You went eating out with him, punching him on the arm when he paid for you while you were at the toilet, and you kept on mumbling on the way back to the Botanical Garden, unhappy that he had done this. You didn’t like having someone like him pay for you, though it was making it easier on your budget, but still.

You sighed at the darkness outside, but followed Eli anyway. It wasn’t like you really had a choice. His big, strong hand, flanked with a piercing between the fingers, in yours, prevented you from running away and, anyway, you didn’t really want to run away. Not on this last day with him. So you kept silent and followed, frowning when he brought you to the outer gardens, and frowning even more when he pulled you over the Chinese garden. You had a gasp of surprise, though, when you suddenly saw the splendor of the beautifully illuminated Chinese lanterns, all over the garden, along with soft, soothing, traditional music playing in the background.

Eli smiled softly, and pressed a kiss on your forehead. You didn’t even react.

“So? Was it worth it?” he asked in a whisper.

“What the… how… it’s supposed to end after Halloween…”

“Well, I asked politely. And they accepted. I donated some funds for them to make these bright tonight, so they wouldn’t lose money on electricity.”

“…”

“Was it worth it?”

You stayed silent and softly freed your hand, walking to the edge of the little bridge you were on. There was some sort of very small artificial lake in front of you, with koi carps just swimming around and lanterns above the water, the reflections making it twice as beautiful as without water. You softly stood there, and started shooting. More like touristic photos than artistic photos. You knew there was no way you would manage to make it artistic when you just couldn’t imagine how more beautiful you could ever make it. It was beautiful by itself; trying to add something of yours would ruin it, and, anyway, one had to see it for real to know just how perfect it looked.

You spammed the photos until you felt like you had captured everything, and you just stayed there, silent, observing. Letting your heart getting filled with beauty. Eli softly back-hugged you, his face in your hair, his warm breath on your skin. Like he couldn’t contain himself.

“There’s also something else I want to show you,” he whispered in your ear.

“…”

“Come with me,” he said before he delicately pulled you towards the Japanese garden.

Once again, you felt your heart hurt at the beauty of the place. The Japanese garden also had a small artificial lake. At a certain spot there was a little rocky beach where you could be and watch the koi carps swimming around; at its opposite side there were bushes and waterfalls that looked already pretty by themselves. However, right now, they were illuminated with colorful lights, making some bushes red, others blue, keeping some others green, and making the water look like it was emitting light of its own. And the reflection of the lights on the water’s surface made it even prettier.

“It’s… so beautiful…” you managed to let out, shivering as your artistic senses kept tingling at the sight of the garden of light.

You could hear Eli chuckle. He walked towards you and hugged you from behind again. You could feel his muscles very clearly, making you abandon any eventual idea of escaping his hug.

“It is,” he purred in agreement. “It’s beautiful.”

He stayed silent for a moment.

“But it’s obviously not as beautiful as you.”

You blushed a little, silent for now. A few minutes passed of you just watching the waterfalls, before you spoke again.

“Did you ‘ask politely’ again?”

“Yeah.”

“Did you also ‘donate some funds’ again?”

“Yeah.”

“You’re a ing idiot.”

“I know, I spend money too easily and-”

“I wasn’t talking about that.”

“Uh?”

“Why do you even like me? I’m a heartless . I don’t want you to stay. I said horrible things to you.”

“I know.”

“Then, why?”

“You can’t tell one’s heart not to like someone. I just love you. I’ve loved you since the first time I’ve met you.”

“I don’t understand you.”

“You treat me like a human being.”

“I treat you like less than that.”

“Still. You don’t see me as an idol. You don’t see me for the character I give myself in public. You don’t see the me who can rap, and dance, and stuff like that. You weren’t one of those fangirls who just ran towards me as soon as they saw me. I like KISSme, but sometimes I also like being someone normal. Without fans around.”

“…”

“You were mean to me. I know you were. But I know you’re not a bad person.”

You kept silent. He was so wrong. You were a bad person. You knew you were. And this was the reason why you wanted him to leave. He would be happier without someone like you.

You didn’t say anything after that, and you both left the Botanical Garden. He walked you back home, and you didn’t dare tell him not to. Well, it was more like you didn’t want to tell him not to. You couldn’t really believe that this would be the last time you’d see him. Ever.

And so he walked you home.

Before he let you go to the door, though, he hugged you tight, his powerful arms keeping you prisoner, his teeth clenched, his heart beating fast, his voice shaking.

“I’m sorry I’ll leave you alone for the rest of the logo project. I took your agenda the other day, and made sure to write the Skype address so you’d keep contact with the client. I also made sure you’d have a translator… Henry Lau, from Super Junior-M. He’ll be fine helping you out with this… Uh…”

“…”

“So… I guess this is farewell.”

“…”

“I’m glad I met you. I’m glad I got to know you. I’m glad I at least made you a bit happy with this reflex camera.”

He moved away softly, his dark eyes plunging into yours.

“I’m glad I got to love you.”

His lips touched yours in a long, sweet, sad kiss. You didn’t push him away. Couldn’t. Didn’t want to. You felt something wet against your cheeks, and your heart broke. Eli was crying…

“I love you,” he sobbed softly. “I love you so much. I’ll miss you. You have no idea how much I’ll miss you. How much I love you.”

You thought he’d kiss you again, but he moved away, turning quickly enough so you couldn’t see the tears on his face. But you knew he was crying.

He ran away. You stayed frozen, until he was much, much farther. Your brain suddenly started sending desperate signals to your body, and you ran a little after him, not going too far because you were afraid of the dark.

“Eli! Eli, I’m sorry! Eli, I love you too!”

You let yourself fall on your knees, sad, tears you didn’t know about slowly rolling down your cheeks.

“I love you… please don’t leave me… Eli, I love you…”

But he was too far to have heard anything, probably, since he didn’t turn, didn’t stop…

… and didn’t walk back.