Forty-Five

"This album is crazy good!" Yeojun mused, watching my phone screen over my shoulder, kneeling behind me with his entire body weight on my back. "Hyeonwoo Sunbae's so cool!"

"Even K.B. Sunbae's totally rocking that new look. I pointed at Beomseok Sunbae on the screen as 04:00 am danced. "It suits his image."

"04:00 am would actually make a really scary-looking Mafia syndicate, don't you think?" Yeojun thought aloud. "I guess they knew what they were doing."

"Their expressions though… This is a really sexy song." I agreed, in a way. They could so easily pull off the image of a hot Mafia syndicate. Their title track 'Closer' and it's MV were no joke. It had been released an hour ago and they were gaining views by the thousands! 'Closer' was talking about walking closer to the edge with every move that one makes and yet finding pleasure in the thrill it gave rather than being cautious. The visuals were dark and powerful and the choreography was very daring. One look was all I had needed to know that I would have taken at least a month to learn it as cleanly as they were executing it.

They had proven themselves again.

"Are you watching 04:00 am's new song?" Jaehyeon asked as he approached us from where he had been sorting out his luggage near one of the two tents that had been set up on the sand, a little ways up the beach.

There was a spectacular view of the sea from there and the waves were rather loud. It was a little chilly out but it was beautiful. We had this entire area of the beach to ourselves for a week. We had arrived just an hour ago so we sat down to check out the new album as soon as we were able to.

"Yes, Hyung. Come fast." Yeojun waved him overenthusiastically and played the MV from the beginning for the third time. We were scrutinising every little detail in it.

"What was the album called again?" Jaehyeon asked, crouching behind the two of us, eyes on the phone.

"Underground." I replied. "And the title track is 'Closer'."

"Ooh. 'Closer', eh?" He whistled.

"It's… a different kind of closer." I focused on the video.

Changmin had gotten his hair dyed dark blue as he had once told me he would like to. And as I had suggested in passing at that time, he had managed to convince the stylist to let him show his forehead. His hair was being held back by a headband for most part of the MV. There were a few segments where his hair was down though- one where he was lying on the floor, his angular jaw pointed ceiling-ward slightly, another where he was running with Minho and another shot where he was underwater, coming up to breathe in a large gulp of air.

They had made full use of his charm and appeal.

I had refrained from commenting much on it even when Yeojun had pointed it out at first though. I was just as, if not more, enraptured by the man's physique and vibe as the fans who were screaming through their comments on the video but I wasn't all too happy with the portrayal. That, however, was just something that I had to deal with if I was dating the man ranked No. 9 on Asia's Hottest Men list the previous year.

"They threw him. Did they really throw him?" Jaehyeon asked, stunned by the scene where Hyeonwoo Sunbae and Jaemin Sunbae literally threw Baekjae Sunbae off a first-floor balcony into a swimming pool below.

"I'll find out and let you know." I chuckled at how he had reacted exactly like Yeojun and I had. "Changmin Hyung had told me that they were doing some serious stunts for this one so I'm presuming that they really did throw him."

"I would have passed out even before I left their hands though." Jaehyeon shuddered and rewound the video to watch that part again.

Baekjae Sunbae was standing at the railing of the balcony facing the pool below it, his back to the camera. Just as he finished his solo rap part, he turned and was running back into the mansion but just two steps away from the railing, Hyeonwoo Sunbae and Jaemin Sunbae caught him between them with an outstretched arm each from either side and tossed him back over the railing, almost like a slingshot. The moment Baekjae Sunbae hit the water, the next vocal verse began.

It truly was a bone-chilling scene. And no one could have pulled that off better than Baekjae Sunbae.

"They're always so intense." Jaehyeon observed. "It's an image set in stone for them already."

"Let's throw Jaehyeon Hyung into the sea." Yeojun looked at Jaehyeon. "You're the only one among us capable of pulling that off."

"Hanseol. We can throw Hanseol." Jaehyeon offered up a sacrifice to spare himself.

"No. Hanseol Hyung will be the one doing the throwing."

"I agree." I laughed.

"Let's throw Jeongwoo then!" Jaehyeon pounced on me.

"You'll probably jump in after him then." Yeojun shook his head.

"Speaking of Jeongwoo…" Jaehyeon sat down on the sand with us, rewinding the MV a little again to play Changmin's part. "Your Changmin Hyung looks dangerous."

'Speaking of Jeongwoo, your Changmin Hyung'? I pouted at him. "The hell, Hyung?"

He dropped a hand atop my head. "Yeojun-ah, who do you think looks the coolest in this MV?"

"Do I really have to choose?" He looked at the screen again.

"For fun."

"Hm… I'd have to go with Baekjae Sunbaenim." He replied.

"Yes! I agree!" I chimed in, feeling like a total fanboy instantly and not regretting it at all. "Baekjae Sunbae's just amazing- so talented!"

"Pipe down, kid. The whole world knows you're a huge fan." Jaehyeon laughed.

"Everyone!" Mingyu called out from where he stood with Manager Park and the Director of our 'All Hands on Deck' program. He waved us over when we looked in his direction. Hanseol too joined us after putting his stuff away. Once everyone had gathered, the Director spoke.

"We'll start filming right now. Get ready. We'll be starting with a few shots of you enjoying the beach and then we'll play a game to decide who gets which tent over from among those two that have been set up over there. Since it's already evening and everyone's probably tired from the journey, we'll wrap up soon. The real job starts tomorrow."

"Understood." Jaehyeon nodded.

"Thank you, Jung-ssi." Mingyu bowed. The rest of us did too. He then looked at us. "Let's get ready. The make-up van is on the main road."

After receiving further instructions from other staff members, we went to get ready. The sun had just begun setting when we started shooting the intro scenes. The simple game that Director Jung had mentioned was a running race on the beach for a distance that they had marked for us. The race would decide the order in which we would choose which tent to sleep in- the winner walking over to the tent of his choice first and entering it without the others knowing and the rest following one by one in a similar manner. One tent was big enough for 3 people and the other for two people. If one tent got filled first, the remaining members would go into the other one. Nevertheless, the person who would come last in the race would have no choice but to go with whichever tent had space left for them.

Mingyu fell in between, so he lost the race. Hanseol won. I came in second. Jaehyeon and Yeojun wrestled their ways to third and fourth respectively. It was hilarious the way that simple and short race had gone though. It was good content, if nothing else.

The five of us were ushered a little away from the tents and made to stand facing the sea. Once the team was ready, Hanseol was asked to go pick his tent.

I had already made up my mind. From the moment that I had laid my eyes on it, I had known which one I would want. They both had the same beautiful view of the sea if the front was to be left unzipped and the tent that could accommodate three people was obviously bigger. But it was also red and had a tiny window on side which the other one lacked. I had found it cute.

"Jeongwoo-ssi." One of the staff members motioned with her hand that I could go.

"K-Soul's done picking? Okay. I'm going~" I said for the sake of the camera that was focused on the remainder of us who were enjoying the sea.

"I'll find you, Jeongwoo." Jaehyeon shot me with a finger-gun.

"Okay, I'll be waiting~" I laughed and proceeded towards the tents. I could not make out which one Hanseol had chosen though- not even by footprints in the sand. Both the tents had been zipped shut too. The sea was loud enough to not have allowed us to hear the zippers too.

Smart.

"Then… I'm picking this one." I reached for and unzipped the bigger red tent. There was a cameraman following me. When I opened the tent, I found it empty. "Eo? It's just me." I chuckled as I got inside. The cameraman did not follow. There was another camera mounted on the inside of the tent.

We were going to be filmed even inside the tent…

"But it makes sense." I spoke to the camera as I settled down on the floor of the tent and patted the black floor cloth. I could feel the sand shifting underneath. I liked it. "K-Soul is the kind of person who doesn't like having too many people around when sleeping. He doesn't mind us at all but it was obvious that he would choose the other tent." I looked at the staff member outside. "Can I zip this up now? Yes? Thank you." I did so and sat in the middle of the tent. "Let's see who will come."

It was Jaehyeon's turn next. I silently listened for his footsteps and his voice which I soon heard.

"You all should try camping out at the sea at least once in your life. It's beautiful out here." His voice grew closer. "And you can make some of your best memories with your loved ones on the beach too, especially in the late evening."

I couldn't have agreed more.

He had come to stop right outside, between both the tents. "Let's see…"

Will you really find me? I chuckled to myself silently.

The tent zipper opened next but not of the tent that I was in. Jaehyeon had gone and picked the other one. "Oh. It's you."

I watched through the little net window as a water bottle came flying out of the tent which Jaehyeon barely managed to dodge. I laughed, attracting Jaehyeon's attention to the little window. I waved, making him pout and throw a quick wave my way before disappearing into the other tent. I unzipped mine and peeked out. "That's it, right? That tent's full so I get Jun and MinQ?"

The cameraman nodded and Mingyu and Yeojun approached me soon after. I waved them over happily. "MinQ-ya! Jun-ah!"

"Hyung!" Yeojun's face lit up and he came running over to give me a strong high-five.

"YoonJae Hyung didn't find you then." Mingyu chuckled.

"Nope." I motioned towards the other tent out of which our two elder members were looking at us. "Too bad."

"At least our K-Soul's a guarantee of good sleep. You got the power drill." Jaehyeon shrugged.

"Hey!" Yeojun snapped. "Who are you calling a power drill, Hyung?"

"A kick to his back usually works effectively." Mingyu told me and crawled into the tent halfway out of which I was lying.

"It does?" Yeojun asked, surprised.

"Yes. You stop snoring immediately." Mingyu nodded and settled within.

"I'll remember that." I went inside too, followed by Yeojun. We then waved to the camera. "See you soon!"

"Power nap!" Yeojun lay down in the middle of the tent as I zipped up. "It's okay to sleep now, right?"

"Mm. We have an hour's break." Mingyu confirmed.

I went to lie down to Yeojun's right, Mingyu on his left. "This is very comfy…"

"I swear!" Yeojun wiggled in. "It's really nice."

"The sand below feels good." Mingyu commented, putting his hands up behind his head to rest on them. "This feels really good."

I wished that Changmin could have seen this.

"Let's sleep." Yeojun said, laced his fingers on his stomach and closed his eyes. "Good night."

"You were pretty energetic till just a few seconds ago." Mingyu pointed out.

"It's cozy in here…"

"Okay. Let's sleep for a bit." I checked my phone. No messages. I put it away. We could catch up on the rest of the album later. "Should I set an alarm?"

"I'll do it." Mingyu volunteered. "Sleep well, Hyung, Jun-ah."

"You too."

I hoped that this trip would end up as successful as we had intended for it to be.