“Oh.” Woohyun doesn’t know what to say in reply to Heechul, he’s speechless because there is his Sunggyu, the man he has never stopped loving, not even for a second, so close but yet so far from him. He never even considered the fact that while being in Jeon-Ju he could stumble into his ex, it had completely slipped his mind, all that was concerning him were the memories clawing to the surface of his brain.

“-We’ve been working hard and dedicatedly on this performance for a long time for you all to enjoy here at the Mid Summer’s Festival, so without further ado, first year nearly second year class four of Jeon-Ju public high school and their version of SHINee’s View.” Sunggyu finishes his introduction and motions to the choir of twenty students behind himself. He’s quick to get out of the way and to take his place on the side of the stage, still barely in Woohyun’s sight.

The music begins and the producer can recognise the familiar instrumental of a song he helped work on. Soon the choir is off and the rest of the performances filter through, Sunggyu’s introducing the classes from his place of employment. Before long all of the high school acts are finished and it’s the middle school’s turn.

Woohyun didn’t even realise time was passing, he barely took notice of the music or the students, his eyes on Sunggyu, his ears only hearing Sunggyu’s voice, his full focus completely and utterly on the man he let go.

Heechul’s muffled words somehow reach his ears, barely, only catching the tail end of the statement, “-I should introduce you to Sunggyu. I feel like you two would get along.”

The younger’s eyes widen, “Um, I don’t-“

“Look, there he is,” Heechul points to said man wading his way through the sea of people, waving his arm to get Sunggyu’s attention, “Sunggyu! Over here.”

Woohyun turns around with his back facing his ex before Sunggyu directs his attention to the two of them. His chest is tight and suffocating, panic bubbles like boiling water, spilling over the sides of the pot and spitting in every direction. He can’t breathe, he can’t breathe. His hands are shaking uncontrollably, suddenly fatigued and feeling faint. This was not how he imagined the feeling that would consume him when seeing Sunggyu again. He can’t take it. He hates it, he hates it.

He needs to leave. He can’t stay there, he can’t. And with those final thoughts he’s gone, he lets his legs carrying him away from the situation. His hands fumble to reach for his phone and after a few attempts, he listens to the dial tone.

“Hey, Woohyun what’s up?” just hearing Sungyeol’s voice when he answers is able to help the anxiety storming within him.

“I’m in Jeon-Ju, I’m in, I’m in Jeon-Ju. And I saw Sunggyu, I, I saw Sunggyu. I saw-“ words escape Woohyun’s mouth at a rapid speed, he needs to release them. He needs too.

Woohyun can hear something hit the ground and movements on sheets on the other end, “Woah okay, calm down. Breathe with me okay. Breathe with me.” Sungyeol orders before talking the borderline hysteric male through breathing techniques to calm his erratic heartbeat and to help dispense the overload of emotions coursing through his body.

The unsteady male lets himself fall