The story will be ending soon. It's been going on for too long, don't ya think? :P I'll try to tie things together with the best of my ability.

I usually had great timing. Woohyun, on the other hand, did not. Woohyun had a fever. Normally, that would have been okay, but that day, it wasn’t. Woohyun got a fever on the day of the soccer team banquet.  I was allowed to bring three people, so I chose my Mother, Father and Woohyun.

It was a big deal and I wanted to bring Woohyun along with me more than anybody else. Of course I would have checked his health regularly and made sure he didn’t eat the wrong food. But now, I couldn’t do that.

“Hey, Myungsoo, go with Sehun,” Woohyun croaked out.

“You were supposed to go, Hyung. I’m not going to take your spot,” Myungsoo stood beside me.

“Just go,” Woohyun groaned, clearly upset. “I’m sick.”

I turned to Myungsoo, “Yea, let’s go. Just grab anything to wear. Or wear Woohyun’s clothes.”

“They won’t fit me,” Myungsoo muttered as he walked away to change his clothes.

I turned back to Woohyun and checked his temperature, “Hum, you’re still too high. Get some rest and make sure to take your medicine. How did you get sick in the first place?”

“I don’t know,” Woohyun said. “Have fun tonight.”

 I scoffed, “Stop worrying about me! Make sure you feel better, got it, Woohyun?”

“Sehun,” Myungsoo called while ruffling his hair. “I got permission from the doctors but I can’t come back so late in the night—the banquet ends late, right? So, they told me to ask you to sign me out for the night.”

I nodded my head, “That’s fine. Let’s go. Bye, guys, take care of Woohyun.”

“Bye, Sehun!” Haneul called out. “Have fun! I’ll take care of Woohyun.”

“Good,” I smiled. “See you tomorrow.”

○●○●○

I had never been to such a high-class event in my life and I could tell that Myungsoo hadn’t either. We stared at everything in awe; the soccer players, the coaches, the décor. Everything seemed so important in the banquet hall and it made me feel nothing but small.

“This place is amazing,” Myungsoo whispered. “I feel out of place.”

I chuckled, “Me too.”

I signed in, confirming that I came to the event. I even saw Kim Hyun Woo from afar. He waved at me and I waved back, smiling. Afterwards, he came up to my table to meet my family again. He met Myungsoo as well.

It was at nine o’clock when the banquet started. The commissioner of the national soccer team gave a speech at the beginning and afterwards, the coach came up. The team’s captain said a couple of words as well. Then, it was time for the new recruits to be called up and given a jersey.

I watched everyone carefully, noticing how some of the guys were quite built. Some were like me, though, which gave me comfort knowing that I wasn’t the skinniest in the group. After a couple of names, mine came up. I stood up and walked to the stage to receive my jersey. Afterwards, I stood next to the other guys on the stage.

“And now I present to you, our future national team,” Our coach announced.

And with that, cameras went off and reporters flooded forward. I kept a poker face on as I looked through the crowd for my parents. I made eye-contact with my Mother who smiled happily. I couldn’t help but let out small smile. My Father nodded his head at me telling me he’s proud. And finally, Myungsoo grinned at me while giving me a thumbs up. But, I still wished Woohyun was there.

○●○●○

“I’m exhausted,” My Mother said as we got in the car.

“Yea,” I agreed. “You must be really tired, Myungsoo.”

“I’m okay,” Myungsoo smiled.

“Sehun, did you find out who called Kim Hyun Woo? I’ve been wondering,” My Father said.

I smiled, “It was Woohyun.”

“Really?” My Mother gasped. “Wow, what a nice guy.”

“Yea, he really is. I can’t believe he would do something like that for me.”

“Woohyun’s always been so nice. He never gets as much as he gives, you know.”

I looked out the window and up at the stars, wondering if Woohyun had gotten better. I wondered if Woohyun was sitting in the playroom looking up at the stars as well.

“Woohyun deserves to get something as well,” I said, determined to give him at least one thing that he couldn’t give me.

○●○●○

Myungsoo was coming to my house that night. My parents were fine with it and so was I. I offered him the guest room but he said he’d much rather sleep in my room. So, I gave him the bed and took out a mattress for myself.

“Are you hungry? Did you take your medicine? Did you brush your teeth?” I bombarded Myungsoo with questions as he came out of my bathroom.

“No, yes and yes, Mommy,” Myungsoo chuckled as he got into my bed.

“Good,” I said as I turned off the lights and lay down on the mattress. “Today has been a flashy day, no?”

“Yea, but it was so cool.”

I didn’t reply as I was immersed in my own thoughts. A half an hour passed by and I thought Myungsoo fell asleep but he didn’t.

“So how’s the Haneul situation?”

I sighed, “Well, I’ve found out the reason why she rejected Woohyun. It’s weird how she felt indebted to him. I’m confused.”

“Haneul’s confusing.”

“I’m not nice enough, though. I could never be like Woohyun,” I said, thinking of Woohyun.

“So, what are you going to do now?”

“Set things straight. I realized today the world is moving and I’m just drifting around in the same spot. I can’t do that anymore. When I was on the stage, I realized that I need to move forward but the only way I can do that is if I fix everything right now. I’ve been lingering on this decision for too long. I will confront Haneul soon.”

I turned to look at Myungsoo only to find that he was sleeping. I scoffed before turning around and falling into a deep slumber myself.

○●○●○

“Have some more, Myungsoo,” My Mother said as she handed Myungsoo more pancakes.

“No!” I exclaimed, putting my hand in front of the pancakes. “He should eat more fruits.”

Myungsoo sighed, “He’s right.”

“Okay, I’ll cut up some apples for you,” My Mother said as she merrily went to the fruit basket.

“Your Mom’s nice,” Myungsoo said.

I agreed with him.

○●○●○

“Have a good day, boys!” My Father yelled through the window as he dropped us off at the hospital.

“Thank you, Mr. Oh!” Myungsoo shouted back.

“Bye!” I waved.

The two of us walked into the hospital and I signed Myungsoo back in. The nurses were happy that Myungsoo came back perfectly fine and some even complimented my skills. I joked with them by saying that I wasn’t a caretaker for no reason.

“How’s Woohyun?” Was the first thing I asked when Myungsoo and I entered the room.

“Much better,” Haneul announced. “It was just a little fever.”

“Good,” I looked at the sleeping Woohyun.

“How was the banquet?” Sungjong asked.

“It was stunning. I took some great pictures!” Myungsoo took out his camera and began showing everybody the pictures.

“Aren’t you going to look?” I asked Haneul.

“I’ll look with Woohyun. The guys are hogging the camera anyway,” Haneul smiled. “Are you going to the cafeteria now? It’s almost lunch time.”

“You’re right, I should get going,” I said as I began walking out. I turned back on my heel before leaving though, “Haneul, will you come with me?”

○●○●○

Ms. Choi was in the cafeteria today, drinking coffee. I found it odd that she was in the cafeteria as there was a coffee shop in the hospital for a reason. She smiled upon our entrance and walked up to Haneul and I, eyes on me.

“Hello, kids,” She said as she rested a hand on my shoulder.

“Hi,” I plainly said, not amused by her actions.

She began smoothing out her hair and playing with the ends, “How have you been, Sehunnie?”

“Fine.”

“I’m not doing so well, you see, I need somebody to help me,” She pouted. “Will you help me give out medicine? It’s getting hard lately since there are a lot of patients.”

“Um, I’ll be over there,” Haneul quietly said.

“No!” I blurted out, grabbing her arm. “Sorry, but I’m pretty busy myself. Let’s go, Haneul.”

The two of us walked to the serving area and put our aprons on. I poked at Haneul for fun and waited until the clock struck twelve.

“Ms. Choi seems to capture everybody’s heart,” Haneul pointed out. “She’s so pretty and tall. She has nice hair as well!”

I scoffed, “Who said that?”

“You guys! Remember that one time you all fawned over her beauty? A lot of people do that at the hospital. People would always choose her over someone like me,” She said, staring out into space.

I looked down at her petite self. Haneul was definitely not what I considered ugly. She didn’t have the elegance that Ms. Choi did but she had a beauty to her that even Ms. Choi didn’t possess. She had a kind heart which shone above all. And she deserved the best that anybody could give her even though she didn’t know it.

That was when I decided to settle things with Haneul. I thought back to what I told the asleep Myungsoo and what I felt when I was on stage. I had to tell her my true feelings.

“I know somebody who would choose you over Ms. Choi any day. He’s pretty close right now.”