Forty-Seven

Over our two-week stay at the beach for All Hands on Deck, we had done quite a lot of things. Starting from filming the MV for our title track 'Sandbox' to tons of beach games like beach volleyball and sand castle building, to campfire night and a courage test in the nearby woods to going out into the nearby town to finish tasks and missions to just sitting down and talking or playing in the water- the two weeks were so packed that by the time we had gotten to the end of it, we weren't even sure about where all of it went.

It wasn't all fun and games though. While the MV filming turned out perfectly fine in the end and all of us had gotten through it safely, there were moments in between when the fatigue got to us or when we were not feeling up to our bests in general or when we kept messing up so much that it got overwhelmingly frustrating. I was no exception to this either. Nevertheless, we had made it through and on the evening of the 16th day since we left DayBreak- crew, equipment, bag and baggage- we arrived back at DayBreak.

I had been texting Changmin till a while ago. From what he had said, it had seemed that 04:00 am would be in the practice room for a while. In between hoping to be on time and looking forward to meeting him, we had reported to Kim PD-nim and attended to our immediate work.

"Are we done here?" Hanseol asked when we left the storage area after assisting the staff with some props and boxes.

"Yes, we are." Mingyu nodded.

Before anyone could bring up going home though, I interjected after raising my hand to cut in. "Um… 04:00 am's in the practice room."

"Right now?" Hanseol asked.

"I thought they'd be out promoting." Yeojun said.

"They're preparing for a live stage." I informed. "We haven't met them after Underground released. Can't we stop by?"

"We can." Mingyu nodded and looked a Manager Park who also gave us consent.

"Let's go then." Hanseol shrugged and we began walking towards the practice room. "Admit it though- you just want to see Changmin Sunbae."

"Ah… ha…" I let out a nervous laugh. Hanseol had said that only because of how close Changmin and I were in general. He had meant nothing else by that. I was aware of that and yet, more than embarrassing, that statement was nerve-wracking. "I'm close to all of them, okay? Besides, it's been nearly a month since we met all of them in person. I really just want to congratulate them for Underground."

"We all know you have ulterior motives." Yeojun rolled his eyes.

"Is it really so hard to believe that I'm actually doing this for all of 04:00 am, y'all?" I furrowed my brows and looked at them as though I had been hurt. "I thought you all knew better."

"I trust you, Hyung." Mingyu said.

"I do too." Jaehyeon shrugged.

Liar.

I was eager enough to meet 04:00 am and Changmin that I ended up leading us there. Before I could knock on the door though, Jaehyeon banged a fist on it so hard that the unexpected bang made even Yeojun and I jump with a start. Hanseol and Mingyu laughed at us along with Jaehyeon and Manager Park just looked confused. Without saying anything, Jaehyeon opened the door and went in, followed by Mingyu. Then I stepped in with the rest of the group. Jaehyeon there out his arms and beamed. "Sunbaenim!"

"Aish! You crazy little-" Jaemin Sunbae caught himself before he cursed and placed a hand over his chest. They all looked very shocked at first when we walked in. When they saw that it was just us, they let out huge sighs of relief, groaned and Youngjae Sunbae actually crouched where he stood.

"You scared the shit out of us!" Minho laughed it off.

"Mm. I think I heard someone scream." Jaehyeon grinned triumphantly.

All of 04:00 am unanimously either pointed or looked at Hyeonwoo Sunbae who chuckled sheepishly. "How rude… Banging on the door like that."

"I'm just glad that it wasn't being filmed." Baekjae Sunbae shook his head and then smiled. "Welcome back, S.T.A.Y."

"You've been gone so long. We've missed you." Youngjae Sunbae said as he climbed back onto his feet. Next to him stood Changmin who smiled and furrowed his brows in happiness when my eyes met his.

"You came to see me~"

Typical. "No. I came to see my Sunbaenim." I replied. "It's been a while."

"How was the beach?" Youngjae Sunbae enquired. By then, we had all gathered in the middle of the room.

"You'll get to see the whole thing." Mingyu informed. "This beach trip is very important to our new album. Speaking of new albums, Underground is totally lit! It's my favourite 04:00 am album to date."

"I second that." Hanseol joined in. "I've taken a liking to 'Closer' and 'Gunslinger' in particular."

"Safe to say, everyone's taken a liking to 'Closer'." I added. "It's such a unique song. The visuals were also very impactful. And Baekjae Sunbae…" I looked at him in awe. "I have once again been reminded of why you are my 04:00 am bias."

"Ya." Changmin rapped atop my head and locked an arm around my neck. "What have I told you about gushing over Baekjae?"

I laughed. This much was normal between us in their eyes. I used to never think much about how we behaved with each other before but now I was being a little extra conscious about what might actually be considered normal.

In all honesty, in that moment when I had seen him earlier, I had wanted to hug him. I had wanted to jump at him, kiss him and announce that I had returned but the headlock that he had put me in just then was as close to that as I could possibly get.

I had mentioned Baekjae Sunbae on purpose.

"You're sweating, Hyung." I gripped his arm but did not try to make him move it away.

"Deal with it." He scoffed and then addressed everyone. "Are you all going home now?"

"Yes. We just wanted to say hi and congratulate you before leaving." Mingyu answered.

"You were practicing, weren't you?" Yeojun looked towards the music system that was still playing the track 'Red' from Underground.

"Yes. We have a TV show appearance tomorrow." Hyeonwoo Sunbae said. "We'll be in office the whole of today though."

"Mm." Changmin released me from the headlock but only to lean against me with an arm still over my shoulders. "Our world tour is getting finalised."

The arm on me was heavy. He was informing me more than the others.

That sucked. "That's nice. When will it be? Tentatively."

"It's more or less been planned. We will be announcing it officially soon." Baekjae Sunbae replied. "We will most probably leave a little after next month."

"Then you won't be here for our release. Aw. That's a bummer." Yeojun said in disappointment.

"You'll still have all our support and love." Youngjae Sunbae said. "I'm sure your album this time will be just as amazing."

"With how popular you have gotten though… Tour?" Hyeonwoo Sunbae asked.

Mingyu nodded. "At the moment, it's Asia and Europe. The details are still being worked out."

"That's a good start though. Europe is beautiful too. You'd better ensure that you make the most of your time there no matter how tiring it may get." Jaemin Sunbae instructed. "Let me know what your travel itinerary is like. I have some tourist recommendations."

"The Europe expert." Baekjae Sunbae commented.

"We would love that." Mingyu agreed.

"But you'll be gone~" Changmin whined and pouted, the hand on my shoulder patting my cheek.

"You're not going to be here either. What difference does it make?" I reminded him.

"It'd be nice if we could have had a stopover at some venue together." Baekjae Sunbae said. "It's highly unlikely this time though."

"Nevertheless, just thinking about how busy we're going to get is exciting." Jaehyeon said. "Europe's completely new terrain for us in person too. I bet even our Hanseol's nervous."

"Hey. I'm human enough to feel nervous before every performance." Hanseol frowned at him. "What do you all think of me?"

Manager Park spoke up in between the laughter that followed. "S.T.A.Y, we should get going. 04:00 am also has work to get done."

"But you just got here…" Changmin mumbled loud enough for only me to hear. While I too felt the same sense of defeat, I could not give him a response.

"We had walked in on your practice." Mingyu nodded. "Anyway, keep up the amazing work, Sunbae. Fighting!"

"You too. Fighting." Minho returned.

"Drop by whenever you can." Hyeonwoo Sunbae smiled. "It's nice to have someone walk in on us like this."

"Aw." Jaehyeon showed that he was touched by that comment by knitting his brows together and pressing a hand to his chest. "Likewise."

"All the best for your new album too. We're looking forward to it." Baekjae Sunbae said and looked at me, then at Changmin.

Right. You should let go now, Hyung.

I tapped his arm and stepped away when he reluctantly let go. "We'll see you."

As we left the practice room though, I had a heavy heart. It was 04:00 am that we were talking about, after all. A world tour was inevitable. I had known all along that they were going to go. Yet, I had comforted myself by believing that as long as it did not get announced, it wasn't happening. There was no overlooking it anymore.

I wasn't going to be able to see Changmin for a few good months.

I took out my phone as we headed to our van to go home and left a message for my beloved boyfriend, knowing that it was a difficult request to make but also knowing that he would want to too.

'Give me some time before you leave.'

I wouldn't have been surprised had he actually been expecting the message either.