*meanwhile, the others arrived at raesoo’s after the shopping trip.*

“You guys brought your clothes and everything right?” Raesoo asked.

“Haha! My house is only a 5-minute walk from yours babe. I can just take my clothes anytime.” Changmin replied.

“Changmin, is it okay if I borrow your clothes or something? My house’s too far and I’m lazy to go back.” Yoochun questioned.

“Yeah hyung that’s fine. How about Junsu,Jaejoong and Yunho?” Changmin asked.

“Nah we’ve got our own clothes ready” Yunho answered.

“Bingeul bingeul bingeul bingeul~bingeul bingeul bingeul bingeul~”

“Hya! who’s phone’s that?” Chaeyeon asked, annoyed.

“Ah! Sorry it’s mine.” Jihye answered and ran towards her phone.

“Thank’s a lot for waking me up Rae!” Jihye said sourly.

“Hi Hyora! Oh, you’re here? Ah okay I’ll get Jaejoong to unlock it. Okay, bye!”

“Hey guys Hyora’s here!” Jihye announced. “And Jae, could you help me unlock the door?”

A minute later, Hyora stepped in with Jaejoong. Yoochun was the first one to approach her.

“How did the vocal practice go?”

“It was good I guess. Ms.Tae gave me a new song to practice and she said that our performance was splendid.”

“Ah okay then. Look, you’ve been acting strangely lately and I just wanna let you know that if you need someone to talk to or a shoulder to cry on, I’ll be there okay?” Yoochun whispered to her ears.

“Thank you Chun.” That was all she said.

“I keep praying don’t forget it, baby we keep the faith eternally. I keep praying~”

“Hyora, your phone.”

“Just ignore it.”

She did what she had done just now during lunch; she stared at the caller ID for a while, lets out a deep sigh and rejected the call. Again.

All eyes were on Hyora when the house phone rings.

“Hey! It’s mum and dad! I’ll put in loudspeaker!” Raesoo shouted.

Mrs. Park HaeSoo and Mr. Park SungSoo were like all their parents and they treated Raesoo’s friends like they were their own children.

“Hi mum! Hi dad!” Raesoo answered the phone.

“Yo yo wazzup uncle S and aunt H. hahaha!” Yunho added in.

“Ah it’s nice to hear your voice Raesoo and Yunho. I thought you guys are having a sleepover? Where are the others?”

“Jaejoongie’s here! And Soohyun too! ” Jaejoong shouted all the way from the kitchen.

“Is that Jaejoong? And is he in the kitchen again?” Raesoo’s mum asked.

“Yes and yes mum. Anyways, how’s the trip so far? Is Europe breath-taking? How about the cruise?” Raesoo asked.

“Europe’s splendid my dear and the cruise were terrific! It was like a moving hotel. Your dad enjoyed it so much he doesn’t want to get off the ship when we docked in Venice.”

“Oh dad~ anyways, bring lots of souvenirs home alright!”

“By the way, where’s Yoochun, Hyora, Changmin, Junsu and Chaeyeon?”

“Junsu, Yoochun and Chaeyeon went over to Changmin’s place to pick up some stuff and Hyora’s sitting on the couch.”

“ah okay then. You guys have fun there alright! I love you all! Bye!” and Raesoo’s mum ended the call.

Without realizing, tears started forming in Hyora’s eyes. ‘I love you’. Those were the words she used to end her calls with her parents too. But now, she rarely calls them and they rarely call her.

Yunho saw tears rolling down Hyora’s cheek and he was assured that something must’ve cause Hyora to weep. He immediately dialed Yoochun’s number and went out to the garden.

“Hello. Yoochun-ah, come back quick! Hyora’s crying! You’re the one who spends most of your time with her so go back and comfort her or something!” Yunho said in an urgent tone.

“What! Okay I’m on my way!” Yoochun replied.

A few minutes later, Yoochun, Chaeyeon, Junsu and Changmin arrived. Yoochun quickly rushed to Hyora and saw Yunho sitting beside her. He motioned Yunho to take her out to the garden. She weakly stood up and led her there.

“Thanks hyung.” Yoochun said when Yunho came back in.