February 13, 2015 - 3:38 am

"It's not that easy though." Jiyong knew this for a fact. Youngbae knew this as well.

"But you've got to try somehow. You'll never know unless you try." Honestly, Youngbae didn't know how Jiyong lost his confidence during these past months. It was like seeing a lion lose its roar. It was indeed a rollercoaster ride for him. His friend needed a break. He's going to push this until he gets to Jiyong's noggin. 

Jiyong looked at Youngbae then to his watch. He realized that it's already getting late and they all need to rest now. It’s been a long day.

“Come on, let’s wrap things up here so we can all go home.” Jiyong stood up like nothing happened; like they were discussing something trivial for the past hour. Youngbae wanted to persuade him more but Jiyong had a point. They went back inside the studio and was surprised to see the three awake. 

"Let’s wrap things up here and just continue tomorrow. So for the next few days, we’ll still be recording. There will be some consultation days with the choreographer so be ready for that. And also, we’ll be having a meeting with the production board next week to plan out the overall concept. Sajangnim wants concrete ideas. No more alien cyborg crap, okay? Let us all act our age, gentlemen.” Jiyong added as he looked at Top. “Anymore questions?”

Daesung raised his hand.

“Yes, Daesung?” Jiyong said. Daesung looked to his sides as if to affirm what he was about to say.

“Why are you still here?”

“What? I’m your leader. I’m supposed to be here.” Jiyong said confused as to why Daesung asked such a question out of the blue. The poor boy must have gotten too tired to the point of spewing out non-sense. They really need to go home now.

“No, I get that. But, why are you still here? Aren’t you supposed to be going to Singapore right now?” Jiyong was shocked. He didn’t remember raising their voices when he talked to Youngbae.

“We know, hyung.” Seungri butted in. “Sorry, we kind of eavesdropped on you two a while ago.”

Jiyong cleared his throat. “Whatever it is that you’ve heard, it’s none of your business.”

“But it is our business!” The eldest one said. “You’ve been such a pain in the lately and it’s affecting us all.” The other four was shocked to hear such words come out of their hyung.

“Hyung, I . .” Jiyong stuttered but couldn’t find the right words to say. Top was mainly calm and collected. He must have really pushed it too far this time to make his hyung react like this.

“Stop it. Whatever it is that you’re going to say, don’t. You’re our leader? We might need you? We would always need you, that’s for sure. But we desperately need our Kwon leader back; not this shadow of a leader we wittingly call G-Douche. You’re not the same, Jiyong. I know that, they know that and YOU certainly know it too.”

Jiyong was still at a lost for words. Everything that he said was right. All Jiyong could do was bow his head. He was embarrased for being such a bad leader lately, embarrased to have pushed his dear hyung too far and embarrased that he can’t even take a step closer to where he desperately wants to be right now.

“What’s stopping you?” Top continued. He knew Jiyong well. He’s just a human like everybody else. What he couldn’t get is why he was so adamant to not go after what he wants. There must be a reason why.

“I need to be here.” Jiyong plainly stated.

“Without you, there would still be four heads around to work things out. Don’t you trust us?” Youngbae finally spoke from his seat.

“I can’t just get up and leave.” Jiyong countered as he lifted his head.

“We can manage. We’ll take care of Sajangnim for you.” Seungri was the one to speak this time. For Jiyong, it felt like the whole group was ganging up on him. He was at the mercy of the Bigbang firing arms. He looked at each and every one of them trying to think of what he’ll say next to make them stop this non-sense but nothing is coming to him.

“Stop thinking about us, about everybody else and just think about yourself. It’s about time, Ji.” Youngbae stood up. He can’t take it anymore. He moved closer to Jiyong and put his hands on his shoulders. “Go. Go to where your heart wants to be.”
 

Jiyong knew that Youngbae had a point. Tears threatened to fall from his eyes when he felt the intensity of what Youngbae said. He deserved to be happy too, right? Jiyong looked straight at Youngbae and nodded slowly

The three behind them cheered. Youngbae smirked. “Seungri, go book a flight. Our dear Kwon leader is going to Singapore.”

“I already checked. Earliest flight leaves at 9:25 am.” Everyone looked at him with puzzled looks. Seungri just gave them his signature smile. “What? I already knew that he would be going the moment Top hyung blew his top off. Get it? Get it? ” He said as he raised his eyebrows repeatedly; hoping his hyungs would get the pun. His four hyungs rolled their eyes simultaneously.

“You sure do know how to ruin a good moment, huh?” Top sighed. “Just when I had myself thinking of how great you are as a maknae.”

“Hey, I’m the best maknae around!” Seungri defended himself; crossing his arms like a child.

“You’re the only maknae here, weirdo.” Daesung replied as he closed Seungri’s hoodie on him. “Just book the flight so hyung could already leave.”

Seungri booked the flight while Daesung called their driver so he could get the van ready. Top and Youngbae was in charge of Jiyong himself. They were just making sure that he wouldn’t back out again.

All five of them piled themselves up in the van to head home so Jiyong could pack. The driver was about to leave the parking lot when Seungri shouted.

“Hyung! There’s a big traffic jam on the way to Incheon; estimated four hours from here to there.” Worry clear on his face. Well that’s just perfect, Jiyong thought. He already got the courage to go to Singapore but now there’s a traffic jam in his way.

“We just have to skip the packing then.” Youngbae said. He leaned over to the driver to instruct him to go straight to the airport. “Going straight would save us time. You just need your passport, phone and your card. Do you have them all?”

Jiyong nodded. It’s a YG protocol. They don’t always have control over their schedules. Sometimes they need to get up and go right then and there so they bring their passports with them all the time. This weird protocol saved them from many schedule conflicts before so it stuck.

“Good. That’s all you need anyway.”

“What about Sajangnim?” Jiyong asked as they reached the highway. Sajangnim knows about his history with Dara but still, he’s worried that he would take his escape as a bad thing.

“Sajangnim is a hopeless romantic. He’ll get it. In the event that he doesn't, we’ll make him get it.” Seungri patted his Jiyong hyung’s back; encouraging his flight.

One by one, the bigbang members fell asleep; all except for Jiyong. He knows that he’s tired as the rest of the guys but his mind won’t let him get some shut eye. He finally admitted to himself that he wants to be with Dara again. He’s finally going to where she is. Still, there’s that nagging voice inside his head, shouting all the doubts he could think of. He looked behind him and saw the four sleeping. And just like that, the nagging voice was silenced. The only voices he needed to listen to is s’ voices. He finally closed his eyes; thanking his lucky stars that he has these four guys in his life to point and push him where he needs to be. 

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A/N: Thank you for the comments and subscriptions! Totally made my day. Who needs a Valentine's date when I have you guys? ;)

Sorry for the delay. I just got home and I'm literally posting as soon as I finish writing so please forgive the faults in my grammar. This challenge is proving to be a tough one but I'm still trying to finish everything before Feb 14 comes to a close. I hope you continue to be patient until the end of the story. I'll be here all night! :)