Hey There Delilah - The Plain White T's

...I'm a thousand miles away, but girl tonight you look so pretty

the world will never ever be the same and you're to blame...

Waking up the day after the concert in Chicago wasn’t so bad, unlike the day before.

The moment Mingyu had opened his eyes that morning after going out with his hyungs a horrible pain had shot through his head. He had gotten up from the otherwise empty bed, noticing he was still wearing the clothes he has had on the night before. His reflection in the mirror had looked horrible. His hair had been standing in all directions, his shirt was dirty. His always so pretty eyes had been red and swollen with dark circles beneath them. Also he had clearly been drooling in his sleep, judging by the marks in the corner of his mouth. Mingyu had tried to recall what had happened after he drank so much, but he couldn’t remember much, just total happiness followed by utter devastation.

Throughout that day everyone had kept asking him what he remembered and for some reason seemed relieved it was just about nothing. But apparently he didn’t do anything too bad. His headache though didn’t disappear all day so eventually Seungcheol had told him to have a beer or whatever to make his hangover less. He hadn’t known what song to sing in the early morning, but he decided to listen to Wonwoo, who recommended Ed Sheeran’s Give Me Love. Mingyu had never performed a concert even with the slightest bit of alcohol inside his blood circle, but no one noticed and he actually was able to fully enjoy the show again. After the concert though, adrenaline being gone, Mingyu suddenly felt drained of all happiness again and took a few of the beer bottles Seungcheol had temporarily stored in the waiting room backstage and drank them in the hotel before going to sleep, finally having no worries about Jaehwa and being able to sleep easily.

He felt well rested and also didn’t look as horrible as the day before. Carefully he examined his reflection. The circles had only shrunken down to their regular size and there seemed to be no flaw that hadn’t existed before, but still he looked different. Mingyu remembered seeing himself, the corners of his mouth already turned upwards, smile lines starting to form around his eyes and mouth. It seemed as if they were slowly starting to fade. There used to be a certain spark in his eyes which everyone had kept telling him about, but however he turned himself towards the light, it seemed to have disappeared. His face was still the same, but looking at it now, he didn’t feel like anyone could really say he was more handsome than most of his band members.

Racking his brain, he went to the hotel’s lobby and then to eat breakfast for which he sat down with Wonwoo, Seungcheol and Doyoon. Wonwoo had a bit of a worried look on his face as soon as he saw him, while the other two were still concentrated on Seungcheol’s tablet PC.

Starting to take a few bites of his food, Mingyu found out they were looking at pictures their fans had taken at the concert before.

“Mingyu-ah, on stage you would really deserve the part of the visual on your own, look.” Doyoon said after a while of chatting with Seungcheol and showed him a picture.

Mingyu examined it. He was smiling and it seemed as if his certain something or whatever had returned. “When is this from?”

“Last night.” Doyoon replied.

So being tipsy is what makes me good looking now?

As if Wonwoo was able to hear his thoughts he could feel the elder’s eyes on him. Mingyu took a quick look at him.

“No.” Wonwoo said firmly. That guy’s intention was really no joke.

“Okay.” Mingyu replied. He knew himself it would be a good idea. Being handsome was one thing, but for him too it was more important to be professional and avoid possible problems. Especially now. They would be going to New York later that day and doing lots of important interviews. He couldn’t be drunk then, not even in the slightest.

The plane there left not too much later. The day went by, being asked a ton of questions and the same each time. It was always the same answers, Mingyu’s laughter was routine.

Late at night they arrived at the hotel, where he was teamed up with Wonwoo again. He was just looking through his suitcase, searching for his pyjama when his hyung came back into the room, arguing with someone on the phone.

“No it’s not okay anymore, you have to stop this already…You are not constantly around him, you’d say the same if you were in my place. No Jaehwa, stop it.” Mingyu could hear her yelling at Wonwoo when he hung up, not letting her finish. He just looked at his hyung with big eyes, who had thrown himself on the bed. After a few moments Wonwoo turned to his side and looked back at him.

“How come we’ve all gotten along so well till now?” He asked with a crooked smile on his face.

“Why? What did she do wrong? Am I not the one who’s at fault?” Mingyu was confused.

“You just think you are, Mingyu-ah.” Wonwoo said and his back “I guess everyone is.”

“Hyung?” Mingyu asked.

“Yes?”

“What happened when I was drunk in Chicago?” he knew it was probably better not to know, but didn’t he have the right to be aware of what he had done.

Wonwoo sat up and looked at Mingyu. “Do you really want to know?”

Mingyu nodded.

“At first I didn’t know either, I just found you crying on the stairway. You had a call with Jaehwa and kept going on about how she must hate you now.” Wonwoo told and small pieces of a blurred memory returned. The cold floor, the pain in his chest, Wonwoo trying to calm him down. “Do you want me to continue?”

“You started, so why not finish?”

Wonwoo took a deep breath. “You made her cry. She said that whatever it was you accused her of hurt her more than anything you ever did.”

Mingyu pulled his legs closer to his chest. “So…does she hate me now?” He knew how pitiful he must have been looking, so the immediate “No” from his friend didn’t surprise him.

“Really, I don’t think there is anything you could do, she wouldn’t forgive you for.” Wonwoo said after turning away from Mingyu again. “Sleep, you’ll feel better.”

Mingyu stayed the way he was until he heard Wonwoo’s breathing slowing down and starting to follow a rhythm. Quietly he got up and left the room, fishing his hone out of his pocket. He closed the door behind him, scrolling through the contacts until he reached Jaehwa’s name. He dialed the number, wondering about what exactly he should say, but she didn’t pick up. She had never declined his calls before. For half an hour he was standing there, leaning against the wall, calling her every few minutes, but never reaching her. As he looked at the time and was starting to feel some mix of desperation and sorrow, he eventually went to sleep as well.

The next day went by all the same. Introductions, answers, all the same. Mingyu had known it would be like this. When they had still been in the preparations for the concert he had already practiced the song he would want to perform at the concert with Jisoo in advance.

Jaehwa’s absolute favourite song was Hey There Delilah by The Plain White T’s and Mingyu had heard it in dozens of variations with her already.

What’s it like in New York City? It would have been the first question he would have gotten, if she had called him. Busy, he would have said, busy, boring and lonely, if only you were here, everything would change and all those people running around in their black suits with their briefcases would stop a moment to take a look at your beauty.

But he couldn’t. That was all he could think about. Singing this song in the evening, having prepared himself mentally for this important performance, worried he would ruin it for her and disappoint her, it would all be for nothing. Because eventually, she did hate him. He hurt her, hurt her so bad and now she didn’t even want to listen to him anymore. She wouldn’t forgive him. And this is what it would stay like. Him, trapped in this busy and sad world, people running around him all the time, not noticing a thing, and her, happy, smiling at him through the pictures.

AN: It's been a while, I know. And I have to admit, that it wasn't entirely because of school, hobbies or a social life I am trying to develop, but simply because I'm just unfocused and unmotivated. For that I am very sorry and I will try to make up for it with more chapters. i decided I would finished this story before continuing the other one and well, we're nearing the end so it won't be as hard to convince myself to write. But yeah, thank you to all those who subscribed even when I wasn't updating...well have I ever been updating regularly? Anyway, I hope that even though this is quite a sad story, you'll like it up until the end ^-^