He'd been looking forward to this all week. He planned everything down to a t - getting his hair done, getting new contacts, confirming thrice that everyone could go. He even made absurd excuses which involved an emigrating form teacher to escape this last minute meeting his boss had practically imposed upon him. He made the reservations for 18, on Friday, 6:30 pm. Swensens was a good bet, albeit a little pricey but not exhorbitantly so. But god forbid anyone found out he was anticipating only one out of the eighteen. 

Cho Kyuhyun.

He was the silent, strong bad boy- The Lone Ranger in class who sent the class into stitches with his witty comments. He frequently caused trouble with his selfish ways, skipping class taking sick leaves when he was perfectly fine. Hyukjae always had to pick up his messes; but he found it impossible to say no. It was only until Hyukjae found himself counting the number of days in a week he would show up to school that he realized how much he was missing him. 

He couldn't accept it at first. They were opposites in ways more than one.

Hyukjae was reticent, while Kyuhyun was sociable. Hyukjae was the responsible class rep, while Kyuhyun was the troublemaker, who roped everyone along with skipping lessons. Hyukjae loved to read, and discuss, and be intellectual, but Kyuhyun spent most of his waking seconds playing stupid games like flappy bird and 2048. Hyukjae was all maps and equations and perfect collars and files and alphabeted organizers while Kyuhyun was mess; he was an explosion of colours and untied shoelaces and unwieldy stains. It was the first time in many years, when Hyukjae found his life in complete disarray.

"Is everyone free on 23 jan?" He found his fingers typing, words jumbling up as his heart was in a mess. It was already mid-December and the last time he'd seen Kyuhyun was in November, the last day of senior year finals. In February, the boy would be gone. He'd be flying off to London or Sweden or some other country 12 hours away to study Mechanical Engineering. He was hoping to meet Kyuhyun for the last time.

Some of his classmates replied in the affirmative. 

"People not going just tell Hyukjae k?" Someone suggested.

Hyukjae crossed his fingers. At the end of the day, four people couldn't make it. Kangin, Yesung and Yuri were all abroad for vacation. Donghae was in Mokpo, visiting his gran. 

No reply from Cho Kyuhyun.

His heart leaped in joy. 

The day had come quickly, and Friday, being the last day of the week, usually had everyone decked out in their best attire. But not today. Everyone was wearing the company shirt, having grudgingly accepted to attend the meeting that night.

Its a good opportunity for company bonding, Leeteuk, their overtly-enthusiastic boss had insisted.

Hyukjae's heart leapt and he chuckled silently to himself. Nothing like an over-dramatic story and a few tears couldn't solve. He himself looked splendid. Every strand of hair was in place and his outfit, neither too extravagant nor too simple, was meticulously put together after days of restless thinking. Still, he pulled tentatively at the hem of his shirt as he looked into the mirror. Just undoing one more button wouldn't hurt, would it? But would it make him look too ty? In the end, he decided on the former, and let the collared shirt hang ily on his milky collarbones. 

4:55, he checked his watch. Come one, just five more minutes to go.

Finally, the long hand reached 12 and he high-tailed it out of the place. Taking a cab, he reached The city in record time. Swensens was a little off the way, and he got a bit lost. But no matter, he reached the restaurant at 6:45.

A few if his friends were already there. Though they weren't Kyuhyun, he was still glad to see them. Flashing his shy gummy smile, he greeted all of them warmly and gave Shindong, his closest friend in class, a hug. 

7:15 and most people have arrived. One, two, three, he silently counted. Fifteen, sixteen, seventeen. All but one.

7:35 and he could no longer take it.

Casually, he smiled and asked, "Oh right! Where's Kyuhyun?"

"Oh!" Sungmin, one of Kyuhyun's closest friends, replied. "He won't be coming, he's in Japan now. Didn't he tell you?"

No he didn't. 

Icy shock hit Hyukjae like a thousand blades. The result was immediate. His eyes prickled up, and his head felt like it was spinning a thousand revolutions a second. He tried to force a smile onto his face.

"Annoying bastard," he jokingly replied. "He's just returned from the US and now he's abroad again? These stupid rich people."

His comment gained a few laughs, and he smiled in response. Quickly grasping his glass, he gulped down the icy cold water. At that instant, his only hope was for his body to freeze over so that he wouldn't start crying. 

The night still went great; he had his friends after all, and he's had lots of practice, living without Kyuhyun. This takes him back to the old school days, when everyone but Kyuhyun would be in school.

At the very least, he did not cry. He'd promised himself that he would not cry. He was glad he kept this promise.

But that very night he was lying down in his bed, covers up around his neck and his bolster tightly encased in his arms, he did cry. He tried to keep the promise, he did. But the world came crashing down on him and there's just so much one can take. And so he let his tears flow, and his fears go, salty rapids cascading down the curve of his pale cheekbones. All in the confines of his small, dark and lonely room.