Out of all the people in the world to show up at the Brand New Stardom office it had to be her.  Out of all the people in the world.  Her.  Why?  Minhyuk felt like shooting himself in the foot or maybe the leg or even the arm.  Anything to prevent him from seeing her for a few days just to wrap his mind around it. 

When he first heard about her joining the company he didn’t believe it at first.  Not until he saw her talking to Nicole who she was apparently going to be answering to the most after the main coordinator.  He didn’t even know she was back in Korea.  A part of him was a little hurt she didn’t try and contact him but he knew at the same time he hadn’t given her any reason to.  No contact for three years and Minhyuk knew that he wouldn’t bother trying to contact her either if he was her.  Though a part of him knew that was a lie and that the second he landed in her state he would have tried to find her. 

He watched behind the wall as she talked to Nicole easily.  Her fiery red hair pulled back into a messy bun and he was certain that her eyebrows were furrowed as she scribbled everything down on her small clipboard.  Nicole, as far as Minhyuk knew, was telling her all the preferences of the members when it came to hair and makeup, he was certain that she had it nearly memorized by now as she scribbled.  Photographic memory always came in handy for her and he knew in a few weeks she’d remember everything without even thinking about it. 

Gasping a little he slumped against the wall and slid a bit his shirt riding up in the back.  He hadn’t even thought about how she was going to be around him for every performance, every interview and almost everywhere they went.  The practice room would be his only means of escape from her.  Needing that escape now he darted across the hallway praying that Nicole wouldn’t try and introduce her, he wasn’t ready for that.

The others were already there lazing around and turned to Minhyuk as he entered.  Jaehyo was the first to speak, “We thought for a second you fell in.”  A dull chuckle went around the room and Minhyuk rolled his eyes before taking a seat next to Yukwon. 

“I just went for a short walk that’s all.”

“Yah, Kwonie smell his breath! If he ate something and didn’t share I’m gonna hit him.”

Yukwon looked from Minhyuk to Kyung and back to Minhyuk to decide if he was actually going to follow Kyung’s order.  “You go anywhere near my face I’ll smack you and you,” he turned to Kyung with a glare, “when are you going to learn to respect your hyungs?  I wouldn’t eat without you unlike some people.”  Grabbing the water bottle nearest to him he flung it at Kyung who knocked it away only to have Jaehyo suffer a blow to the face from the half empty bottle.

“You talk about respecting your hyungs.  Sheesh.”  Jaehyo rubbed his face but didn’t dare throw the water bottle knowing that a war would ensue.  Minhyuk sighed and fell back into the floor ignoring the slight pain when his head hit the hard floor a little too harshly.  If anything he was glad to have something bring him back to his senses.

About fifteen minutes of silence later, Jiho stood and put on his best stern face.  Usually they called each other by their real names but it was times like this when he seemed to switch in as the members affectionately called it, Zico mode.  “Alright enough resting we only have an hour before our next interview and we still don’t have everything in sync for our comeback.”  He shot an annoyed look to Jaehyo who shrunk back a bit in embarrassment though he knew their leader was only trying to help them improve.

Minhyuk welcome the chance to focus on dancing for a little while though.  Hopefully it would clear his head.  As soon as the music filled the practice room he felt a little better and pushed back all other thoughts besides perfecting each move. 

Exactly one hour later Nicole walked in with her clipboard as usual and a soft smile on her face.  “It’s time to get going. Wait a minute,” she looked at each one carefully and sighed, “I’ll call the other coordinators and make sure they’re there to fix your make up before you go on the show.”  Pulling out her phone she ignored Jiho’s attempts to get her attention as they made their way to the van.  Minhyuk didn’t care; all he could think about was the fact she was going to have to be there now.  What was he going to say to her?  ‘Hey I know we haven’t spoken in three years and you’re probably pissed I never told you the thing I was supposed to but I miss you a lot’ yeah that would be real smooth. 

No one seemed to bother forcing him to talk, he was usually quiet during the rides to and from schedules anyway so maybe it didn’t seem that out of place.  Only Yukwon kept shooting him worried looks throughout the entire ride.  He managed to smile at the younger boy as they got out of the car and that seemed to ease some of his worries if only a little bit. 

During the rush to change and fix clothes he couldn’t try and find her in the overcrowded room.  It wasn’t until everyone was in makeup chairs that he spotted her.  Before she could skip introductions, something Minhyuk knew she hated, Nicole grabbed her and pulled her back so everyone could see.

“Guys this is Cassidy she’s taking over for Myah unnie treat her well.”  With that Nicole patted her shoulder and disappeared to talk to the interviewers making sure that they didn’t ask too revealing of questions. 

Cassidy shifted awkwardly and quickly said hello before making a beeline for Kyung, not even looking Minhyuk’s way.  Instantly Kyung was teasingly flirting with her, a tactic that usually got the new coordinators to calm down but Cassidy just giggled shyly before touching up his makeup.  Down the line she grew more confident and conversed lightly with Yukwon and Minhyuk noticed a light blush on her pale face when he smiled at her and anger coursed through his veins though he knew he had no right. 

When she finally reached him, Minhyuk shifted a little uncomfortably and felt the back of his neck grow hot as their eyes met.  He saw a flicker of recognition in her eyes and he waited for something her yelling, a hello, and a smile, anything to keep his heart from exploding.  He wondered for a moment if her eyes had always been that bright.  Instead she mumbled a hello and started to fix his makeup.  Her touch was light and hesitant but Minhyuk felt himself tense up a little under it not sure what he should do.  Now wasn’t the time to ask her if she remembered him and he didn’t want to deal with the members questions either. 

Before he could even thank her she packed up her kit quickly and bowed before departing for where she said was Nicole.  He was surprised how much he wanted to run after her and see if she remembered but he refrained himself and was soon dragged out to an interview he knew he wasn’t going to be able to focus on.  Not like he talked that much anyway.

This continued for several weeks.  She’d do his makeup and sometimes hair last, pretend he didn’t exist the entire time and leave as soon as she could.  The others she started to have light conversation with, Kyung and Yukwon she seemed to like talking to the most which made Minhyuk’s blood boil.  He knew he deserved the cold shoulder but he didn’t think that it would hurt him this much. 

Sighing heavily he stared at the mirror of the practice room picking apart every flaw in his face and grumbling about how unfair all this was.  He saw Yukwon through the mirror approaching him but Minhyuk made no move to turn around and acknowledge his presence.  The younger boy took a seat next to him mimicking his position, pulling his knees up to his chest and pouting a bit.  “Hyung,” Yukwon looked over at Minhyuk through the mirror, “is she the girl that you told me about during our trainee days?”

Minhyuk hoped that Yukwon had forgotten about that.  The two had gotten close during their trainee period together and Minhyuk had opened up to Yukwon on a lot of things.  Including Cassidy.  Still he hadn’t expected for Yukwon to figure it out.  “Yeah she is.  But it doesn’t matter she hates me now.”

Yukwon relaxed his position and let his legs straighten out and placed his hands behind him on the floor.  “I don’t think that’s true.  I mean every time she’s helping one of us she’s always looking over at you and she looks sad hyung.  Maybe she doesn’t think you remember her?”

While he had noticed her looking over a few times Minhyuk thought it was just wishful thinking.  “If she thinks I’d forget her so easily then she’s crazy.”  If anything he thought that she had completely forgotten about him but after what Yukwon said there was a flicker of hope that she remembered.  But even if she did what was he going to say to her? 

Yukwon looked over at Minhyuk before turning back to the mirror and sighed a little bit wishing that his hyung wasn’t so stubborn sometimes.  “Hyung just talk to her.  What’s the worse that she could say?”

Chortling, Minhyuk turned from the mirror and faced Yukwon completely with a raise brow.  “That she hates my guts and she hopes that I die a horrible painful death?”

Narrowing his eyes in annoyance, Yukwon didn’t turn to Minhyuk but continued to look at him through the mirror.  “Hyung if she wanted that she wouldn’t have joined the company in the first place.”  When Yukwon saw that what he said was getting through to him he smiled a bit, “You know she’s with Nicole right now in conference room four.”

But Minhyuk didn’t move fast enough in fact he sat completely still not knowing what he should do.  He wanted to go talk to her but what could he say?  And would she even want to speak to him?  Quickly he was pulled out of his daze by Yukwon dragging him to his feet and out of the practice room, towards the conference room.  “Yah!  It’s not right to drag your hyung all over the place!”

“Hyung shush.”  Yukwon stopped behind a wall and peaked out from it to find Cassidy and Nicole coming out of the conference room with a few other coordinators talking lightly.  When the others turned to leave and Cassidy walked in the direction towards the two boys Yukwon turned back to Minhyuk and fixed his hair a bit.  “Okay now’s your chance go!”  Grabbing him by his shirt Yukwon shoved Minhyuk forward just in time for him to block Cassidy’s path. 

“Oh!  B-bomb-ssi I’m sorry I didn’t see you there.”  Cassidy stepped back and bowed a little in apology while Minhyuk looked over her to Yukwon, who just gave him a thumbs up before disappearing. 

Rubbing the back of his neck in embarrassment Minhyuk shifted from side to side trying to not to look nervous and failed miserably.  “No i-it’s fine I wasn’t paying attention.” 

“Neither was I.”  She narrowed her eyes in concern and pressed the back of her hand against his forehead, “Are you feeling alright B-bomb-ssi?  You look a little pale.”

The blush flew to his face and he stepped back a little bit trying to ignore how warm his forehead now felt.  “I’m fine just-just a little tired.”  He exhaled slowly before meeting her eyes again.  There was that same blank expression in them he had been forced to see for the past few weeks, almost a month. 

Pouting a little she shifted the clipboard to her other arm and tilted her head to the side a bit.  “Well you should talk to manger-ssi or Nicole I’m sure they’ll let you take some medicine or a small nap.”

Minhyuk wasn’t sure how he should take her concern.  On one hand he wanted to believe that she really did care about him but on the other he couldn’t help but think that it was all just an act.  “Don’t worry about me I’ve been through worse.”

She forced a small smile and Minhyuk could tell that it wasn’t genuine; whenever she smiled it always reached her eyes, always.  “I suppose so.  But if you’ll excuse me I have to go buy some new sponges for your band.”

She walked around him and out of instinct Minhyuk turned and grabbed her wrist stopping her.  “Can you stop pretending like we don’t know each other?  It’s driving me crazy.”  He meant to sound demanding but instead it came out barely above a whisper and with the saddest expression on his face. 

She pretended to look shocked for a moment before trying to tug her wrist out of his grasp only to have him tighten his grip.  “I know who you are you’re B-bomb main dancer for Block B and I’m Cassidy Wright makeup and hair artist for your band earning money to become an English teacher.”

He sighed heavily and before he could stop himself he stepped closer and spoke, “No I’m Minhyuk Lee the boy you knew three years ago when you lived in my house for a year in a foreign-exchange program.  And you’re Cassidy Wright who taught me random American slang and cooked pancakes every Sunday.”

She narrowed her eyes a bit and tried a little hard to get out of his grasp.  “You’re also the boy that never told me that oh so important thing,” She rolled her eyes, “and barely talked to me my last two weeks there and didn’t even see me off at the airport.  Why should I bother when it’s clear you didn’t want to know me anymore anyway?”

Eyes softening he dared to step closer until he could smell her strawberry shampoo that he was honestly surprised that she still used.  “Because I’d rather you show how much you hate me than to pretend that you never saw me in your life before today.  I’d rather have you glare at me than not even look me in the eye.”

Titling her head up trying to appear taller even though he had a good four or five inches on her she glared darkly and Minhyuk didn’t want to admit how much that actually hurt.  “Why does it even matter what I do?  It’s not like I matter to you anyway.”

Something inside of him snapped.  Leaning closer until their noses were almost touching he narrowed his eyes and growled, “But you do!  God Cassidy, are you that stubborn?  Of course you matter to me.”

Though a soft blush appeared on her cheeks as she glanced down at his lips she quickly composed herself and narrowed her eyes, grinding her teeth in frustration.  “Then why the hell didn’t you bother to keep up with me then?  Huh?  I gave you my number and everything.”  There was just a twinge of sadness in her voice and to Minhyuk it was like a er punch in the stomach. 

Moving back he couldn’t look her in the eye anymore and his grip on her wrist loosened a bit.  “I had my reasons.”

Scoffing, she finally yanked her wrist from his grasp.  “And I’m sure they were wonderful.  Now, if you’ll excuse me B-bomb I have work I need to do.”  Without so much as another glance, she turned and marched down the hall, grumbling to herself about how insensitive he was.      

Minhyuk took there for a few minutes in a daze.  How was he supposed to know that she was going to come back?  The last time they talked she had aspirations to be a dancer why would she suddenly switch to want to be an English teacher?  And she was such a good dancer too.  Something just wasn’t right but he knew he didn’t have the right to ask her about it.

“Hyung!  Hyung!”  Minhyuk turned to find Jihoon running over with a tired smile on his face.  Minhyuk couldn’t find his voice at the moment but he did manage to crack a small smile and wave a bit at the youngest member.  “Manager-hyung says that we can go back to the dorm and sleep until our photo shoot at ten.”  Usually the maknae’s excitement and the opportunity to sleep for about six hours would make Minhyuk excited. 

Putting on a smile for the maknae he clapped his back a few times, “Well then let’s go, we’re missing precious sleep time!”  The maknae, being so excited, didn’t notice how sad Minhyuk’s eyes were and for that he was grateful.  And when he ran into Yukwon he refused to meet his gaze though the younger boy could already tell by his body language. 

Once they reached the dorm everyone immediately headed for their beds yelling at each other to keep quiet.  Within minutes Taell, Jihoon, Kyung, Jaehyo and Jiho were passed out some snoring.  When Minhyuk was certain that everyone was asleep he crawled off his bed and reached under pulling out a dust covered shoe box.  Quietly he made his way into the living room and sat down on the cool floor, hesitating for a moment before pulling the box top off.  Inside were about twelve slightly faded pictures, a silver necklace with a rubber band on it, a stack of small notes on index cards, folded papers and sticky notes, a charm bracelet with a bunny, heart and dice on it a CD and an unopened letter. 

Minhyuk pulled out the top picture and smiled a little at it.  Cassidy was sitting next to him with a small smile on her face showing her braces. 

“Come on Cassidy you have a pretty smile.”

“No I don’t shut up braces are awful.”

“Yes you do you have one of the best smiles I’ve ever seen.”

The next picture was of them asleep on the couch together, he had his arm around her waist and her head rested comfortably on his shoulder.  He remembered all too well how Cassidy had put his friend in a headlock after the picture was snapped. 

“Yah!  Come here I’ll kill you!”

“You shouldn’t leave your camera out!”

“Byung-hee!” 

Each picture had a precious memory with her and he knew that there were a lot more pictures back at his house but these were always the most important to him.  The notes too.  Almost all of them were written when they had history class together. 

Hey, Nara is looking at you again are you ever going to ask her out?

No way, I’ve got my eye on someone else.

You know you wanna tell me who right? 

Heck no you’ll try and play match maker.

Aw come on Minhyukie I’ll be your best friend!

You already are silly girl.

If only she knew match maker wasn’t needed.  His fingers brushed over the CD which was a video of the two of them at the beach during one of the holidays and the necklace. 

“You know people always tell me I’m like a rubber band.  Whenever I get pulled I just snap right back.”

“Sometimes I think you let others pull you too much.”

“Probably but I haven’t broken yet.”

“I don’t ever want you to.”

He remembered when she had broken right before finals because of Nara and he was right there to help her piece everything back together.  She had given him the necklace after that and he promised to never let the rubber band snap too much.  And the charm bracelet.  Now that held a lot of memories.  They went to Lotte World three times when she was staying with his family.  They saw that same set every time they were there.  But on the last an older woman convinced them to buy them. 

“Such a cute couple should have meaningful things to share.”

“No we’re not-”

“Do you know what each represents?  The rabbit is for the luck of having each other and the time you get to spend together.  The dice represents the unpredictability you face and the heart is the passion that each true couple should have.  I see that when I see you two.  You must get these.”

“But we’re not-”

“Please, make an old woman feel good about herself and get them.”

They eventually consented and despite laughing it off as something silly the two had worn it every day afterwards.  But the letter was what really made his heart clench as he slowly pulled it out of the box.  “To my favorite dancer Minhyuk Lee.”  Biting his lower lip he tried to get himself to open the letter but he just couldn’t.  He knew inside was all her contact information, her yelling at him about avoiding her for the last two weeks and how much she’d miss the fun times they had together.  As sad as it was he couldn’t bring himself to open the letter when she slipped it under his door the night before she left.  That meant he would have to actually accept her leaving and he still wasn’t sure if he had done that yet.

“Are you really just going to let her go?”

“Yes.”

“Why?  Why in the world would you let a girl like that slip through your fingers?”

“Because I don’t deserve her.  And besides she doesn’t do long distance relationships and I don’t think I’d be able to stand the distance either especially when I’m about to become a trainee.”

“So you’re just not even going to see her off?”

“If I do I’ll break down and beg her to stay.  It’s better if she just hates me I can move on in time it’s not like she’s ever coming back.”

His friend refused to talk to him for weeks after that.  But the sad thing was she was back now.  And Minhyuk had no idea what to do with himself.  He wanted to tell her that he was an idiot and he loved her and beg for her forgiveness.  But did he even deserve it?  And did he still love her like before?  Closing his eyes he didn’t even have to try, the image of her came right into his mind and his heart clenched uncomfortably.  It was those green eyes that always did it.  “Is this your idea of punishment?”  He looked up at the ceiling and frowned as if he was waiting for a response.  “I don’t even deserve her friendship and you’re making all these old feelings resurface?”  He leaned forward and rubbed his hands over his face in aggravation. 

“Hyung?”

He looked up to find Yukwon tiredly rubbing his eyes, “Did I wake you up?”  He questioned trying to put everything back in the shoe box and hide it behind his back.

“You can’t give up this time hyung.”

Gulping a little he didn’t bother to hide the shoe box anymore but he was glad that it was Yukwon that had woken up and not Jaehyo or even Kyung.  “What are you talking about?”

Yukwon narrowed his eyes and stepped out of the doorway to their room, shaking his head a little bit in disbelief.  “Stop it.  You’re saying that this is punishment but maybe this is your second chance.”

Hanging his head in disappointment, Minhyuk fiddled with the charms on the bracelet for a little while before responding, “No she hates me I don’t deserve a second chance.”

Yukwon walked forward and placed a hand on the older boy’s shoulder and even though he didn’t look up Yukwon knew that Minhyuk was comforted by the touch if only a little bit.  “Everyone deserves a second chance hyung.”  With that Yukwon patted his shoulder once and then headed to the kitchen the get the drink of water he originally came out to get. 

Picking up the charm bracelet Minhyuk stared at it for a little while before sighing and placing it back in the box.  “I’ll earn the right to wear you again someday.”  He wasn’t sure when that day would come but maybe just maybe Yukwon was right.  This could be his second chance.