(A week later)

—Yesung’s POV—

We hadn’t seen Zhoumi in two weeks. He’d avoided all our calls and refused to let us into his house. The only way we knew that he was still alive was because he replied our texts, but even his replies were short and dodgy.

It was the first day of the new school term, and I didn’t want to know what would happen in this term. What I wanted to know was if Henry was alright. I didn’t hate him – none of us did, actually. We were all worried about him and Zhoumi, and them as a couple. After seeing Zhoumi with Yuri the other day, I didn’t know what would happen between Zhoumi and Henry anymore. Would they stay together? Would they break up? I had no idea.

I woke up an hour earlier than usual and couldn’t get back to sleep, my mind occupied with depressing thoughts like these. Henry really needed to get back and sort things out with Zhoumi, because I didn’t want to see any of them get hurt.

Wookie shifted in my arms and blinked up at me blearily. “Why’re you up?”

I looked back down at him. “Same reason why you’re up, I guess.”

Wookie sighed. “Zhoumi hyung and Henry?”

“Yeah.”

We stayed in silence for a bit before I decided to get up and perhaps prepare breakfast early. Wookie seemed to agree with me and, at five in the morning, we were washing up. After taking our own sweet time to brush our teeth and wash our faces, Wookie set off to cook breakfast while I set off to entertain Kkoming, since Ddangkkomaeng and Ddangkkoming were still sleeping.

I managed to spend fifteen minutes like that before Kkoming got bored of me and stopped playing fetch. I ended up heading to the kitchen to get some water. I leaned against the kitchen counter and watched Wookie put the rice in the cooker, and we sat down at the dining table together.

“I wonder what happens today,” Wookie said, worry lacing his voice.

“Me too.”

The next half hour, we didn’t talk. Wookie went about preparing breakfast to distract himself while I let my thoughts wander. Thankfully, umma and appa snapped me out of my thoughts and told me to wake Jongjin, which I did.

We ate breakfast as per normal and got ready for the first day of school. Jongjin, Wookie and I met Leeteuk and Kangin like we always did, took the bus like we always did, and ran into Kyuhyun and Sungmin on the bus like we always did. Perhaps the day would turn out normally after all.

We arrived at the school bus stop and got off, already beginning to walk in the direction of our school when someone familiar caught Kyuhyun’s eye. “Isn’t that Zhoumi hyung?” he asked unsurely, pointing at a tall figure walking with his arm around a female’s waist. I would recognise Zhoumi anywhere, and I nodded in unison with Kangin and Leeteuk and Sungmin.

“What’s with him?”

I forgot – Kyuhyun and Sungmin didn’t know that Zhoumi and Yuri had a thing now. The other four of us, after seeing Zhoumi and Yuri at the cinema the other time, concluded that they were sort of in a relationship. Seeing Zhoumi with Yuri in the morning further confirmed our suspicions.

“We’ll explain it to everyone later. Or maybe, we could make him explain,” Kangin said, jerking a thumb in Zhoumi’s direction. Leeteuk seconded that, and Wookie and I agreed as well. Kyuhyun and Sungmin looked doubtful, but said nothing otherwise.

As we walked into school, walking to the cafeteria as we always did, we spotted Eunhyuk and Donghae with someone else. Someone we hadn’t seen or heard from in weeks. Henry.

He seemed fine, for the most part. A little skinnier, and his smile wasn’t all that bright. I never did ask Zhoumi about what happened the other day, when he supposedly met up with Henry. I suppose something bad happened, otherwise Zhoumi wouldn’t be with Yuri now.

Wait. Zhoumi was with Yuri now.

At that thought, I looked at Leeteuk and Kangin and Wookie. All four of us shared similar expressions.

“Oh .”

-----------------------

—Henry’s POV—

I bounced as I boarded the plane, excited to finally get back to Korea and see Mimi gege. School started in about eighteen hours, so I would make it just in time to put my stuff down at home, and get to school.

Mum was pretty much fully recovered, and surprisingly, Sooyoung kept her promise. She returned my phone to me and let me return to Korea. In fact, she was on the same flight as me. I couldn’t help the nagging feeling that something was wrong, but I knew that seeing Mimi gege would make me feel better about everything that was going on.

It actually wasn’t too long before the plane took off and I settled into my seat, scrolling through my messages. All the messages were there, and the latest one was from Yesung hyung, asking me when the hell I was getting back from Canada. He seemed rather uptight, if the number of question marks used meant anything. But that message was from over a week ago. What happened?

Deciding that I couldn’t actually do anything on the flight, I opted to plug my earphones in and get some rest. I wouldn’t want to fall asleep during the first Calculus lesson of the new term. In a few minutes, I was already snoring lightly. Thank god I was in first class and no one would care too much about me.

I slept well for three or so hours, then there was some turbulence and I was shook awake. I let out a grunt of annoyance and waited for the turbulence to pass before letting myself fall back asleep. This cycle repeated for three times, at least, before the plane finally landed in Seoul’s airport.

The moment I got out of the airport, I hailed a cab and slid in. I was about to slam the door shut when Sooyoung stopped me, and she smiled at me. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes at her and forced a small smile. I had another three or so hours to get to school, but I didn’t want to be late.

“Yes?”

“I just wanted to thank you for doing as told. I’ll see you around,” Sooyoung said. I nodded blankly and she closed the door, waving as the cab drove to my apartment. Well that was strange. Sooyoung had been so fake for the past few weeks because she wanted something from me, but I didn’t see a reason for her to be so fake when she no longer needed anything from me. Actually, why did she need to take my phone? She didn’t send any messages using my name… did she?

I began to worry. Sooyoung would have deleted whatever messages she sent, so I wouldn’t find out what she sent, or to whom. On the other hand, maybe she didn’t send any messages under my name. I would never know. I could only hope that she didn’t use my phone to message anyone.

Upon reaching my apartment, I lugged my luggage upstairs and into my room, flicking the light switch to reveal my neat and tidy room. Nothing had changed since I left abruptly like that. That fact in itself was strange, because wouldn’t Mimi gege come over every now and then? He would’ve at least helped me clean up a little because he was that wonderful, but I could see a layer of dust covering my stack of scores.

I immediately took my phone out and texted Mimi gege, not caring that it was just slightly past four in the morning and that he wouldn’t be awake yet. He woke up at 5.30am on average school days since he made breakfast on his own, and his house, like mine, wasn’t near school. His house was actually pretty near mine, but I didn’t want to go over this early.

While waiting for his reply, I thought that maybe I should take a shower and freshen up. Heck, I would take a bath. I brought my phone into the bathroom with me and ran the water, waiting patiently for the tub to fill up with warm water to sooth my aching muscles. Sitting in a plane for thirteen hours, even if in a first class seat, was no joking matter.

When the water was enough, I turned the tap off and stepped into the tub, allowing the warm water to wash away my tension and worries, even if just for a bit.

--------------------------

I took a nice long bath, for around a half hour, and stepped out of the bathtub to brush my teeth when I was done. In the half hour that I was in the tub, I nearly fell asleep thrice. I’d slapped myself awake those three times.

Once I finished brushing my teeth and washing my face, I went to make some simple fried noodles for myself. Mimi gege had yet to reply me, but I figured that maybe he wasn’t awake yet. Still, I wanted some sort of confirmation that Mimi gege was alright. After I finished cooking my breakfast, I sat down at the dining table and called Mimi gege.

One ring. Two rings. Three rings. Four rings. Click.

“The customer you are calling is not available. Please try again later.”

I furrowed my brows and dialled the number again, certain that Mimi gege would pick up if it was me. I waited again and, at the fourth ring, the same annoying message was repeated. I wanted to smash my phone against the wall really badly, but I managed to control myself and I dialled again.

This time, the call got through after the third ring.

“Yeoboseyo?”

This wasn’t Mimi gege’s voice. It wasn’t even a male. The voice wasn’t really that mature, so I figured that she was a young adult like me. From the looks of it, I woke her up. I brought my phone away from my ear to check the number, frowning when I realised that it was correct. Did Mimi gege change his number or something?

“Who is this?”

“I’m Henry. Do you happen to know Zhoumi?” I asked hesitantly.

“Nope. I’ve never heard of such a person. Sorry.”

I bit on my lower lip. “Alright. Thank you and I’m sorry for waking you up.”

I hung up and looked at the ground dejectedly. Mimi gege changed his number without even telling me. How saddening is that? He’s my boyfriend, yet he doesn’t tell me that he changed his number. It wasn’t possible that he lost his phone, because that woman who picked up didn’t ask if I knew the phone’s owner.

Well, the only thing I could really do was to get to school and ask Mimi gege what went on in the past few weeks that I was in Canada. I didn’t manage to text or even email him once in the past four weeks, and I was as guilty as hell. After all, I did promise to keep in touch with him.

I lost my appetite for breakfast completely, and I could only poke and prod at my food while letting my mind wander. What has Mimi gege been up to in the past weeks? Did he miss me much, or did he forget about me? The texts from him stopped coming a week after I left, and I had to wonder why he suddenly stopped texting me.

In the end, I was so turned off by the food that I ended up dumping it all away. My appetite was completely gone, and I just sat in the dining room while staring at the wall opposite me blankly. I debated over whether or not to call Mimi gege again, but wouldn’t that just hurt me more?

I took fifteen minutes, maybe a little more, to compose my thoughts and get changed for school. I wonder if I would meet Mimi gege on the bus, although I highly doubted that that would happen. I guess I had to settle for meeting him in school. It was that or nothing.

I grabbed my backpack and went downstairs, managing to catch the bus just in time. I found a window seat, leaned against the cool window, and fell into a dreamless nap.

I honestly didn’t know if I should be looking forward to school.

----------------------

When I got to school, the first thing I noticed was that it was a little early. Still, the school gates were open so I just walked into school and found a table in the cafeteria. My stomach growled and I sighed, regretting not eating breakfast. No one could blame me for losing my appetite like that though. I mean, who wouldn’t be hurt by what Mimi gege did?

“Maybe I should call him again,” I mumbled. I fiddled around with my phone, toying with the idea of calling Mimi gege once more. But the thing was that I didn’t even have his number, so what was I supposed to do?

I snapped my fingers as a thought came to mind. “Can’t I just ask one of the other hyungs?”

But then I remembered the messages that some of them sent, telling me that Mimi gege was upset and worried and asking me why I wasn’t replying. Maybe they hated me now. I hope they don’t, but there was a chance that they did. I groaned and ran a hand down my face. Should I call?

After another minute of contemplation, I decided, screw this. I’m going to call Mimi gege again. I dialled the number and put the call on speaker, seeing as how nobody was in the canteen yet. There was one ring, and another, and… a beep. He rejected my call. Mimi gege rejected my call. I didn’t think that it would be that lady from earlier on, since she picked up my call even though it was at an ungodly hour. I sank back in my seat.

What the hell was going on between Mimi gege and me? I didn’t even have a clue what happened, but I remembered very vividly what he said before I left for Canada. ‘I’ll miss you so much. I love you too.’ What happened to that, huh? My heart ached and I wanted to cry. Nonetheless, I would wait for Mimi gege to come to school before I demanded an explanation from him.

I let myself let loose a little, playing some games on my phone and looking through some music scores. It wouldn’t be long before the first couple in our batch came, I hope. I didn’t want to have too much time to let my mind wander.

True enough, Eunhyuk and Donghae hyung appeared by the cafeteria doors at 7.12am. Their faces lit up immediately when they saw me, and they both literally ran over to envelope me in a tight hug. I felt suffocated, but a smile crept onto my face because at least they didn’t hate me for making Mimi gege upset.

“Henry, why didn’t you contact us?” Donghae hyung asked accusingly. I opened my mouth, ready to tell them the truth when Sooyoung’s words rang in my mind.

‘Don’t tell anyone what happened. I’ll make your parents pay.’

I hastily made up a lousy excuse. “I lost my phone.”

“But Zhoumi said he emailed you,” Eunhyuk hyung added. I struggled to come up with yet another excuse, but this excuse was a lot lousier than the first.

“I had no internet access in Canada.”

“Sure…” Donghae hyung said, clearly not believing me but letting the matter slide. “Well, Zhoumi hyung’s probably arriving soon enough. I bet he’ll be happy to see you again!” Donghae hyung exclaimed with a grin. My stomach churned slightly. Happy to see me? After he rejected my call?

Before I could form any sort of remark on that, I felt myself go deaf as Chullie umma screamed, “Oh my gosh my baby Henry is back!” and following that, I was crushed by Chullie umma. Well that was real nice.

“Come on, and let’s go up to the auditorium.”

I looked back just in time to make eye-contact with, surprisingly, Mimi gege. He sighed and turned away, and I bit on my bottom lip to prevent my tears from spilling over.

He didn’t come to me.

---------------------

The first half of my day was torturous. I spent three long hours in Korean lesson, then I had Calculus, and I had music history. The only lesson I shared with any of the others was Calculus, and that was only Ryeowook hyung and Kyuhyun hyung. Ryeowook hyung seemed a little jittery and upset, and as curious as I was I didn’t ask.

I made my way over to the cafeteria with Kevin and Kiseop, talking to them about what we just learnt in music history and discussing the homework we had. I couldn’t help but be jealous of them when I saw them holding hands. I really had to talk with Mimi gege.

We parted ways upon reaching the cafeteria and I immediately went up to Mimi gege, who was talking animatedly with Sungmin hyung and Shindong hyung. I grabbed onto his hand, startling him, and gave him a look. “We need to talk.”

He nodded in agreement and followed me into the empty hallways.

“Mimi gege, what’s wrong? Why’d you avoid my calls?” I asked sadly. He gaped at me.

“I avoided you? I called you every day for an entire week! You didn’t reply my emails, texts or calls! How am I the one avoiding you?” he retorted agitatedly. I looked down and shook my head, still not being able to reveal the truth for fear that my parents would be hurt.

“I couldn’t. I have my reasons, but I couldn’t.”

Mimi gege scoffed. “And you can’t tell me what this reason is?”

I shook my head again. “Alright. Fine. Then why’d you break up with me?” Mimi gege asked, voice cracking slightly. I whipped my head up and looked at him with wide eyes. When the hell did I break up with him?

“I didn’t!”

“Oh really now? Then explain this,” he said, pressing something on his phone and shoving it into my face. I read the message, and reread it, and reread it again.

“I didn’t send this! Mimi gege, you should know that I never refer to you as Zhoumi hyung!”

“But who would have access to your phone?” he asked bitterly.

I couldn’t tell him anything. I wanted so badly to tell him how much I missed him, but that didn’t seem possible right now. I hung my head and Mimi gege laughed.

“Tongue-tied, Henry? I still love you, but if you aren’t willing to tell me anything, then how do you expect me to believe you? We’re over,” Mimi gege said, rather cold-heartedly. I looked up just in time to see him leave, but then he suddenly turned back. “I’m with Yuri now.”

A tear slipped out of my eye and I sank down to the ground.

It hurt. It really hurt.

Wtf am I doing to Henry omgggg TT I'm sorry Henry! D:

Ok, this chapter is longer than usual to tide you guys over the next three weeks. Yes, I'm going on a short hiatus from typing because my prelims are coming up and I can't afford to fail anything. Please be patient with me~

I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter (don't bash me) and please wait patiently for the next one! :)

That's all from me for now. Wish me good luck? XD Annyeong! ^^