I KNOW, I'm a lazyass! I'm sorry that I've waited so long to update, it's just that I'm in college and I've just recently gotten into the swing of the new semester. I'm having some difficulty with my statistics class, but I'm going to work hard on that so I can make more time to update for all of you. Again, I'm REALLY sorry and I hope you enjoy!

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“This is more awkward than either one of us would like,” Junhyung told Hyunseung, three days later. The setting was the same as it had been the first time: it was late, Hyunseung was on his laptop in his room, and Junhyung stood in the doorway before he alerted Hyunseung of his presence.

“Really? Because I haven’t noticed,” Hyunseung responded with heavy sarcasm. Junhyung walked into the room and sat down on Yoseob’s bed – déjà vu.

“Hyunseung, you know something’s wrong when I’m the one who’s being rational -” Junhyung began to say.

“I stopped being rational about this when Eun Mi left because of you,” Hyunseung cut him off, looking up from his laptop. “I would have died to have a girl like her with me when I was So-1. I would have wanted the kind of support that she gave you, even since before you were Poppin’ Dragon,” he glared at Junhyung and quickly looked back at his laptop. “I would have cherished a girl who loved me as Jang Hyunseung; a normal guy who loved his work, instead of the idol.” Junhyung sighed and shook his head.

“You’re right, Hyunseung. I was in idiot. I did take her for granted; and I regret that now.”

“You should,” Hyunseung muttered.

Junhyung groaned and flopped back on Yoseob’s bed. “And you aren’t making me feel any better.”

“That’s what I’m trying to do.” The room was quiet for a little while, and Junhyung sat up.

“I came in here to talk to you for a reason,” Junhyung declared.

“And what reason would that be?” Hyunseung rolled his eyes.

“Help me find her,” Junhyung said. Hyunseung stopped what he was doing and looked up at Junhyung.

“Are you serious?” He asked, his eyes widening in disbelief.

“As a heart attack,” Junhyung nodded. Hyunseung pursed his lips together and glared.

“Why do you want my help? For all you know, I’ll find her and then do everything in my power to make sure that you don’t,” he implied. Junhyung shook his head.

“I can’t believe I’m admitting this…” he muttered. “Hyunseung, I can’t find her on my own. I don’t know where to start -”

“You mean you don’t remember enough about her,” Hyunseung deadpanned. Junhyung bristled and glared.

“That’s not true -”

“Is that so?” He snapped, closing his laptop and pushing it away. “What do you know about her, Junhyung? Do you know where she grew up, or whether or not she had any pets or siblings? Do you know her best friend? , Junhyung, do you even know her favorite color?” As he interrogated Junhyung, he slowly stood up and approached him. When he was finished, he was standing over Junhyung, glaring down at him. Junhyung didn’t know he could be so intimidated by Hyunseung.

“I…” He was at a loss for words. “I don’t remember…” he sighed and his head dropped. “I knew once, but I don’t remember anymore.”

“Exactly,” Hyunseung grumbled, turning around and going back to his bed. “And I wouldn’t be surprised if I knew even more about her than you ever did.” Junhyung immediately became angry.

“Oh, really?” He snapped, looking up and glaring at Hyunseung. “What makes you so sure of that?”

“What was her job when you met her?” Hyunseung asked him.

“She was a barista at a Starbucks,” Junhyung responded without missing a beat.

“Why?”

“…What?” Junhyung responded to Hyunseung second question with confusion.

“Why was she a barista at Starbucks?” Hyunseung repeated.

“I don’t know,” Junhyung shrugged. “She never told me.”

“She was saving up for college,” Hyunseung stated as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. Junhyung was shocked.

“I…” He was ashamed to admit it. “…I didn’t even know that she wanted to go to college…” he mumbled in disbelief.

“Did you know that was what she did while you were in training? And after your debut, when you spent all day doing things for Cube?”

“She’s in college?” He mumbled, dragging his hands down his face. The silence was tense for a few moments, and then Junhyung spoke again, “Where?” Hyunseung suddenly went pale… er.

“What?”

“Where did she go to college?” Junhyung repeated, narrowing his eyes in suspicion. Hyunseung went from angry to nervous very quickly.

“I…” Hyunseung diverted his eyes and bit his lip. “I don’t know. I don’t even know where she applied.”

“You’re lying,” Junhyung declared, glaring at him. “You bite your lip right before telling a bold-faced lie,” he stood up and approached Hyunseung, who started to cower. The roles had reversed now. “You know exactly where she applied – don’t you, Hyunseung?” He growled, backing Hyunseung up to where he fell back on his bed. Hyunseung held out his hand for Junhyung to stop, his eyes wide with horror.

“Junhyung, I…” He paused, staring into Junhyung’s eyes with desperation. “I can’t tell you.”

“Why not?” Junhyung snapped, clenching his hands into fists and hunching his shoulders.

“She asked me not to!” Hyunseung told him. The room went silent because Junhyung could only stare down at Hyunseung in disbelief.

“What?” He whispered, his heart aching in his chest.

“She told me a little after we stopped filming Beast Almighty,” he admitted. “One day she came by to visit you in the studio and brought you lunch, but you were recording something, so I kept her company in the waiting room. We talked for awhile, and she told me a bunch of things about her that she had never told you. She said that she wanted you to ask about them yourself.”

Junhyung’s guilt began to weight down on his shoulders, heavier and heavier with each moment that Hyunseung talked. He felt guilty for a number of reasons, all of them relating back to Eun Mi. But now there was a new guilt adding to that weight: he hated seeing Hyunseung like this. 

He sighed and flopped onto Yoseob's bed. “If you know where she is, then why don’t you visit her?” He didn’t hear any sounds from Hyunseung for a minute or two, and then he heard shuffling sounds from where Hyunseung was. He heard the sound of fabric ruffling, and then footsteps towards him. He heard Hyunseung clear his throat and opened his eyes to see Hyunseung standing over him, holding his phone out to him.

 “Saved messages,” Hyunseung stated, tossing the phone on the bed beside Junhyung. He walked back to his bed and flopped down face-first. Junhyung was confused, but picked up the phone and went to check the voicemail.

“One saved message. First saved message:

“Hyunseung...” Junhyung’s heart skipped a beat when he heard Eun Mi’s soft, breathy voice. “I’ve finally done it. I’ve finally left Junhyung.” His heart fell and he could feel tears pricking his eyes. “It’s… it’s a scary feeling. I’ve been with him for so long, I’ve realized that…” She drifted off and sighed. “I’ve lost myself.  I… I feel empty. I have a lot of thinking to do; and I have a lot of pressure from school, as well. I’m sorry that I’m not telling you this in person, but… I don’t want to take the chance of seeing him. I can’t face him; not yet. I need to put myself back to together on my own before I’ll be able to face him again. I understand if you’re angry at me for this, and I can’t blame you,” her voice started to waver, “You’ve been there for me ever since we met, and here I am, leaving without saying goodbye to you in person,” and then it cracked. “I… I’m not expecting you to want to speak to me ever again, much less see me,” she sniffed. “But if you do want to speak to me… then you can still call me. Maybe we can see each other again sometime, but I want to have myself together when we do. Again, I’m very sorry…”

He hung up and dropped the phone on the bed, staring at the floor. “How old is that message?” He asked, glancing at Hyunseung.

Hyunseung turned his head enough so that his words wouldn’t be muffled, “The night she left. I was asleep when she called.”

“Have you spoken to her?” Junhyung couldn’t help asking. Hyunseung was quiet. “Hyunseung, have you spoken to her?” There was more urgency in his voice.

“…I talk to her at least once a week,” he finally answered, and Junhyung could feel the piercing feeling in his back.

“That often…?” He mumbled in disbelief; Hyunseung remained silent. Junhyung groaned and ran his hands through his hair in frustration. “I can’t believe this…” He grumbled. He waited a little before glancing up at Hyunseung. “Well? Don’t you have anything else to rub in my face?” He snapped.

“I’m tired, Junhyung,” Hyunseung responded, rolling onto his side. “If we have to continue this, can we do it later? I don’t want to deal with this right now…” Junhyung stared at Hyunseung in disbelief, and then slowly turned to anger.

“Fine,” he snapped, seizing Hyunseung’s phone. He stormed over and threw it down in front of Hyunseung, then walked out of the room, shoving past Yoseob on his way out.

“What was that about?” Yoseob asked after Junhyung was out of the room, pointing after him.

“It’s something between him and me,” Hyunseung sighed, taking his phone and pulling it close. Yoseob gave Hyunseung a confused look, but shrugged when it went unnoticed.

After the lights were out and Yoseob was asleep, Hyunseung his phone and went to the photos, bringing up a picture of him and Eun Mi together. The two were hugging, and he was the one holding the camera; Eun Mi was smiling at the camera, but Hyunseung’s face was turned so that he was kissing the top of her head. He smiled sadly at the photo and touched it gently with his thumb before he sighed and turned off his phone. 

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There! An extra-long chapter in hopes of compensating for making all of you wait for so long! :D