- Chapter Two - "He's gone."

In a quiet and cozy room, only the sound of an alarm o'clock could be heard in this early in the morning as a knocking sound resonated in the ears of the grown up man, lying on his stomach at the king size bed.

"Jung Yunho! Wake up!"

The said young man groaned at the loud voice from the other side of his bedroom's door. He tried to wake up from his slumber. His body was sore from his intense dance practice yesterday until late. And he needed more time to sleep. But, with their come back and new album, their activities as TVXQ were increasing much. Recording clips, TV music shows, photoshoots sessions and of course fan meetings.

It was good to be able to sing and dance again as to meet all their fans who didn't lose hope to see them again, even as a group of two members.

"Jung Yunho!"

"I'm up." Yunho grunted, looking at the young man who was entering his room. Since when did Changmin call him with his full name and not with the honorary hyung anymore?

"Get ready. You have only thirty minutes before our manager arrives."

"Yeah..."

"Good." Changmin left the room as quickly as he entered it.

That maknae of his began to crack his nerves since three days ago. He didn't know what the younger man ate the night he sneaked out from the dorm in secret, but since that time Changmin was awful towards him if it was not distant when they were in the private.

Shim Changmin wasn't the kind of man to be clinging for affection. But, he wasn't the kind of man to be awful either. What happened to him? If he had some troubles, he could tell him. And Yunho would find a way to help the latter. But no, the young man was a stubborn one.

Yunho sighed and sat up at the edge of his bed. He ran his hands through his mussed hair with a weary gesture. He yawned and climbed out of his bed. The idol trailed his exhausted body into the bathroom. The young man rubbed his face with his palms and looked at his reflection in the mirror.

The man Yunho saw in front of him wasn't the content man he was long ago. As if the Jung Yunho he saw at this same moment was soulless. Even the smile he gave to others wasn't ingenious like before. A fake one. No, a forced one. He growled and put his palms on his reflection. He hated to see what kind of man he had become since he distanced himself from the only person who mattered to him.

But he needed to move on. It was his choice to be that kind of man. He mustn't weep at his own misery.

"Jaejoongie..." He breathed forlornly. "Forgive me..."

It was been two years Yunho had broke up with the only person who knew him too well. they did not need words between them. A look and everything was alright. Jaejoong was his comfort, his strength and more his other half.

But things changed. And, Jaejoong was no longer by his side.

"Stop that Jung! You are a man of your word." He muttered to himself, crouching down in front of the washbasin, his fingers clutched on the edge of it. He took a deep breath and tried to compose himself.

Motivation.

He needed it every day, or else the first thing he would do when he felt down was to run to his Jaejoong.

It was time to show all of them that he was a good actor.

While Yunho was in the bathroom, preparing for their departure to a TV music show, Changmin was sitting on the couch with his phone in his hands. He was trolling on every website to see if the news of his hyung's disappearance came out since daybreak.

Yesterday, Junsu had sent a message to inform him that everything will come out soon. Everyone in South Korea was going to know about the JYJ's situation with the missing member and what will become of the remaining two members.

"Hyung..." The young man said in a whispering tone.

"Are you okay?"

Changmin looked up at his leader, who was walking to the kitchen in his casual outfit, jeans and t-shirt, and poured some hot coffee in a mug. "Nothing..."

"Are you sure?" Yunho sipped on his coffee, looking at his maknae with a crease on his forehead.

"Yeah..."

"Changmin... You can tell me if you have some troubles." Yunho said, walking toward the couch and sat on the other end of it.

"I don't think you can help much." The boy muttered.

Yunho turned his eyes to his remaining member. The younger singer looked worried. And as his hyung he wanted to be able to help him. But for that, Changmin must trust him and tell him everything that he had in mind.

"I know... you're angry with me..."

"About what?"

"About everything..."

"Can you define everything?"

"Changmin..."

"You can't or you don't want to talk about them? About him?"

Yunho breathed in and out. "Listen... you seem to think I'm the cause of everything that happened in the group..."

"And you think not?" Changmin said sarcastically.

"Never mind! I don't think we can talk with you in this state." Yunho stated, annoyed by his maknae's behavior. He drank his coffee quietly.

"It's just... I'm lost... and scared..." Changmin said quietly, making Yunho look at him confusedly.

"Lost... scared..." Yunho repeated those two words in a low tone. He felt the same since he broke up with Jaejoong.

"Life is a ..." Changmin sighed. "Something... will happen soon..." He added without looking at the other man. His eyes locked on his phone.

"To you?"

"No..." The young man shook his head slightly. "This isn't about me..." He pinched the bridge of his nose.

Yunho frowned. The last time he saw Changmin struggling with his words was when he broke up with Jaejoong. No, every time, the boy didn't know how to react and to word his feelings was when he faced something related with his Jaejoong hyung. The young man would never admit it, but he looked up to the other man more than any of them since TVXQ was formed. And since the breaking-up, unconsciously, Changmin did things as Jaejoong would do.

"Changmin... is it about... Jaejoong?" Yunho asked with concern.

Changmin tightened his grip on his phone when the devise vibrated in his hand, informing him that he had received a message.

"I thought it was a taboo name." He muttered.

"Changmin..."

"You never think about what he would do, right?" The young man added looking at the man sitting at the other end of the couch. "You always thought hyung would follow all your decisions because you were his leader... But, did you think about what he meant to you when you two were stripped off of your singers' status in private? He was your lover. You were his lover. Hell, you were a couple." Changmin stated forlornly.

"I don't want to talk about that. It's in the past." Yunho clutched his hands together.

"Yeah... it's in the past." Changmin said with a scoff laugh. "He is your past not mine."

"Enough!" Yunho said loudly, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Why did you do that to him?" The young man continued.

"I didn't do anything to him."

"Don't lie!" The young idol said angrily.

"Changmin, listen." Yunho heaved a sigh. He didn't want to fight with the young man. "Jaejoong isn't there anymore."

"Yeah... he isn't there anymore..." The young idol said painfully.

"Changmin..." Yunho looked at the said young man with worry. He sensed his partner's pain through his words.

"You're right... My hyung isn't there anymore..." Changmin closed his eyes and tried not to let his tears fall down from his eyelids. Thinking that the man walked away from their lives for good now was really painful. "And it's your fault. All your fault." He shouted.

"Okay..." Yunho knew they couldn't have a quiet discussion with Changmin in this state. "Say whatever you want. But you must know this. I'm not the one who left. I'm not the one who give up on our group."

"Bull!" Changmin cringed.

Suddenly, the door of their apartment opened at the sight of a man in his thirty, walking straight to the two idols who were glaring at each other. The man sighed at this sight. Since the split, the remaining two singers weren't really in good terms. But as the professionals they were, they could maintain a friendly composure in front of their fans and others, hiding their disagreement to all the people who believed on their brotherly hood.

"What's going on here?" asked their manager.

"Not your business." Changmin said curtly, looking at the newcomer who was standing at his left. Their new manager since they decided to come back to the music entertainment. "Can we go?"

"Changmin. Be polite." Yunho sighed and smiled apologetically at the other man.

"I do what I want. I'm not the little boy who must kowtow in front of everyone who works for SM Entertainment." The young man stated. "So, can we go?"

"Changmin apologize!" Yunho gripped Changmin's wrist when the latter stood up from his seat.

"And what? You're going to hit me? You're going to force me to bend to those people who denigrate my hyungs?" Changmin snickered. "I'm not Jaejoong hyung. He let you do whatever you wanted. And for what? For you to ditch him like he was nothing in your eyes."

"Don't talk about things you don't know." Yunho snapped, standing from his seat and ready to argue back.

"Yeah... As if I don't know anything." Changmin mocked. "I'm the maknae in the group. But, don't think I'm stupid. I know everything. I think it's noble of you to sacrifice everything for the sake of our group. But you didn't look further, right? You didn't think they would go away from you. And you know what? I would like to follow them too."

"You..."

"Guys! Stop that." The other man said to them. "We need you two in good terms. So forget your discord and be the good older brother and the good younger brother you must be."

"I won't forgive you if something bad happens to him." Changmin whispered, loud enough to let Yunho hear his words.

"Changmin..."

The young man walked away from his leader and their manager. He left the house without turning his eyes back to them, while Yunho narrowed his eyebrows, confused at what the other had said to him. What was going on? What was going to happen to Jaejoong for Changmin to react like this? What did Changmin know that he didn't foresee?

"Be good." The manager patted his shoulder. "We've got a long day ahead of us. So, don't think about some futilities. Work hard."

Yunho sighed and nodded. He must do something about his maknae. Yunho didn't want Changmin to be in the black list of SM Entertainment after the words he uttered in front of their manager not long ago. The latter could report their dispute to SM Entertainment's current big boss.

Since the split, all the staff who worked for SM Entertainment kept an eye on them. Their every move and their every word were scrutinized. For a while they didn't have any freedom. They kept them away from the public view and made them cut tie with the leaving three members for an indefinite period. With persuasiveness and promises in his part, Yunho had convinced them to let them keep in touch with the three others, but they must keep it in secret, pretending not to know them. It was better than nothing. And to keep that little privilege, Yunho needed to talk with Changmin quickly, hoping that this stubborn young man will understand his reasons.

He left their apartment with their manager walking behind him in tow.

The ride to the TV studio was silenced. Changmin refused to talk to him, shutting his self from what surrounded him and focused on his phone only. Yunho glanced at him from time to time. He sighed and reached out to his phone on his bag. The man unlocked the black devise and sent a message to someone they knew in common.

Not long after, he received a message. He read it and frowned.

'You will know soon.'

What's going on? He looked up to his other member who was looking at something on his phone biting his lower lip anxiously.

"Changmin..."

The said young man shook his head. Nothing for now. But for how long? It was been a while his Jaejoong hyung had disappeared and left South Korea with his sick wife. It was a matter of time that news will be disclosed soon by the media.

"Changmin!"

"Don't want to talk to you." The young man sighed, looking down at his device and trolling on the net.

"You are talking to me." Yunho replied with a jaded voice. The man was tired from the other man's behavior towards him.

"What?" Changmin was resigned.

"What's going on?" Yunho demanded, showing his phone's screen. And Changmin narrowed his eyes, looking at the screen and read what was displayed on it.

"You will know soon."

Yunho sighed, resigned to be shut off from Changmin and even Junsu, his last hope to know what was bothering Changmin since this morning.

Since the tweet's case from Junsu about their come back as only two members under the name of TVXQ, Junsu and him had had a long conversation which wasn't really friendly with reproaches and insults known to mankind. They succeeded to settle things that disturbed their minds and remained friends like before. Even Jaejoong accepted his decision to continue to sing under TVXQ's name with only two members and not five for a while.

Jaejoong. His Jaejoong... The young man was silent during his altercation with Junsu. Normally, he would take his side or try to ease the atmosphere between them. But, he just let them yell at each other until they couldn't say anything against one another. He just sat still and smiled.

"I hope you will be fine Yunho-yah. And I'm grateful that you want to continue to carry on TVXQ's name even without us." was what Jaejoong said to him that night with a smile.

It was a sad smile, but Yunho found it so beautiful.

He missed the young man he called once his other half. And if he had followed his heart they would be together again. Everything would be hell, but they could be each other strength.

As Changmin had said, fate was a . But men were more ed up than her.

At the TV studio, the two idols followed their manager into their lounge, bowing politely at the other idols who greeted them as superstars in their way to their own room.

Inside their lounge, their choreographer gave them some last minutes instructions for their rehearsal while they were in the hands of their makeup artists and hairdressers. Their dance moves were timed to the nearest second. Their standing positions on the stage were calculated to the millimeter. The way they must sing their part was coached perfectly. The way they must look at each other was designed to draw attention to them.

SM Entertainment wanted perfection. They wanted to show that even with only two members, TVXQ remained their property and their best product.

"Don't mess up guys. And you...," The manager turned to look at Changmin, "... don't make a fuss." The older man sighed. "I know... They were like your brothers. And it's hard to work without them but try to make things easy for each other. Try to find your marks. You need to be the best."

"I'm a professional hyung