It had already been months since Sooyeon’s departure. The statement that Sooyeon was visiting her sick grandma does not make sense anymore. Time had put an end to everyone’s doubts that Sooyeon would ever come back. 

However, still remaining a mystery was how Yul could believe it. And they knew Yul was not dumb enough to.

Taeyeon’s theory was that he and Sooyeon must have something to hide from them. While Sooyoung thought Yul was in the same position as them, that is, Yul, too, was not sure what Sooyeon was up to.

So, what exactly was happening?

That is why, they came up with a plan. To confront Yul about this. And the task was for Taeyeon to carry out, being the one who was good with words.

So that they could help him out, if anything.

*********

“There he is,”  Taeyeon mumbled, as he stopped to observe Yul who seemed to be repairing a black clock.

Despite feeling excessively burdened that he was to talk about this sensitive matter with Yul, Taeyeon approached him, trying his best to appear casual.

“Hey,” greeted Taeyeon and sat next to Yul. They were on the veranda of the Yul’s house.

Although it was raining slightly, the weather was lovely and so was the view from where they were sitting. 

There were few people on the street due to the rain. No sound was heard except the soft sound of raindrops hitting the roof.

“That’s already broken? It hasn’t even been that long,” said Taeyeon as he took a peek at it.

“Oh, it stopped working so I tried changing the batteries. But I don’t think it’s the problem,” said Yul as he turned a screw and removed it.

“Have you gone to the repair shop?”

“Yeah, they said repairing may cost much more than buying a new one. I’m just trying, you know, just in case they are wrong,”

“I see,”

Taeyeon observed Yul’s expression quietly. Which was why Taeyeon automatically followed his gaze when he looked at the bird that just came in to take shelter from rain.

“We have a visitor,” said Yul with a smile as gentle as always.

Taeyeon was quite puzzled, seeing Yul doing all right as usual. There was no sign of sadness or pain at all and he was confused if Sooyeon and Yul had any problems to begin with.

After a moment of silence, Taeyeon decided to ask about this whole thing directly without beating around the bush.

“Yul, when is Sooyeon…”

“Sooyeon,” Yul interupted.

“She’s not coming back,” Yul said as he put the screwdriver down.

Taeyeon was dumbfounded at his outright reply. All the words he prepared to ask Yul went up in the air.

He tried to say something but Yul did not let him do so.

“She never went to see her grandma. It’s all a lie. I lied,” Yul clenched his hands as if he was feeling guilty.

“All this time, I could not accept it, the fact that she left me,” said Yul, looking at the sky. Although his eyes did not seem to see anything at all.

"At first, it did not hit me. I could not believe it. Then, I was sad, devastated and miserable. A few months later, I began to hate her,”

“Before I realized that I was the one to blame,” continued Yul.

"She was right all along. She did what had to be done and there was no fault of her at all. I resented her for that. For being right when she was the reason I’m in pain,” with his voice trembling slightly towards the end.

“After some time, when I could finally collect myself, I came to understand clearly that I am in no position to do anything. I mean, I can’t forget her, hate her, not to mention win her over again. I love her and I can’t do anything about that. Loving her has become somewhat my thing, a part of me that I have no control over, or as some people would like to call it, fate,”

Yul stopped to press his lips before continuing the talk, as if he gathered some energy to do so.

“So..I figured, if I can’t not love her, I might as well accept it. What can I do? I’ll just have to learn to let it be that way,” Yul looked Taeyeon straight in the eyes, looking a little bit helpless yet determined.

“Right now, I just miss her,” Yul said the last words as he looked away.

He picked up the clock again and continued the repair although he seemed tired from the long talk.

Taeyeon lost for words. There was a mix of emotions that he felt. He was surprised as it was quite unexpected from Yul. And he felt bad for his friend now that he knew the entire story.

“To be honest, I don’t know what to say anymore,” said Taeyeon, causing the both of them to chuckle.

“Why don’t you follow her to Seoul, Yul? Maybe she’ll change her mind,” said Taeyeon. He was feeling fairly frustrated with the situation and was looking for a solution desperately.

“No, Taeyeon. It will not change anything. It’s her decision after all. I doubt she’d want me to do that,” Yul shook his head strongly.

“But you should at least try,” Taeyeon persuaded him.

“Taeyeon,” Yul put the clock down yet again and looked up at Taeyeon.

“It's something impossible,” said Yul with much certainty that he left Taeyeon speechless.

"Instead, I can wait for her here. I know she will probably never change her mind but just in case she misses this place or whatever, I am here to welcome her anytime,"

Hearing what Yul just said, Taeyeon was both sorry and scared if Yul's hope would just do more damage to him. For there was a high chance that it would never come true. 

“Oh, wait,”

After a short moment of silence, Yul got up and took something out of the locked drawer of his table through the window that connected his room and the veranda.

“Here, it’s the letter for you all from Sooyeon,” Yul handed it to Taeyeon. 

Taeyeon took the letter with much anticipation and read it carefully. He let out a sigh when he was done and looked at Yul who was staring at something.

The rain had ceased. 

The bird jumped around a couple of times and flew away since it no longer needed the shelter. And Yul was staring at it.

“But isn’t that what life is all about? People come and go all the time. Just like that bird. We just have to learn to let go of them and move on with our lives,”

Taeyeon placed his arm around Yul’s shoulder.

“Let’s just hope time will heal us all. Maybe if a real lot of time passes, she will be forgotten,” continued Taeyeon.

“But I’m afraid even time is broken, now,” Taeyeon said jokingly as he pretended to look carefully at the broken clock.

“Come on. Let’s go have a drink at Hyo’s,” Taeyeon patted Yul’s shoulder.

“Okay, but I’ll have to finish this thing. Why not you go and wait?” Yul looked up at Taeyeon with a smile.

“Why bother fixing this stupid thing? It won’t even work!” Taeyeon frowned and complained.

“I know. I gave up fixing already. I’m just taking apart good pieces to save them. Who knows, they can be handy later,” said Yul as he worked on the clock.

Taeyeon sighed and left the place.

*********

“What happened?” asked everyone in the room once Taeyeon walked in.

Taeyeon threw himself onto the bed and buried his face in a pillow, gesturing with his hand that it didn’t go too well.

“Yul didn’t say anything?” said Tiffany with disappointment.

“No,” replied Taeyeon who was looking exhausted.

*********

After a brief explanation of the situation, everyone had the same expression Taeyeon had when Yul told him everything.

“And, this is the letter,” Taeyeon gave it to whoever the nearest to him.

The group was fighting over the letter as it was pretty much impossible for 6 people to read it at the same time.

Then, it was decided that Seohyun was to read it out.

“To my friends, Fany, Sunny, Yoona, Seohyun, Taeyeon, Hyoyeon and Sooyoung,”

“Friends?” Sooyoung frowned while Sunny motioned Seohyun to go on.

“I am sorry I had to leave so suddenly. I could not even say a proper good bye in advance. You will know why when you meet Yul. So, I will not write it,”

“That girl..” hot-blooded Sooyoung interrupted before Tiffany shut him up to listen to Seohyun.

"Hyoyeon, thank you for letting me stay at your place. Taeyeon and Sooyoung, thank you for helping me out with everything. Fany and Sunny, you guys are my best friends, you know that, right? Yoona and Seohyun, my little sisters, thank you for the good times I had with you all. The year I spent in this town, it will be unforgettable. Thank you, everyone, for everything. Wish you all the best. With Love, Sooyeon,”

Seohyun blanked out after reading the letter, as if she was brooding over the matter. She couldn't imagine how Yul could handle this when even they were this affected by her departure.

Sunny closed her eyes and Tiffany had teary eyes while Yoona bit down her lips like she was deep in thought.

Yul's response to the matter was quite surprising and unexpected.

"Taeyeon, do you know where and why did she go?" asked Seohyun.

"Actually," spoke Hyoyeon, drawing everyone's attention.

"I found out something about Sooyeon from a friend of mine who moved to the city almost a week ago. I was not sure if I should say this but I think you all need to know," said Hyoyeon, scratching the back of his head.

"There's an internationally famous singer called Jessica Jung whose another name is Sooyeon. She was said to be on hiatus for a year and it's only recently that she is active again,"

"Are you trying to say that it's our Sooyeon?" asked Sunny with a frown.

Hyoyeon nodded.

"I saw her picture and everything else matches, too. When she's active and when she's not. The year she was on hiatus is the year she was here,"

"Plus, she's engaged with someone who has been her lover for the past few years," continued Hyoyeon.

“She cheated on Yul, then. How could she? I mean.. have you seen someone who is as good to their lover as Yul?” said Sooyoung furiously.

“I knew it. I wondered why she was acting strange. So, this was it?” Sooyoung ranted on about the matter.

Hyoyeon shook his head.

"That's not important. What matters is that according to the news, her family plans on visiting a town on vacation in April which is next month. It is somewhere Sooyeon has gone to when she was on hiatus..."

"...which is here," said Hyoyeon, leaving everyone shocked.

********* 

"Yul must not know this," said Sunny.

"But wouldn't he know sooner or later? We can't hide it forever," said Seohyun, looking stressed.

"Maybe when the time comes but definitely, not now. That way, we can probably take him to somewhere so they won't meet. The best thing is the plan being cancelled," replied Sunny after a short pause.

Silence fell again, lasting quite long this time.

Everyone was emotionally exhausted. They had just lost a friend and in despair, they prayed that they did not have to lose another.

They were uncertain if everything would be okay again or not.

They were feeling very heavy at the heart, as if they were soon to be faced with something awfully upsetting.

It was like having built a sandcastle so close to the sea and seeing the tide encroaching. 

Nothing could be done to save the sandcastle from being swept away by the tide.

As much as they did not like what was happening, they could not help it. 

It just seemed too impossible to avoid or prevent.

"Taeyeon," Tiffany called out, breaking the silence.

"Will Yul be okay?" asked Tiffany with a tint of hopefulness in her voice.

Taeyeon bit his lower lip, struggling to find the perfect answer.

But he did not need to reply because someone else did it instead.

"Yul will be fine. I'm sure."

Yoona lifted her head and assured everyone in the room, including herself, with a firm and clear voice, confidence evident in her eyes.

*********

Thank you for the comments, everyone. They are what keeps me going. How do you do personal replies here? I will do it if you want.