"You ready?" Jaehyun peeked inside the door, his dimpled smile flashing with excitement.

Taeyong looked up from his notebook. "Yeah," he nodded. "Let's go?"

"Let's go."

Taeyong grabbed his mask and jacket and followed Jaehyun. It was Friday evening and even though a year ago, going for their customary Friday night dinners—a tradition they followed since their trainee days—would have been easy, nowadays it was a luxury. They had been forced to postpone their dinners, if not for schedule, then for various reasons that he didn't want to remember. As they walked across the living room, he sneaked a glance at Jaehyun who was pulling a cap low over his face. Okay so maybe, he felt more deeply about their customary dinners than Jaehyun but could he be blamed? There was never any personal space for them to talk and laugh like they used to. Not like the good old days, anyway. And he missed that.

He opened the front door and stopped. "Jungwoo?"

Jungwoo hugged him. "I came to pick you up, hyung."

Taeyong looked sideways at Jaehyun, face reddening. "Uh, pick me? W-why?"

"Jaehyun-hyung," Jungwoo winked. "You look so handsome. Are you going somewhere?"

His reply had a touch of steel. "I was but not anymore it seems." Jaehyun stepped back, looking mildly downcast before smiling again. "How are the dreamies? Still up to trouble?"

"I've got a perpetual headache but I think Ten hyung is close to jumping out of the window. Yeah, just a normal day at the Dream dorm. It's really quiet here. Have Johnny and Doyoung hyung already left? I was hoping I could ask Doyoung hyung for some tips before we sta—"

"Uh, Jungwoo, sorry but I don't understand...?" Taeyong interrupted. He could not bear to see Jaehyun putting up a forced smile while conversing as if nothing had happened.

"Oh, you didn't check your messages? Manager-nim had scheduled a meeting."

Taeyong frowned and fished out his phone from his backpocket. "I didn't get any—oh wait, what's this?"

Jungwoo was happily chattering. "We're going to perform a cover of Celeb 5, imagine! We're going to be legends after this. Do you think we can ask for an autograph? I would love to get an autograph from them. Maybe a selfie too?"

Jaehyun laughed. "I'm sure we can ask for both." He leaned over Taeyong's shoulder to look at his phone. "What's happening?"

"It's a special NCT U stage, I guess." Taeyong sighed. "I'm sorry but looks like we have to postpone."

Jaehyun nodded. "That's okay. You go. Don't worry."

Taeyong searched his face, worryingly. "Are you sure? Maybe I can—"

"It's not your fault. We can get dinner some other day. Have fun."

He wanted to say something. He opened his mouth but he really didn't know what to say.

Jaehyun patted his shoulder. "Go. You'll get late and then, you'll come back late. You haven't been sleeping well as it is. I'll manage."

As he made his way with a talkative Jungwoo who was excited with the whole Celeb 5 cover, Taeyong thought back to Jaehyun. If he wasn't mistaken, he had seen a flash of something—disappointment?