That night they agreed to meet at the pub. Sungyeol got there and the guys were already in their usual booth.

“Is Myungsoo here?”

“Yeah he is dancing”.

Dongwoo answered him.

He noticed Myungsoo was dancing with some guy. A beer in his hand while the other surrounded the smaller guy. Sungyeol recognized Myungsoo’s dancing partner as Sungjong, a pre-med student who took history class with him. By now they were kissing.

Sungyeol felt betrayed. He also felt like a fool for giving up so easily to Myungsoo when he knew what was in store.

Myungsoo came to the table to take another beer.

“Oh, Sungyeol is here!”

He had obviously been drinking for a while. Myungsoo reached his hand towards Sungyeol’s face but Sungyeol slapped it away.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. Nothing is wrong. Nothing is ever wrong with you”.

Sungyeol stood up and walked out of the pub.

The next night he went back to the pub. He arrived just a few minutes after Myungsoo and not many people were there yet. Only the two of them were at the booth.

“Yah, what’s wrong with you? You didn’t answered the door last night”.

“Yeah well”.

“Are you mad at me?”

“Why would I be?”

“Is this because of the other night?”

Sungyeol just looked at Myungsoo.

“You know it was without any commitment. What did you expect?”

“Nothing Myungsoo. I don’t expect anything from you”.

He went to the bar and brought with him a bunch of beers.

When the other guys arrived Sungyeol was drinking his fifth beer. Hoya spoke to him first.

“What’s up with you? You look lonely. Should I set up a blind date for you”.

“Yeah, ok”.

“Really? Ok, I have a few friends that you might like”.

Myungsoo looked worriedly towards Sungyeol who just kept drinking.

Two nights later Myungsoo knocked at Sungyeol’s door. He answered opening the door just so Myungsoo could see inside.

“Ah, sorry, I have company tonight”.

Myungsoo looked past Sungyeol and saw a very tall guy with black hair sitting on the bed. Both their clothes and hair were ruffled; they had been kissing.

Myungsoo nodded and left feeling somewhat angry.

Sungyeol had with a stranger he just met that day. He didn’t found it gratifying, especially since he just did it out of spite towards Myungsoo.

That day after his one-night-stand left, he felt terrible. He didn’t feel like going out so he sat down on his floor all day. He was heartbroken and fearful of hitting completely the self-destruct button.

He heard the usual knocking on his door but he didn’t get up. All his lights were out and he was still sitting on his floor.

“Sungyeol!”

He heard Myungsoo calling his name.

“Yah! Lee Sungyeol! Open up, we need to talk”.

There was anger rising in Myungsoo’s voice.

He heard him talking to one of his neighbors.

“Is Sungyeol here?”

“I don’t know. I haven’t seen him or heard him all day”.

He heard his neighbor walk away and he though Myungsoo would too.

“Lee Sungyeol!!”

The knocking resumed until he heard one last knock as if Myungsoo was hitting his door in anger with the palm of his hand. Then everything stopped.

Tears were rolling down Sungyeol’s cheeks. He remained on his floor, unmoving until he fell asleep from mere exhaustion.

He managed to avoid Myungsoo for a week. In that time he received an offer from the University that hosted the graphic design competition he had won. He was offered a full scholarship with even money to spare. That University had a better reputation at that field. Since Sungyeol felt like everything was lost here and that he started to loose himself in the process there wasn’t much to think about. He talked with the school administration and he was allowed to transfer immediately. Two weeks after he received the offer he was packing his bags and boarding a train hoping to leave everything behind.

                                                                                            ~ ~ - ~ ~

Myungsoo was angry. He was really angry at the way Sungyeol was acting, he was especially angry since he knew it was his fault. He shouldn’t have had with Sungyeol if he wasn’t going to have a relationship with him. He knew it. Sungyeol was special and sensible, not like any of his usual hook ups. Still, he did and he messed up big time. To be honest, he was surprised at how willingly Sungyeol had responded that night. But after that everything went down hill. He was afraid of commitment and had shown his ugliest side to the person he care about the most.

He had gone to Sungyeol’s place more than once. Sometimes he knocked without anyone answering and sometimes he just sat in front of the door until the lights went out inside. He had tried to talk to Sungyeol but he was clearly avoiding him. Truth be told, he wasn’t sure of what to say either.

He sometimes managed to sleep while wearing Sungyeol’s t-shirt but the smell was wearing off.

Again, he went knocking at Sungyeol’s door. He should have made a copy of the key. One of Sungyeol’s neighbors came out.

“Sungyeol is gone”.

“Ok, I’ll just wait for him here”.

“No, I mean he moved out. I think he even changed Uni”.

“What?”

“You didn’t know? I thought you were his boyfriend”.

Myungsoo felt sick, literally. He had to run to the bathroom to throw up. Sungyeol was gone. He was gone. And everyone thought they were a couple, he kind of felt that way but he was such a jerk that never expressed it correctly.

Later that night, he returned to the room and broke the handle to get in. It was completely empty but it still smelled like Sungyeol, his scent was everywhere. Myungsoo lay on the bed, trying to sleep, but it never came.