“Oh, sh**” I muttered and tried to retreat back to my room, but it was too late... Immediately I heard the whispers in the living room and turned to see my hyungs stare in horror as my foster parents bounced up to me.
 

“Taemin-ah.”

I glared at them. The ones who were staying at home in the comforts of their foster sons’ fortunes and the fortunes of their dead friends. “No.”

I rolled my eyes. “You can’t make me.”

Jonghyun interrupted. “Umma, Appa, he would love to do it. I’ll go help him fill out his application.”

The others picked me up and we collapsed in Minho’s room. It was covered with posters of various teams, sports, trophies were littered everywhere, also the clothes were littered everywhere as well.

Key scrunched up his nose. “Nope, we are going to my room.”

“What are you guys even doi--” I was cut off and dragged next door to Key’s room. They threw me on top of his bed, which was covered in different swatches of fabric.

“What is wrong with you guys?”

Jonghyun locked the door and shoved everyone into the empty closet (everything else was actually in the room).

“Taemin-ah, you have to listen to us.”

“What for? I’m not doing the stupid audition!”

Onew took a deep breath. “You have to. And don’t interrupt. You know our foster parents are using us, right?”

“Yeah you guys, but why do I--”

Key gagged me with a sock, hopefully a clean one. “Yah, listen to me very carefully.”

I rolled my eyes but nodded.

“You know how our parents died, right? And how we ended up here?”

I remembered watching the news with the others, crying my eyes out, and somehow ending up with everyone with those 2 people. I nodded again.

“Well Onew was going to refuse to go to all those competitions and be normal right? Well apparently those 2... things... said that they were going to starve us and do other things if he didn’t listen, so he did it, for us.”

I looked over at my smartest hyung and he gave me a sad smile. “Aren’t you proud of me?”

“The same things happened to the rest of us once they realized our talents. They threatened us and then the older ones would tell us to it up and handle it for a little bit.”

Minho took over at this point. “So, we’ve been trying to wait until you turn legal until we take off and abandon those 2... The problem is, they’ve also taken a lot of our earned money and have also violated the trusts and fortunes that our real parents all left us.”

Jonghyun pulled out a chart that had probably been made by Onew. “This is how much money we made, and this is how much we managed to keep a secret from those traitors. I still can’t believe that our parents let them take care of us... Anyways, we need some more in order to settle everything but it’s going to take a while...”

“And that’s where you come in.” Key whispered. “Taemin, if you get this deal, then you’re going to make thousands of dollars, get world fame, and then we can expose those idiots and go move to France or something.”

I gulped. How did I not notice anything? I guess they must have been meeting while I’m asleep...which means there aren’t any rats in the house after all...

Minho smiled at me. “Come on Minnie, it’s only 1 year of filming, maybe a couple months of promoting, and then all of us can leave. It’s going to feel so nice telling the whole nation how wonderful our foster parents actually are...”

Nodding, I agreed. When 5 of the wealthiest couples had died in a plane crash, every single one of them had directed their sons to go live with the same friends, even if they were last on the list... It had been big news at the time and our foster parents had gotten a lot of charity and good images because they actually took all of us...

“Can I do it? Am I good enough to actually get it?”

They cheered and smirked. “The way you’ve been acting for the past year is different from when we were little and we all know how our little dongsaeng is trying to be a bad boy now. Of course you’ll get in” Jonghyun pinched my cheeks and I stuck my tongue out.

Suddenly the closet door opened. “What are all of you doing in here?”

I blinked at the sudden light that blinded all of us.

“Appa! Are you trying to mess up my perfect color matching vision?”

“No Key, it’s just that it was all quiet and then I heard cheering...”

Onew showed his laptop. “Oh the internet wasn’t working in Key’s room but it started working in the closet and now we can get online!”

Our dad nodded. “Okay, I’ll go fix some celebratory samgyupsal for Taemin’s upcoming audition! Minho and Jonghyun, you better start getting to your lessons.”

“Ne appa.” They left and ordered us to save them some samgyupsal.

Key snorted after they left. “Yeah right, as if we’re going to let them have meat.” Then he Onew. “Yah, the internet works better in a closet????”

“What, it worked didn’t it?” He typed some information in and showed me the screen.

“Taemin-ah, are you sure you want to do it?”

I sighed and looked at the website.

“Just saying, the book wasn’t all that bad. Though the ending...” Key muttered something about unfair and money making schemes...

I bit my lip and clicked the button.

“Eun-hae! Pali! Turn on the TV!!” Manager-oppa shouted as he rushed into the my living room.

There wasn’t much, except for a few honey leather couches, a 4 ft x 3 ft HD TV, porcelain vases filled with flowers imported from Japan, and fluffy velvet pillows. My parents were rarely home because they have jobs as actors, and I’m their only child. Thank goodness. Taking care of younger children give me headaches anyways. There’s no one here to trash this place, trail dirt, or question me.

“This is good, Manager-oppa! Good job finding out about this!” I congratulated him. He basked in the praise, and hummed happily as he left to find my laptop, so I could apply, assuming correctly that I would try out for this audition. Scratch that. I WILL get this role. This should be a piece of cake.

“Assa! Another role for me!” I pumped my fist in the air quietly when his back was turned.

Manager-oppa came back with my hot pink laptop and gently handed it to me. I rushed to get on the website. I wondered how many amateurs are arrogant enough to think they could get the role.

“Do you think I’ll get the role?”

“Don’t be stupid! Of course a person, who’s as beautiful and talented as you would get the role!” he gasped. I smirked. See? Even an idiot like him knows that much.