“His Favorite”

After an entire day of schedules, Hakyeon was at a point where he’s just had about enough of it all. He looked at his phone and scrolled to all the upcoming activities he has to do alone and with the group. The amounts of work he had on his calendar was overbearing.

He let out a deep sigh.

He regrets not telling the CEO that he really wanted a break. Hakyeon really thought he could handle all the hectic scheduling when he first accepted it but he was wrong. At first, he was still able to manage it but after a few weeks and having zero day-offs, he just wants to run away.

The most tiring wasn’t just to go and attend those schedules but having to smile in front of people and camera throughout the day. He doesn’t even smile anymore because it was enjoyable but because it was a necessary reaction.

“Go get change okay? I’ll come back to pick you up in twenty minutes while I go grab something back at the office,” his manager said as Hakyeon was dropped off in front of his dorms.

Hakyeon nodded obediently. It’s not like he could refuse anyways.

He entered the building and was about to take the elevator up until he saw a notice placed in front.

[Under Maintenance. Sorry for the inconvenience.]

“You’ve got to be kidding me…” Hakyeon felt irritated.

He went up to the staircase and stood there for a good minute to stare at the heights he had to climb.

Why did we move so high up? Hakyeon felt like throwing up after a few flight of stairs. I’m getting too old for this…

After a good ten or so minutes wasted, he finally reached the ninth floor to the dorms. He looked at his watch and thought about how he had no time to rest anymore because he wasted it all climbing the staircase. I should file a complaint about that darn elevator broken. Just how many times has it broken down in the past month?

Hakyeon grumbled as he reached for the lock pad at the front door.

Beep. Beep. Beep. Click.

He entered the dorms and just as he expected, no one was home. No one was ever home nowadays. All the other members, just like Hakyeon, simply returns to the dorms to get changed and then go back to work again.

Hakyeon quickly took off his shoes and rushed to his room to find clothes to change into. He quickly got changed without giving a single thought about trying to look good because honestly, he gave up on fashion a long time ago when his schedule started to get too crazy to handle. What’s fashion when you have to worry more about being comfortable first?

He glanced at his room that was in a complete mess. It was unusual for him since he’s usually really good at cleaning and organizing his bedroom but since he’s never home, what more can you expect?

Bzz.

Hakyeon looked at the text message sent by his manager.

[Will be there in five minutes.]

Please, just take your time. Better yet, call me and tell me that it’s cancelled. Hakyeon thought as he grunted at the text message.

Just as he was about to head back out, the door opened.

“Hyung?” A boy said as he came home just in time as Hakyeon was about to head off.

“Jaehwan-ah!” Hakyeon couldn’t be more delighted to see the younger. “What are you doing back already? I thought you were going to be out all day today.”

“Um… well,” Jaehwan somehow looked dejected and not as energetic as he usually is.

“What’s wrong?”

“The performance got cancelled.”

“W-what? How’d that happen?”

“The orchestra and some of the actors weren’t getting paid apparently and they boycotted the performance until the producers pay them… and it ended up being my performance that got cancelled instead.”

Jaehwan looked down on the floor as if he was about to cry. Hakyeon’s heart broke as he saw how the usual cute and happy main vocalist suddenly looked like a lost puppy.

Hakyeon didn’t know what to say to the younger because he knew well that the musical was something Jaehwan had always wanted to perform in. So, for something like this to happen suddenly, he knew exactly how Jaehwan must have been feeling inside.

Hakyeon decided to approach Jaehwan and gave him a hug.

“Hyung…” Jaehwan’s voice cracked a bit with Hakyeon’s warm hug.

“It’s okay,” Hakyeon told the younger and rubbed his back gently.

Both of them remained silent for a second. Jaehwan was quiet and although he wasn’t crying, Hakyeon could still feel the younger’s pain.

Bzz.

Another text message.

[I’m downstairs. Where are you?] His manager sent him.

Hakyeon decided to ignore it for just another good minute because right now, the most important thing was the child in front of him. It’s okay if he was late or if he got yelled at but Hakyeon knew that he couldn’t ignore Jaehwan. After all, Hakyeon would do anything for his favorite.