Sehun stared at the solid oak door in front of him. He pulled his hands out of his sweatshirt pocket and knocked tentatively.

A woman immediately opened the door, “You must be Mr. Oh, I’ll go get Minyoo.” She beckoned him inside and disappeared down a hallway.

Sehun sat stiffly on the leather couch and reached for a photo book resting on the coffee table. He flipped it open. The first page said “Minyoo” in swirling characters. Following it were pages full of a baby and toddler Minyoo smiling brightly. The next section divider said “family” and the first picture was of a smiling couple and a teenage girl. Even Sehun, who had just met her, could tell the girl was a younger Mrs. Sang. On the opposite page was the same couple, a bit older now, leaning over Mrs. Sang who held a tiny bundle in her arms.

“What are you doing here?” Minyoo interrupted.

Sehun stood quickly and closed the album, “I have a surprise for you,” he took two tickets from his pocket, “We’re going to the planetarium!”

“No, we’re not. I don’t want to go.”

“Come on, it’ll be lots of fun!” Sehun waved the tickets.

Minyoo shook his head

“Well, at least let me take you to eat then.”

***

Slurping the last of his drink, Sehun stood and carried his and Minyoo’s trays away.

Great, he thought, Hopefully Baek and Chan don’t find out about this. First a date with my dog, and now a six-year-old boy.

He returned to find Minyoo sitting with his head resting in his palm.

“We can still go to the planetarium if you’d like.” Sehun said gently

Minyoo shook his head.

“Don’t you want to see the stars?”

Minyoo’s head snapped up, “You don’t know how I feel!” Why are you being so mean to me?”

Sehun’s eyes narrowed, “You don’t know how I feel Minyoo. You know nothing about life and pain.”

“I know my best friend left me. You don’t know how much it hurts.”

Sehun concentrated on his breathing, In, out, in he reminded himself.

“You think that because you’re my teacher you can fix me and prove how good you are. But going to the stupid planetarium won’t fix me and drawing how I feel won’t either. You don’t understand!”

Sehun slammed his hand on the table, “No Minyoo, you don’t understand!” He pointed a shaking finger at Minyoo, “I’m not trying to fix you, I’m trying to help you. But not to prove how great I am. I’m helping you because I know how you feel.”

“You can’t know how I feel, you’re a teacher.”

“I’ve lived a life before you met me Minyoo. My best friend left me too.”

“But he didn’t promise to stay like Choy did.” A tear slid down Minyoo’s cheek. Sehun wiped it away.

“Yes, he did. He called me Sehunnie. I always felt happier with him. He could always make me smile. He promised me we’d be best friends forever. I believed him. I believed him so much that I bought us matching clothes, hats, and jewelry. Every where we went people thought we were brothers. That made me the happiest, he was my best friend, my older brother. I knew he could protect me from everything. But when he left he couldn’t protect me from that pain.

He gave me a box with all our matching clothes and said he had to go away, ‘To follow my dreams’ he told me. I couldn’t understand why I wasn’t part of his dreams. He told me I was too young to understand.

He left years ago, and I haven’t seen him since, but it still hurts. It may never stop hurting. I wasn’t a part of his dreams Minyoo, and for a long time that kept me from following my own dreams. But now my dream is to see you realize you dreams Minyoo. Even though Choy hurt you don’t give up on the stars.

A tear slid down Sehun’s cheek. Minyoo wiped it away.