“A service to help mothers,”

 

“A request from a real mother,”

 

“A mother’s errand,”

 

“MOTHER SERVICES!”

 

The MCs of the show, Haha and Mong, shouted out the last sentence together. Having worked together before through past projects, their cooperation with one another was seamless. Moreover, being professionals, they had already ran through the flow of the show together once on their way over to the scene of the shoot.

 

“Mong, we do have many adopted children don’t we?”

 

“Yeah, and the number is increasing with every episode!”

 

“We had 2AM, 2PM, SNSD, T-ara and Kara! Who will we be adding on to our family this time?”

 

“A girls’ group will be preferable!”

 

“Why, why? Why would you prefer girls’ group? Are boys’ groups that repellent to you?”

 

“Of course not! What I meant was that girls’ groups’ members have more to hide when we surprise them with our visits! Isn’t it more interesting?”

 

“So what you’re trying to say is that boys’ groups are not interesting?”

 

Pouncing on Mong’s loophole in his phrasing immediately, Haha grinned widely as Mong opened and closed his mouth repeatedly in an attempt to defend his words.

“I—I—I’ll just shut up… Haha, you can be the MC for the entire show!”

 

ing his MC cards unceremoniously to his fellow host, Mong mimed zipping his mouth and pretended to walk off with his head bowed low. Laughing at his partner’s exaggerated reactions, Haha merely grabbed hold of his arms and pulled him back.

 

“You sure you wanna go off like this? It’s a well-known girl band that we will be visiting today. They are just a few stories above us now…”

 

“Will they even remember us after today? All our other children refused to acknowledge us after the show! And we even bought an electric fan for Kara!”

 

“You can direct the question to them yourself, Mong. Come on! Let’s go see who our children will be this time! It’s the smallest group so far in our show. There’re only three of them.”

 

Wrapping up the introductory speech, both hosts with their crew entered the waiting elevator to make their way up the apartment building. The moment the door to the apartment was opened, a hush settled upon the entire group. In order to be able to capture the best footage, silence was vital. Creeping in silently, the two hosts who were now temporarily in charge of filming as they move around the house, immediately zoomed in on the side door of the small balcony they stepped into. 

 

“Oh my, this is definitely a girls’ group. Look at the amount of shoes they have!”

 

Pulling the side door open, Mong revealed a small compartment that had been transformed into a walk-in shoe cabinet. While the shoes were arranged in a tidy manner, the sheer number of them threatened to overwhelm the two hosts. From sport shoes to sneakers to high heels and boots, all sorts of footwear in various colours were available here, just like a mini shoe store. Carefully sweeping the camera around the small space, both hosts continually let out small sounds of surprise at the immense number of shoes that could be stored in such a tight space.

 

“Surprisingly, this room still smells nice with all these shoes.”

 

Haha whispered as he backed out of the tiny room cautiously. He nodded in understanding when the staff pointed in the other direction. It was time to move into the apartment. Haha moved forward and tugged gently at the screen door that separated the main portion of the house from the small balcony that they were currently occupying. Dragging it open inch by small inch, he was careful not to make any unnecessary noises that might wake the girls up. Halting his actions at a width that was just enough to let a man through, he gestured for Mong to go on ahead.

 

“Here I go, what will I find in ther—"

 

Mong’s words ended with a muffled groan as he felt his feet landing heavily on something soft and sticky. Wincing in disgust, he turned over his bare feet to scrutinise what exactly he had stepped on. With a shaking finger, he wiped a portion of the unknown substance off his foot, lifting it higher into the light, so that he could study it more clearly.

 

“Is that… Cake?”

 

Haha queried as he leaned in to take a closer look together with Mong.

 

“Yah! It’s chocolate cake!”

 

Bursting into laughter as Mong bent downwards to lift the paper plate, which was holding the squashed piece of cake, upwards, Haha zoomed the camera in on it.

 

“Cake mine, that’s a cake mine you’ve stepped on!”

 

Choking out the sentence in between laughter, Haha could not help but laughed even harder at the resigned look on Mong’s face.

 

“Well, you did say that girls’ group are more interesting…”

 

One of the staff reminded Mong dryly as he wiped off the cream and cake that was still stuck on sole of his feet, earning a droll look from the victim of the cake mine.  

 

“This time, you go on first.”

 

Mong muttered as he threw a dark look at the squashed cake that the staff had placed carefully on one side of the room. Grinning widely, Haha merely shrugged and took a cautious step into the apartment. Even though it was already near to eight in the morning, the room still remained relatively dark, making it difficult for Haha to manoeuvre his way around. In addition, due to the cake mine incident, both MCs were more cautious as to where they step, wary of a repetition of similar incidents.

 

“Are you sure we got the right apartment?”

 

Suddenly grounding to halt, Haha swivelled his head around towards the direction of the staff with an unsure look on his face, and threw the question at them.

 

“Why? What’s wrong?”

 

Mong queried as he too stepped forward to observe the scene that had Haha at a loss of words.

 

“One, two, three, four… ten… There are ten bodies lying around the living room…”

 

Mong whispered in shock as he gazed around the room in shock.

 

“Is this really the right house?”

 

Haha asked again as he approached the nearest body which was lying at the top of a pile which was made up of three other people. Zooming in the camera as he bent down carefully, he gently shifted the arm that was swung carelessly over the face, hiding the main proportion of it.

 

“Yah, that’s Kim Heechul from Super Junior! Are you certain we’re at the right house?”

 

Straightening immediately after identifying one of the bodies lying around the living room, Haha turned towards the PD for confirmation again.

 

“Yes, it’s the right one! Why would Super Junior have so many pairs of high heels? Besides, I think I’ve just spotted Ahne Minhee…”

 

Mong’s sentence trailed off as he pointed to body that was lying on the sofa with arms tightly wounded around a small cushion. Squashed in between two other bodies, the face was barely recognisable. However with MC Mong’s sharp eyes, he had accurately identified Apollo’s lead singer, Ahne Minhee. Nevertheless, her choice of sleepwear was unusual enough for the two MCs to hastily stifle their laughter to prevent waking any one up.

 

Dressed in silken pyjamas with flower prints all over, it was a fashion sense that would be favoured by ahjummas. The flower sweat band that was on her head further cemented the hosts’ suspicions that Minhee might have a secret yearning for ahjummas’ style of clothing. Known as a character beauty to her fans, this was a side of her that no one would have anticipated, leading to the two hosts giggling with joy at this tantalising bit of discovery.

 

“Is that Eunhyuk and Yesung beside her?”

 

“Are you sure we can really capture this on film?”

 

Haha whispered as he glanced questioningly at the staff members who were equally shocked. None of them had anticipated such a situation occurring and no one knew what to do.

 

“PD-nim says keep filming. He kept mouthing the word ‘daebak’! I think he’s enjoying this too much…”

 

Mong answered with a stifled laugh, whispering confidentially into the camera as he stealthily caught the PD in action.

 

“Yah, I found Lee Hyunae!”

 

Haha exclaimed softly as he bent down once more to another group of bodies leaning on the sofa. Sleeping snugly between Donghae and Sungmin, Hyunae too, was clutching a cushion in her arms. Being shorter in stature, it was just nice for her to lie comfortably on Sungmin’s shoulder, utilising it as her pillow while sleeping. Donghae however, was positioned in an awkward manner. His body was tilted sideways with his head being the only support for it as he leaned on Hyunae’s arms as he slept on soundly.

 

 “Is that bear paws that she’s wearing on her hands? Yah, I think she’s wearing bear feet too!”

 

Clad in a full length white long-sleeved nightgown that seemed to go all the way to the top of Hyunae’s ankles, her plain sleepwear appeared to be vastly different from the flamboyant fashion that she usually preferred. However, the surprise was in her choice of wearing costume bear paws and feet to sleep. Her hands and feet were safely enclosed in the comfort of huge furry paws and feet that seemed to be matching.

 

To top it off, Hyunae’s head was stuffed into a cushiony cone-shaped hat, with a small bell dangling at the top. That hat seemed to be too big for her small head, judging from the way it had slipped and covered the major portion of her face. With the rest of her face buried by her long cascading hair, it was difficult for anyone to affiliate this ghostly apparition with the usual sweet girl that they had seen on the screen.

 

“What in the world is this pile?”

 

Mong muttered in amusement as he shifted the camera to capture the piling up of human bodies on the floor. Having identified the topmost one as Heechul beforehand, Mong went down on his knees, twisting the camera around numerous times in order to zoom in on the other participants in the pile.

 

“Haha-ah, come take a look at this!”

 

Mong whispered loudly as he frantically gestured for his fellow host to join him.

 

“Is that a… Panda?”

 

Snorting with laughter, Mong focused his camera on the person dressed in a one-piece panda suit, lying underneath Heechul. Heechul had propped his head onto a cushion which he had placed on the person’s stomach, and was sleeping soundly while Haha and Mong were convulsing with laughter at the unexpected sight of a panda suit as a choice of sleepwear. With the face mostly covered by the hoodie that had the facial features of a cartoon panda printed onto it, it was almost impossible to identify the person. Pushing slightly at the hoodie, Haha attempted to shift it out of the way so that they would be able to catch a glimpse of the face.

 

When the person made no response to their attempts in uncovering the face, Haha grew bolder and began to yank harder at the hoodie, finally revealing the identity of the panda to be Apollo’s leader, Paek Sunjung. Well loved by her fans due to her sunny and cheerful character, her inability to perform any form of aegyo was accepted and deemed as a joke in her fan base. Hence, the revelation of her sleepwear was the most surprising to the MCs and staffs of the show.

 

“Is that Kim Ryeowook and Leeteuk at the bottom?”

 

Recovering from the unexpected shock of seeing Sunjung in such adorable pyjamas, Haha was now attempting to make out the identities of the other two bodies that were at the bottom of the pile. Tilting the camera in an awkward angle, Haha could vaguely identify one of Super Junior’s lead vocalists. With Sunjung cushioning her head on his stomach, Ryeowook in turn was utilising his leader’s stomach as a pillow, leaving Leeteuk ending up at the bottom of the human pile. As a result, the four bodies seemed to be piled up and tangled together in a mess.

 

“Haha, I found more people over here!”

 

Beckoning his partner in crime over, Mong found two other Super Junior members whom were fast asleep on the dining table. Kyuhyun was lying down with half of his head buried in his folded arms on the table, while Shindong’s upper body was half sprawled on the table, with his head cushioned by the side of his arm which was stretched out on it. Zooming in, Mong was amused at the discovery that even in sleep, Shindong’s stretched out hand was still clutching a half-eaten chicken thigh tightly in his fist.  

 

“With ten bodies in the living room and two more in the kitchen, that makes it twelve… While we were looking for only three, they had apparently decided to offer us a bonus. Its HahaMong show with Apollo, AND, Super Junior!”

 

Retreating back to the small balcony where they had first entered the apartment, the much amused hosts were making their preparations to wake their special guests of honour up. The morning had proved to be very rewarding and scandalous so far, and they were ready to bring the show into yet another .

 

Creeping back into the apartment sneakily, Mong moved towards the windows and grasped the end of the curtains while waiting for Haha’s directive to go ahead.

 

“Hana, deu, set…”

 

On the count of three, Mong pulled the curtains wide with a flourish, letting the bright sun from outside stream into the previously dark room, while Haha began to bang the pots that the crew had prepared for them ahead of time. Moving about the living room, they began clanging their pots together frantically in an attempt to wake the sleeping members of Apollo and Super Junior up.

 

“Wake up, kids! Wake up!”

 

The light sleepers of the group was woken up almost immediately with the extreme hollers and clanking racket that were being made by the MCs. Yesung, Minhee and Sungmin were the first to wake up, and the look on Minhee’s face at being woken up in such a manner was bordering on hostility.

 

“Minhee-ah, I was granted permission! Your management was the one who opened the door of your dormitory! I’m sorry for waking you up!”

 

Shrinking away from the irate expression on her face, Mong immediately apologised. Apparently her reputation of having being a character beauty, with her cold and easy to ire temperament, was not established without basis. Meanwhile, Haha was caught in a tug of war with the visual of the band, Hyunae.

 

Gradually waking up to the loud noises, she peered blearily at Haha and the camera man before her brain kicked in, and she realised that she was being filmed. Always conscious of the way she looked on screen, her reaction was immediate. Burying her face downwards onto the cushion she was hugging a moment ago, Hyunae tried to prevent the cameras from capturing her bare face, letting out screams that were muffled by the cushion when Haha attempted to drag it away from her death grip.  

 

“Hyunae-ah, it’s okay, you still look beautiful.”

 

An exasperated Haha attempted to reassure her as he was caught up in an endless tug-of-war with the visual, who was shaking her head vehemently at his comment, resulting in the bell attached to her hat to jingle continuously, causing Donghae who was seated beside her to stir from his sleep. Catching the eyes of the amused Sungmin and Donghae who was watching the exchange groggily, Haha tried to recruit their help. Sungmin answered Haha’s beseeching gaze with a grin and began to tug at the cushion. With his added strength, Hyunae lost the fight within seconds and after letting out another ear splitting scream, she made a grab for the singlet that Donghae was wearing, dragging it upwards and covered her face with it.

 

Her sudden actions startled Donghae who was beginning to doze off once more, jerking him wide awake as he attempted to sit up straighter. Awareness seeped into him gradually and he finally became conscious of not only the staff and MCs that were crowding the living room, but also the exposure of his abdomen as Hyunae was making use of the lower half of his shirt to conceal her face. Caught in an awkward position, he had no idea how to respond to the camera, resorting to covering his face in a bid to hide his embarrassment.

 

“YAH! Who the hell is making such a ruckus early in the morning?! I’m gonna kill you if—Oh, hyung-nim! You are filming? Annyeonghaseyo!”

 

Hyunae’s endless screams and the continuous tinkling of her bell had stirred the rest of the members, dragging them out from their deep slumber. Woken up by the high pitched screams, a bad tempered Heechul was threatening murder when he caught sight of the camera crew that was filming him. Rearranging his expression instantly, he bit off the rest of his sentence and aimed a bright smile at the cameraman, greeting him politely with a three hundred and sixty degree change in attitude.

 

Another ear-splitting scream pierced the air as Haha, together with the combined effort of Donghae and Sungmin, finally managed to separate the desperate visual from the portion of Donghae’s singlet which she was using as a refuge.

 

“YAH, LEE HYUNAE!”

 

Unable to repress himself, Heechul yelled her name out in annoyance as he glared at her for the shrill screams that were getting on his nerves.

 

Even Leeteuk, who was a rather heavy sleeper himself, was startled awake by her panicked shrieks. Multiple groans were heard as he attempted to sit up, only to flop back onto the ground with a thump as he became aware of the heavy weights on his body. Positioned at the bottom of the pile and with Ryeowook stuck, there was no way he could get up. Similar to Donghae, Leeteuk and Ryeowook found themselves in an awkward situation where they could only smile embarrassedly at the camera which was filming them mercilessly.

 

“Yah, Sunjung-ah, wake up…”

 

Trying to wake his friend who was still amazingly fast asleep amidst all the chaos inconspicuously, Ryeowook shook her gently, sighing with exasperation when he could illicit no reaction from her. Meanwhile, Leeteuk had already resigned himself to the fact that he would be trapped in this position for quite a while. Having been friends with Sunjung even before their debut, he knew that she was an even heavier sleeper than him, almost impossible to wake when she was in a deep slumber. It was just his bad luck that he managed to end up at the bottom of the pile.

 

Finally resigned to the fact that there was to be no escape from revealing her bare face, Hyunae leaned back against the couch with a pout, hitting Sungmin repeatedly for his betraying act of aiding Haha in confiscating her cushion. Her revenge ended with her yanking her hat off and forcing it down onto the latter’s head. However, her mind was still relatively in a daze as per her usual self when she just woke up. Pulling her knees up to her chest, Hyunae’s mind was slowly beginning to turn fuzzy as the ambient noise softened gradually to an echo. The attempt in covering her face stemmed merely from reflexes, not that the struggle she had put up would be less than that of her effort with a fully functioning brain.

 

In the meantime, Haha and Mong were now surrounding the oblivious Sunjung who was still in a dormant state.

 

“Do pandas hibernate?”

 

Mong asked as he collapsed onto the ground beside her, huffing for breath as both he and Haha had been hollering by her ear to no anvil for the past five minutes. They had not only yelled, but also attempted to pull her up manually while clanking the pots and pans they held in their hands loudly, only to realise that Sunjung would not be budged. Even when sleeping, she was a force to be reckoned with.

 

“Why is this kid so strong? I knew she had great strength, but even in sleep? What does she eat every day?”

 

Haha joined in the complaining as he too plopped down in defeat onto the ground, giving one last half-hearted poke at his fellow cast of the variety show, Running Man, who was still blissfully asleep.

 

“Yah! Why is nobody helping us here?”

 

Gesturing pointedly to Sunjung, Mong beckoned for her fellow members whom had already been woken up to help them out. Minhee stared back at his desperate pleas expressionlessly, making no move to help them out. Having stayed with Sunjung for years, since before their debut, she definitely knew various methods to wake her heavy sleeper leader. However, she was a little peeved at the way she was startled awake, hence, Minhee was reluctant offer her aid to the two hosts. Besides, she was relatively amused with the way they were utilising to wake Sunjung up.

 

If it’s other people, those ways would have worked for sure… But Sunjung unnie? Well, she’s not exactly what I would call normal…   

 

She gave a helpless shrug in return to their beseeching glances while Hyunae continued to stare into space as if in a trance, apparently in her own world.

 

“Can we continue the show without Sunjung?”

 

Haha asked finally, casting a desperate glance towards the PD.

 

“I don’t think she’s gonna wake up anytime soon.”

 

Bursting into laughter at the obvious despair in Haha’s last statement, the rest of the Super Junior members began to make objections to his suggestion.

 

“You can’t give up so soon!”

 

“If Sunjung doesn’t wake up, how are you going to get Hyunae to break out of her trance?”

 

“Ani! No one else can get Minhee moving except for Sunjung-sshi!”

 

The last objection from Eunhyuk was rewarded with a sound smack on his arm as the person in question gave him a sideway glare. Unaffected by the whack he received, he smiled cheekily back at his close friend in Apollo, showing her his trademarked gummy grin.

 

“Can no one else handle those two?”

 

Mong groaned as he stared dejectedly at the uncooperative duo that refused to move despite being woken up. His shoulders slumped when all eight of the Super Junior members in the living room shook their head sorrowfully in response to his query. Just at the peak of their desperation, the door bell rang, its tinkling chimes bringing a sense of new hope to the disheartened hosts.

 

“They’re here!”

 

“They may know how to wake Sunjung up!”

 

Exclaiming simultaneously, the two hosts scrambled to their feet with renewed energy and wearing identical optimistic expressions. They raced to the door together, wrenching it open in their eagerness.

 

“Annyeonghaseyo!”

 

Feminine voices could be heard from the outside, greeting the two MCs politely, voices that everyone in the apartment found strangely familiar. Recognising them instantly, Minhee dumped her cushion onto Eunhyuk’s lap brusquely and stood up abruptly, dragging the oblivious Hyunae onto her feet.

 

“Unnie, Hyojung and Jinah are here!”

 

 Minhee gave her bleary unnie a slight shove as Haha and Mong came back into the apartment with the two ex-members of Apollo, Kim Hyojung and Im Jinah.

 

“Annyeonghaseyo, Sistar’s Hyorin, After School’s Nana immida!” 

 

Greeting themselves brightly while facing the camera, the two girls let out a slight shriek as they caught sight of Minhee and Hyunae standing in the middle of the living room.

 

“Hyunae unnie! Minhee-ah!”

 

The two of them grasped the Apollo members into a group hug, with Hyunae finally emerging from her trance at the shock of seeing them in their dormitory.

 

“Jinah, Hyojung! Why are the two of you here?”

 

She managed the question amidst the confusion at reuniting after a long period of time. Ever since the day the two of them had left the SM for another company, the girls had not had a chance to meet together like this. While she had never harboured any ill feelings towards their leaving, she felt a tinge of regret as their decision spelt the official breakup of Apollo being a six-member band. It had taken her awhile to get used to their absence, especially during the remaining days of their enforced hiatus.

 

Although they were already close before Soohei’s incident, the lengthy period of hiatus brought their relationships to an even higher level. With only each other to fall back upon for support, the five of them grew even closer, sometimes forgoing their own beds just so that they could spend the night together. They had shed endless amount of tears during those dark times, and only the knowledge that they were not alone allowed them to endure through it. Their shared misery, sufferings and desolation only served to make them even more inseparable. Thus, their leaving left unfilled holes in the sensitive Hyunae’s heart, with her yearning to go back to the days where the six of them were together again.

 

However Hyunae knew that she was not the only one to miss them. Sunjung and Minhee missed them as much as she did, maybe even more so for Minhee. As Minhee was the same age as both Hyojung and Jinah, the three of them had been close since trainee days. Always hanging around together and teasing each other mercilessly, the relationship between the three of them was extremely close. Their leaving must have been quite a blow to her, adding to the damage the Soohei incident had caused.

 

Hyunae believed that Sunjung must have felt the worst when the two of them revealed their thoughts about leaving to her. Being the leader, she had always associated the success of the team as her responsibility. Seeing the members leaving one by one and the number dwindling gradually, Hyunae could not imagine the pain and guilt that Sunjung felt then. She would see all these as her failure as a leader, taking up the mantle of responsibility for the not being to hold the team together. However, as usual, with her penchant for keeping her feelings to herself, she had encouraged them to strive for their dreams, even urging them to treasure the opportunity that they had been given.

 

“Unnie, where’s Sunjung unnie?”  

 

Hyojung asked as she glanced around the room in search for her ex-leader. Even though Sunjung had relatively few lines and lesser screen time on stage as compared to the other members, her absence was always strongly felt. Apollo never felt complete without her. She was the steady rock that they could grab on to when there were choppy waves and with her around, no problems seemed to be unsolvable. Despite her dorky character that she showed on variety shows, she was a dependable leader and friend to all of them. In fact, she was the essence of Apollo.

 

“There…”

 

Minhee muttered as she pointed her long finger towards the direction of the entangled human pile that was still on the floor while Hyunae looked around the room blurrily. With Sunjung still asleep, Leeteuk and Ryeowook were still trapped in their respective positions.

 

“Unnie still wears that to sleep huh?”

 

Jinah chortled as she caught sight of the panda suit that Sunjung was clad in.

 

“Can you guys do something about her? She simply refuses to wake up.”

 

Mong’s exasperated comment drew snickers from the four girls as memories of days where they had all worked together to wake their unnie up rose up.

 

“Shall we do that again?”

 

Hyojung asked with a grin as she gave the other three a conspirator’s wink.

 

“Are you sure we can do this? Unnie’s image will be…”

 

The ever considerate Hyunae muttered, glancing worriedly at the various cameras which were stationed all around them.

 

“Yah, Hyunae ah! I don’t care what you do… Just get her off us! Ryeowook and I are getting muscle cramps!”

 

Leeteuk’s loud holler eroded any concerns Hyunae might have for her leader. Nodding cheerfully at her the man of her dreams, she hopped happily over towards them, excited that she would be doing Leeteuk a favour. Plopping down onto her knees right before her unconscious leader, she glanced up in askance at the other three girls who had followed at a more sedate pace.

 

“Ready? Hana, dul, set…”

 

Seating themselves around the human dominoes, the four girls shared a conspirator’s grin before giving a nod towards the waiting Hyunae.

 

“ARE YOU READY KIDS?”

 

Hyunae’s sudden loud voice filled the room, startling the other occupants into complete silence. Leeteuk, Ryeowook and Heechul casted incredulous stares at her the moment they recognised the lyrics as that of the starting in the famous cartoon, SpongeBob Square pants.

 

“Mwo-yah! Yah, Lee Hyunae didn’t I just warn—"

 

“AYE AYE CAPTAIN!”

 

Heechul’s irate protest was drowned out by the loud hollers of the other three girls, earning them a dark glower for the interruption. In return, all four girls placed a finger onto their lips to hush him up.

 

“I CAN’T HEAR YOU!”

 

“AYE AYE CAPTAIN!”

 

“OHH….”

 

Hyunae’s cheerful yell combined with the other three’s answering chorus appeared to be too much for the short-tempered Heechul. Lifting himself upwards slightly from the cushion he had placed on Sunjung’s stomach, he shifted to better glare them into submission when the immoveable Sunjung suddenly jerked upwards, knocking the fuming man off balance. Sprawled on the ground, Heechul watched with growing horror as his good friend in Apollo joined in with her members for the song.  

 

 “Who lives in the pineapple under the sea?”

 

“SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS!”

 

The waiting members answered their leader’s query enthusiastically, bellowing it out at the top of their lungs, delighted that their scheme at waking her up had worked.

 

“Absorbent and yellow and porous is he?”

 

“SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS!”

 

Haha and Mong, together with the crew and Super Junior members were more than amused at the sight in front of them. Mumbling out the words with her eyes still shut tightly, Sunjung accompanied the words with weird and quirky actions, as though she was performing the song for elementary kids, cupping her hands to her ears while waiting for them to sing the next line.

 

“If nautical nonsense be something you wish?”

 

“SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS!”

 

Making use of the window of opportunity that had been presented, Ryeowook hastily rolled off his leader’s belly, crawling to another corner while he watched his friend made a spectacle of herself. Likewise, Leeteuk was rubbing his cramped muscles while staring unbelievably at the antics that his friend was up to. 

 

“Then drop on the deck and flop like a fish”

 

“SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS!”

 

“Ready?”

 

“SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS, SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS, SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS! AH AHH AHH AHAHAHAHAHAHAHHH...”

 

The four girls followed the song to the letter, even ending with the maniacal at the end. Stunned silence reigned in the room for a moment before everyone erupted, all of them clamouring to be heard.

 

“Mwo-yah!”

 

“What in the world was that?”

 

“How old are you guys now?”

 

“SpongeBob Squarepants? Seriously?”

 

A rain of cushion fell upon the five girls as whoever that was near one hurled it towards their direction, protesting against being forced to endure the entire song that had their ears ringing at its loudness. Finally opening her eyes, Sunjung was horrified by the number of cameras pointed in her direction, each one having caught the silly dance that she had just performed moments ago.

 

“Yah! How could you wake me up like this when there are cameras filming!?”

 

An exasperated Sunjung complained as she pounced onto Hyojung and Jinah after greeting the laughing hosts and staffs briefly. Wounding her arms around each of their neck, she pretended to choke them in return for the embarrassing way in which they had chosen to wake her. Despite her gruff tone, she was actually glad to see them. It had been a long time since she had been on shows with either of them, and this brought back many happy memories. However, being someone not inclined to reveal her feelings, Sunjung masked this happiness with her brusqueness, choosing to run over roughshod them instead.

 

“Yah! How could you girls do this to your unnie!”

 

Ignoring the public dissents of their actions, Hyunae, Minhee, Hyojung and Jinah collapsed onto the ground in laughter. A stab of nostalgic hit Minhee as she gazed into the crinkling eyes of the other three girls.

 

Just how many times did we laugh ourselves silly after waking Sunjung unnie?

 

Memories of them re-enacting the same scene in the past welled up and the moment turned bittersweet for her. The silly pranks they used to play on one another, the lunatic dares they were wont to, all those were good times that she had missed sorely. Despite the hard times all six of them underwent when they just debuted and the uncountable squabbles and fights that broke out amongst them, the fun and support they shared were undeniable. No matter their differences, they always forgave one another at the end of the day.

 

Because they were not only friends, but family to one another.

 

Each and every single member was family to Minhee, family members that she cherished. Glancing around at the other three who were giggling madly beside her, she resolved to push aside any sorrowful feelings. It was such a rare occasion that they could be reunited, and she was determined to cherish every single second of it.

 

Despite being the youngest among the three remaining members of Apollo, Minhee understood the reason why the company put them through one more variety show before the new members joined in officially. It was meant to be a closure, not only to the fans and audience watching, but to the five of them as well. There was no way they could share the identity of being members of Apollo again. It was the hard, cold fact that Hyojung and Jinah had moved on, and now, the three of them were going to as well. The two new members would make a brand new Apollo that had no room for the past, for the ex-members. The fans would have to accept that and she herself would have to accept it.

 

No matter how many times she wished it, there was no going back.