“Noona neomu yeppeo…” As the final beats of the song faded away, Sunhwa, the rest of the backup dancers, and SHINee stood in their final pose, all of them breathing heavily. The audience sat in silence for a couple of seconds, and then roared their applause. Fangirls waved their glow sticks and cheered, and Sunhwa took a minute just to drink it all in: the lights, the cheers, and the people. She wanted to remember this first stage forever.

Sunhwa had been worried about Key tripping her like he had in practice, but curiously, it had never happened. On the contrary, he had smiled brightly at the camera the whole time and didn’t even look back at her. Well, if that was the way he would act for television, then Sunhwa wouldn’t object.

“And that was SHINee with their debut single, ‘Noona neomu yeppeo,’” the MC said. “We will return after a short commercial break.”

This was the cue for them to leave the stage. Sweaty from giving it their best but wearing happy smiles, the group headed backstage to the room where their managers and staff were monitoring the performance.

They entered to cheers. Manager Kim and Oh seongsang-nim were clapping and smiling, as were each of the staff. SHINee and the girls bowed and thanked them.

Over to one side, Lee Soo Man smiled quietly and clapped, giving a short nod of approval to them. “Congratulations, kids. That was perfect.”

“Kamsahamida,” they chorused and bowed deeply to him. It wasn’t often that one heard praise from Lee Soo Man.

Eyes shining with pride, Manager Kim gestured to the group one last time and a burst of cheers ensued before leading them out the door and to the dressing rooms.

-

As the van drove out through the parking lot, there was a mass of people screaming their names. “SHINee! SHINee!”

“Jonghyun oppa! Saranghae!”

“Minho oppa! Your rapping was perfect!”

“Onew oppa! Smile for me!”

“Taemin oppa! You danced so well!”

“Key oppa! You’re perfect!”

At the last comment, Key swished his hair and blew a kiss out of the window toward the fans, which only intensified the screaming. Sunhwa sighed and rolled her eyes. Sometimes he acted so much like Jonghyun.

But the rest of the members waved modestly to their fans, and Sunhwa could tell that they really appreciated the support. If not for the fans, there would be no SHINee.

It was not until they had pulled onto the highway that Minho asked, “Hyung, where are we going?”

“Do we have another schedule?” Onew piped up.

“Ani,” Manager Kim shook his head, smiling wickedly. “We’re going out to celebrate.”
 

“Where?” Taemin asked, eyes wide with anticipation.

“Drumroll please,” Manager Kim said dramatically. Sunhwa rolled her eyes but grudgingly complied, a pattering sound rising in the car.

“And we are going to…eat Korean barbeque!” Manager Kim announced triumphantly.

“WHAT?” everyone cried at once.

“Barbeque?” “Real food?” “Has he lost his mind?”

“Who are you and what have you done with our manager hyung?” Onew asked, face completely serious.

“Very funny,” Manager Kim answered sarcastically, but continued on with a bright smile. “We have decided that as a reward for all your hard work, I’ll be taking you out to barbeque and then a surprise!”

“Someone hold me, I think I’m going to faint,” Jonghyun announced theatrically.

Taemin said with a lovable smile, “Have I ever told you how much I love you, hyung?”

“Maybe manager oppa has a heart after all, neh?” Sulli giggled, nudging Luna and Sunhwa playfully.

“I can’t wait!” Hyun Jin cried excitedly. She closed her eyes and murmured almost reverently, “I can taste the sauce already…”

“And I thought I was obsessed with food,” Sunhwa said jokingly.

“Yah!” Hyun Jin stuck her tongue out at Sunhwa, who was sitting beside her. “There’s nothing wrong with enjoying a nice Korean barbeque every now and then,” she huffed.

“But we haven’t had it for months,” Onew said, his lips already. “It’s almost as good as chicken!”

“Must you compare everything to chicken?” Key complained, fixing his bangs in the pull-down mirror.

“Why haven’t you guys eaten like this for a while?” Sulli asked curiously. Now that she thought about it, Sunhwa realized that although the girls were excited, it was really nothing compared to how SHINee was anticipating the food. It was curious, she realized, that they only ordered healthier foods at Paradise, and had only had ice cream once (mainly because of Minho’s refusals.)

“We’ve been on a diet ever since we started training as a group,” Onew explained. “No sweets or anything greasy.”

“But barbeque is hardly greasy,” Luna objected.

“Tell that to manager hyung,” Jonghyun rolled his eyes and jabbed a thumb in Minho’s direction. “Or this health freak over here.”

“Just because I take care of my body does not mean I’m a health freak,” Minho informed him.

Jonghyun snorted in return. “Don’t take care of my body? Look at this,” he said, rolling up his shirt on his belly and grinning devilishly.

“Ew! That’s too much,” Key fake gagged. “Make it stop!”

“Put it away.” Sunhwa eyed Jonghyun’s not-really-sort-of-maybe-toned stomach with disinterest.

“Stop staring,” Hyun Jin whispered to Sulli, who immediately clamped shut, looked away, and blushed.

“Aw, I know you guys like it,” Jonghyun said as he put his shirt back on, still grinning. “But now to go eat barbeque!”

“Let’s go!” Taemin bounced eagerly in his seat and smiled at Sunhwa, who obliviously returned the gesture.

-

“This might be the best thing I’ve ever had in my life,” Onew groaned. He kept shoving meat into his mouth and one would think he was going to cry with happiness.

Taemin, who had some lettuce peeking out of his mouth, swallowed and nodded enthusiastically in agreement. “I almost forgot how good this stuff tastes.”

Sunhwa picked at her barbeque with her chopsticks, only nibbling on the pieces. She didn’t feel very hungry all of a sudden and there was a certain heaviness lying on her bones. She just wanted to go home and sleep.

Hyun Jin dabbed at with a napkin and then kept eating. She offered her chopsticks to Sulli, who was sitting next to her. “Here, Sulli unnie…ahh…”
 

Sulli smiled and opened . “Delicious,” she said while chewing.

“Onew, slow down. The food’s not going anywhere,” Luna laughed while she carefully turned over a couple pieces of meat on the grill.

“You have to come to our dorm and make food for me every day,” Onew said as he swallowed. “Right, hyung?”

Manager Kim laughed. “I have to say, Luna, your cooking skills are quite good.”

Luna blushed. “Kamsahamida. I’ve had a lot of practice because Sulli here,” she nodded at her victim who was caught shoving another wrap into , “can burn water if she tries to cook.”

Sulli shrugged unabashedly and grinned. “What can I say? Luna’s food is just too good.”

“Here, Sunhwa yah,” Taemin said unexpectedly shyly, cupping a hand underneath a wrap he was holding in his chopsticks. “Open wide.”

Key snorted not-too-softly and reached over them to get a piece of salad, steadfastly ignoring Sunhwa.

Sunhwa blinked at the food in front of her nose and slowly opened . She really wasn’t hungry, but who could refuse Taemin?

Taemin gently put the food in and smiled as she chewed. “Is it good?”

Sunhwa held up a thumb as she tried to prevent juice from dripping. “Very.”

A pleased smile lit up his face and he pointed to the corner of , “You have some sauce…”

“Oh! I’ll get it,” Sunhwa quickly wiped with a napkin and smiled at Taemin. “Kamsahamida.” She didn’t notice his slightly crestfallen face as she asked Hyun Jin to pass the kimchi.

-

“Eat it!” Minho said threateningly as he held some food up to Onew’s face.

The leader’s expression was almost comically stubborn as he shook his head, mouth already full of meat.

Minho sighed in exasperation as he continued to push his chopsticks closer to Onew’s mouth. “It’s good for you.”

Onew shook his head again as everyone laughed.

“It was the deal that you would eat vegetables if I took you here,” Manager Kim reminded helpfully.

“But why bean sprouts?” Onew moaned, and Minho took this opportunity as his guard was let down to shove the food into his mouth.

Onew pouted but chewed as his dongsaeng watched with a satisfied smile. “There. It wasn’t so bad, wasn’t it?”

He swallowed and then shook his head. “Can someone pass me the water, please?” Onew asked weakly.

“Ah ah ah,” Manager Kim said as he held the water bottle away from him. “You don’t need this.”

“Why not?” Taemin asked.

“Because…” Manager Kim was getting the familiar twinkle in his eyes again. “You’re going to norebang!”

“YES!” SHINee chorused in unison, and Jonghyun actually leaped out of his chair.

“I really must be dreaming.” Key shook his head.

“Nope!” Manager Kim said cheerfully as he stood up. “So you all better get moving before I change my mind!”
 

“Let’s go!” Jonghyun squealed in a very unmanly manner as he dashed out the door.

-

“BECAUSE IIIIIIIIIII….WILL ALWAYS LOVE YOUUUUUU…” Jonghyun wailed into the microphone.

Hyun Jin shook her head, hands clamped tightly around her ears. “I thought he was the main vocalist!”

“He is!” Onew shouted over the sounds of Jonghyun’s screeches, his hands in a similar position. “He can just sing really badly if he wants to!”

Sunhwa had curled up into a ball on the couch and was nibbling slowly on some popcorn. Sulli leaned toward her and poked her. “Sunhwa yah? Are you okay? I know Jongie sounds really bad, but he isn’t that bad.”

Sunhwa attempted a weak laugh and smile. “I’m fine, Sulli unnie. I’m just a bit tired. I’ll feel a lot better after some rest.”

“Maybe I should take you home, then,” Sulli said, concern not leaving her face.

Sunhwa shook her head. “Ani, this is our celebratory trip. I don’t want to ruin it by leaving.”

“Alright,” Sulli relented. “But you tell me as soon as you want to go, arasso?”

“Arasso,” Sunhwa answered, this time with a real smile. She pushed Sulli toward the TV, saying, “So when do I get to hear you sing? I’ve heard from Luna that you have quite the voice.”

Sulli visibly brightened. “Well, you heard right. Maybe I’ll go sing one, neh?”

“Aniyo! Stay far away from the mic, unnie,” Luna called teasingly. “You’ll sound even worse than Jonghyun.”

“Why, you little – ” Sulli huffed to her dongsaeng, “You’ll be eating your words once you hear me later.”

 Luna giggled and patted her friend’s arm soothingly. “Don’t worry, unnie, I was just kidding.”

“Kidding, my foot,” Sulli muttered.

Sunhwa laughed with the rest of them, but found her eyelids drifting lower and lower. I must be really tired, she decided. The heaviness in her system was growing, but she was feeling more and more light-headed. Maybe I’m sick.

“Sunhwa yah! Sing a song for us – ” Sulli turned from the TV to find Sunhwa almost passed out on the couch.

“Sunhwa yah? Are you okay?” Taemin asked, shaking her.

“Huh? Neh,” Sunhwa managed to answer just as the heavy feeling overwhelmed her. As her eyes closed, she heard various gasps and felt a sharp pain in her head.

“Sunhwa!” Hyun Jin rushed over to her friend and frantically felt her cheeks.

Sunhwa’s last words were, “I’m…fine…”

Hehe :) Eventful chapter. I'm in a good mood so I decided to update! Hope you all have a good day, and don't forget to comment, please ^.^

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