Eric’s heart stopped at the idea of a press conference.  How on earth were they supposed to explain Hyesung’s condition?  The backlash would be horrible!  Eric could already predict the insensitive comments that would follow such an announcement.  Eric’s mind was flooded with the memories of when Hyesung had to endure public scorn because of his gambling scandal.  Eric was forced to watch Hyesung sink deeply into depression.  At the time, Hyesung even talked about leaving Shinhwa and the entertainment business behind.  Luckily, Eric and the other members were able to convince Hyesung to stay, but barely.  Eric didn’t ever want to see Hyesung in such a depressed state again!  Eric wanted to just take Hyesung and hide him from the world.  He wanted to take him somewhere safe, where he would never be judged or hurt.  Eric wanted that so badly, but he knew that was impossible.  All he could do was reduce the public uproar as much as possible.  And he would make damn sure that Hyesung would be protected from the public’s reaction.  Eric fixed his hard stare onto the CEO of Hyesung’s company.

              “I don’t want Hyesung knowing just yet, he’s having a hard enough time.  And I want to be the representative speaker at the press conference,” Eric wanted to be the one to explain to the public about Hyesung’s condition.  He wanted to make sure that he moved the public’s opinion in support of Hyesung instead of in criticism.

              Jang Eon nodded in agreement.  Having the leader of Shinhwa as the representative would appeal to the public.

              “I have a suggestion,” The CEO glanced at Eric who nodded.

              “How about only having Shinhwa at the conference, excluding Hyesung of course.  The other CEO’s will be there as well…what I mean is…” Jang Eon sighed as he tried to gather his jumbled thoughts.

              “I think it would be best to let you guys be the ones running the conference.  If the public sees that Shinhwa is still united regardless of Hyesung’s injury, they may be more accepting,” Eric contemplated the man’s proposal and knew that he was right.  Eric slapped his hands on his thighs and hoisted his body out of the chair.  Eric was burning with determination and ready to get the daunting task ahead over with.

              “Well then, I’ll call a meeting with all the appropriate parties.  I want to discuss this with everyone tonight,” Eric began making plans in his head as his mind raced a mile a minute.  Jang Eon stood up as well and listened to the man thinking out loud.

              “Mr. Jang, can you try to schedule the press conference for tomorrow morning?” Eric faced the CEO.  Jang Eon nodded and was shocked by the charismatic gaze he was given.  Eric the CEO was truly a different person.  He exuded confidence and authority without any hint of playfulness.  Eric gave a polite bow before swiftly exiting the office.  He had a lot of things to do now.  He had to make all the proper preparations for the battle to come.

              Eric exited the elevator at the bottom floor of Liveworks.  He already had his phone out and was dialing Andy’s number.  After two rings the maknae picked up.

              “Oh hyung, what’s up?”

              “I’m calling a meeting at Shincom tonight.  Everyone needs to be there, including the CEO’s of the other members’ companies.  Sorry, but can I leave it up to you to tell the others?” Eric was desperate to begin preparing what he was going to say tomorrow.

              “Sure hyung, no problem,” Andy reassured the leader and then hung up.  When Eric reached his car, he forced himself to stop and take a breath.  No good would come out of getting so high strung.  Eric closed his eyes and paused with his hand on the door handle of his car.  He took a deep breath and cleared his mind.  What did have to do right at the moment?  What did he want?  His eyes snapped open.  Hyesung…  Eric knew that the only thing that could truly calm him down at the moment was Hyesung.  He didn’t know why.  Heck!  He didn’t even care that he didn’t know why he desired the younger man’s company so much.  All he knew was that the only place he wanted to be right now was at the singer’s side.  Eric didn’t waste another second; he jumped into his car and raced over to Hyesung.

              Eric walked into the unlighted room and made his way over to Hyesung’s sleeping form.  Hyesung’s family had left to gather clothes and other items they would need to stay over at the hospital so it was just Eric and Hyesung in the room together.  The sight of Hyesung's peaceful, sleeping face immediately calmed Eric.  Eric sat down beside the bed and gently placed his hand over Hyesung’s.  He slowly began massaging circles into the younger’s hand with his thumb as he gazed at his face.  He must have been there for a long time because all too soon he was interrupted by the sound of his phone ringing in his pocket.  He rushed to silence the device before it woke the man resting in the bed.  He pulled out the phone and the caller ID read Minwoo.  Eric checked the time; he was late for the meeting.

              “Mmm…Eric?” Hyesung stirred and blinked tiredly.

              “I’m sorry Hyesung, did I wake you up?” Eric asked tenderly.  Hyesung had been confused about the leader’s kind actions towards him since he woke up from the accident.  Eric had always been a rather loving person, but not to this extent.  It wasn’t like Hyesung didn’t like it.  On any other occasion he wouldn’t hesitate to push Eric away.  But the constant support from the older man really helped to make the whole situation easier for Hyesung.

              “No it’s okay, all I’ve done today is sleep,” Hyesung tried his best to stifle a yawn.

              “Who’s the call from?” Hyesung glanced towards the phone that was still being held in Eric’s hand.  Eric fumbled to put his phone out of sight.  Hyesung gave Eric a questioning gaze and the older man sighed.  He had been caught.

              “It was Minwoo,” Eric tried to put an end to the subject, but Hyesung pressed on.

              “What did he want?  Why didn’t you answer?” Eric was reminded that he had to leave to make it to the meeting but he knew that Hyesung wouldn’t allow him to without giving him any answers.

              “We’re having a meeting at Shincom tonight?” Hyesung stared blankly at Eric.

              “About what?” He asked, not quite getting it.  Eric raised one of his brows at Hyesung.  After a moment Hyesung’s eyes widened in realization.

              “Oh…” He looked down and the sheets.  So the world was moving outside of this hospital room.  Hyesung hadn’t realized.  He hadn’t even thought about the public’s reaction.  Now that he knew the inevitable was coming, he was scared.  He had felt the harshness of the public’s scorn after his gambling incident and never wished to experience it again.  Eric felt the younger man’s panic building and immediately acted to stomp it out.

              “Don’t worry, I’ll take care of it,” Eric gave Hyesung a smirk and stood up.  He straightened his coat and buttoned it.  Eric tapped his heels together and gave a salute to Hyesung.  The singer couldn’t help but let out a slight giggle at the leader’s actions.  Eric’s heart swelled and he grinned after hearing the sweet sound of the Little Prince’s laughter.  Hyesung continued silently laughing until Eric left the room.  Once outside, Eric released a long breath.  He had avoided telling Hyesung about the press conference scheduled for the next morning.  But knowing the singer, it wouldn’t take Hyesung long to figure it out.  Eric mentally slapped himself for saying anything about the meeting.  The leader began making his way towards the Shinhwa Company building mentally cursing himself for being so stupid.

              Eric waltzed into the large conference room.  He took his place at the head of the conference table and began the late night meeting.

              “So we all know why we’re here,” Eric looked around at all the big wigs in the room along with his fellow Shinhwa members.

              “It’s regarding how we’re going to break the news of Hyesung’s condition to the public,” Eric easily made the transition into being Eric, the CEO.

              “This is what I got so far,” Eric began to explain his ideas to the room full of VIPs.

              The meeting didn’t end until eleven at night.  The CEOs had left leaving only the members of Shinhwa sitting together in the conference room.  Eric leaned back into his rolling chair and massaged his temples.  Everyone was silent, simply basking in the worry for what was to come the next morning.

              “Well,” Minwoo got up from his chair and broke the silence.

              “I’m gonna leave, don’t want to have giant, unattractive bags under my eyes tomorrow,” Minwoo winked and threw a wave over his shoulder as he exited the room.

              “I’m going to head out too,” Dongwan stood up and Junjin followed

              “Yeah, let’s all head home already.  It’s been a long day,” Junjin gave a tired smile to his fellow members.

              “You guys go, I’m going to stay here a little longer,” Eric refused and stared blankly at the ceiling.  The members left reluctantly and Eric was left sitting in the dark.  He needed a quiet moment to recharge.  It was hard to believe that about 24 hours ago, everything had been fine.  It wasn’t an exaggeration to say that this day would be pretty high up on Eric’s “worst days of my life” list, if not number one.  Even as he tried to clear his mind, Eric found it wandering back to Hyesung.  The younger man’s well-being was at the forefront of his thoughts once again.  In fact, for the past 24 hours the younger man had been on his mind.  Why?  Why was this happening?  Coming so close to losing his long time friend and neighbor had made him realize something…maybe…maybe Eric felt something more for Hyesung…something he just couldn’t explain at the moment.