Chapter 25

Tae Kyung awoke to the sounds of rustling in the kitchen. Some object had hit the floor and made a clatter that was just enough to bother him, just enough to make him wake up. The man rolled over, checking his clock. A big red 5:55am stared back at him. Thinking it was either Mi Nam or Jeremy potentially messing shit up in the kitchen, he dragged himself out of the bed and down the stairs ready to scold them. He knew the members daily routine (even Mi Nam's, which varied greatly with his insomnia) and wanted to know just who dared to make all that noise.

Walking into the kitchen, however, he did not see Jeremy, Mi Nam or Shin Woo. Instead, he saw a little girl, who had a jug of milk in her hands. He noticed then, on the table, a bowl and a box of cereal already sitting out. Either Mi Nyu helped her and rushed out releasing she was going to be late, or Min Jee was really just a incredibly perceptive and independent child. And honestly, the leader was leaning towards the latter. Closing the door the refrigerator, she turned around and noticed him. Immediately, a smile flashed across her face. "Good morning uncle!"

"Hmm." He replied, continuing to watch her in curiosity She made her way back to the table, putting the jug of milk down. He watched as climbed up the chair to pour the cereal into the bowl, effortlessly making a mess. A hit and a miss, Tae Kyung thought. Still impressive for a child who is barely as tall as my hip to prepare her own breakfast.

"Little girl, let me pour your milk." Tae Kyung would probably lose his marbles if she made any more of a mess.

"Okay!" She agreed, sitting down in a chair at the table. As Tae Kyung poured milk in her bowl he asked, "Did you do all this by yourself?"

"Un. I was hungry and daddy was still asleep. Aunty was gone too."

Huh. He was right. Go Mi Nam. Seriously, this idiot brings his child here and can't even take care of her. He hoped Mi Nam didn't expect A.N Jell to play babysitter because he definitely wasn't going to deal with that.

"Your father doesn't get to sleep a lot." Seeing there was sufficient amount in the bowl he stopped. He would forgive Mi Nam for today. "So we'll let him sleep in a bit." He knew the boy had been going through a lot. Why not give him a break. Don't make me regret this Mi Nam.

Tae Kyung heard a beep, signaling his coffee was done. He looked over the machine. Mi Nyu must have already set it for me. He smiled, going to the return the milk to the refrigerator. He grabbed a spoon for her cereal from the drawer and a mug for himself. Pouring himself a cup of coffee, he returns to the child placing the spoon in front of her. "We'll scold your father later, okay?"

"Yes!" She smiled before picking up the spoon and beginning to eat her cereal. Min Jee was cute, he had to admit. Her being around may not be the worst thing for him or the group.

Finally being able to drink his morning coffee, Tae Kyung leaned on the counter, sipping at the hot liquid. His eyes fell back onto the young child- who was now practically shoveling her food. Okay, this is no doubtedly the spawn of Go Mi Nam. Not to mention she practically was the spitting image of him. It was almost eerie to Tae Kyung.

At that moment, a half dead Mi Nam entered the kitchen. He just looked at his child, confused as to way his daughter was even awake.

"Oh look who it is Min Jee. Your father." Tae Kyung said, putting an extra emphasis on the word. It probably would not stop being strange to Tae Kyung that Mi Nam was actually a father.

"Hi hyung." Mi Nam groggily said, sitting beside his daughter. She was on her last couple of pieces of cereal, and it was apparent she wasn't going to leave even a drop of milk behind.

"You looked so refreshed this morning." Tae Kyung commented dryly.

"Funny hyung." Turning his attention to the little one, Mi Nam asked, "Miji-ah, are you finished eating now?"

"Un." She replied chirpily.

"Okay, go back up stairs. Wait for daddy so we can pick out an outfit together and wash you up." She immediately hopped down from the chair, both of the men watching her as she made her way out.

Mi Nam's head fell to the table once his daughter was out of sight. "Ugh." He groaned. There was so much he had to do today. How was he even going to make it to Jeremy's fan party half comprehensible?

"Welcome to fatherhood, Mi Nam." Tae Kyung said in a mocking tone, patting his dongsaeng on the back.

At the start of the children's nap period, Mi Nyu sat at her desk, quickly letting herself fall deeply into thought about her brother. Would he really be able to handle the mess he had gotten into? She only referred to it as a mess because to a certain extent, she was told, He Yi was involved. As much as she wanted to intervene, she knew she couldn't. What could she do anyway? Tell her to stop messing with her brother or else? That probably wouldn't do anything but make her more agitated. Oppa is capable. I believe in him. He can take care of Min Jee and keep her protected. Ah, but by himself? She had to admit, sometimes it seemed like her brother could barely take care of himself. Was he really ready for this type of commitment? But what worried her the most is what Tae Kyung brought up. This could really really damage their group and reputation. Go Mi Nam, as well as the rest of the members of A.N Jell worked really hard to build up their popularity and reputation in the music world.

It could very easily all go down the drain if the whole truth was revealed.

How would he even manage to work around that, without the destruction of the band or the band's image? Maybe President Ahn could work something out.

Ah, oppa really. You get in such complicated situations. She shook her head before resting her chin in her palm, with a sigh.

She contemplated taking a quick nap herself before her phone buzzed. Taking it out of her pocket, she saw she received a new text.

[Did you get the flowers?]

It was from an unknown number.

Mi Nyu was, least to say, perplexed. She was under the impression that Tae Kyung had given her the flowers, and he never said different. But then it occurred to her, he never said he did.

Did this mean she had some sort of secret admirer? She couldn't wrap her head around it. Who would even-

One person came to her mind. Dong Jun.

[Dong Jun?]

[It's been a long time hasn't it, Mina?]

Mina. It had been such a long time since she heard him call her that. It brought a small smile to her face. There was no doubt that she and Dong Jun had a relationships of sorts- unbeknown to her brother in high school. They stopped talking sometime in their junior year, Mi Nyu wanting to buckle down into her studies and Dong Jun wanting to clean up his act so he could become a doctor. Not to mention the fact Mi Nam was starting to catch wind that there might be something going on between them and she didn't want to create conflict.

Of course he doesn't know I'm getting married. That's why he probably sent the flowers and the card.

[It has. I missed seeing you, Dong Jun-ah. You've finally been discharged right?]

[Its only been a couple of months but I found work as a pharmacist now in DaeGu. It's nice. I heard from Mi Nam you're still at the orphanage, teaching.]

[Yeah, I enjoy it a lot. Right now the children are sleeping ^^]

[Was what I wrote you too cheesy? Did you hate it? Tell me honestly...]

[Honestly...it really was.]

[;A;]

[It was still nice though and it made me smile.] Even after all this time, Mi Nyu was touched that he felt that way about her. She was the girl that held the top spot in his heart. Sometimes she wished Tae Kyung would tell her sweet things like that more often...

Is it wrong to be talking to him like this? She still genuinely cared about him as a friend and wanted to show her gratitude for the gift.

[I'd like to meet with you again sometime soon, is that ok?]

There was no way Tae Kyung would let her, if she told him about this. Yet, her fingers did the talking for her, typing in a reply:

[I'll have to check my schedule. I'll get back to you, okay? I think I'm free Saturday.]

Mi Nyu put her phone down. She should have told him no. She should have told him she was engaged. But she was too nice. He just wants to see me again, anyway. We can do this as friends. Mi Nyu only had feelings for Tae Kyung so why should meeting him be a problem?

"Mi Nam-ah!" Mi Nam heard his name being called by none other than his manager. Go Mi Nam had called the manager to meet him in the lobby of the A.N Entertainment building. The boy turned around to see the plump man heading towards him with a coffee in his hand and a smile on his face. He and Manager Ma had been through a lot together in their 3 or so years; sometimes he wondered if his manager knew how thankful he was to have him around.

"Glad you contacted me! You don't know how much I've wanted to have an actual discussion with you." He stopped in front of the younger. "But it seemed like there was really never the time! You look much livelier. Had time to rest?" The manager noted, patting the younger's casted arm.

"Yeah. And there's not much longer until I have it off, thankfully." Mi Nam held up his arm. "So, let's go up upstairs to talk. The lobby is not place for us to have this conversation."

The manager immediately agreed and the pair walked to a more secluded area, a balcony on the second floor. Once there, they both took a seat at a table.

"You haven't been doing anything too body intensive have you? You've got to watch out with your ribs and arm still." The Manager continued with his concerns.

"No. You've pretty much steered me clear of any activity where I even move, Manager." The boy had never seen a greater expression of joy and relief on Ma's face than when he saw Mi Nam conscious again after his accident. He had handled things for him regarding it quite professionally in Mi Nam's opinion, reworking his entire schedule. Manager knew Mi Nam enough to know he wasn't going to sit around at home even if he was hurt and put together a schedule that was productive and not taxing.

"I was just asking! Especially with what I know about what may be done in your spare time." Ma chuckled a bit. "So, Mi Nam-ah. What was this urgent thing you wanted to tell me?"

"It's about Ye Eun." Mi Nam had no intentions of beating around the bush.

"AHA!" Manager practically screamed. "I knew you were seeing each other!"

"Manager, calm down." Mi Nam cautioned, knowing the Manager could very well attract people outside with his noise. "And I told you for the 3rd time we aren't dating."

Manager Ma just looked at Mi Nam, curious."Then, what is this about?" There were only so many things outside out of dating this could be about-

"The child."

The man sighed. "What about the child? Do you plan on adopting her or something?" Little did he know, he was 100% on point. The expression on Mi Nam's face was a dead giveaway. "Oh no. No, Mi Nam you can't."

"And why not?"

"You're an idol. Mi Nam, honestly, you barely eat or sleep especially when the group starts promoting! And a child is a full time job!"

"Well, I'm not the only idol with a child."

"They have help Mi Nam! It's two people not one. I'm not saying I'm against single parenthood, but it's not easy to raise a child alone. 'I think it would be hell raising one even with 5 parents'- Remember you telling me this? I can't believe now the guy who said 'I'd burn myself with hot oil before having a kid' is planning on adopting one! And you claim that you and Ye Eun aren't dating? Why else would you want to adopt your ex's kid-" And at that moment Manager stopped, realizing just what Mi Nam had implied. "She's yours isn't she?" He should have known it. It all made sense.

"That's why she left, Manager."

"Wow." Manager sighed, a heaviness weighing down on him. He almost couldn't believe it. That poor girl, it must have been so tough being so young. She probably didn't have anybody supporting her either. Ma knew that Mi Nam wasn't well-received by Ye Eun's parents and a lot of her friends.

"She was afraid." Mi Nam looked down, even telling this story was painful. "Afraid to tell me, afraid to tell her parents, afraid to have a child so young. She thought that telling me would stop me from being a successful and I would leave her anyway. Now she's trying to go to Japan for culinary school, hyung. I owe it to her and our daughter."

Manager understood what Mi Nam was trying to do. "Go Mi Nam." The manager started in a very rare state of complete seriousness, "If you do this, it's not going to be easy. I could do my best to ease the President into this idea, but…the scandals that could- will come about from this, the uproar-I'm not sure if I'll be able to handle them. Not only that, I worry. I worry about you being able to juggle being a parent and your work life. I know you know that it's not going to be easy being a parent, and I'm not saying that you aren't capable but…this isn't going to be a walk in the park, Mi Nam."

"I know. But I'm ready." Mi Nam started. "Ye Eun even worked it out. She told me in order for her to let me into her custody, I have to adopt her. I have to give this grandiose story she made up about 'the mother of Min Jee' abandoning her child. Even now she's trying to protect my image."

"Ye Eun's right though. As awful as it sounds, if you want to get out of this with your and A.N Jell's reputation relatively intact you're going to have to. I understand you want to take your daughter as your own without any strings attached but for your groupmate's sake it's too much of a risk. If it's like this, then it may be doable." Manager replied. "I'll do my best to help you, Mi Nam. Leave Ahn up to me."

Right before Mi Nyu was going to wake the kids up from their nap time, she received call. Seeing that it was Manager Ma she was curious and somewhat apprehensive as to why. It wasn't often the Manager called her, especially at work. "Hello?"

"Mi Nyu." Manager Ma spoke, strain in the man's voice.

"How are you?" She wasn't going to skip any formalities however.

"I'm fine. Listen, I want to talk to you about something serious." He continued, "It has to do with Go Mi Nam."

"Yes?"

"You know his situation right?"

"Of course."

"As his manager, you know that it's my job to protect his well being and make sure he's well, happy. That's why I decided to go along with this idea of adopting Min Jee." He paused, Mi Nyu waiting for whatever the Manager was going to suggest. But what could it be, she wondered. "I'm going to speak to President Ahn, hopefully sometime today if I can, and I need…well…you and Tae Kyung."

She could understand her direct involvement as his sister…but both her and Tae Kyung? "What do you need from us?"

"Just hear me out okay? Since you and TaeKyung plan on getting married soon, I'm thinking… maybe if you bump up the wedding to, I don't know, sometime next month or god forbid, this month the fuss that is going to happen over Mi Nam's adoption will be…lessened in intensity. News of your engagement has already made top news, so if you guys proceed with the wedding…Go Mi Nam 'taking in Min Jee' will seem minor. Especially with its presentation."

"Manager Ma." Mi Nyu honestly didn't know quite how to feel about his proposal. It seemed strange to do such a thing- pushing her wedding date up to well, cover her brother's ass and possibly save him face. Then again it was more than just his ass and face on the line. Also considering the fact that she had crossdressed as him for a couple of months was it really that much of a jump? Still she felt hesitant. "Even if I agreed, I don't know how Tae Kyung would feel."

"I know it's a lot to ask. But like I said, if you do this, you could not only get married sooner, but Mi Nam and A.N Jell would be in a relatively safe zone."

"I know my brother plans to adopt her under some pretense, but people may very well not believe it. We could move our wedding date up and it have no effect."

"True but that's worst case scenario. And Ye Eun and your brother composed a pretty decent and believable story. So, I believe that doing this will make a difference. After all isn't it safer just to do this?"

Did Mi Nyu really have a choice in the matter? After all, moving up the date to the wedding did sound pretty appealing to her. "I'll talk to Tae Kyung about it when they get back from the fan party, okay?"

As a group, A.N Jell headed towards the concert hall that Jeremy would have his fan party in. Only a couple of hundred fans would be able to attend this event since the concert hall wasn't that big. Jeremy wanted a cute and fun fan party, but unlike previous years, he didn't want that many people. As the boy grew older he wanted his birthday to be spent in a more secluded manner.

The group could dress the way they wanted but had to get a check over by the coordinators. As standard procedure, they had to leave for this event about 3 hours before it actually started since the concert hall was 45 minutes south of Seoul.

The van ride had been smooth so far. Shin Woo was attached to his phone, Tae Kyung was listening to music and Jeremy was... being Jeremy-bouncing around happily in the back. Go Mi Nam just rolled his eyes, hoping that this idiot would have the time of his life at this fan party.

Suddenly Tae Kyung's phone began to vibrate in his pocket. For a second or two he debated on rather to answer it. He wasn't in the mood for frivolous conversation at the moment. His conscience got the best of him however and he pulled his phone out of his pocket. The man saw his caller i.d show him a number he didn't recognize. He inwardly sighed, hoping it wasn't a telemarketer or god forbid- a sasaeng fan.

"Hello?" Everyone in the car was promptly alerted to Tae Kyung's call. The other members went on to either continue or start something that was of minimal noise that would keep them preoccupied while he was on the phone so they didn't intentionally eavesdrop or disturb his call.

"Tae Kyung." A familiar, older female voice spoke his name. He instantly knew it was his mother.

The relationship between Tae Kyung and his mother had improved dramatically since Mi Nyu left, but it still wasn't quite how a relationship between a mother and son should be. This was to be expected of course, after years of being estranged from his mother. There was no way that sort of thing could happen overnight. Even though Tae Kyung still harbored ill feelings, he was beginning to open up to her. They had started to contact each other on a more consistent basis. And it seemed to the man that his mother was genuinely trying to build a relationship with him.

"Why are you calling me?"

"A woman cannot call her own son?" She questioned, sounding mildly offended. "Must you speak so harshly?"

The leader sighed. He actually didn't mean to sound so harsh. "What do you want? I'm on my way to an event right now so I really can't talk long."

"I wanted to wish you congratulations on your engagement. That Go Mi Nyu, she seems like a nice girl."

"Thank you." Tae Kyung responded shortly.

He heard a cough on the other line before, "I'd like to meet her sometime."

"I'll speak to her about it when I see her again. She also has a considerably busy schedule but, it can be worked out."

"Just call me back when-" Her sentence was cut short by a series of short, dry, painful sounding coughs. He felt his heart nearly jump in his throat, Tae Kyung sure that his mother was going to hack up a lung.

"Are you okay?"

She cleared her throat. "I'm fine. I've just caught a little cold."

"Sounds a little more than just a cold. Have you taken anything?" Being a sickly child, he felt obligated to make sure those closest to him were healthy. His members might not have recognized it but he did quite a few things, especially in their earlier days, to try to keep them physically healthy.

"Of course I have. I take care of myself."

"You should go to the doctor."

"I'd rather not. Paparazzi see this old lady at the hospital they'll probably think I'm dying." Of course its like this lady to care about what the paparazzi would think. Ridiculous. Doesn't she value her health over what is left of her fame?

"Don't make me drag you there." He wouldn't back down on that promise either.

"If I'm not better in the next day or so, I will go."

"Don't think you can just lie about it either. I will call and make sure you go."

"Don't you have a schedule?" The woman wasn't used to this type of treatment from her son, and while appreciative, was exhausted and didn't want to hear anymore of her son's nagging.

"You're right. Get good rest tonight. I'm hanging up first."

"So, what are you going to get me for my birthday?" Jeremy asked, jumping beside Mi Nam on the couch.

"For god's sake, we just came from your fan party Jeremy." He replied keeping his eyes on the TV. He was really engrossed in this drama he was watching, his broken arm resting on the arm of the chair. Jeremy was thrilled that he was talking to him casually again.

"Why would I tell you?" Mi Nam turned to Jeremy. He especially hyper now since he had a lot of cake and sweets and a little liquor. (That was after all the fans had dispersed thankfully.)

Jeremy made a stink face at Mi Nam. "'Cause…"

"You're lucky if I even get you anything." Mi Nam replied.

"Nammie~!" Jeremy got all puppy eyed.

"What the hell are you giving me that look for?" Mi Nam somehow put up a façade of irritation at his hyung, even though he wanted to laugh at how ridiculous he looked. "And don't look at me like that. That will not work on me like it does for Shin Woo hyung."

He kept his face in that position it began to annoy the other boy- which didn't take long.

"WHAT?"

"You know…I asked to have the fan party the day before my birthday because I want to spend my real birthday with you guys." Mi Nam had to admit, he was touched by that. He even turned to him. "Julie is going to take me out somewhere special tomorrow afternoon. But after that I'm free~"

"You want to go somewhere?"

Jeremy nodded.

"Just with me?"

He nodded a second time. "Please?"

"You want to actually spend time with me? I'm touched." What was meant to be a positive thought turned into a negative for Mi Nam. "Thanks for reminding me again that I haven't disappeared into Julie's shadow."

"Don't be like that, Mi Nam-ah." Jeremy grabbed Mi Nam's arm. He told Mi Nam just last night how Julie and Mi Nam were both equally important to him. Or at least he tried. "Why does it feel like you guys are competing for my time now? You're both important to me."

"We're not competing hyung." He turned away from him.

Jeremy sighed. He found it a good time to finally get a question out the way that had been bugging him since their fight. "What is it that made you think she was up to something?"

Jeremy, if you only knew. Mi Nam didn't bother to look at him; pretending to be engrossed into the drama he was watching- although it was honestly starting to bore him. "Honestly I don't know what you see in her. Sure she's kinda smart, but other than that, she's just a pretty face."

Jeremy got up, apparently angered by Mi Nam's words. "Look Mi Nam I don't' want to have another fight." This got Mi Nam's attention. "But you're…acting so…"

"What? I'm acting like what, hyung?" He turned his attention to Jeremy. There wasn't a single hint of anger in his voice, just genuine curiosity.

"The way you were before. I can't stand it. So stop!"

"I'll act anyway I want! If you weren't so blind you would be able to see she's only toying with you!" Pissed, he turned off the TV, jetting up to leave the room. He already said too much because of his anger.

Mi Nam wanted to tell Jeremy so badly now, especially since he hadn't seen any signs of Julie trying. Julie claimed she was going to tell him before his birthday, but time was running out quickly. It was less than 24 hours away.

"Toying with me?" He followed Mi Nam up to the foot of the stairs.

"It doesn't matter what I think anyway, so just drop it."

"No!" Jeremy grabbed his wrist, pulling him back around from the last stair.

"Tell me. What are you talking about?! You're going to tell me this time!"

Mi Nam tried pulling his wrist away but Jeremy held it tightly. "Let go of me!" Mi Nam warned.

"No! I want an answer!"

Using the strength he could muster in his hand, Mi Nam snapped his wrist away. It was strange how tightly he held it and his wrist tinkled. I don't want to hurt you, Jeremy hyung. Stop being like this.

"Mi Nam just tell me. Why can't you just let us be?"

Mi Nam nearly broke down at that point. His gaze hit the floor, he couldn't look Jeremy in the face. Conflicting feelings started to boil in him.

Jeremy was frustrated once again at Mi Nam's behavior. What could this thing be and why wouldn't he just tell him? He took into consideration his feelings, yet still determined to drag whatever it was out of Mi Nam out, questioned him. "Something happened that made you start thinking this way, other than you just being concerned for me. What is it?" He wanted desperately to know what the other was thinking. What possibly could he say that could ruin his relationship with Julie? He honestly couldn't even imagine. But he wanted to know, wanted to hear him say what was in his mind.

Mi Nam, still held out. "Just promise me that you'll stop this."

"Why? You keep saying these things and don't explain them. If it's like this, can't you just say it?"

Jeremy's phone began to ring, and he knew it was Julie. He had given her a special ringtone.

"It's Julie isn't it?" Mi Nam asked, even though he already knew it was. You should answer it and ask her why she's been lying to you, Jeremy.

Go Mi Nam watched as Jeremy stood in front of him, trying to choose between pushing on with their conversation and answering Julie. Both of them knew that Jeremy didn't have the power to ignore her, and Jeremy soon pulled the phone to his ear, "Hi! Oh! Okay. I'll be there soon so wait for me! I'm hanging up now."

"She wants to meet up for lunch..." He trailed off, suddenly getting the oddest feeling something awful was about to happen. He hadn't gotten this feeling in such a long time. It was a peculiar feeling- associated strongly with a certain person from his past. But there was no way.

Seeing his hyung's expression, Mi Nam couldn't help but want to go with him. But he knew it was something he had to do by himself.

"Just go, hyung."

Jeremy turned away from Go Mi Nam without a sound and quickly departed from the dorm.

The younger plopped down on the last stair, not sure what to do with himself. "She's going to tell him today." He said to himself. He was 100% sure that she was, unless she didn't take him seriously. Mi Nam ran his fingers through his hair, ruffling it in frustration. "Jeremy is going to be so hurt. All while this Jung Hwa guy-" It was at that moment he felt a knot form in his stomach. Shit. Jung Hwa is going to show up. That's what Julie was warning about on the phone! She had plans on telling him sometime soon... and when she did...he wanted to know so he could make sure he could be there... The boy knew that Jung Hwa was trouble, even though he had no idea just what he did. If he got a bad vibe just hearing that guy's name- he had to be much worse in reality. Regardless of his own feelings towards this man, that lunch date was going to turn even uglier if- no, when that guy decided to show up.

And Mi Nam couldn't explain it, but he never felt the need to be by Jeremy's side stronger than he did at that moment.