“Can you come with me for a minute?” Lay’s eyes pleaded as he tapped Wendy’s shoulder. “It wouldn’t take too long, I promise.”

Wendy had a puzzled look on her face, “okay,” she agreed even though confused.

His hand intertwined with hers as he started to sprint towards the penthouse through the fire exit. “Slow down,” Wendy suggested as she tried to keep up with his pace.

“We’re almost there,” he smiled.

The nip of the autumn breeze welcomed them as they were reminded of the new season; the weak rays of a sallow sun peeking through the clouds as it slowly rested. “It’s beautiful,” she uttered as they slowly walked towards the railings.

“I thought you might like it,” Lay smiled as Wendy returned the gesture.

It’s been two years since they graduated from college. She could say everything was normal even though a lot has happened, but Wendy knew well that it would never be the same again. She leaned on the railings, “he would’ve loved this,” she whispered while being reminded of her best friend’s undying love for sceneries.

“It’s been two years huh,” Lay chuckled at the thought, eyes still watching the setting sun. “Everything went by so fast.”

Wendy turned her attention to the boyfriend who loves her so much. “I guess so,” she smiled, her gaze wandering off to the now orange skies.

“We graduated from college, we both found a stable job, we agreed on things, we argued a lot, we loved –“ he sighed, ”your mom had me rent the apartment next to yours,” they both laughed at the statement. “We basically had our time together.”

“Hmm,” she hummed.

“But it was never enough for you to forget about him.”

Wendy stood straight, eyebrows creased as she looked at Lay. “What do you mean?”

Lay smiled, unfazed of Wendy’s question. “Time flew by fast for me, but you were pained by each passing moment. It had me thinking if I wasn’t enough, or if I was doing it right at all. Then I knew that it wasn’t me after all; it was never me from the start.”

“What are you trying to say?” Wendy’s subtle sobs started becoming audible.

He faced her, eyes locking onto hers. “We both know you love him.”

“But I love you,” she enclosed the gap between them as she clung onto his coat for support. “Am I not doing a good job in being your girlfriend? Did I do something wrong? I don’t understand!” Wendy felt her heart being pulled into a deep hole. It’s as if hands were clawing onto it, sharp long nails digging into it.

It pained him to see her that way, but it was for the best. Lay held her in his arms as his breathing became uneven, his face buried on the crook of her neck. “I know that you do, and I’m very happy because you became mine.” He hugged her tighter as she continued to sob, “I love you, you know that I do. But I also know that you love him more than you love me.”

“No, it’s not like that. You’ve got it all wrong,” she clung onto him, hugged him tight as if he would disappear from her arms.

His heart was drowning; he couldn’t breathe but he knew he needed to be strong in order to let her go. He wiped away the tears that stained the face of the woman she loved dearly, “I know you like the back of my hand, Wendy. You’re happy with me, but you could be happier with him.” Tears started to roll down his cheeks, flooding the view of Wendy’s pleading face. He knew this would hurt, he hoped it did. He might be a masochist for wishing so, but it was a form reassurance that the past two years that they have been together was real – that she did love him. “I’ve had my time with you, and it’s more than enough; being loved and taken care by you, being able to stay by your side would be something that I would treasure until the day I die. So, thank you. Thank you for everything up until now. Thank you for the memories, thank you for trying to hold onto me, thank you for crying and laughing with me.” He placed a kiss on her forehead, his hand caressing the sides of her arms. He locked his gaze onto her, eyes showed of a mixture of love and pain, a longing he was aware of once he let her go. “Thank you for loving me, Wendy. But right now, it’s time for you to realize your own feelings.”

Everything was too fast for Wendy to comprehend. I love Sehun, that’s why Lay’s letting me go? She thought, still unable to believe what she was told of. “I don’t understand,” she said quietly, her tears still flowing. “Please, Yixing,” she begged.

Lay gave her another peck on the cheeks, “letting you go would probably be my biggest regret in life,” he chuckled. “But so long as you’re happy, I would be fine.” He smiled at her, held her for one last time, and walked away from the woman who had his heart.

“How was it?” Lay’s voice still gave her the kind of comfort she needs.

Wendy sighed, “I still can’t contact him.”

“Is that so?” Wendy then heard him rummaging through some stuff, “I’ll see what I can do. I know I kept someone’s information here who worked in Edinburg somewhere.”

Lay didn’t need to find a job, he did it for Wendy’s sake so that she could feel they lived a normal life. Lay was the heir to their family’s company. They were rich, but he didn’t want to impose that on Wendy; he didn’t want to create a gap that would have an impact in their relationship.

“Hey Yixing?”

Lay opened another drawer, audible enough for Wendy to hear over the phone. “Yeah?”

“Thank you,” she smiled, “for everything.” And she really was thankful for him and to him. He loved her with all of him and all she ever did was make him feel insufficient. He was even the one who made her realize that she is in fact in love with her best friend. She was lucky to have him, but Wendy knows Lay could find someone much more deserving.

She heard him stop whatever he was doing and sighed, “you thank me after a year of our break up?” He chuckled, “you’re welcome. You know I’d do what I can to help.”

“You really are an angel,” she laughed. “Well, you can do that some other time, I’m not in a rush to find him. I don’t want to disturb the CEO from running his company.”

“Ha ha,” he sarcastically said. “I’ll call you when I have information, alright?”

“Okay,” she chuckled. “Thanks again,”

“No problem,” he replied, Wendy catching his tone of longing for her. And it wasn’t just him, she felt the same; she couldn’t just throw away the two years they had together. She did love him after all.

Wendy tried to find herself in the year that followed their break up. She quit her job after saving up enough to travel to the places she had wanted to go. And in that process, everything had settled down for her; she knew what she wanted and she was already aware of what she had felt.

Her phone started to vibrate in her pocket, “hello?”

“Noona,” Seojun exclaimed upon hearing Wendy’s voice. “Where are you?”

She giggled at the cuteness of her little brother, “do you want a surprise?”

“A surpise?”

“Eung,” she affirmed him, “come outside.”

Seojun hurriedly ran outside of the door that made Wendy laugh. “Well that was fast,” she commented. “Come give your noona a hug?”

“Noona!” He came running towards her with arms outstretched. Seojun hugged Wendy like it was a rare candy he didn’t want to let go off. “I really missed you,” he started to sob.

“Aigoo,” tears started filling up Wendy’s eyes the moment he heard him cry. She bent down and gave him a proper hug, “I missed you too, kid.”

“You should have called,” Wendy’s mom commented as she walked in a brisk towards her children.

Wendy stood up, Seojun still not letting go of her. “I wanted to surprise you,” she smiled at her mom.

“You look better,” she smiled sweetly, eyes starting to tear up. “Aigoo, what is wrong with this family? Crying so easily…” they all laughed. “Welcome home, Seungwannie.”

“I’m more than happy to be back home, mom. Thank you for understanding,” she hugged her.

Her mom patted Wendy’s back and broke the hug, “come inside, it’s cold. Your father would be here any minute now.”

“Mom, do you still have the spare keys to his house?”

Wendy’s mom wiped her hands of the water from washing the dishes, “you mean Sehunnie's?”

She nodded meakly, “I think I left something there before he left for Edinburgh.”

“I left it where you last know where it is, honey,” she smiled.

Wendy chuckled, “thanks, mom,” and headed off to her room to get the keys. “I’ll be back later. I still need to do some things so don’t wait for me,” she reminded.

“Because I knew nothing would change,” Wendy’s mom whispered to herself and smiled.

After deciding to keep it the way it was, Wendy bought rugs and air fresheners and went straight to Sehun’s previous home to clean it. It was comforting for her to do so, it was as if she was keeping the memories alive. It was as if she’s reassuring herself that Sehun would indeed come back.

From the living room, to the kitchen, and the other rooms, not an inch of dust could be seen. She made sure to take her time cleaning everything else aside from his room to prepare for whatever it was that she would feel once the it welcomes her.

She took a deep breath in as she held the doorknob, “don’t let it get to you, Seungwan.” Wendy then opened the door and sudden flashbacks of her time with Sehun came flooding in. She felt her heart expanding, her lungs being squeezed, and her stomach being ripped open to play with her guts. Wendy bit her lower lip and looked up as tears started to build up in her eyes, “let’s clean fast, Seungwan.”

She wiped every corner of his room, every wipe a bit forceful than usual just to keep her mind off of things. “What time is it,” she asked herself as she checked her phone. “6PM? It’s already this late? He wouldn’t mind if I take a bath here, right?” she exhaled after she finished making the bed. Wendy then got her bag with a few of her things and some spare clothes in it, and got inside of the shower to refresh herself.

She got back into his room and took out his photo of them from the mirror. Wendy smiled, her fingers tracing over his writing. “Who would have thought you’re this cheesy?” She took a deep breath to prevent herself from crying and settled the photo back to where it was. Together with her things, she then left the room and got out of the house.

As she was about to lock the door when snowflakes started falling one after the other. “First snow huh,” she smiled reaching up to it as if she could catch it with her bare hands. “Ah, it’s cold,” she hugged herself. Wendy then hurriedly locked the door and stared at it for a good few seconds. “I miss you,”

“Did I just happen to mishear that?”

Wendy’s heart beated as if it were drums that’s being pounded by a person; every beat vibrated from her head to toe. She stood frozen on her spot, back facing the person with the familiar voice. Taking a deep breath in, she closed her eyes and reminded herself aloud, “this is just your imagination. The cold’s getting to me, I should hurry.” She hurriedly spun around and walked in a brisk only to be blocked by a tall figure.

“I wonder why you were inside my house, Seungwan.” His voice was gentle but playful, his warm, minty breath brushed on her temple.

Slowly, Wendy looked up to confirm that she did know the person standing in front of her. And in the moment Wendy’s eyes locked with his, it was as if the whole world stopped together with her breathing. His eyes were as gentle as she remembered it was, his hair dyed auburn red and brushed up; he was as handsome as she knew he was. Tears started to build up in her eyes, the sobs she wanted to let out were held back. “Sehun,” her voice cracked. “You – you’re home.”

He nodded, “I had a little talk with Lay last night and I thought I had to fly back to Korea as soon as possible. I should probably thank him once I’ve settled down. ” He took a step forward to further enclose the gap, “so, you missed me?” His hand cupped her face, thumbs drawing invisible patterns on her cheeks. He then tucked strands of her behind her ear and smiled, “you’re a brunette now, huh?”

The tears Wendy held back came running down her cheeks, her breathing became jagged, and her heart further thumped in her chest. “You’re here,” she quietly spoke. Her hands found their way on either side of Sehun’s waist tugging on his shirt, “you came back.”

Sehun then slowly pulled her into a hug. He let out a sigh of relief as he buried his face on the crook of her neck. I’m home, he thought; for him, Seungwan is home. “You don’t know how much I’ve missed you.”

“I thought you were never coming back,” she sobbed. Her arms then found its way around his neck to pull him closer, “I thought you’ve already forgotten about me.”

“I tried to,” he chuckled, “but how can I when you’re the only person I’ve ever known to love?”

Wendy cried harder as she tried to utter the words, “I thought I was too late.” She wanted him to know how her heart slowly drowned in a quicksand as each day passed by with the thoughts of him not coming back, how guilty she was for hurting him and Lay, how this moment meant so much to her because she was finally able to hold him in her arms. “I’m sorry,” she uttered.

He shook his head, “I would have waited.” Sehun then pulled away and wiped away the tears that stained the face of the woman she adores, “it took you long enough to realize it though,” he chuckled.

“I’m sorry,” she said again with every ounce of sincerity in her body. “I’m really, really sorry.”

“It’s alright,” he assured her. Sehun then had her face in between his hands and planted a chaste kiss on her forehead, “I’m here,” he said locking his eyes on hers. “I’m finally here with you.”

She nodded in agreement as her hands held his, “you’re finally here with me.”

A/N:  Since most of the comments screamed for a sequel... Tadah! *Confetti shower* I don't know if it suited your taste though I do hope you appreciated it, hehe. Anyway, to my dear readers: thank you so much for the support & for inspiring me to write, and I really hope that you liked the stories I've written & will like the stories I have yet to write. ^^ A new short story between October - November with Big Bang and OC, yes?