Chapter 1

I shielded my eyes from the sun with my hand as I stared up at the huge building in front of us. Only now did I really begin to comprehend that we'd be living here from now on.

As excited as I was, it felt strange to move away from that run-down apartment. Sure, sharing a room with three teenage boys hadn't been a pleasant experience, nonetheless, it had been the place where we began our journey. I never enjoyed saying goodbye.

In our new place, we had two bedrooms and even a refrigerator that would fit more than a carton of eggs and Jihwan's energy drinks. I was pretty sure it could now fit at least one body.

"Elijah, do you want to help us, or are you busy staring holes into the sky?"

I turned around, rolling my eyes at the young man who was carrying a box in his hands. Sunglasses were hiding his dark eyes and the even darker circles beneath them. His pale skin really didn't help to make him look less like a vampire, nor did the gloomy expression on his face that followed him around everywhere he went.

Just as I was about to respond another figure stepped out from behind the car, carrying two boxes at once as if they weighed nothing.

"He's just looking around, Jihwan. How can you make him carry heavy stuff around after he almost broke his arm yesterday?"

I did not even nearly break my arm yesterday. I tried to climb a ladder and fell, luckily getting away with a few bruises. They were barely visible now, but Maverick enjoyed babying me, well, all members really. If it meant getting out of somehow moving those apparently brick-filled boxes into the 8th story, I was fine with that.

"Yeah, Jihwan. Can't you see I'm in pain?"

The older one just shook his head, walking straight past me and into the grey building. Mav started following him, a smile on his face as usual. I had never seen him have a bad day. He was one of those guys who could cheer you up simply with his presence and especially today, I was more than grateful for it. I grabbed our backpacks and ran up the stairs after them, forgetting rather quickly about the terrible pain that was keeping me from carrying boxes.

Jihwan unlocked the door, kicking it open with his foot and stepping in. Even standing in the entrance it was clear how much bigger this place was. Considering how hard we worked for this it was only fair that we got to live in a better apartment. Two years of blood, sweat, and tears just had to pay off eventually.

I quickly pushed the others away to get inside first, a huge grin on my face. This was awesome. The apartment was flooded with light that came streaming through the tall windows. "I'm the first one in so I get to pick a room," I yelled over my shoulder as I burst through every door trying to locate the bedrooms. The first door I opened led to the bathroom. I was luckier on my second try, now standing in an empty room with a dark wooden floor. I walked up to the window from which you had an excellent view of the skyline of our city.

I had come here five years ago and though it might not seem like it, it felt like an eternity or two had passed since then. Moving to a foreign country without friends or family by my side was one of the boldest decisions I ever made. Now this country didn't feel foreign at all anymore and I had friends that I called family.

My jaw was still dropped when Mav stuck his head into the room.

"I guess you're calling dibs on this one," he said with a smile. "I bet Huijun will like it."

I silently agreed with him. Huijun could probably spend hours staring out of a window. He would love this.

The rest of the day was spent moving boxes, building furniture, and cleaning. I used the excuse of my injured arm for a while longer before I took pity on my two older friends and helped them set up our apartment.

By the time the sun began to set we were drenched in sweat and tired, therefore deciding to let it be for today. We could finish the rest tomorrow after practice.

"Come on. We don't move every day It's something worth celebrating!" Mav insisted to no avail. Jihwan remained stubborn.

It took Mav almost half an hour to convince Jihwan that we should go out to eat this night. It was only when I chimed in, looking at our leader with puppy eyes, that he rolled his eyes and agreed.

"Fine. But if you are hungover tomorrow we'll practice two hours longer."

The city was only now really coming to life. It was strange. Where I was from people would be so exhausted from work that they stayed in the comfort of their own homes. Here it was the exact opposite. After a long day of work was when you finally started living. Going out with friends to eat, sing karaoke, or party. It was right up my alley.

We sat down in a very aesthetically pleasing restaurant with food not that pleasing, but I enjoyed myself nonetheless. We talked, laughed, and drank and all the stress of the previous days seemed to slowly fade away. It was nearly perfect except for the fact that one of us was missing.

As strange as it was if you lived with the same four people for years, shared food, rooms, and socks with them, it was easy to feel incomplete as soon as someone wasn't there.

"Do you think he'll come back soon?" I asked with a sigh, staring down at my half-empty glass.

"I don't know. You know how he gets when his family has problems. It kills him to be away from them when things get hard," Mav mumbled, looking just as down as I felt.

"He better come back soon. We're already behind on our schedule and we'll have our comeback soon. We have so much work to do before we shoot the mv. If Huijun stays for another three days he won't be able to catch up on the choreo properly. You know how he is."

I glared at Jihwan.

"You're an asshole."

He didn't mean it as harsh as it sounded. Whenever Jihwan opened his mouth someone would probably feel offended.

I got up and immediately regretted it. My mind was spinning because of the alcohol and I had to grab onto the table to regain balance. It didn't stop me from dramatically stomping away from our table and towards the toilets.

I could hear Mav snicker behind my back but I ignored him, locking myself in a stall and pulling out my phone. It took me about five minutes to remember my code and another five to actually find the number I was looking for.

"Hi, it's Eli... Woah, this bathroom is really clean. Like, this might be the prettiest bathroom I have ever seen. It might be the most beautiful bathroom to ever exist...

Uh, anyways. I know you're probably sleeping which is why you didn't pick up my call. I just wanted to know when you'll be back. I got us the best room in the apartment and for that you owe me. So come back soon. I miss you. Eh, I mean, we all miss you. And I think I have to throw up now so bye."

The next morning was spend as the ones before practicing.

I was pretty sure Jihwan had made up about twenty ways to kill me and get away with it. He had been shooting glares at me the entire time since I was unmistakenly hungover from last night. Luckily for me, I didn't mess up once so he had no reason to be mean.

I did my best to ignore him and while it was harder to focus while my head felt awful I was glad for the distraction. I was dancing so hard that I could hardly feel my body. Physical training was the best to make you forget about all the things you didn't want to think about.

There should be a law against drunk calls. I regretted calling Huijun as soon as I realized what I had done. I didn't want to bother him while he was dealing with stuff at home and I didn't want him to feel pressured to come back already. But what was done was done. All I could do was hope he wouldn't listen to his voicemail.

Our leader was still complaining as we walked back to our apartment. His belittling tone definitely didn't make my headache any better and after taking a long and hot shower I collapsed onto my bed. It was the middle of the day, but I barely got any sleep last night. I was passed out as soon as my head hit the pillow, dreaming and feeling nothing.

I woke up to voices coming from our living room. It was completely dark outside. Apparently, I had slept longer than I intended to. Half asleep and rubbing my eyes I step out of the bedroom only to be hit with the sound of loud laughter. The thud of the door closing made heads turn and I was greeted with a too familiar wide smile and a pair of bright eyes. I returned the smile automatically

"You're back."