A/N: hi, guys!

Here's the next chapter! Hope you all like it! ;)

September 2010- DBSK PoV

“Yunho, I’m getting really worried about him.”

Yunho looked up from the progress reports that he was reading. They were in Yunho’s office and Jaejoong was sitting on the edge of his desk, looking down at Yunho with the most anxious expression on his face.

“I know, Boo. But it’s not like we don’t understand why he’s acting like this, right? I mean, what would you do if you were in his shoes? If you were separated from me, thinking that the chances of ever seeing me again aren’t good?”

“I’ll probably act worse,” Jaejoong admitted. “But still… I’m serious, Yunho. It’s not healthy anymore. I’m getting really worried as about Changmin…”

Yunho sighed. “I am, too. But what can we do?”

Ever since she had to return to her own time, Changmin had… well, bluntly speaking, Changmin had gone completely nuts.

None of the four older DBSK members nor the Super Junior members ever dare to say her name anymore, even if Changmin’s not in the room with them. In case Changmin suddenly turns up and ends up hearing it, like the few occasions when he did and things turned… nasty. Because Changmin can’t bare to even just her name anymore. If he hears her name, he ends up breaking whatever he’s holding and walking out of the room.

It even got to the point where speaking in English isn’t allowed anymore. Not that they really spoke English that much when she wasn’t around, but still, now they even try to avoid having English words in their songs. And if the producers and composers would really insist the necessity of English words, those lines definitely don’t go to Changmin for him to sing.

It really seemed to his hyungs that Changmin was determined to eradicate everything that even so much as bears the smallest amount of relation with her. Anything that might remind him of her.

His hyungs were willing to bet that Changmin was doing his best to act as though she never came into their lives. That he never met her, let alone fell in love with her. But they also knew that Changmin wasn’t really succeeding, no matter how much he tried to hide his pain from his hyungs. At times when Changmin thinks that his hyungs weren’t looking, they would catch him looking off into the distance, a faraway look in his eyes that told them that even if he was with them physically, his mind (and probably his heart) was miles away. Sometimes, the pain that he was keeping inside would even manifest itself on his face and they would get a glimpse of what their maknae was really feeling inside.

But really, if anything was a giveaway to them that Changmin still thought about her, still loved her, still longed with every fiber of his being that she was with him, it was Minmin.

No matter much Changmin used to insult the stuffed giraffe when she was still with them, the “stupid, ugly as hell giraffe with an abnormally large nose”, as Changmin used to call it, is now always in the maknae’s bag and so comes along with Dong Bang Shin Ki to trips to wherever their presence is deemed necessary. And his hyungs knew for a fact that Changmin slept with Minmin either right next to his pillow or, more often, hugged tightly against his chest.

Nope, Changmin was definitely not dealing well with losing her.

“Hyungs!” Junsu suddenly burst into the office happily.  “One of the producers just informed me that our latest album hit the top of the music charts! We should go out and celebrate later, yes? I-“

Junsu paused as he looked at the faces of the oldest members. “What’s wrong?” he asked, his big smile slipping from his face.

“Nothing, don’t worry about it, Su,” Yunho forced himself to smile. “Yeah, alright. That’s a great reason to celebrate, eh? Why not? I think I’ll be able to finish reviewing all these reports by this afternoon, anyway, so I won’t have to do them at home later tonight…”

Junsu nodded, but he still looked quite doubtful.

Seeing the look on Junsu’s face, Jaejoong sighed and started to explain. “We were just talking about Changmin-ah…”

“Oh.”

That was all it took for Junsu to understand the worried looks on his hyungs faces. His own expression morphed into an anxious one as well.

“You know what, hyungs? I really don’t understand why the fans and media haven’t caught on yet about how depressed Changmin really is these days. I mean, you just need to take one good look at his face to see that he’s not his usual happy, evil maknae self…” Junsu said unhappily as he plopped down on one of the comfy, black leather seats in front of Yunho’s desk.

“That’s because Changmin’s good at keeping his mask in front of the public,” Yunho sighed heavily.

“Well, I suppose it’s a good thing, though, right? I mean, just think of the awkward questions that we’ll be getting,” Junsu shrugged a bit, now looking thouhtful. “Not to mention that the fans will go nuts if they ever get so much as a hint that the precious baby Minnie is depressed…”

“True enough, but I still wish that his façade isn’t just a façade. That he’s not just putting on a show for others. That he’s really and truly happy,” Jaejoong muttered, standing up from Yunho’s desk only to sit on the leader’s lap instead.

“Boo! I’m never going to finish these reports!” Yunho complained as Jaejoong wrapped his arms around his neck. But Yunho hugged Jaejoong tight against him, anyway, knowing that Jaejoong needed any kind of comfort that he could get, worried as he was about their youngest.

Just then, Yoochun burst into the room. He looked half frustrated and half worried.

“I’ve just talked with our manager!” Yoochun snarled. Of course, DBSK didn’t really have “managers” for themselves nowadays, especially if you go with the way that SM managers used to act towards them, since they’re the bosses of the company now. But still, they use the term ‘manager’ for the person who just basically arranges all their schedules and appearances.

“What happened?” Yunho immediately asked, concerned. Again, since the managers in their company are nothing like the managers in SM, Yoochun had never really complained about a manager again ever again since they left SM. So, now that he was doing it again after so long was really unnerving his other members.

“He’s done it again!” Yoochun shouted.

“What’s manager hyung done?” Junsu frowned.

“Not manager hyung! Changmin! I’ve just been on the phone with our manager! He called me to inform us what Changmin has just done!”

“Changmin? What did Changmin do?” Jaejoong asked, his heart gripped with fear at once at the mention of their youngest.

“He just suddenly ing flew off to Japan! Again!” Yoochun practically snarled.

Ah, yes. The most worrisome about Changmin’s recently acquired “habits”.

The maknae had taken to suddenly flying off to Japan without giving prior notice to anyone, not even any of his hyungs. The first time it had happened, the four other members of DBSK had been out of their minds with worry, not having been able to reach their youngest for almost one whole day. When he had finally answered Yunho’s phone call, Changmin had only snapped at his leader that he was in Japan, that he would be back in time for their next schedule, and that they were not to bother him again until he comes back.

This has been happening for some months now, though it did nothing to lessen the worry of Changmin’s hyungs. Every time they have a couple days or so off from work, the four older members would just suddenly find out that Changmin had gone off to Japan again. Given that he’s been doing it for quite a few times already, you’d expect the other members to somehow already expect it by now. But it was still difficult not to worry when they had no idea why the hell Changmin kept going back to Japan, let alone where he was staying there or who he was with.

I mean, it wasn’t like he would find her there, right?

“See! This is exactly what I was talking about, Yunho! This really isn’t good for Changmin’s well-being anymore! It has to stop!” Jaejoong told Yunho insistently.

“I doubt Changmin would do anything stupid…” Yunho tried to reassure Jaejoong, but he himself also looked quite worried.

“Just suddenly going off to Japan for some unknown reason is already stupid!” Jaejoong snapped. “He wouldn’t tell anyone where he is, except that ‘he is in Japan and not to be bothered’. What if something bad happens? What are supposed to do, search the entire goddamn country just so that we can track him down?!”

“I agree with Jaejoong hyung,” Yoochun said quietly. “We really can’t let this continue much longer. We need to intervene.”

“Well, it doesn’t really affect DBSK’s activities at all. Changmin’s kept all his responsibilities to the group and to our company,” Junsu said fairly.

“But what about his responsibilities to himself? Are you saying that just because it doesn’t affect our careers, we won’t do anything about it anymore? It’s not affecting our careers, but what about our personal lives? Changmin’s personal life is a mess! Again, this isn’t healthy anymore! We have no idea what he gets up to in Japan!” Jaejoong retorted.

“It’s not like we don’t know why he’s acting like that!” Junsu said hotly, determined to defend the maknae. “He misses her, hyung!”

“We know that, Junsu-ah. We understand. We miss her, too, you know,” Yoochun frowned.

“Not the same way!” Junsu insisted. “She’s my best friend and I know that how horrible and upset I feel about it doesn’t even come close to what Changmin must be feeling! You can sympathize, sure! You can ‘understand’, but actually experiencing what he’s going through right now is another different matter entirely!”

That made Yunho, Jaejoong, and Yoochun pause.

“Well, I guess we get what you’re trying to say, Junsu,” Yunho said slowly. Then, he sighed heavily. “But we still need to put a stop to this. We need to get him to stop closing off his emotions from us, at least.”

“Good luck with that,” Yoochun snorted. “We all know that Changmin doesn’t really do the sitting down and having heart-to-heart talks thing.”

“He did with her, though?” Yunho frowned. “Remember when Changmin was so upset when we first found out about our break up in her time? She stayed with him that night and just talked things out.”

“Yeah, but that’s the point. It’s her,” Junsu pointed out. “What he needs is her. What will snap him out of whatever is going on with him right now is her. She’s the answer. Only her.”

“Well, as we can’t exactly drag her back again from her time, I suppose Changmin will just have to make do with us,” Jaejoong said dryly.

“Keep dreaming, hyung,” Junsu shook his head. “I’m serious. He needs her.”

“Yes, and all these things that he’s doing right now is doing nothing to help with that!” Yoochun argued. “Tell me, Junsu. How exactly can the things that Changmin’s doing right now help with getting her back to him?”

Junsu didn’t have any answer to that.

Because, really, the truth was that they don’t do anything to bring her back to Changmin.

“To be fair, though,” Jaejoong sighed. “What can Changmin do that would actually bring her back to his life? What can any of us do? We can never see her again. She’s back in her own time.”

“Well, actually,” Junsu said slowly. “I was thinking just a while ago that-“

But Yunho cut him off. He suddenly stood up, making Jaejoong land down on the floor on his .

“Ow! What the hell, Yunho?” Jaejoong protested angrily.

“Oh, sorry, Boo,” Yunho blinked down in surprise. He helped Jaejoong up to his feet. “I forgot that you were on my lap.”

“You forgot?!” Jaejoong screeched disbelievingly.

“I’m sorry, I just suddenly thought of something,” Yunho explained before looking at them all seriously, back in commanding leader mode. “C’mon, all of you. We’re getting Changmin back from Japan. We’re putting our feet down on this right now.”

They stared at him.

“But, hyung… We don’t even know