Cha Hakyeon now wakes up everyday with an ardent determination. He wakes s up and acts like their manager. In fact, he was doing so well that their manager could be put out of his job. He reads out each of their schedules and tells them when they had a chance of meeting some fans.

He had told s why he was acting weird, and they were surprising empathetic. In fact, they had agreed to help him on his search for the orphanage girl. They probably didn't want the leader to be breathing up their necks all the time.

Lee Hongbin now wakes up everyday to his leader half-shouting out the schedule instead of the manager. He now participates in more variety shows in order to “help his leader”, despite how tired he would be after everyday, heading straight to bed after a 5 minute shower. On one of the worse days, he would be in the shower for 30 minutes before another member attempted to knock the door down. He would then wake up and dress in a hurry before almost immediately going back to the bedroom to sleep again.

Was it even worth it? Would she even come for another of the concerts or support him at variety shows? She didn't even seem like a fan at that fanmeet.

“She came for N... But she picked me to take the picture with.”, were what ran through Hongbin's mind these days. Hongbin went to variety shows with people he didn't recognize, with girl idols who were caught up in their own vanity and chose to pair up with him all the time – because having a good-looking man on your shoulder was obviously the best way to tell the world how important you are.

Hongbin felt bad. This wouldn't do, he told himself. All the female fans looked the same, all the female idols looked the same, at least to him now. He felt like crap when his very own sister had visited the dorms to bring the members some food Mother cooked and he didn't recognize her, asking if she was some other girl group idol. This has to stop, he told himself.

He wasn't persuasive enough.

But it was all worth it, he told himself, as he stood in front of the strikingly beautiful woman who had recognized him as he was shopping for camera lenses.

“Ohmygosh, Lee Hongbin? Are you Hongbin?” the woman asked him. Hongbin acknowledged and tried to leave quickly, afraid that he was dealing with the “bad kind of fan” his leader had warned him about before he left the dorm.

“No, stop! Lee Hongbin, do you remember me?”

Hongbin spun around, his heart beating so quickly it was threatening to burst out of his ribcage. He glanced at her hand, praying for the best, and it was there. He felt like a miracle had occurred. Dazed, he looked at her lovingly, and a slow smile erupted on his face.

“Hongbin? If you're here, is N-oppa here as well??”, she squealed. Hongbin felt his body being filled with disappointment. The smile faded away.

...She wanted N after all. Was that picture nothing to her? Did she choose me randomly? Was that moment insignificant to her? Hongbin started to regret telling N that she had a heart-shaped birthmark on her wrist.

He remembered her wrist that was so smooth, but as his hands moved further down, hands that were rough and callused, looking like they've been doing housework for a long time. Her birthmark caused a little elevation on the bottom of her wrist, and when he flipped her hand over to kiss the back of it, he felt the trembling of her fingers. He looked up and saw an adorable blush. An... adorable girl.

“Follow me.”

*          *          *

Cha Hakyeon waited anxiously at the nearby park. He was reading the fancafe comments about his orphanage girl when he had received Hongbin's text. He wondered if it was one of the fans who claimed to be his girl. He would know when he saw her. She had a special mark.

Cha Hakyeon saw them approaching from a distance. He could hear her high-pitched shouts.

“N-oppa!! I've finally found you!!”, the woman had rushed to his side and tried to embrace him.

That high-pitch shout wasn't a shout N could forget. He recognized her immediately, and shot an annoyed look at Hongbin. Why did he bring her here? She was a nuisance and might follow them back to the dorm.

“Hyung, she has the bracelet.”, Hongbin commented.

N snatched her hand up, and indeed a bracelet with a heart-shaped pendant decorated her wrist. The birthmark though, was obviously absent. The heart-shaped pendant was shiny and had no scratches, strung through a black durable elastic band. It was nothing like the one he had given his orphanage girl. What did that girl say her name was again, anyway?

“What's your name?”

“Yoona!”, the girl said cheerfully. That wasn't it, thought N. That girl had a different name. What was the name? Did he even ask for her name? One thing was for sure though, Cha Hakyeon confirmed – this wasn't the girl he wanted. How did she know about the bracelet, though?

“Ella”, that adorable girl had said, Hongbin thought, before she blushed a bit and started looking quite confused. He chuckled at the thought. The one before him had very smooth fingers. Hongbin felt hope filling his veins. This wasn't the girl he wanted. The girl he wanted might not even like N now! But... how did this girl know about the bracelet, though?

“Give me your telephone number. I'll call you sometime!”, N grinned at Yoona, causing her to melt inside. She tried to act coy, but failed terribly (I wouldn't bring such anguish upon you readers to describe how desperately she acted) and ended up writing her number on N's arm.

“Call me!”, she winked, before finally leaving.

“That girl's trouble, hyung. She had smooth hands. The one I met had callused hands.”

“I know she's trouble, but she knows about the bracelet. The girl and that Yoona must somehow be related.”

“Ella, hyung. Her name is Ella.”

*          *          *

Choi Sera was fixing her bracelet. She had spent an hour trying to retrieve her pendant from the small space under her wardrobe, and she was carefully sewing back the torn loose brown strap of the bracelet after stringing her pendant through.

She heard a loud noise, and hurried to put her bracelet away. In came the older sister, with a smug, satisfied look on her face, flashing to Sera the replica of her own bracelet.

“Looks like it worked. Your N-oppa's mine now!~”, Yoona spat.

“Wha- what do you mean by that?”, Sera panicked. Hakyeon couldn't have been convinced that Yoona was her, could he?

“I met Hongbin while shopping, and he saw that I had the bracelet and took me to N! And guess what? N asked for my number!!! Kyahhhh!!~”, Yoona jumped in her elation. She rushed out to announce her progress to her younger sister, leaving Sera in a state of despair.

She took out her hurriedly-kept bracelet. She finished fixing it and sighed. "He didn't even recognize me... He wouldn't have known if Yoona was pretending to be me. What if he falls in love with her?"

Hongbin saw that Yoona had the bracelet and took her to N... Even he was convinced Yoona was me.

It dawned on Sera like an eureka moment. If N wasn't searching for her, why would Hongbin take somebody with a bracelet like hers to N? There and then, the fire of her determination was rekindled by a tiny spark of hope.

*          *          *

[09:34:52 PM] N-oppa ♥ ♥ ♥ : Hey, Yoona-ah!~

[09:35:43 PM] Yoona: Omo!~ Oppa ♥

[09:40:21 PM] N-oppa ♥ ♥ ♥: I want to see where you're staying, so I can thank your foster mother for taking care of you all these years! Will you bring me there?

[09:41:09 PM] Yoona: *gasps* Does that mean you're finally going to marry me?

[09:42:34 PM] Yoona: You remember proposing to me at the orphanage, right? ♥

[09:50:42 PM] N-oppa ♥ ♥ ♥: Uh........ yeah. So, Saturday?

[09:52:29 PM] Yoona: Yes~ I'll send you my address. Come for dinner at 6 okay?!

[09:57:01 PM] N-oppa ♥♥♥:Mmkay~ See you there!

[09:59:18 PM] Yoona: Yes, oppa! Saranghaeyo~ ♥ ♥ ♥