One year later

A full year had passed since Yonghwa and ______ joined the gym. Jungshin had grown very fond of the two and so he wanted to celebrate their year at the gym. He discussed with Burning, Minhyuk, and Eric the idea of throwing a big party for the two…

 “I’m pretty sure he’ll prefer a raise.” said Burning

 “Nah, come on guys! It’ll be fun! We’ll have a blast!” said Jungshin enthusiastically.

 Yonghwa had been in the ring for a while, so when he came out and saw the four huddled together at the gym’s front desk, he walked towards them.

 “Hey, what’cha you guys doing all huddled up like that? You guys noticed that it’s been a full year since I started here and are going to throw a party for me? I’d prefer a raise… Oh, Blanca also has been working here for a year now. I’m pretty sure she’ll also prefer a raise rather than a party.” said Yonghwa as he came by them

 Burning tugged on Jungshin’s sleeve and whispered “I told you so…” into Jungshin’s ear.

 Jungshin was displeased by Burning’s witty remark; he elbowed Burning’s side.

“Nah, what you talking ‘bout, Yonghwa? You guys have worked here so long that I’ve forgotten when you started working...” said Jungshin as he put his hands inside his pocket.

          A moment after, _________ entered the door and came to the boys saying, “I’m an hour late for work. I’m so sorry… I overslept and traffic was horrible. A singer from Japan came to hold a concert in the city and a bunch of people are rushing to meet him at the airport. To tell you the truth, I kinda wanted to ditch work and go to the airport, in hopes that I might see this singer that’s causing such commotion.”

 “Wow, you seem pretty excited don’t you?” remarked Yonghwa with a grin.

 “Uhmm… well yeah, I kinda wanted to know who it was… Anyways, is it me or did I hear you guys say the word ‘party’? If you guys are planning to throw me one, well I’d prefer a raise and not a party.” she answered.

 Jungshin’s eyes grew wide and his jaw dropped at _____’s suggestion. “Seriously, you guys, seriousssly??!!! You know what? Too bad! I already decided we’re going to have a party! So that’s it, no raises, but a party! Case is settled; my foot is down! Everyone get to work now!” exclaimed Jungshin.

          They continued the day as usual, and in the meanwhile Jungshin began to plan the party.

After work, Yonghwa, Burning, and ________ went home, and enjoyed a meal together that Burning prepared.

 Yonghwa finished his meal first, and so he then stood up and walked towards Burning’s gaming computer.

 “What’cha doing?” asked ________ as she chewed her food while glancing at Yonghwa.

 Yonghwa reached his hand behind the computer and pulled out a book, which read “Diary”

 “Heh, heh, you have a diary?” sneered ________.

 “Yeah, don’t you.” replied Yonghwa as he sat on the computer desk.

 “No.” she answered.

 He began to write on it and _________ approached him and loomed over his shoulder.

 Intrigued, she asked, “So… What’cha gonna’ write about?”

 “Bout today… Here, look I wrote… Jungshin is stingy with his monies… No raise yet, even though I’ve been worked like a slave for a whole year already. Gonna have lame party instead, but I’ll try to make it as cool as possible. Blanka likes a Japanese singer... Wonder who it is…. Am continuing my lessons with Jungshin…” answered Yonghwa.

 “What lessons?... Wait why’d you write down I like a Japanese singer? I told you guys I was just curious! Besides, I don’t even know who that singer is! How could I like a stranger?” She exclaimed in response.

 “I know.” responded Yonghwa as he smacked his lips.

 “I think I’ve spent enough time here... Thanks for the food Burning, and I think you can stop smiling now. You’ve been smiling ever since Yonghwa finished reading. JUST LAUGH at me already! Aaaargh!” she said in a fit of anger. She then gathered her belongings and went to her room downstairs.

Yonghwa began to write in his diary again as soon as she left. And he read it aloud as he wrote: “Blanka was grouchy toward me today… Anyways, something is up in the air… I feel it… Like, something is about to end…”

          A week passed and Jungshin had finished the preparations for the party, and so he handed out the invitations to everyone.

 As he went on doing so he proudly proclaimed, “It’s gonna’ be a great unforgettable night! Be sure to come or you’ll miss it.”

When he came to Eric, Eric said, “Ohhh, really already a year, huh? I know we talked about it last week, but time passed by so quickly. I became a member of this gym as well last year, and this place is like a second home to me now. Thanks! The party is for me too, right?”

 “Yeah, the days, the months felt like the pages on a book that were blown by the wind…. You know and the pages flipped quickly… Yeah, this place is also a second home for me. I hope the days continue on like this… Anyways, be sure to come, ‘kay?” replied, Jungshin as he walked away.

          At the end of the day Jungshin called all of his workers, along with Minhyuk and Eric, together to the back room where the ring was.

Then he spoke, saying, “Alright guys, I decided our party will be held this Saturday, June 22. I don’t have much money to spend on renting a salon for our party, so we’ll have to make do with it here. Imma’ need as much help from you guys as possible. We’re going to have to move all the heavy equipment from the main section of the gym to this small room… I also have something else that I’d like to talk to you guys about, after the party that is. The party will be from… let’s say 3:00 pm to...How ‘bout 12:00 midnight…. We don’t wanna get arrested again…. What happened that Friday night is to not happen again… That was my fault, but still, we don’t want another day like that to happen again.”

 It was Wednesday when he said that, and when Friday came, all who worked there, plus Minhyuk and Eric, stayed to help clear the front of the gym.

 “Okay, I guess I didn’t think far ahead as to there not being enough space for all of the equipment here. I guess we will have to move some stuff into the ring itself.” said Jungshin.

 “We’re getting paid overtime for this, right?” asked Burning as he carried a treadmill to the backroom.

 Eric and Minhyuk added, saying, “Yeah, are we getting compensation for this? We don’t work here but we deserve something for all this work…”

 “Uhh... We’ll talk about it after the party…” responded Jungshin as he looked towards the ceiling.

 They continued moving all the equipment into the “ring room” when Yonghwa saw ________ sitting down…

 “Hey Blanka, you tired already?” he asked as he sat by her.

 “Ughh yeah… I don’t know how you could do this… Too much lifting, my arms feel like jell-o. Stop calling me Blanka! My name is ________. How many times have I told you already?!” answered, ________.

 “You get used to this, I guess…Speaking of which, I’m surprised you decided to stay ‘till now….. This place isn’t fancy, I’m sure most girls wouldn’t even dare to think of working here... Too much testosterone and smell of sweat and armpits in the air here... Not to mention how you always seem to be ambushed by the guys here… Also, the only women who dare to step in this place are old ladies… Oh, and to me you will always be Blanka, the girl with blank expressions.” replied Yonghwa.

 She responded, “AAAAARGH, never mind… But, yeah, I’m sure most girls would even avoid even passing by here… I got a good reason for staying here this long... You see…”

 They continued talking for a while…

Then Minhyuk saw them slacking off and scolded them: “Really…. We’re working here ‘till we drop, and you guys are talking? ________, you should stay away from Yonghwa; he’s a bad influence. Come on now, if you got time to yak that means you’re too much slack…..”

 “In a minute.” sighed Yonghwa.

 “If you got minute to talk, you got a minute to walk…. I’ll tell Jungshin to give me your guys’ bonus for today if you don’t get up. I don’t know ‘bout you guys, but I could sure make use of that money... I could get a new camera...” replied Minhyuk as he wiped the sweat off his brow.

 “Jungshin said something ‘bout a bonus?” gasped Yonghwa, and at that he got up and began working again.

 _________ also began to help, at a slower pace that is.

The night passed, and it was now Saturday, the day of the party. Slowly, very slowly, did people start coming in.

 It was now 5:00 pm and Jungshin discussed with Yonghwa why the party seemed to be very… well not as good as he wanted.

“Really… dude you haven’t noticed?” remarked Yonghwa while sipping at the cup of soda in his hand.

He then chewed on the hamburger he held in his other hand and said, “It cuz... Nom… Nom… You got trot music playing…. Nom Nom….. That only attracts the….. Nom…Nom… older people. Plus that, uhmm, Japanese singer Blanka wanted to see is …Nom… Holding his concert today, so a lot of the younger dudes you invited went there... Also, you have no live entertainment; parties if they don’t have live music or something.”

 “Really well, what can we do? I spent a reasonable amount of money just for today, and it’ll all be for waste if it continues on like this... And now that you mention it, this place is filled only with older people... The young’uns are you, me,  _________, Minyuk, Burning, and Eric…. And I think the older people got to them… Look at them, they’re just standing there by the backroom… Except _________, the old men are making her take turns dancing with them.”

 “Don’t worry ‘bout it, I knew this would happen. I even wrote about it in my diary ahead of time... Nom...Nom… Here, give me the keys to your buggy... I can fix this... I’ve been waiting for a chance like this…”replied Yonghwa as he finished the last bite of his burger.

 “Okay, here.” said Jungshin as he tossed his keys to Yonghwa.

 “You won’t be disappointed!” exclaimed Yonghwa as he ran out the door.

 “I sure hope so!” yelled back Jungshin.

Shortly after, all the young’uns approached Jungshin asking why Yonghwa could leave and not them.

“Don’t worry! He said he’ll be back with a solution to this dull party.” answered Jungshin.

          About 30 minutes later Yonghwa returned to them and he asked for help, asking to unload a couple of things from the buggy.

They followed him outside, and at the sight of the buggy Jungshin was dumbfounded, saying, “Wow I never knew my buggy could carry so much… I didn’t even consider strapping things to the roof it... What is all this you got here?”

 “Yeah, it seems kinda heavy.” added Eric.

 “You’ll see what it is. Now, help me get all this inside.” responded Yonghwa, and they all assisted in bringing the cargo inside the gym.

Yonghwa began to unpack everything by himself, and the eyes of all who were there grew wide as they saw what was being unpacked.

 “So there’s gonna be live trot music, ‘eh sonny boy?” asked one of the old men there.”

 “Maybe…” chuckled out Yonghwa.

 “Who’s a gonna play?” asked an old lady that approached Yonghwa.

 “Oh, we are!” exclaimed Yonghwa.

 At that our heroes began to argue with Yonghwa:

 “I don’t get paid enough for this!” said Burning

 “I don’t even know how to play an instrument!” said Jungshin

 “Who’s gonna sing?!” asked Eric

 “Are we gonna dance? ‘Cuz I already danced a lot with the old people.”

“Me too! The old ladies asked me to dance with them after they took notice of me, yelling, ‘Oh, look how lovely you look with ‘dem glasses you should marry my daughter, she’s 50 years young!’” said Minhyuk

 “Calm down guys, it’ll be okay… That’s funny Minhyuk, I guess that’s why they call you ‘Lovely’, such a ladies’ man… Anyways don’t worry, just pick whatever instrument you want and I’ll tell you guys what’s gonna’ happen.” answered Yonghwa with a sly smile.

 Indeed did they all choose an instrument: Burning picked up the drumsticks and sat behind the drums, Jungshin picked up the castanets, Minhyuk picked up the bass guitar, Eric picked up the tambourine, __________ picked up the electric guitar, and Yonghwa prepped himself behind the keyboard and strapped an electric guitar to his back.

 “This feels so right... It’s gonna’ be fun.” said Jungshin as he played the castanets and began humming.

 “No it doesn’t... Something feels terribly wrong… As if these instruments do not belong to us…” replied Minhyuk.

 “Of course, you don’t feel a sense of ownership... These are mine… You guys can switch if you guys want… But hurry.” said Yonghwa.

 Not hesitating, they all switched their instruments, all but Yonghwa. This was the line-up: Jungshin- bass, Burning- electric guitar, Minhyuk- drums, ________- castanets, and Eric-tambourine.

 “I don’t know you guys... The castanets are calling me. They’re saying ‘Use us Jungshinh. Use us!’” said Jungshin as he stared intently at the castanets, now, in Eric’s hands.

 “No, they’re not!… And now this, feels right.” replied Minhyuk as held firmly onto the drumsticks.

 It was then that Yonghwa explained that they would just pretend to be playing, except himself, Eric, and _________ since their playing wasn’t all too bad.

Yonghwa the amps and the stereo. They were getting ready to play and just before they started Yonghwa shouted, “Alright, you guys ready???!!!! We gonna play this little song called ‘A loner’ and then after that we’re gonna play ‘Hey you!  You Can’t Stop My Intuition,’ and then after that ‘I’m Sorry, My L.O.V.E Girl, but I’m Still In Love, and then we’ll see what else we’ll play later as the night goes on...”

 And they began “playing”. Yonghwa pressed his lips upon the mic that stood by and began to sing:

“I’m a loner. Without You, I just wanna cry. I’m alone now, so who’s gonna dry my eyes. Without you I’m feeling down… Please feel my thighs…”

          The evening then went on as they kept playing. And a younger crowd of people began to arrive.

However, the older crowd began to leave yelling, “Where’s ma’ trot? I thought you’se was ‘possed to play trot! Not this modern junk!”

 It was now around 7:00 pm and our heroes took a small break.

 “I told you I would fix the party!” shouted Yonghwa at Jungshin, for the place had gotten so crowded that it was hard to carry a decent conversation.

 “Yeah, you’re right!!! We should learn how to really play and form a real group!!!! What should we call ourselves?!!!!” shouted Jungshin.

 “The Royal Blue Treasures is a good name! It’ll be really cool if we make it in the industry!!!!” shouted back Yonghwa.

Then a familiar voice was heard from the entrance of the gym. “Excuse me!” he shouted, but his voice was unheard.

“EXCUSE MEE!!!!!!” He shouted again, and still no one heard him.

Now angry, the man who yelled approached the stereos and placed the microphone besides it, creating a horrible shriek that could be heard a block away.

 “Ughh, can you please hear what I have to say now?!!!” he exclaimed.

 Everyone, now angry, yelled and complained to him, until our heroes approached him and saw his face.

 “Nivek, really? What do you want now???” sighed Yonghwa.

 “Oh, well you see, me and my friends got kinda sad we didn’t get invited. So, we decided to crash your party… We didn’t finish our party on the beach last time, and so we thought this will be a good opportunity to… exact revenge.” replied Nevik.

 “Really that’s it? That’s all you want? Well I’m afraid you and your friends, SSikU are not welcome here. Besides, what party? You guys tried to kill us last time, don’t you remember?” answered Jungshin as he gestured his hand toward the exit.

 “Whaaaaat? Why would we want to kill you?” questioned Nevik.

 “What do you mean? I clearly saw one of your lackeys here pull out something reflective, something metallic from his pocket… I’m sure it was a knife and so we made a run for it that day.” replied Yonghwa.

 “What knife?!! I told you we’re just a boy group trying to make it in the industry. We will never harm a person.” answered Ile as he stepped forward.

 “Stop lying!!! I saw that knife!” exclaimed Yonghwa.

 Then one of Nivek’s friends interrupted the argument, saying, “Ohh, you’re talking ‘bout my phone!”

 “Whaaat?!!” they all asked.

 The lackey went on saying, “If you’re talking ‘bout the time right before you guys ran away, then it was my phone. You see, we were gonna’ exact our revenge, and so I was taking out my phone to start playing our music. We would then exact ‘our revenge’.”

 At this, our heroes became confused and angry-

Except ________, she had no idea what was going on so she just stood there idly watching the drama unfold, smiling deviously, thinking, “What’s gonna’ happen next?”

 “Nivek what did you mean by revenge?” questioned Jungshin

 Nivek answered, “Well you see, after that Friday night we got so humiliated that we thought we would find you guys and challenge you all to a dance off- We’re very good at dancing so we thought we would humiliate you guys at that. Just think about it- We’re dancing, and you guys would just stand there…and pretend to play instruments or something. I don’t know, you guys do seem to be experts at playing air band. Anyways, you guys would get served! I would also pants you guys. We already took care of exacting our revenge on the others who were with you that Friday, so yeah, you guys are next.”

 “Wow, really...you guys noticed we weren’t really playing?... Anyways, that seems like a challenge, so how about we wager something? If you guys win, you guys get Yonghwa’s instruments, if we win you leave.” replied Jungshin.

 Yonghwa pulled Jungshin aside and said, “Dude, what you mean by betting my instruments, how ‘bout your buggy?”

 “Don’t worry, I got this. I’m good at dancing, plus with my footwork and those of you all, ‘cept Eric I don’t know ‘bout him, we CAN DO THIS… I’m preettty sure ________ won’t join, but that’s fine- We got this in the bag. C’mon, we might have lost to those 7 kids we met one year ago, but that was then, this is now!... I wonder why they didn’t come to the party though. I’m sure I sent them the invites… Oh well! Anyways, c’mon we got what? We got seven! Eherm, I mean we GOT DIS ” answered Jungshin

 Yonghwa, still a little unsure, decided to cave in, and added, “Win or lose, so be it…But I want a raise either way, and if we do lose you’re paying for my loss.”

 Jungshin then managed to convince Burning, Eric, and Minhyuk to join in. They stepped forward to SsikU.

 Nivek began to explain how they would go about dancing: “Okay, we’re gonna take turns dancing in front of the crowd, one at a time, then we’ll ask them to decide who’s the better dancer; it’ll be member vs. member, the team with the most wins, wins. Also, since you guys decided it: we keep Yonghwa’s instruments and Jungshin’s buggy if we win, and then if we lose, we leave…”

Then, Nivek noticed Eric standing there besides Jungshin.

”Oh hi there, Eric didn’t see you there, it’s been a long time since I saw you, have you been hiding from me all this time?... Oh well, too bad you’re on their team and not ours. You know you’re on the losing team, right?” sneered Nivek

 And then right after that, in a very, very, very deep voice, Nevik said, “Ya’ll Gonna Get Served!!!”

 They headed towards place where the instruments were set up, and stood in in front of the instruments, and explained the rules to the crowd. The crowd exploded in cheers, and they began the competition.

 The competition ended and our heroes suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of SsikU, except Eric who crushed his opponent Nevik, and ________ as she didn’t participate at all.

 Nevik then stepped toward our heroes who were now down in the dumps and said in very, very, very deep voice, “I told ya’ll , ya’ll were gonna lose. Ya’ll got served.”

Then in his regular, gentle voice, he said, “Ehhrmm, we don’t have a need for Yonghwa’s instruments so you guys can keep those. However, we could use a matter of transportation; the public busses are oh so horrible… So, we’re gonna’ go ahead and take that buggy… So ehmm- if you’d please hand the keys, Jungshin”

 Jungshin began to cry, and with a bitter voice, whimpered, “Really….. I hafta?! Can’t we agree to something else….”

 “Ugghh fine, you can keep it, but promise to take us to our auditions- even if it takes several trips for doing so, since there are 7 of us, and your buggy only seats 4.” replied Nevik.

 Jungshin quickly nodded, “Yes” in agreement.

The night went on…

   End of Ch.11 Beginning of Second Year