Hangeng’s POV

I arrived at the party earlier than most guests. I went straight to see Donghae and found him near the chocolate fountain.

“You HAVE to have a chocolate fountain in every party!” he shouted as I came nearer.

As soon as he saw me, he ran over and jumped into a tight hug.

“YOU CAME!” he shouted in joy.

“Of course! I don’t want to let anyone down anymore… not after last time…”

He pulled away and scowled. “Don’t ever say that hyung. You did nothing wrong… I understand your actions and reasons. Never blame yourself. My appa told me that everything in this world happens for a reason, including your incidents in the past. Sorrow will bring happiness to you in the future!”

I smiled at his cheesiness and nodded.

“CHINESE HYUNG IS HERE!”

In seconds, all the members surrounded me as we talked and shared jokes between each other. It felt like the old times we had together.

Soon, more people came and I turned away every time someone came that I recognized. I didn’t want to deal with them yet. Or anytime soon.

Heechul and me were dancing to every song that came on and then finished all the snacks before getting told off by Kangin and a whining Shindong.

It was fun and I was having the best night of my life since I left. Until…

Until their manager walked in…

My old manager…

He recognized me before I even realised he was there…

“Hankyung? I mean… Hangeng?” he whispered.

I tried to turn away but Heechul kept his hand on my back while his other one was on my shoulder making me stay put. I wanted to try and hold my tears back, but I couldn’t. Before I could run back to avoid anyone seeing my tears, my tears had already spilled and Heechul was wiping them with his sleeve.

“I’m here… don’t worry… no one can do anything to do… ever…” he whispered in my ear while squeezing my shoulder.

“Hankyung?” the manager said again, this time loudly though.

Some people heard and stopped dancing to see what was going on. I noticed some of the members realise the situation and rush over to guide me away. However, Heechul kept me in place and hissed to the members, “No! Let him get this over and done with! He can’t stay like this forever… it hurts me as much as it hurts him.”

I looked at him. He may have said those words harshly, but I knew Heechul. He was trying his best to put on a brave and tough expression, he was trying to hold his tears back and he was shaking. I looked back at the manager, who was still staring at me speechless.

“I’m sorry, I-”

Before I could get another word out, the manager pulled me into a hug. I felt Heechul’s hands move away as well as the member’s.

“No, it’s me who’s sorry. I’m so sorry… I should have known how you felt… god, I was such a bad manager wasn’t I? I’ve never forgiven myself since you left. I wish I could make it up to do but I don’t want to be forgiven either… I don’t deserve it…” Then he started crying into my arms.

I awkwardly patted his back. This was the first time I witnessed this kind of situation. I wasn’t sure of what to do. But I was sure of one thing…

“It wasn’t completely your fault. I forgive you and everyone else. I don’t care what you say but you deserve happiness like me. Don’t look back at the past please, focus on the present.”

I could feel the members smiling with relief behind me. I was glad that I have finally started letting go of the past… I haven’t completely done it yet. But I’m doing my best.

Author’s POV

That night, the manager went straight to Lee Sooman’s office after the party. He didn’t want to do it when everyone was partying in the main hall area. He wanted to talk to the chairman when no one was around. It seemed more appropriate like that.

He hesitantly knocked on the door and walked in after hearing the words, “Come in.”

They talked nearly all night. No one knew what about… or the fact that they even talked. But one person did. He stood outside the office, hearing every word they said about Hangeng. He didn’t even have to try to hear, the two were shouting so much at each other inside, that anyone near the office would hear.

After a few moments, the words ‘Back together’ came up. The person’s head shot up immediately after that.

‘What were they planning,’ the person thought.

Hangeng’s POV

Me and the Super Junior members hung out nearly every day! Literally! Every time someone didn’t have a schedule, they would call me and we would then go out somewhere together.

At first, I felt that they were too tired and needed to rest. Or maybe they cancelled their schedules just for me. But after a lot of persuasion from the guys, I gave in and went along with them… wherever they took me.

This went on for weeks. But then one particular day, Kyuhyun called me and said the manager wanted to talk to me.

I went over to see what was going on and as soon as I stepped inside, I knew that every single member was here. No one had schedules. Or maybe they cancelled? All eyes were on me when I walked over to stand in front of the manager.

“Hankyung, I needed to talk to you about something serious,” he started with his head down.

“What is it?”

He didn’t answer, so I looked around at everyone. They all had the same blank expression on their faces. What was going on?

“It’s about Super Junior and you…” he finally said, looking up at me with sincere eyes.