“Sungjong, I’m leaving tomorrow,” Myungsoo said. He was sitting under a huge leafy tree beside the lake along with Dingdong. It seemed to Myugsoo that Dingdong perked up when he said he was leaving. Sungjong, on the other hand, didn’t reply. He was busy gathering flowers from underneath the tree.

Myungsoo wondered if Sungjong would start crying like he usually did when he heard something remotely sad. He had seen him break down into tears several times throughout the week, due to simple reasons such as when Dingdong was being vaccinated or the neighborhood cat caught cold.

Surprisingly Sungjong looked very calm.

“You heard me right?” Myungsoo asked.

“Yes,” Sungjong said, sitting down beside Myungsoo, his lap full of white flowers.

“What are you going to do with the flowers?” Myungsoo asked, realizing there was no point asking him the same thing again. This was another thing that he found mysterious. Sungjong was whimsical no doubt but he was always very polite and nice to everyone. However, if he was asked a question he didn’t want to answer, nothing could worm out his reply, not until he saw it fit to answer. For someone so simple-minded, Sungjong was really good at side-stepping.

“I’m going to make a garland,” said Sungjong, pulling out a long thread from his pocket.

“For me?” Myungsoo asked, his hand automatically moving to caress Sungjong’s hair. He had developed this habit of touching Sungjong’s hair whenever he sat beside him. At first Sungjong tried to pull away from his reach but after that he had stopped resisting.

“I was thinking for Dingdong,” said Sungjong.

“Oh.” The disappointment in his voice must have been too evident because even Dingdong laughed (mooed happily, I must be going completely cuckoo!) But Sungjong was, of course, oblivious.

Myungsoo was tired. They were fast friends but Sungjong seemed to only understand Dingdong’s pain, disappointment and happiness. How could he not hear Myungsoo’s fluttering heartbeat, how could he not see the love in his eyes?

Sungjong, are you really a fool or are you making a fool out of me? Can someone be that naïve?

“Sungjong, that’s it, answer me!” Myungsoo growled, snatching the flowers from his hand and tearing them into pieces.

Sungjong’s eyes followed the action and noiselessly, tears started pouring down his face.

“Not again!” Myungsoo cried out in frustration. Instead of pulling him into a hug like he always did, he lashed out at him. “Stop being such a cry baby! For God’s sake, you’re 19! An adult! Can’t you act a bit more mature? Why do people have to kiss away your tears and assure you it’s going to be alright? Come on Sungjong, you’re not a baby, you understand adult emotions right? Like love! Why do make me feel like I don’t know you? Why don’t you even try to understand what I want from you?”

If Myungsoo had hoped that he would be able to shock Sungjong into adulthood, he was wrong. Sungjong’s next move stopped his heartbeat completely.