." Yoochun added.

"Maybe I over did it a little." Jaejoong giggled as he scratched his head gently "Well, Let's eat."

The three friends sat down and enjoy the spectacular meal. Relishing every bite, laughing and carrying on as they always have done. Once their lovely meal was finished and the three friends were quite satisfied, Yoochun and Junsu retired to the living room. Yoochun plopped down on the nearby recliner with a satisfied thud and Junsu laid across the couch brandishing a big smile. "Wow, that was great!" said Junsu. "Jae is such a good cook isn't he?" Yoochun questioned, to which Junsu quickly nodded in agreement. 

"Yah! Jae do you want us to help you with the dishes?" Yoochun asked playfully.

"You know better than to ask that." Jaejoong answered "Just relax, I got it."

"Alright." Yoochun said with a sigh.

As Jaejoong continued to clean up the kitchen, Yoochun locked eyes with Junsu who had a serious look on his face. He looked at Junsu with a puzzled look when Junsu spoke up quietly.

"Chunnie, I think we should bring it up now." Junsu whispered softly

"You sure? You think he can handle it?" Yoochun quietly questioned.

"We have to talk about it. We've ignored it long enough" Junsu nodded in agreement. 

After a few more minutes, Jaejoong joined Junsu on the couch and layed back with a satisfied smile on his face. He was so happy that his brothers fully enjoyed themselves and relished in the fact that they looked so content. "I guess I did a good job." he thought to himself as he propped his feet up on the ottoman and laid his head on the back of the couch. The three friends sat in complete silence, for what seemed like a blissful eternity, until Junsu spoke up.

"Jae, There's something me and Chunnie need to talk to you about." Junsu stated with a serious tone.

"Why do you look so serious all of a suddent?" ask Jaejoong "You look scary."

"We need to talk to you about something." added Yoochun."More like, we need you to tell us a story."

"Umm..." stuttered Jaejoong with a worried look.

"Do you remember the day all of us were sitting at the dinner table at the dorms?" asked Junsu "The night we all talked about leaving the company together?"

"Yeah...?" Jaejoong answered with a puzzled look.

"Well..." said Junsu.

[Flashback : February 2009]

"Man, I'm so exhausted!" exclaimed Yoochun as he sat down at the dinner table.

"I really can't take this anymore." added Jaejoong "This schedule is a nightmare."

"Yeah. I've barely had six hours of sleep in the last four days." agreed Junsu.

"I know, and this is the first time we've eaten since yesterday." whined Changmin as he stared at the bowl of ramen in front of him. "I'm so sick of ramen!"

"This is all we have to eat Minnie, just try to bare with it." conforted Yoochun. 

"Why are they treating us like this? We work so hard, do everything they ask of us, and nothing is ever good enough!" Jaejoong stated with a huff.

Although somewhat different, this scene had been playing out every night for the last year. Yunho understood why his family were so frustrated. The were just young kids when they joined the trainee program, all for a chance to become world famous Kpop stars. Even though they really didn't know what being an idol really meant, the had a dream and were determined to follow it at all cost. Their time as trainees were filled with continually tight schedules. Their daily schedule consisted of  four hours of vocal lessons, two hours of elocution lessons, two hours of instrument practice, three hours of studio time, and eight hours of dance practice and exercise. Having to pull nineteen hour days with little to no time off, the groupmates were thoroughly exhausted and took to drinking coffee in large quantities, in an attempt to cope. The caffiene mixed with the lack of regular and nutritous meals cause the group to suffer from not only constant bouts of insomnia and indegestion, but also caused them to be malnurished. 

Even with all the hardships they had to endure, each member never lost their resolve. They thought that the harder they worked as trainees the easier life would get after they debuted, but the company definitely had other plans. The combination of their naivity and the resounding pressure they recieved from the company's lawyers pressured the young trainees to sign a contract they truly didn't understand. When they finally were told that they had a real shot, that they were going to debut, the young trainees were so happy for the opportunity, that they never thought that their lives would turn into this kind of hell.

Yunho eventually realized, as did all the members, that their company had taken advantage of their age and coerced them into a contract that would ultimatly enslave them to do the companies bidding for thirteen years. The first year was like a dream to them. They were so happy to be an official group, to have the love of the fans, and to stand on stage together and show the world their talent. However the fairytale ended quickly when the group slowly began to realize that the dream they had wished for, had turned into a nightmare. They were watched every minute of the day, every aspect of their lives were controlled, and they never recieved any praise -only critism. Yunho knew that this wasn't the dream that him and s had imagined but he honestly thought that this was the price they had to pay to be stars.

"You guys, stop complaining and eat." retorted Yunho "The company is doing everthing for us, can't you see that?"

"But, they treat us like dogs!" grumbled Junsu "I mean, just look at what were eating for goodness sakes."

"As much money as we make the company, they could at least feed us properly." Jaejoong said as his slammed his chopsticks on the table and pushed the bowl away.

"You guys knock it off and eat." Yunho said sternly.

"We are where we wanted to be, aren't we?" continued Yunho "We are the hottest group in Korea right now ,with tons of fans."

"That's what we wanted." Yunho stated flatly. "We can do anything we want now."

"NO WE CAN'T!" screamed Jaejoong as he shot up from his chair.

"Yunho, you know good and well that we can't do anything without permission. I'm surprised they don't require us to ask permission to breathe." Jaejoong scoffed.

"Jae and Su are right." interjected Yoochun "This is totally getting out of hand."

"Hyung....I agree with them. This is just too much." stammered Changmin "I don't know how much more all of us will be able to last at this pace, physically."

"We can't even have a proper vacation, they always make us work no matter where we go." added Changmin.

"Agreed, It's been six months since we had a day off." whined Yoochun.

"ENOUGH!" exclaimed Yunho as he glared at his groupmates. 

After ten minutes, the eery silence was interrupted once more by Jaejoong.

"What if we..." Jaejoong stated then began to trail off in thought which caught everyone's attention.

"What if we tried to sue the company over the contract? We could get out from under them and finally do the music we want to." started Jaejoong

"We could hire a lawyer, and have a lawsuit drawn up, where we claim that the contract is tentamount to a slave labor contract." he continued. "We could include everything we've had to endure since pre-debut, till now. I think the court would take our side on this. We could really win."

"Are you serious?" questioned the group.

"Yeah." confirmed Jaejoong. "Doesnt the thought of being able to do all the things we want sound wonderful?"

"Are you out of your mind?" Yunho asked angrily.

"Yunnie." Jaejoong said manipulatively "Even you have said that you hated the fact that we had no say in what songs we release and perform."

"You, Junsu, and I have been composing songs for years, and every time we've submitted them, they get rejected immediately before they're even heard." continued Jaejoong "Isn't one of your life long dreams still to write the greatest song ever written?"

This statement struck a cord in Yunho as he sat there dumbfounded. When he was a student, he recieved award after award for writing spectacular poetry. He had always dreamed of writing music, to put his heart and soul on paper, and hear it come to life for all the world. He had accepted the fact that he would never be able to accomplish this under their current circumstances a long time ago, and put that dream behind him, or so he thought. Hearing it come from Jaejoong, his most trusted and beloved friend, made Yunho remember all those nights he stayed up till the wee hours of the morning composing, and the heart break he felt every time he was rejected. His mind raced at the possibilities of all he could accomplish without the encroachment of their entertainment company. After a long pause, Yunho spoke up.

"Alright. Let's give it a try." mumbled Yunho. "BUT, we have to keep this absolutely quiet. No one can know except the five of us."

"If the company gets even the slightest wind of this, we are screwed!" declared Yunho.

"What's your point?" asked an annoyed Jaejoong.

"Why did Yunnie and Minnie back out of the lawsuit at the last minute?" probed Junsu "To this day, we still don't know what happened, and we are sure that you do. Something changed."

"I don't want to talk about this!" yelled a panicking Jaejoong as he shot up off the couch in an attempt to flee the situation. Junsu quickly grabbed his wrist and yanked him back down on the couch as hard as he could. As Jaejoong landed on the couch with a thud, he looked intently as Junsu. He had never been more surprised in his life to see Junsu acting this way. The strongest and calmist of them all had used violence. Even Yoochun looked shocked as he saw this scene play out. 

"You will talk about this!" commanded Junsu angrily " We need to talk about it!"

"You need to tell us what happened between you and Yunnie the night before we filled the lawsuit." Junsu continued. "Up until then everything was on track for all of us to leave the company together, then all of a sudden they..."

"You know why Yunnie backed out and took Minnie with him, don't you?" interjected Yoochun.

"No." answered Jaejoong softly.

"Don't lie to us any more!" Junsu shouted "Stop trying to protect us! Just tell us!"

"After everything we went through!." started Yoochun "You owe us an explination. We know that what happened that night, is the reason why you spent the next eight months drinking yourself into a drunken stooper!"

"Don't you feel even the slightest bit of guilt for what you put me and Chunnie through?" asked Junsu. "We stood by yourside through all of it and to this day we still haven't gotten the truth from you."

"Guilt?" scoffed Jaejoong quietly to himself.

"Please tell us. We need to know what Yunho told you that night." said Yoochun softly as he sat down on the other side of Jaejoong.

"...I can't" said Jaejoong as tears began to streaked down his face. "It's not something for me to tell..."

"Only Yunnie can tell you."  said Jaejoong as he broke down into uncontrollable sobbing.

"Why can't you tell us?" asked Junsu with a concerned look.

"This is all I can do for him..." Jaejoong whispered softly.