They found him at the river bank not too far away from his house, sitting alone in the dark. From the number of cigarette butts on the ground, it looked like he’d been sitting, smoking there for quite a while, making them question the legitimately of Eric’s story.

Andy looked at Minwoo ‘You go talk’ he elbowed the older, nudging him to move. Minwoo looked back, shaking his head and lowering his voice to a whisper. ‘No, you do it. He’s always liked you better’.

Eric looked straight-out intimidating, the pale moonlight being the only source of light around. Without the gps which helped them to track the man down, they would have been looking for him till the dawn without much success. He had clearly wished to not be found, not having returned any of their messages or calls.

‘I don’t think he will attack you’ Minwoo added. With that poor excuse in his mind, he shoved Andy towards Eric, feeling a bit like he was pushing the younger into a snake pit. Andy took a step forward, contemplating the best way of going on about the situation before letting out a generic cough, drawing the attention to himself. ‘Hyesung?’ he tried quietly, unsure if it was the right thing to say but, after receiving no response, he added a bit more strength to his voice, ‘Pilkyo. We need to talk’

The tall man turned his head, looking Andy up and down. He threw his lit, half-smoked cigarette away and stood up. As soon as he moved, Minwoo stepped forward as well, his natural reaction to protect his friend taking over. Seeing that the other stopped, his eyes departing from Andy to Minwoo, the expression changing, losing some of the intimidation that had been there before. Finally, he combed a hand through his hair, letting out a sneer. ‘What are you two doing here? Did Eric send you to look for me? Ah, should have known I couldn’t trust the little ’

‘Hey!’ Minwoo took another step forward, feeling his emotions flare up. He had been prepared for a lot but the way Hyesung talked to them and bashed one of his closest friend felt foreign, completely unfamiliar, ‘why would you insult Eric? Seems to me like the only around here is you’

Andy shook his head at the insult, sighing as Hyesung rushed forward and grabbed Minwoo by the collar. It was an unfair match just by looking at the height difference but that didn't hold them back, both getting at each other like two dogs in heat. If he were to try and stop them now he could suffer some major injuries. Instead, Andy took a step back, waiting it out, hoping they would grow tired soon enough and stop on their own.

The fight didn’t last, Hyesung being the first to give up, evidently still not in full control of the coordination of his movements. Both were panting, tired, looking at each other in distrust.

You’re too old for this Andy wanted to say but to call the devil on himself seemed foolish.

‘I’m sorry’ Hyesung was the first to apologize, his stance now defenseless. He looked down at his feet before sitting on the ground, picking at the moldy grass, ‘I don’t know what came over me. It’s just like I’m not myself anymore. Which is silly to say as I am clearly not myself but it’s worse- it’s like I keep losing my thoughts and this- something- comes out instead’ he cradled his head in his hands, pressing onto it hard as if trying to squeeze the foreign being out of there.

‘Why does this sound like the beginning of a horror movie?’ Minwoo whispered to Andy who shushed him, that being the cue for him to hold his tongue behind his teeth for once.

‘Hyesung, it’s going to be ok’ he took charge of the situation, walking over to him, kneeling in front and putting his palm on his knees in what he hoped seemed like a comforting gesture. It felt like a small scared animal was in front of him instead of this tall man, a group mate he'd known for years. ‘You’re not feeling well because you want to go back to your body. I think Eric- he must be holding onto part of you in there and there must be a reason for why he doesn't want to let you go and – you both just need to talk, sort these things out-’

Minwoo wondered if any of that made sense to Hyesung as he couldn’t quite follow Andy’s logic. ‘I think you both deserve it,’ he decided to add his own two cents as he joined Andy, squatting down without touching the ground to not get any dirt on his pants, ‘with all your squabbling over nothing lately, it seems like you have some issues. What’s gotten into both of you anyway? Cut Eric some slack and sort your own mind out before blaming everyone else.’

Instead of taking it reasonably, Hyesung grabbed Minwoo, a violent attack between them breaking out. He tackled the smaller to the ground, receiving a hurtful blow to the kidney and some colorful cursing in return. ‘Not the shirt!’ he yelled, making Andy grimace at that, shaking his head in defeat at their style icon being more worried about the condition of his clothes than the way he was being buried in the mud. Hyesung had managed to put Minwoo into a headlock, panting in exhaustion as the small guy kept struggling, keeping fighting with all the force he could muster up.

‘Why don’t we just go back so we can figure what to do next? All together’ Andy offered, starting to feel sorry for at least one of them yet not quite figuring out which one of them should be pitied more. He offered Hyesung his hand but the older refused, looking in the opposite direction. ‘I cannot go back,’ his voice was filled with regret, ‘I said really bad things to Eric and I didn’t meant to but something just came over me and-’

‘How about you let me go and we talk about this back at home?!’ Minwoo yelled, his face starting to turn red from all the pressure and struggling he’d been doing. Eric released him, dumping him in the mud and taking a deep, long breath. He grabbed onto Andy’s offered hand and pulled himself up, Minwoo following him right after. He was trying to brush some of the dirt off his clothes but gave up once he realized he was just spreading it all over. ‘Come on, let’s just go back. You cannot stay out here forever’ the short man sighed, motioning for Hyesung to follow. All three of them made their way to the car, Hyesung whispering a quiet ‘Sorry’ to Andy on their way there.

---

Six men were sitting in the living room, looking from one to another in the heavy silence that had settled in the room. ‘So’ Dongwan cleared his throat, grabbing the umpteenth cookie in row, stuffing it in his mouth and chewing audibly, ‘when were you going to tell us about- all-’ he gesticulated with his hands trying to visualize his thoughts, ‘-this?’ looking at the two culprits seated beside each other.

‘We hadn’t planned to tell you at all’ Hyesung mumbled, ‘we hoped it would resolve on its own’. Eric nodded in agreement, scratching the back of his head. Since the day they had first met each other years ago, they could not remember a situation where they had felt so awkward being in one room together. Minwoo was smoking non-stop, puffing like a chimney beside Dongwan who nervously grabbed yet another cookie and shoved it in his mouth, rinsing it down with more coffee. Junjin kept looking at the table, biting his nails and seriously thinking of what to say while Andy was deep in his thought, trying to find a logical and reasonable way out of this situation.

‘Just so you know, I would have noticed’ Junjin broke the silence, pointing meaningfully at Hyesung, then at Eric. He lost his spirit right after, with the two men ignoring him cold-blooded. Not being able to stand it anymore, Dongwan grabbed a cigarette from Minwoo, taking a few drags and coughing violently.

‘Feeling better?’ Minwoo looked at him, one of his eyebrows critically high. ‘Yeah, much better’ Dongwan wheezed though his gasps for air.

‘I don’t know what you two clowns are trying to do but it's not funny’ Eric’s low grumble made the rest of them look over.

‘Sounded more like Hyesung’ Dongwan said, being the one to voice what the others were thinking. Minwoo nodded, his cigarette lit but forgotten between his fingers.

‘It’s because I start to feel more and more like him’ Eric let out a frustrated groan, stressing the last word as he gave his own body a nasty side-eye. Andy looked at Junjin and was met with a mutual understanding. ‘I think you both- need to- let it out. Talk, quarrel, do - whatever’ the tall man was hesitating at the choice of his words, ‘it seems like you’ve been- avoiding each other? Not really gotten- close enough’

‘It’s because I don’t want to get closer to him’ Hyesung replied, making the rest of them sigh simultaneously. ‘Ah, I cannot stand this anymore’ Minwoo stood up, crossing the space to their two problematic members with large steps and grabbed a shoulder of each, ‘you either way figure this out or I’m quitting this group’ which made Eric scorn and Hyesung roll his eyes. As if Minwoo were ever to follow through with his words. ‘No, seriously,’ the short man was angry, ‘why don’t both of you just talk this through? If you need to break something then do it. If you need to hold hands and frolic in the meadow then do that just- do whatever you needed, fine? Because really now, what the hell will we do if both of you don’t change back?’ Minwoo looked around, grabbing the closest person which happened to be Junjin and pulled him up. ‘All of us leave you two alone and if by tomorrow you’re not back to normal, I’m calling an exorcist’

He dragged the protesting Junjin out of the room with Dongwan bolting right after them. ‘Just- do whatever feels right’ Andy looked at them, his voice coming out in more of a mumble than actual speech, as he escape the room as well.

tbc

A/N: I'm a bit disappointed that it took me so long to write this. I have, like, only one more chapter left after this one but I screwed up big time and starting writing another story. A hell long story... which I have finished by now. But I promised myself I wouldn't post it before finishing this one because really now- even thought my writing may not be all that good, I want to improve and finish the story at least in respect to those who are reading it. If you enjoyed this part- or tolerated it- please leave a comment! I did take into account your previous comments about it being confusing and tried to make it less so.

I'm also not sure if the next part should or shouldn't be rated M. I mean, originally, it was the way to go but looking at how this plot (or one huge plothole) is moving along, I'm kind of hesitant.