After Hyun Seong, it didn’t look necessary to make Jeong Min and Young Min hate Dong Hyun. Hyun Seong ended up hating Jeong Min too, and Young Min is angry because his brother was hurt. Same goes for Minwoo.

 

CAP told his group about this one night he escaped the dorm. Not that the Boyfriend members care. They’re not really talking much.

 

“With this going on, they’ll never have a debut!” CAP was saying.

 

“And with them out of the way, we’ll surely shine!” said the plum-lipped guy they call Niel.

 

“Yes! No more cutesy, pretty boys in place of real men!” exclaimed L. Joe, their resident bad boy.

 

“I make such a god photographer, don’t I, hyung?” said Ricky, smug and proud of himself.

 

“What will we do with him?” asked Chunji, their “power voice”, thumb-pointing to a red-head tied and blindfolded in the corner of the room.

 

Dong Hyun.

 

He seemed to be sleeping or unconscious.

 

“I don’t know. Have you fed him?” asked CAP.

 

“Who cares? About him being fed, I mean,” said Niel with a careless shrug. “But we can’t keep him in here forever.”

 

“We could bring him back after we debut,” suggested Chunji.

 

“And risk being discovered? Not a chance,” said L. Joe.

 

“You really think someone’s gonna believe him when he says a bunch of kids around his age kidnapped him?” asked Ricky.

 

While the members were discussing, Changjo silently got up and prepared a meal for Dong Hyun. He removed Dong Hyun’s blindfold and bonds, then sat in front of him.

 

“Eat,” he said tonelessly.

 

Dong Hyun rubbed his eyes for a while and squinted at the bowl. Bulgogi. Still warm.

 

“There’s nothing dangerous in that,” said Changjo again in his straight voice. “We’re not killers.”

 

Dong Hyun took up the bowl and chopsticks to eat. He eyed Changjo curiously.

 

“Why do you bother?” he asked in a low voice.

Changjo’s brows knit together in confusion. “I don’t know, actually.”

 

Dong Hyun raised an eyebrow at him. Changjo only shrugged.

 

“Hurry up with that,” said Changjo.

 

When Dong Hyun was done, Changjo tied him up again, but gently. The bonds were comfortably loose, yet tight enough to be inescapable. He also left out the blindfold.

 

Dong Hyun smiled to himself. ‘Well,’ he thought, ‘I’ve found myself an ally.’

 

Meanwhile, CAP rounded up the meeting.

 

“I have to go, or those little boys will suspect me,” he said.

 

Dong Hyun cleared his throat. All eyes turned to him.

 

“Our guest wishes to speak?” Niel said.

 

“I beg your pardon, but I just find it strange that you pass as me every day. I do know that my friends know me very well. Don’t they notice anything about you?” asked Dong Hyun.

 

“No. They hate you so much they don’t care,” said CAP.

 

The members dispersed from the room and turned off the lights.

 

The next day, Boyfriend went about their daily activities. But they acted as if the others weren’t there. The group ‘Boyfriend’ didn’t seem to exis anymore.

 

That day their manager came to the dorm to see how they were doing. It was a Saturday, so everyone was home.

 

“Annyeong!” he called out cheerfully.

 

Hyun Seong was on the couch and turned briefly to bow, then refocused on the TV.

 

Kwang Min, Young Min and Minwoo, or the maknae line, were on the dining table eating breakfast. They flashed their manager empty smiles and did slight bows.

 

Jeong Min was on the counter reading. He, too, bowed slightly.

 

Dong Hyun came out of his room and was the only one to greet the manager.

 

“Manager hyung! Annyeong,” he said cheerfully.

 

“Dong Hyun-ah, what’s wityh these guys? Is something wrong?” asked the manager.

 

“I don’t know. Why? Everything looks fine,” said Dong Hyun. He glanced at the boys. When his back was turned, Kwang Min scowled at him, Jeong Min went and slammed the door to his room, and Hyun Seong’s hand curled into a tight fist. The manager noticed all this.

 

“Are you…sure?” he asked uncertainly.

 

Dong Hyun shrugged.

 

“Ok. Aren’t you guys gonna practice today?”

 

Dong Hyun’s shoulders sagged. “Alright, I have to be frank with you, hyung. You see, we haven’t been agreeing on anything as a group lately.”

 

“What exactly started this whole thing? Can’t you talk about it?”

 

“We tried. We only ended up yelling at each other and banging doors at each other.”

 

“This is not good. You’ll be having your debut in a month!”

 

“I know. And, as much as it hurts to admit, we might not be debuting this year.”

 

“That’s ridiculous!”

 

“We don’t even talk anymore. It’s hopeless. We can’t exist as Boyfriend.”

 

“NO!”

 

Dong Hyun and their manager turned to to table to see Minwoo standing up.

 

“I need this career more than any of you do,” he said.

 

“You can always debut on your own,” said Dong Hyun carelessly.

 

“No…No…I want to do it with you,” Minwoo whimpered.

 

The twins grabbed his arms and dragged him to their room. Hyun Seong turned to TV off and went into his room too.

 

The manager shook his head. “Be a good leader and sort this out!”

 

“Arasso, hyung. Annyeong.”

 

The manager got out of the house. CAP smirked evilly.

 

‘There goes Dong Hyun’s leadership reputation,’ he thought.

 

Inside the twins’ room, Kwang Min and Young Min were trying to comfort a whimpering Minwoo.

 

“I want to debut,” whispered Minwoo.

 

“You heard that bastard,” said Kwang Min scornfully. “But you can debut with us.”

 

“I want us to debut as Boyfriend,” pressed Minwoo.

 

“I do too.”

 

The maknae line turned to see a member of the vocal line: Jeong Min.

 

“Jeong Min hyung,” said Young Min.

 

“Am I welcome here?” Jeong Min asked.

 

The twins nodded. Jeong Min set himself on the floor with them.

 

“I want us to debut as Boyfriend too,” he said.

 

“As he said, it’s hopeless. Kim Dong Hyun, our own leader, turned us against him and against each other,” said Kwang Min.

 

“There’s something wrong with Dong Hyun hyung,” said Young Min.

 

“What do you mean, hyung?” asked Minwoo.

 

“He’s right. I believe so, too,” said Jeong Min. “The real Dong Hyun hyung would not let this happen. The Dong Hyun hyung I grew up with doesn’t behave like this.”

 

“This Dong Hyun hyung didn’t even try to say that we’ll sort everything out. It was his idea for us to perform and be discovered, right? He won’t just throw everything away,” said Young Min.

 

“So what are you saying?” asked Kwang Min.

 

“We’re saying that,” said Jeong Min, “the person we’re living with is an impostor.”

 

A brief pause followed. Kwang Min and Minwoo stared at their hyungs. Then Kwang Min let out a scoff.

 

“No, it’s impossible,” he said. “D’you believe this, Young Min hyung?”

 

“There’s no other theory probable,” said Young Min matter-of-factly.

 

“But how do we know, hyung?” asked Minwoo.

 

“Do you remember when Hyun Seong came home saying Dong Hyun hyung bested him in basketball?” Jeong Min said.

 

Minwoo gasped. “Neh! The Dong Hyun hyung I know doesn’t even play basketball!”

 

“That’s one proof,” said Young Min.

 

Kwang Min shook his head and raised an eyebrow at them, but wasn’t able to utter a word out of disbelief.

 

“Kwang Min-ah, why don’t you wanna believe?” asked Young Min in an exasperated voice. “Do you really think Dong Hyun hyung would delibartaely try to hurt you?”

 

Kwang Min gave it a thought, and then shook his head ‘no.’

 

“But I still want to be sure,” added Kwang Min hastily.

 

“Alright. Have any of you memories which were shared with Dong Hyun hyung only and nobody was around?” Jeong Min asked.

 

“I have one!” said Minwoo.

 

“I do too,” said Young Min.

 

“Well, we’ll ask him anything about it. If he gives a wrong answer, don’t react. Don’t look at each other knowingly,” explained Jeong Min. “We’ll do this over dinner.”

 

The boys delved into their own thoughts for a while, then each nodded.

 

“I have a plan,” said Kwang Min. “Just so no one will suspect anything.”

 

“Why do we need that?” asked Young Min.

 

“Well, just in case you didn’t notice, we four have been here together for half an hour, speaking in whispers and everything. Suppose that impostor is smart?” said Kwang Min with a smirk.

 

Outside, CAP had seated himself on the couch and was watching TV. Then he heard Minwoo’s defiant voice from one of the rooms.

 

“I want to debut as Boyfriend, alright?!”

 

“Minwoo-yah, it’s impossible already, ok?” came Kwang Min’s bitter voice.

 

The four boys came out. As they passed CAP, Kwang Min shot him a scowl.

 

“We’re having a sit-down dinner tonight, arasso?” called Jeong Min so the entire dorm could hear.

 

“Oh, wow, hyung, what’s that?” said Young Min sarcastically.

 

“Why not? I’m going out to buy ingredients. Anyone want to come?” Jeong Min asked.

 

“I’ll pass,” said Minwoo. He went into the room he shared with Hyun Seong.

 

“Us too,” said Young Min. “We’re meeting Hana and Sowon for a project.” With that, the twins set out.

 

“Arasso,” said Jeong Min with a shrug. He got money and prepared to get out.

 

“Aren’t you gonna ask me if I want to tag along?” Dong Hyun asked.

 

“I don’t want you to come,” said Jeong Min.

 

“What about Hyun Seong?”

 

“Shikkuro!”

 

Jeong Min hurried out and slammed the door. CAP snickered.

 

‘Oh, touchy much?’ he cooed in his thoughts.