Chapter Six:

The large room was buzzing alive with the press, who had all come for a special press conference. Tucked away in a another room down the hallway from the large room, eight men sat impatiently waiting for the signal that they could go out. One was nervous, and the other seven supportive. A week after Yoona had left for the States, and today was D-Day. For Taecyeon, it was now or never - he had to make this work, for himself, for his child, for Yoona, for his brothers, for his family, and for his fans. Today was the day that he would declare his love for Yoona, and hope that this would be enough to bring her back to him.

"Taecyeon-ah," Park Jinyoung patted him on the back. "When you go out there, say what you have to say. Don't worry about the press. We can deal with them after this whole thing is over, what's important is that you achieve what you set out to achieve, okay?" He looked around the room, eyeing each and every single one of the boys. "The same goes for the rest of you too. It's a big day for all of you, so when it's your turn, just say what you need to, don't even bother replying to all the criticism. There would not have been a 2PM today if you all didn't keep the fire in your eyes, so don't let the media get to you. I believe in you all, and I have faith that the public will continue to love and accept you," Hugging them all, he wished them good luck before he escaped out the door to deal with trainee issues back at JYP headquarters.

"The most important thing is that Yoona comes back to Taec, and that we can publicly meet Jay again. That’s all that matters boys," Minjun enforced the message that Jinyoung had just said. Being the eldest of them all, he had the responsibility as their big brother to guide them, in music, life and everything in between. Looking over at their manager, Minjun noticed the thumbs up sign that he had given him, which could only mean one thing. "It's show time boys."

*

"Aish!" Jay Park angrily threw his phone into the passenger seat of his car. He knew what the boys were about to do, and he didn't approve of it. If the Korean public found out that the boys and himself had still kept in touch these past few years, that would be the end of it for their careers in the music industry. He might not have been very good leader when he was part of 2PM, so he would do everything he could to make sure that the group still made it to the top. Even if that meant that they still couldn’t officially meet up in public, that was okay with him. Sighing, he picked up his phone again, and tried dialling their numbers. Again, no one picked up, so he left a message for his closest friend. "Goddammit Taec! I swear if you all do something stupid at your press conference and bring me into it, there will be some punches thrown! Don’t be an idiot by ruining your careers just because you all want to clear my name. I know you are all caring and that you all love me, but your focus should be on bringing Yoona back to Korea, not trying to fix my problems with the media,"

He couldn't get through to his boys.. which could only mean one thing. The press conference had started. "You ing idiots," he muttered to himself before starting the car.

*

"On behalf of the boys, Jinyoung hyung, and the JYP family, we thank you all for coming at such a sudden notice," Minjun, being the eldest of the boys there, spoke up from his seat in front of the press in the hotel conference room. "We understand that your time is precious, and we have a lot to get through today. I personally ask that you all refrain from making and criticisms or ask any questions until we are done saying what we have to say. Thank you," He couldn’t do much now -it was all up to Taecyeon. Patting Taecyeon on the back who was sitting next to him, it was a sign of encouragement from him, and Taecyeon patted Minjun's knee in response, a gesture of thanks, and a call for support. It was now or never.

Taecyeon reached for the glass of water in front of him, and took a sip before placing it back down. Breathing in deeply, he clasped his hands together in front of him, and began. "There's a story that I have to tell everyone today. And I know it will deeply affect our group as 2PM, as well as all the boys. I ask that if you do have any criticisms, to just aim them at me. The boys have all been supportive of me, and I thank them deeply, and I would hate to see them suffer so much because of me. So let's get on with this story. …

A while ago, just after we had debuted, I met a girl. The most loveable, beautiful, cute, smart and funny girl I had ever laid my eyes upon. I would have asked for her phone number then and there, but we were rookies and the company had kept close eyes on both of us. So, with the help of all the boys, including Jaebum, we plotted and planned to form a friendship with her. The girl and I became close friends, but then the paparazzi spotted us together time and time again, causing a scandal that really severed our friendship. I remember that stage of our friendship had become really awkward, we would avoid each other for a few months, and I only got to meet up with her for a number of times in between. Fortunately, we were casted together on a variety show, and slowly, we got to become closer and our friendship was saved. Soon we started dating, and you could say that with the help of Jinyoung hyung, Jaebum, Minjun, Nichkhun, Wooyoung, Junho and Chansung, we became from friends to lovers. We dated for a very, very long time and managed to keep it all from the public.

But this girl, being the sweet angel that she is, decided to run away. She found out that she was pregnant with my child, and decided to run away to the States, so that my career wouldn’t be ruined. Today I ask you all for your help. Please help me to bring her back to Korea. I can’t leave this country right now, we've only just made our comeback, have promotional activities to attend, and I've already caused enough trouble to my brothers that are here with me today, I can’t leave them to promote 2PM by themselves. Her name is Im Yoona, SNSD's Im Yoona. She's the mother of my unborn child, she's my future wife, and she means everything to me. Please, if you could spread the word so that it reaches her in the States, I would be most grateful. I love her, and I want her back, right here, right now, in my arms,"

Junho could see his hyung close to tears. It wasn't often that Taecyeon got emotional. He remembered the time Taecyeon had actually broken into tears on stage, just after Jaebum had left them. He knew that Taecyeon and Jaebum had a very close relationship, they were together almost everywhere, helped one another become better, entertained each other, and given their support for each other. His hyung had taken a massive blow then, and again, he takes a massive blow now. "Taecyeon hyung…" Junho spoke into his microphone, but looking at his hyung rather than the press," is a hyung that takes care of all of us, no matter if he is tired, hungry and busy. He puts everyone else before him. Truthfully, we all knew about his relationship with Yoona from the very beginning, but because of company policy, we couldn't tell the public. We all sit here today as a group because we all support hyung and Yoona. We hope that Yoona will return quickly, so that the life in hyung is restored," Junho said sincerely to Taecyeon. His hyung smiled at him, and Junho knew that he would always look up to him - in life, music, and love. Turning back to the press, he quickly added," And we all want to play with the baby when it's born," Laughter broke out from the idol group.

"Taecyeon hyung is a hyung who takes care of all of us, and I hope that Yoona will come back so that someone can take care of hyung," the maknae expressed. "I want to see hyung happy, and for hyung to build a family,"

"You honestly have no idea how hard hyung works," Wooyoung disclosed. "He really makes us look bad. There was a point in time where I hardly ever saw Taecyeonie even though we lived together. He would come home late, go to bed straight away, and then leave hours before the rest of us woke up to go to his schedule. He supported me so much while we were recording for Dream High, and he always bought be coffee in the morning and never left until filming for me had wrapped up too. He said it was because so I wouldn't get lonely and have to drive back to our dorm when I was tired. I really hope that you will all help him to get Yoona back. Furthermore, it's not good for her to be alone on the other side of the world while she carries my godson,"

"Yah!" Minjun yelled out, not caring that the press was present. "Who said that was your godson! Taecyeonie and I are room-mates, so I have automatic godfather rights!"

"H~hyuuung!" Wooyoung, Junho and Chansung all whined, but was soon to be broken by Nichkhun.

"There's also something else we have to announce today," the Thai foreigner said, and all the boys stiffened.

"It’s about Jaebummie," Minjun said, getting the vibe that he was going to have to break the touchy news. "We've all kept in touch with him these past few years since he left. We know what he did was wrong, but we still don’t understand why there was such a public out lash. He was in a foreign country, on his own, without his family for so long. It makes sense for someone so young to say things like that when he misses his family, and he had spent all his life in the States. We just want to be able to talk about him, and meet him in public again without having to be criticised. You can't expect us to spend every day with him for 6 years, and then not talk to him at all. It doesn’t work that way. He will always be our leader no matter what,"

"Jaebummie," Junho spoke up. "Had to keep himself away from music for a while, so that we wouldn't be hurt. I feel sorry for hyung, because he's had to sacrifice so much for us to get to where we are today. I hope that one day, the public can forgive him 100% for what he did, and that you'll let us meet each other, laugh with each other, and be friends in the public eye again,"

From afar, stood the man himself - Park Jaebum, who had raced over to stop this. But rather than finding himself with 2PM's manager in an attempt to stop the boys from spilling their secret, he found himself at the back of the room smiling. The boys had indeed grown up, and he couldn’t be more proud.