The neon lights flashed in dizzying, rhythmic patterns as bodies swayed on the dance floor to the deafening music that blasted through the speakers. The bass vibrated through KyungSoo’s chest. He frowned and looked at his cellphone. No missed calls. No texts. He threw it on the table feeling annoyed with himself for having expected anything. He sat in the VIP area, on the second level which overlooked the club below. He watched the crowd with disinterest.

At the end of the half circle booth was Jong Dae with two prettily adorned girls hanging on his arms. They whispered coyly at him, tugging the zipper of his leather jacket in a fit of giggles. Jong Dae looked at them as if they were the cutest girls he had ever seen. Perhaps in that moment, they were. His friend was always like this. Living in the moment, not worrying about consequences, and in blissful oblivion of the world around. One of the girls dipped her hand inside his pants. Jong Dae bit her ear playfully. The other pouted in jealousy.

Kyung Soo rolled his eyes.

The third girl in their party — an edgier, darker rendition of the colorful fairies swooning over Jong Dae — stole glances at Kyung Soo. She was pretty, in the way most girls could be pretty when they were expertly made up. It was obvious she was trying to go for mysterious but Kyung Soo knew better. He had seen enough women pass through his father to estimate her real type. She scooted closer to reach for the bottle of champagne even though her flute was full. Surprisingly, she served him openly, causing him to look at her directly.

Her crimson lips parted into a satisfied smile. She tapped her glass against his and brought it to her lips. She parted with deliberate sensuality, letting him see the diamond of her tongue ring. After a modest sip, she the rim of the glass, giving him a wink.

“You’re quiet tonight oppa,” she purred. The girl had the audacity to pull him closer by his tie. “There is something else our lips can do if talking isn’t on your mind.”

Kyung Soo lifted a brow and snatched his tie from her manicured claws. He loosened it from his neck and threw it at her.

“If you like it so much you should have said so. Were you trying to choke me just now?”

She gave him a baffled look. “He told me you were difficult but this…”

“Difficult?” Kyung Soo chuckled and tilted his head to the side. “For a woman like you I am downright impossible.”

“A woman like me?” Her nose flared. “What is a woman like me?”

Kyung Soo smiled at her and leaned closer. She wore a nauseatingly sweet perfume — some flowery fruit mixture — which made him scrunch his nose. “A woman who wears expensive things to cover up how cheap she is. How much of what you’re wearing was bought by your previous victims? All of it, I’d gamble.”

She shoved him away.

“This oppa will leave you with parting advice.” He the edge of his lip. “Unless you’re trying to attract bees you should choose a different perfume.”

“You’re a bastard.”

Before the girl could throw her glass of champagne at his face, Kyung Soo dumped what was left of the bottle over her head. She screamed curses at him while trying to dry her dress with tiny cocktail napkins.

"Do Kyung Soo!" Jong Dae shook his head. He quickly leaned over to take away the glasses of champagne which the girl was ready to throw at his face. "You girls caught him on a bad night. He isn’t usually like this."

The offended girl bit her lip furiously and turned to Kyung Soo. “I will remember your name.”

"Most people do." Kyung Soo shrugged. "You should be thanking me. At least now you have the scent of very expensive champagne."

“You will regret this!”

Kyung Soo waved her away. There were very few things in life he regretted; making her smell better wasn’t one of them.

The girl shoved past Jong Dae and left with her little clique. His friend sighed defeated and shot a glare at him. “You bastard. You scared my fun away.”

"Here I am with a broken heart and all you care about is filling your bed? Shouldn’t you be consoling me right now, oh?"

“If you can make jokes you’re doing well enough.”

Kyung Soo gave him a look. “And here I thought you knew me well, Jong Dae. I’m so disappointed that I could cry.”

"Ya! I dragged you out tonight so we could have some hot fun." Jong Dae slid over to him. "You said you would let her go. And move on."

Kyung Soo closed his eyes. “You brought me the wrong girl for that.”

“And who is the right girl? Byun Baekhyun?” Jong Dae punched his shoulder. “Forget it! She broke up with you. She even shipped your stuff to my studio. She wants to avoid you that badly.”

"I told you to mail it back to her."

"I’m not playing your childish games for you!"

"You’re a horrible friend, Jong Dae. Remind me to blacklist you from SM. No more free suites for your rendezvous."

"It’s obviously end game now, Kyung Soo! You were always world’s apart. Get this through your head!"

Kyung Soo cringed. He hated that phrase: world’s apart. When both Byun Baekhyun and him were part of the same planet, breathing the same air and rising under the same sun — what was being world’s apart? Kyung Soo curled his fingers around the glass which the girl had served him and gulped down the golden liquid in one go. It didn’t even burn his throat.

“Kyung Soo,” Jong Dae began.

It hurt to be called that way because it reminded him of Baekhyun. Because his friend had spoken softly, considerately, just like she had when she broke his heart in half. Such ugly words had been spoken by her pretty lips. Lips which he had kissed more times than he could count. He could still taste her and feel her beneath his fingertips. The softness of her skin, the curves of her body which fit perfectly with his. The memories were cruelly vivid leaving him with an aching hole in his heart.

"I was going to propose to her." Kyung Soo sighed. "That very day."

Jong Dae’s eyes widened. “Ya. You crazy bastard. Are you serious?”

Baekhyun had turned her back on him as though she hadn’t just ended a relationship of years with him. As if their romance had been fleeting and inconsequential. Baekhyun left as though the memories were easy to carry. Her steps never faltered and she did not turn even once to see him. Not even when he called her name or when he’d caught her arm.

How long he had stood there, staring at the direction to which she had disappeared, Kyung Soo didn’t know. When his mother hadn’t waited for him, when she never came back for him, his soul had been shattered. The feelings of abandonment, of helplessness, those were scars he carried on his heart. Baekhyun, however, was like a cut that never closed or ceased to bleed. Even though he brought himself through the motions of everyday life, though he could still be considered Do Kyung Soo to all who looked upon him, the truth was that he was becoming weaker. Blood was indispensable, after all.

“Letting go. I thought I was good at that.”

Jong Dae shook a finger at him. “You let go but you don’t forget. Tonight you’re going to try my way of forgetting.”

/ / / / / / /

Baekhyun stared at the screen, her finger hovering over the enter key. It was the last line she would make before she typed “the end.” Finally, after all those long, suffering months she would be able to part with her beloved characters and imagine them living happily beyond the confines of her book. She should be elated but instead she felt sad. Why were endings so painful?

Baekhyun took a deep breath and tapped the key. Finally, with shaking hands, she put the parting words. It was done. And now she felt very empty again.

It’s always the same feeling.

Baekhyun opened the drawer of her desk and pulled out the first manuscript she had ever written. It had been during College. Inspired by Kyung Soo like much of her work was. Even if just a small detail of him, Baekhyun always threaded him in her stories. His eyes, his voice, perhaps the way he looked at her when they ate together. The smile he only showed her or the way he sometimes talked in his sleep. Those tiny details about him which were impossible to forget no matter how much she tried — those were immortalized in her works. Because it had always been him who moved her heart to feel extreme emotions, and those emotions sparked ideas. Kyung Soo was her muse, even if she would never admit it to him.

Baekhyun stretched feeling her back muscles knotted. When she looked at the clo