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“Luhan!”

The mop of brown hair turns to reveal a pleasant, delicate face, but one lined with years of worry. The eyes widen a bit at first, but then harden and become suspicious, bitter even.

“Sehun.”

It is a statement, not a greeting, and the handsome young man who called Luhan in the first place seems to know it; his face falls as he looks at Luhan.

“Gege, what’s wrong?” Sehun asks. “It’s Christmas, and we haven’t seen each other in years... I wanted to surprise you.”

Luhan looks at Sehun, and Sehun flinches, for in Luhan’s eyes there is not an inch of happiness or excitement.

“First of all, don’t call me gege.” Luhan’s voice is hard like flint and offers no room for pleading. “I’m not your gege anymore. We moved past that when you passed your audition for SM and left me behind. Second of all, what makes you think I want to see you?”

Sehun looks stunned. “I- I just thought... it’s been so long and-”

“-and you thought because of that, that I would just forgive you?” A sneer transforms Luhan’s features and suddenly Sehun realizes that Luhan looks mean, angry, and it scares him. This is not the same Luhan he knew years ago.

“Luhan, please,” Sehun begs, “I just wanted to see you again. Why did you think I abandoned you? We both auditioned together. I got in, you didn’t.” His voice becomes hurt now. “It’s not as if I could have done anything about it.”

Luhan stares at him, mouth still turned in a sneer. “You’re right. You couldn’t have done anything about it. But it was so unfair from the very beginning, don’t you see? You had the advantage all along.”

“What do you mean?”

“What I mean,” Luhan starts slowly, “is that you were Korean. I’m Chinese. Right away, when we walked into that audition room, the judges were checking you off, and I was basically guaranteed a fail. And even if I had gotten in, so? My parents aren’t like yours, with all that money to spend on their darling son, and I never had the freedom you took for granted. My parents would never let me do what I wanted, they would never let me become a trainee, they would never let me take dancing or singing lessons like you did. You had this advantage, and you didn’t even seem to realize how lucky you were. And the worst part was, I was better than you, and we both knew that.”

Sehun listens, mouth opening and closing, and thoughts racing through his head. When Luhan finishes, he tries desperately to save the whole situation.

“Oh, Luhan, I’m so sorry, you should have told me, I would have helped you, we could have both taken lessons or-”

“I don’t want your pity,” Luhan snarls, and Sehun backs away, terrified of the person who was once his best friend.

“You have what you want now, don’t you?” Luhan laughs bitterly. “Fame. Attention. Success. I see you on TV all the time with your pretty group members. It’s just too bad you had to give up everything from your old life to get there.”

He turns and walks away slowly, snow crunching beneath his feet.

“Luhan...” Sehun reaches out a hand helplessly.

“We’re not friends anymore, Sehun. Don’t forget that.” Luhan doesn’t even turn around, just tosses the words out carelessly as he walks away.

Sehun watches, eyes bright with tears.

I won’t forget.

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