Hollywood Zenith

" But.. I can still do it..ugh," Siwon tried to stand up abruptly only to tumble down again; others stopped him so he didn't fall again.

" Take it easy. You shouldn't push yourself!"

" Right, Hyungnim said so there is nothing you could do about it."

" It will only worsen if you keep putting pressure on it. It could lead to severe damage that could take months to heal." Samuel came forward and said. Everyone noticed the strangers that came to their practice suddenly.

" Excuse me...but who are you?" Eunhyuk asked. He didn't recognize the young man, but two of them looked familiar.

" Ah, I am Samuel. We were touring the facilities but when we saw you guys practice we took a peek. I am sorry that we disturb your practice but my friend here was a little worried when she saw him fall down." Samuel briefly told them.

" Is that so? Oh, Manager Jean was here too. Hello." Leeteuk noticed Jean and said hello in English; Samuel promptly interpreted for them.

" Young master, that...is it serious?" Jean asked.

" Of course can't you see his ankle have turned blue? Shouldn't we call the hospital or something?" Emma said with a worried face.

" Someone went in to call the manager, It's best that he decide what to do." Samuel added, and that's when Yesung rushed in with the manager. He looked to be in his thirties, and there was nothing special about him at first glance, but somehow, he looked reliable.

" What? Ha ha, is it serious?" He exclaimed, and seeing the gloomy faces of his idols, he knew it was indeed serious.

" Manager Kim, I don't think he could perform tonight," Leeteuk said frustratingly. Losing a member was devastating for them and the whole concert. Without him, there would be no flow to the performance as every member had specific lyrics assigned to them; that's how they trained for months.

Now that Siwon was out and their backup members were still in Korea, improvising was impossible, no matter how they tried it. It was more regrettable because they already spread the word about their joint performance with the Grace Generation group. They would also be implicated in this mess.

" Please give me few minutes, with these ice packs I can do one more show!" Siwon refused to give up seeing their conflicted faces. He felt like he was letting them down.

" Fool! Stay down, I will send you to the nearby hospital! There is nothing more you can do about it." The manager shouted, which immediately shut him up.

" Mr. Kim..." Jean came forward, which finally stole his attention from Siwon. Kim was surprised to see the organizer here, but it made his face even more frustrated.

" I am sorry Mr. Jean, I left them for few minutes but I didn't know they would..." He held back his words. His English came with an accent, but that was not a problem right now.

Jean would have been angry, but with Samuel here, he couldn't scold them since yesterday he had seen how much effort the whole group put in and screaming over an unfortunate accident was below him.

" Don't worry, take him to the hospital-"

" SIWON! You idiot! What did you do?" A few more people came screaming his name. Seeing them, Darren's eyes immediately lit up; they were none other than the girl's group set to perform beside them.

They all had messy appearances, probably because they were in the middle of the make-up session. Few of them had perm rods and hair rollers all over their hair. Few of them even didn't bother to pull out their face masks!

" Urgh...noona..." Siwon visibly pinched seeing them.

" You bastard! I told you to take it slow!" Red, the group leader, exclaimed as soon as she reached her target. All the other boy members swiftly made way for her without even saying anything; it seemed like she held quite an 'authority' over them!

" I am sorry." Siwon said, holding the ice pack over his bruised ankle.

" Stop it Mi sun! Before that, are you fine? Does it hurt a lot?" Yoo Soo-jin pushed Red aside and asked. Mi Sun seemed to be Red's real name, but with her popularity, she was always called Red wherever she went.

" Che, looking at their faces. I don't think it's normal injury." Yoona clicked her tongue, annoyed. She was the youngest, but her image was wild as always, even in private.

" Be nice, Yoona!" Ningning calmed her down. She was a little older than her and would always take the big sister role when dealing with Yoona.

" Manager Kim, are we cancelling the performance?" Kim Bo-mi got right to the point; she had always been direct and could not read the room!

" That, I don't know..." Kim didn't want to say outright, but his mind was working at total capacity, trying to devise a solution. But no matter how much he thought about it, he could do nothing about it so close to performance.

Other groups were about to open the concert, and their performance would last at least two hours before their aces, Juniors and Grace had to do their solos. Even if they could drag those performances, with Siwon absent, Yoona would not have a partner during their 'duet' performance.

" But for now, I have to take him to the hospital....in the meantime you guys focus on your performance." He turned toward Jean and spoke in English," Mr Jean, I have to trouble you for this." He lifted Siwon like a child.

Siwon was not only the youngest but weighed almost nothing compared to his age. The idols had to maintain a sleek physique according to Korean beauty standards, making it easier for Kim to carry him.

" Young master..." Jean turned toward Samuel for a moment, and seeing him nod, he agreed to help Kim. They rushed toward the exit with Siwon and headed straight to the nearby hospital.

But even with Manager Kim's encouraging last words, the faces of both idol groups didn't ease much. They remained standing, worrying while looking toward the exit.

" Sami...what happened? Isn't they coming back?" Emma asked, looking at their depressed expression.

" Don't tell me that the concert will be cancelled? I was looking forward to her....it." Darren coughed, sensing Emma's glare. He was finally meeting them but couldn't bring himself to talk to them. Even if he did, he was unsure if it was the right time; even her favourite idol, Red, looked dejected!

" It seemed serious by the things Manager Kim told them. I guess we have to wait to see..."

" Huh? Can't you do something about it? I really want to see Leeteuk oppa's live performance..." Emma sensed Samuel's hesitation. Despite this, she asked for the impossible.

He could do it with his powers, but that would expose his secret to them and everyone here." Maybe we could come next year-" Samuel's thoughts were interrupted by Emma's sudden scream.

" Ahhh! You, you-" Emma started pointing at Samuel for some reason.

Hearing an unexpected scream woke others from their delirium, too, and they started looking at the young man with a hat covering his face.

" What happened?" Darren asked.

" She is right, if it's Sami, I can see how that's possible." Rupert, who had been with her for years, perfectly understood her seemingly impossible gesture. He was rubbing his chin, staring at Samuel, too.

" You are not thinking what I thinking right?" Finding a partner, Emma smiled smugly at Rupert, to which he nodded knowingly.

" Sami, you do it! You are our only hope!"

" What's she on about? Did she eat something funny at lunch?" Samuel completely ignored her; it was not like he didn't know what she was referring to, but showing his prowess here would definitely cause problems.

" You have to do it for my sake! I know you can, I believe in you!" Emma patted him on the back, laughing.

Seeing their happy faces, Leeteuk came forward, but before he could say anything, Yoona overtook him and stood before Samuel. He was a lot taller than her, so she had to look up to see his eyes, which were shrouded in darkness because of the overhead lights.

" Is what she said true? Do you have a solution?" She asked bluntly. She had a slight accent, but her English was the best among them.

" Yes! He can definitely do it! right Sami?" Emma answered for him with confidence.

" How?"

" He is very good at learning. I am sure he could replace Siwon oppa tonight as a stand in member of the group!" Emma proclaimed. Yoona might have thought she was insane if she was not that desperate. For some reason, she felt like he could do it! 

" Everyone! She said he can do it! Why don't we take him in as a volunteer and judge his skills?" Yoona turned to her teammates and asked loudly.