An eerie silence echoed throughout the entire hall and Yonghwa frowned. It hadn’t been this quiet when the others had been performing. He looked at the big CEO. “Is that alright?”

            He looked confused but nodded. “Yes I think we can hear your song Yonghwa-ssi.” Then he put his glass of wine aside. “Have you um, auditioned before Mr. Jung? You look a little familiar.”

            “I don’t think I have…”

            Leeteuk tilted his head but nodded. “Very well then, you may begin as soon as you are ready.”

            Yonghwa nodded and strummed a few chords before taking a breath.

I'm a loner, I'm a loner.

I'm a loner, I'm a loner.

Look, look at me, me.

Look me straight in the eyes.

Look, you are already looking elsewhere.

Check it, one, two three.

You just keep looking at the clock.

You don't have to tell me, I already know you've found someone else.

You've been meeting someone else often lately.

You don't even call me anymore.

When you were with me, you would only look up at the sky even if a day was a second long.

I know your mind.

The distance between the two of us, it's getting further and wider.

We are no more than strangers.

            Several people sat up straighter in their seats as they heard the new song. Leeteuk was nodding to the beat and several of the members sitting at the higher tables were unconsciously starting to dance.

I'm a loner, I'm a loner.

I'm a loner, I'm a loner.

Being sad because of love, shedding tears because of love.

Sad, sad, sad, sad, sad, sad tonight, my heart's in pain.

No, no, no, no, no, no nobody knows how I feel.

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight night.

I'm cheering myself up by laying awake through many nights.

If you had just honestly told me that you found someone new, that you hated me, then I wouldn't have hated you so much.

Check it, one, two, three.

Remember your words, they were all foolish lies.

I'm a loner, I'm a loner.

I'm a loner, I'm a loner.

Being sad because of love, shedding tears because of love.

            Backstage, the nine muses of Olympus were sighing at the song.

            “Isn’t he dreamy? This song is so beautiful!” Sooyoung grinned as an unusually ecstatic Jessica clutched her arm.

            Seohyun just smiled softly. The stranger certainly had talent. Even if his attitude was slightly strange. Bursting in in the middle of Leeteuk’s birthday party and thinking he was in some simple audition program.

Sad, sad, sad, sad, sad, sad tonight, my heart's in pain.

No, no, no, no, no, no nobody knows how I feel.

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight night.

I'm cheering myself up by laying awake through many nights.

Love is going, love is leaving.

One person, one love, everything that I'd been used to.

I should forget after tonight.

Yes, I should force myself to forget you.

I should since you've abandoned me.

Gone, gone, my love is gone.

I'm a loner, I'm a loner.

I'm a loner, I'm a loner.

Being sad because of love, shedding tears because of love.

Sad, sad, sad, sad, sad, sad tonight, I want this to all just be a dream.

No, no, no, no, no, no nobody knows me.

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight night.

I'm laying awake through many nights, crying.

            He grinned as he finished and bowed. But there was no sound. Everyone just stared at him. Biting his lip, Yonghwa frowned. Was he that bad? Suddenly, applause rang out as he got a standing ovation. The crowd of strangely dressed people were whooping and throwing their wine glasses into the air.

            Giving a nervous smile, Yonghwa bowed again and looked to see the reaction of Leeteuk and the impressive people sitting around him.

            The CEO held up a hand and everyone quieted. “Well Yonghwa-ssi, that was very impressive. However, I’m afraid I cannot give you a contract.”

            Yonghwa blinked. “I don’t understand.”

            “You will not get a contract with me. Is that clear?”

            “But you just said it was very impressive, I got a standing ovation, and I’m pretty sure I was better than most of the people that were before me.” Yonghwa spat out as he glared at the suited figure.

            “Oh no he didn’t” grumbled a blonde figure dressed in black. “Leeteuk, can I send him to the underworld right now?”

            “Calm down Key, I don’t believe he understands.” Leeteuk grinned, showing a dimple which only infuriated Yonghwa even more.

            “Would you care to explain then?”

            “You see, you’re mortal. If you were to sign a contract, it would be lifelong and you would forever be binded to it.”

            “Mortal? Isn’t everyone? And I’m pretty sure I can find a good lawyer around that contract. Can I just please have a chance? This is my one big chance and I need it.” Olympus records was a well-known record with lots of subsidiary companies. If he could just make it in, his career would be set.

            A snap echoed throughout the hall and Yonghwa stared as everyone around him had frozen. “What’s going on?” He waved his hand in front of Henry’s face and frowned when the man didn’t even blink.

            “It’s okay, they’re just napping for a bit.” A pretty lady rose from her chair and walked up to him. She looked over him appraisingly and nodded.

            “Who are you and what did you just do?” Even if she was pretty, the smile she wore didn’t reach her eyes.

            “Call me Krystal, never did like the name Aphrodite anyways. It was too long.” She circled around him and frowned.

            “Again, why?”

            “I told you they’re just napping.” She looked into his eyes with a glare that seemed to see right through him. “It’s my own work. But why can’t I…Never mind.” She shook her head and started to walk towards her seat again. “Now this contract, I think it’s a good idea that you take it. I can’t remember why, but I guess there has to be a good reason if I did it. Don’t say anything about our little conversation.” She gave him a wink and snapped her fingers again.

            “What do you—“

            “So Yonghwa-ssi,” Leeteuk continued as if nothing had ever happened, “This contract you want, I’m afraid that no lawyer will ever be able to help you. But the reason you cannot have this contract is because you are mortal. I am deeply sorry, but that’s that.”

            “Wait, there is a contract he can have.” Krystal popped up with an ice cold grin and pulled out a piece of paper that seemed to have magically appeared in the folds of her dress.

            A tall woman next to Leeteuk took it from her and raised an eyebrow. “A demigod? But we don’t even know…”

            “I found him. Jung Yonghwa, born in Busan. Currently lives in Seoul and is attending a boarding school. Is known for his music and composing skills.” The girl that had frowned at him during the performance read aloud from a huge book in her hand. When did she get that?

            Leeteuk nodded. “So he’s in the book Seohyun-a?”

            “Yes sir. Son of Kyuhyun oppa, or Apollo.”

            The older guy that had sung amazingly earlier walked up to Yonghwa from backstage. He looked nervous, but had a kind smile on his face. “So you’re Yonghwa. I’ve been watching over you, but now you’re here. It’s kind of hard to believe.”

            “Excuse me? Are you some weird stalker?” Yonghwa backed away uneasily and looked around. “What’s going on?”

            “So will you take the contract or not? This one is only a temporary one, but it can either lead to a brand new official one, or all of your memories of this test erased. Will you accept?” Leeteuk grinned pleasantly despite his words.

            “Um…” Yonghwa caught sight of Krystal glaring at him and nodded. “I guess I will.”

            Seohyun bit her lip as she closed to book in her arms. She knew how awkward Kyuhyun was with kids, was it bad to have revealed the truth? All she knew was that it got Yonghwa a demigod contract, and that probably was not the best contract out there.

            Wishing the book away in a small puff of smoke, she stepped back into the shadows with the other muses and waited.

            “Wow Seohyun-a, didn’t think you would do that.” Taeyeon whispered as they all stared at the boy on stage. “He’s kind of cute.”

            “He seems kind of lost. Does he still think that this is some entertainment company?” Sunny twirled the charm on her bracelet and stared in wonder.

            “Something’s not right. No mortal or demigod should be able to find us unless someone from Mount Olympus told him or her.” Yoona muttered. “I don’t think he’s acting confused though. But then how would he know to come here?”

            “Well all of us came here so something might have happened like back then.” A voice piped up from behind them. Twelve former demigods appeared with grins as they too studied what was happening.

            Seohyun nodded. The twelve had all been demigods whose names used to appear in the book she had just teleported back to the library. Those words had disappeared and reappeared in a much different book.

            Suho had been the son of Poseidon and Kai was the son of Hades with his teleportation tricks. Chen was the son of Zeus himself while Luhan was still the irresistible son of Aphrodite everyone on mount Olympus adored. Actually mount Olympus adored all twelve boys as they used to be the most powerful demigods until they had all signed a certain contract.

            Sehun frowned. “Is he going to sign it?”

            “He might as well. It got all of us here.” Lay muttered as he healed a papercut he had received.

            “But the thing is…It’s an upgraded version from when we signed it.” Luhan murmured as he stared at the piece of paper in Leeteuk’s hand.

            “Dude, didn’t we say no mindreading of more powerful gods?” Chanyeol waved a hand in front of the doe eyed young man.

            “No he’s right, didn’t they say something about it changing every century?” Chen wondered as he unconsciously emitted sparks from the tips of his fingers.

            “Can you all stop gossiping and just listen? I want to hear what he says” muttered an annoyed Kris.

            Seohyun rolled her eyes at the boys’ antics. She twirled a lock of her hair as everyone looked at the piece of parchment.

            Yonghwa thought he saw a flash of fear appear in Kyuhyun’s eyes but he seemed to have imagined it. “You’re going to sign it? I don’t know about that Yonghwa-ya. How about you read it first?”

            “No.” the teenage looking boy who Leeteuk had called Key stepped up and glared at Kyuhyun. “You know how these things work. This one in particular is a finicky one, and it’s one that requires the River Styx.”

            “Oh come on Key, let’s give him a little warning at the very least.” Amber fixed her bangs and a small owl appeared next to her plate. “A little knowledge will always help.”

            “I got it. How about some possibilities?” Onew conjured up a small goblet and floated it down to Yonghwa. Inside was just a teaspoon of a dark purple liquid.

            “Um I don’t drink.” Yonghwa managed to get out as he held out the glass.

            “Don’t worry, I made it completely non-alcoholic. It’s just sparkling grape juice. Of course there’s always the chance that it holds some residue from other uses. In fact I just gave Taemin over here some soju with that glass, but I don’t think it should hold traces. But then again, you never know. Don’t worry though, there’s not even that much in there. I just put enough so you could see some possi-mph mmmmmmf!” the long winded speech was finally cut off by a bored looking Jonghyun.

            “Just drink already.”

            Yonghwa looked at the small amount and flung it down his throat. This company was seriously crazy. Was that why it was so successful?

            Suddenly, the roomful of people in front of him disappeared and a flash of scenes rushed by him. A crying girl, hair covering her face, clinging to the bars of a prison, an open field with nothing but miles and miles of wheat, a prince with a glittery crown atop his head dancing with a girl with a knife in hand, and millions of sheet music swirling in an enclosed room.

            “Yonghwa, Yonghwa! Wake up!” He blinked his eyes open to see a worried Kyuhyun bent over him. Then he realized he was on the floor.

            “What happened?”

            “You fainted.” A helpful voice from behind supplied and he saw he performers from before, the twelve boys and nine girls staring at him from behind the curtains.

            “That is all that will be shown to you Jung Yonghwa. So will you accept the contract or not?” Leeteuk asked from his throne.

            Yonghwa took a deep breath and struggled to stand up. Some of those scenes were not something he would like to experience even in a dream. But some…they felt like he had been there before. A peculiar sense of déjà vu. He was curious about these people. They sounded like they weren’t human, the way they kept saying mortal. What had the man said? It would either lead to a new contract or all his memories of the ordeal erased.

            “Like I said, I’ll sign it.” He saw a smirk appear on several faces and worried looks from others.

            “Very well. Just sign on the dotted line.” Leeteuk tossed the contract at him, and it floated from a passing breeze into his hand.

            He caught a pen from a nearby person in the crowd and signed his name.

            “Very well Jung Yonghwa. You have accepted the quest.”

            “Quest?” He frowned as the piece of paper rolled itself up and bounced its way to a girl backstage.

            “Wait, I didn’t even get to read it yet?”

            “Don’t worry. Seohyun will make sure it’s safe and sound for the next year or so.” Leeteuk boomed. “Party’s over! Let’s clean up and call it a day. Thank you all for the wonderful feast everyone!”

            Applause rang out throughout the hall but Yonghwa just stared at the crowd backstage. 21 pairs of eyes stared back at him but he only looked at the girl with his contract in hand. What was her name? Seohyun?

            Whatever her name was, she looked at him indifferently and tossed the contract into the air, where it disappeared in a small puff of smoke.

            “Kai?” she asked without even taking her eyes off of Yonghwa.

            “Yes noona?” a dark haired boy standing behind her answered without moving.

            “Take us back to the rooms please.”

            “Yes noona.”

            The whole lot of them disappeared in a flash of black smoke and Yonghwa was aware that the hall was quickly emptying out. He realized there might be something more sinister going on than what he had previously thought. What had he gotten himself into?

Yes Yong, what have you gotten yourself into ;)

I told you guys I would update in December...even if it's almost over...

But Merry Belated Christmas and Happy early New Year!!! Hope everyone's enjoying a kinda relaxing holidays!

PS i kinda don't like this formatting thing here with the weird spacing but whatever...

Thanks for reading!

- chocolate-notes :)