When the lead singer of SHINHWA came inside the practice room, everyone stopped what they were doing without saying a word. Because judging from the look, Shin Hyesung was in a bad mood. Even his baby bird was ignored by him when he tried to pry on what was wrong.

‘Hyung~~~’ Junjin chirped happily as he scooted closer to the said man.

Hyesung looked at him before continued playing with his phone, ‘Hi, Junjin’ he said without sparing a glance. Instantly Junjin knew that he was in a VERY bad mood. He pouted his lips

They had to wait for Eric who was having his shooting outside, so in the meantime they were free to do whatever they wanted. Minwoo was talking to their choreographer, Dongwan was sleeping (as usual) and Andy who was consoling the sulking Junjin.

‘Sorry I’m late!’ a sudden shout was heard when the door was opened, revealing Eric who smiled apologetically to them. He hated if people had to wait for him but honestly, they wouldn’t mind because they knew how busy Eric was. Hyesung who was in his moody zone immediately wore his fake happy face in front of Eric.

‘Hey…’ Eric smiled when he wanted to put his bag next to Hyesung.

‘Hey. I got you some drinks on the way here’ Hyesung rummaged his bag to look for the carbonated drinks that Eric loved so much and to keep him from dehydrating.

‘Thanks, Hyesungie~’ he chirped and took the beverage.

Other members gathered up secretly to discuss about Hyesung’s sudden behaviour when Eric walked in.

‘I bet he doesn’t want Eric to notice that he is in a bad mood’ Dongwan tried to give them his thoughts about it. Minwoo gave him a brief as to what was happening when he woke up.

‘So he must be in a bad mood because of Eric hyung?’ Andy asked innocently.

Before any one of them could say anything, Eric walked up to them, ‘Yah, what are you guys whispering about? Don’t you have work to do?’ he said in a teasing manner. They all rolled their eyes and got into formation.

(After the practice)

Although Hyesung kept up the I’m-okay face, the members wanted their nagging mother back although they won’t say it out loud. So Minwoo being the closest friend to Eric confronted him.

‘Eric…’ he called the taller man quietly.

‘Hmm?’ Eric who was wiping his sweats using a towel looked at him blankly.

‘Did you have a fight with Hyesung?’

Eric looked at him in susrprised before regaining his cool composure back, ‘We’re not fighting but I know that there’s something inside his mind that has been bothering him. I didn’t realise that you and the rest would notice it because he always have that fake expression when he’s troubled’ he chuckled awkwardly while scratching his head. Minwoo wanted to tell him that Hyesung only did that when Eric was around but that wasn’t the point now.

‘Oh alright. If you say so. We are just worried. We want our nagging bird back’ Minwoo fisted Eric’s arm lightly before going back to Dongwan.

Eric was grateful to have such understanding friends and it made him smile contently alone. When he looked over at his boyfriend, Hyesung was already packing his stuffs while waiting for Eric as they usually went home together.

‘You’re ready to go?’ Eric asked when he approached him.

Hyesung looked at him with a small smile, ‘Hmm’

Like usual, Hyesung and Eric would use Eric’s car while their managers used Hyesung’s. Throughout the journey, Eric kept glancing at Hyesung who had his head pressing against the window without saying a word. Not even humming. Which was something really rare! Hence, Eric was sure that Hyesung had something bothering him. He used the time to think what could have gone wrong because he knew Hyesung wasn’t mad at him because if he did, he wouldn’t be in the same car as him. Even after they parked their car, Eric still couldn’t figure it out. So he decided to follow Hyesung to his apartment.

‘Eric?’ Hyesung asked in confusion when Eric stepped out from the elevator on Hyesung’s floor when his apartment was above Hyesung’s.

‘Hmm?’ he looked at him innocently. Letting out a sigh, Hyesung let him be and gestured him inside when he unlocked his door.

He noticed how Hyesung placing his keys and phone on the table as it was a habit of him and that was when Eric felt something was wrong. He looked closely at the table, more specifically at Hyesung’s belongings and that was when it hit him. Hyesung’s other phone! He wanted to speak up but decided he could ask Hyesung later.

‘Say… Can I sleep here tonight?’ Eric asked casually at Hyesung who was in his room.

‘Don’t you have shooting tomorrow?’ Hyesung responded with a loud voice so that the rapper-turned-actor could hear him properly.

‘Off day~’ he chirped.

Eric could hear Hyesung’s hurried footsteps and in a second, Hyesung was in the living room, looking at him with his eyes widen, ‘What? You don’t have to look so shocked’ he chuckled lightly as he got up from the sofa and walked towards the singer.

‘Don’t you want me here?’ Eric asked softly.

He had to hide his grin when he saw a blush on Hyesung’s face, ‘S-Stay…’ Hyesung muttered quietly.

‘Okay, Hyesungie’ he placed a soft kiss on top of his head.

While he waited for Hyesung as he took his shower, he started thinking on how he was going to bring up the topic. The phone held a significant memory to both Eric and Hyesung, and Eric was positive that it had something to do with Hyesung’s moody behaviour. Hyesung came back into the living room with his pyjamas on and straight away jumped onto the couch to have some cuddling sessions with the taller man.

‘Hyesung?’ Eric called after 30 minutes of silence. He figured it was the perfect time to confront Hyesung about it.

‘Yes, Eric?’

‘Where is our phone?’ he didn’t bother to beat around the bush anymore. He could feel Hyesung’s body tensed beside him.

‘I don’t know what you’re talking about’ he shrugged him off.

‘You know exactly what I meant. Usually, you would have two phones on the table but this time it was only one phone. Your work phone. Not the phone that you used only with me’ he emphasised.

Hyesung looked up to look at him a pair of painful eyes, ‘I-It’s broken’ he sounded so hurt as he said those words.

‘Is that why you are so sad today?’

‘Hmm’ he nodded his head and scooted closer to him, ‘I tried to send it to the shop but they said there are no parts available for the phone. You know, because the phone is old’ he sighed heavily. Eric understood why he was like that.

It was the phone Eric had bought for him during their early years of being SHINHWA. It happened when Hyesung somehow got lost in a mall in Taiwan and to make things worse, he didn’t have a phone that time. It made Eric worried to death as he ran all over the mall to look for the singer. Then, a few days later he bought Hyesung a new phone secretly and told him that he should use the phone when he needed someone beside him or if he needed someone to rescue him. Eric knew that Hyesung had kept the phone with him all the time although he didn’t use it but after they got together, Hyesung bought a new number for personal uses and mainly for Eric making the actor to feel special and was touched by the subtle affection.

‘You know…’ he started and wrapped his arms around Hyesung tighter, ‘Just because you can’t use it anymore, it doesn’t mean you can’t keep it. Right?’ he looked at him with a loving gaze.

‘I know but I wanted to have those secret calls again’ he muttered quietly while hiding his embarrassment.

‘Then, we have to look for other alternatives’ he grinned and he released himself from Hyesung and pulled him off the sofa.

‘But right now, I want you to accompany me in the bathroom’ he winked wickedly at him.

‘I already took my shower!’ he protested as he tried to release himself from Eric’s grip.

‘It doesn’t hurt to shower twice, Hyesungie’ he whistled excitedly. He knew that although Hyesung protested like that, the singer was liking it secretly.

(A week later)

‘Where is Eric? He should be done an hour ago’ Minwoo sighed worryingly when his friend didn’t pick up his phone.

‘I’m sure that he is stuck in traffic’ Hyesung tried to calm him down.

‘HYESUNGIE! HYESUNGIE!’ Eric suddenly appeared from the door and ran towards his boyfriend, ignoring Minwoo’s nags.

Hyesung was stunned by the sudden hug, ‘W-What’s wrong, Eric?’ he asked. It was rare to see Eric so excited about something especially when it came out from nowhere.

‘I have a gift for you~’ he chirped excitedly and gave him a box that was wrapped prettily. It wasn’t his birthday nor their anniversary, so it made him feel weirder than before. He slowly unwrapped the box with Eric’s excited gaze on him and it was when he gasped in shocked when he saw his old broken phone that was fixed perfectly.

‘Surprise!!’ Eric clapped his hands like he was done blowing the candles.

‘W-What? How did…’ Hyesung was too speechless to say anything and the members were already surrounded him to see what made him like that.

‘I asked Taeha to find a repair shop that could fix the phone. Sorry it took awhile’ he laughed awkwardly.

Hyesung threw himself towards Eric and hugged the older guy tightly while discreetly wiping his tears of joy, ‘Thank you, Eric, thank you. I love your gift’ he muttered quietly.

‘Told you we would find other alternatives’ he winked when they released themselves from the hug.

‘I know’ he smiled. After the short moment of excitement, Eric gestured everyone to get into position so that they can start their practice. While Hyesung was taking his time to put his box inside his bag carefully, Junjin took the time to ‘badmouth’ his mama bird.

‘So, I was ignored because of a ing phone’ Junjin puffed in annoyance.

‘It was the same phone that Eric bought for Hyesung after all’ Minwoo replied casually.

‘You mean…?!’ Andy pointed towards Hyesung’s bag.

Minwoo nodded absentmindedly as he was rehearsing his steps mentally, ‘Yeah, the one after Hyesung got lost in some malls’

‘That long?!’ Dongwan gasped in surprised.

‘That long…’ he said.

‘Yah! Yah! Are you guys going to chitchat or are we going to practice now?!’ Eric called the gossip boys who were at the corner of the room.

‘Coming~’ they quickly obeyed his words as they knew how Eric hated to wait.