"Hey."
"Spit it out." Without giving her best friend of 6 years a glance, Ai replies.
"I bought the air ticket, I'm gonna head for Paris. There's gonna be an ATP world tour next month there." Sehun says, looking more determined than ever.

Ai keeps silent while examining his face. There's no hesitation nor there is fear. After a good 10 seconds, she finally speaks up.
"Are you sure about this? Have you told your parents?"

"Yes and no. They're gonna find out soon though. But knowing their personalities, I guess it's best to have everything perfectly prepared so that they can't do anything to prevent me from leaving. But what do you think?"

What does she think? Ai doesn't even know what to think. Oh Sehun has always been an astounding tennis player in her opinion, smashing some local tournaments with his amazing forehand and incredible speed and most importantly, his God-given intelligence which allows him to outfox every opponent. And she's pretty sure that if he gets to play in an international environment, Sehun will definitely be able to make a name for himself. But the thing is, his parents only let him play tennis as a hobbie and will surely be opposed to his decision and to reach overseas tournaments, he needs money, relationships and support, which a 17-year-old can't obtain himself. And they clearly have had some other plans for him. The male is insanely good-looking, plays the violin like a pro and his grades are always at the top. He can easily get into top universities in South Korea and even in the US or the UK, graduate with an economics or banking degree and get a good job in a foreign corporation and after a few years he can even be the big boss. He is that elite.

"I think it's great to turn professional, I mean you're awesome, but do you think it's better to wait till graduation? You will gain some basic qualification and we can spend our senior year together. It's kinda hard to imagine my final year without the bratty Oh Sehun."

Truth be told, Ai is also selfishly thinking about herself. How will life without Sehun be? She can't even bring herself to think about that scenario.

"It's just one year." He says softly." I don't know where I'm gonna live but definitely not Seoul. When I've figured it out I can find you scholarships from universities there, you want to study IT right? You're one hell of a programmer so yes, you can even get into MIT if you want."

"It's not like that, silly. I don't wish to stick to you my whole life nor do I want to see your face while studying in college. After graduation, it's inevitable that we will have different paths and may never see each other again..." Her heart screams I just want you here next year, with me. But her mind, fortunately, manages to force her to say the most encouraging worwds she can think of.

"But this is what you've always been so passionate about so yes, go, win some Grand Slams and live wherever you want, but don't even think of dragging me there with you."

Sehun looks at her with such happiness that her heart nearly explodes. Yes, she's been having a crush on him lately, even though she knows perfectly well that the boy will never be hers. Being perfect as he is, Sehun has a long line of pretty girls waiting to hang out with him and he's very much aware of his attractiveness.

"By the way, what about Hara?" Ai curiously asks, referring to his latest love interest.
"She will know as soon as the rest of the school does." He answers nonchalantly.

Seeing her crush/best friend being indifferent about his own date is supposed to be satisfactory, but Ai doesn't feel that way.

"It's not nice, Sehun. I don't know and don't care whether you really like her or not, but it's not nice to ignore her that way. She's currently your date and you're supposed to inform her of your departure earlier than others, even me. If I were her, I would feel terrible. I mean seriously, I would feel shattered if my boyfriend didn't even acknowledge my existence."

Ali's words seem to have affected Sehun as he keeps quiet for a while before telling her:"Alright. I'll tell her now."
-

Telling Hara seems to have backfired as after unsuccessfully persuading Sehun not to go, the girl resorts to telling his parents. That's what Ai thinks when the pair call her to tell her about Sehun's plan which they believe she hasn't known yet and ask her to stop him.

"Knowing his character, Sehun will never back down even if we force him to. Not anyone, even us can convince him, but you. Ai, you're the only one he'll listen to."

"I don't want him to leave as well, but Sehun has always been determined, Mr Oh. I'm not sure if I can do that."

"Yes you can, honey. You have know idea how much your thoughts affect him. We may not understand him fully, but we are sure that you're perfectly capable of stopping Sehun. Just one sentence from you and he will give up. You may think it's impossible and even we are not certain whether he will really abandon the idea or not, but please try. Just tell him not to go without further explanation. If he doesn't listen to you then we will find other ways."

"What do you mean other ways?"

"We are not sure though. He's currently grounded so basically he will not be able to leave for Paris but Sehun is stubborn as hell and he will find his way to make it to another tournament. Thus, in order to make him really give it up, he has to be tremendously discouraged."

Ai's mind stops absorbing Mr Oh's words since the word "grounded". Sehun's grounded? How will he make it to the tournament? The boy's been so enthusiastic about it since announcing it to her that her heart aches when imagining him locked inside his house, looking desperately for a way out.

"Can I visit him? I think I can knock some sense into his thick skull."

"We will be really grateful, darling. Do your best convincing him okay? We're sure you do not want him to waste his youth playing tennis and sustain injuries while he can totally have a much brighter career than that."
-
Ai decides not to go see Sehun right after the call. Instead, she spends some time planning something she believes she will never regret doing.

On the day he's supposed to get on the plane, Ai shows up and politely convincing his parents and brother to go out so that they can have some time alone.
After a few knocks, Sehun finally opens the door to his room. Greeting Ai is his furious expression.

"See, I listened to you and this is what I got."
Ai chuckles, apologizing half-heartedly." I'm sorry, never knew she was a er. But, I'm not here for that. Do you still have the air ticket?"

Sehun nods.

"Great. Now pack your things and we're heading to the airport." Ai responds as if she was taking him to the coffee shop or something.

The boy cannot believe it himself, everyone is scared of his parents and Ai is not an exception. But on second thoughts, the Ai he knows can be fearless when she wants to. And so he collects his clothings, equipment and cash as quickly as possible while his best friend goes downstairs. A few minutes later, Sehun gets out of the house only to be shocked by the scene he's witnessing.

Ai. The driver's seat. A car.

"Where did you get this from? When did you learn to drive?" He asks in disbelief.
"My uncle. For rent. $200 a day.Yesterday. Now get on before your parents come back and decide to skin me."

-
About an hour later they arrive at the airport, after a journey which, according to Sehun, was disgustingly dangerous.
"Just in time." Both sigh in relief.
Ai helps him deal with the luggage and as they reach the business class gate, the male looks at his best friend lovingly before pulling her in for a hug.
"Thank you."
"I would rather you said that after winning a Grand Slam than escaping from your own house because you were grounded."
Sehun smiles sweetly. The smile that Ai has been dying for over the past months. The boy pulls her in even closer, letting their noses touch. It may sound sweet but Ai knows it looks funny since she's ridiculously short compared to her best friend.

"I will. One day. I will win a Grand Slam, no, numerous ones. And I will win every single one for you. And I will stand in front of thousands of people and millions of TV audiences to thank you. If you don't want your name to be known, I will do the hand signal we created together to thank you." He says while his hands do the funny signal they have since junior high school.

"Sounds good." Ai smiles. Sehun keeps standing, still having her in his arms before leaning his lips closer to hers.
And just for a moment, everything around Ai is frozen.

But then, Sehun pulls out and they both stop.

"Hum." Sehun clears his throat, his face reddened by the sudden act.
Ai also looks away, wanting to escape from the situation.
"So I gotta go now." The boy says, changing the topic.
"Yeah. See you."

Sehun begins to walks out but before that, he takes out his phone and films Ai waving at him, smiling brightly. He chuckles as he sees the tiny girl on the screen. Ai is not crying. She never cries. She didn't cry when getting her foot cut deep by glass in grade 7, nor did she cry when being insulted by the Chemistry teacher when he misunderstood that she was cheating in grade 9. She didn't cry when her parents divorced, nor did she cry when her dearest dog, Pep died. Instead, she would bite her lips, so hard that they bleed to stop tears from falling. Other people would ignore it and thinks she's emotionless, even her families and close friends, but not Sehun. He knows when she's fighting her own tears and that's exactly what she's doing right now.
His lips curve into a thin smile once again before Ai has really got out of his sight.

Meanwhile, Ai is busying calming down after what has just happened.

It's not happening. Not now. Not ever. She knows for certain that this may be the last time they'll ever be this close. And Ai has long known that even though she loves him dearly as a friend and likes him uncontrollably just like any girl in the school, they are never meant to be together. After he gets on the airplane, they will have different paths to follow. He will be a tennis player, traveling around to compete while she stays here, finishes her study and finds a college and becomes a programmer like she has always planned to. Sehun is ambitious but she is no less. So there is certainly no way she will follow Sehun to everywhere he goes, be his shadow and abandon her goals. And she as well can't hold him back from his dreams, Sehun deserves to live them himself.

With those thoughts wandering her mind, Ai's expression goes back to normal as she goes back to the car and starts to get home.

Lee Ai has always been a rational human being.