“Sunggyu-oppa is what?!”

        “Leaving.” Woohyun mumbles while looking at his ice cream melt. He’s so distracted that he can’t even concentrate on the slightest things. They stay quiet for quite a while.

        “Well…on the bright side, at least we’ll have more time to ourselves?” She whispers in a low voice. Woohyun stares at her as if she became an alien. She did not.

        “What did you say?” He asks annoyingly, how could someone think that when Sunggyu is leaving?

        “I’m just saying, you somehow include him in our dates that it ends up you two having fun and me just walking beside you guys. I felt like the third wheel somehow.”

        “That’s ridiculous.” Woohyun scoffs.

         “Is it, Woohyun? Because it’s true.” She rolls her eyes exasperatingly and goes away. Woohyun doesn’t waste time going after her. There was simply not a reason to.

        They don’t argue like this much so it didn’t matter, everything will be fixed later, when Woohyun finds the motivation to, anyways.

        “Great.” He says to nobody in particular. His life is going to change, he hates changes. He could never adjust to it. He doesn’t want to know what it’s like just being with his girlfriend. It was always with Sunggyu, even before he started dating. But now Sunggyu is going away, and Woohyun isn’t so sure if he can handle that. He convinces himself he will, and finished the dull ice cream that melted already.

        “Stupid ice cream. You weren’t even chocolate flavoured. Just strawberry. Bleh.”

        Woohyun has a light strawberry fragrance, but his girlfriend smells like the same red fruit to match together. She thinks it’s cute, Woohyun doesn’t really mind. He has nothing to say about that.

        But Sunggyu smells like vanilla all the time, Woohyun instinctively thinks.

---

Everything is a blur right now.

He’s walking somewhere, perhaps a destination.

He’s not alone.

Someone is with him.

---

        Woohyun wakes with beads of sweat all across his face. He’s panting due to the intensity of the heat and sits up to catch his breath.

        It is 4:15 AM. Thursday. Sunggyu hasn’t been saying anything after their fight. He lets out a deep breath and pulls the cover back on. Five minutes pass. Maybe rolling to the other side might be easier for him. Ten minutes pass. Perhaps switching to the pillow’s cold side will help. Six more minutes pass and he decides it would be easier to get up. Woohyun brushes his teeth, changes clothes, prepares breakfast, eats, and feels apprehensive. It’s now 5:44 AM.

        He takes note of how precious time is and resists the urge to call Sunggyu.

        One second passes and the phone is dialing away itself. The other picks up after three rings.

        “Hello?” The voice is hoarse, it seems like someone just woke up.

        “Did I wake you up? Hyung, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to-” Woohyun replies back, relieved to hear Sunggyu’s voice.

        “You’re up too early, go back to sleep.” He groans, shuffling noises can be heard through the phone.

        Woohyun closes his mouth for thirty seconds, deep in thought of what he wants to say. And that’s when Sunggyu lets out a soft, serene breathing, making him say something quick.

        “Hyung!” He retorts quickly.

        “Hmm…?”

        “Is it okay if you stay at my place before you leave? Like when you’re done with packing and stuff?”

        “Yeah, sure. I’m going back to sleep.”

        “Okay.”

        “Bye.”

        Woohyun hangs up and goes to clean up his apartment, waiting for Sunggyu. He considers of stopping by Sunggyu’s place later or maybe not, because he’ll see him later today anyways. He hopes that the severe atmosphere between the two goes away before Sunggyu leaves.

---
When that person is with him, there are lights everywhere.

Time stops.

He can only feel warmth and happiness at this moment.

---

        “Are you really bringing all this to the dorm?” Woohyun extends his hand to reach for more useless-looking scrap that Sunggyu planned to bring. He shrugs, putting them into another bag.

        “I want to feel at home there. So I guess?” Sunggyu snatches another handful of junk and bizarre tools into his bag.

        “Man, you’re going to be gone that soon?” He shudders at the thought of Sunggyu not being here. “We won’t get to have dinner with the three of us…like we always do”

        Sunggyu states in a serious tone, “I won’t be gone for that long.” He pats Woohyun on the back. “And besides… I think change will do me some good, especially in the situation I’m in with the people I’m close with.”

        “Woohyun… when I’m off studying, take care of yourself okay? Don’t do anything stupid and don’t get into arguments that much. Always eat three meals a day and attend all your classes. Get as much sleep as possible. Do everything you would as if I was here.”

        The younger of the two sulks at that statement. He doesn’t want to imagine a life without Sunggyu. But he agrees on those motherly words.

        “I will, I promise.” Woohyun reassures.

        Sunggyu sighs, “I think it’s time that we live our own lives for now. Not together, not with your girlfriend, nothing. You didn’t think that we could’ve kept this up forever, did you? There’s always change, and that’s life, so you’ll be fine. I know you will.”

        Woohyun sniffs before mumbling, “Why is change so easy for you?”

        “Because I’ve been waiting for it.”

        Woohyun frowns upon hearing such words, but not just because of that sentence. Sunggyu didn’t smile or laugh like he normally would. He gives advices and that’s it. No happy times together during their last moment.

---
It never goes away.

It lingers until time is impatient.

And slowly, it starts to run.

---

        That night, the two are sleeping together again, unconsciously snuggling together. Sunggyu slowly opens his eyes, not being able to sleep. He feels a sense of security and he turns his head up to see Woohyun cuddling close by. He doesn’t show any particular emotion about it, maybe a bit of realization of what kept him so warm these years when sleeping with Woohyun.

        But they can’t do this. Not when everything is already messed around and flipped multiple times.

        “Bye bye.” He whispers to the younger tenderly, who is sleeping frivolously without a care in the world. His thumb lightly brushes on his cheeks while his cold hand caresses his chin. Sunggyu wonders when they grew so much and how much he has endured already. He’s aware that Woohyun feels guilty towards their fight, but he doesn’t say a word about that, he doesn’t care anymore. For he’s forgotten about it and all that’s on his mind is a new chapter beginning in his life, as well as an old, dragged out chapter that is finally ending tomorrow.

        Dawn arrives faster than anyone would want but it does and the two gets up after very few hours of sleep. Both of them stay quiet, not having much to say, well, at least not knowing what to say to each other. Nobody utters a sound, and the sun rises up, signaling the time for Sunggyu to depart.

---
“I’ve done my part, now’s your turn.”

Blink.

It’s suddenly cold.

---

        The train station is a sunny day, and there are a decent amount of people. Wind graces by and swirls with the air. It is truly a stunning day, it’s dazzling and fluffy clouds beautify the whole sky. Business people step on to go to work, while students step on to go to summer school.

        Each and everyone going through the locomotive have a unique story, an incomparable life. Sunggyu and Woohyun enter to the designated train and wait.

        Woohyun absolutely hates how they haven’t made up yet, and he knows that Sunggyu is aware of the gap between them too. He yells at himself for his mistake that day and stands unimpressed that his best friend is leaving for a few good months and they fought at the last minute.

        Sunggyu is still, keeping the tranquility between the two. He knows that moving to the main campus of his university will be a much better life than here.

        With a blink of an eye, the train arrives and Woohyun helps carry the bags onto the mobile. Sunggyu thanks Woohyun for his help and waves goodbye with a stern face. Woohyun smiles a little in hopes that Sunggyu will suddenly flash those eye smiles at him and bids farewell. But he doesn’t, instead, he sees him go to his seat and put all his belongings into a safe area.

        This was probably the most horrifying way to say goodbye to a best friend, in Woohyun’s opinion. He starts to mentally count the days left until Sunggyu will be back, which was around Christmas. Maybe waiting only a few months won’t be that bad.  

---
Woohyun wants to grab that light back.

He reaches out his arms.

He cries and screams.

But he can’t.
---

        ”Wow, they really weren’t kidding when they said they have high quality dorm rooms.” Sunggyu manages to say when he reaches to the room number that was stated in the letter. He carries the bags that contained his clothes in first, and proceeds to drag his luggage into the room. Without a second thought, he puts the key somewhere safe and plops down on the bed without a sheet cover.

        “So tired…” His neck has also been hurting after that insane two hours on the last train. He’s been riding the train the whole day, switching from one to the other. The trip took about five and a half hours in total and Sunggyu’s legs are ready to die out any minute now.

        “Ah, coming!” An unfamiliar voice rings out from what Sunggyu can only assume from the kitchen or bathroom. He sees the owner of the voice and he’s fairly surprised at what he’s seeing. The young-looking boy greets politely at the elder and bows.

        “Hello, I’m Lee Sungjong. Nice to meet you!”

        Sunggyu grins at the younger’s manner and nods before introducing himself as well.

        “I’m Kim Sunggyu. I’m sorry for being rude but aren’t you looking a bit young…?”

        Sungjong lets out a small, appealing laughter and clarifies properly, “Oh, I get that a lot, so don’t worry. I’m actually staying here because my parents are working here and they want me to stay close with them. I go to a school nearby though.”

        “Oh… I see. I’m going to unpack before it gets late.”

        “Want me to help out?” Sungjong offers, “It’ll be a nice way to get to know each other. Plus, I don’t have much to do, college starts much later than university this year.”

        The elder is delighted when he hears such kind words from the latter, “Sure. I’ll appreciate it.” This is definitely going to be a worthwhile experience, Sunggyu thinks to himself.

         “Here, let me help you with that one…”

---
Something stops him with desperate cries.

And he halts.

Losing the grasp of light.

---

        “Oppa, are you okay?”

        “Yeah, I came back from sending Sunggyu to the train station a while ago.”

        “You sound worn-out, want me to come over?”

        “Suit yourself, I might be sleeping though.”

        “Alrighty! I’ll stop by with some soup.”

        Woohyun flips over on his side of the bed and rolls around in boredom. After dropping Sunggyu off, he visited the town’s restaurants and stores because the area wasn’t well-known to him. He didn’t do much but walk around the whole day. At first, he was in an awful mood but now, he feels okay and tries to ignore that fact that his best friend is gone.

        He stays in bed for over an hour in hopes of falling asleep, but the door bell rings and he forcefully drags his over to open the bothersome door. He notifies his girlfriend that he doesn’t feel like being all greasy today and tells her to leave him alone for now. She agrees (because nobody wants to see an extremely pissed Woohyun) and sits around to read magazines in the living room. The atmosphere feels awkward without Sunggyu, so they have broken apart a bit without knowing.

        “I’m going to take a nap, wake me up in a bit. Unless you’re cooking, then you can call me when it’s ready instead.”  He hears a quick “Okay” and smoothly closes the door behind him.

---

It’s okay.

Because he’s not alone, someone else is by his side.

Everything is fine.

He has someone.

---

        “So I almost ended up getting myself kicked out of school that day because of him, it was absolute horrible!” Sungjong whines to the elder, he leans back even further to that comfy soda to express his annoyance towards the subject.

        Sunggyu and Sungjong are finished with the unpacking after a good three hours of placing everything to the right place. The dorm is now neater than Sungjong could ever imagine and they are both sitting of a sofa that allows one to relax at ease by having an adjustable back, talking.

        “It’s a good thing you didn’t, or else your parents would’ve killed you. And it really doesn’t help the fact that they live about fifteen minutes away from you.” Sunggyu comments on Sungjong’s absurd experiences he faced during high school.

        “But it was fun. I even have a better relationship with him now, hah ha. He calls when he needs me to bail him out of stupid situation he always gets himself into.” Sungjong adds to the comment.

        “That sounds exactly like someone I know back home, believe or not.” Sunggyu laughs wholeheartedly and continues on, “Back in high school, he would somehow get dragged into some horrible prank during the last few months of school and he’d call me to help him get out of whatever he’s into. I guess your friend was very alike my own...”

        Sungjong perks up at such similarity mentioned by the elder, “Really?! Did you get along with him well?”

        “Yeah, we were so close that people always would joke that we’re dating and we’d laugh it all off big time. He had a girlfriend so…” Sunggyu stops himself from saying anymore, not because he didn’t want Sungjong to know about his personal life but he’s afraid he’ll hurt himself even more.

        So he distracts Sungjong, with all kinds of different, unique, and awfully stupid stories of when they were younger. He tries to change the subject often too, but he utterly fails.

        Well, unluckily for Sunggyu, Sungjong is a people person, meaning he knows an awful lot about well, people. He observes the elder’s pained expression and begins to speak.

        “Hyung, can I… ask you something personal?”

        “Yeah.” He knows what the latter would say anyways.

        “Do you like him, that friend of yours?” Sungjong gently posed the question. Sunggyu looks down for a minute, as if he’s thinking about his answer but he’s not. His mind is wondering what to say instead, whether to lie or to tell the truth honestly and let everything out.

        “He’s an idiot and I don’t like him.” Sungjong sulks at his answer.

        “Ah I see, are yo-“

         “It’s much more than that, I guess.” Sungjong turns his head to see a completely flushed Sunggyu in embarrassment about what he just said. His lip grins widely at the elder’s honesty and is in a great mood because of him. He pats his hyung on the back, talking back in a kind and understanding voice.

        Even though he’s never asked whether or not he likes the other either brotherly or romantically, he can infer by looking at Sunggyu’s face. It’s a combination of both, although it seems more like brotherly love to Sungjong. Although that’s something he won’t find out in a long time, because he’s not Sunggyu. He doesn’t know when his heart is pounding at a greater speed nor does he know what the elder thinks about it in his mind.

        “You’ve kept it all to yourself, huh? Not telling your friends about this?”

        “People would find me disgusting, so of course not!” Sunggyu spits out frantically. He’s still fanning himself from the so-called heat he claims that’s in this room.

         “Oh come on!” The younger bursts out, “This is the 21^st century, and people are starting to accept change. They won’t look down on you or find you sickening like they would’ve fifty years ago! There’s no point in keeping everything to yourself. All you’ll ever accomplish in doing that is exploding somewhere along in life, trust me. You will.”

        “…What?”

        Sunggyu is officially scared of his dorm mate, but he figures that Sungjong is a pretty awesome person so he’ll get used such fierceness pouring endlessly from the younger soon.

        “I’ve done that quite well and I’m pretty sure I haven’t exploded yet.” Sunggyu snaps back.

        “Hmm, I wonder about that. What’s the real reason you left your precious home again?” Sungjong teases mischievously and he gets up to start running across the room to dodge pillows being thrown at him.

        “Yah, Lee Sungjong! Come here, you!”

---

A/N: Maknae on top, baby. Also, I would remove the oneshot tag but I'll see how it goes first.. because it's really not chaptered fic ;-; I am forever grateful for the response I got for this because I spent a lot of time on it so thank you for just reading ^^