To say that I was surprised was an understatement. I almost got a heart attack when I saw him. Kim Jongin sat on his chair, looking neither surprised nor anxious. He was just quiet and indifferent, as if he had known something I did not. I was still gaping at my best friend, who looked regal in his black tie and white shirt.

                  “Did I… enter the wrong room?” I asked carefully and sat on the chair in front of him. I brought a file of documents as a proposal, and a small Chanel bag that held most of my belonging, including passport and my travel essentials.

                  “You are in the right one,” Jongin said gloomily. “Show me the documents.”

                  I closed my mouth and handed him the file in my hands. While he was reading, I softly, slowly, explained the details clearly, giving all the important key points and information Anne told me. He did not show any reaction, his expression frosty as ice, though his posture was relaxed. Finished, I closed my mouth, finally feeling the fatigue setting in. I took that moment of silence to observe him fully.

                  He had gained a bit more muscles, considering how skinny he was back then. There were dark circles under his dark brown eyes, void of warmth and affection. Jongin was always cold back then, but not this unapproachable. He looked mighty high and I felt undeserving. There was suddenly a distance that separated us from our former years in university when we were still teenagers, fooling around. His hair was dyed ash brown, almost green-ish under the afternoon sun. Jongin was still as good looking as ever, if not more, with a hint of maturity and unworldly aura.

                  “You can tell your superiors to proceed on as planned. The director will arrange a meeting with your company to sign the contract,” He explained without looking at me. As he set down the paper, his gaze finally fell on me. A rush of nostalgia hit me when I remembered the airport scene as if it happened yesterday. I had not expected him to hold onto that promise years ago. Maybe I was just a bit sad that he had moved on. Just as I was with Sehun.

                  “Sara,” His tone held contained anger that he had kept in for so long. His eyes darkened even more, and he loosened the tie around his neck and threw it on the table. Jongin folded his hands in front of his chest, and huffed, his frown was the scariest thing I had seen since Anne’s outburst two years ago. “Have you forgotten about your two ‘best-friends’? So much that you don’t bother replying to our messages when we arrived in London?”

                  I gaped for the second time that day. “I did not receive such messages!”

                  “Bull!” Now he was calling me a liar. I could feel the anxiety in him. “We tried to contact you so many times! Did you forget our promises three years ago? Or you are just too busy to care? Do you know how worried I was, or how depressed Luhan became one…” He abruptly halted, but that was enough to arouse my curiosity. I was ready to lash out at him, but hearing Luhan’s name stopped me.

                  “What did you say? Is Luhan here in London?”

                  He snorted and threw me an icy look, not glaring nor staring, but it was bone-chilling, “Of course. The two of us stick to our promises. You, on the other hand, disappeared without any news at all. What happened to you, Sara? How can four ing years change you so much?”

I was ready to defend myself. But then I remembered not to act so rashly and asked him with an equally stony tone, “And when did you start contacting me again? I have no recollection of any messages since the second year you were gone. Oh, don’t give me that look, Jongin. Every time I texted you, you either replied very late with an ‘I’m tired. I’m going to sleep.’ Or ‘I’m busy. Can’t talk now.’ Well, what do you want me to say? You want me to fawn over you and act all caring when I have a job of my own?!”

I was nearly hysterical, but I continued, “Don’t even get me started on promises, Jongin. You and I both know I am the only one who stayed in London for three years – three ing years, as you said – just to wait for my best friends to come. Guess what? They did not. So when my company offered me a chance to work outside for a full one-year in Germany, I took it, because I was tired. I am tired, Jongin. I am twenty-six now, I can’t be stuck in the past.”

The last sentence I spoke of was a trigger to Jongin and his rage raised again. So was his voice, “Stuck in the past?” He snickered, “So that is what we are to you? A past? Just like that Sehun guy you can’t forget, huh?”

I was surprised that he even brought Sehun into this, but I tried to think rationally. Instead of retorting back, I bit my lips so hard, eyes glassy, not in guilt, but in anger. I felt so wronged, being accused of something I did not do.

Jongin seemed to have sensed that I would not reply, and he glared at me, taunting and challenging. I had never had a fight with Jongin before. There were times when our personalities clashed, but it was never a heated argument like this one.

When I finally found my voice, I stood up, gathering the documents on the table and coldly spoke, “I went to Germany in April last year. I changed my UK number to a local one and did not open most of my SNS, except for Facebook. So I apologise if I have wronged you in any way,” A heavy tear dropped onto my cheeks, and I blinked down two more, “Now excuse me.”

I did not look back anymore. My steps got heavier as I pressed the button for the elevator. Not long after, Jongin walked out of the glass door, his expression calmer, his eyes clearer. I could tell that he had cleared his head at least a little, but his demand just now was unreasonable, and with the sorry state I was in, combined with the extreme fatigue I had, I was in no mood to talk.

The familiar ‘ding’ sound came and both of us went inside the elevator. My eyes were especially heavy after crying, and I was so tired I could not react to anything anymore. It was until Jongin called me for the third time with a wave of hand and a worried expression that I gave small humming sound that sounded much like a pathetic excuse of an answer.

“I will drive you home,” He insisted, still stubborn, but was definitely softer than before. I shook my head and straightened my posture, trying to act dignified. I must have had fever because I felt cold since the moment I stepped into Jongin’s office, and I meant, literally. “I’m fine. I’ll call a cab. You are a busy man, I must not trouble you further. And I’m not in the mood to argue.”

That should have shut him up, but this Jongin was different from who he was years ago. He became more persistent, his tone aggravated by my indifference and my failure to take care of my body. I admitted I had been overworked for the past few weeks. Projects settled in, and I had lesser sleeping time. My eating schedule became irregular. There was once that I survived two days with a single breakfast of apples and banana. I should email Anne right now to ask her for a day off tomorrow, or I would end up in the hospital soon.

“Let me take you home,” He insisted, grabbing me by the wrist and yanking me closer, such that I bumped onto his chest. He had definitely changed his perfume. He smelt like trees and nature now, which was good. A bit spicy, very cheeky. He stiffened, “You have quite a high fever. Where do you live?”

I mumbled an incoherent answer as he dragged me to the basement where he parked his car. I did not want to wait for him, so I walked behind him, sometimes checking my temperature to make sure that it was not as bad as he had thought. But even so, it was still bad. And it only got worse because of the wind and my minimalism clothing. I only wore a sleeveless top and sleeveless long vest, accompanied by short pencil skirt, because it was summer.

Jongin owned an Audi, which was honestly surprising for someone who had only worked for three years; director or not. When he sensed my doubtful eyes, he tapped on the roof of the car impatiently and spoke, “Get in quickly. You don’t want to faint now, do you?”

I gritted my teeth and walked towards his car. I could never win against his insistence, especially not in this condition. I could only hope that the car ride would be a short one, but who was I kidding, my apartment and this office were north and south, and with the maximum speed he was at, we would reach by an hour at the quickest. He seemed to be saying something softly, but I closed my eyes and fell into a deep slumber. My fatigue and the argument, plus the crying definitely played a part, because I had not slept that well for the past few months.

***

I swore I heard two very familiar voices.

                  I cursed in my drowsy state and I heard laughter; sweet, innocent, and gave me the same tingly feeling I felt four years ago. “,” I cursed again, touching my forehead because I got a headache. The fever had not gone down. In fact, it seemed to be getting worse.

                  These two voices I had heard were Jongin’s and Luhan’s. Of course he would call Luhan. After all, one was more knowledgeable in medicine while the other was smart, but completely clueless. However, I still thought that aside from the high fever, nothing was severe. To call Luhan at a prime time like this, I felt a slight guilt rising. He was a psychiatric; his job demanded his full attention. But just like four years ago, he came no matter what. There was a lump in my throat that I could not swallow, feeling the drowsiness settling in again, and a bit of tears on the corner of my left eye. Both of them had not changed a bit. It was I, who changed too much these past few years.

                  While Jongin’s good look was emphasized even more since I left him, Luhan was still the same. His smile was still the sweetest thing ever, though it seemed a bit more mature and tired. His eyes were neither accusing nor mad, just peaceful like the surface of water. Instead of ash hair, he dyed it dark brown, somewhere between chocolate and black colour. When I opened my eyes, he sat beside my bed and put a hand on my forehead, “You are still the same reckless girl. How can you not take care of yourself when you’re already an adult?”

                  Hearing the playful tone in his scolding, I groaned and glared, “Shut up, Luhan. Why are you even here, anyway? Don’t you have a job?”

                  This time Jongin replied, his hands folded in front of his chest as he stood behind Luhan, and he frowned yet again. He seemed unhappy, but at the same time, worried, “You are sick. I called Luhan because I have no idea how to take care of you.”

                  “I have a morning shift today,” Luhan calmly reassured me, and I sank back deeper onto my comfortable pink blanket. He shifted a bit and without an ounce of awkwardness, he tenderly caressed me as if I was a fragile being and asked, “Why have you lost so much weight? Do you even eat?”

                  The two of them looked at me as if I had never left, as if they were still waiting for me to come around after years of shielding away my heart. They always gazed at me as if I was so precious I could not be hurt and tainted, and I had never felt more apologetic than now. So with much effort, I swallowed the lump on my throat and replied, a bit choking because tears just came free-falling, like the stream, except it was the longing that conquered the ice in me, “I’m sorry. I left to Germany because I was tired of waiting. But then I realize…” I could not continue and turned around to burry my sobs in the pillow.

                  That chilly September night had brought us back together. It was the second time I cried in front of them. I had always been pessimistic about promises and love, and in those four years I had grown so distant I did not even recognize myself anymore. I thought to myself that perhaps, I should allow myself to fall again, despite of the risks I was taking. This time, I wanted to fall in love with them; hard, without constrain, and madly. I would trust them not to break my heart for the second time.

A/N: Okay, peeps, the request for main character is now closed because I have chosen which one will be the husband. Thanks for all the feedbacks!