Saving the file you just created, you ejected your hard drive and slipped it in your bag. "Great work today, everyone! See you guys tomorrow!"

Next to you, Jessica pursed her lips. "That journalist should be still here right?"

"He's probably waiting to do his next interview."

She pouted and you stood up, "Alright, see you tomorrow!"

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You were back in your apartment by five. Hakyeon rolled over in his new ball, greeting you. "Hey, so you did get the right size!"

Another voice cut in, "He did! But he started panicking when I tried to put him in earlier. I can also imagine him saying something like 'What if I can't get out?!' or 'Don't you guys dare kick the ball'. " Wonshik shook his head, "Hyung, why would you buy yourself something that you'd be afraid of using?"

The guinea pig snorted and rolled away. Wonshik shrugged, "I'm heating up yesterday's leftovers, is that okay?"

"Of course!" You smirked, "Does that mean you really are bad at cooking?"

The rapper frowned, "No! I just--I thought it would be better to uhh--to not waste food!"

"Riiiight."

"How was work?"

"It was very productive, I even got to compiling a few reference files for Jaehwan." The canary perked up at his name, "I'll leave the hard drive plugged in the computer so it'll be easy to access when you need it."

Wonshik looked thoughtful for a moment. "It sounds fun actually. I mean, I've never done that sort of work before, but it sounds interesting." He snapped his fingers, "Oh yeah, I found a small set of weights in the room. I'm assuming your they're your brothers? Do you mind if I use them?"

You shook your head, "Go ahead! I actually didn't know what I'd do with them. It's nice to know that they won't be sitting there and collecting dust now."

"Oh also, Hakyeon hyung wanted to tell you that he went out yesterday and picked out parkas for himself and Taekwoon hyung." There was a pause before he added, "I really like the color you and Hyuk chose for my parka. Thank you."

The maknae made his made over with a bark and wagged his tail, staring pointedly at Wonshik as how a child would when exclaiming, 'I told you so!'. 

You pushed the credits to Hyuk, "Actually, Hyuk chose everything. All I did was follow him around and show him where the stores were."

Hyuk yapped again and sat down next to your ankles as you finished setting up the table for dinner. Wonshik delivered the plates to the table and started digging into his dish. "Oh wow Hakyeon, you didn't lose your touch at all!"

The guinea pig rolled by the dining table and snorted for the second time that evening before moving on. You waited until Hyuk finally moved away from the dining area and into the living room before leaning in and asking in a hushed tone, "Is there a reason why Hyuk didn't want his name on his collar? I see perfectly why he put down 'Mimi' for L-Taekwoon, but why Rex for himself? I mean, on the assumption that he was making fun of Taekwoon."

It was very subtle, but you could have sworn there was a slight hesitation in both Wonshik's voice and expression when he answered you. "Sanghyuk didn't want you to have any trouble explaining things if somehow someone read both collars and made the connection between Hyuk and Leo. Or even just Hyuk and Mimi."

Your brows furrowed in confusion, "Why would that matter at all? After all, I am a fan of VIXX. I don't think people would jump to the conclusion that the cat and dog are literally Leo and Hyuk. At most, they'd think I named my cat and my dog after members of my favorite band."

You jumped in surprise when the mentioned cat popped out of nowhere and stared up at you with an unnerving gaze. Wonshik sighed and took his time answering. He chewed thoughtfully on a forkful of chicken and stared at the wall. "We disappeared. I'm sure we're less than popular to the public. A band that seemingly abandoned their company, their responsibilities and most importantly their fans isn't really a band anyone would be proud of. I wouldn't be surprised if we were harshly critisized and bashed on the internet. In fact, I think our CEO probably hates us for disappearing."

Briefly, flashbacks of the news articles and papers from that one year flooded your memory. "I don't think that was the case. Your CEO filed missing persons reports. They even had authorities investigating your disappearances. I remember reading one article that said they hired private investigators to trace you guys' whereabouts. There were even rewards put up for any piece of information or tip offs. I don't think the company hated you because Seo In Guk even talked about missing VIXX on a broadcast one day. If a company hated one of their groups, I don't think they'd let someone under the same label mention them in a positive light as how Seo In Guk had done."

Wonshik raised an eyebrow, "Can you tell me what happened? After we disappeared. How did everything start?"

Frowning, you nodded. "Although, I thought you guys kept track of all that happened when you left." He shook his head and you continued, "Well it started with The Star magazine that announced VIXX would be the upcoming featured artist. It was weird because the issue was published a little later than usual. And it was even more odd when we noticed some members didn't have solo shots. People complained when they didn't see Hyuk's solo shot. They complained that he didn't have enough lines in title tracks and now the company was even taking away his appearances in photoshoots. For Leo, fans were even more confused because he normally has a large spotlight. Then some fans came up with the idea that VIXX was preparing for some sort of comeback or sub-unit. We waited, but nothing happened. The company didn't give us any updates on VIXX. A few months later, articles began popping up. They were questioning the future plans of VIXX and their whereabouts. People thought this was a new ploy to announce a comeback, but the company wasn't saying anything at all."

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"Hello?"

A loud voice rang through your phone, causing you to wince. "Check your Facebook! Did you see that post?!"

"Hang on Eun Byul, what is this about?"

"You'll know it when you see it! Now go check!"

Shrugging at your overenthusiastic friend, you logged onto your account and scanned through the newsfeed. An article that your favorite band was tagged in made your heart drop.

"VIXX'S NEW CONCEPT: GONE WITHOUT A TRACE?"

"Did you see it yet?" You quickly followed the link to the article page and read through its contents.

"This can't be true, this website is known for spreading rumors!"

"Yeah, but it's gone viral and Jellyfish hasn't responded at all."

"Because who wants to respond to an article that jumps to such a conclusion?"

---------------------------------------------------------------

Tears streaked your face and you held on tighter to Eun Byul. "This can't be happening! Why?!"

"I'm not sure either. I hope they're okay."

"I hope they'll find them."

You felt like you were overacting, but really you were also crying for your lost brother. There was just too much in VIXX that reminded you of him. You could no longer attend VIXX concerts and remember all the times that he had gone with you, and how he would take you to a convenience store afterwards and have instant ramen.

They were gone, just like him.

------------------------------------------------

"This is going too far. I should have known Jellyfish was this type of company. VIXX is the the worst! How could they have sunk that low?"

You stared speechlessly at the newest article that VIXX had been tagged in as Eun Byul went on with her rant.

"They don't even care about their fans!" You couldn't believe it, but everything in the article made sense. It was almost impossible that police, authorities and even private investigators could not find a single trace of VIXX's whereabouts. "And don't you try to defend that thoughtless band, this article isn't even from a gossip site."

"VIXX STEPS DOWN FROM STAGE WITH IMMENSE HELP FROM LABEL COMPANY"

Every word in the article ripped and tore at your heart as you read that the company probably had an agreement with VIXX that entailed helping VIXX to "disappear" from the public after they had reached 'x' goal. Then the company faked VIXX's disappearance, even going as far as paying investigators to give false reports.

"But maybe they were just tired of the celebrity life and wanted to take a break or quit. They'd need to disappear in order to avoid stalkers and news reporters." You left that unsaid as Eun Byul pulled up her SS501 playlist and plugged the speakers in.

------------------------------------------------------------

By the time you had finished, there was a grim expression on Wonshik's face. "I'm so sorry. I wish I could have said something to our Starlights. Especially to you and your friend; Jaehwan told me about your brother and I know how much VIXX meant to you."

You nodded solemnly. "But that was in the past anyway. Probably for that reason, most Starlights got over VIXX pretty fast and joined other fandoms. I know Eun Byul is a hardcore V.I.P and a huge fan of M.Pire. Last I heard anyway. She was a close friend, but I don't talk to her much anymore."

The both of you fell into a sudden silence with you recalling the past and Wonshik staring thoughtfully at his now-empty plate. It wasn't much of a comfortable silence and your questions began to itch at you again. "Wonshik," you started hesitantly, "Could you..tell me what's going on? Or give me some sort of idea? I know that you guys are okay; you told me that as a bird last time, but I just want to know what happened. Was it something bad? Something you guys wanted? This might be far-fetched but, was it some sort of bizarre laboratory experiment?"

You've come to learn a certain expression that all the VIXX members seem to share. While it was not as obvious in Jaewhan, who'd cover it up with his silly faces or Hyuk, who would tactfully steer the conversation away, it was still noticeable. It was almost the exact same expression on everyone. Lips would stretch into a tight, forced smile and eyes would either avert from your gaze or be downcast, housing an unsaid emotion. Had you not taken that psychology course that analysed human emotions and body language, you would not have noticed the heaving sigh that would always accompany the expression.

That being said, Wonshik heaved a sigh and that particular expression crossed his face. "I can tell you, just not right now. You can approach me with whatever question you want answered and I'll answer every single one of them to the best of my extent. But I can't do it at this time. I hope you understand."

Puzzled by his slightly contradictory response you gave in, "Okay, I understand."

"No, I hope you understand." He repeated, emphasizing 'hope', "Ask me another time."

Oh, so he really was willing to answer. You nodded thankfully and he smiled, a genuine one this time. "So, Thursday already! Time does fly."

"Yeah, unfortunately it means everything feels too rushed. Especially at work." You took his plate and moved into the kitchen, pulling on a pair of gloves and reaching for the sponge. "What do you do at home?"

Wonshik counted off his fingers, "I took a walk outside to test out the parka. Also because Hyuk felt the need to mark his territory around the bushes of the apartment. Gross, I know." He lowered his voice, "I think he enjoys being a dog." 

You chuckled, "Probably the freedom to go whenever you feel like it."

"That's probably it. Anyway," he continued, "I don't think I did much."

There was a chirp and Jaehwan flew over, clutching a piece of paper. Wonshik snatched the paper from him and quickly stuffed it into his pocket. The canary chirped repetitively until he sighed. "And I also did some composing, I guess. There was a keyboard in your brother's room and I couldn't resist."

"Cool! Would you mind showing me? Other than listening to music, I know nothing about it so I think I'd find it interesting so see how one composes. My brother loved composing, but he never let me watch him."

Wonshik nodded and you followed him into your brother's room. "By the way, would you like to move the keyboard into the study room? There's a lot more space in there, even with the drafting table."

"If you dont mind, then that would be very nice!" He lifted one end of the keyboard while you took the other and together, you carefully maneuvered yourselves out of the small room, past the kitchen and into the study room. The keyboard was placed on the far side of the room, adjacent to the drafting table.

"Now, about that composition you were going to show me?"

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Wee~ Update! See what I did with the title? ;) FINALLY, A LONG CHAPTER! Hopefully the flashbacks weren't too confusing. There aren't many answers in this chapter, but she's starting to get to it! Ohoho, slowly but surely the plot has begun to move on!

Enjoy~