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"Wooyoung-ah..."

 

He groaned. 

 

"Wooyoung-ah," by this time, the voice was accompanied by a light tapping on his lower back and he groaned again, signalling whoever was calling him that he was already awake. 

 

"It's way past 6 am already. So get up and be ready for today's interview, okay?" Hongjoong cooed at the younger shifting on the bed.

 

Wooyoung replied with a groggy hum, shifting to a comfortable position as he lied on his stomach. Soon, he heard the bedroom door closed, indicating the absence of their leader. 

 

Five more minutes, he mused inside his head. Let him sleep for five more minutes. 

 

But before he could doze off for even a minute, he was woken up again with a different noise this time—

 

It's his ringtone. 

 

Letting out a huge frustrated puff of breath, the twenty-one year old guy finally brought his body up, annoyed at whoever was the one calling him at this time of the day. 

 

He reached for his phone on the bedside table as he sat up groggily on the bed. 

 

"Hello?" Not bothering to look at the caller Id, he pressed the phone to his ear after pressing the 'answer call' button. 

 

"Adeul~"

 

Upon hearing her usually cheerful voice, Wooyoung's irritation immediately vanished, being replaced with excitement. "Oh, omma!" He chimed. 

 

"What's with your voice?" He could almost see her frowning on the other side. "It's hoarse."

 

"Ah," he chuckled. "I just woke up." His voice went down a notch remembering how his mother ruined his beauty sleep. Almost instantly the young guy lost his smile.

 

Well, not actually, because Hongjoong hyung ruined it first. 

 

"Oh," there was a pause. "Is that so?" 

 

He nodded, staring blankly at space because of sleepiness. When he realized that she can't see him and she's probably waiting for his answer, he spoke. "Yeah. "

 

"So Wooyoungie," his mother trailed off and he responded with a tired hum. "Your father's birthday is coming by the weekends." Another hum. "And he wants to go fishing." He hummed again, slowly drifting back to his sleepiness with the way his mother speak. "He wants you to come with us. Like a family outing."

 

His eyes instantly widen to the size of saucers at the last statement. "What?!" He asked incredulously. He shuffled of the bed then ran towards the calendar hanging from the wall across his bed, checking on his father's birthday. 

 

He groaned inwardly when he saw a red asterisk on that day. It was the day where they have a tentative radio guesting. "Oh, come on." He heard his mother complaining at his reaction. "It's been a while since we last did it. Do it for your father, okay?"

 

He brushed his hair back, starting to get stressed out. If he refused, for sure his father would go berserk. But then, how about the guesting?

 

"Besides, I'm giving you the pocket money on the trip. You won't be spending anything as you will act as the guest," she chuckled. At the mention of the word 'pocket money' Wooyoung's ears perked up in curiosity. 

 

"Really?" He asked, feeling suspicious. "How would I be sure that you're not tricking me into spending?" He found himself frowning at the calendar in front. 

 

He heard a sigh from the other end before his mother speak again. "Woah, really. Well you can meet me at the usual cafe you want to hang out and I'm showing you the proof. Okay? So will you go?"

 

There was a long while of silence as he contemplated on the choices. 

 

A trip with his family sounds great, not to mention it's free. 

 

But then, the radio guesting...

 

"Fine, I'll meet you tomorrow before lunch, at the usual cafe. I'll decide whether to join or not, okay? I would still think about it so wait for my answer." He sighed dejectedly when his mother didn't even bother bidding him farewell before ending the call. 

 

"Mom, really." He mused.

 

The events that followed have lead to the birth of a rumor that says Jung Wooyoung is having a sugar mommy, when it fact it was his blood mommy who was speaking to him. 

 

It was all a misunderstanding. 

 

✳✳✳

 

"Where are you going?" Choi San asked first thing after seeing Wooyoung coming out of his room, dressed up like he has somewhere to go. 

 

"Out." Was what the younger answered, busy placing accessories on his body here and there. 

 

San could only nod at the response before frowning finally. "Have a breakfast first." He mused. "You haven't eaten any last night."

 

"It's okay," Wooyoung thriftily answered. "Where are the other hyungs by the way?" He asked, finally sparing a glance at the guy who was sitting on the floor. San reached out his hands to offer a bun toast at the other as he answered him. "They're most probably sleeping still. It's just 6 in the morning." He shrugged his shoulders. "Hongjoong went out early though. Said he's working on a song  right now." He added. 

 

Wooyoung's brows raised, reaching for the offer. "This early in the morning?" 

 

"Yeah. You know that hyung."

 

He didn't reply any more after that. He reckoned that something was off, but he chose to ignore it. "I'm out, so bye!" He said one last time to San, approaching the front door but stopped when the former spoke again. 

 

"You are not the usual you. I hope everything's going well."

 

"Uh, yeah." He looked behind him, smiling at the older sheepishly. "Thank you." He rubbed the back of his neck uneasily. 

 

✳✳✳

 

Jung Wooyoung sat by the side of the road, across Seo Jinahn's house and witnessed a group of girls crowding in front of it. He frowned, checking out his wristwatch. 

 

6:30 

 

He wasn't dumb so he knew who those girls are. And the fact that another rumor erupted just last night, obviously, the amount of hate that she receives doubled for sure. 

 

Has she had it this hard ever since that news went out?

 

A wave of guilt washed through his whole being, yet again.