“Yang Yoseob,” he whispered under his breath; a whisper barely audible to the ears of anyone there was in the room.

“Jun, who is this?” Hyun Ae asked.

“An old friend. Yoseob, what are you doing here?” Junhyung asked, a tone of worry in his voice.

What he was worried about, he didn’t know. Maybe about the fact that his best friend was seeing him with a new girl after the long time they haven’t met. It wasn’t exactly the right kind of reunion since he knew Yoseob would think he had moved on really quickly. Too quickly.

“I could be asking you the same, Yong Junhyung,” Yoseob sneered, eyeing the girl beside him.

Junhyung sighed.

“Hyun-ah, can you wait outside? And maybe get me a drink as well,” Junhyung told the girl and she could only comply, not without a suspicious glare at Yoseob.

“What brings you here? You know I own this club. Why would you be here if it’s not for me?” Junhyung asked.

“Don’t get too impatient for me to get out of here, Yong. Why don’t you welcome me first? It’s been a long time. Long enough for you to have gotten a new girlfriend and replace Hyuna,” Yoseob said and glared at him, his tone rising.

By now, the atmosphere was tense. But, Junhyung wasn’t just going to remain silent about being accused that way.

“Shut up, Yoseob. Shut up if you don’t know anything!” he yelled, punching the table.

“No, I won’t shut up until I understand how the you moved on. I mean look at your new girl toy! Were you that desperate to replace Hyuna? Was she just a girl toy too?” Yoseob yelled right back.

“You have no right to question me! You don’t know about what I went through. Hyuna is dead. She’s gone. I may still love her but holding on to useless hope won’t bring her back because she’s dead and she’s never coming back. So, shut your trap and get the hell out of here before I have to call the security to drag you out!” he argued.

“You ing son of a !” Yoseob rushed forward and grabbed the collar of Junhyung’s shirt.

With his free hand, he started to punch Junhyung’s face. Punch after punch was launched that it created so much havoc. The security burst in, together with Hyun Ae and some other workers who then started to grab Yoseob and pull him back. He wouldn’t back down though. He tried his best to push them away just to get to Junhyung again and let out his anger but with 5 people holding him back, it didn’t seem possible.

They all screamed at him to calm down but he couldn’t. He was too angry at Junhyung.

By then, tears were falling from his eyes and he suddenly didn’t look so scary anymore. He looked vulnerable. His thin frame, his heavy eyebags, his tired posture and his tears made him look so weak and sad.

“Yong Junhyung… I should have known that you didn’t deserve Hyuna. You are one ungrateful motherer,” he whispered, loud enough for Junhyung and the crowd to hear before letting himself be pulled away by the security.

They threw him on the floor outside the club and spat at him, “Don’t ing come back. I’ll remember your face, Yang Yoseob.”

And with that, they slammed the door, leaving the fragile boy alone on the floor.

“As if I care,” he whispered under his breath and pushed himself up.

He wiped his tears away and sighed, his breath visible as a result of the extreme cold that was starting to envelope his body. Suddenly, Yoseob didn’t only look vulnerable but he felt vulnerable as well. Fatigue was taking over his body and he could only trudge his way out of the alley.

Maybe the fatigue this time was too much. Or maybe it was everything that happened on that day that exhausted him too much. But, the next thing he knew, everything was pitch black.

---

“Junhyung, who was that? What did he want? And what the happened?” Hyun Ae questioned, handing Junhyung a wet towel to wipe the fresh bruises.

“It was a friend from my past. He just wasn’t too satisfied with the way everything ended,” Junhyung told her.

It wasn’t a lie but it wasn’t the complete truth.

“Are you sure that’s all? If so, who is this Hyuna girl? Is she the girl you said stayed over your house once?” Hyun Ae asked.

“Uh, yeah,” he confessed.

“Then your history with her must’ve been something more than just housemates. You never told me anything. I’m disappointed in you,” Hyun Ae said sincerely and Junhyung immediately knew that he should’ve told the truth.

“Hyun-ah, I’m sorry. I know I’m at fault but I don’t think it’s the time to tell you anything about her yet. Or maybe never, even. Because she’s the past. The past isn’t worth the talk,” he explained.

“But, what if she comes back? She was once significant in your life; her return will affect you and me. I don’t want that to happen. Not without me completely understanding the situation,” she said.

“Trust me. She won’t come back. She never will,” he said.

“How are you so sure about that?” Hyun Ae questioned, still unconvinced.

“She won’t. Because she’s gone. Completely,” he assured.

But it felt more like he was assuring himself in this case.