They had agreed to meet on their ninth anniversary, but because Cheolyong and Sanghyun were still in the army at the time, they moved the meeting date to the next year.

Cheolyong had just gotten out of the army a few days before and had arrived on time at the place and time set. The oldest three were there already. The four men looked at the empty seat with heaviness and heartache.

People were discreetly and not-so-discreetly snapping photos of them with their cellphones, but when the woman entered the restaurant and walked toward them, all discretion went out the window and the rest of the patrons were crazily snapping pictures and uploading them on Twitter.

The petite figure of the woman they had pressed to meet all those years ago, whose brother had said that they would meet her over his dead body, had reached their table, bowed politely at them and introduced herself.

"Hello, I'm Sandara Park. I am here on behalf of my brother."

They stared numbly at her as she pulled out a ratty old notebook from her purse and handed it to the oldest.

"He asked me to give this to you, Seungho-ssi," the woman said, bowing slightly again, preparing to leave. "He said to tell you to keep it, since it's for you."

With another short bow, Sandara turned away and left, flashes following her as she did. The four men stared at the notebook, sadness eating away at their hearts. Cheolyong held back the tears; a sniffle could be heard from where Changsun was sitting; Byunghee had his hands balled into fists over the table; Seungho felt his heart shatter in a million pieces when his eyes fell on the neat yet still awkward calligraphy of his missing dongsaeng.

"Open it!" Byunghee urged him through clenched teeth.

Seungho's eyes remained on the cover for another second, the words etching in his memory as he turned to the first page.

Letters to MBLAQ