The sky is lighter than usual at this time of night, the transition from winter to spring in full effect. It's warmer out too, Jaehwan notes as he sets the jacket that he brought with him down at his feet. He takes off his shoes, the sand cold against his feet as he walks towards the water that rolls against the ground. There are other footprints left in the sand from the people who came here in the earlier hours of the day. Jaehwan heard all of their voices, how happy they all sounded, from a window that was open in his house that was just off to the left of the shore. Jaehwan watched and waited for them to all leave so that he could have the place to himself.

The faint sound of a door slaming shut echos in the distance and Jaehwan knows who it is. He sighs loudly at the unwelcomed company he gets every night as he waits for something to happen, to change. Jaehwan doesn't know what he is waiting for, and he hopes he never finds out.

He kicks the water at his feet when the tide rolls back to him. Jaehwan watched the water retract then come back, retract, and come back. It's the only thing that comes running back to him.

Jaehwan hears the steps in the sand and he wants to turn around and scream at them to leave him alone for once, but the words gets stuck in his throat everytime. He curls his hands that hang at his sides into fists and clenches his jaw. He wants to just be alone, but no one gets what they want the most these days.

"Hey…" The voice has Jaehwan releasing all the tension from his body and Jaehwan almost feels the corners of his mouth lift. He hasn't smiled in months.

Jaehwan looks to his right and feels a wave of calm run through his body when he sees Hongbin standing by his side already. Jaehwan notices that Hongbin's hair is a light brown now instead of black and he wants to ask why Hongbin changed it but he shoves the words back down. Change is good, Jaehwan thinks. He wishes he could change, but he's still stuck in the past.

"Why… why do you think he left me here?" Jaehwan asks, his voice just above a whisper. Hongbin can't help to imagine what it feels like to be broken to the point where others can see it in only a glance. Jaehwan looks up at the night sky, but there were no stars out tonight. They never came out anymore.

"He realized you loved someone else before you could realize it yourself." Hongbin says and Jaehwan tries his hardest to not lash out at Hongbin like he usually does when Hongbin says that.

"I… that's not true though!" Jaehwan stutters. "I love him."

"At the time maybe, but that's not now."

Jaehwan opens his mouth to say something at the first thing Hongbin says, but closed it at the last part.

"You're living in the past, Jaehwan. Get it thorugh your head that he isn't coming back to you. He's moved on and now you need to."

Jaehwan sighs and he moves his foot back, trying to get away from Hongbin but Hongbin grabs his hand before Jaehwan could step away.

He doesn't know why, but Jaehwan takes the action of intwining his fingers with Hongbin's like he does every night. It doesn't feel right with Hongbin, feels like he shouldn't be doing it. I'm not cheating, he is gone.

Jaehwan looks up at the sky again, hoping to see atleast one star. The stars were always Jaehwan's favorite and Hongbin remembers watching Jaehwan have to drag Hakyeon out here around midnight to look at the brightest ones. He hasn't seen the stars since Hakyeon had left, almost a year. Hongbin looks at Jaehwan and follows his gaze.

"Where do you think the stars went?" Hongbin asks and he doesn't point out the fact anymore that the stars are everywhere in the sky because Jaehwan would argue that there are none. Jaehwan doesn't notice them anymore.

"WIth Hakyeon." Jaehwan says simply. Hongbin looks back at him and he notices Jaehwan's eyes searching the night sky. Jaehwan smiles for once and Hongbin can almost hear the smile cracking Jaehwan's face. Jaehwan's hold on Hongbin's hand loosens for a couple of seconds but Hongbin smiles when Jaehwan tightens his grip again. The smile fades away from Jaehwan's face almost as soon as Hongbin looked at it, almost too fast so that Jaehwan would be able to say he didn't notice he was smiling.

With Hakyeon, Jaehwan always had a smile on his face, stood taller and more confident, never paid attention to the little things about the world, and he never realized he would ever lose the one person he wanted to be with. Without Hakyeon, Jaehwan is a mess. Hongbin is still trying to peice Jaehwan back together but Hakyeon took the most important peices with him when he left, the most important parts of Jaehwan missing. Jaehwan doesn't remember much, but he knows that Hakyeon will never fade away, will always be the most recent memory in his mind.

When Hakyeon was still here Hongbin heard how happy Jaehwan was and Hongbin just wants Jaehwan to be happy again. He tells himself everyday that patience is needed with things like this, healing, but sometimes he just forgets. Hongbin wont ever forget, though, the times that Jaehwan would accidentally call him Hakyeon and the look on Jaehwan's face right after. The first time it happened, Jaehwan cried and cried, not being able to look at Hongbin. Hongbin gets jealous when it happens and he has to remind himself constantly that Jaehwan isn't his yet. That he can't make Jaehwan feel the way that Hakyeon could and that Jaehwan is still so desperatly in love with Hakyeon.

Hongbin realizes, his thoughts interrupted, that Jaehwan has been talking for the last few seconds and Hongbin hates having to ask Jaehwan to repeat himself.

"I saw Hakyeon today, while I was out." Jaehwan repeats and Hongbin notices that Jaehwan's voice doesn't shake saying his name anymore. It's a step.

"What did you do?" Hongbin asks, but he already knows what Jaehwan is going to say.

"I-I tried to push through people to get to him… but there were so many people." Jaehwan starts. "He looked at me and I saw him move his lips, almost looked- like he said my name but I'm not sure." Jaehwan's voice cracks and Hongbin can see the strain in his neck.

Hongbin pulls Jaehwan into a hug and Jaehwan wraps his arms around Hongbin's waist, pulling him closer. Jaehwan whimpers and begins to cry. Hongbin can hear the sniffles and he holds Jaehwan tighter when Jaehwan tries to pull away.

"I-It's not fair." Jaehwan mumbles in Hongbin's shoulder and he removes a hand from Hongbin's waist to wipe the tears from his cheeks. "I did everything for him and he leaves me because he thinks I'm in love with someone else. Who even does that?"

The words sting Hongbin a little but he doesn't pay much attention to them. "He was protecting himself from getting hurt when you realized who you really love in the end."

Jaehwan pushed gently at Hongbin's chest and Hongbin lets him go. "But I love him." Jaehwan's voice still shakes and Hongbin cups his face with his hands, thumbs wiping away Jaehwan's tears.

"I know." Hongbin whispers. Jaehwan grabs Hongbin's wrists with his hands and Hongbin thinks that Jaehwan was going to push him away. Instead, Jaehwan leans into one of Hongbin's hands, running his lips over Hongbin's palm as his eyes close. Hongbin has seen him do that with Hakyeon before but Hongbin lets him continue to do it. "I know, Jaehwan. But now you have to accept the fact that it's time to move on."

"How?" Jaehwan mumbles against Hongbin's hands.

"I dont know, Jaehwan." Hongbin sighs lightly. "But I'm here for you."

So originally, this was not supposed to be a chaptered story but I figured I might as well make it chaptered because it will make everything much clearer and I will have a better chance at finishing it. I like the story line I have set out so far, so please look forward to it! This story was also supposed to be more kenbin centric but I had no other reason for Jaehwan to be stuck in the past other than him being in love with Hakyeon. Also, the next chapter will hopefully be longer than this. Thanks for reading!