Fifty-Two

"Hyung, when will you be back?" Mingyu asked when we left the practice room after changing out of our workout clothes and winding up.

"I'm not sure. Don't wait up for me." I replied and adjusted my navy blue coat. I was wearing a full-sleeved white T-shirt under it with black pants and black shoes. We had wanted to go for a semi-formal look for the photo shoot that had happened earlier today for a few teasers of All Hands on Deck. True were anticipating a comeback. We had to give them something to fuel the flame soon. It was about time.

"Jeongwoo." Jaehyeon fell into step beside me. "Have you decided where to go?"

I shrugged. "Changmin Hyung said that he had something in mind."

"He didn't tell you?"

"No."

"…And you trust him?"

That question earned him a very apprehensive look. "What do you mean? Of course, I do."

"I'm just… saying. You need to be careful so…" He said. "He could have at least told you where you're going."

"You seem more worried about this than I should be." I shook my head. "Don't worry. He's as much a public figure as I am. He would have thought it through properly."

"Yeah. You're right." He adjusted the dark grey coat he had folded and draped over his left arm. "I guess I'm just unnecessarily worrying."

He was the only other person who knew about us so it was natural that he would worry worth enough for everyone. That was just how he was.

"Thanks, Hyung, but we'll be fine. We'll be careful."

"Mm." He patted my shoulder, keeping his eyes ahead as we walked towards the stairwell. They were going to go straight back to the dorm. Manager Park was leading the way to the basement parking lot. I was supposed to proceed and meet Changmin at the entrance.

"How is it that the both of you always end up trailing behind the rest of us?" Yeojun commented and began walking backwards in front of us. "Every single time."

"We have personal matters to discuss." Jaehyeon smiled and pulled me in by my shoulders. "Right, Jeongwoo?"

"No. You can have him, Yeojun." I poked Jaehyeon in the side and managed to put some distance between us. Jaehyeon laughed and came right back to throw an arm around me again.

"Don't say that~"

"I'd much rather have Jeongwoo Hyung than Jaehyeon Hyung." Yeojun chuckled.

"Jun-ah, seriously though. Walk properly. You're scaring me with every step." I twirled a finger to urge him to turn around and walk properly.

"Okay~" He drawled and turned to face forward again but matched his pace with ours and came to walk on my right. "But it's not fair that you have personal matters to discuss that we aren't in on."

Uh… "It's nothing like that. We were jus-"

"Sunbae." Jaehyeon said before I could make up an excuse, caught my head and turned it away from Yeojun and towards the stairwell. There, next to the stairs leading down, stood Changmin wearing his brown knee-length coat over a black T-shirt and jeans. He smiled when we took notice of him.

"Minsu Sunbae." Yeojun smiled back at him.

In between Mingyu and Hanseol greeting him and Manager Park wishing him a good evening, I had moved Jaehyeon's arm off me and stepped towards the man. "I had told you that I'd meet you at the entrance, Hyung."

"I had the time to come here anyway so I thought that I could wait here." He replied, his eyes following me as I made my way from in between S.T.A.Y towards him, then he looked at the rest of them. "You're all heading home?"

"Yes." Mingyu replied. They had stopped walking.

"When are you leaving tomorrow, Sunbae?" Hanseol enquired.

"In the afternoon. Flight's in the evening."

"It's going to get lonely around here again." Yeojun sighed. "It's always so lively when 04:00 am's in the building."

"If you haven't noticed, it gets pretty lively when S.T.A.Y's around too now." Changmin leaned against me by an elbow on my shoulder. "I can't imagine what it's going to be like here after you also leave for Europe."

"Kim PD-nim's surely going to miss you." Manager Park said. "He's always got his hands full with matters regarding you both. Even Kim Youngil-ssi is going to be relatively less busy for a while."

"It's the first time that the both of us are going away for so long, isn't it?" Changmin noted.

"It's a matter of pride for DayBreak." Manager Park nodded.

"That it is." Changmin regarded the others again. "Well, I guess this is the last time I'll be seeing you all for a while. I wanted to wish you luck and success with your upcoming album and tour. We're all waiting for it eagerly."

Oh. So, you didn't wait here just to pick me up.

"Thank you." Mingyu bowed. "We wish you success on your tour too."

"Travel safe and stay healthy, Sunbae." Yeojun added.

"Yeah. Good luck." Jaehyeon said.

"Mm. Fighting." He made a fist with the hand not supporting him and smiled.

"Have fun, Jeongwoo-ya." Hanseol said. "You won't be seeing each other for a while, after all."

I had not needed that reminder. "Mm. Then, I'll see you all at home. Hyung," I looked at Changmin. "Shall we go?"

"Yup. Let's go." He nodded and removed his elbow from my shoulder, placing that palm on my back as we turned to walk away from S.T.A.Y who proceeded down the stairs after saying goodbye. He smirked almost immediately, not looking at me. "You seem dressed up."

"We had had a photoshoot earlier today. Our outfits were from our own wardrobes." I clarified.

"Hm? I wouldn't have minded if you had dressed up for our actual first date in specific either." He said in a lower voice as we ducked our heads towards an employee who happened to pass us by just then.

This outfit works, doesn't it?

"Where are we going, Hyung?" I let the question slip. Even if I did trust him, I was curious.

"You'll see when we get there. Just come with me." He patted my back. "But tell me what you feel like eating. We'll have to pick up food and drinks on our way."

"So… we're not going to a restaurant or a café or a bar." I crossed those off the list. They wouldn't have given us the privacy we had wanted anyway. We could always have disguised ourselves but I really did not want to sit across a table with our faces covered and low profiles like we had before when we had gone out for drinks.

He did not respond to my deduction though. Just smiled.

We hailed a cab and he had spoken to the driver while I was getting in so I did not get to hear where we were going. I just decided to sit back and wait. We picked up food and drinks en-route and within the next 20 minutes of discussing 04:00 am's travel itinerary, Changmin instructed the driver to pull up in front of a residential building. I had never been there before but as he paid for the cab and I surveyed our surroundings, it dawned on me where we were. "Hyung, your dorm?"

"Yup." He nodded and urged me to go into the building. "Sorry. I know that it seems all bold and sudden but I couldn't really think of any better place. This just worked out to be the most convenient place."

Convenient? "The other members?" I asked when we began climbing the stairs to the first floor.

"Baekjae, Jaemin Hyung, Youngjae and Minho have gone out for dinner. Beomseok Hyung's gone out to meet a friend. Hyeonwoo Hyung's meeting his older brother." He told me, then smiled. "Basically, no one's home. They think I'm out for dinner with you too. We'll be fine for a while. We should get at least two hours."

"They wouldn't mind?" I asked.

"Why would they? Come on. You're our Jeongwoo. And you're with me. No one's going to mind." He came to a stop outside a particular door. It looked like they were the only ones on the entire floor. The door was on the other end of the corridor from the stairs we had used. Changmin keyed in the passcode and held the door open for me. "This is your first time here, isn't it?"

"Yeah. We've never been to each others' dorms." I looked around. Except for the messy cushions on the couch, the place was quite well-kept. "It's nice in here."

"Mm. Hyeonwoo Hyung's particular about these things." He said with a smile. "Youngjae's the messiest among us. Hyeonwoo Hyung's always walking behind him."

"Oh. And you?" I asked after taking off my shoes and stepping in. I waited for him by the couch after that as he removed his shoes too.

"Me?" He took off his coat and came in, going past the living room and to the hallway beyond. I followed him. He opened the second door on the left opposite to the dining room. "I'm relatively neater."

I recognised his room immediately because I had seen it plenty during the video calls that we had done. I had never been there but I could recognise his bed and his things very easily. That made me feel good.

He proceeded to hang his coat on the clothes' hook near the wardrobe and extended a hand to me. "Your coat?"

"Ah, thanks." I removed it and passed it to him to hang up. I was carrying the drink and he had left the packet of food on the bed to take care of the coats. "Shall I take these to the kitchen?"

"Mm. You can. I'll use the washroom and join you. Just go into the dining area and then left. You'll find the kitchen." He showed me the way by motioning in the general direction.

"Okay." I picked up the food packet and left his room. Leaving the food on the kitchen counter and opened the fridge to put the drinks in. The fridge was almost entirely empty, save for a half-empty bottle of juice, a bottle of water and a pudding with a note on it reading 'No one touches my share -Minho'. I chuckled on seeing that and put the drinks in. We had planned to drink after dinner so it would be better to leave it in to chill in the meantime.

But then again, the near empty fridge was a reminder of how they were going to leave the next day and hadn't needed to stock up.

"Oh. You put it in the fridge? Thank you." Changmin came in and went straight to the cupboard to get out whatever we might need for dinner. I watched him as he went over to the counter to get the food out of the packet, then shut the fridge door as if pushing away all my hesitation along with it. Just as he was going to open one of the plastic containers, I hugged him from behind.

"Woah." He stopped what he was doing and looked over his shoulder but couldn't see much else than my hair. "Jeongwoo?"

"Mm." I hummed. Why did even a hug feel like a luxury?

"Ya." He lifted his left arm over my head and turned around when I allowed him room to do so. He laced his fingers at my lower back and leaned back against the counter, looking down at me. He then pressed a cheek against my head. "What? You missed me?"

Obviously. "Your fridge is empty."

"Hm?"

I shook my head. "It looks like the fridge of someone who's going away for a while."

"I see." He brought his arms up to wrap them around my shoulders.

I pulled back a bit to look at him. "Yes. I missed you. I miss you every day." It was more of a statement than a confession. It made him chuckle.

"If you tell me this now, what can I possibly do? I too miss you every day. But tomorrow…" He paused, loosened his hold and brought a hand up to the back of my head. Without another word, he kissed me. Then he patted my back. "Let's go eat first."

"Okay." I agreed and let go after giving him a small smile. I helped him with getting the food ready and then we sat down to eat, adjacent to each other at the 8-seater round table in the dining room.