“Myungsoo is here. Who were you saying goodbye to in the shed?”

“Dingdong.”

“I hope she wasn’t too sad,” said Mrs. Lee.

“What is going on here?” Mr. Lee asked. Myungsoo wanted to know too. Beyond any reason, beyond any hope, he wanted to believe. A silver lining? Maybe.

“Oh honey, Sungjong’s going to Seoul. Remember I told you. You even arranged for him to study at the college.” Mrs. Lee had a big smile on her face.

“But I thought you said Sungjong wasn’t sure if he wanted to go or not.”

“That’s true, but my big boy finally decided yesterday!”

“I’m going dad,” Sungjong said shyly.

“You’re coming with me?” asked Myungsoo, too scared to believe his ears.

Sungjong nodded, his eyes fixed at the ground.

Myungsoo let out a scream. The emotions in the scream were vivid—happiness, hope, love, victory—it was all too overwhelming. He felt like hugging Sungjong tightly but restrained himself in front of his parents.

“I promise I’ll take good care of him,” he said to them, bowing deeply.

“We didn’t want Sungjong to go but after seeing you, we knew we could trust you,” said Mr. Lee.

“Take care of him, and don’t let him be lonely. I have put all the money he’ll be needing in his small bag but I’d prefer it if you handled the money. Sungjong’s horrible with these kinds of things. And besides, we want our son to grow up. I guess he’ll never do so if we don’t let him be without us.”

Mrs. Lee was in tears as she hugged Sungjong. She started to recite an endless stream of advice about how to stay well and not bother Myungsoo much and study hard.

Mr. Lee hugged both Sungjong and Myungsoo.

“Can Dingdong at least come to the station?” Sungjong asked Myungsoo hopefully.

“Yes he can. In fact I want to show you off to him,” said Myungsoo with a smirk.

Sungjong’s face turned dark. Seeing this, Myungsoo put his arm around him and said, “I was kidding.”

Sungjong bid a teary farewell to Dingdong at the station. Myungsoo and Sungjong had a compartment to themselves. As they sat down opposite each other, Myungsoo leaned towards Sungjong. Sungjong winced and blushed but did not try to move back. However, it seemed he was determinedly stopping himself from moving away. His eyes were shut and his jaw was tight. Myungsoo couldn’t help but laugh. Sungjong’s eyes opened and he looked at Myungsoo in askance.

“You look like a cute little hen concentrating on laying an egg.”

“You spent too much of your time in the farm,” said Sungjong, trying to sound cold.

“I need to tell you something Lee Sungjong, something important, before we leave. Promise me you won’t jump off the train or abandon me in any other way when you hear it. And promise me you won’t cry. You’ll try to act your age,” Myungsoo said in a serious tone, his hands gripping Sungjong’s arms tightly.

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A/N: This is basically the last chapter. Actually I have a chapter 9 but it is very short, a conclusion of sorts. I'm not sure if I'm doing a sequel or not. I have drawn an outline but it will all depend on you guys, if I should do a sequel or not. Thanks for all your support though!