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With Seunghee's comeback to SMDJ, their gigs shoot up again, 2-kie regained its previous goers and avid customers of the band. It's a success. In two months, SMDJ is the talk of the town, their comeback is widely talked about.

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In the next months, Seunghee now works full time for SMDJ together with Minhyun, Dongho and Jonghyun. They've finally graduated and are on a blast with arranging schedules in and out of the district. They have less things to worry about, but work hard in achieving their goal, to have a record deal and perform at Seoul Dome.

The same way, S3 is doing great with their schedules doubling up. Jeonghan has graduated too and is now a full-time member, meanwhile Soonyoung is on his last year and Seungkwan on his second year. S3 is keeping up with their busy itinerary and the future is looking good for them.

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One night, an agent spots and comes up to them to recruit SMDJ to a bigger venue to play every night. Since Elkie came back, Elkie has served as the manager of the band. And she is the one who gets to talk to the agent. Right after the band performs, she immediately relays the good news to the members in the waiting room.

"Guys!! You're never gonna believe who came up to me earlier. An agent from Rock Sky Productions!" Elkie excitedly tells them.

"Don't tell me they tried to recruit us?" Jonghyun asks.

Elkie just smiles, nods and raises an ok with her hand, "In fact, he gave me a list of venues the band could perform at if we take his two-year contract offer." She takes out the paper with a long list of greater venues for the band.

All the members gather excitedly and scan the paper. After a few seconds, they all scream out loud. Seunghee even walks over Elkie and gives her a tight hug.

"Elkie-ya!!" she utters excitedly.

"We have to read the contract asap," Minhyun says.

"And sign it right away," Dongho adds.

"I have it here in my hands," Elkie says with a big smile.

They all know it's the start of their step up. With this, their band can reach out to more people, more ears and eyes, and more crowds to hopefully appreciate their music and support them. SMDJ is finally leveling up and they will not let their fans down.

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"I'm letting you boys go," Mr. Lee tells S3 in his office.

It's a shock for the three members of the group. Even Soonyoung is devastated of his sudden decision. The boys sit across him with heavy hearts and frustrated faces.

"We weren't told beforehand, why this sudden Mr. Lee?" Soonyoung asks politely.

"Well, there are a lot of groups waiting in line after you boys leave the lineup. For several months, you were taking up 2-3 slots every night. There's almost no space for new talents to showcase themselves. And besides, this pub is now known for being the S3 pub, instead of my own pub name," Mr. Lee chuckles in sarcasm.

"Isn't that good for you though? We attract more and more customers each time," Seungkwan tries to reason out. It's illogical since they bring out better income than the new groups he's trying to recruit.

"Yes, Mr. Lee. We don't really have anywhere else to go if you kick us out here," Jeonghan adds.

"There isn't?! You know you boys are being ridiculous," Mr. Lee shakes his head, contradicting himself and confusing the boys. They already have this skeptical looks on their faces.

Mr. Lee laughs staring at them and then utters, "Why would I want to cut you off when you bring me more income than all the other groups combined in this pub?" They hold their breaths as he continues with a hard voice, "It's because of the number of agents from big companies pestering me each night to cut your contract and let you go to them. As simple as that."

Their faces are like what the hell is he talking about? So Mr. Lee clarifies even more. "I've decided to unbind you for you take better chances at success."

He hands out the list of contact persons who came to scout them for their agencies. Soonyoung scans the list and wow, he's speechless. Jeonghan and Seungkwan move over him and take a look for themselves. And they give out the same reactions. It's unbelievable.

"Mr. Lee..." Soonyoung can't find the words to say his gratitude.

Mr. Lee is the very first person who took them in and had faith in their talents. This place is where they started and it definitely has a special place in their hearts. They've talked about it within the group in the past. That if ever they get casted in bigger venues, they will always go back here to repay Mr. Lee.

"Mr. Lee, thank you so much. But we can't just cut off our contract with you," Soonyoung says as the leader of the group. Behind him, Seungkwan and Jeonghan smiles gratefully at him.

"And why's that?" Mr. Lee is now the one confused.

"Reserve that one slot for us cuz we'll always come back here. Even if we perform at bigger stages, we will always find time to go back here and perform exclusively for your pub," Soonyoung continues.

It makes Mr. Lee soft and emotional. These boys are like his sons. It's his happiness to see them grow into persons with dignity and humility.

"You boys... just get out of my office and call those numbers! I'll get mad if you don't get casted in any of those agencies, you hear!?" Mr. Lee commands.

They all laugh together. "Yes, Mr. Lee!" they say in unison and run out of his office.

It makes him smile. Seeing groups leave his place with success is one reason he made this bar. It's actually his legacy.

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In celebration to their first ever local solo show with one thousand people, SMDJ has an all-night drinking spree at 2-kie.

"To SMDJ!!" they all raise their glasses up for a toast.

They drink their glasses in one gulp, except for the girls. Seunghee just takes a sip as well as Elkie. Elkie has decided not to drink too much since she'll be the one responsible for the whole group later on, being the manager.

"That was a blast guys," Jonghyun exclaims.

They're all just as hyped as him. This stage is their biggest so far and they're all just overwhelmed and grateful.

"Especial thanks to our handler, Mr. Kim, who's not here tonight. More power to you!" Dongho shouts.

"And of course, to our beloved composer, Seunghee, who keeps writing good music for us," Minhyun says.

Seunghee just smiles, "And of course, to Minhyun, Jonghyun and Dongho, who makes good music with me, and to our dedicated manager, Elkie, who's always there behind the scenes for us," she adds.

"And don't leave out the fans. They are the reason you're here today," Elkie utters.

"Yeah! Thank you everybody!" Jonghyun and Dongho exclaim.

They all bear happy faces. It's a milestone for them. If this progress continues, their greatest dream will not be so far away.

After two hours of celebration, Seunghee can't even stand anymore, she feels like bowling over. Beside her is Minhyun on her right, who can still handle his alcohol in the next few hours if the situation may ask and Elkie on her left, the one she's leaning onto. Dongho is already all over the place and Jonghyun is only smiling to himself at a corner, he's too drunk to talk.

Elkie, even if she's a little tipsy herself, offers that they all just sleep over her place. "Hey you guys, you can all just spend the night at my place."

"Sure... that will be great," Dongho replies, tipsy.

"I can still go," Minhyun upholds his pride.

"But unnie can't," Elkie points at the already knocked out Seunghee.

He turns to her and sees her slumping on her side. "Yeah..." Minhyun quickly takes back his statement, "We all should just spend the night at your place."

Elkie nods at him and assists her unnie who's already sleeping on the couch. "We're going home unnie," she tells her.

"Hm..." Seunghee just murmurs.

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It cannot be helped, since all of them are almost out of it, Minhyun is the one who carries Seunghee to the guest room, while Elkie assists Dongho and Jonghyun to the other room at her two-story house.

"I'll be there in a minute oppa," Elkie tells Minhyun as they part ways and get inside separate rooms.

Minhyun enters Elkie's room. Since he's family, he's been there a lot of times and he knows the house like the back of his head. He's assisting Seunghee, his arms around her waist as her arm circles the back of his neck. She can barely stand, he's like carrying a half-asleep beauty.

He puts her down the bed gently. She's almost asleep, but she murmurs incoherent things every now and then. He sits beside her on the bed and stares at her. It's overwhelming. Her vulnerability is slowly pushing him to his limits.

"Seunghee-ya..." his feelings are overflowing again.

For the past months, he contained it all. He didn't want to disturb again or let her recall that dark part of their friendship. But right now that they're alone and no one else is around, he feels tempted again. Only god knows how much he wants to hold her, touch her and kiss her again. But he doesn't think she's ever gonna feel the same for him. He accepted it, but his feelings are still too hard to ignore. Right now, he just wants to steal this single moment for himself.

He reaches out to her hair, caressing her soft waves and softly touching her cheeks with his thumb. He loves her, there's no doubt about that and he doesn't ever want to hurt her again. But right now, with the help of the intoxicating alcohol, he's too weak to overcome his urges. He towers over her and shoves his face to hers. He kisses her cheek tenderly, and plants little kisses following the contour of her jaw line. He does it too gently, not to awaken her. He moves further down to her neck, but this time, he puts in a little more effort and nibbles on it delicately. It's just too hard to resist for him.

Then suddenly she murmurs, "That tickles, Jeonghan-ah..."

It instantly makes him stop. He gradually moves away from her, in shock and in pain. He sits straight on the bed and then walks to the couch nearby. He sits on it, leans his back and from there, he stares at her. With solemn eyes and broken heart, he pities himself. He can never have her all to himself no matter what he does. Her heart's already taken hostage by someone who is not even there anymore. But she still only has him in his heart and that's his agonizing truth.

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After a few minutes, Elkie walks inside and catches Minhyun sitting, hugging his knees on the couch with his head on it, he looks like napping, while Seunghee is sleeping peacefully on the bed.

She walks over Minhyun and shakes him a little, "Oppa, I'll take it from here. You can go to your room now."

Minhyun just looks up to her and slowly walks out of the room. Even though he's drunk, she can't ignore the sadness in his eyes. After he's gone, she walks over Seunghee and caresses her hair, then she hears her murmur, "Jeonghan-ah..." Now she's sure what that look is for in Minhyun's face. She feels sad for him too. And for her unnie, who has no one but Jeonghan in her heart.

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TO BE CONTINUED...

Published: 03/30/18