Staying Strong

~Kyuhyun POV~

So, here we are at the Korean Embassy. Hankyung is talking to some official looking people about his visa while the rest of us wait in disguises. I’m shaking. I can’t help it. What is with the visa problem? Why is this happening? Just when we get closer to our goal, we get knocked back down again. Why?!

“Kyu,” I heard someone say, and I turned my head to see Kibum looking at me, “Calm down. You’re shaking so hard you’re practically moving the bench.” I took a deep breath to calm myself and looked back at Hankyung, still talking to the Embassy people.

“I can’t help it,” I replied, “What if this doesn’t work? What if Hankyung-hyung is deported back to China? What will we do then?”

“You need to relax,” Zhou Mi told me, “Freaking out isn’t going to help this situation.”

“My question is why does only Hankyung-hyung have this problem?” Henry wondered, and I leaned forward to look at him, “I mean, Mi-hyung and I are foreigners, and we don’t have any problems with our visas. Why does Hankyung-hyung?”

“Hankyung-hyung has always had visa issues,” Kibum sighed, “Since the day we debuted he wasn’t allowed to perform on stage. Originally, he wasn’t allowed on stage at all, but Hankyung came up with the idea of wearing a mask so he can be with us. I don’t know why his visa issues were always so difficult, especially since Zhang Li Yin, our label mate from China, didn’t have such large issues.”

“I don’t get it,” Henry said, “I had heard of his issues in the past, and I had even heard of Zhang Li Yin’s issues as well. But, Zhang Li Yin’s visa issues are fixed. And I thought Hankyung-hyung’s visa problems were fixed too? So what’s going on?”

I looked back up at Hankyung and watched as he was communicating with the three people on the other side of the desk. He looked so worn out, as opposed to his cheery nature just this morning at the army base. Just a conversation about his visa could do this to him?

“I guess his visa issues from way back when haven’t been completely fixed yet,” I commented, continuing to look at Hankyung. The others remained silent at my comment. What were we going to do? I could only see three scenarios here. Scenario number one, Hankyung can get his visa fixed within a couple days and then we can head back to Seoul to stop Heechul. Scenario number two, the visa issue will take a few weeks, and until then, Hankyung must stay in constant contact with the Embassy, but can still travel around Korea as much as he wishes. Scenario number 3, he is deported back to China. I am praying to God that it isn’t scenario number 3, but why do I have this feeling that when Hankyung finishes his little meeting, we’re not going to like the outcome?

Finally, after another twenty minutes, Hankyung stood up from the desk. He shook hands with the three people and left the room. He started walking toward us and I felt my heart start racing. What happened?

“What happened?” Zhou Mi voiced my thoughts, “What did they say?”

Hankyung sighed, and I could see tears in his eyes. He couldn’t even speak, and that was when I knew.

“You can’t be in Korea, can you?” I asked him, quietly. Hankyung looked over at me and shook his head, confirming my thoughts. I lowered my head, staring at the ground. I knew it.

“Why not?” Kibum asked, sounding outraged, “You were a resident in Korea for years and now they’re just kicking you out?!”

“What is their reasoning?” Henry asked, calmly. He seemed to be the calmest out of the five of us.

“The lawsuit,” Hankyung stated, simply. It felt as if a light bulb had just in my head.

“SM got you the visa from China,” I said, realization of the situation dawning on me, “And you’re suing SM, which means the visa...”

“Is void,” Hankyung finished for me, “I have to return to China, put in a request for a new one, and pay a fine.”

“How long will it take?” Zhou mi asked.

Hankyung rubbed his forehead, “The Embassy is willing to help me out by making the process as fast and quiet as possible.”

“How long?” I stressed, firmly. Hankyung looked down.

“Two weeks,” he finally answered, “Minimum.” I couldn’t think straight. I felt like I was going to be sick. I walked over to the window and leaned against it. Two weeks? We need Hankyung now. We only have eleven days until Heechul enlists, and this whole visa issue is going to take a minimum of fourteen days? This can’t be happening.

“Is there anyway you can just stay in Korea though?” Kibum asked, “Like a temporary visa or something? We only need to get to Heechul, convince him out of the army, and then you can deal with the issues?”

“If I hadn’t entered the country illegally, then we could have done that,” Hankyung replied, “They said that it was their fault that I’m even in the country, as the guy who was checking foreigners for visas didn’t catch that it was void before the expiration date, due to the lawsuit.”

“So if it’s their fault, why are you paying for it?” Henry questioned.

“Because I’m the one who should have known this. I’m the one who entered without even thinking about the lawsuit. I’m the foreigner who came here without a valid visa. I’m the-”

“Stop,” I cut him off. The one word. That one word that he always used. It sounds so odd to hear it again after so long, but it’s just like a knife in the heart. It isn’t true...

“Kyuhyun-ah,” Hankyung started, but I looked up at him and he shut up. I walked over to him and glared at him.

“Don’t you dare say that ever again,” I told him, letting out all my anger and frustration.

“What?” he asked, confused.

I couldn’t stop the angry tears that were spilling from my eyes, “You are not a foreigner. You know the Korean language. You’ve lived in Korea for over six years. You’ve done so much for this country and you love this country. Don’t you ever say that you are a foreigner, because you are not!” I could feel all four of their eyes on me, but I didn’t care. Hankyung say that...saying that he was a foreigner. It made my blood boil.

“What qualifies you as a foreigner? Because you have an accent? Because you were born in China? Because people have looked down on you due to your heritage? Yes, these are all true, but there is so much more to you.

“Your love for Korea, your devotion to this country. You have friends in this country. You’ve made a living in this country. You’ve made a name for yourself in this country. You are no foreigner. You’re as much a part of Korea as I am and you need to learn that.” They were all silent.

“Kyu,” Hankyung finally spoke, his eyes wide, “I-”

“Don’t try to deny it, Hyung,” I cut him off, wiping my tears furiously, “You belong in this country, and this is not your fault. You didn’t make any mistakes in coming back here. You-”

I stopped speaking when Hankyung embraced me. He hugged me tight and I completely forgot what I was even going to say. All I could do was return the embrace and cry. I was so angry. So frustrated. So nervous. So...scared.

“If you can’t come back with us,” I cried, “What will we do? What will happen to Super Junior?”

“...I can’t tell you what will happen to Super Junior,” Hankyung answered, softly, “But I will tell you what you will do.” He let go of me and looked at me, smiling softly, though he had a few tears of his own.

“You are to go to Seoul without me,” he said, finally, “And don’t interrupt me. You four will go to Seoul and tell Heechul not to enter the army. Do whatever you can to keep him out.”

“And what about you?” I asked him.

He smiled, “I will go back to China, alone. I will put in a request and wait for my own visa. One that SM can’t take away from me. After all...it’s not like I’m a foreigner to Korea, right?” I couldn’t stop the smile that spread across my face at his words.

“So, you tell him to wait,” he continued, “You tell Heechul to wait for me, because his best friend will return as soon as he can, ok?” I nodded, wiping the last of my tears away. Hankyung pulled me in for a hug once again before releasing me and hugging Kibum, Zhou Mi, and Henry once.

“Stay strong, Kyu,” Hankyung told me, “I’ll be back as soon as I can. We’ll keep in touch, ok?”

I nodded, “Ok. Please, hurry back.”

“I will,” he said, “Now go. Go to Seoul and stop Heechul.”

“We’re going,” I said, laughing as the four of us walked out of the building together. We looked back and waved once at Hankyung as we left. It was hard, saying goodbye to him again. Even if I knew he would come back soon, it was still just as hard. But he was right. We had to stay strong.

Wait for us Heechul, we’re coming back. We’re staying strong for you. For Super Junior.

______________________________________________________________________________________________

So my dear readers, because I'm only in high school and I don't travel often, I don't really know much about visas and the law and such, but this visa situation kind of made sense to me so I just went with it. Also, it fit with my plans for the story. So yeah, I hope it makes sense to you and it doesn't seem totally unrealistic.