It’s been almost an hour and Hyukjae is starting to get annoyed at waiting in this coffee shop. He’d rather be at home and continue watching the series he’s currently hooked on, than be here sitting and waiting. Granted, the coffee shop is pretty and the Iced Vanilla Latte he’s currently sipping perfectly fits his taste, but he really doesn’t fancy staying in a café and just sitting there for hours.

“Hyukjae.”

Finally. 

Leeteuk, who is like the older brother Hyukjae never had, has been chronically late ever since he knew him back when they were still both struggling and starting in the industry. Now that they’re both in their thirties and successful in their respective fields, they have less time to spend together but still make it a point to keep in touch and catch up once in a while. And in this case, personally talk about important stuff.

Well, he assumes that whatever it is they are supposed to talk about is important. Leeteuk is an established television host who has a schedule almost every day of the week but insisted to meet him immediately because of something he wanted to say personally.

“Ugh, hyung, when will you ever be on time?” he whined.

“Sorry, I was with Heechul,” Leeteuk said as he sat down in front of Hyukjae, placing his carry-on at their table.

“Oh? Where is he? Why didn’t he come join us?”

Heechul is another hyung in the industry, a variety show personality. They didn’t exactly get along at first but because Heechul is a very good friend of Leeteuk (which he still cannot fathom how that came to be, given each other’s very opposite personality), they spent a lot of time together. After a few years, they grew to be good friends as well.

“He was supposed to. But he received a call that his dongsaeng is at the hospital. He’s high-key panicking so I drove him there. That’s why I was late.”

“Dongsaeng? Heechul hyung doesn’t have a younger sibling though?”

“It’s that guy he met while he was in the Philippines.”

Ah, that guy.

No wonder Heechul was in a rush and canceled his prior plans. Heechul went to the Philippines about five years ago for an endorsement deal and stayed there for about two weeks. When he went back to Korea, he was like a proud dad that couldn’t stop talking about this adorable and talented guy he met. Apparently, this guy was Korean but lived almost his entire life there. They stayed in contact ever since and remained great friends. Heechul really developed a soft spot for the guy and frequently speaks fondly of him.

“So that guy is in Korea now?”

“Yeah. I think since early this year. Anyway, are you free on the 14th, two weeks from now?”

Hyukjae pulled out his phone and checked his calendar.

“Well, no set schedule yet. But we’re about to start preparing for a new album, so I might be busy around that time. Why?”

“I’ll be hosting a festival show overseas but I also have a shoot for Hidden Track that day. Could you fill in as a substitute MC?”

As an idol for more than a decade, Hyukjae has also ventured into different areas in show business. Leeteuk has taken care of him well in the beginning – dragging him along on his shows or making him substitute MC whenever he has conflicting schedules. Coupled with Hyukjae’s quick wit, he has established himself as a good TV personality as well. These days, he doesn’t really need to do substitutions anymo