Minyeon’s POV

Oppas had spent the last night together in their dorm. I headed over at 2am to make them up before they headed to the airport. Even in the wee hours of the day, they still had to ensure that they were properly made up and attired in front of the public and possibly the reporters. Jay oppa was already awake and seated at the dinner table, breakfast was laid out in front of him but he wasn’t eating. “Oppa, you need to eat to have energy for the day…and for the flight.” He smiled and nodded, but it wasn’t genuine, I couldn’t even begin to imagine how horrible he was feeling. I left him and went to wake the others, starting with my brother, Taecyeon. When they were all awake and the sleep was out of their eyes, they still didn’t seem normal. They chatted as usual, but their voices were lifeless. Their eyes didn’t shine at all. I shifted my glance at Nichkhun. He held a spoon of cereal, but it never once touched his mouth. I sighed. Would my beloved lose weight over this? I hoped not. My eyes landed on Jay once again, and I sighed even harder. It would be hard to get used to his departure, the dorm would seem so empty and I would have one less person to make up. The manager entered the dorm after a while and informed Jay that it was time to leave. As the others filed out, Jay slowly took a last look at the dorm, where he had lived in for the past two years. I decided to leave him alone and stepped out first. The car ride to the airport was silent. I rode with my brother and Nichkhun oppa in the smaller car. I sat in the back seat with Nichkhun as my brother drove. Nichkhun was staring out the window listlessly. I nudged him gently and asked, “You okay oppa? Don’t be too sad later okay!” He smiled a little but his eyes remained sad. On an impulse I grabbed his hand and tucked it under mine, in an attempt to make him feel better.

When we reached the airport, we quickly made our way to the private departure hall, to avoid the fans and paparazzi who were gathered at the airport. Once there, Jay hugged each of the boys quickly, then said, “Well, it’s time. Now, I won’t be gone forever. We’ll meet each other again one day, I’m sure of that. Whenever you miss me, just remember that you should work harder; because when I come back I want to see results.” His voice grew weaker and weaker as he continued to give instructions, from where I stood I could see tears threatening to fall out from his eyes. The other members nodded, but I could see their clenched fists, their tightly controlled faces. No way were they about to show their true sadness in front of their leader. I was sure that they had probably all let it out the night before.

Finally, Jay’s flight was called. He mustered up a small smile and said, “It is finally time to leave. It is time to say goodbye.” The members hugged him again tightly, and this time, he really left. It was heartbreaking, to see the boys forcing smiles for the sake of their ex-leader, then breaking them, once he went out of their sight. Jay’s cologne lingered in the air, as if a sign that no matter how popular this group got, be it individually or together, they would never forget Jay, his presence was that strong to them.

Jay’s POV

I looked back, even though I could no longer see them. My heart ached with pain as I remembered their forced smiles, the hidden tears. “You actually want to cry but what you give me is the smile, goodbye to the tears” I sincerely hoped that they would forget me, that they would move on and become successful, that they would say goodbye to their tears.