Seunghyun stood at the curb stunned for a moment before rushing in after Jiyong who was frantically gathering up the notebooks on the table.

“Um…do you mind if we trade notebooks for a while? I don’t know if this would be the best way to spend our meetings.” Jiyong said nervously, trying to avoid what Seunghyun obviously wanted to talk about.

“Jiyong…” Seunghyun began before being cut off.

“You know, I understand, Seunghyun. It has been a really long time. Things have changed a lot. We hardly know each other. I don’t know what I was thinking. .” Jiyong said frantically, ruffling his hair with his hand before putting his cap back over it.

Seunghyun reached across the table, grabbing Jiyong’s wrist, hoping to gain his attention.

“Jiyong,” He said softly, “there hasn’t been a day I hadn’t wished you were with me.”

Jiyong started shifting uncomfortably under Seunghyun’s intense gaze. Seunghyun may not be comfortable with himself or his abilities but if there was one thing he knew, he wanted Jiyong to stay by his side.

“Um…so, are you okay with trading notebooks?” Jiyong asked, his eyes darting around the room.

Seunghyun got up and strode the short distance to the end of the table and picked up his oldest notebook. He flipped through the memories until he found the page he was looking for and ripped it out, walking over to Jiyong.

Jiyong looked up at him, uncertainty in his eyes mixed with a little fear. Seunghyun silently cursed his sharp eyes. Even with the excess weight they still seemed to dig sharp daggers into people’s faces. He closed his eyes in a grimace before inching forward and pulling Jiyong into a hug. Jiyong tensed under Seunghyun’s grip but Seunghyun cherished every second.

“Gomowo, Jiyong-ah. I know we don’t know each other well any more but it was the gesture that meant the most to me, that despite my appearance and little skills, and our past, you are still willing to give me a chance. That means the most to me.” Seunghyun said into the soft hair under his face.

Slowly, he felt Jiyong relax and put an arm around him.

“Um…Seunghyun?” Jiyong said nervously.

“Yeah?” Seunghyun responded.

“Maybe we should stop hugging now.” Jiyong said nervously.

“Uh, sure. Sorry. I get carried away sometimes.” Seunghyun said, releasing Jiyong and stepping back to look at the floor.

“It’s okay.” Jiyong said uncomfortably.

“So, yeah. It’s okay if we trade notebooks. It’s going to take me a long time to finish all the ones you wrote though.” Seunghyun said, trying to relieve the tension.

“Yeah. It was part of my training. They had me writing one song a week, then two, all the way up to one everyday. Soon, it became almost like eating.” Jiyong explained sheepishly.

“Ah.” Seunghyun said.

“So, how about we read the notebooks in reverse order, write our ideas, and meet back here next Saturday to go over them and work on what we want to do for the audition?” Jiyong suggested.

Seunghyun’s stomach churned. He forgot about the audition. He was so stuck on the thought of meeting Jiyong again that he forgot the reason completely. He knew he needed this but it didn’t make the idea any less daunting.

“Y-yeah,” Seunghyun stuttered, “that would work.”

Jiyong walked up to Seunghyun and put a hand on his shoulder.

“Seunghyun.” Jiyong said, trying to look into the older’s eyes, which were still facing the floor.

“Yeah?” He asked lifting his head a little.

“You don’t need to be nervous. We are going to do great and your raps are really good. You are definitely a power rapper now. It surprised me. I just can’t wait to hear those raps with that new deep voice of yours.” Jiyong said with a soft smile.

Jiyong was proud of him? He liked his voice? He felt faint. That couldn’t be right. He was misinterpreting it in his mind. Jiyong was way ahead of him. He couldn’t possibly find anything good in anything he had written. He nodded though to have the adorable boy in front of him step backwards.

“Alright. Now, I tried calling your house this morning to make sure you were coming but it said the number was no longer being used.” Jiyong said.

Seunghyun knew what was coming before he said it. He tried to hurry and make up a story to explain why he didn’t have a landline at such a last minute. His mind struggled under the pressure.

“…so, maybe we should exchange cell phone numbers instead. Do you have a cell phone?” Jiyong asked.

Seunghyun felt a huge wave of relief hit him. He made a mental note to thank his omma for his phone when he got home.

“Sure.” Seunghyun said, switching phones with each other.

He programmed his number into it as Jiyong did the same. He had something really valuable now. He just hoped he didn’t abuse his powers too much or Jiyong may reconsider and run from him.

“So, for sure next Saturday morning, here at 9 am?” Jiyong asked.

“Don’t you have school?” Seunghyun asked.

“Don’t you too?” Jiyong asked pointedly.

“Fair point.” Seunghyun chuckled.

“So…you aren’t planning on going to university?” Jiyong asked.

“You remember how I was in middle school?” Seunghyun asked.

“Yeah…” Jiyong said slowly.

“Well, let’s just say that hasn’t changed much.” Seunghyun said.

Jiyong started laughing. “Ah, that makes me feel a little better about my choices. Thanks.” He said, slowing his laughter.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Seunghyun asked with a glare.

“Nothing. It’s just a joke I have with myself.” Jiyong explained.

Seunghyun couldn’t help but feel a twinge of envy. He wanted to understand.

“So, are you sure you don’t want to meet any earlier? We do have a lot of work to do.” Seunghyun asked.

Jiyong grimaced. “I can’t do any earlier. I have to have some time to sleep in. I’m a growing boy.” He said.

“Are you sure about that?” Seunghyun remarked with a smirk.

“Yah! I’m still growing. You watch, I’ll grow 5 cm before you know it.” He said defensively.

“Sure.” Seunghyun said in a sarcastic teasing tone.

“It’s getting late,” Jiyong remarked, looking out the window at the darkness, “maybe we should call it a day.”

Seunghyun nodded before starting to collect the trash they had collected on their table to throw into the trashcan across the room.

“So, these are for you.” Jiyong said smirking and shoving his notebooks over to the older who in return groaned.

He struggled to pick up all the notebooks. How could scrawny Jiyong carry all these across the city?

“They were on the seat next to me most of the time.” Jiyong said.

Seunghyun’s eyes bulged. Could he read his mind? This was creepy.

“Thanks for the tip.” Seunghyun said sarcastically.

“Just trying to help.” Jiyong grumbled heading towards the door.

“Wait,” Seunghyun said scrambling to run to the door where Jiyong had frozen, holding Seunghyun’s old notebooks, “this is for you.”

He took the paper he had ripped out of his old notebook and shoved it into his hand.

“I wrote this, this day, 4 years ago, the first day we ever spoke to each other. I’ll be leaving first.” Seunghyun said, scurrying away before Jiyong could read the contents.

Seunghyun wheezed as he carried the notebooks to the bus stop on the main road. The cherry blossoms would be in bloom soon. He smiled at the cryptic thought he just had, thinking of the poem he just gave to Jiyong.

A/N: In case anyone was confused, the anniversary that Jiyong was referring to was the first day they met. February 25th, 2001 (based off the March 1st holiday mentioned in Pathway).