Sixty-Six

"Everyone." Mingyu came back into the meeting room after having gone out of the room to attend to a phone call from the family friend whose drama we were making the song for. We had already sent them the completed track and this call, therefore, could have meant only one thing. The anticipation had gotten all of us to turn our attention to him even before he could call out to us. "He… was very happy. They loved it."

"Ah… Such a relief!" Jaehyeon placed a hand on his chest and sighed deeply.

"It's been finalised then?" Hanseol asked, double-checking.

"Yes. We're set." Mingyu replied with a big smile. "Now all that's left is the announcement and release which will most probably happen on Friday."

"Four days." Yeojun said. "And then we're done."

"For at least two weeks, yes." Mingyu nodded. "We still need to run it by Kim PD-nim officially but… we can all go home after that."

"It's been nearly two years…" I thought back on the smile that my parents had given me the last time that I had left home. I was looking forward to seeing them again. While we had met Mingyu's family in between, the rest of us had not quite seen our families in that long a time. We were feeling the length of time only when talking about it just then. We really had gotten THAT busy.

"But before all that, they want to meet us. They'll get in touch with Manager Park and work out our schedule but that will happen this week too." Mingyu proceeded to tell us. "It's more of a formality because of my family's ties but it will most probably be a closed party. We should get ready to perform something too."

"Won't be broadcasted?" Yeojun asked.

"No. It'll be a private thing."

Hanseol hummed in acknowledgement and put his hands up behind his head as he leaned back in the chair. "Why does it feel like we're getting busier when we're nearing our break?"

"We are, aren't we?" Mingyu nodded. "But it's only a matter of a week. And this is proof that this industry loves us enough to not want to allow us a break. That's a good thing. Let's keep up the good work."

It was one of those moments where we took pride in having him as a leader.

Before conversations could continue, my phone began ringing. It was on silent but the vibration it caused on the table made everyone stop and look at it.

"Oh?" Jaehyeon who was sitting beside me reacted in the surprise I felt when I first saw who was calling. "It's Baekjae."

"A video call?" Yeojun looked at me. "Are you both that close?"

"We are close but we don't usually video call each other." I got up. "You guys can continue. I'll go to the other room and answer this."

"Sure." Mingyu nodded and I left the meeting room we were in to go to the empty one next door quickly before shutting the translucent glass door and answering the call.

"Oh. He answered." Baekjae Sunbae's smiling face popped up onscreen. When he moved the phone a little bit, I saw that Jaemin Sunbae was also with him. Baekjae Sunbae spoke while Jaemin Sunbae smiled and waved at me. "Are you busy?" It looked like they were in their van.

"No. I'm okay for a little while. What is it?" I asked, still very surprised. I was half-expecting to see Changmin with him as well but it did not look like he had anything to do with this.

"It's nothing much." He turned the phone to show me the camera and show me to the camera of the phone that had been set up in front of them. "We're doing a Live. Somehow, we ended up discussing my previous movie and how you had come with me to the Premier. Jaemin Hyung said that he got jealous of how close we had gotten." He turned the phone just enough to see me such that I was still visible to all the Coffee who were watching as well. "Coffee wanted proof."

"Of how close we are?" I was embarrassed and honoured at how he had said that aloud but I manged to just laugh it off. "Ah… What proof? Coffee, don't you trust Sunbae when he says that we're good friends?"

"Exactly what I had said!" Baekjae Sunbae chuckled. "And Jaemin Hyung just kept stoking the fire."

"It's fine, isn't it?" Jaemin Sunbae cut in. "Jeongwoo-ya, where are you now? What are you doing?"

"Ah. I'm at the Agency." I replied. "We just finished a small meeting- the rest of S.T.A.Y and I."

"You're in a meeting room?" Jaemin Sunbae got closer to take a look and then sat back again. "You're all still working so hard immediately after getting back from the tour. We're so proud of you." He gave a big smile.

"Thank you." I had never thought that I would be appearing on a 04:00 am Live with Coffee. It all still felt a little unreal to me. "We're seeing how hard you're working too, Sunbae. This runs in the DayBreak family blood."

"Touché. Kim PD-nim has brought us up well." He laughed.

Baekjae Sunbae was reading the comments in between all that. "Ah. You can't see him properly? Here." He brough the phone closer to the camera again. I was so unsure of how to respond that I just laughed and waved awkwardly. "Hey, Coffee. I'm here~"

He moved the phone back again. "Have you eaten yet, Jeongwoo-ya?"

"Yes, before the meeting. Sunbae?" I asked back.

"We're just going to eat. We're waiting for the others to come." He showed me the empty van "We had a show appearance. We came out as soon as we were done changing to show urgency. We're actually very hungry." He motioned towards Jaemin Sunbae. "His idea."

So, the others were supposed to join soon. I wonder how Changmin would react to this. "How's your schedule for the rest of today?"

"Hectic." Jaemin Sunbae sighed. "We'll be coming back to DayBreak after lunch. We have work there."

"I see. Baekjae Sunbae, what exactly do you want me to do to prove to them that we're good friends?"

"Tell them." He turned the phone towards the camera a little more. It was so weird to talk to a phone from a phone!

"Coffee, I went with Baekjae Sunbae to his premier and we even had dinner together. We meet here a lot too." Technically, I could add this too, right? "I've even been to their dorm once. We text each other often too." What more could I say? "I'm friends with everyone in 04:00 am though. I do talk to Baekjae Sunbae a little more than to the others."

"And Minsu." Jaemin Sunbae added.

"A-Ah. Baekjae Sunbae and Changmin Hyung." I added, a little caught off-guard but not showing it.

"That's another complaint that I have, Coffee. My roommate seems to talk to this friend more than he talks to me." Jaemin Sunbae acted upset. "Jeongwoo of S.T.A.Y is stealing 04:00 am's hearts."

That was too much!

"Ey. That's just how he is." Baekjae Sunbae stepped in, turning the phone away a little. "You just don't text him as much."

"Fine. Then, I'll be bothering you more often from now on, Jeongwoo-ya." Jaemin Sunbae smirked.

"You can. I would only be happy." I chuckled a little nervously. I steal 04:00 am's hearts? Oh boy! Little did he know what sort of a spot he had put me in by saying just that much!

"Jeongwoo Oppa, show us aegyo." Baekjae Sunbae read out a comment and looked at me suggestively.

"Now? Like this?" I asked.

He nodded and turned the phone to face the camera. I got a bit flustered at first because my mind drew a complete blank. "Aegyo…" Was this my Live or theirs?! "Then…" I puffed up my cheeks and pressed my left index finger to my right cheek, then turned my phone away and laughed, burning with embarrassment. "Ah, Sunbae! Why would you do this to me?"

They laughed too and by the time I had turned my phone back to myself, Baekjae Sunbae was looking at me. "That was very cute, Jeongwoo-ya. There's no need to get embarrassed."

"But if you tell me to do that all of a sudden- I need to prepare myself mentally!" I had a feeling that this Live was going to get a lot of attention.

"Ah. They're here." Jaemin Sunbae suddenly said and looked out of the van.

The rest of 04:00 am? "I-If you have to go-" I started saying, thinking that I could cut the call before Changmin could see me like this. It was weird to meet like this and it was even harder to keep a straight face on a live like this in front of over 800,000 people.

Baekjae Sunbae did not hear me in between opening the door and squeezing into Jaemin Sunbae's seat to let the others into the back.

Ah. I was starting to feel the blood rushing to my head.

"You're doing a Live?" Hyeonwoo Sunbae asked from the second-row bucket seat on the left, right behind Baekjae Sunbae after he had returned to his seat. In the bucket seat next to Hyeonwoo Sunbae was Minho and at the very back were Beomseok Sunbae and Changmin. That mean that Youngjae Sunbae was up in front in the passenger seat.

"Hey, Coffee." Minho waved. Beomseok Sunbae did so too. Changmin looked up from tying his shoelace and smiled, throwing in a quick V-sign.

They had not noticed me.

"It's not just Coffee though." Baekjae Sunbae said and finally help up the phone to show everyone that I was on call.

"Uh… Hey." I waved.

"Choi Jeongwoo!" Hyeonwoo Sunbae exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"

Changmin, who had gone back to tying his shoelace earlier, dropped what he was doing and looked at the phone, his eyes showing the shock even as his face went stiff. "Jeongwoo?"

This was awkward…

"Hey, everyone. Thank you for working hard as always." I managed to say with more clarity than I had thought I could, even as Changmin shot Baekjae Sunbae a quick glance in question.

"Coffee wanted proof that we were close." Baekjae Sunbae explained. "So, I called him up."

"Didn't you have a meeting?" Changmin asked, still not over the fact that this was happening without his having known.

"I did. It's over now." I replied.

"Why would he not answer when it's our Baekjae calling anyway?" Jaemin Sunbae sat forward and then addressed Coffee. "Fun fact, Coffee. Did you know that S.T.A.Y's Choi Jeongwoo is a Baekjae fanboy?"

Ah! Why would you say that to them?! "Sunbae!"

While Jaemin Sunbae and the others laughed, Changmin's face clouded over. "He would have answered had I called too. Right, Jeongwoo?" He looked at me with a forced smile.

This was too much of an attack on the both of us…

"O-Of course, I would have." Then again… "I would have answered regardless of who was calling because I was in a position to answer." I had not wanted to favour him too much.

"I hope this proves to everyone how close we really are to each other. "Baekjae Sunbae said and brought the phone back to himself, I could still see Changmin watching intently from the back. "We've kept you long enough, Jeongwoo. You okay on time?"

"Ah." I looked towards the door. "Actually, I'll have to go now." Baekjae Sunbae was offering me an escape and I was gladly going to take it.

"Okay. Thanks for putting up with us though. I'll text you later." Baekjae Sunbae said and turned the phone towards the camera. "Jeongwoo's leaving, everyone."

"I'm leaving now. It was nice interacting with you, Coffee." I waved. "Bye!"

Baekjae Sunbae then turned the phone to the other members. Minho and Hyeonwoo Sunbae waved while Beomseok Sunbae said 'bye'. Changmin just smiled and made a finger-heart. "Later, Jeongwoo-ya."

"Ah." I said 'bye' to Jaemin Sunbae and Youngjae Sunbae too before Baekjae Sunbae smiled again and cut the call. In that same moment, I dropped the phone onto the table and leaned against it myself, heaving out all my fluster with a breath. I was definitely going to hear about this from Changmin.

Remembering his face on realising that I was on call, I let out a small laugh.

Maybe it was all worth it, after all.