“I can’t believe we’re all starring in this musical together!” Sunny squealed. The teens had been invited to perform in an upcoming musical titled “Butterflies in the Wind” alongside experienced musical actors from the most prestigious arts school in Korea. It was a rare opportunity for most of them as they have never been involved in a musical before.

“Okay, people from SM, please gather to the left of this auditorium and make yourselves comfortable, the briefing is going to start in half an hour,” called out an announcer from the stage. The to-be stars quickly shuffled to the velvet seats, wanting to leave a good impression on the first day.

Onew was excited too. He was one gigantic step closer to fulfilling his dream, to be an artiste. He turned to look at Hyoyeon with a mega-watt smile on his face and was shocked to see that she looked very disconcerted. “Hey sweetie, what’s up?” Uh-oh. Did I just call her sweetie out loud? Talk about awkward.

“Nothing. I’m just nervous to meet my ex-schoolmates. I haven’t seen them in a long while. What if we don’t click anymore?” Hyoyeon replied uncertainly. But her heart leapt slightly. Did he just call me sweetie? Wait. Tons of people do. But this is Korea, people don’t. Unless… No way.

“Don’t worry; I’m sure you’ll be fine,” Onew assured his ruffled friend. He squeezed her shoulder encouragingly.

Did I just touch her?

Did he just touch me?

Thankfully, neither had much time to brood over it as Yoona tripped and grabbed Hyoyeon to regain her balance, making the latter yelp out in shock. She turned back and punched Yoona playfully on the arm. “Watch where you’re going!” 

Although they had been told explicitly to behave themselves as they were representatives of the company in this production, the bright teenagers who cannot be trusted to stay quiet for long, started chatting amongst themselves. The boisterous bunch joked and laughed, not conscious of the little boy running through their legs.

I heard umma. I heard umma’s voice. Wait up, umma! I’m coming!

He suddenly found himself in a clearing. The people around him were seated on the floor, presumably playing some sort of game. Jaebo didn’t care what it was, because he had finally seen the person he has been looking all over for.

“UMMAAAAAAAAA!!!”

The trainees sitting on the floor turned around in shock at the sudden shout. Hyoyeon looked up, especially startled by the presence of the little boy. “J-Jaebo, what are you doing here?” She quickly stood up and caught the boy burrowing into her. “Jaebo, answer me. How did you find me?”

The teary-eyed boy looked up at Hyoyeon. “Umma, why did you leave? Do you not want Jaebo anymore? Jaebo promise to be a good boy, Jaebo won’t make you mad. Come home, won’t you?”

Hyoyeon picked the child up and hugged him tightly. “Of course not, Jaebo. Umma loves you. There’s just a lot I have to do, I can’t go home now. Come, I’ll bring you to go find Joon-appa.”

“NO! I WANT UMMA! UMMA! UMMA! Why do I have to go with Joon-appa?” The young Jaebo started shrieking.

Hyoyeon cringed at the curious stares from her fellow trainees. She patted the 3 year old on the back to calm him down. What do I do now? She looked at Jonghyun and an idea struck her. “Okay, Jaebo. Go to your uncle. He’ll play with you for a while.” She handed Jaebo to Jonghyun, only to be ignored. What on earth. This is an emergency. Why is he still acting so immaturely? He’s been ignoring me for long enough, but to not play with Jaebo?

Luckily, Yuri jumped in to save the situation. “Come here, Jaebo, noona’ll play with you.” She carried Jaebo in her arms and spun him around, making him giggle. Hyoyeon smiled sadly upon hearing Jaebo’s laughter, wondering how she could make him laugh because of her again. But I’ve got to do what I’ve got to do. She fished her phone out of pocket and dialed the number she knew so well.

“Where on earth are you, Lee Chang Sun?” she asked once Joon picked up, forgetting her greetings in her anger.

“I. uh. Hyoyeon.”

“STOP STUTTERING!”

“You see, Hyoyeon, it’s like this. I’m bringing Jaebo to the toilets now, call you later?” he fibbed.

“Joon. Jaebo’s with me.”

“Yeah, I’ll call you lat- What? Jaebo’s with you? But where, how?”

“Never mind how he got here. What was he doing running around freely anyway? He could have been kidnapped!” an exasperated Hyoyeon yelled into her phone, attracting the attention of everyone around. She made an apologetic face at them before taking a deep breath. “Oppa, come over to the left of the auditorium. Jaebo will be waiting for you here.”

While waiting for Joon to appear, Hyoyeon paced around in circles, b with worry. Did I make the wrong choice? Should I be the one looking after Jaebo? How can Joon oppa be so irresponsible? He was obviously not ready to look after a child. Is it my fault? I know I didn’t force him to watch over Jaebo, but did I leave him any other option? Hyoyeon pulled at her hair. She didn’t know.

Onew watched as his girl fumed. His girl. It definitely had a nice ring to it. He smiled. Not because she was probably hurting, but rather, because she was furious. At someone called Joon. Now he was sure he had a chance. He must do everything he can to make Hyoyeon his.

Soon, a flustered teen appeared. His eyes skipped over everything until they landed on what he was looking for. Hyoyeon. He rushed over to her side, only to be glared at icily. Hyoyeon gestured to a little boy and Joon understood right away. Bring Jaebo away. But he wanted to talk to her, to laugh and relive memories. He wanted to hold her in his arms again. He wanted to see the sweet happy girl he had spent years with. He missed her.

But he saw the look on her face and knew that it wasn’t the right time to do so. Begrudgingly, he reached over to the little boy and picked him up in his arms. “Say goodbye to umma.”

“No! I want umma! I want to live with umma!” The 3-year-old started whining again.

“Umma’ll come to visit okay Jaebo? I’ll be back on your birthday, and I’ll bring some presents too. I promise.” Hyoyeon smoothed her hand over the child’s forehead to pacify him. She stared deep into Joon’s eyes and said, “Take care of him.” Joon nodded slowly and reluctantly his heel back where he came from.

Taemin watched the whole scene and ran to Onew. “Hyung, are you okay?”

“Yeah I am, why would I not be? In fact, I don’t suppose I’ve been happier,” the elder replied with a grin on his face.

“Why are you so happy? Did you not notice the similarities? When I first saw the kid, I thought he looked much like Hyoyeon. But then that other guy appeared, and it was obvious that the child had the same sharp features.”

Onew froze. “You mean they…”

Taemin shrugged.

Author's Note: DOUBLE UPDATE(x