“Hello aguTV view-“

Eric was not able to continue his greeting as laughter erupted from their group, causing a few heads to turn to their direction. As much as Roof And is a nice cozy neighbourhood café which invites a lot of people from different walks of life to hang around and chill, it becomes a playground when the Shinhwa members gather there. It does not help that it is Lee Minwoo who owns it, and that practically means they can do whatever they want with the place. But since it has not been closed off just for them to use, they try however much they can to keep their noise at minimum, though that in itself becomes a Herculean effort.

Despite saying that he will become a handsome café owner in the future in MUST, Shin Hyesung has spent his days outside Shinhwa activities in his couch playing games in his mobile devices, and interestingly, it was Minwoo who picked up the dream. Minwoo who has always had a penchant for cute things, introduced a lot of mouth-watering delicacies and croissant variants in in the menu. Milktea was served in transparent glasses, the same as what milkmen leave in one’s doorstep for delivery. Eric randomly remembers the time Minwoo picked a cute vegetable to give Andy in one of the Shinhwa Broadcast episodes, due to his natural inclination for small and moe items. Thus, it does not come as a surprise for Eric that Minwoo unconsciously took a seat beside Andy. In reality, not just him, but all of the older members in Shinhwa gravitate towards Andy, because of his cuteness.  

It was Andy who he saw first in the café, waiting for his order of hot drink prepared by Minwoo himself. Eric found it exciting that he gets to see his friend In action since he brought his camera almost anywhere he goes ever since he opened up his Youtube channel. It has been positively received by viewers, much to his relief. Andy was wearing a thick white sweater, and Minwoo was wearing black, his facemask on his chin. Hyesung kept his on all throughout the shooting for safety purposes. The hyungs wearing caps and Andy wearing a beanie is a nice coincidence that further highlights how cute Andy is.

“Do you like your drink prepared by Minwoo?” Eric asked, with only him and Andy across the table. Hyesung is yet to drop by, saying through text that he needs to park his car, and Minwoo was busy cutting portions of chocolate from the counter to prepare more drinks.

“Yes, I like it very much.” Andy said and continued to poke the chocolate bits on top of his drink. He took a sip, and a bit of the froth remained on his upper lip. Chuckling, Eric leaned over to wipe Andy’s chocolate moustache with his index finger, and it after. He caught Andy blushing.

“It tastes great.” Eric commented nonchalantly, and looked at Andy’s hair. “What’s with that hair Andy ya?”

Andy self-consciously pulled the beanie lower, stretching it, but it went back to its original form when he let it go. “I was not able to go to the salon before going here, thus beanie.”

Eric smiled, flashing a nice set of teeth, and looked at Andy intently. Andy has grown more beautiful over the years. He has been taking good care of himself, plumper, healthier cheeks, and brighter eyes, though it has been a running joke Andy has looked older due to the grooves under his eyes, which Eric is extremely pleased with as it is caused of them playing video games together during the dead hours of the night. He compared the thin, sickly-looking Andy when the young one was still living in goshiwon, and Eric swore never again to let Andy experience any hardship similar to that, not under his watch.  

The meeting commenced accordingly when all the available members finally sat down in the far corner of the café, near a dimly lit section leading to the restroom. Unfortunately, Junjin and Dongwan was not able to join due to conflicting schedules. However, as their tradition, they left two empty seats for the two absent members.

As the discussion went on, about the preparations for their upcoming 21^st Anniversary, Eric cannot help but look over at Andy’s direction. He distinctly remembers that painful day during their concert overseas. It is part of their 20^th Anniversary celebration as Shinhwa, and they all geared to fly to perform in two overseas acts to meet fans outside of South Korea. They just finished their rehearsal when Andy received a call. They did not know when he exactly disappeared, and they ended up looking for him backstage.

It was Eric who found him hidden behind a closet, buried under the stage costumes and clothes.

“Andy?”

Andy did not say a word. But his shoulders were shaking, and when he looked up, Eric saw their youngest face stricken with salty tears and eyes swollen. It is an excruciatingly painful scene to watch.

“Eric hyung, Eric hyung.” Andy’s voice was hoarse, as if it was scraped raw, and Eric saw thick jacket held tightly, Andy’s knuckles turned white. He was stifling his cries though the cloth. “Eric hyung…”

Andy collapsed under the weight of his sobs and Eric caught him in his arms. He saw in him at that moment a young child who wept so hard after a long fight, and Andy naturally fell asleep from all his pent-up emotions and exhaustion. It is the first time Eric saw Andy cry so hard to the point there’s no more strength left to support himself. Eric cradled Andy’s head in his shoulders and picked up Andy’s phone. He swiped in the password and saw the dreadful message of finality.

Andy, grandmother has left. I’m sorry. Mom.

It was the only reason he needed to sign the contract at TOP Media. Many may have been surprised with his decision, but it never crossed Eric’s mind how it could be any different. He joined so that he may look after Andy closely, most especially that the kid only has his mother left. And in Shinhwa tradition, all the members’ parents are their parents, and it is only natural to look after one another.

Eric as the youngest in his own family has never known what it is like to be an older brother to another, and when he met Andy in the US, he knows, he knows exactly how precious Lee Sunho is going to be. A young boy with big dreams, and they did it so together, in Korea Town in the US, and they both went to South Korea in pursuit of that dream. By some kind of twist in the gears of fate, Andy was sent home because of his young age, and was finally permitted to debut with Shinhwa some time after.

Eric could not imagine how it would have been like with no Andy in Shinhwa. Being with Andy is as natural as breathing. And like a heartbeat, Andy will always be their center of affection. Their beloved youngest, that no matter how many times will scold them for calling him cute, will never be able to escape his fate, of being in the realm of cuteness, as he is Shinhwa precious little baby brother. Their everlasting child.

Eric is willing to sacrifice everything for Shinhwa, for each and everyone, and right now, he is doing one for Andy. If Eric is going to be honest, it never really felt as a sacrifice, him turning down the contract when SM were planning to renew them individually, when he gathered the members together and they went to another agency. It would never feel like a sacrifice when it is family. And that’s what matters to him now. That their family is together. No one gets left behind.

Eric packed his GoPro and all the members went outside to bid farewell. The café will be closing soon, and Andy will be dropping Minwoo in his house, as they live in the same neighbourhood. As for Eric, he does not know if he will be hitching a ride with Hyesung, but he has no problems if that will be the arrangement if ever.

“Goodbye CEOs!” Eric joked, and waved, and took one last video footage of Andy and Minwoo waving. Andy additionally flashed a shy smile, and before they wheeled away, Eric swore to protect that cute smile, that smile that belongs to their maknae Andy.

Andy, who he loves very much.