Kevin was grateful to Kibum, taking time from his weekend off to hang out and comfort him. "Kibum hyung..." Kevin began, finally feeling like he was over crying for a while, "thanks so much." Kevin thanked him once more.

"If you thank me one more time, I'm going to pinch your cheeks." Kibum warned.

"But I really am thankful."

Kibum sighed and pinched Kevin's cheeks, stretching them out a little to Kevin's protest. "Ah~! Hyung, stop it!" Kevin pleaded, trying not to laugh.

"Stop thanking me." Kibum said, shaking Kevin's head.

"Okay! Okay! I will!" Kevin finally let out his laughter. Kibum was relieved to hear his laugh again, instead of sobs. It put his heart at ease if nothing else.

-Eli-

Now that Eli thought about it, something didn't seem right about their break-up. It seemed too easy. Eli was always under the impression that break-ups were supposed to be terrible things. Like, one person is crushed to pieces and the other one doesn't feel bad at all. Kevin seemed fine this morning, he was smiling and talking with Dongho, Hoon, and Kiseop on the plane.

But something still nagged and nagged at Eli. He sat in his apartment, eating noodles, pondering.

Was it that he somehow felt guilty for not feeling anything from their break-up? Or that he felt that he missed Kevin? That was ridiculous, though, since he didn't have feelings for Kevin like that, not any more, and he saw him that morning. Eli sighed, finishing up his lunch and going to relax. Even though their schedules were free for the rest of the day, he knew they would be packed tomorrow. Starting with some time in the studio and photoshoots.

Feeling oddly disconnected, Eli was lost in deep thought when his phone rang. "Ne, Soohyun?" He answered, blinking away a film of haze in his eyes.

"Ah, Eli, a part of your schedule was changed and you'll be with Dongho in the studio recording instead of Kevin. That way, most of the rap parts can he taken care of all at once and Jaeseop will be with you about...an hour into your session." Soohyun explained, "and your photoshoot time has been moved forward an hour to accommodate that. You'll be getting your photos done the same time as Kevin." Soohyun went on to explain how they would be getting there and where to meet and all that while Eli listened half-heartedly.

Being around Kevin would he easy as pie, wouldn't it? There wasn't any reason for them to be awkward, their breakup had been mutual. Then...how come Eli suddenly felt very antsy for the next day?

"Ah, yes, that all sounds fine, Soohyun." Eli nodded.

"Good, because you don't really have a choice." Soohyun laughed, Eli forced a laugh even though he wasn't really in the mood for jokes. After he got off the phone with Soohyun, he stared at his phone. His background hadn't been changed from a couple picture of him and Kevin taken from a couple months ago. It had been Eli's favorite picture of them, it still was, he corrected himself. But...now it kind of hurt to look at it.

While Eli knew they would still be the same two people as before, the fact that they would 't be as intimate as they had been, they couldn't. And, even if Kevin could be by his side, Eli knew that there would always be a level of disconnection between them. A line neither would be able to cross.

And that's when it all sunk in and Eli slumped heavily on his couch. He no longer had someone he could hold when he was sad, or cuddle when he felt lonely, or anything like that. Though he had all the other members, he had always, no matter what, gone to Kevin. Eli frowned, he could still go to Kevin, right? Their breakup was mutual, so there wasn't any lingering or hard feelings. Right? Even when they weren't together, Kevin was always fine with listening to him, would it be so different now that they had broken up?

"Aish!" Eli grumbled, ruffling his hair in frustration. "Why is it so complicated?"

Instead of giving himself even more of a headache, Eli turned up some music and blasted it throughout his apartment while he took a shower and got ready to sleep. But, sleep didn't come, his mind was still buzzing with convoluted thoughts and emotions. Was he making a mistake, letting Kevin go like this? But...Kevin had said he didn't feel the same way. If nothing else, Eli wanted to believe Kevin and respect his wishes for them not to be together.

The next morning, upon seeing Kevin, something twisted inside Eli. And the fact that Kevin wouldn't look at him twisted whatever it was further. Eli heaved a sigh, going into makeup.

He had no right to be fickle right now, this was probably just a normal effect and he would get over it. Eli nodded at himself in the mirror and pushed aside all the fake feelings bubbling up inside him.

"Eli-ssi, you'll be getting your pictures taken over this way." A stylist explained, leading him away from where Kevin was getting ready just a few chairs away.

...

Kevin couldn't concentrate on his poses, he had a feeling half of the shots would be thrown out because he looked too spacey and stiff. But...he didn't know what to do. Even if he had Kibum to talk to, he could never adequately explain his feelings, because he didn't even have them sorted out. He wanted to take it all back, and tell Eli he still wanted to be with him, he wanted to do that so badly it hurt. His heart ached for Eli's touch again. But...he couldn't force Eli like that, it was underhanded and dirty. He couldn't keep Eli chained down like some sort or animal, it would weigh on him more than the pain he was in now.

Even if it was unbearable now, Kevin knew he would eventually get used to the fact that ElVin couldn't be a real thing anymore. Even if he hadn't been able to look at Eli's face this morning, he knew that some time, hopefully soon, the painful beating he got from Eli's sight would cease. And maybe, someday, they could go back to being great friends again.

Kevin knew he would have to pretend he could be around Eli, for the sake of everyone around them and UKISS, but, he couldn't consider Eli a friend until his heart mended. And, really, who knew how long that would take.

It's been so, so, so, so long, hasn't it?

To tell the truth, it's been hard for me. I'm...*sigh*

Anyway, I forced myself to write if only to take my mind off things for a while, and this is how it turned out. It's short and crappy, so I'm sorry. >.<

I started a little bit of the next chapters, but honestly, I don't know how long you'll have to wait. Ideally, I pull myself into a writing spree and I at least get a couple more chapters before I decide to disappear off the face of the earth again. I'll try...I can't promise anything though.

Also, the picture up at the top is the picture I imagined as being the background to Eli's phone. That is all.