Chapter Nine

Yoochun was the first one up the next day.  He was showered and dressed before JaeJoong was out of bed. “What time do we need to be ready to go by?”

“The van comes at seven.  What time is it now?”

Chun glanced at the alarm clock.  “Five thirty.” 

JaeJoong pushed himself out of bed and headed for the shower.  “I’ll make omurice for breakfast.  Can you get the ingredients ready?”

Yoochun nodded as he pulled on his socks. 

Junsu stirred with all the noise his brothers were making.  “Yah, keep it down.”

“Wake up, Su, it’s time to go to work,” Yoochun tossed is pillow at the sleeping figure.

Junsu pulled the covers up over his head.  “How is it you’re even up,” came his muffled question.

“Don’t know.  I guess a coma might do that to you.”  Yoochun left the room headed for the kitchen.

Yunho was just coming out into the hall, his hair sticking up in all angles and his eyes barely open.  “Kopi, I need kopi,” he groaned while stretching his upper body.

Changmin was right behind him.  The absence of food smells in the air made him grumpy.  “Yah, JaeJoong, hyung, where’s breakfast?”

The mere fact that Yoochun was awake and ready to go made the maknae and the leader think they were running late.

All through breakfast JaeJoong gave Yunho looks that said he was dying to tell the leader something. At times Yunho thought whatever it was must be good or exciting, while there were moments he thought the eldest member would burst into tears of sadness.  Yunho schooled his own expression to appear to be calm.  Inside he was thinking about the welfare of all s. 

Each of them had their concerns about Yoochun’s health.  The fact that the middle member had hardly spoken to any of them was worrisome.  In the past they had shared their troubles and worked through them.  He wondered if the schism had changed Yoochun.  Did he no longer confess what he felt – even with JaeJoong and Junsu?

That was something he needed to find out.  And if this new behavior might be a result of the reunion, then it was surely something they’d have to deal with as a group.

“I wonder what today’s rehearsals will entail,” Changmin poked Junsu in order to liven up the atmosphere.

“Let’s see…” Junsu took the bait and pretended to ponder the possibilities while tapping his chin.  “We’ll be forced to sing scales for the first hour.  Then we’ll do some harmonies.  We’ll sing Mirotic a few times – without dancing,” he pointed out.

“Followed by JaeJoong and Junsu tripping over their own feet,” Yunho added nonchalantly.

“Yah!”  JaeJoong shouted.  “YOU tripped over my feet!”

“That’s because you didn’t move when you were supposed to,” Yunho yelled back.

Four of the members broke out into laughter leaving Yoochun to stare at them suspiciously.  “Sounds like you had a lot of fun.”

“Just wait, Chunnie, today will be your turn,” Junsu teased.

“Can’t wait,” Yoochun snorted.

At seven they clamored into the van, each taking their usual seats.  There was a welcomed lightness in Yunho’s heart.  Having the five of them together heading for work…there was nothing better than having Dong Bang Shin Ki back.

Yoochun managed to catch a nap on the ride to rehearsal.  JaeJoong whispered a few words to Yunho who shook his head in response.  Changmin and Junsu watched the two oldest hyungs interact, hoping to glean any important information that might be switching hands.  Since none was forthcoming, both boys took to staring out the windows watching the scenery go by.

The van finally rolled into the parking lot, snaking its way toward the back of the building.  Today there were other vehicles parked in the lot.  Yoochun rubbed sleep from his eyes, intending on following his brothers wherever they led.  They stepped out into the sunlight one after the other like the members of a prison chain gang.

Yunho took the point, heading down the corridor toward the rehearsal room they used yesterday.  However, today the place was bustling with all sorts of people eager to direct them somewhere different.

“Annyeong hashimnika.”

“Tatawa,” a well-dressed, young woman ushered them down a different hall.  “You go back there,” she pointed at Yoochun, indicating he should go in the door his leader had initially led them to.  The rest of the group followed her around a corner before she opened a door that lead to a makeshift conference room.

Each of the members stepped inside, bowing deeply to the men in business suits who sat waiting for them.

Lee Soo Man stood to greet his boys, formally shaking their hands and offering them a seat.

Baek Chang Joo did the same, beaming just a little brighter with Junsu and JaeJoong.

“How’s Yoochun-ah,” both managers inquired in unison.

“He’s with seonsaengnim.”  Junsu just naturally assumed it was where and not how Yoochun was that they were asking.

“Very reserved,” JaeJoong piped up after swatting his dongsaeng playfully.

Changmin and Yunho were the first to take their seats.  Although they held the TVXQ seniority and having Lee Soo Man in their presence was a positive, having Baek Chang Joo there as well made them feel a little uneasy.  It also seemed like the handful of other people in the room felt a little out of place.  They were comprised of mostly non-Asians and therefore, probably didn’t speak Korean fluently, if at all.

The one person they did recognize was Tony, who was surely there to oversee all choreography.  They discreetly nodded to each other.

Junsu and JaeJoong semi-bowed to the unknown guests as they took their seats.  Junsu did a double take as he realized that one of the people sitting across from him was Bruce.  The large man reached across the table to meet the littler Junsu half way before pulling him into a semi-hug.

The two managers conferred for a few moments before Lee Soo Man took the lead.  “I would have rather done the introductions all at once, but we can introduce these folks to Yoochun as soon as he gets here.

“We have brought in four experts to help out with planning the comeback stage.  Each one brings with them years of experience, so use them wisely.  Yunho-ssi, Changmin-ssi, you both have worked with Tony on choreography.  He’ll be available to help you all in that area.  Junsu, you’ve worked with Bruce before.  He’ll be coordinating with the five of you on musical arrangements and with the musicians themselves.  Breeze will be your technical director.  He’ll work with you on stage concept and design.  Stephanie will be coordinating styling and wardrobe change logistics.”

Chang Joo took over.  “Now for those of you who don’t know them, these young men are Dong Bank Shin Ki.  Our fearless leader, U-Know Yunho, lead rapper and dancer; Hero Jaejoong, our lead singer; Xiah Junsu our remarkable tenor and 2^nd lead dancer, followed by the maknae, Max Changmin.  There’s nothing Max can’t do.  The only one missing for the moment is Micky Yoochun, our middle child – he sings bass and is 2^nd lead rapper.

“They are truly remarkably talented young men with so much creativity, it’s hard to keep it all contained, so please make sure you keep an open dialogue with them and work together to make this tour as unique and entertaining as possible.”

“Now while you boys go rehearse until lunch, we’re going to work on some business issues.  We’ll meet back here this afternoon and work on some of the details so that a proper schedule can be worked out.”

The boys were ushered out of the conference room and down a hallway to where they had sung for the vocal coach yesterday.  Today they filed into the room quietly as Yoochun was singing for the coach.  Yunho and Changmin were drawn in to the melodious sound, not having heard Chun sing in nearly five years.  The resounding voice had also enchanted JaeJoong and Junsu, for the emotion in Yoochun’s voice had raised the hair on the nape of their necks.

“The dramas are paying off,” Junsu’s smile beamed.

“You better watch out,” Jae teased “one of these days he’s going to out-sing both of us.”

Yoochun finished off, able to listen to his own voice fade away.  The smile on his face was like nothing the two J’s had witnessed in a long while.

“How did you get me to do that,” he asked the coach in amazement.

“I didn’t do anything…that was all you!”  Seonsaengnim collected his sheet music and turned to leave when he realized the other boys had joined them.  “Ah, the five gods together again,” his smile was proof that even apart they continued to grow vocally, for he feared that their years away from each other would change them.

He handed Yunho the sealed envelope that had been nicely propped up on the piano when he came in.  It had the leader’s name on it, so it must be a private message for him.  “This was waiting for you.”

Yunho took the envelope politely.  “Kahm sahm nida.”

“Make sure you boys warm up your voices before you do anything else.”  He bowed his way out of the room.  “I have a meeting to attend.”

Yunho waited for him to exit before ripping the envelope open.  Two words were written on the paper inside.

“What’s it say?”  JaeJoong tried to read it over his shoulder.

“Purple Line,” Yunho grinned wickedly.

“In Korean or Japanese,” Junsu asked worriedly.  He didn’t remember much of the Japanese lyrics.

Changmin towered over all of them and peered over Yunho’s shoulder.  “It doesn’t say.”

“Do you guys remember the moves?”  Yunho claimed a seat on the floor and started to stretch.

“A little…”

“Not really…”

“No.”

“Oh well, since it got changed up a bit for when we performed it as two, it’ll probably get switched around again,” Changmin mumbled, joining his leader on the floor.