Promise? Promise.

Teddy exhales a deep breath as he perused the latter’s features. Jiyong remained in his chair, body unmoving, deadpan expression, while vacantly staring at a blank page before him.

“Ji, are you okay?” Hongjun warily questioned.

Jiyong nodded in answer, eyes never leaving the paper.

An uncomfortable stillness once again filled the room and Hongjun cleared his throat, clearly feeling uncomfortable but it went completely unnoticed by the latter.

Several more moments passed before Jiyong finally spoke up. “I ed up, hyung.” He mumbled, his voice slightly cracking. He gulped down the anxiety traveling up his throat and attempted to shake off the sudden overwhelming emptiness that filled his heart. His gaze rose until he made eye contact with Hongjun.

Teddy let out an inaudible sigh as he glanced at Jiyong. “Chae left?”

Jiyong slowly nodded and his teeth tightly gripped his bottom lip, turning the flesh white. He wondered if she would’ve stayed if he had just pushed his pride aside and supported her.

Teddy’s features softened and he sympathetically patted Jiyong’s shoulder. “She’ll come back.” He said, nodding with assurance.

Jiyong gulped in attempt to wash away the guilt that was eating him alive. She deserved far better than him and he knew that better than anyone, so why couldn’t he let her go for her own sake? Better yet, why couldn’t he provide the same comfort she used to when he was caught in scandals.

“I’m selfish.” He mumbled to no one in particular and the room fell into silence as Hongjun sighed. “She should be with someone who makes her happy instead of having to deal with my .”

Jiyong awakened to a piercing pain in his head and the lingering taste of expensive whiskey between his lips. He groaned in discomfort as his head slightly tilted, scanning his surroundings. Beer cans and a half empty bottle of whiskey littered his glass coffee table and an arm reached for his disheveled locks, brushing strands of hair now covered in dried sweat away from his face.

His arms, weak from the hangover, slowly propped him up until he was sitting. Jiyong took in the stillness as he allowed his mind to go blank. Except, it wasn’t really blank because he thought of her. He wondered if she had a safe flight and questioned how she was holding up. Jiyong even briefly pondered if he should text her but decided against it, and instead, his fingers laced around his whiskey glass.

A single glass turned into two, and three, and four, and he eventually lost count, finding himself intoxicated once again, but this time at 1pm on a Wednesday afternoon and he couldn’t stop. She left and there wasn’t anything he could do because he knew better, but ed up regardless. He wasn’t going to act like some perfect nice guy. So no, he wasn’t going to text her, he was going to drink until he forgot about the lingering pain within his chest.

He watched as her tongue lightly grazed across her lower lip and a look of amusement covered her face as she read over his freshly written lyrics. She was clad in a large t-shirt that was his, and her petite figure was sprawled across his oversized bed. Chaerin rested on her stomach and used both arms to support her weight as she held onto a torn