Chapter 48

'I just finished >< So tired... Wanna sleep already~~~zZ' was the text message that Wonsik just received. He bit on his lip to try and control himself from grinning. After all, it was not the time to be smiling like an idiot after receiving such a message. Wonsik reprimanded himself in his mind before he eventually typed a response back to his text mate,

'You did well^^ By the way, have you checked up on him since last night? I think you should right now.' He immediately hit send and placed his phone on his desk to wait for the next reply. As Wonsik was just about to roll his chair backwards to reach his bed faster, he felt Hongbin towering over him from behind. He let out a sigh and looked up to his brother, "What is it, Binnie? Do you need help with something? Need some advice about your boyfriend or what?" Wonsik snorted, "I mean, your girlfriend."

"I do not have time to play around with you right now, okay?" Hongbin said to him, sitting himself down on Wonsik's bed that was just right next to his desk. "Please just tell me the truth... Did you contact Leo-hyung or not?" He breathed out and then his lips, trying to figure out what he could say or what he should be saying in the first place. "N-hyung is going to be out of the hospital tomorrow and I'm just worried that Leo-hyung might get upset if we don't tell him. I think that he deserves to know at least... Even as his friend. And actually..." Hongbin took out his own phone and unlocked it. "Believe it or not, N-hyung had been living with Ken-hyung's parents all this time. So I think that we should contact him too... In case Hyukkie has not done enough already..."

Wonsik's eyebrows furrowed at the information that he just heard from his brother. It only meant that Hongbin (and possibly Sanghyuk as well) heard about the truth from N about him and Ken's family. He was somewhat thankful that Hongbin was busy with his phone that he was not able to see the expression that Wonsik was currently wearing. "Is that so? I didn't know that he was close with him – an idol," He spoke sarcastically. "And since when was Hyuk called 'Hyukkie'? I thought that you disliked N-hyung calling him that... You used to complain to me about it and –"

"It – It was a slip, okay?" Hongbin stammered, his ears becoming visibly red from embarrassment. His typing speed on his phone seemed to have accelerated too as he tried to stir the conversation away from his 'slip,' "And yes, it's true. I found it hard to believe too but Hyuk – Sanghyuk – just went ahead and accepted N-hyung's words even if they made no sense. And... when N-hyung said to ask Ken-hyung about it, I still kinda had my doubts, but... Whatever. N-hyung is just difficult to believe in... After all that had happened..." Once he finished with texting, he let his shoulders drop and he tossed his phone aside to lean back on Wonsik's bed. "I want to believe in him but you know... And oh yeah! I apologised to him. Didn't expect that he'd be so calm about it and so... I don't know? Mature? He seemed to have changed a little... Just a little! Because he still annoys Leo-hyung, is still clingy, and all that… Also –"

Hongbin stopped talking at once when he heard his ringtone. He excused himself from his brother as he answered the call, still lying down on Wonsik's bed. "Hello, hyung? – Yah! N-hyung told us that he had been with your parents all these years! How could you keep quiet like that? Why –" He paused to listen to what the idol was saying on the other end while Wonsik was already rising to his feet. Hongbin glanced at his brother, watching him head to the bathroom with his phone with him. He narrowed his eyes at him and was going to nag at him, but it was Jaehwan who needed his full attention at that moment. So Hongbin tried to get him to calm down, speaking over him and explaining the situation to him, "N-hyung is still at the hospital but he's okay now. He just needed rest so he was advised to stay there for a little while." He pulled his phone away from his ear briefly to check the time, "And I don't think you can visit him right now. Besides, aren't your managers strict?"

"They are..." Jaehwan grumbled, "But I'm worried about N-hyung... Does Leo-hyung know? Hyuk texted me and said that it was just the three of you today. Your brother and Leo-hyung didn't go?"

"Uhhh..." Hongbin stole a quick look at the bathroom door where his brother had fled. He remembered how much Wonsik disliked idols or Jaehwan particularly based on what he did the last the time. He sighed, "Yeah, it was just us three. We are not exactly sure what happened between N-hyung and Leo-hyung, but it's not like it's our business to know. I'm curious but... You know..."

"Wonder if anything happened last night..." The idol murmured to himself as Hongbin spoke. Only when he noticed that it had gone quiet on the other end did he talk again, "A-Ahh... So N-hyung must be just really stressed? He's not been overdosing on his medications or anything like that?"

Hongbin quirked an eyebrow. "Medication? He needs medication? That's probably why they thought he was overdosing... They found him with the bottle..."

"Err... I saw him with a bottle of medicine. He said that they were from my mother to treat his headache," Jaehwan explained to him slowly as if he was still trying to recover his memories. "I'm not exactly sure... Did his doctor from today say anything? Or was it really just stress and fatigue? Maybe... Maybe he's been overworking himself... But then again... My parents wouldn't really allow him to overwork himself to that extent... I'll... I'll have to call Leo-hyung to ask him. Perhaps N-hyung had at least told him something."

"I doubt it..." Hongbin mumbled, "Knowing how N-hyung is, he would probably be telling Leo-hyung about everything lastly. Anyway, I'll keep you posted about N-hyung. Hyuk and I are going to come pick him up at the hospital tomorrow morning. He'll be fine," he assured the idol the same way that Wonsik did to him earlier. "The doctor told us that N-hyung is fine... Focus on your work and get some rest. I'm sure that you'd be able to see him before he leaves..."

"You're right..." Jaehwan sighed, "You're right..."

Hongbin smiled a little bit. "You really care about him, don't you, hyung?"

"Yeah..." The idol said softly and grew quiet after that. "He's... He's like a brother to me..."

"I understand." He nodded along, "I'm sure that he thin