[A/N: Words in Bold are in English. Italics represent time change.]

The owner of the voice jumps out of his seat, tackling you into a hug. "Jaehwa!"

You pull him off you. Your eyes widen and your mouth gapes in surprise. "Heechul?!?!" Your eyes narrow in suspicion. "Is it really you?"

He smirks. "Of course it's me. Who else would I be?"

You shake your head slightly in disbelief, but stop as the other guys that were sitting at the table gather around. You take a look at all of their faces, still not fully believing your eyes. Could it be?

Before you can say a single word, Heechul and Sungmin tackle you back into a hug and the rest of the guys follow suite, embracing you in one giant group hug.

****

2006.01.17 (January 17, 2006)

You unlock the door to you and your mom's apartment.
"How did the autition go?" your mom calls from the kitchen when she hears the door close behind you. You lean back against the door, your hands in your pockets.

"Same as last time," you reply. You yank the scarf from your neck and hang it on the peg by the door, followed by your jacket. You shove your hands in your jean pockets and head towards the kitchen. "Apparently, there's no market here for a Korean-American girl who is a singer and a rapper," you mutter bitterly.

"You forgot about dancer," your mom adds with a smile.

You shake your head with a sad smile. You sit down at the little wooden table on the floor, propping your head up with your elbows resting on the table.

It's been a little over two months since you arrived here to the land supposedly 'filled with opportunity', where 'one can live one's dream'. Ha! Yeah, right! As if!

You can't even count how many auditions you have had, all ending in nothing...

Then there's school. School is difficult: not the subjects, but life there. Being the new kid from a foreign country has its own set of challenges in itself. Like the fact that people have a really hard time pronouncing your name. You decided to go by ___, your English name. Oh, well! Whatever.

You look down at the envelopes on the table. Bills. Ugh! That's another thing. If you don't pass an audition soon, you will have to take on a second job in the evenings after school. You hope you will not have to resort to that though, since you have a job at a retail store on the weekends. Maybe that will be enough. Maybe...

"I don't know what to do," you mutter softly to yourself.

"What would you do if we were back in Korea?" your mom asks softly. You know what she's trying to do, but you don't want to play that game right now. You already made your decision and there is no going back.

Casually, you respond, "Oh, I'd probably just head over to see one of the guys and bug 'em to death." You chuckle, recalling many times when they would get irritated over your antics.

"You miss them, don't you?" your mom asks.

You get up. "Want some help with dinner?" you ask, changing the subject.

****

Present:

The next few minutes are filled with chaos as everyone begins speaking all at once. You can't seem to decipher one thing from another as they crowd around you.

"Where have you been all these years? In the US?"

"Why didn't you call?"

"Did you forget about us?"

"How could she forget about us?"

"You didn't forget about me, did you?"

"She obviously didn't forget about ME!"

"Wait, who is this girl? How does she know them?"

"Beats me."

"We just me her yesterday."

"You know, I thought I recognized her yesterday..."

"You saw her yesterday, Kangin?"

"Yeah, at the SM building."

"So, what have you been up to, Jaehwa?"

"Did you become a singer?"

"How come you never came to visit?"

"So, what brings you back?"

"How long are you planning on staying?"

"She plans on staying forever."

"What?"

"She's staying forever with me!"

"What are you guys talking about?"

"Nothing, hyung."

"YAH! Shut up!" you cry out over the noise. You take a step back away from them. "Aish! I'm only one person!"

"Sorry, Jaehwa," Shindong apologizes.

"It's ok. It's good to see you all too," you chuckle.

Henry speaks up. "Can we do this over breakfast? I'm hungry."

"Good idea," Leeteuk agrees, looking at his watch. "We don't have a lot of time before we have to leave. We have a schedule to keep."

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