Dongwoo sat in his room as he thought of what his mother had told him. “What does she mean she’s closer than I think? Well, Korea is a small country.” It frustrated him. He knew there was more to her words, but the more he thought about it the more his head hurt. He went across the hall and knocked on Woohyun's door, hoping his more experienced-with-love friend would have some advice.

"Come in," Woohyun called from inside.

When Dongwoo opened the door, he found his friend on the floor doing some push ups. Dongwoo took a seat on his bed. "Hey."

Woohyun was muttering the number of push ups he was doing under his breath. "What's..(31)..up?"

"I just wanted to talk."

"Don't lie. You never come to my room just to talk." Woohyun got up from the floor and brought his desk chair next to the bed.

"No really. How have you been? It almost feels like you went on vacation it something. You're rarely home."

"Cut the crap, Dongwoo. What do you really want to talk about?" Woohyun knew him too well.

"Fine. I wanted advice from you. I went to visit my mom yesterday and she told me that my ex-girlfriend was closer than I think and that I should go hold on to her. I don't know what she's trying to say."

Woohyun suddenly turned pale and had to turn away slightly to avoid looking at Dongwoo in the eyes. He knew Dongwoo was too oblivious anyways to notice the small physical changes, but just as Woohyun knew when Dongwoo was lying, Dongwoo was just as good at figuring out when Woohyun was lying.

"What's wrong? You know something, don't you?"

"No, I don't know anything. And maybe your mom just really liked her and thought it was a pity to have to let her go." He was still avoiding all eye contact, and instead was fiddling with his fingers and staring at the wall behind Dongwoo's head. "Man, I'm tired, Dongwoo. Maybe you should go to sleep too." Woohyun tried to push Dongwoo off the bed.

"It's only like 9:30. Since when did you sleep so early?"

"Since tonight."

"You're acting really strangely, you know that?"

"I just had a long day."

"Speaking of your long day, what have you been up to these days? I knew you liked hanging out with friends but you have never been away from home this much. I called Sunggyu earlier, and even he said he didn't know where you were. And you don't go to parties as much as you used to."

"I have other friends you know."

"Like who? I know only Hoya, Sunggyu, and I are the only ones who can really tolerate you. And I know we're the only ones you actually consider your friends since middle school days."

"I made friends at school, MOM. Will you let me sleep now?" Woohyun was already under his covers and looked like he was ready to sleep. Dongwoo finally relented and left the room, muttering a small "goodnight" as he turned the lights off and closed the door.

"Weird," Dongwoo thought. Woohyun was never the type to hide stuff from him, especially if Dongwoo asked about it. Woohyun's behavior just came across as really strange these days. As Dongwoo walked into the kitchen to get a snack, he found Hoya there gulping down a cup if water.

"Hey," Dongwoo said.

Hoya gave him a slight nod in reply. Hoya placed the cup in the sink, hoping someone else was willing to do the dishes the next morning. "I heard you talking to Woohyun."

"Huh? Oh yeah. He is being really secretive these days. Did you notice?" He dropped his voice to a whisper.

"Yeah."

"The last time he was like this was when he got his first girlfriend in middle school." Dongwoo chuckled at the memory. They were in eighth grade, and Woohyun finally got the courage to confess to the girl he had been head over heels with for the past year and a half. They wanted "to keep it on the down-low" so neither of them told their friends. Dongwoo had to tickle Woohyun until Woohyun gave in and told the truth.

"I remember that. Hey, remember when we were in ninth grade and you fell for that sophomore in your dance class? And she bought you lip balm and stuff." Hoya teased Dongwoo. He knew Dongwoo had had a slight complex about his lips until that sophomore girl told him that his lips were his best feature.

"You're the one to say! You're the one who stole the first kiss of your friend from church." They talked about their pasts for awhile until Dongwoo remembered why he was upset in the first place. "Oh, Hoya."

"Hmm?"

"What do you think it means when someone tells you that my ex is a lot closer than I think?"

"What do you mean? It seems pretty straight forward to me. It means she's close to you."

"I know. But my mom told me to hold on to her and never let her go."

"I always knew you were a little slow, but this is too much."

"I'm serious, Hoya!"

"Her words seem so straight forward. You are over thinking all this."

"You think so?"

"Yes." Hoya was debating whether to tell Dongwoo he had seen Woohyun with his ex before, but he decided that that was something for Woohyun to Dongwoo, not him.

"I really loved her. No, I really love her," Dongwoo muttered. It was already late into the night, so Dongwoo and Hoya parted and went to sleep in their respective rooms.

---//---

The next morning, Dongwoo woke up to an empty house. There were two sticky notes stuck on the refrigerator.

Out to dance class

-Hoya

The other note was from Woohyun informing Dongwoo that there was food in the fridge. After breakfast, Dongwoo decided to go visit his mom. On his way there, he stopped at a small market and bought some strawberries, ripe and blood red in color, just the way his mom liked them. It was not too long of a walk to the hospital, so he walked, enjoying the sunshine and blooming flowers. It was such a perfect day. "Too good to be true," he thought.

He was walking to where the elevators when he caught a glimpse of his friend, Woohyun. He started calling out to him. "Woohy-" until he saw his ex sitting next to Woohyun.

He was unable to move. He was blocking the way to the elevator, and the other people were yelling at him to get out of their ways. The strawberries, which Dongwoo had dropped unconsciously, were rolling around on the floor, leaving red streaks. But he heard none of that. All he heard was the laughter of Woohyun and his ex. All he saw was how his ex had her hand on his arm. How she was smiling so freely. How she was sitting so close to Woohyun. How she was looking more beautiful than ever. How she didn't even notice his presence. How she seemed so happy without him.

How she was...

How she was sitting in a wheelchair dressed in a hospital gown.

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AAHH Sorry everyone! I noticed only a few days ago that this chapter was gone and my mom has been using my computer because her computer broke... So here is this chapter. And the next (hopefully..)