"So, you want Jaehwa to come with me to the tenth floor?" Donghae asks, holding his cell phone to his ear as you both board the elevator. "...Ok...and you made sure that you set mine to the right one?" He presses the number '10' on the elevator number pad. "...Great. See you in a few minutes." He hangs up the phone, putting it in pocket.

"Why am going with you to the tenth floor?" you ask, looking at Donghae inquisitively as he loosens his scarf and takes off his sunglasses. 

"No reason," he says with a shrug. You stare at him a moment, catching the glint of anticipation in his eyes.

"Yah!" you scoff. "What is it?"

"Nothing," he says with a smile.

You punch him in the arm. "형 [hyung], what is it?"

His smile turns to a sour grimace. "Yah! Why are you so abusive, 동생 [dongsaeng]?" 

"Just tell me why you had that look on your face," you say, giving him another punch.

"No." He sticks his lower lip out in a pout and crosses his arms across his chest like a disobedient child talking back to his mother. His eyes sparkle in amusement.

There's no getting anywhere with him. "Aish," you mutter as the elevator doors slide open with a "DING!"

You reach into your purse to pull out the card key that Leeteuk gave you, but Donghae pulls his card out first. "I got it," he says with a grin. He slides the card through the slot, unlocking the door. He opens the door, holding it open for you. 

"WELCOME HOME JAEHWA!!!!!" thirteen voices call out at once. You blink your eyes as twelve bodies crash into yours with a giant group hug.

"Uhhh.... hi?" you say, confused by the ordeal.

"Yah! Everyone get out of the way so that I can close the door," you hear Donghae pout. Everyone lets go of you and backs away from the door while Donghae closes it.

You look at them all confused. "What was that about?"

 Ryeowook speaks up. "We wanted to give you a welcome back party, but..." he trails off, rubbing the back of his neck.

"...We all have early schedules tomorrow," finishes Leeteuk.

"So we can't exactly stay up late," says Kyuhyun with an irritated look. 

Sungmin jumps in. "However, we still wanted to do something for you."

Eunhyuk pulls something from behind his back. "We all went and bought this for you," he says with a grin, handing you a small box wrapped with pearl sapphire blue wrapping paper and an amethyst purple ribbon around it.

You stare at the box for a moment, a smile creeping up across your face. They remembered the color... You look up with a grin. "고맙습니다 [Thank you]!" You bow, then straighten up shaking your head. "You really shouldn't have."

"Just open it. It's something you need 언니 [unnie]," Sungmin says with a cute smile.

You shake your head at him. "Whatever you say, 형 [hyung]." You take off the ribbon with a glint of excitement in your eyes. You carefully take off the wrapping paper. Inside is a simple white cardboard box with your name printed in purple marker. You take off the lid, your eyes widening as you see the contents inside. "Yah! You guys shouldn't have!" you say looking at them. "I can't accept this! This is too much!"

Kangin steps forward. "Just accept it, Jaehwa. Sungmin told us that you needed one. How else are we going to contact you when we're not around?"

He's got you on that one. You pull out the shiny new cell phone with an amethyst purple case around it. "But..." you say, looking at them helplessly. "I can't afford this."

Heechul laughs. "Jaehwa-ah, do you not understand the concept of a gift? We've got it taken care of already. You have unlimited everything." He chuckles as your eyes practically bulge out of their sockets.

"B-but..." you take a deep breath. "What about the payment each month? That must be--" Kangin puts his hand over your mouth, cutting you off.

"What part of 'we got you covered' don't you understand, Jaehwa?" he says, shaking his head. "You know it's not polite to talk back to your 오빠 [oppas]." He gives you a smirk. 

You wrench your head away from his hand. "Yah! Quit it, 형 [hyung]!" You let out a frustrated sigh. "I just don't want you paying for me while I'm here."

Siwon nods understandingly as he steps forward. "We understand that Jaehwa, but this is a welcome home present, ok? So don't worry about it. This is something we all decided to do for you."

You shake your head with a sigh. "Alright, but I owe you guys one." You bow your head again. "고맙습니다 [Thank you], I love it, especially the color. Reminds me of my old group."

"That's why we picked it out," replies Shindong. 

"How are they?" you ask. Ever since you left for the U.S.., you've been curious as to how they faired.

"Who knows? They disbanded before they even debuted," Heechul says bluntly.

A beat passes as you take in what he said. "W-what?"

"Yeah, they disbanded just a few days after you left," he continues. 

You stare at him shocked. Was it because you left?

****

2005.10.05 (October 5, 2005)

"Aish," mutters the photographer angrily. He calls to the rest of his crew. "We'll pick this up after lunch!" He turns to you, irritation clearly written on his face. "And you," he points his finger at you. "You need to be better. There's nothing I can do to make you look..." he pauses in frustration, looking you up and down. "So much potential..." he shakes his head, "...but nothing." He gives you one last glare. "When we come back, you better know what you are doing." He turns around, huffing out the door while running his fingers through his hair. 

You stick your tongue out at him as the door closes behind him. The rest of your group stares at you in shock.

"Jaehwa-ah! What are you doing?" Sooyun stares at you with a look of horror on her face.

"He's getting on my nerves," you say, glaring at the closed door. 

"Jaehwa-ah! He's just trying to help," says Hy.

"Why can't you just do what he says?" chimes Yun.

You stare back at your group irritated. How can they be taking his side? "Aish..." you mutter, walking to the door, grabbing your duffel bag from off the floor.

"Wait, Jaehwa!" you hear Sooyun's call. 

You pull open the door wide, letting it slam shut behind you. Oops.

You open up your duffel bag and pull out your baseball cap. You place it on your head, messing up the perfectly placed curls that the stylists had done a couple hours before.  

You walk away, irritated and feeling slightly guilty for ignoring Sooyun. You keep your head down as you walk through the corridors of the building, your heels echoing through the hallway. Why are they all trying to make you be something you're not? You're a rapper and a dancer, not some doll that they can play dress up with! You look down at the ridiculous, bright pink dress that they put you in. The whole thing looks like a craft store threw up sparkles and glitter all over it.

Your heels continue to echo in the empty hall. You come to a halt, yanking the darn things off your feet. You try shoving them in your duffel bag, but there's no room for those ridiculous five-inch heels that are covered in glitter. You decide to just carry them in your hand. Probably just as well, you don't want your clothes covered in that gaudy mess. 

You continue down the hall barefoot, head bent low, fuming over the past few hours. Why are they trying to turn you into some wannabe pageant queen?! The idiots! Those fools... 

You turn the corner quickly, bumping into someone hard, nearly knocking him to the ground.

"미안합니다 [mianhamnida]," you say quickly bowing your head.

" 아니요 [aniyo]," the person says, bowing his head in return. "미안합니다 [mianhamnida]. I should have been looking where I was going." He lifts up his head. His eyebrows shoot up in surprise. "Jaehwa-ssi?!"

"Siwon-ssi? 안녕하세요 [annyeonghaseyo]!" You bow your head to him again with a smile. "How are you?" you ask, lifting your head back up.

"저는 잘 지내요 [I'm fine, thanks]," he says with a smile. "And yourself?"

"Been better," you admit with a chuckle, adjusting the strap of your duffel bag on your bare shoulder. Stupid dress. Why does it have to be a spaghetti-strap? Your duffel bag keeps leaving marks on your shou