"That's... That's Yunho's phone!" Max made an attempt to grab the phone from Shim but he wasn't fast enough, "what did you do with him? Where is Yunho?" Shim started laughing,

"He’s safe for now, but I can't ensure that he will be for long. Are you ready to listen to me now?" Max just looked at Shim, thinking about what he should decide. "What do you want from me? What did I do to deserve this?" Shim just looked at his brother, realizing the power he now held.

"Look Shim, I know that you are upset about not getting in, and I'm sorry about that. Don't you have any other up and coming bands that you want to be accepted into?" Shim just stared at his brother.

"You don't know what it's like to suffer, what it's like to feel inferior to the one person you finally felt some self-confidence with. I always wanted to be an idol, and I really believed that TVXQ was my one chance to make it big. When I read that note that you got in instead of me, I felt like I had just fallen back to the beginning again, and had list the will to start over after all the work I had put in to auditions. You don't know what it's like to fail like that, because you actually made it, you weren't rejected. And because of that I can get my chance to get back the time I spent on trying to win the last spot in the band, and show you some of the pain that i felt; are you ready to listen now?"

Max looked at Shim, finally willing to give in, “What is it you need me to do?” he asked. 

Shim smiled, “actually it’s very simple really, because of you I was left out of the one thing that I wanted to do most, and now I have your best friend because I need a small… favor from him.  Secondly, there is something I want you to do, in order to restore things to the way they should be. “Is there, perhaps, something that Yunho uses or wears quite often that I need you to get for me?”

Max glared into Shim’s eyes. “And what if I don’t?”

“Well….then you obviously don’t care what happens to your precious friend…..do you now?” Shim smirked before gripping firmly to Yunho’s phone and throwing it into the street. “No!!” Max yelled as he tried to catch it. Shim’s expression had been wiped clean off his face and was replaced with a tired, disappointed look.

“Oh Maxie….”

“I told you to stop calling me that!!” Max swerved around in a fit of anger. “Fine! Fine! Yunho always wears a ring on his index finger, I’ll bring that….” Max replied.

“Good….don’t ask me why I need it either brother…..hope to see you soon, Maxie..” Shim nodded and ran around the corner. Max ran after him hastily and scrunched his eyebrows when he noticed Shim had jumped into a white van and had screeched off into the darkness of the night street. 

Max arrived back at the apartment and hurried into Yunho’s room. A sudden realization hit him when he thought about Yunho always wearing his ring. “Wait! If Yunho always wears his ring, then he has to have it on him n…” Max paused. He glanced at something shiny on the window seal and began to walk closer. “Yunho’s ring?!!!” he yelled in suprisement. “Why would this be here?” he had thought to himself as he picked up the ring and ran down the stairs.

“Manager!”

“Max??” the manager replied with wide eyes. “Where have you been?” “Out….but…why did Yunho leave his ring here?” The manager confusedly looked at Max. “Well, he must have forgotten it when he hurriedly ran out of the house looking for you when you were gone…”  Max turned around and pulled out his cellphone.

“Who are you calling?” Max took a deep breath and held the phone to his ear,

“my brother…”

                     ~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Yunho looked up to see Shim walking through the doorway of the locked room that he was put into.  “Why can’t you just let me go already, I have a show coming up, the last one on this tour, and after that we can sort everything out okay?” Shim glanced at Yunho, and spoke in a devious tone,

“Not so fast, I know you are eager to get out of here, but there are some things I need you for first.  I won’t hurt you, but the sooner you cooperate with me, the sooner you can get out of here, and on to that big stage of yours.  Before I start with that, I am curious to know what you think about this whole ‘contract’ with my brother that you have.  You know that both I and my brother were in the running for the final spot in the band, and you heard both of our auditions multiple times.  It doesn’t matter what you say, this is purely to satisfy the question that has been nagging at me all along.  I want to know what the infamous U-Know Yunho thinks about this whole thing, do you really think that Max deserved the last spot?  Of course he can amaze everyone with his high notes, but is he really everything that people make him out to be?”

  Yunho looked down at the ground, before answering.  He knew that whatever he said could be used against him later, and there was little point to choosing his words carefully.  He looked back up at Shim, “you want to know what I think?  The whole story of what was going through my head during those months before and just after Max got accepted?  Well alright, I’ll tell you everything from the beginning, don’t be falling asleep on me any time soon. 

Shim smiled “alright, tell me everything, I am very curious as to what you have to say, carry on.”

Yunho looked back at the ground, thinking back through the years to when he had first met Max, and his stepbrother Shim.  During the tryout session both Shim and Max had excelled in every aspect, moving past all other contestants without any real competition.  They truly were the best and their parents, newly married, were very proud of the both of them, and hoped for the best. 

Yunho began to speak, recalling every last detail.  “To be perfectly honest with you Shim, everyone saw the potential that you had, even more than Max.  I would hear the judges talking as you escalated your way to the top, until that final battle for the final spot.  They would talk about how wonderful your voice was, and that it must have been the influence that you had as a child, coming from a background of money and being born into a well-brought-up home and having the luxury of taking vocal and musical lessons with a private tutor.  But I don’t need to tell you those parts, you know that better than I do.  They were always talking about how they saw the talent in Max, but it wasn’t quite up to par with the magnificent Shim, due to his social background and experience; they felt you were better prepared for the position. 

Max continued to climb the charts as well, blowing all others away until there were only the two of you left.  And of course that was when people started choosing sides and creating fan clubs to support the member they deemed most worthy of the title and membership of TVXQ.  From the beginning, I saw the potential that you had, but I also saw how fast Max was improving, and knew that he hadn’t yet reached the limit of how well he could do, even though he was still at a high enough level to excel above all others.  In that final moment before you and Max gave your final songs in front of the board, I was completely ready to introduce you to the band after you were accepted.  Your solo was top of the line, and I really enjoyed the tone that you had in that final moment.  I remember looking over at the manager who winked at me, and I was positive that you had made it.  And then that was when Max started singing his solo.  He started off as he had in all of the previous tryouts, and didn’t mess up any of the notes or any part of the first verse.  When it came to the chorus, I was impressed as I had been with all of the other performances, but this time was so much different.  He got so involved in the song that you could feel the emotion coming from his voice as well as hear it.  As the song continued I was more impressed with him as an individual, and was amazed at the amount of growth he had made. 

By the end of the song, which ended with one of his infamous high notes, long and powerful, I had no choice but to stand up and clap for him, not out of pity or kindness, but out of an underlying respect for Max as an individual because I saw that he could really be a great addition to the team we had already made, and of course a wonderful maknae.  I was torn between the two songs, since both were flawless, however once Max joined our band after receiving the acceptance letter I soon realized that the judges had made the right choice.  There isn’t a person in the world that means as much to me as Max, and nothing can change that.  We are inseparable, and I always want to be best friends with him as I have been for so long.  Now I don’t doubt that you could have also added wonderful things to our band, however I am glad that I had the ability to change my perspective of Max for the better, and I do hope that you will change your perspective of him as well.” 

Yunho finished speaking and looked up at Shim for any sign of emotion, whether approving or disapproving.

“Your story was very intriguing Yunho, I am pleased to hear that, and thank you for the compliments, whether sincere or not.  I will not, however, change any of the previous arrangements that I made with you or Max.  I still need you, and will get my revenge on Max, however I do have an underlying respect for you know Yunho, you are very honest, and that’s an admirable trait that you don’t find very often anymore.” 

Just then Shim’s phone started ringing.  He pulled it out of his pocket, looked at the screen, and then at Yunho.  “Just some.. family issues I need to deal with right quick, I’ll handle you later,” he smiled and walked out the door, one of his men locking it behind him. 

“Hello brother, I didn’t expect you to call so soon.  I was just speaking with Yunho, and noticed something odd, would you have any idea what that is Max?” he listened for a reply.  Max replied shortly after, “is Yunho okay?  Can I speak with him?  I will give you everything you want, just promise me that he can return to the band after this.  I have the ring with me now, he rushed off this morning before he put it on, but I can’t give it to you until I know that he can return safely to the band.

“Well well…you pulled through; meet us at the field behind your house.” Max intended to reply but heard the click of the phone hanging up on the other line. He hastily grabbed his jacket and ran to the field.

Twenty minutes had passed and Max was becoming impatient. He twirled the ring around on the tip of his finger until he heard the slamming of a car door from a distance away. He looked up and saw Shim get out of the white van accompanied by two other tall, fit men. “I have the ring, now where is Yunho??” Max uttered while frantically looking around.

“Is he in the van? Bring him to me, I demand to see him! I gave you the ring..”

Shim tilted his head in satisfaction, creating a slight smile that sent chills down Max’s body. Max had not noticed until it was too late that Shim turned his back and began to walk away when one of the men quickly slid behind Max and covered his face with a towel. In a matter of seconds, all light had faded from Max’s view and darkness began to take over.

“Oh Maxie….wake up now…there’s no time to waste away the day..now is there?” Max heard the faint sound of someone talking to him, but who? “Oh sleepy head! I wonder what will happen to Yunho now that I have you as well, brother; oh how I long to make you suffer..” Max shifted after he felt something trail across his face. “Oh Max, Max Max..”  the voice softly whispered, but it was soon broken by the sound of another familiar voice….”Max!! Wake up! Max! You have to get up! What happened?!!”

“AAHHHUUUH!” Max gasped for air as he jolted awake. "Ah, what happened?" Max asked slowly sitting up with the help of the other body.

"I came around to see if everything was okay when you ran out of the house...but then i found you laying out here." The manager replied. He helped Max up off of the ground, trying to keep him from falling back down due to his strangely weak knees.

“My brother….has Yunho…” was all that Max could whisper before the manager dropped Max right on his back.

“HUH?!!!” he screamed. Max whimpered as he hit the ground and looked up into the eyes of his manager.

“Aish! Yes! Yes….he has Yunho and I have no idea why…I think he is trying to get revenge on me from when I first joined TVXQ.” “I knew this would happen.” “YOU DID?!” Max climbed up onto his feet… “You knew what was going to happen and you didn’t warn us?”

The manager shook his head. “I knew your brother would try to get revenge, but I didn’t know he would do something like take Yunho…he must want something else along with destroying your career.”

Max’s eyes widened as he began to walk away. “Hey! Where do you think you are going now?” He yelled toward Max.

“I’m..going to find Yunho, and kill my brother..”

“I’ll go with you then..” The manager replied as Max stopped walking. “I don’t want you to have to deal with your brother all alone especially because you have ever since he walked into your home. We are going to find him and bring back Yunho…together…you don’t have to do this alone.” The manager slowly walked up to Max and patted him on the shoulder.

“Let’s go.” He said before dragging Max along with him who had not said another word. Max and the manager had walked home and noticed it was getting cloudy. They stepped into the door and entered the warm house that brought an inviting aura which had certainly made Max stop and close his eyes. He began to think about the fun times he had had together with the other four members of the band.

“We had so much fun….we always were together, especially in the hardest times of our careers.” Max then had stopped thinking to himself and walked into Yunho’s room; staring at the emptiness it carried with the same amount of silence as well. The books had been neatly placed in their proper places on the shelf, the bed was made, the floor was picked up and….the photographs of the band where orderly and straight in Yunho’s photo book. 

Then, as Max began to lose himself in thinking about the important things, he noticed something, he wasn’t nearly as neat as his partner. He was forgetful and placed things in the wrong place from time to time; he  also never had the will to think over the things that he had done wrong. Max never had really thought about this until now and it hit him hard in the head. He began to feel like a brick had just hit his head with a little note attached. “That’s why I’ve never known why my brother hates me!!” he thought to himself. “He must feel inferior to me! But why would he be jealous over not being able to be in the band??” Max finished thinking to himself.

“I wonder why he feels this way.”

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Here are the looks of the characters so far.....

 

Max 

Shim

Yunho

ohhhhh evil shim!!!