Changmin feels stupid, dressed the plainest clothes he could find; walking among excited young children, but most importantly why was he stalking the couple in front of him. What was it going to change? Sally has clearly moved on and Kyungsoo treats her well. So why was he here? What was he planning to do? But everything he tried to leave, he would see Kyungsoo hold Sally closer when in crowded areas or tighten his grip around her hand randomly as they stood in line for a ride he couldn’t help but stay and watch even though his heart bleed with every beat.

Stupid.

Stupid.

Stupid.

Changmin kept repeating it to himself but he couldn’t move his feet towards the exit. He had been following them for around an hour when the couple stops by one of the benches and sally brings out a series of lunch boxes each filled with carefully prepared. But it killed Changmin inside when Sally brings out a box with carefully friend Ramen omelets; he remembers the first time she had made it for him, burnt ever so slightly but perfect in its imperfection. That moment used to only belong to him but now it’s no longer only his.

“Where do you want to go next?” Kyungsoo asks as he puts another piece of Ramen omelets in his mouth.

“How about that one?” Sally says pointing to the Grizzly River Rapids ride that they have ins Disneyland.

“Let’s go” Kyungsoo says as he starts packing away the lunch boxes and they run hand in hand.

Leave

Leave

Leave

Changmin continued to repeat to himself. But his feet would not listen to him as he followed them towards the water ride.

Leave

But still his feet led him onto the ride, just after the couple. He watched as Kyungsoo carefully shielded Sally from most of the water.

Kyungsoo was so close to Sally that she could feel the warmth rolling off his body towards her. And in that moment she didn’t even notice the large splashes of water falling on her. But she was taken out of her trance when a frustrated yell came from the ride behind theirs.

“Someone was unlucky!” Kyungsoo chuckles.

The ride comes to an end. Both a lot damper than they started out; but satisfied smiles rested on their faces as they walked away from the ride. It was only a few minutes later when they heard the screams for help.

“Someone collapsed!”

“Call the ambulance quick.”

Alarmed Sally and Kyungsoo turned back.

“What’s the situation?” Sally asks she makes her way through the crowd that had gathered and stopped dead in her tracks when she saw Changmin laying one the paving.

Sally sat next to Changmin who was still unconscious but he was stable. Silently seething but worried at the same time. Kyungsoo stood next to her, equally worried.

“I’ll go buy us some water.” He says a short while later.

He gives Sally’s hand a tight squeeze which she returns, and then closes the door behind him.

Sally stares at her hand, thinking of a million things all at once yet nothing at the same time. Changmin starts to stir, making some incoherent sounds, when he makes sense of where he is he turns to Sally slowly.

“Hey…” He says carefully remembering what he was caught doing.

“Why?” Sally says glaring at her phone.

“I…”

“Wait.” Sally says finally looking up and glaring at him, “I don’t want to hear your explanation.”

“I-”

“Changmin, Stop, we can still keep our current situation going if you just…”

“I can’t do that; I can’t just be your friend-”

“CHANGMIN! Stop.”

But Changmin couldn’t stop himself.

“I still love you.”

Kyungsoo’s hand rested on the door handle, frozen, waiting.

“And I love Kyungsoo.”

A painful silence follows.

“You know what Changmin? I don’t think I can be your friend either. I have to go.”

Sally gets up and leaves taking her things with her. She pauses by the door.

“Good bye Changmin.”

Sally closes the door behind her and starts walking away and slowly starts jogging and then running, looking for Kyungsoo, the only person who could make things right for her. She quickly dials his number, and he picks up almost immediately.

“Where are you right now?” He asks.

“I’m looking for you.”

“What if I don’t want to be found?”

Hearing Kyungsoo say this make Sally panic, but then she feels a pair of familiar arms around her, his voice whispers softly into her ear.

“What if I want to find you?”

Sally turns around in his arms.

“Changmin... he…”

“Shh… It’s ok, I know, I knew all along.”

Sally never went to go see Changmin again after that day. JaeJoong and Kyungsoo still went to go check up on him to make sure he was eating, but neither of them stayed long.

It was Kyungsoo’s turn today and he brought some curry from a place nearby the studio and went over to Changmin’s house. Changmin was somewhere in the house and Kyungsoo was just going to leave the food and go home but he was stopped by Changmin who was looking worse than usual, his hair disheveled and light stubble shadowed his jaw.

“Can we talk?”