By Your Side

Chapter 4

That was one heck of a concert.

Although in the end it turned out to be a tear fest, it was the best so far.

Everyone was so satisfied with how the events turned out and were so grateful.

But it also meant one thing. That their group would be soon going on hiatus. With the hyung line going to military soon, the younger ones had to take up the responsibility to get the group going.

Eunkwang's enlistment was just around the corner. They all gathered at the vocal line's apartment after the concert and spent a quality time together and that too away from all the cameras. It felt good. They were happy and sad. But it was unavoidable. Everyone had to go through this in their lifetime but it would just increase their bond.

In a few days Eunkwang will be going to his family house for a week so that he can spend some time with his family. And by the time he will be back, it would already be his enlistment time.
Minhyuk will be going to the jungle and he will also be away for a week.

And soon Changsub and Minhyuk will be gone too. With that thought Changsub remembered he had to work on his solo album. He was taking active part in the writing and composing of the songs and he would have to finalize the songs and then start with the recording and rest of the process. He is also gonna star in the musical "Iron mask" . Its schedule has been finalized and he will start practicing for it soon. Hyunsik, Ilhoon and Minhyuk were already working on their special album and it will be out soon.

They had very busy days ahead. Peniel and Ilhoon with their radio and Sungjae with his MITH.

So as a result he was rarely seen in their apartment. He was so busy these days, even though they were living in the same house, he barely talked to others for a few minutes. Whenever he did, Sungjae always whined about how he was so busy these days, and wouldn't even play games with him.

But Changsub knew the actual reason behind it, Sungjae didn't want to be alone. He is already missing him. So one day he finally/luckily came home early as one of his practice sessions for the musical was cut short.

Hyunsik and Sungjae were about to have dinner when Changsub came. They were both surprised

SJ- hyung, did you forget something? Why did you come back ?

CS- No no, I didn't forget anything. Today's schedule was cancelled so I became free.

HS - that's good hyung. Have you had dinner yet?

CS- nope

HS - great, we were about to start.Come and join us.

CS- cool.. coz I am starving

Sj - why did you go to practice without eating, what would you have done if the schedule was not cancelled.

Changsub just stuck his tongue out as an answer, too tired to respond properly.

They all sat down and had their food. Hyunsik and Sungjae mostly talked and Changsub was only listening to them, he was so damn tired.

After the dinner was over, they were about to go back to their rooms, when Changsub suggested they play games.

HS- hyung aren't you tired? We can play some other time

SJ- yeah, you should rest now that you got time.

CS- yaahh.. are you guys avoiding me now? It's been so long I am home and you guys don't wanna spend time with me. All these days you were whining about how I was not able to find time and now when I do, you don't wanna stay.

HS - okay fine. Just one game then. You both play, I will watch

CS- cool

SJ was so not able to control his happiness and he hugged Changsub just for 5 seconds and then went to setup the game

They were in the middle of the game when Changsub's phone rang. He initially ignored it, but he got irritated by its sound and took it out of his pocket and upon seeing who was calling, he asked hyunsik to take over the game and he picked it up.

Hyunsik and Sungaje were busy playing the game and it was noisy as hell so he went a bit far from where he could peacefully talk.
It was Ilhoon calling.

Changsub called him a few hours ago to ask something related to a song for his album. But Ilhoon said he was busy and would call back as soon as he was free. So he was expecting that call.

"Ilhoon-ah tell me"

"Hi sir, I am calling from xxxx club. I'm a staff here and the owner of the phone has passed out. It doesn't seem like he called anyone to pick him and I don't know his address to book a cab , so I called you"

"He passed out? What do you mean he passed out? Is he alright?” He was starting to get worried. Where was Ilhoon and how did he end up like that?

"Yes sir he is fine..just drunk a lot.. can’t drive" he sighed in relief after hearing this

"Okay.. what's the address, I will come there right now"

"Address is… " he told the address

" Thanks for the address And thanks for calling.. Can you do me a favor.. Please don't call anyone else from his phone. I will be right there in 15 mins, in case if anyone asks, just tell that his ride is ride is on the way"

" Sure sir , thank you"

" No, thank you for your kindness," he said and hung up. He would be very very grateful to the person who called if he kept his promise.

He came back to the drawing room and said he had somewhere urgent to go and he was very sorry that he had to leave them but it was some emergency.

He picked up his jacket and car keys and went out as fast as he can, before he got any other phone call and they had the chance to question him if everything was alright

Sungjae's heart fell at this. Finally Changsub got some time but he was running somewhere again. He just felt so sad.

Hyunsik patted Sungjae on his back and said "we didn't even expect that he would be free today.. at least we had dinner together" with a smile. He tried to cheer Sungjae up.

Sungjae just nodded and forced a smile. There was no point in continuing the game anymore so they went to sleep. But he has a lot on his mind. Eunkwang was going and Changsub would leave soon too. He would feel so alone. He was sulking in his room alone. He was so frustrated with the turn of events, he didn’t want to feel that way but he couldn't help it. So he decided to put all the blame on Changsub. He would definitely make sure that Changsub would pay for what he did today.