Eleven

It was rare to find myself alone at the dorm. Given that we were five of us and that we weren't the kind who had much going on individually, someone or the other was always around when I was.

I checked the time in between playing the soccer game on my phone. It was about 07:24 pm.

I was starting to get hungry.

Yeojun and Mingyu were the only other ones who had been home initially. Jaehyeon and Hanseol had gone for a guest appearance on a game show. From what I knew, they would be late in returning. Mingyu had gone to meet his sister who had suddenly called and said that she was in the area and Yeojun had run down to the convenience store after losing at Rock-Paper-Scissor against me to buy something instant to cook for dinner since neither of us was really in the mood for cooking anything extensive. Manager Park had gone with Jaehyeon and Hanseol and so it was Manager Kim who had dropped us home by around 06:40 pm.

I sighed and got comfortable on the couch in the living area again. I too should probably have gone with Yeojun. It would have been better than lying around like this. An evening walk would have been nice too.

As I was thinking all that, I heard the passcode being entered and the front door opening. I strained a little to see who it was. On seeing the distinct mop of purple, I settled down on the couch again and brought my eyes back to the phone's screen. "Yeojun-ah, you're back? Took you long enough."

He didn't say anything at first and when he did speak, his voice was really low. "Hyung…"

"Yes?" I glanced at him. He was just standing in the entryway, holding nothing in his hands. He had a shaken up look on his face that prompted me to put my phone down immediately and sit up in concern. "What is it?"

"Hyung, I…" He swallowed and leaned against the wall by his hand. "I-"

"Ya, Jun-ah." I jumped off the couch and hastened to his side instantly, supporting him by his elbow. "What happened?"

"Ah. I'm not sure." He took a deep breath. "I'm not sure if it's… the paparazzi or a fan or… Is- Is no one else back yet?"

"No." What happened though?! "Sit down first. Come inside." I guided him to the couch and got him to sit down. "Wait. I'll get you some water first."

He nodded. By the time he had drunk a little bit of the water that I had brought him, he seemed to have calmed down significantly. I, on the other hand, was growing more and more anxious. I came to sit on the couch next to him and placed a hand on his back. "Yeojun, you okay?"

"Ah." He set the bottle of water down on the coffee table and looked at me. "Sorry, Hyung. I didn't mean to scare you."

"Tell me what happened?" I maintained my calm.

"I… might have made a mistake. I really-" He paused. "I went to the convenience store to buy stuff as always but I had this weird feeling that someone was following me. At first, I had thought that I was just imagining it but… as I was picking stuff off the shelves, I noticed a particular man appearing in every aisle I went to. I thought it was the paparazzi following me around. I wanted to get out of there fast and so, I replaced what I was looking at and decided to just buy whatever I had taken till then and turned to leave. This time, though, I came face-to-face with that man. He was holding the drink that I had previously been looking at. He asked me if I wasn't going to take it and then tried to force it into my basket when I said that I wasn't going to take it. It got really difficult for me to get around him. He was just not getting off my case and… there was a bit of a scuffle."

"Scuffle?" I frowned.

"To get away, I might have pushed… or shoved… It- I was scared and-"

"It's okay. Calm down." I interjected on realising that he was getting worked up again. "You're not hurt, are you?"

"No." He shook his head. "I'm fine but… there was a camera. Someone was filming the entire thing. Hyung," He caught my arms and looked at me helplessly. "I might have just compromised our image."

"Stop." I hugged him and pat his back, my mind in overdrive. What was I supposed to do? "Um, for now, let's inform Manager-nim and maybe… call Mingyu. He should be careful too."

"Mm." He nodded and took deep breaths. "I'll talk to Manager-nim and you can call Mingyu Hyung."

"Okay. Don't worry. We'll work this out." I comforted him as best as I could have.

I really should have gone with him.

He called Manager Park once he'd composed himself and reported the entire incident in detail. Manager Park was already on his way back with Jaehyeon and Hanseol and said that they would take only another half hour at maximum. Mingyu was asked to stay with his sister till Manager Park could pick him up and bring him back to the dorm, just to be on the safer side.

Once Manager Park had reassured Yeojun regarding the matter and told him that this was not his fault, Yeojun seemed a lot better.

We just sat in the living room together after that. He had gone really quiet though. Having spent more than 3 years with him, I knew exactly what that meant. He seemed calm but he was working stuff out in his head. I couldn't say much to that. Our members' and S.T.A.Y's image as a whole mattered to our careers as Idols. I had not wanted to tell him otherwise either. The least that I could do was join him in working things out.

"Were you… scared?" I slowly asked, looking at him intently.

"I feel like… I may have overreacted too." He sighed. "Yes, Hyung, I was scared." He hugged his knees, putting his legs up on the couch. "I was being followed by a suspicious-looking man who was way bigger than me. Anything could have happened. I would not have been able to fend him off had he really tried to fight."

It really could have been anyone- even a thief. "Did you get a good look at his face?"

"Um, I know that I should have. I mean, I did. And I kept telling myself to remember his face but… I'm afraid I was panicking so much that it did not quite… register." He cradled his head in his palms and moaned. "Ah… What is wrong with me?"

"It's not something to beat yourself up about. It's understandable that you can't remember his face. I'm sure there are other ways to track him down, if needed. The convenience store has CCTV cameras, right? Don't worry about it."

"Right. CCTV!" He perked up. "There should be footage."

"This… could just be an isolated incident. He might not do it again." I hoped so, at least.

"That's… What if it isn't like that? I've probably given him a reason to get back at me."

"You pushed away someone who was invading your personal space. You've done nothing wrong." I clarified, "Manager-nim's informing DayBreak. They'll take security seriously."

"Yeah, but-"

"And don't worry. I'm not letting you go alone anywhere anymore." I smiled. "All of us, actually. We'll be careful."

He sighed again and finally offered up a smile. "Thanks, Hyung."

"Because you're my Dongsaeng." Like I'd said, S.T.A.Y was family.

"Yes. But, Hyung, aren't you hungry?" He asked. "I ended up coming home empty-handed though…"

"That's fine. I'll make something simple for us." I said and stood up from the couch. "Coming?"

He nodded, got up and followed me into the kitchen. Even while moving around the kitchen, he was keeping close to me, like a duckling following his mother around. While I did find that cute, it also made it all the more evident just how much he had been shaken up by the incident.

This kind of popularity came with its own pitfalls. A simple scuffle like that, a push or a shove, would not have mattered much to anyone unless someone actually ended up hurt. But because we were Idols, that was more than enough to ruin our careers.

Even without considering the safety concerns, his fears were justified.

Manager Park and the others arrived within 40 minutes without having not run into any sort of trouble. Manager Park spoke to Yeojun properly again and then made a few phone calls to DayBreak.

A couple of hours passed just like that with nothing popping up online or anywhere. DayBreak said that they would consider our security more but since nothing was really happening following the incident, they decided to wait and see.