It was almost 11 pm. Me and my members are listening to out manager’s about our schedule for the whole month. We are seated around a long table, just like in a board room. As expected, it’s going to be a long, tiring month for us. Dance here, perform there, and entertain everywhere; that’s who we are.

But even though others may think that the company is working our butts off, we on the other hand are enjoying what we are doing. Why else would we want to enter this business then?

“And…” the manager looked through the list in his hand, “that’s about it. Any question?” he asked.

The younger members answered, “None,” but the older members are just waiting for the time that we’ll be dismissed from this meeting.

“Off you go, then,” our manager said while gathering some paper on the table.

One by one, my members stood up, so do I. As I was on my way to the door, Kangin, again, hang his arm around my shoulder.

“Hyung,” he said, “let’s drink.”

“Pass…” I said.

“Ei!” Leeteuk said with a smirk on his face. “When did you start passing for drinking. Come on, let’s drink.”

“I need to go home,” I told them. They looked at each other.

Annoying leader said, “You have a problem, don’t you?” while looking at me curiously.

“I don’t. I just want to go home,” I said, starting to get annoyed.

Kangin and Leeteuk dragged me out of the board room and into a deserted corridor of SM. Since I thought that this nonsense will go to nothing, I let them drag me.

“Spill it. What’s the problem…”Leeteuk stopped in his word when some of my members were looking at us. Sungmin, Kyuhyun, Shindong and Donghae are peeking at this supposed to be secret conversation.

“Yah! Scram!” Kangin shouted at them.

“Hyung, what is this all about?” Donghae asked, getting a lot curious.

I sighed in frustration. “FINE!” I shouted, “If you want to drink, then let’s drink.”

All of the members, except for KRY (because they have an early schedule for tomorrow), are now in a restau-bar, drinking our hearts out. But I noticed that Leeteuk and Kangin are eyeing me suspiciously.

Then, Donghae and his big mouth started asking questions. “Hyung, were did you sleep last night?”

Leeteuk and Kangin got a lot curious and waited for my answer, with an eagle-eye look.

“I was… with Hongki last night. I stayed at their dorm. Why?”

“So for two nights, you were staying with Hongki?” he asked again.

Without hesitation, I said, “Yes,” just to stopped Leeteuk and Kangin’s suspicious look.

Should I call him? NO! No, I should…not. Yerin! Will you stop thinking about Heechul? He has a brain of his own. He knows how to tell time, can he?

It’s almost 1 am, and he is still not home. Though I shouldn’t be, I am a bit worried. Where the heck is Kim Heechul.

Maybe I should just…

“Then sleep tonight at the OUR dorm. Don’t bother Hongki anymore,” Leeteuk told me while grilling some pork on the portable stove in front of us.

I smirked and ignored him.

Then, my phone, which was lying on the table, rang. Curse Donghae and his fast reflex! He said, “Teacher Shin…” reading the caller ID. “Are you taking any lessons, hyung?”

Well, I don’t want to answer the phone so I just let it ring. But then, Leeteuk stretched his hands to reach my phone.

“YAH! Give it back!” I yelled at him.

“Why aren’t you answering this call?” he said. He pressed the ‘Answer’ and said, “Hello?”

“Mr. Kim Heechul, are you going home?” I asked.

“I’m sorry, who is this?” the voice on the other line said.

“Wait…is this Kim Heechul’s phone?” I asked. I even looked at my phone’s screen to make sure that I indeed am calling “Sarcastic”.

“Yes, this is Kim Heechul’s phone…” said the voice but then he was cut off by some rough sounds. Then, the Heechul talked aver the phone. “I’ll talk to you later.”

I cut the call. Again, Leeteuk’s suspicious eyes are looking at me. “Who was that?” he asked.

“Fine, I’ll tell you. But not today…”I said standing up. “I have to go…”

Leeteuk, too, stood up. “You are not going anywhere until you explain.” Leeteuk’s face was dead straight and serious. “Will you please explain yourself?”

I looked at him, giving the same expression that he’s giving me. “Okay, but not here.”

I waited for Heechul to come home. As time goes by, I’m getting a little nervous. What does he mean he’ll talk to me later? Who was the one who answered my call? Where the heck is Heechul?

After a while, the doorbell rang. I ran to the intercom to see if it was Heechul. Indeed, it was him.

I ran to the door, which was a few steps to from the intercom. When I opened it, Heechul’s serious face welcomed me.

“You finally…home…” my voice trailed quieter. I saw that Heechul was not alone. Along with him, were the faces that I didn’t expect to see at the time of the night, I mean day.

“Hello,” I greeted Leeteuk, Kangin, Sungmin, Donghae, and Shindong.

Leeteuk looked at Heechul and said, “What is the meaning of this?” with a serious face.

“Come in,” Heechul instructed s, while he was already coming inside the apartment. I remained in my spot while one by one, s entered our home.

“Are you staying here, hyung?” Shindong asked.

Heechul sat at the couch and said, “Please sit down.” His face was blank all the time while Leeteuk was looking at me earnestly.

“Who are you?” Leeteuk asked me. His stare is really scary; it was like he was peeling me alive. Leeteuk’s usual jolly appearance on TV is absent today. If only he’d mellow a bit…

“I’m Shin Yerin,” I said.

“She’s my fiancée,” Heechul said. I eyed him in total shock. What is he saying?

“Our parents arranged our marriage because of some personal debt,” Heechul was looking at Leeteuk all the time. “Are you happy now? Do you have anymore questions?”

All of Heechul’s member’s couldn’t say a thing. They, too, were too shocked of what they have heard. Leeteuk was looking at Heechul intently, standing a good three meters away from Heechul. Kangin and Shindong are talking silently the corner of the living room. Donghae and Sungmin were just head-bowed, waiting patiently to what’s going to happen.

Leetuek slowly walked toward Heechul. He finally sat beside him, still looking at him. “Why didn’t you tell us? Why didn’t you tell me?” he asked.

“If I told you, you’d kill me,” Heechul simply said.

“What? Are you crazy? You’re the first one in our group to get engaged. We should have celebrated. Why hide it from us?” Leeteuk said.

“I’m thinking about our fans. They had established that we, idols, cannot marry. To them, we are supposed to be forever single. We cannot be happy…”

“Heechul, you idiot,” Leeteuk told me. This is not the first time he told me I’m an idiot, but this time it hurts. “If ELFs really supports us and idolizes us, they understand. To them, whenever their idol is happy, they too are happy. The question is…are you happy with this arranged marriage?”

I hesitated to answer. If I said YES, Yerin will know I like her. If I said NO, Leeteuk will say that I should leave Yerin alone.

“Though it is arranged, I’ll continue living with Yerin. We have an agreement.” I looked at Yerin. Her beautiful face still shines despite this awkward situation.

“We should tell this to manager,” Leetuek said, pulling out his phone.

I quickly took the phone from his hand and hid it behind me. “That’s also why I didn’t tell you about Yerin. The company will kick me off if they knew about this.”

“They will understand. Heechul, eventually, every single one of us will get married anytime soon. It’s just that…yours was early.”

I looked at Yerin again. What could she possibly thinking.

He didn’t tell s, his manager, his company…about me? On one hand, it’s good that they don’t know. But deep inside me, I am a bit disappointed.

Heechul was still dodging Leeteuk’s hands reaching behind Heechul to get his phone. Finally Leeteuk gave up.

“Fine, I will not tell anyone except the members. Happy?” Leeteuk said. After that, he looked at me. “Yerin, right?” he asked.

I nodded.

“Don’t worry, we don’t eat people.” Then, he smiled his sweetest smile. I totally melt.