A/N:

Er…..

_.

I'm really sorry guys…this fic isn't dead. I suppose I should make it a challenge that I update maybe once a week, but…just lol. The mere though makes me snicker/ scoff at (myself!) for even thinking of such unattainable things.

Just be warned, there's a lot of Kpop refs in this one, explained down below. This Intermission's a rather light-hearted one, being a failed attempt at an omake...smh/

And Happy Belated Thanksgiving!

454g: Fav story? Thank you, I'm honored. And you even reread Chapter 2? My goodness – thank you for your diligent reviews, I'm glad you're happy with my characterization! I will update to the best of my ability *feels a bit guilty*.

LLm, Italks08, Meirin618: Thank you so much for reviewing!

Icenflake: I'm sorry…T_T. Here's another update! Jealousy is really a strong emotion that stirs people up, right?

~Round 5 Yao Intermission~

"I want you to cut it all off."

Yao sat in the swiveling leather chair, looking past the bright salon lights and carefully studied his face as a bubbly blonde bustled about, whistling cheerfully. As soon as the words were uttered, he swung around, gasping in mock anger and poked his index finger at Yao's forehead.

"Are you like seriously, totes out of your mind? Have you finally lost all your common sense and brain cells, to like…ew…studying?"

Yao rolled his eyes and managed a forced laugh. "And who exactly is the one whose brain cells and common sense rapidly depleted years ago?"

Feliks pouted and 'hmphed,' flippantly dismissing the notion as blasphemy with a trite wave of his hand and rummaged for some hair care products on the expansive ebony shelves next to the seat. He continued to chatter on, "Seriously, like there's totes no way I'm going to cut all that gorgeous hair off!"

"It's like your only best feature!"

"What?" Yao grimaced. "Are you trying to make me feel even worse, Feliks?"

Feliks' emerald eyes were wide and innocent as he smiled and flashed a mischievous smile. Much to Yao's surprise, the boy smacked Yao's cheeks and pinched them tight and drew them upward till Yao's face was contorted into a semi-awkward smile. "Ow-o-ow!" Yao yelled as he playfully pushed Feliks back and rubbed his sore cheeks.

"That hurt you bastard! Your hands are too cold!" Yao pretended to be mad, folding his arms together and refusing to look at his blond friend.

Feliks suddenly grew serious as he leaned in. "At least that got rid of the totally ugly furrow between your eyebrows."

Yao looked down, not saying anything.

"Are you really okay?"

"…."

Feliks combed through Yao's wet hair, brushing it to ensure all the knots were out. He continued to ask worriedly.

"I don't know what happened….but what happened between you and Ivan – it was pretty bad, right?"

Yao blinked, then sighed. "…Yeah." He fell silent and played with the key in his hand, lost in his thoughts. With this haircut, off would come the long tresses of hair that he'd kept, off would come all the memories that came with it.

Two years, he kept this hair, because he had said it was beautiful.

Yao finally understood why girls cut their hair after having their hearts broken - it was a new, fresh start, a physical manifestation of their lightening hearts and minds as they threw away past relationships and looked onwards. The hair, that he had once loved, now only served as bonds to tie Yao back from forgetting.

That was why, today, he was going to cut it all off without any regrets and look forward to a new love and future, perhaps it would be all sparkly with flowers flying in the background whilst cheesy music played in the background in the gardens of the park where he would meet his fut-

Ugh.

Perhaps he was reading too many Japanese comics that his brother, Kiku, left lying around in the house. He'd secretly snatched the magazines from his room and read it in his spare time, making sure Kiku didn't catch him. He was almost done with Marmalade Boy, and everything was too confusing for Yao to keep up with. Stupid family ties. He sobbed like a baby and cried in a fetal position at the part when they split up, but it wasn't like Yao was going to admit it…But in the manga, the girl cut her hair when she decided to have a fresh start, and forget about the man she previously loved so fervently before.

Yao could so empathize with the girl's feelings and emotions. They both faced terrible predicaments, their mutual frustration, sorrow, melancholy, sadness, their jerk of boyfriends an - but suddenly, harsh reality hit him and it occurred to Yao that:

a) He was not a girl.

b) He was not Japanese.

c) He was not in love with anyone blood related to him.

d) He was not in a shojo manga.

So much for trying to comfort himself, because there would be no guarantee there would be a happy ending.

"Happy ending…." Yao muttered under his breath, and sniffed at the idea. Surely it wasn't all the Korean dramas he watched with his brother that was getting to him…

"ANIKIIIIIIII!"

Speak of the devil. Yao suddenly snapped out of his supposed deep thoughts and his blood chilled when he recognized the familiar voice at once. Feliks whipped around, eyes narrowing as he pinpointed the intruder coming at the seated Yao with the horsepower of fifteen Asian mothers bargain shopping for –

"…THE RICE! The rice is over there! Kpop! G Dragon! Morning Glory! Sale – Today - " Frantic, Yao began to flail wildly as hyperventilation set in as he braced himself for the oncoming onslaught as he blabbered anything to stop the hurtling mass of flesh aimed straight for him. His voice rose an octave higher as the blur began to get dangerously closer and closer every passing second. "4minute! MBLAQ! Goo Hara and Junhyung are dating!"

"IM YONG SOO! ARE SNSD TIFFANY'S WHITE SHORTS TOO SHORT?"*

Miraculously, the kid stopped right before crashing into Yao, chocolate brown eyes wide with disbelief and amazement. "Amazing aniki! I was just about to ask you that~da ze! You never told me you had ESP!"

Yao heaved a sigh of relief, rolling his eyes and attempted to calm his heart down. The pounding in his ears was too loud; every time his little brother, Im Yong Soo , saw him at school, it became a life or death matter of avoiding the insanely hyper, somewhat clueless teenager with a huge brother complex.

Feliks recovered slightly from the whirlwind of movement and leaned forward to look closely at Yong Soo. "So he's your little brother right? He's like, totes not bad looking." Feliks winked. "Do you think sixteen is, like, a little bit too young for me?"

"FELIKS!" Yao gasped, glaring at the Pole, whispering furiously. "He's my little brother and you are so NOT going to hit on him!"

"Joking, joking!" Backing away, the airy blonde gave him a wry smile and reached down to grab some more hairclips.

The glare did not lessen, Yao still caught Feliks sneaking glances at Yong Soo, taking in the lazy smile, tousled hair, the dirty soccer uniform. Yong Soo was only two years younger than Yao, but he was well known throughout the school for his easygoing and carefree personality. "What now?" Yao asked tiredly, rolling his eyes. "Can't you see I'm busy?"

Unfazed by Yao's dismissive attitude (probably because he was used to it), Yong Soo ecstatically replied as he tugged on his elder brother's hand. "That's exactly what I came here for da~ze! To give you pointers on what sort of haircut you need!"

Yao shot the smiling kid a sort of look mixed with disgust, exasperation, and…a hint of fear and vehemence. "D-didn't I tell you, Im Yong Soo, for the last time, I have no desire in hearing any of your opinions regarding the matter of my free will in deciding what sort of haircut I get? Don't tell me your fashion sense is unparalleled, because we've been through this before –"

"Plus, like," Feliks cut in, "I'm in charge." Looking slightly offended, he sniffed and tossed his head back, lazily drawing out, "Just like, exactly who do you think I am?"

"But!" Yong Soo turned his pleading, chocolate puppy eyes towards the blonde. "He can't just cut all of his hair off! It'd be terrible – hold on," He paused for a second, turning to his slightly scuffled looking backpack and rummaging through it, the one piece of gravity defying hair bobbing up and down as he frantically searched through disorganized papers and crumpled up candy wrappers.

"Aha!" Triumphant, Yong Soo pulled out a thick stack of colored photos, scrawled all over with marks with red pen and 'x's. His face suddenly grew serious as he cleared his throat. "According to my meticulous research, I have finally conjectured the perfect haircut for you, Aniki. Nights of sleeplessness and restlessness pouring over such important matters, I have no doubt in this choice."

If Yao could sink into his chair, and into the ground, this would have been the perfect time.

Waving all the papers in front of Yao's face, Yong Soo exploded in an excited chatter. "It will be the best da~ze! You'll be so handsome! I went through all of the possible Kpop male idol haircuts and downloaded them off the internet and printed them out at home- !"

"You…what?" Yao's expression was livid.

Yong Soo immediately retracted at the tone of his brother's voice. "Um…" he repeated in a small voice, "…I just…printed some stuff out?"

"Where?" Yao demanded with a murderous countenance.

All traces of the sunny previous sunny smile were gone from Yong Soo's face as he was reduced to cowering. "…at…home?"

"Do. You. Know." A dangerously quiet voice hidden behind a smile Yong Soo knew very well and feared with all his might.

A vein popped.

"Just how much ink you wasted? Do you know HOW MUCH IT COSTS? You just wasted finite resources and money and I had to buy all those damn cartridges WITH MY OWN MONEY YOU LITTLE –" Suddenly Yao's face was pushed to the side as Feliks crowded in and snatched the papers from Yong Soo's hands and studied them.

"Oh my god, like which one?" Ignoring the Chinese boy's mortified expression at the utter ignoring of his rant, Feliks studied the pictures carefully. Yong Soo, seeing the blonde's interest, pointed enthusiastically at one of the pictures.

"This one!"

Feliks' eyes grew rounder and wider, staring at the photograph with a stunned expression on his face. "You," Feliks absentmindedly patted the Korean teenager on the back as he continued to stare at the image, "are like, a total genius. How did I, like, totally not think of that?"

Nodding, both of them turned to stare at Yao, scrutinizing his face, then looking down at the haircut. Up and back, up and back. Twin heads, one cornsilk and another jet ebony bobbing up and down. Yao began to feel cold sweat gather at the collar of his shirt, swallowing as he realized that…this wasn't going to lead anywhere but hell for him.

"You…guys…".

Pointedly ignoring him, they continued to stare.

"What…is it?" Yao was almost too scared to ask.

Feliks' and Yong Soo's smiles contained more than mere enjoyment as they crept upon Yao and whirled him around in his chair. Chuckling, they both answered at the same time.

"A perm!"

"….."

"…."

A quiet whimper escaped from Yao's lips, and before he could jump out of his chair and make a run for the door screaming bloody murder, his brother and friend had him by the hair and dragged him back with maniacal glints in their eyes.

Round 5:

He found the immobile figure in the dark room alone, in front of a large computer screen, thumbs flicking so fast the movement seemed almost unnoticeable. The vivid images on the display shifted rapidly, and the boy in the room did not notice the tall figure standing by the doorway. His large headphones were oversized, struggling to keep from sliding off as he whispered furiously in the microphone attached, shooting out strategies at some faceless being on the other side of the line, the clack of the several game controllers clinking as he switched over to another with ease.

"I have an offer."

The Japanese boy was startled, whirling around to see the intruder. He looked up, eyes hard, flickering from the shifting lights. When he registered what had been said, a calculating smile spread across his face.

"What for?"

The Russian moved forward, stopping some distance away from the seated figure. The boy took off his earphones and placed the controllers by the desk. "It will benefit…both you and me. Of course, money isn't a problem."

The black haired gamer cocked his head to the side thinking and he looked at the tall man that stood immovably before him, eyes running up and down the length of his body as he absent-mindedly mused over the offer.

"And who does this involve?"

"That's secondary."

"I'd like to know at least who I'm dealing with."

"You're good with electronics, no?"

"Answer the question."

Met at a standstill, both paused and stared silently at each other, until a cruel smile lazily drew upon Ivan's face. He advanced, pensive for a fleeting moment until he leaned over the boy, shoving aside the controllers and smirked, breathing into the Asian boy's ear.

"Let's just say it's someone you hate…" he chuckled, "so much that you would do anything to…?"

Recognition glimmered in the Japanese boy's eyes as he snickered with a quiet cruelty and a knowing look, tilting his head, pushing back the tall man as he stood up.

"What say you, Honda?"

Two twin sneers that flashed in the darkness, a pact between devils.

"I'll take you up on that offer, Braginski."

*G Dragon, 4minute, MBLAQ, Goo Hara and Junhyung are all Korean artists and/or Boy/ Girl Bands.

*Morning Glory is a Korean brand…of cute stationery.

*The SNSD Tiffany shorts thing was just a reference to the article here on . It was the most read on that website; .com/2011/11/tiffany-of-snsds-white-shorts-hot-or-too-short

One last thing: Okay, I'm seriously not funny. I try and you know what, it's a pretty major fail…but would you guys like to see an omake? If so, of what? Hit me up with some ideas…because. *hangs head* I should make it up for the, er…very slow updates. I might need my friend Lucky on FF to help with it because I'm hopeless at humorous things, like you already know.

I promise I will update a lot faster next time!