WARNING: For HEAVENS, I just put five members instead of seven. I apologize but the first reason is there will be too many casts and I want to cut down the characters whom I don't need their presence in this story. The most solid reason will be revealed later.

CHAPTER 2

"Okay, let's take a break for fifteen minutes!" Without waiting for his teammates' response, Otori Eichii pressed the 'pause' button. Their latest song which would be promoted soon stopped echoing in the vast training room, replaced with the different layers of short pants from the five members of HEAVENS, a popular boy band.

When he turned to meet eyes with his four teammates, he knew he would see the different expression but still suggested the same definition. Some of them were busy wiping the droplets of sweat across their faces but their eyes still shot perplexity to their leader, Eichii.

"We practiced long enough since this morning. I don't want anyone to pass out. Plus, I think all parts are perfect already," Eichii remarked softly. He was proud to see the progress of each of his teammate and he was positive that they would succeed with their new album this time...

And beat a certain idol.

"Really, Eichii?" Mikado Nagi, the youngest member in the group asked. His hands held his knees for a support. "Do you think it's perfect already?"

"Yes, Nagi," Eichii replied which Nagi responded with a bright grin. It always felt nice when his teammates did not hesitate to put their trust in him.

"Eichii is right. It'll be better to take a break," Otori Eiji, Eichii's brother supplied before bringing his watch close to his eyes. "Plus, it has been four hours. Our body still needs sufficient rest."

"Oh, we are taking a break for real? What a relief! To be honest, I am so spent right now!" Kiryuin Van, a guy with a strong Kansai accent exclaimed. He lifted his arms into the air, relieving his sore muscles after the complex dancing.

"But, are you sure we have zero flaws already, Eichii?" Sumeragi Kira asked. The black-haired guy was usually very quiet but every time he voiced out his thought, nobody could deny him being analytical. "It's not like I don't trust you but to say that we are perfect, I believe your father doesn't..."

"Yes, trust me. We are HEAVENS anyway," Eichii said before his pink lips formed a handsome smirk.

That was right. The popularity that they possessed had completely changed their life. They were no longer the second in priority. They were no longer the boy band that would end up as the second choice in every award, shows, and interviews.

"You know that's not what I mean, right, Eichii?" Kira said. His expression did not change but the sternness in his voice sent the others froze on their spot.

"Trust me, Kira. Plus, we just took 15 minutes break. It's not like we are going to stop practicing for good so just relax for a bit," Eichii said, still wearing his calm demeanor despite Kira's skeptical expression.

The president is not in this town today. That's why I suggest a slightly longer break.

He wanted to state his thought but Eiji was here. He did not want his brother to know the true color of their 'beloved' president.

Except for Eichii, everybody was sitting up on the floor. Eiji and Kira were talking to each other about their songs while the louder members, Van and Nagi were reading a newspaper together. Their body might feel leaden but their mouth could not stop gossiping about any celebrity that caught their interest.

Eichii was sitting alone on a chair, allowing his purple eyes settled on the pictures of a very beautiful woman from his phone. He tried his best to not smile like some teenagers who were madly in love when in fact, he was. Staring at his fiancée's smiling face when he surprised her with a romantic birthday party made him proud of himself for being able to put such expression on her face.

His relationship with Shibuya Tomochika, a famous idol from Shining Agency was something that never crossed in his mind. How come he ended up being mesmerized by the woman? Why did he have to be engaged to a celebrity from the rival agency when a lot of women threw themselves at him?

The rival agency which had both Hijirikawa Masato and his 'twin', Ichinose Tokiya.

The answer was simple. Tomochika meant the world to him. When his life went downhill, Tomochika appeared like an angel, cosseted him with the happiness that he longed for since he was young. There were no moments that he thought was wasted once Tomochika was around.

Everyone swooned over his girlfriend but he was the chosen one, was loved and the one who loved her.

Nobody could steal her from him. Never.

"To be honest, I am so sick of seeing his face! Is he the only one who is active in STARISH nowadays?" Nagi's shrill voice took Eichii away from his own little world. "While his twin is on hiatus, he sure has a veeeryyy bright future, huh? Heck, he is even voted as the Heart-throb for tenth times already. How's that even possible?"

"Relax, Nagi. Why do you sound like you hate him? I like him, though. He makes my work easy," Van supplied. His eyes stared at the blue-haired Heart-throb who became their next target of gossip.

"But, must it always about him? Our group also has hot members. Why did they have to pick someone from a dull group like STARISH? We are way better than him!"

"Nagi, it's not nice to say such thing," Eiji said, curving in a small but disapproving smile. "Even they are from our rival agency, STARISH is still our friends. You cannot just belittle them like that."

"But, Eiji..." Nagi lifted the newspaper page which had boosted his dramatic outburst. "I admit this guy is popular but is he really that popular? All he did was marketing his muscle and he could get the Heart-throb title for ten years straight!"

"Tokiya is very talented, Nagi," Eiji replied, softly. His brown eyes stared at the said guy who was posing in a captivating fashion for his interview. "I had worked with him several times and he is someone that everybody looks up to."

"He can sing and act," Van added, nonchalantly. "He is also cool and very handsome."

"Yeah, as if everybody else in this industry is hideous, not cool, and not talented at all. He's just overrated to me," Nagi continued slurring while his eyes glanced disgustedly at Tokiya's picture.

"Or are you just jealous of him, Nagi? Hahahahaha," the playful Van pointed at Nagi's flushed face. "Don't tell me you felt intimidated by him?"

"No, I am not!"

"He was a child actor and has worked the longest among us. You cannot compare yourself to someone like him, Nagi," Kira's casual but sharp remark made Nagi almost dropped his jaws. Obviously, Kira thought that Nagi was being ridiculous.

"Kira is right. If you want to be like him, you have to wait for another ten years," Van teased while stroking Nagi's small head. "Because it seems your puberty doesn't love you as much as his. Hahahaha."

"Tsk, Nagi doesn't have to be handsome and hot like the guy. He just needs to stay cute," Nagi said. It always amazed them how he could keep his straight face while calling himself cute.

"You sound like a typical teenager who has a complex with his brother," Kira said as he could not stand Nagi's snobbishness.

"Kira, you are mean!"

"You're meaner, though. You are belittling someone who is obviously way better than you. Shame on you."

"What was that!?"

Eiji and Van laughed at their bickering. It had always been so amusing when Kira started talking. All he knew was make people zipped their mouths by using his sharp tongue.

Unbeknown to them, Eichii was silently listening and digesting their conversation.

"Ah, good afternoon, Dad!" Eiji suddenly exclaimed, taking the wind out of everyone's sails. Van almost sprayed the water that he was sipping, unable to hide his surprise at their president's sudden presence.

Otori Raging, the said president walked inside, staring at each of the sweaty faces. He had this snobbish and leader-esque face and aura like Eichii, his first son. The only part that could associate him and Eiji was their brown hairs. Unlike him, Eiji had a softer look.

"Good afternoon, president," the other three bowed side by side, almost instantly.

Meanwhile, Eichii frantically put his phone back into his track pants. He stood up from his chair while his hands clasped tightly together.

Damn! He is not supposed to be back until three. What's he doing here this early?

"Good afternoon, Dad," he mumbled.

"Good afternoon, everyone. How's the practice?" Otori who was a legendary singer asked.

"Everything is fine, Dad," Eiji exclaimed, cheerfully. He absolutely did not have an idea about how much his father's presence was like a monster for his brother.

"Oh, really? Good then," he said as he patted each of their shoulders except for Eichii. "Eichii, please follow me to my office. I have something to talk to you. As for others, go and grab some lunch. I don't want you guys to starve yourself just because of the practice. You guys are good enough," Otori said, eyeing any hint of irritation from Eichii's face.

You hypocrite! Eichi's mind yelled.

"Okay!" The four voices echoed almost in unison. It was always nice to have a very considerate president.

Little did they know, Eichii never shared the same opinion about his father.

"Judging from how you guys took a rest, I bet your album will reach the top chart soon. Oh, you guys even read the article about Ichinose Tokiya," Otori remarked, referring to the newspaper page of Tokiya's interview which Nagi left on the floor. He leaned casually on his chair while his eyes never left his son's face. "Hopefully you guys learn something from him. He is the tough rival."

"Hey, Dad. Just cut them some slack, will you?" Eichii said. It had never been restful once he was summoned to his father's office. He always had to put up with Otori's high standard about everything. In other words, Otori always underestimated his teammates except for Eiji. "They have worked so hard for the album. They barely got any sleep this month so..."

"That's the normal process in order to defeat your rival. In this context, your group doesn't deserve a rest or sleep at all."

"But, Dad..."

"I am proud of you, son. I guess I have trained you to be a very good leader. Look at you. You even talked back to your father for the sake of your teammates. That's good. A very good job, I must say," Otori said, softly but layered with sarcasm. He mentally challenged Eichii to spurt more defensive remarks about his teammates.

Eichii clenched his fist, suppressing his urge to scream at his father. His frame from head to toe felt numb with fury and frankly speaking, he did not know when it would last.

"By the way, how's your fiancée doing?" Otori asked. He lifted his eyebrow as he talked but it just showed that he was not that interested in Tomochika.

"She's doing fine," Eichii said, flatly. "Why?"

"Nothing. Don't misunderstand because I don't really care about your fiancée. She is just someone that my son madly in loves with," it took all for Eichii to not strangle his father for disparaging Tomochika. "What matters the most is... Her colleagues, Hijirikawa Masato and Ichinose Tokiya."

"Huh?"

Otori grabbed a folded newspaper from his side, tossing it to his son. Eichii reached it half-heartedly. He fixed his glasses as he read the headline. For some reason, Masato's picture which was on the left side of the paper held his attention the most.

How similar can he be to Tokiya.

"Masato just took a hiatus. What's wrong with that?" Eichii asked, tossing it to the center of the table. "He's sick anyway and that's bound to happen."

"What's with the boring response? Don't you think that we are too lucky, Eichii?" Raging said. His smirk got wider with the thought that his son would know what he had in his mind. "We didn't even have to lift a finger and that kid already met his cataclysm. Saotome said to me that his illness got severe and there was no sign of recovery. With the guy's hiatus, HEAVENS will continue dominating the showbiz. Your dream will come true again, son."

'All you care is taking revenge against their president, Dad,' was what Eichii really wanted to blurt out. He was tired of this revenge drama. Why would his petty father want to take a revenge against Shining Saotome, the president of the rival company that much? He knew the reason and he was not amused with the way Otori used HEAVENS as his revenge tool as well.

As if trying to recruit Tokiya and mess up with other STARISH member's past was not enough...

"You are rather confident, Dad. Don't you think that it's too early to celebrate? STARISH has another six members and in this newspaper, Tokiya was entitled as the Heart-Throb again..."

"The other five is not important, Eichii. Trust me," Otori said. "The most important part is how you can ruin both Masato and Tokiya at the same time. People don't call them twins for no reasons, you know. Masato is sick and it's already the end for Tokiya as well. You know what I mean, right? I know my son and I are always on the same wavelength."

You wish.

"I'll see what I can do, Dad," Eichii said, eventually. As long as he did not pretend to show the slight interest of those two members of STARISH, his father would pester him and he never liked it.

In fact, I already ruined them before you even though of it. This time, you'll be amazed by what your son can offer, he mentally stated.

He dragged his long legs along the corridor. He knew he was supposed to join his teammates for a lunch but his mood did not seem to agree with his hungry stomach, thanks to Otori. He was about to wash his face in a nearby toilet when he could spot a beautiful lady, all smiling at him from the opposite of the corridor.

Wearing a loose brown blouse and dark blue jeans, Tomochika looked so pretty in his eyes. Yes, his father was right. She was just a woman who he was madly in love with.

But, at least, unlike Otori, Tomochika was the one who awoke his gentle side every time he almost broke into a monster.

When she kept him warm with her embrace, Eichii wished it was only him and her in this sullied world. He did not need anybody else anymore. He wrapped his arms around the slender body, oblivious to the fact that it took all for her to not wince in pain.

The bruises on her back did not heal yet.