Winter was quickly approaching on a cloudy day. The 4*Town boys had all been approached for an interview with CBC, so they had to be up and at the studio bright and early.

"Good morning, Canada," said the host, "I'm here with the boys of 4*Town for an exclusive interview. Welcome, boys."

After a few pleasantries, the interview began. "So, we're going into December, that's exciting."

"Yeah, we're gonna put out a new song in a few weeks."

"Wait, guys, it's the first!"

The other four all looked at Jesse. "So?"

Jesse put a hand on Tae-young's shoulder. "That means it's been one full year since Tae-bear became part of our band."

"Yeah, can we tell them that story?" T asked.

"Ooh, we would like to hear about that," said the host.

"Okay, okay," said Robaire, "this is how we got our number 5."

"Okay, so how it starts, we found him at a gas station convenience store."

It was December 1st, 2001. Jesse had gone out to gas up the car and pick up some milk for dinner. As he wandered across the aisles, he almost knocked right into another boy, wearing a red sweatshirt with the hood pulled up.

"Sorry," said the smaller boy in a soft voice.

"No, no, it's fine. I got in your way." Jesse stepped back to let him through. Now that he could take a good look at him, he realized that the boy looked scruffy, tired, and was still shivering even though they were inside, away from the cold. There was no one else in the store, so he clearly wasn't here with a parent. "So, uh, what are you looking for?"

"...der," mumbles the boy.

"What?"

"Dinner." The boy repeated louder.

Jesse was confused and a little concerned. "Dinner?"

The boy shrunk into himself. "Normally, I get food by washing dishes at the diner, but I'm just really tired and don't have the energy to do that, so I have to buy."

Jesse was quickly putting two and two together; this kid was homeless. And hearing that, it truly sunk in as he realized just what he was watching; a poor child with nowhere to go, contemplating what kind of meal he could get at a gas station, underscored by the distinct rumble of an empty stomach.

Well, he was certainly not going to stand idly by and watch this. He put a hand on the boy's shoulder. "How would you like to come home and have dinner with us tonight?"

"Really?" The boy's eyes sparkled, but he was very hesitant. "I don't know. I don't want to intrude on you."

"Buddy, you're invited, we want you there." Jesse paid for the milk, then coaxed the boy to come sit on the bench outside with him.

Once outside on the bench, Jesse tried to tease out answers from the boy. "What happened to you? People don't end up looking for dinner at a gas station without a reason."

"I…" The boy looked crestfallen. "...got kicked out of my house."

"You did?" Jesse felt cold; and not because it was December.

"I don't understand," whimpered the boy, beginning to weep. "I was such a good kid, I got good grades, I did whatever they asked of me." He rubbed his eyes. "And like, the diner can't have my back forever, what am I gonna do for food? What about school? What do I do when I start my period? What-"

"Wait wait, hold on, your period?" That was not something Jesse normally heard coming from boys.

"Yeah, that's…" The boy sniffled. "That's why I got kicked out."

Oh. Okay. Jesse was confused at first, but he got it now. He put an arm around the boy. "I know I said tonight, but maybe I can talk the guys into letting you stay full time."

The boy looked up at him with his big brown eyes. "You would really do that?"

Jesse nodded, and put his other hand on the boy's shoulder. "As a father, the thought of you having to do constant labour just to eat kills me." He held him closely, shielding him from the cold. "I promise I can help you."

The boy clung tightly to Jesse and sniffled. Jesse rubbed his back. "You must be freezing out here."

The boy nodded. "You see that little alleyway in there?" He pointed across the street at an alley between two tall buildings. "That's where I slept last night. When I woke up, it was so cold out, I spent most of today hiding behind the dumpster, wrapped in my blanket."

The convenience store must have been the only warmth he's felt all day. "Come on," said Jesse, taking the boy's hand. "If you stay out here much longer, you're gonna get sick."

"So I brought him home to the cabin."

When Jesse got home, the remaining members of 4*Town were chilling on the couch, waiting for him. "Hey, Jesse, did you get the-" T cut himself when he turned fully around. "Hi, that does not look like milk."

"Look, I got it," said Jesse, showing them the carton. "This is-" He turned to the boy. "-what's your name?"

The boy hid behind Jesse, and clung to his jacket. "Tae-young."

"Yeah." Jesse looked back up. "I found him at the gas station."

"And why did you bring him back with you?" Z cocked an eyebrow.

Jesse sighed. "Look, he doesn't have anywhere else to go, and I'm not going to leave some poor kid out in the cold to go hungry when we have enough to make room for a fifth." His words were punctuated by another moan from Tae-young's unfed stomach.

Jesse coaxed Tae-young to come and sit on the couch. "Come on, they don't bite." Once the four boys were sitting together, Jesse looked at them all. "Alright, I'm gonna go start dinner. You guys sit here and don't kill each other."

The three older boys all looked at each other. They had no idea what they were supposed to say to this kid. "Are you gonna take your hood down?" T spoke up. "You're inside now."

Tae-young, shaky, pulled his hood down, revealing his long, dark brown hair. T jumped a bit. "Oh. Oh, I'm sorry, we didn't realize you were a chick-"

"I'm a boy." Tae-young shrunk away from T.

"Oh." T was getting flustered. "Okay, then I'm sorry I thought you were a chick, I-"

"Okay, okay, thank you, Aaron." Robaire pulled T back a bit. "You've done more than enough." When he turned back, Tae-young glommed onto him. "It's okay, mon p'tit, you're safe here." He didn't ignore how cold to the touch the smaller boy felt.

Tae-young swabbed at his nose. "It's not fair. I was the best kid ever, and it still wasn't enough for them."

Robaire rubbed Tae-young's back. "Down past the valley where the angels sing / There's a secret deep in your heart…"

That got Tae-young's attention. He had heard this song on the radio a couple of times; and Robaire sounded exactly like the singer in that song. "A secret that lingers and lifts you above / Whenever we're far apart?"

"You know that song?" Robaire gave Tae-young a warm smile, and with the Aarons joining in, they continued the gentle song. Around the time they had finished. Jesse came back to the living room. The sight of the boys all bonding together melted his heart.

"That was so good!" T scooped Tae-young up into a big bear hug. "Aw, fellas, can we keep him?"

"Yeah, bro," said Robaire, turning to Jesse, "the kid's got pipes of gold."

"I mean, come on," continued T, "we've got the sporty one, the hot one, the old one, and the funny one, but we don't have a cute one."

"Guys, guys, chill," said Jesse. "Of course he can stay. I was worried you three wouldn't want him around."

"Wait wait wait," said Z, "we're called 4*Town. The name wouldn't make sense if there's five of us."

The guys were all quiet for a moment, until T got an idea. "Hey, when's your birthday?"

"May 4th," replied Tae-young.

"See?! He was born on the 4th, just like the rest of us! This was destiny!"

Robaire joined in on the bear hug. "You're gonna be in our band, li'l fella!"

"Okay, guys, we can deal with the band stuff later," said Jesse. "For now, come eat."

When the guys all filed into the kitchen, Jesse punched T's arm. "That's for calling me the old one."

"We got attached to him real fast."

Jesse kept a close eye on Tae-young that night, concerned that he may be catching a cold after spending all day outside, huddled in an alleyway with only a blanket to retain heat. However, he seemed to be fine, if a little shaken up.

After dinner and some more bonding time, Robaire brought Tae-young upstairs to the spare room, which they were letting him have. "It's kind of plain at the moment," he said sheepishly, "but once we get you settled, we can spruce it up.

He sat with him and held his hand; he didn't want the little one to be alone on his first night in a new home. "So, tell me; what happened to you?"

Tae-young looked glum. "I guess I was just never perfect enough. I never got good enough grades, I was never thin enough, I was never respectful enough. The last straw was when I told them I was a boy, and they didn't believe me."

Robaire looked down at the bag that Tae-young had brought with him. "Do you have anything in here that you normally sleep with?"

"I have a blanket in there."

Robaire opened the bag and found a soft, peachy-pink blanket inside. As he was taking it out, he knocked a cloth with a cord attached to it onto the floor. "What's this?"

"A heating pad," mumbled Tae-young, feeling sleepy. "When I have my period, I get these awful demon cramps in my stomach, so I use the heating pad to ease the pain."

Robaire nodded, put the heating pad back into the bag, and draped the blanket over Tae-young. Tae-young's eyelids drooped, and he drifted off into sleep. It was the first time since he left home that he was falling asleep in a warm bed with a full stomach, and he was in a state of pure bliss.

In the following days, the 4*Town boys taught him some of their chops, and helped him cut and dye his hair. However, he couldn't help but notice how distant Z was with him. He rarely spoke to him, and when he did, it was very short and curt. He wouldn't say it to anyone, but it really hurt.

"Jesse, why doesn't Aaron Z. like me?"

Jesse blinked. He didn't expect Tae-young to be thinking about that right before bed. "Aw, baby, he likes you. He's just shy around new people. You know, you living here is a big change for all of us, and he needs more time to adjust to it." He ruffled Tae-young's freshly-cut, freshly-blond hair. "He'll get used to you. Eventually."

"Z kinda took a bit to warm up to him."

About a week after Tae-young had become part of 4*Town, the snow really began to pile up. Z was the designated shoveler, and he was not in a great mood about it this morning. Friggin' snow. I hate this crap. Why can't it just be really cold during the winter?

When he came inside, grumbling over the weather, and went into the kitchen, he found Tae-young sipping from a mug, with another mug in front of the next chair over. "I made you some cocoa," he said softly when he noticed Z.

"Oh," said Z, a bit surprised. "Uh, thank you." He slid into the seat next to him to drink the sweet mixture of cocoa powder and marshmallow cream.

"Yeah, cause I saw you outside, and figured you would be tired and cold by the time you were done."

The two of them sat together quietly, drinking their cocoa. They didn't really interact; just silently thought to themselves in each others' company.

When Tae-young got up to put his mug in the sink, a lightning pain shot through his stomach. "Ooh."

Z looked up. "What?"

"Hold on." Tae-young disappeared upstairs.

Confused, Z downed the rest of his drink and followed him. When he got upstairs, he found Tae-young in his room, digging through his bag with one hand while clutching his stomach with the other. "What's wrong?"

"Cramps." Tae-young pulled his heating pad from his bag. Before he could plug it in, he lurched forward and groaned from another hard pang.

"Come on, we'll plug this in downstairs so you don't wake the other guys up." Z eased Tae-young down the stairs and onto the couch. He plugged the cord into the wall. "Okay, how do you work this thing?"

"There's a push thingy on the cord that turns the heat up and down," whimpered Tae-young. "Can you turn it up?"

Z found the control on the cord and turned the heat up. Tae-young leaned back into the couch and groaned. Z shook his head and sat down next to him. "Here, I'll put something on."

Around that time, Jesse began stumbling down the stairs, still sleepy. He smiled upon seeing Tae-young and Z chilling on the couch together, watching a show. "See, I knew you two would get along eventually." He then noticed Tae-young's pained expression. "What's wrong?"

"Cramps," moaned Tae-young.

"Oh, baby," said Jesse, leaning down next to him, "are you gonna be okay?"

"Mmhmm." Tae-young sat up a bit. "It's only for a few hours on the first day. After that, I'll be fine."

Jesse sighed. "Well, I'm at least glad to see the two of you spending time together." He sat down next to Z. "Tae was worried you didn't like him."

"Oh, he's fine," said Z, "he's just…new to me, y'know?" He leaned over to Tae-young. "Here, how about once your belly stops hurting, we'll go outside and throw some snowballs at T."

Tae-young nodded. The two spent the next few hours on the couch, and once Tae-young was able to get up, they did indeed go outside and start a snowball fight with T.

"The fans fell in love with him almost as fast as we did."

A few weeks later, it was January, and to kick off the new year, 4*Town had put out a new song; a sappy love song. The five of them all waited together, and all whooped and high-fived when they heard it on the radio for the first time.

Jesse became a bit worried when Tae-young clung onto him. "What's wrong?"

"It's just-" Tae-young put a hand on his chest and took a breath. "I'm a little worried that your fans won't like me."

If you listened in the distance as he said that, you might have heard the distinct sound of a feral middle schooler shrieking in pure, manic joy. "Lookit! He's Korean! I'm Korean! They have a member who looks like me!"

"Okay, Abby, chill," said Miriam. The four of them all looked at the magazine together.

4*TOWN ANNOUNCES FIFTH MEMBER, NEW SONG

Despite its name, boy band sensation 4*Town has put out a statement welcoming a fifth member to their group.

The baby of the bunch and a kindhearted animal lover, Tae-young Moon is set to provide vocals for the band's upcoming song 1 True Love, releasing on January 8th, 2002.

The boys read the page over and over. Even though it had happened many times, they still felt giddy whenever they saw their name in the media.

Jesse ruffled Tae-young's hair. "Let them see you. I'm sure you'll be popular."

"And yeah, he's been kicking it with us ever since." Tae-young giggled and blushed as the other four boys all pulled him into a big, squishy bear hug.

"Oh, boys, that's such a sweet story." The host shuffled their papers. "Now, what else do we have to talk about?"