November 27, 2005 – M.net KM Music Festival (MKMF)

“And the artist of the year award goes to…”

Sehee’s face was expressionless but her nervousness was given away at how still she sat like a statue. Soomi’s feet tapped on the floor while she bit her lower lips, waiting for the result. Eunsung and Mai were holding hands, sometimes squeezing each other’s hand to ensure that whoever win the award, they will still be fine. Yumi glanced at Yoochun who gave her a small smile, calming her slightly.

“Dong Bang Shin Ki! Congratulation!” the emcee announced. It was only for a split second, and only God had seen it. The camera was filming the boys, which was very fortunate for the girls. In that split second, disappointments flashed across the girls’ beautiful faces, and their hearts dropped as they lost the award. But everything changed once they swept their faces to have a look at their friends.

Hourglass had realized that they had stood up and was clapping their hands the moment the winner was announced. The daze looks on their faces were now gone, as sincere smiles curved on their red lips. Yumi had accidentally hugged Yoochun, who had hugged her back tightly. He smoothly brushed his lips on her cheek as he released him from the hug.

“Congratulation, oppa!” Yumi wished sincerely before pushing him to walk onto the stage. She found happy tears welling in her eyes at the success of her boyfriend.

“Don’t be too sad about it, Hourglass is the best too,” Jaejoong murmured to Soomi as he hugged her.

“I’m not!” Soomi slapped his arm away. He grinned, feeling happier than ever for his group to be awarded with such prestigious award.

The first person that Yunho had hugged was Jaejoong and then his group mates. As he walked he had smiled at the girls and bowed at the girls who had congratulated him. He lightly patted Jaejoong’s back who was hugging Soomi. Let’s just hope the fan girls were okay with it, he had thought. Sehee opened her arms to him and he almost burst into tears as she hugged him.  All the memories from their torturous training years, all the hardships they had faced together, all flashed in his mind as he hugged her.

“You’ve worked hard,” Sehee said, rubbing his back. True, he had worked hard. His noona laughed lightly when she saw the tears stains and ushered him to the stage. The girls didn’t sit until DBSK was finally giving their speech. They were disappointed that they didn’t win the award, but seeing their friends happy, was worth it. Mai had occasionally nudged at Yumi when Yoochun burst into tears on the stage, and Yumi whacked Mai’s thigh for teasing her.

“It doesn’t matter, was it?” Soomi asked and Sehee shrugged.

“I guess it depends whether you win it or not,” she replied and Soomi smirked.

“We’re one of the best too,” Soomi told and ushered the girls. The girls placed their hands on top of each other quickly and cheered quietly. They have each other, so nothing matters.

I can't say, "It doesn't matter if you win or lose." The only reason you're here is to win. - Jung Sehee

Who would know that a month later, after the disappointment that they felt for losing to their label mates would bring such award? The girls didn’t stop promoting and sometimes they would wonder if they actually had fans. If yes, why didn’t they win? It was TVXQ’s luck, Soomi had told. So, this time, Endless (Hourglass’s fan base) would like to prove themselves to the girls. All the hard works since the girls' training days to their debut days were finally awarded.

“The Disk Daesang award goes to…Hourglass! Chukahamnida,” the emcee said and they couldn’t believe their ears. Did she just announce Hourglass as the winner of Disk Daesang for 2005 Golden Disk Award?

Their heads were spinning, still in daze at receiving such prestigious award. Hugging each other quickly and bowing and thanking at their seniors and juniors for the wishes, they headed to the stage. Yumi had burst into tears when she realized that they had won. Being the gentleman and mischievous person he always had, Yoochun had taken Yumi by hand and led her to the stage before running down. He wasn’t sure why he did that, he was just happy at how happy Yumi was being. She was crying, yet still as adorable as always, slapping his arm when he told her to stop crying.

Mai had shared a long and tight hug with Donghae. Donghae had calmed her down and told her how much their father would be proud of her. Mai felt relieved that she, that her group had proven themselves. They had received the award that their seniors wanted so badly, and they were still a newcomer. Sometimes, she would regret boarding the bus to Seoul, leaving her birthplace, leaving her father, leaving her family. Sometimes, she would miss them terribly that she fell asleep crying. Sometimes, she wanted to give up when there was barely an Endless in the audience. But this, was not one of the sometimes. This was one of the moments that she was very proud of herself, knew that all the decisions she made was right, all the hardships she had faced was worth it. This was it.

Eunsung was hugged by Lina, one who had helped her a lot when she was just a newbie in SM Entertainment. A lot of people had bowed at her and she had bowed back. The feeling was…incredible. She heard their fans cheered and felt the supports and love. This was one of the times when she really felt how important the fans were. The members of Super Junior had congratulated her, making her head dizzy and she blushed when Leeteuk pulled her into a quick embrace. That was embarrassing, and hopefully…wouldn’t become a topic on their fan café. She would wonder if it was the right choice to move to SM Entertainment instead of staying in JYP. All artists that SM produced had high qualities and Eunsung was afraid that she couldn't live up to the expectation. She still remembered the trainees' glares and harsh words when she was picked to debut. But now, she won't even mind it.

Soomi had hugged almost everyone from their company, a bright smile was plastered on her face. This was something that she had dreamed of, but she never expected it to come true. She was proud to be a member of Hourglass, and she realized all the hard works had paid off. All the sleepless night, packed schedules, crazy diets, vigorous workout, everything was worth it.  She had asked her brother, Tyson not to come but being the stubborns brother he was, he was now sitting in VIP seats. Soomi was worried and anxious if Hourglass hadn't win the award, she didn't want to hear comfort words especially from that cocky brother of hers if they had lost. 

Sehee bowed in gratitude at her seniors, those oppas of her who had left the company. Reaching at Yunho, she grinned as she hugged him. She patted his back, knowing that deep inside, he was disappointed. But that was the tradition. One will win and the other will lose. She thanked the boys who congratulated them and frowned when Yoochun had personally taken Yumi to the stage. The frown was replaced by a small smile when she realized how happy Yumi was being. She slapped Yoochun's arm as a warning when he ran downstairs and he just gave her a playful smile. She bowed again when she reached the stage and thanked the man who handed her the trophy. Looking at the golden and polished trophy, she wanted to laugh. This was one of the best award an idol could receive and if she hadn't accepted Sooman's offer, she wouldn't be here holding this beautiful trophy.

“Firstly, I want you to know that we had hoped for this award but we never expected to win, so of course, thank you to the fans who voted us,” she had to stop as their fans cheered and from the stage, she could see the purple ocean or purple sand as Mai had called them. Those purple lightsticks were glowing in the dark, reminding the girls even in the darkest time, they would be here, giving them some light.

“I want to thank Lee Sooman sajangnim very much for creating us, and without him, we wouldn’t be here. Yoo Youngjin seongsaengnim, Kim Soohyun seongsaengnim, Park Hajin seongsaengnim-” Soomi whispered some of the names and in one breath, Sehee thanked everyone who had been helping them. It was a good thing that the rapper was the leader after all. She gave way to Soomi and hugged Yumi, handing her the trophy. This girl before her had started the training at a very young age, and of course she deserved this award more than anyone else.

“Thank you to my brothers and father who had been supporting me, my friends, managers oppa and a special thank you for my mum and Sehee’s mum who were in heaven,” Soomi said and gulped the lump in her throats. She bit her lower lips to prevent herself from crying. “You’re proud of me right, umma? I hope you are,” she said softly and looked at the purple ocean. "I love you," she smiled and stepped away, hugging Eunsung and Mai. Soomi high-fived with the leader, and grasped her hand, reminding themselves that they had each other. 

“Umma, I still remember that one day when I yelled at you to go for the audition," Yumi said with a sheepish laugh. "You're against it but you still give your blessing, without it, I wouldn't be here. So thank you and I love you very much. And thank you to our leader who had to deal with us everyday,” Yumi said and Sehee laughed. “Thank you to the fans again!” Yumi shouted and raised the trophy, earning a very loud and never ending cheer from Endless. The PD had asked the girls to leave, which was a killjoy to the girls.

“Hey,” Sehee said, stopping on her tracks as they reached the backstage. “Receiving this Daesang award doesn’t mean that we will keep soaring high, it doesn’t mean we can slack in 2006 and have an easy life. It means we have to keep improving and be better and the best, and make everyone proud,” the leader said and the girls nodded. Mai placed her hand on the middle of the circle and the rest placed their hands on top of her.

“Hourglass, kill them all!” they shouted before scurrying to their seats.

2005 is finally over. Thought I should write something about TVXQxHourglass but then I was like, never mind. Just get on with it. 2006 would be a rough year for Hourglass, some spoiler for you all.