Preparation [ˌpre-pə-ˈrā-shən\] n. - A preliminary measure that serves to make ready for an event or occasion.

A week had passed, and news of the revolt quickly spread like fire among the other Noyes. Some began to see the lights of hopes in their lives again while many disregarded the news with no such optimism. Freedom? Such a word no longer existed in their vocabularies.

Despite the sudden excitement among the Noyes, the guards and higher officials were completely oblivious to the quiet scheming that was occurring through the metal halls.

Mihyun was far beyond busy, and no longer had the freedom to spend her hours talking with the other Noyes; Sehun and the others would be lucky to even get 10 minutes of the girl’s time. Nevertheless, the Noyes didn’t have too much time to spend being upset, for they too were playing their own roles in the rebellion. The seed had been planted among the Noyes, and slowly, the envisions of hope and freedom began to stem from their minds.

“How are we even going to do this?” Jongin whispered as he stared at the faces of his fellow Noyes. There was an edge of excitement to his voice, but it was practically hidden amidst the large amount of nervousness. “There are so many things that we need – how can we get it all?”

“You don’t have to worry about that,” Mihyun assured the other. “Just work on spreading the word to the other Noyes around here – mind who you tell – and I’ll pull everything else together. I know people who can get us the things that we need.”

“But I thought you don’t have friends?” Baekhyun asked with a cocked head. He quickly realized the carelessness of his words and clarified, "I mean, not that you're not desirable or anything."

“I don’t have friends,” Mihyun stated slowly, taking no offense to the other's words. There was a mischievous glint in her eyes and her lips slipped into a slight smirk, “But that doesn’t mean I don’t have connections.”

“You do know how risky this is, Mihyun?” Mihyun’s upperclassman, Yixing, whispered to the girl as they sat together in his office. Yixing was 5 years older than Mihyun, and the two had become acquaintances after being cared for by the same Nanny when they were younger. His father and Mihyun’s used to be good friends, but after his family saw a sudden bankruptcy, Chando had broken all ties with his old friend of 15 years.

Mihyun and Yixing certainly weren’t friends, but she knew they had the same ideals in life. In order to survive after bankruptcy, Yixing’s younger brother had been sold as a Noye and died three years later from being physically abused by the master who had purchased him. When the murderer only had to pay a 500,000 won fee for his action, Yixing swore that he would become a lawyer to protect the innocent lives as his last tribute to his dongsaeng.

“I know,” Mihyun replied calmly. She held a strong gaze on Yixing, and he felt as if he was being pierced by the sharp orbs. “You know it’s risky as well, but you’re still going to help me.”

Yixing raised an eyebrow at the girl’s confidence, and leaned back in his leather chair with crossed arms. “How are you so sure, Mihyun?”

“Isn’t that what Zitao would have wanted?” Mihyun responded curtly.

Yixing’s jaw tensed at the sound of his deceased brother’s name, and took a deep, shaky breath. “What do you need me to do?”

The corners of Mihyun’s lips curved upwards into a smile, and she beamed at the man in front of her. “Just some legal work. I want you to look into the Noye rebellion that happened in Gwangju. Get in touch with some lawyers there, and investigate what measures are being taken. You don’t have to be involved in any dirty work, Yixing, I just need enough information to be assured that this rebellion won’t go to waste after it has taken place.”

Yixing nodded his head in agreement seeing as how the demands of the girl weren’t all too ridiculous. He knew of a couple of friends who were actually directly involved with the Noye rebellion, so his role wouldn’t be too hard to complete.

“Thank you, Yixing, also for helping Kris find his family. I’m really sorry that I hadn’t come to greet you earlier for doing that for me, ” Mihyun stated quietly with a sincere expression on her face.

Yixing gave her a smile of reassurance and shook his head, “It was my pleasure, Mihyun. You know I’m always willing to help. Please tell Kris that I still haven’t found anything out yet, but I won’t give up any time soon.”

She got up from her seat and gave him a small bow goodbye before heading to the door. She was just about to turn the knob until Yixing’s voice interrupted her. “Mihyun?”

“You do know what will happen if you get caught, don’t you?” Yixing asked quietly, his voice swimming with insecurity.

Mihyun’s grip on the doorknob tightened, and she turned to him with a tense smile pressed against her lips. “Don’t worry, I won’t tell anybody that you were involved.”

Yixing sighed and massaged his temples once the girl closed the door to his office behind her with a soft click. “Idiot,” he muttered under his breath as he gazed at the framed photo of him and Zitao that always rested on his desk.

Yixing picked up the frame, and gently caressed the glass covered face of his younger sibling with his thumb. “I’ll do this for you, Zitao.”

“Chanyeol and Baekhyun wanted me to tell you that they miss you,” Kris informed the girl as soon as she stepped into her bedroom. He eyed her fatigued figure up and down and climbed off the bed to steady the swaying girl. “You look terrible.”

“I’m fine,” Mihyun yawned as she gently pushed away his helping hand. She trudged over to her closet and pulled out a pair of pajamas to change into. She was about to make her way into the bathroom, but Kris told her to just change in the bedroom.

“I’m afraid you won’t even make it in there,” Kris murmured under his breath as he went to the bathroom to give her privacy. Kris sighed as he washed his hands in the large sink, and stared at himself in the mirror. He had been staying with Mihyun for 5 days now, and he had to admit that he was enjoying his life as it was. He recalled the headlines from the newspaper Jaesuk had given him earlier that day, and heaved a sigh.

“Gwangju’s Noye rebellion, a legal success,” Kris murmured the title under his breath. According to the article, he was now a free man, which meant that he no longer had a reason to hide. His stay was long overdue, and even Jaesuk had been hinting about his departure. He dried his hands on a towel, and ran his fingers through his overgrown hair. He would have to leave the girl soon.

“I’ve finished, Kris, you can come back,” Mihyun’s voice seeped under the crack of the door and into the bathroom.

Kris raised his eyebrow at the sight of the girl’s back as she was stationed at her desk, a large book already cracked open in front of her. “What are you doing?”

“Reading,” Mihyun answered as she pushed up the frame of her reading glasses. “I can use the desk lamp, so you can turn off the lights if you’d like to get to sleep.”

“Why are you reading if you’re tired?” Kris asked as he walked over to the girl with a frown. Did she not understand that even she had limits?

“I have to finish this book to write up a proposal before my meeting tomorrow,” Mihyun responded as she flipped to the next page, her eyes scanning the text at nearly 200 words per minute.

Kris eyed the remainder of the book that the girl still needed to get through – there were at least over a thousand pages. “For somebody who’s highly intelligent, you’re not that smart, are you?”

“Hm?” Mihyun asked as she flipped to another page.

Kris sighed as he pulled the girl away from her studies, closing the fat book before she could pull back. “You need to get to sleep, Mihyun. How long have you slept during the past few days? 5, or maybe 6 hours total?”

Mihyun patted the top of Kris’s head affectionately and gave him a soft smile. “Thank you for your concern, Kris.”

Kris let out a small growl and tossed the girl over his shoulders as he made his way over to the bed, ignoring her weak protests to put her down. “Go to sleep,” he demanded as he placed her gently onto the bed. He pulled the blankets up to her chest and tucked them tightly around her. “Now.”

Mihyun opened to protest, but a sharp glare from Kris made her press her lips together. “Wake me up in a few hours, okay?”

Kris nodded his head, agreeing to a promise he knew he wasn’t going to keep.

Mihyun’s eyelids fluttered shut, and within just a few seconds, the even breaths the girl emitted informed Kris that she had already slipped into a deep slip.

“What an idiot,” Kris muttered as he brushed the girl’s hair away from her face.

He thought about the headlines he had read in the newspaper, and mentally shredded the article to pieces before dumping them into his mind’s trash bin. Mihyun had saved Kris from his death, so he decided that it was his chance to return the favor.

“Is she asleep?” Jaesuk’s voice called out as he peeked in from the bedroom door.

“Yeah,” Kris replied as he got up to stretch his arms above his head. He stared wearily at the large pile of work on the desk while Jaesuk tip toed in to quietly close the door behind them. He then walked over to stand beside Kris so they could both stare at the work that needed to be done.

“I’ll take the right, you take the left?”

Kris’s head darted from side to side, and after estimating that the left was just slightly smaller than its other half, he nodded his head in agreement. “Deal.”

“You lied to me,” Mihyun frowned with crossed arms as she stared at man in front of her. He was kneeling on the ground with his arms held above his head like a elementary scholar getting punished by his teacher. “You didn’t wake me up.”

Kris rolled his eyes at the girl’s words, not feeling even the slightest bit guilty for betraying his promise. “If you’re worried about your stupid proposal, don’t be. Jaesuk Hyung and I wrote it up last night while you were sleeping.”

Mihyun arched an eyebrow of interest at his words. “You and Jaesuk…?”

“Yeah, and it’s pretty damn good if you ask me,” Kris grinned as he pulled his aching arms down to his side. He moved to the table to grab a stack of papers before confidently handing her the small pamphlet he had created. In all honesty he was exhausted from the night’s work, and wondered how on hell the girl was capable of doing such tedious tasks all the time.

Mihyun scanned the pamphlet that she had been handed and nodded in approval. “It’s not too bad coming from somebody who hasn’t done this before.”

Kris grinned with pride as he ran his hand coolly through his hair.

“Han Agashi, I’ve just been notified that the meeting you were supposed to attend this morning has been canceled,” Jaesuk announced as he slid into her bedroom.

Kris’s jaw dropped in disbelief, “My hard work!”

Mihyun chuckled at the other’s torn expression, and patted him sympathetically on the head. “It’s alright, I appreciate your effort.”

“That’s not good enough, you were supposed to impress everybody with my wonderful proposal,” Kris whined childishly. Jaesuk cleared his throat. “Our proposal,” Kris corrected after giving the other a meaningful glance.

“I see my workload has been cut to at least half of its size,” Mihyun nodded as she stared at her table. “I can see some of the actual table now.”

“We’ve completed it so it will fulfill your standards, Agashi,” Jaesuk immediately stated as he gave her a low bow. “I’ve learned quite a lot from staying with you, and Kris has a rather developed knowledge despite being a Noye.”

“May I see some of your work?” Mihyun asked with an arched eyebrow as she held out a hand.

Kris grabbed a booklet he had finished and passed it to Mihyun. He wiped his sweaty palms on the back of his pants as he watched Mihyun examine the work with an arched eyebrow. He watched nervously as Mihyun slowly flipped through it, and gulped when she finally closed the book.

“I’m glad that the time and effort you two spent won’t go to waste,” Mihyun finally stated, her lips stretched into a small smile. She reached forward and ruffled the front of Kris's hair affectionately, "You've done well."

Kris and Jaesuk both let out small breaths of relief, happy to see that Mihyun found their work up to par.

“What’s on the schedule for today, Jaesuk?” Mihyun asked as she headed towards her dresser to retrieve her clothes for the day.

“The meeting with Yim Co. has been moved up to 11:30, and Mr. Yim wanted me to persuade you to meet with his son again. You have another meeting with the attorneys at 1:25 to discuss the lawsuit. Lawyer Kang wanted me to inform you that due to the Gwangju rebellion, the department is worried that the success will lead to the uprising in the Seoul Noye House, and are a lot more willing to grant you co-ownership so there will be a tighter hold.”

Mihyun mentally smirked at those words. How ironic.

“Lawyer Zhang wanted to meet with you at 3:25 to discuss the favors you had asked him for, and then you have another corporate meeting at 4:45. We’re going to have to rush after that, because the meeting is supposed to last an hour and you have a presentation for Hyundai at 6. At 7:30, your father has requested that you dine with him and the Min family, and then you have to attend an online conference with the American businessmen at 9.”

She nodded her head as he repeated her schedule, mentally making notes of everything that needed to be done.

“How the hell do you live like that?” Kris asked, his jaw dropped in astonishment. “I would have killed myself a long time ago.”

Jaesuk shot him a dirty look while Mihyun just shrugged. “I’m used to it.”

“Will there be any time to visit the boys?” Mihyun asked hopefully as she slid some documents into her bag.

Jaesuk frowned as he ran through the schedule one more time in his head. He glanced down at his watch and offered, “If we leave now, you can spend around 20 or so minutes with them before we have to depart.”

Mihyun nodded as she blocked off a yawn with her hand, “I’ll take what I can get.”

Mihyun staggered backwards at the sudden weight that clamped onto her body the second she set foot inside the familiar cage.

“Mihyun! It’s been so long!” Chanyeol whined as he practically swallowed the girl with his tall height.

“I saw you yesterday, Chanyeol,” Mihyun giggled as the male squeezed her tightly in his arms.

“Yah! Park Chanyeol! Get off of her already; she’s less than half of your size!” Baekhyun barked as he tugged at the collar of the male. Once Chanyeol released her from his grip, however, Baekhyun quickly took his spot in engulfing Mihyun in a tight hug.

Sehun rolled his eyes at the pair’s childish behavior, despite the large smile that quickly captured his lips. He had missed the girl so much during the past few days, always gone during the few minutes Mihyun checked in.

“I’ve m-mis-missed you a l-lot,” Kyungsoo smiled shyly as he took his turn in wrapping his arms around the girl.

“Your speech has improved tremendously, Kyungsoo!” Mihyun praised the boy as she disheveled his hair affectionately.

“T-Thank yo-you, it’s all th-thanks to y-your he-help,” Kyungsoo smiled shyly.

“You look tired,” Sehun frowned as he brushed the dark circles underneath Mihyun’s eyes with the pad of his thumb. “You’re overworking yourself again, aren’t you?”

Before Mihyun could deny his accusation, Kris loudly scoffed, “Like a dog, she barely gets any sleep.”

Mihyun sent him a scowl before flinching against Sehun’s hard expression. “I’m fine, Sehun. I’ve worked harder than this before and I’ve never pushed my limits.”

The crease between Sehun’s eyebrows deepened at her words, “Is that supposed to make me feel better?”

A small smile slipped onto Mihyun’s face and she poked his arm teasingly, “Are you worried for me, Oh Sehun?”

“Of course I am, idiot,” Sehun muttered under his breath as he scratched the back of his head. “How could I not be?”

His words caught Mihyun by surprise, and she stared at him with a slightly gaping mouth. She had expected him to strongly deny her teasing accusation and maybe even flush a light color of red, but definitely not to agree with her.

“Why do you look like that? I’m not that cold hearted you know,” Sehun muttered as he gently bumped her with his elbow.

“What is this? What is this? What is this I see?” Baekhyun grinned as his eyes darted between Mihyun and Sehun. “Chanyeol, are my eyes lying to me or is Sehun actually being an affectionate puppy to Mihyun?”

Chanyeol rolled his eyes at the description Baekhyun used. “Puppy my . He’s more like a grumpy mutt.” He immediately averted his eyes when Sehun shot him a dark look, whistling innocently as he casually strolled to hide behind Baekhyun.

“Mihyun, we only have 20 minutes to spend with them, remember?” Kris spoke up as he eyed the watch on his wrist that Mihyun had gifted him with. “Don’t you think we should tell them what we came to say before time is up?”

“Ah, that’s right,” Mihyun remembered as she turned to face the rest of the Noyes. “I wanted to know how it’s been going? How have the other Noyes reacted to the news you’ve spread?”

“There are mixed results,” Jongin stated after a brief silence.

“What do you mean?” Kris asked with a raised eyebrow.

“I mean…” Jongin started uneasily. “Most of the Noyes here haven’t just been here for a few months, you know. Most of us have been here for years… and after years of cruelty and harsh living conditions, you kind of just… you kind of just stop hoping – for anything. Mihyun, during your stay here you’ve only been exposed to Noyes like us, but most of them… most of them… they can’t even smile anymore. ”

Silence consumed the room as they all thought over Jongin’s words; they had been spoken with undeniable truth. People could only hold on to their hope for so long; especially when you were labeled with the title of a Noye.

“But there have been some sparks of interest!” Baekhyun quickly added in once he caught the dejected look on Mihyun’s face. “It’s not a total wash. I didn’t expect everybody to jump on board right away anyways – I mean, we didn’t. This kind of thing takes time, you know? A lot of time.”

“A lot of time is something you all don’t have,” Kris frowned as he shook his head.

“How did you guys do it? I’m sure not everybody was totally for it right off the bat, right?” Baekhyun asked Kris.

“Well no, but our situation was different from yours,” Kris stated as he scratched the back of his head. “Our Noye house was rather new, so the longest anybody has been there was maybe four or five years. It didn’t take too much time to grab their interest.”

“But, I’ll think about it tonight and talk to you all about it tomorrow. There should be some strategies we used that could still be applicable for you guys,” Kris continued, attempting to reassure the others of some of their worries. He glanced down at his watch, “Now it’s really time for us to leave, Mihyun.”

Mihyun nodded her head in agreement and turned to the Noyes with a sad smile, “I’ll see you later then, okay? Don’t overwork yourselves.”

“Like you’re one to talk,” Jongin scoffed as he gave her a quick squeeze before the Baekyeol pair could grab her.

“Stay safe,” Sehun whispered into her ear as he was the last one to give her his goodbye. He wrapped one arm around the small of her waist and held her tightly in his grasp.

“You too,” Mihyun smiled in response as she gave his upper arm a small squeeze. Her dainty fingers lingered on his bare skin for a few more seconds before she finally had to leave. Sehun stared after her disappearing figure ruefully, tracing his own finger tips against the burning skin she had touched; he was already longing for the next time he would see her face.