Chapter 9: “Cruelty has a human heart; and Jealousy a human face- William Blake”

For the young boys of our dear story, the week flew in quickly, but the rehearsals were tremendously slower than expected. In a matter of two days, the party was already at stake and in that afternoon, everything was beginning to fall apart.

“What the are you talking about?” Eunhyuk’s voice shriveled in despair, turning off the radio. “We can’t switch to ‘Sorry Sorry’ now that we practiced with ‘Bonamana’. I’m sorry, but we have to go with it. It would be okay with me but the steps are hard and we can’t get them right all in two days.”

Hangeng was nervous. They hadn’t even tried practicing it all together with Leeteuk’s friends Kangin and Shindong. He hadn’t thought about it, but he had seen these boys actually dance and they were very good all right. They were Mr. Yoohyun Lee’s students too, he recalled.

All sweating and dying from thirst, the boys sat on the floor; their reflections were on the other side. It was a good thing there had been this practical room for dancing wherein the flooring was tiled, ceiling filled with lights, and one side of the wall mirrored the moves. The fanning system was on for the whole day, so that it wouldn’t be too hot for them.

Because it was only two in a quiet Thursday afternoon, not everyone was able to concentrate on the practice. Some were still attending their classes. Lucky for the rest of the present ones, they had the whole afternoon for themselves.

“Let’s do the pelvic again,” Kyuhyun requested them as he wiped his sweat trickling unto his V-shirt. Even when the cooler was up, he still felt the heat.

“Yes, Kyu-sshi. We know you’re the best in doing just that,” snarled Heechul. “You don’t have to rub it in, you know.”

“Because Heechul can’t dance,” Kyu told him.

“What did you say?” Heenim’s response was not what everyone considered as friendly rivalry.

“Nothing, hyung,” answered Kyu. “I was saying hyung is a great dancer.”

“You really do like ing play with me so much, huh?” was what Heechul said all in straight English.

“Aish, don’t say too much English,” the maknae posed, replying in the same language. “I’m not very good.”

“No...speak...English...here,” Eunhyuk muttered, laughing at what he just said. He wasn’t even sure if that was how you spoke English. “We can’t understand.”

“Now, come on!” whined Kyuhyun. “Let’s do the pelvic again. Eunhyuk, hurry up and play the music!”

Because he considered Kyuhyun’s state of humor by not relying on honorifics, Eunhyuk defiantly played the disc unto his player, and on it went.

Dan-daran-dan-dan-daran-dan-dan-daran-dan-dan-daran-dan-daran-daran-dan...

Eunhyuk positioned himself now, Hangeng and Heechul finding their spots as well, Kyuhyun rushing over to participate and Siwon falling off from behind. Dancing and well focused, the boys found themselves enjoying the music as it was played repeatedly for the straight hour. Finally exhausted all of them lay flat on the floor, sweating.

“That was just plain intense,” Heechul panted, getting up slowly to get a bottle of cold water in boxes Eunhyuk brought in a while ago.

“Get me one, hyung,” muttered Siwon, closing his eyes. “I’m tired. Let me sleep, please.”

“Heechul-hyung,” called out Hyukjae---the same manner a child would have called his mother if he was hungry. “Get me two bottles please.”

“Just bring the damn box over here so we’ll all get one,” the ever satisfied Kyuhyun yelled, his energy slowly demeaning. After successfully saying those words, the maknae still had a beautiful smirk on his face, totally fulfilled.

“Aish, Yesung-hyung wanted us to practice the song!”

“Isn’t the song a bit...weird?” asked Hyukjae.

“Why?”

“Well, because ‘My All is in You’...is the kind of song you usually sing to someone who’s leaving away. And it’s for a girl. Do you guys think Yesung-hyung wrote it for a certain girl who had left him before?”

“Nah, he doesn’t have one,” Kyuhyun defended immediately.

“I doubt that,” Hangeng added. “I mean, when you listen to it...when Yesung-hyung sang it on his own...his voice was so real, right? Very sincere that you could really feel how much pain he was suffering.”

“And it’s a good thing I’m not singing any of it,” Heechul told them, shrugging.

“Kyuhyun-sshi has the most powerful voice I had ever heard,” Siwon commented, thinking clearly how the boys sang it the first time.

Kyuhyun grinned. “I couldn’t agree more.”

“Wookie is pretty good too,” Eunhyuk urged them. “He sings before he sleeps. Trust me, it’s kind of annoying.”

Laughing, Hangeng agreed. “That boy’s voice is really something.”

“We really have quite talented boys in the dorm,” Siwon said, somewhat envying them. “I mean, hyung-nim can both sing and dance. Yesung-hyung’s voice is so full and vivid. Wookie’s amazing. Kyuhyun-sshi’s so deep. Donghae has one awesome talent as well. Sungmin-hyung has a good quality into it. You should perform well with that group of boys. Your voices will simply captivate the whole crowd. You will do great.”

Kyuhyun, being wildly encouraged, bowed his head. “Thank you, Siwon-hyung.”

“In fact, we all will,” Heechul told them, smiling. “How about it? Let’s give the others a call to check if they were still planning on practicing.”

Upon contacting the remaining dancers and getting into good warm-ups, the group practiced at once, making fun of each other during breaks, picking on Eunhyuk and his pink underwear, and eating like there was no tomorrow.

For them at least, tomorrow was another millennium away. At night the singers industriously worked out the singing, all the mistakes were corrected as Yesung looked like he was going to jump off a cliff for everything going to total mishap. He did not show much of it, but they knew he had befallen into self-controlled anger just waiting to explode. When someone wasn’t trying yet to sing his part, even when singing was what he did best and what he loved the most, was now a sign that he was very fuming—Yesung was good at hiding it. He just remained silent all throughout the night, listening to them commit corrected errors that were still overlooked.

It didn’t matter. They were to get this over with anyway.

-o0o-

Three of the boys’ cars were used: Siwon’s black Ford Everest, which cost more than a hundred dollars, Sungmin’s silver convertible that already had its adventures a night not too long ago, and Kibum’s newly polished Isuzu covered in gray, which was a present from his Mom.

Yesung, Ryeowook and Hangeng stayed in Kibum’s car, trusting him more than the older ones. Sungmin drove his car, Kyuhyun and Leeteuk playing rock-paper-scissors at the back seat, betting on who would get to finish all the food at the party later. Heenim, Hyukjae and Donghae were still amazed at Siwon’s for it smelled like freshly-cut oranges inside. They finally headed for the teacher’s lounge that was not quite far from the men’s village. They just felt like taking a vehicle because it was nighttime, and it felt lonesome walking under the pale moon.

Lounge four was like a million-dollar condominium, two-story and a pool at the backyard. Mr. Lee was lucky to have stayed and experienced the administration’s offers. The columns of the walls were tiled in rock-like bricks, the grass were neatly trimmed. The fountain by the entry added much of the formality, and all the men and women coming out their cars looked like they came from wealthy families. Indeed, the boys’ were not the only ones wearing tuxedos, but the women wore expensive dresses paired with glittering accessories. The boys parked their cars accordingly by the area allocated for it, getting out and seeing a few people laughing and drinking.

“Shall we go in?” Leeteuk asked them when they were finally together.

The interior was comparable to that of a hotel. Comfy red seats and lights that shimmered, along with glass doors and windows, the boys were stunned at the beauty of the lounge. No wonder the party was being held here.

And the formality would never be complete if the men didn’t wear tuxedos and women in dresses. Though this would not be for the rest of the night, they all brought extra clothes, a pair of plain trousers and shirt.

A man approached them, telling them to proceed to the backyard, for the party had already started even without them. Eleven boys quickly rushed to where most of the students stayed, and a few of them had dived into the pool, bathing and talking and still drinking. Mr. Lee was by the corner talking to the rest of the guests, his bald head shining from afar, Hyukjae noted. His three-layered chocolate cake was already sliced, leaving merely a half.

“Shouldn’t we eat first before performing?” complained Donghae.

“That’s all you do,” Heechul told him. “You just keep on eating and you’ll look like Shindong-sshi!”

“I heard that, Hee-hee,” snorted the boy as he approached them.

Speaking of him, Shindong waddled to where they stood, grinning and a plate of cake at hand. He bumped Leeteuk, one of his closest friends, eyebrows somewhat telling him something quite discrete.

“Have you seen Taeyeon tonight?” he whispered to Eeteuk. “You’ll never believe it’s her.”

“Why? Had she evolve