but daniel ruled that one out -- or he just wanted to make sure that his relationship did not start because silly little daniel had a schoolgirl crush on his best friend. so he racked his brain more and more until he thought of something else.

maybe it was the day they received their college acceptance letters. both of them had applied to the same colleges because they couldn't bear the thought of losing their friendship (and also because the two were just so similar that they both had the same colleges in mind). seongwu, the more rational of the two, silently counted down the days until the letters were sent out. of course, seongwu never told daniel that there was a month... a week... a day left because he knew daniel liked to remain carefree and wouldn't like the thought that his future would be decided so soon. 

seongwu: daniel do you know what day it is?

daniel: um... it's not your birthday right?

seongwu: .... the hell??? you don't know my birthday?

daniel:  no i know it. that's why i knew today wasn't your birthday ;)))))

seongwu: ugh you'll pay for that later, but today is an important day and we can't waste anymore time!

daniel: ? 

seongwu: ill meet you at your house in 5. come out and wait next to the mailbox.

so daniel did what he was told and sat down on the warm sidewalk beside his mailbox. he took out his phone and began playing an intense game of Temple Run until he felt a tap on his forehead. 

"oi you ready?"

"seongwu why are you carrying a giant stack of letters? don't you know tha-- WAIT. it's today isn't it? oh god oh god oh god oh g--"

"calm down, i'm here for a reason. i banned my parents from taking out the mail for two weeks, so this would be a bit more dramatic. get up and get out the mail!"

the next 5 minutes felt excruciatingly slow for daniel. despite his seemingly naive personality and easy smiles, daniel dreaded these type of things -- he didn't like knowing that his future would be ruined because of a single piece of paper. but with seongwu's encouraging smiles and warm eyes, daniel didn't feel so bad. 

the two opened daniel's mailbox together. unlike seongwu who had to request his parents to not take out the mail, daniel's parents regularly checked their mail once every two weeks -- an obvious testament on why daniel was as disorganized as he was. with the two piles of mail in front of them, daniel and seongwu both began searching for their letters. 

"daniel, i think it's this one."

"at least they look the same size. that probably means the same letter is in each of them, right?"

"i guess it's time we find out."

on the count of three, the boys ripped open the envelopes and silently scanned the letters. daniel's read good news, but the look on seongwu's eyes was hard to read.

"so..."

"daniel. i don't think we'll be going to the same school"

"what?"

and just at that moment, daniel could hear the thudding of his heart get louder and louder. he couldn't imagine a life without seongwu -- he couldn't spend four years without his best friend. he reached for seongwu's hand but flinched when seongwu took a step back.

"what i'm saying daniel is ...  I GOT INTO THE ACTING SCHOOL AT SEOUL UNI INSTEAD!"

"wait what -- so we're both going to seoul uni right?"

"yes stupid! the acting school is detached from the main campus but it's still affiliated with the uni. it's not too far though, practically a 30 minute walk." 

"oh thank god, i thought you weren't accepted at all."

"really? really? you thought you, kang-my-grade-point-average-is-one-digit-daniel, would be accepted and not me?? not ong seongwu, the honor student, class president, acting extraordinaire??" 

"shut up you're so full of yourself."

"you can be full of me too if you want."

"please get out of my house seongwu."

and daniel thanked god right then and there that he would have seongwu for four more years. that they would be able to be danielseongwu for four more years. that they would be able to tease each other and give each other hell for four more years. because really wherever he was, daniel just needed seongwu there with him. 

but was it really then that he knew seongwu was the one? daniel thought. maybe it was something more recent or something farther back? maybe it was the time when he an-- 

"jaehwan told me that you were thinking for too long and i should come before your brain explodes."

"the last time jaehwan and i texted was three hours ago."

"he said he felt your confused energy and told me to hurry. move over, i need some blanket."

daniel moved toward the wall and felt his mattress dip as seongwu climbed into the way-too-small-for-the-two-of-them twin-sized bed. seongwu faced daniel who got a good look at his best friend and boyfriend's raven hair, which instead of being styled into its usual comma look fell softly in front of his eyes, and the three star-like moles off to the side of his cheek sparkled against his milky skin. 

"pretty," daniel whispered as he traced the moles with his pinky finger. seongwu reached for his hand and intertwined their fingers together.

"what's on your mind niel?"

"nothing. it's no big deal."

"are you sure? did jaehwan insult peter and rooney again? do you want me to help you saran wrap his furniture again?"

"no- well he did, but let's save that for another time. i just want to be with you right now."

"that's cheesy."

"you're mean."

"you're dumb."

"you love me" 

"i do?"

"you do."

because maybe, daniel realized, it was just everything about seongwu that did it for him. everything they did together, everything they talked about together, everything they were together. he couldn't pick just one moment -- he had to pick it all.