Jooheon is a bit confused when he wakes up alone, having remembered Kihyun crying himself to sleep atop him the night before. He's even more confused when he hears hushed whispers coming from the kitchen.  

When he gets up to investigate and finds Kihyun and Hyungwon sitting there, eating chicken, he's absolutely flabbergasted. 

"Hyungwon-hyung??" he bursts out in surprise, sufficiently interrupting their conversation. The two jolt in shock and turn to look at him, Kihyun's face breaking out into the most genuine smile Jooheon's seen on him in a while. 

"The brat decided to keep his return a secret until the last second," Kihyun informs him, smirking jokingly over at Hyungwon as if nothing had happened. 

Is that possible? Did Jooheon just imagine the past few weeks?? Did he or did he not just kiss Kihyun the night before????? 

"That's great!" Jooheon says, giving them the best smile he can muster. He watches as the two chuckle fondly, grabbing for each other's hands across the table, and literally feels his soul break into two. "Um," he mumbles, already backing out of the room, "I'm sure you two have some talking to do, so I'll just leave you two to it. I'll uh... I'll see you guys later..." He then turns on his heel and hurriedly goes to put on his shoes, practically tripping over himself as he goes. 

"… You okay?" Kihyun asks, standing to follow him. Jooheon hums in reply, making some half-assed excuse like his mom texting him or something, and disappears through the front door before Kihyun can say anything else. He frowns after his friend, wondering just what had gotten into him. 

Tears sting at the corners of Jooheon's eyes as he trudges away from Kihyun's door. He hunches his shoulders forward, shoving his hands in his pockets as he goes. How could he have been so stupid?? Of course he could never have Kihyun, no matter how much he tried... He literally kisses the boy, but the older only thinks that it's him trying to teach him a lesson??? What the hell???  

He's so lost in his broken thoughts that he doesn't even notice the car still parked outside of the house until Minhyuk suddenly appears before him. 

"We'll give you a ride," is all the older tells him, steering him towards the beat-up, four-door vehicle. Jooheon can barely hold it together before he's gently put into the car.  

He leans forward on the cracked vinyl seat, a broken sob forcing its way through his lips as he hides his face between his knees. He feels Minhyuk slide in beside him, softly telling Hyunwoo to go as the older's arms pull him close in a caring embrace. 

It feels as if every little particle of his being is breaking into a billion micro-pieces. His voice comes out in strained whines, and his nose has begun to run, but he doesn't care.  

He doesn't think he'll ever be able to care about anything again... 

Hyunwoo watches his dear friend break down in the back seat, nodding gratefully to his boyfriend for comforting him. Minhyuk gives him a good-natured smile, shrugging as if it isn't all that big a deal. He then returns his attention to the boy, carding his fingers through his hair and telling him that, even though it may not feel like it now, everything will be okay. 

Jooheon sincerely doubts that, but can't bring himself to say such a thing right now. 

Two weeks later, the entire group sits around a table at their favorite diner, chowing down on pancakes and chugging down cheap coffee. Jooheon sits as far away from the newly-rejoined couple as possible, in between Changkyun and Minhyuk at the other end of the table. He dully pokes at his food, understanding now why Kihyun had gotten so thin before when Hyungwon had left... 

He honestly wouldn't have even come today if Minhyuk and Hyunwoo hadn't dragged him here in the first place. 

"I can't believe you made us waste so much of the summer," Kihyun grumbles a bit too loudly for Jooheon's liking, the playful lilt to his voice like a pang to his already-broken heart. "We could've spent the time together, having fun, but nooooo~ You had to go to Japan, and now, here we are, the majority of the summer wasted." Hyungwon chuckles good-naturedly at this, sighing. 

"I've already apologized for being stupid, Kihyunnie," Hyungwon tells him, going along with the tease. Changkyun notices the way Jooheon physically recoils when Hyungwon goes to plant a kiss on Kihyun's cheek, and reaches under the table to squeeze his knee consolingly. 

Even though no one knows the full details of what had caused Jooheon's breakdown, they can only guess... 

"Oh~" Hoseok suddenly interjects, drawing everyone's attention to his half-dazed expression. "I heard there was a kid transferring into our school this fall. He's in Heonney and Kkungie's year, if I'm not mistaken." Changkyun smiles a bit too brightly at the change in the conversation for the couple not privy to Jooheon's mood, as he's incredibly grateful to his boyfriend for being able to steer the conversation away from the source of Jooheon's dismay. 

"Really?" Minhyuk asks eagerly, leaning forward to look Hoseok in the eye. "What's his name? Do you know?" 

"He actually came into the café last week," Hoseok reveals, his eyes drifting to the ceiling in thought. "I think his name was... Song Gunhee? Yeah, that sounds right. He seemed like a good kid, for the most part. He was pretty excited about moving here." 

"Have you heard anything about this, Jooheon-ah?" Kihyun asks, leaning to spot his friend so far away. "I mean, since I handed over the welcoming committee responsibilities to you, you should be getting emails about all that... Have you?" 

"I... haven't been able to check my email lately," Jooheon mumbles thickly, unable to meet Kihyun's eyes. "Been too sick." Yeah, sick. That's the story as far as Kihyun is concerned, and that's all he'll ever know. 

"Okay... Well, once you get the time, could you check? We need to start planning..." Jooheon merely hums in reply, still not looking at the older. Kihyun purses his lips at this, thinking his weird mood to be due more to than a simple illness, but let's it pass... for now. 

Jooheon drowns out the rest of the conversation surrounding him. He can feel Changkyun and Minhyuk's eyes on him every so often, but he can't even draw the strength to give them any sort of silent reassurance. 

They say that time is supposed to heal all wounds, but something tells him that this kind of heartbreak will last him for much longer than he could ever bear...  

A/N: *whew* omg that was the shortest amount of time it's ever taken me to complete a fic of this length, I think, lol. I just couldn't stop writing this story??? It was so much fun??? I hope you all enjoyed it as much as I did writing it~! Any sort of feedback is always appreciated ^^* I love y'all, thanks for staying with me on this particular journey, I'll see everyone in the next fic~!

(which may not be all that unrelated to this one.......... *dramatic music plays in the background* heheehee~)