Thirty

The next few weeks seemed to fly by. Changmin and I had wanted to drop certain hints prior to the release of 'For Old Times' Sake'. After discussions with the team and Kim PD-nim, we decided to start with a few texts and then a few pictures that wouldn't reveal too much.

10 days before release, DayBreak posted a statement: 'We have lived worth 10 lives.'

The 9th day before release: 'What was it that they said? A stitch in time saves 9?'

The 8th day: 'The winds from 8 years ago have never smelt as sweet before.'

The 7th day: 'Just you and I in all these 7 billion.'

The 6th day: '…6…'

The 5th day, we took photos of our right hands, wearing gloves and put them together such that half my hand and half his hand together made up the 5 fingers of one hand.

On the 4th day before release, we posted a picture of 4 dumplings.

On the 3rd day before release, we posted three blank pictures- one black, one white and the last one a mix of both in an elaborate floral pattern.

When there were just 2 days left before the release, we thought that we could get a little bold. We put out a blurred photo of our shadows on the road.

Up till that point, our viewers had all been clueless. After the shadows were posted though, speculations began as to who those two people could be. They had noticed the numbers earlier and so, with this, they were convinced that DayBreak was counting down to the possible release of something involving the two people in the photo. Since we had not released anything to indicate either S.T.A.Y or 04:00 am, speculations were scattered and weren't really getting them anywhere. It was even more difficult for them to realise that it was a cross-group collaboration. While 04:00 am and S.T.A.Y were the most popular groups under DayBreak at the moment, we weren't the only groups. Just as we had intended for it to be, it was extremely confusing for them.

A day before the release of the song, we posted the picture of a piano's keys. While it did not have anything to do with the number '1' itself, it was meant to highlight the white and black- the two sides of a person. It was also the most jarring link between Changmin and I.

Since I had announced my inclination towards the piano quite recently, True were the first to jump on it. Coffee weren't too far behind either. Both Changmin and I got brought up but we were being paired with members of our own respective groups. There were very few who were saying that it could be the both of us and such an opinion was not popular. They were clearly unprepared for what was going to come.

The next day, at 06:00 pm KST, we dropped 'For Old Times' Sake' and we were trending not too long after.

'Minsu of 04:00 am and Jeongwoo of S.T.A.Y?!'

'Jeongwoo Oppa and Changmin-ssi? That was unpredictable!'

'I would like to say that I saw this coming but I did not. At all.'

'OMG! He's used his actual name! It's Choi Jeongwoo and Lee Changmin! Not Jeongwoo and Minsu!'

'They BOTH play the piano! Why had I not seen that?!'

'The song… Oh man! I'm crying! T.T'

'This is some deep shit. This song is a masterpiece.'

'That MV made me cry. I too had a friend I was really close to but don't talk to anymore. I know how you feel.'

"This feels good." Changmin leaned back against his seat. He then glanced at me sideways and sought out my hand, giving it a good squeeze. "Ah, this feels good!"

"Mm." I nodded and leaned sideways against my seat, facing him. The rhythmic shaking of the van was rather comforting for my exhausted body. "All of this is good."

He put his other hand up behind his head like a pillow and sighed, fixing his eyes on the driver's seat before him. "If we were a duo, is this how it would have been?"

"The first couple of times." I said, watching him. I had gotten used to traveling with him like this. Once the promotions for 'For Old Times' Sake are done though… "Then it would have become routine."

"That's right." He adjusted his head on his arm. "It's like we realised how much we loved each other's company after being separated for so long and then suddenly coming back to it."

I had always known though… And now that I've gotten this back, I didn't want to ever let go again.

When I did not respond for a while, Changmin brought his eyes back to me. "What?"

"Hyung-ah." I edged closer to the end of the seat towards him and ran a thumb over the hand that I was holding. I smiled slightly.

"W-What?" He recoiled a bit, most probably on noticing how serious I had gotten. That surprise of his made me leave out a small laugh. While it had generally been a great day and I was feeling grateful for it, I was also feeling a little sad. Shaking my head to get the unnecessary thoughts out of my head, I settled against my seat again.

"Let's take good care of each other here on out, okay?"

He seemed at a loss for words. His eyes lingered on my face for a little longer and he adjusted his grip on my hand. Averting his eyes, he mumbled. "A-Ah. Of course."

"What? Was it embarrassing?" I found his reaction quite amusing.

"No." He denied it immediately. "Speaking of embarrassing… what is this?" He held up our inter-linked hands.

"You're the one who took my hand first." I reminded him.

"You could have let go."

He had loosened his grip earlier as though preparing to let go but I had held on. "Why? I don't want to."

"You've… become rather bold." He lowered our hands and locked eyes with me as though trying to gauge what my intentions were.

"I've told you, haven't I, Hyung? I'm not your Jeongwoo from a few years back. Besides, with how close we were dancing, physically, this much ought to be nothing."

"That's… true. We did dance quite close-quarters." He agreed on being reminded of it and then turned towards me. For a few seconds, we did not say anything. I was just revelling in the moment and enjoying the warmth of the hand holding mine. After all, this would all end when our promotions ended.

"We should go out sometime. Celebrate." I suggested. "Another drinks' date."

"A drinks'… date. Okay. You want to go drinking." He said like he was sorting through the words I had spoken. "Why go drinking? I have a better idea."

"What?" I asked, curious.

"Let's dance and just chill. We'll find ourselves an empty practice room sometime, bring in food and music and just dance."

"Ooh. Meaningful. The practice room that made us." I liked the idea too. "We'd have to find a good time though. It's difficult to find the practice rooms empty."

"We'll think of something." Changmin said and then groaned. "Now I really wish that one of us had a place of our own."

"I know, right? And it's too painful to think that this project is coming to a close too." I pouted.

"Not yet, okay? Not yet." He said apprehensively. "And even if it- no- when it does end, not much is changing, alright?"

"I would hate you for all of eternity if anything like that happened." I said dryly and turned onto my back.

"You have made that plenty clear. Are you that worried about us?"

"Not really. I'm just being melodramatic."

He laughed. "Well, you're being melodramatic about being melodramatic."

"We need the reminder." I shrugged and tapped a finger on my stomach.

He fell silent again for a while. I did not ask anything either. He slowly decided to give words to his thoughts nevertheless. "Is it S.T.A.Y? And this job?"

"Huh?" I gave him a quizzical look.

"You've… changed. Not too much or in a bad way but… you're saying things and doing things." He shook our interlinked hands to make his point. "Like I said, you've become bold."

"There are limits to how much I can do this. If you point it out like this, I won't do it anymore." Okay. Now I was embarrassed.

"No. Sorry. That's not what I meant." He quickly covered up. "I like this. In fact, I prefer this. It's just that I felt it pretty evidently just now. You've changed."

"I wrote an entire song for you, Hyung. I write songs and sing for S.T.A.Y and True all the time. I sang for you too. I've become a little more expressive. So what?"

"So, nothing. I'm just saying." He clarified. "I told you it's not a bad thing."

You said you preferred this. It can't possibly be a bad thing then. "Then, it's okay." I closed my eyes. I had always liked moving vehicles. They were comforting enough to make me fall asleep on days like this when I was feeling exhausted. I couldn't sleep just then though. I needed to stay awake. After all, this might be one of my last rides with Changmin for a long time.

I opened my eyes again and stared pointedly at the ceiling, then rubbed my face with my free hand and let out a defeated breath. "Aish…"

"Why? Do you want to sleep?" Changmin asked on noticing this.

"No, I don't want to sleep." I shook my head. "But… I am sleepy. What do I do?"

"What do you mean 'what do I do'?" He scoffed. "Sleep."

"But-"

"You look tired. I'm tired too. We still have about half an hour, I think." He paused before calling out. "Manager-nim, how long?"

"Another 40 minutes." Manager Nam who had accompanied us replied.

"40 minutes." Changmin reported back to me. "You're tired."

"Tired? I'm feeling more comfortable than tired- so comfortable that I'm feeling tired." I worked that out in my half-useless brain. Then again, it wasn't just the van that was making me feel so. "You're comforting, Hyung." I offered up a smile.

"Okay. That's it. You need sleep." He said urgently. "If you don't want to let go, I'll keep holding your hand but, please, sleep."

"You need sleep too, Hyung. Shall we just sleep then? Ah… but if we sleep now, this will be over before we know it or get to enjoy it."

"What?" He sounded confused.

I thought better of repeating myself. "No. Nothing. Shall we sleep?"

"Mm. Yes." He responded. "Manager-nim, we'll probably sleep now so…"

"Don't worry. I'll drive slowly. I can give you an hour." Manager Nam said understandingly.

The affection that Changmin had for his kind Manager was written all over his face when he furrowed his eyes and smiled gratefully after that. "Okay. Thank you."

"Thank you for working so hard." Manager Nam said. "You too, Jeongwoo-ssi."

"Thank you." I returned. "You too, Manager-nim." Following that, I looked back at Changmin and closed my eyes again. "Good night, Hyung."

"Mm. Good night." I heard his response.

Everything went silent after that and I let the warmth of Changmin's hand and the comfort of the moving van edge me into sleep.