Over the next few days, the other members and their manager kept trying to get Jiho to sit in for a serious meeting. But the latter would just avoid them and escape talking to them the minute they mentioned the kid. They knew he was trying to run away from reality. He did not want to deal with it. He knew a huge scandal would blow up when he decides to embrace and approach the fact that he had a son. That kind of publicity was the kind no one would want for himself. It was not the kind where it would fade and disappear within time. To have another living being, his own flesh and blood, the fact that he has an illegitimate son itself would be a fact tattooed to his profile permanently.

 

They rarely saw or talked to him anymore, he would always get up and leave the dorm early and come back in the wee hours of the morning when Yukwon and Park Kyung became too sleepy to wait up for him any longer. Whenever Jiho went out, he would purposely leave his phone behind, a sign that he did not want to be contacted. That he wanted some time to reflect and get a grip of himself before stepping in to welcome the matter into his hands. The boys had gone to the studio plenty of times but he was never there. Nobody knew where he went. Furthermore they were already behind schedule. 

 

Block B was supposed to have a comeback in a few months’ time but they were barely past the first stage: finalizing the tracks for their album. It was going to be another mini-album and even though it is JUST a mini-album, each of them felt they have to give their all and make it the best, just like how they felt for every comeback album. This is why Block B is said to be artists and not just idols. It is their fourth year as a hip-hop idol group, things hadn’t been smooth sailing but at least they’re hanging there, with a strong and stable fanbase to support them. And since they’re already considered veterans in the music industry, all the more would their current situation be something that could harm their reputation, and this time, it would become a larger problem than any of them had faced before. 

 

And this means they had to solve the problem, fast. 

 

But Jiho was not co-operating.

 

 

“Way to go, dear leader,” Jaehyo blurted out in boredom.

 

The five of them were lounging around their dorm, as always. Hey, not everyone was well known enough to get single-handedly picked out to go on a variety show. Somehow Minhyuk finally managed to clinch a few good deals to guest on various variety shows and needless to say, he is doing pretty well despite not having a well-established company managing them. Just recently did he start to receive love calls to star in upcoming dramas as supporting character roles that were neither to important nor too useless to be ignored. So now, while Minhyuk was busy making money, the others even though they were too free, were just a bunch of lazy couch potatoes. 

 

Staying in their dorm just to wait for Jiho might just be an excuse for not going out to get fresh air, but they realised they are getting more and more recognized by the public eye and so they cannot just prance around the streets like they used to. Not like they cared anyway. Their reputation even though scarred, Block B was known to be real.  They spoke their thoughts, rarely gave textbook answers to questions that may provoke their privacies but they could not care less. They do not want to hide under a façade, an image, that probably almost every other idol group had. However they would not want to think that they are an idol group. To them, they are aspiring musicians and artists who came together to form a team, willing to share their work with everyone who enjoys music as much as they do.

 

Jaehyo, Kyung and Taeil were in their living room, watching the television. Or at least they tried to. The chaotic sounds of Yukwon playing with Junsu in the next-door room were too loud and overpowering that the others could not do anything but to strain their hearing to the sound coming from the abused television, even though its volume was already up to maximum. Who would have thought the peacemaker and the quiet one Yukwon would be so noisy when paired with a boy two decades younger than he is. 

 

Inside, Yukwon was having fun entertaining Junsu by playing imaginary scenarios. Previously it was a racing competition around the small room, now it was an epic war battle. Yukwon could tell how thrilled Junsu was. Being the understanding person that he is, he sympathized at how Junsu grew up without a fatherly-figure in his life and if Jiho keeps running away and avoiding the truth, he would have to step in as a replacement even though temporarily. 

 

He had told himself to bring himself down to a little boy’s level and imagine how having fun would be. Thank god Junsu liked the idea of the game. They had been playing for nearly three hours and Yukwon was starting to feel worn out even for a healthy guy like himself. 

 

He now frequently questions the energy level of children, as they never seem to get tired, especially when playing. Yukwon wished, sometimes. He wished life is as easy as when they were children. When responsibilities and independence were something that would have not even existed at that stage of their lives yet.

 

 

---

 

I'm so sorry i just got lost amidst the writer's block i wrote this like a month ago but it felt so lacking and i just -- sighs.. idk anymore