02

      The sun was up and shining on the living-room's walls when an annoying ring tone erupted in the quietness. Minwoo did not want to answer and could not believe he had forgotten to turn his phone on mute. A rub of his eyes and a second passing slowly br back some kind of memory from the previous night.

Searching his phone in his pocket, he answered a mumbled, sleepy "yeah ?", the silence following making him frown.

The conversation ended like this, and in a flash Minwoo remembered everything, making panic soar uncontrollably.

Trying to control his breathing, he felt like suffocating laying on this couch with his clothes on; and in a messy movement he managed to pull himself up on rather numbed legs; barely avoiding to step on Gomdori at his feet.

He needed a second before being able to walk, and then he headed towards the balcony.

He needed fresh air, because he could not breathe and he was sure he would suffocate if he was not getting some air right now.

A cold wind slapped his face when he opened the window, but he did not care and stepped on the balcony where he grabbed the rail and leant against. He had a hard time to regulate his breathing, but once done he felt better and more relaxed; even if what had happened was still haunting him.

"Gosh Minwoo !" Came a sudden voice, which startled him and made him turn around sharply. "It's freezing outside, what the hell are you doing ?"

Gomdori happily jumped back inside the living room to greet its master stepping inside with an annoyed look on his face and wearing only his boxers. Minwoo glanced as his friend rubbing his arm to get some warmth and smiled softly.

"Sorry." He answered, and took a last breath in before stepping inside the apartment and shutting the window. "I needed some air."

"At seven in the morning ?" He snapped back in astonishment and a shiver.

"Seven ?" He raised his brows in surprise. "What are you doing up ?"

Eric eyed him with an annoyed pout on his lips then said. "I heard your phone. Never heard of mute mode ?"

"Sorry." He apologized and dropped his gaze.

"Who was it anyway ? Was it important ?"

Looking up at his friend, Minwoo shook his head and said. "No, just a wrong number."

Eric made a disbelieved face at the information then hissed. "Jeez." He stepped towards the kitchen and added. "Just turn it off next time."

Minwoo smiled softly. "I will."

Doing his morning routine in the kitchen, Eric came back in the living room with two cups of coffee in hands, knowing without asking to the shorter man how he wanted the dark beverage. It was the least he could know after fifteen plus years of friendship.

"You want to head directly to Shinhwa co or you've other plans ?" He asked, sitting on the couch beside Minwoo who was silently watching TV.

"Hum…" He began, as if snapped out of his thoughts. "I think I'll just go to the studio. I need to work on the album."

"You didn't sleep much." Remarked Eric before sipping on his drink.

"So did you." He answered with a small grin.

"But I've more hours of sleep than you…How long did you wander outside by the way ? It was what, a quarter to four when you knocked at my door ?" He said with a frown of concern. "What the hell were you doing all this time ?"

"I was trying to remember my password."

Eric blinked and stared at Minwoo in bewilderment, wondering if his friend was being serious or not; because it was the stupidest thing he ever heard, even from Minwoo.

"For more than one hour ?" He shot back, hoping the main dancer would smile it off and give him some plausible explanation.

"Yeah, so what ?" He answered lazily, his tired gaze on the leader's face. "I was drunk, I think I fell asleep at my door at some point."

"Gosh, Minwoo." Eric rolled his eyes in an exasperate sigh. "You should've just call me, I'd come over. I know your password, remember ?"

Minwoo stared up at him as if thinking about his words, before shrugging and looking back at the TV screen.

"Maybe. And, oh, speaking of passwords…" Eric looked down at the main singer watching TV. "You should change yours." Frowning, the leader did not have to voice his interrogation that the shorter man added. "I heard a hundreds of personal information were stolen from the security system and they were leaked out all around Seoul."

"Really ?" Raised his brows the taller man. "It's so annoying. I was finally remembering this one."

Smiling, Minwoo looked up at him, sipped on his drink and said. "I'll tell the others too. I don't know if we're concerned, but better safe than sorry, right ?"

"Yeah, I'll call Hyesung later. He's an appointment this morning, doesn't he ?"

"Yeah. To the dermatologist. He should be at work around eleven."

"You're ordering today or is it Junjin ?"

"Hum…" He began, thinking. "Maybe I'll order. I don't want anymore chicken for this week."

Eric laughed and nodded, agreeing on the fact Junjin would certainly order chicken if he had a chance.

"Well, I'll get ready. You want to shower first ?" He asked once on his feet, and looking up at him, Minwoo shook his head and motioned for the leader to just go.

"There's some of your clothes in my room if you want to change."

"Why do you have my clothes at your place ?" Shot back the main dancer to his friend now in the hallway. "Did you borrow it without my consent once again ?"

"Hey, you're always doing it." Answered the distant voice of Eric.

"Your clothes are the cheapest on the market ! Mines are ing expensive and from famous designers."

"Oh, just shut up. You're not gonna about this all day. You can take them back, so just drop it !"

"Then ask me next time you want to borrow my stuffs." Widening his eyes, Minwoo suddenly thought about something and jumped on his feet to head towards the bedroom. "Are you the one who took my jacket I was looking for the whole month ?"

"It was freaking cold outside." Answered Eric from the bathroom as Minwoo arrived in the bedroom and found his jacket in the closet.

"Yah, Eric !" He snapped, gathering all his stuffs he could find in his friend's room. "The ? It was you who took my leopard's socks !" He said in disbelieve.

"Mines were soaking wet, and they're cute." Shot back the muffled voice of the leader.

"Yah !" Snapped the high pitched voice of the main dancer.

From inside the bathroom, Eric grinned in amusement, the little bickering between him and Minwoo nothing new but always that funny.

***

      Hours had flew by and ticked by so slowly at some point. It all started getting pretty long and boring when Minwoo got stuck on a song. Eric had an appointment and then could not help him or even listen to him; hence he was rather irritated when he eventually decided to take a break.

It was late, as often when preparing for comebacks, Minwoo and Eric were staying late behind at the company. Sometimes they were working around a delicious meal until late in the night, others at each other's place; but usually they were using the recording studio at Shinhwa company.

The corridors were quiet and deserted, minus a couple of late workers Minwoo would not meet because they were confined in their office working hard. He did not like to overwork their employees, but sometimes they did not have a choice.

He was glad everyone was working so hard with such motivation and devotion; as if Shinhwa was part of them. Minwoo was always so grateful for such employees giving everything for Shinhwa company; and he was cherishing every single people contributing to their success.

He was perfectly aware none of the Shinhwa members could still be on the top without everyone around them and working with them. He knew they needed all these amazing people to keep going with Shinhwa, and he was always so glad for their support.

      The break room was empty, as expected, and opening the fridge he hesitate for a moment on the drink to take. There was two he wanted, but he was not sure about one of them; because it was maybe belonging to Andy. Therefore, not knowing for sure he choose the other one and grabbed some snacks before filling a cup with black coffee.

He would need it if he wanted to still be awake later on.

Eric had told him to go home, but he was stubborn and had no intention to leave yet. He had too many things to work on and he just could not leave when a song was bugging him like this. He, of course, would just give up if it was becoming too annoying; but for the time being he needed to work on it and fix it.

"Have a good night." He greeted on his way back to the recording studio, the maintenance worker bowing his head at him as answer while pushing forward his bucket with the broom he had inside.

The little wheels were squeaking the whole way, the noise accompanying Minwoo until he was turning at a corner. There, it only became a really distant noise gradually vanishing.

      Entering the studio, he sat comfortably in his chair and ate some snacks before drinking some soda. He was feeling more energetic after ingesting some sugar, and leaning forward on the panel control he noticed his phone screen was flashing.

Picking the device, he unlocked it and touched the envelope icon.

The message 'I'm watching you.' appeared and sent a shiver up his spine.

Minwoo was kind of used to these messages, and instead of panicking about it he just erased it before discarding his phone aside. Resuming his work, the music started blasting out of the speakers, making him forget about everything else; even this threat creeping him out.

      He was trying to figure out what was so wrong about the song when his phone rang and made him jump on his chair.

Glaring at the device with a hand pressing on his heart, he was already expecting who could be the caller; and even if he did not want to answer he did not have a choice.

"Hello ?" He answered after checking the ID, but it was an unknown number.

The now familiar breath answered him, and closing his eyes on a forming headache, he massaged his eyelids before sighing.

"Don't you have a life ?" He muttered before hanging up and considering turning off his phone.

He did not want any more disturbance for the night, but he was still fearing the consequences so just resumed what he was doing with the hope his stalker would not call anymore.

He knew it was a naïve hope, mostly considering the past months, and when his phone rang again more than fifteen minutes later he grabbed it in annoyance and turned it off.

He was just starting to get ideas for the song and he could not bear lose it because of this harassing him. The inspiration was here and for nothing he would lose it. Hence, he just forgot about any kind of worries he could have about his stalker and lost himself in his music.

So, here it is =)

I hope you're happy !!!

xD

It's mostly psychological for the time being, but don't worry... some more stuffs will happen.

I'm sure you've already guess so far considering what the stalker did before.

Anyway,

Thank you so much for the support, it makes me so happy and motivated ^^

I would never say it enough, but thank you for reading, commenting, subscribing and upvoting.

It means so much to me =). At least I can know you're liking the story, so yeah... I hope you'll enjoy it till the end.

To next time !