Seventeen

"Ugh. I would not have recognised you had I not already known that hoodie of yours." I grimaced on walking up to the young man who was waiting at DayBreak Entertainment's main entrance. "And where did you get that cap? It's got a hole in it."

"It's a style statement. Shut up, you." Changmin laughed and gave me a big hug. "Welcome back home!"

"I've been home for a week already though." I gave in and laughed softly, patting his back. We had not quite been able to meet since I returned from Thailand. We were forced to schedule this drinks' date on the phone too. I could understand why he would say that to me now. "It's good to be back."

I had missed you too. Yes.

We let go of each other and I asked, "Won't it be weird if the both of us wear caps and masks on? And that too at a bar."

"I'll take it off once we get there. You have to keep your beanie on though. Your hair will attract attention. My hair's black so I'll fit right in." He was wearing an open green hoodie over a grey V-neck T-shirt with black jeans. Save for the face, he really did look like a normal 23-year-old.

"How long have you had that hoodie anyway?" I've seen it ever since the first day I met him as a trainee. It used to be rather loose on him back then. Now it fit him perfectly.

"Ah. I don't really know. I think I was 16 when I bought it. I had really liked it back then. There's nothing wrong with it now so I still use it. I haven't worn it out much since 04:00 am debuted though. I wanted to dress well today but I did not want us to stand out either. I want a quiet evening."

"Where are we going?" I asked. Even I had worn simple everyday clothes.

"A place nearby. I've been there before with Jaemin Hyung. The place can offer some privacy."

"It's been a while since I went out like this." I smiled and pulled on my mask before stuffing my hands into my pockets. "Let's go."

He took a cab to the bar. The place was crowded but it was also poorly lit. That helped us hide our faces, at least. The music was rather loud too. As we were, no one was quite paying any mind to us. More than myself, Changmin was a well-known face. It could have gotten really bad if he was recognised.

"This way." Changmin found my wrist and pulled me along through a crowded section of the place to an unassuming corner table. We slid into the sofa seats opposite each other. There was a wide pillar near the seat which served to obscure us from view. Changmin had clearly been there before because he knew exactly which seat to pick too.

"Do you drink out often, Hyung?" I asked as he accepted the food and drinks menu cards from the waiter and handed one each over to me.

"Often… Not really. Maybe once in a month."

"Hm. And at the dorm? Do you drink there with everyone?"

"With everyone, not so much. Usually, three or four people are available to drink but everyone together is a little difficult. I've never had to drink alone though."

"That's nice."

"What about you?"

"No. We don't drink too often. We do drink but we aren't too particular about it. I think that we've gone out to drink only about twice or thrice. Also, I'm not too great with alcohol." I admitted.

"Can't hold your drink? That's cute. You should probably say that the next time they ask you to reveal something interesting about yourself."

"Hyung, is there anything of S.T.A.Y's that you haven't watched?" He just seemed to know everything!

"What? You don't watch everything of 04:00 am's?"

"Um, no?" Sorry. "I do try to but you guys do way too many things. It's difficult to keep up."

He lost his smile. "Uwah. I feel betrayed now."

I laughed. "I do try, okay? I have seen most of it. I'm just amazed that you find time for all of this."

"I try to make time for you." He nodded on deciding what drink to order. I too had made up my mind by then. "I'm surprised that you had not told True about your piano."

"I know. It's weird, isn't it? I wonder why I never mentioned it before."

"Coffee knew about my piano hobby as soon as 04:00 am debuted. It's one of my charm points." He smirked.

"You have released plenty of videos of yourself playing the piano and singing. They have something to go on." I thought out loud. "Maybe I too should try something like that."

"You should. Now that they know, they will want to see how good you are." He nodded and called for the waiter. "You have decided, right?"

"Yup."

We proceeded to place our order, asking for the drinks to be brought before the food.

Changmin had pulled his mask down to his chin and taken off his cap. With the dull lighting and no make-up, he did not stand out at all. Save for my hair, I too could have passed off as just another random customer.

"Jeongwoo-ya."

"Yes, Hyung?"

"I have a proposal to make." He sat forward and laced his fingers on the table. He meant serious business.

"What proposal?" I asked.

"I was thinking about us collaborating. What do you say?"

"Collaborate? Just you and I?" I asked, surprised.

He nodded. "For old time's sake."

He wanted to collaborate- to work on a song together… just like the old times…

I smiled, feeling moved. "That would be great." I had absolutely no objections to offer. "It would be great if we could do that."

He sat back, satisfied. "Recently, I had gone through some of our old footage. You remember those times we used to enter competitions as a duo? Those. We weren't recognisable faces but we had earned ourselves some fans. We were pretty good back then. And yet, it feels like they have all forgotten about us. No one talks about us anymore." He shrugged. "So, let's remind them. Before I had 04:00 am and you had S.T.A.Y, we had each other. It's just sad that that's been forgotten so easily."

"Are you okay on time though? You've begun work on your new album already, haven't you?"

"Yes, but I will be able to do this too. In fact, I want to do this."

"Have you talked to our Managers or Kim PD-nim about this yet?"

"Not yet. I wanted to talk to you first. I knew that you would agree but I wanted to say it to you first anyway. And, from what I know about Kim PD-nim, he won't object to a collab. He would be more than happy to oblige. I would have like for us to become a cross-group unit but that may not be so easy to do."

Kim PD-nim was the kind to be very concerned about his artists' health and wellbeing. An official unit would mean almost double the work than we already do. It really would have been too much for us. When he mentioned it though, I couldn't help but consider the possibility.

"Disappointed?" He asked.

"Slightly." I sighed. "It would have been really nice if we could have stood onstage together."

"I know. I feel disappointed too. But I also feel better knowing that you share the same sentiments. Look at it this way though- even if it's just a collaboration, we will get time with each other."

That did make me feel better. This had turned out to be such a happy day.

I smiled. "I've learnt quite a bit with S.T.A.Y so I won't be entirely useless during production like I used to be back then."

"I'm still a crappy writer so I'll convey my feelings and leave the lyrics to you." He chuckled. "But before we get ahead of ourselves, let's get it approved. We'll think about the rest after that."

Fair enough. "Mm." As premature as it might have been, this prospective collab had lifted my spirits. "I really want to do this now."

"I do too." He nodded understandingly.

Our drinks and food were brought to us in succession soon after. This was the most time that we had gotten to spend with each other in almost 5 years and we made the most of it. We talked about everything we were waiting to tell each other and about everything the other person had no business in.

I couldn't help but fell that this was how it was meant to be. In fact, I could begin to understand what he had meant when he had said that he had not wanted to miss me anymore. We had both gotten so busy and distracted that the distance had become natural and acceptable. And, in between all that, caught somewhere in the middle of being upset and not taking effort to do much about this unfortunate gap, what we had lost was nearly 5 years' worth of each other's lives. We were always aware of pretty much everything that was going on in each other's lives but, then again, the entire world knew that much.

How had that ever seemed enough?