8:43 PM

The flashing of those digits in neon green made Hye Sung roll to the other side of the bed.  He couldn’t believe that it had only been 2 hours since he willed himself to get at least one full sleep before all hell breaks loose.  Apparently, his willpower was not strong enough. 

He needed more sleep.  In fact, he wished he could just sleep through this whole ordeal and wake up once it’s all over, or better yet, that he had actually been sleeping this entire time and what happened this afternoon was just a really bad dream.

If only it were that easy.

But life has always been a , and he has had his share of misfortune, although for most part, he still considered himself lucky.  After all, he was given the chance to be part of the longest running idol group in South Korea, and not everyone can put that on their resume.

Although, that idol group would soon disband because of his stupidity.

The memory of this afternoon’s incident came rushing back to him.  However, now it came with a sense of guilt.  What would become of Shinhwa?  They were currently on their last week of promotions, but there was still the scheduled Asian Tour one month from now, and the U.S. Tour—their very first—in October.  If the PD earlier filed a case against him, he would have to suspend all his activities for at least a year to show his remorse, not that it would help his case much, as there was a much bigger social issue compared to the legal case that he would have to face.  Still, if he had to suspend his activities, what would happen to all the deals that Shincom had tried so hard to acquire?  Once again, he cursed himself for his recklessness.

What were the members thinking of right now?  Everyone must be in shock over his confession earlier, save for Jun Jin who already knew about it, and maybe Andy.  He felt that the maknae already sensed this about him, but just never confronted him about it, which Hye Sung appreciated.  He could not help but worry about Minwoo and Dongwan though.  Would Dongwan start to coil up from his skinship now?  He’d hate to think that the members would start second- guessing his affection towards them and add some malice into it, because there was none.  They were like brothers to him.

Well, save for one.

What was Eric thinking right now?

The thought of Eric brought back the image of his cold gaze, and once again, he felt his heart sink to a bottomless pit.  Unrequited love was painful enough, now he would have to deal with that person’s judgement.  Hye Sung wondered if Eric would soon start pushing him away, the way he’s done for the past decade or so.  Only, he’d always done it out of fear of his feelings being discovered, while Eric will probably do it because…well, because he no longer wants to have anything to do with Hye Sung.

Water and oil until the very end.

The ring of his doorbell interrupted his thoughts, but he does not get up.  Instead, he puts another pillow over his head in an attempt to block the sound, hoping that whoever is at the bell will just get tired and come back in the morning.  After all, he was sure that whoever is at the door right now is unwelcomed, considering he regularly updates his manager and family with his passcode.  Worst-case scenario is that the news has already reached media outlets and a dozen or so reporters were camped just outside the hallway of his flat.

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a/n:

Here's another short chapter. I really hope you guys don't mind the way I'm pacing the story. 

Anyway, some notes on the story:

-I did mention I was going to make this into a 2-3 chapter ficlet, but I decided to increase the chapter count some more, although I have yet decided on exactly how many chapters I want to do for this story. The reason why I arrived to this decision is that I realized after actually writing the story that a few chapters won't do the plot justice, and I need to explore where this plot will take me for now. Of course, that doesn't mean that I have lost sight of my initial plot. In any case, I hope everyone will still support it. :)

- I'm having some internal debate on whether I should use Hye Sung or Hyesung. Right now, I've decided to stick with Hye Sung, but please let me know your thoughts (yeah, I worry about nonsensical stuff such as this!lol)

- Ok, I know there has been a bit of violence in the story so far (kkk) but I figured they're men, and men tend to be more physical, right? anyway, hope you don't mind this as well!lol

Lastly, I cannot begin to express just how thankful I am for your support. I am a relatively new Shinhwa Changjo and have only known the guys for a couple of years. Moreover, this is my first Shinhwa and Ricsung fanfic, so the response I have received from you guys gives me such warm and fuzzy feels all over!lol