Chapter 83

Blood shot eyes snapped open as a loud ringing of a cell phone went off across the room. It was the second time in the last minute his phone had began ringing but he had no patience, or energy to drag himself out of the comfort of his bed in search of the small device. He hardly had any energy to keep his eyes open.

Seunghyun had landed in Korea only 2 hours ago after filming abroad for a full day, it was only 4:45 in the morning. Later that afternoon he would have to meet with the others to go over preparations for the show that was scheduled to take place that night. He had been living on no stamina as the filming and tour demanded every ounce of energy he had to spare and he was unable to revive that overused energy because people keep calling him in the middle of the night when he could be sleeping.

He was past the limit of irritation. He was drained

The man growled as he threw the covers off of him and searched around the floor for his jacket. The phone was ringing again and it was grating on his nerves. His eyes were burning and his head throbbed as it pleaded with him to lay his head back down on the soft pillow and sleep for the 6 hours he had before he had to be up and ready for the day’s activities. He had 6 hours to catch up on 8 days worth of sleep.

Seunghyun had full intentions of shutting the phone off and flinging it against the wall but the flash of ‘Dae’ across his screen let him know that he couldn’t ignore the call. He wasn’t sure what the others were doing but he knew it had to be important.

“What?” His voice was gruff and the drain was evident in his voice. He hoped Daesung felt bad about waking him up.

“Hyung, hi. How was your flight?”

He held back a growl at the roundabout way the other was behaving. He wasn’t a fan of formalities at the moment. All he wanted was to know what the problem was so he could get back into bed.

“It’s almost 5 in the morning. I’m tired. What?”

Daesung released a weak laugh on the other line and Seunghyun felt his finger inching closer to the end button. He wasn’t ready to deal with this.

“Can you come get Jiyong? He’s drunk and said he won’t get into any car unless it’s yours. We’ve been trying to get him home for the past hour but he won’t budge.”

Jiyong, of course it involved Jiyong and drinking. The leader had the tendency to bury himself deep in his feelings before a show only to drink them all away. Had his schedule not been as hectic as it was, Seunghyun would have been with him to watch over him.

Seunghyun sighed as he grabbed hold of his jacket. Not even his zombie state would keep him home if Jiyong needed him. “Where are you?”

The rapper froze at the familiar name of the restaurant and his irritation was renewed. That was their spot, the spot the members went together and they had excluded him. He didn’t even know that’s where they were going. “Stay there. I’ll go get him.”

30 minutes. It took him 30 minutes to pull up the the curb where s were standing. Each looking more sober now that they were standing in the breeze. Seunghyun eyed Jiyong as the smaller man moved to hide behind Seungri as though he didn’t want to see him.

Ignoring the greetings completely, Seunghyun stuck his hands in his pocket and looked Youngbae in the eyes. The singer held back a flinch, possibly at how dead his hyung looked.

“How nice, you guys come here of all places without me. Nice to be included in these things. Jiyong, let’s go.” He turned to face his hiding lover and his eyes narrowed as the man shook his head no.

“I don’t want to go with you. You’re not my Seunghyun.”

It made no sense to him. Not his Seunghyun? What did that even mean?

“Hyung, we agreed not to talk about it.” Seungri attempted to whisper to the hiding man but failed as his voice carried with the lack of static surrounding them.

“What does that mean?” He didn’t mean to snap, but his feelings were hurt at the moment. If they agreed on something together then the dinner wasn’t the only thing he was being left out of.

“We know you're tired from your schedule. We don’t want to cause you any more problems.” Youngbaes voice was firm as he spoke and Seunghyun knew that the singer had quickly become the unofficial spokesperson for the group. Daesung hadn’t said a word since he arrived and Seungri was busy trying to release Jiyongs grip from the back of his shirt.

“Problems? Like calling me at 4 in the morning when I haven’t slept for days?”

Youngbae bit his lip to hold back his reply and Seunghyun was passed the point of caring. His body was beginning to numb and soon he wouldn’t even be able to drive himself home in his state. His eyes were burning on a new level.

“You’ve been an lately, we don’t like it. You get upset easily and you don't make jokes like you used to. It’s like you’re a different person.”

He wasn’t though, acting any different. Sure, his temperament was a little off but that was the only thing that had changed about him. When did Youngbae start feeling like this? More importantly, did they all feel the same way?

He looked slowly at the faces of the others for confirmation and held back his disappointment as the looks spoke volumes.

A slap to the face. He hadn’t meant to become a different person. He didn’t even know how he had changed. Seunghyun really didn’t have the energy to think about it but if the others felt the same way something did change. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to. I’m just tired.”

“We know. That’s why we weren’t supposed to say anything.” Jiyong bit his lip as the others shared looks. The leader looked ashamed at bringing it up and his shoulders slumped. He was drunk, more drunk than the others, so his actions were exaggerated.

“Come on Ji, let’s get home so I can get some sleep. We’ll talk about it tomorrow when my mood is better and I don’t feel like burning all of you on a stake for keeping me up.”

The others nodded in agreement as Jiyong reached out to grab his hand. Going their separate ways, Seunghyun settled Jiyong in his car before settling himself. The ride was silent as he drove. The music was off and he figured Jiyong had drowsed off in his drunken state.

“Can I stay with you tonight?”

The voice was almost as tired as he felt and he didn’t know what made Jiyong think that he would go all of the way to drop him off at his place when one stop took up less time. With the time now, he’d be able to get in at least 5 hours of sleep. He’d be able to sleep at least an hour before getting ready for the show. He wouldn’t get much sleep but he would have enough to function for the night before flying out again for another day of filming.

“I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Oh my goodness, michiyukiko, I'm glad I was able to bring your comment to life! The last chapter was actually inspired by that.

I'm glad you guys enjoyed the last chapter. It means a lot.