“Ya! Where is he...” I muttered to myself as I glanced at the clock on the wall. It was already past midnight. He never came home this late... and even if he did, he’d always tell me where he’d be at and who he’d be with so I wouldn’t wait for him.

...he knew how worried I’d get if he didn’t come home on time.

I looked at my phone. No missed calls. No new messages.

I couldn’t help but stay up and wait. Something felt different this time. It just... didn’t feel right.

He seemed distant lately. ...and now, he didn’t even bother calling me when he’d be home late? What had happened to us? Had we broken in two?

He had been talking about our management company a lot recently. He kept mentioning about how bad and unfairly they treated us. Angrily, he had said that he had come to a point where he wasn’t able to stand it anymore.

At that time, I had shrugged it off as his complaining and didn’t make much of it. But now thinking back... he seemed really mad.

My chain of thoughts was broken as I heard the lock of our front door turn.

I got up from the couch and faced him. “Ya! Why are you home so late? Where have you been? Do you know what time—” I stopped my questioning when I saw his face.

Are those... tears?

“Hankyung...” I stepped closer to him.

He quickly shook his head and gave me a smile. “Sorry for being late.”

You idiot. We had been friends for so many years; you thought I didn’t know a fake smile from you when I saw one? When you smiled, it lit up your whole face and went straight to your eyes. Your eyes would shine from joy and excitement... now, it was only shining from tears.

“What’s wrong? Why were you crying?” I asked, gentler than my usual way of speaking.

“What are you talking about...” he laughed... forcefully... wryly. “I wasn’t crying.”

“Stop pretending as though everything is all right, Hankyung. Tell me. What’s wrong?”

He sighed and slowly sat down on the couch. Sitting down beside him, I stared as he put his head into his hands.

Suddenly, everything clicked.

Those complains that were actually hints to me... that knowing smile, full of agony and pain... those tears that I had been seeing rather frequently lately... It all made sense now.

He was leaving.

He looked up at me with weary eyes. He knew that I knew. My shocked expression showed it all.

“I’m sorry, Heechul. I really am. But I can’t take it any longer. It’s too much.”

“No. No...” I said, almost in a whisper. “No, you can’t leave.”

“Heechul...”

“Please... please, don’t go.” My eyes begged him desperately.

“Heechul, don’t make it more difficult than it already is.” He sighed. “You have always been the reason why I stayed.”

“We can work this out, Hankyung. Just don’t give up. Just... don’t leave.”

Yes, we’d work it out. We always did in the past. No matter what happened... we had always worked it out. Why couldn’t we do it again?

...but as I saw the tired yet determined look in his eyes, I knew.

His mind had been made up.

It had been building up, and he just couldn’t endure anymore.

He was leaving. ...and there was nothing I could do about it.

My teammate was leaving the group. My roommate was leaving this house.

...my best friend was leaving my life.