AN: Anyeong Yeoreobun! Well this the draft has been sitting for quite a while and I didn't really know how to go about with it. Nontheless, I hope it will still be enjoyed? Dont' expect anything! You've been warned. keke Please do give long, hearty comments juseyo~

Out the Door

Dara almost dropped her phone. “What?”

dried. “When?” She can’t believe she was still this surprised. She knew it was this year. She didn’t expect it to be so early.

His enlistment date. Kwon Jiyong’s enlistment date.

She ended the call from her friend and took a deep breath to compose herself. “This February already?” She whispered to herself.

She knew why she was taking it so hard right now. They weren’t in talking terms as of the moment.

Because she had walked out on him.

It wasn’t just the dating scandal. It wasn’t that she believed he somehow cheated. She still had that foolish trust in him despite everything. So, no, it wasn’t just that.

It was that she was tired. She wanted out, she wanted to rest. From all the questions, from all the explanations. Explanations people owed her, explanations she owed everyone.

Just that in that moment, when she had enough of all of that, she wanted to leave. Him.

So that’s what she did. She left. Walked out that door.

--

Jiyong stared at the news of his enlistment, thinking she must’ve known herself now. So many times he tried to call her after knowing, wanting to tell her first. But each time, he stopped himself. Remembering the day she walked out. How he stopped himself from running after her and asking her for the nth time to come back. He kept reminding himself of that moment, of the decision he’d learn to accept. To walk out that door himself.

He knew how she took things hard deep inside, behind her small awkward smiles. He too was tired. Of watching her cry because of him.

That’s why he let her that day. Walk away. Out that door.

Without words, they knew. That they needed to rest. From everything. So without words, they parted and stayed like that for a while. They avoided each other and gave the space they quite needed.

Just that, now, his enlistment date has come. They both didn’t know how to go about with it.

Jiyong bit his lip. He scrunched up his face with his hand and stood up, grabbing his cap and phone. Grabbed the door.

He had to see her.

--

Dara stepped out of the building rooftop, holding out the door, taking a deep breath and looking out into the city. With another big sigh, she walks and sits down, feeling a little weak and empty already.

She closed her eyes and breathed in. It was too soon. Was she ready? To really let him go?

The door clicks and someone shuffles out the door. She clenches her fists.

There was silence.

She hugs her knees to her chest as she opens her eyes and sees him sitting quietly beside her. He was wearing black, she noticed. As if mourning already of what was to come. He rubbed his nose, feeling the silence. She found it adorable how he scratched the back of his head sheepishly. Looking exactly like the younger version of him she first met in this building, the boy she fell in love with. She had to smile at that memory.

A lot has happened since then. To him. To her. To both of them. Things they weren’t sure they could turn back.

He cleared his throat, startling her. She chewed on her lip, watching him. She would miss him, she gulped down the feelings she knew would overwhelm her immediately.

“My enlistment..”

“…I heard.” She nodded and looked away, her fingers fumbling the sleeves of her shirt unconsciously. She was anxious.

“Right.” He cleared his throat, ruffling the hair at the back of his head.

He took a glance at her. She glanced back, paused a moment to compose herself, blinking her tears away. A small sad smile crept on her lips. “So soon?” Her little voice almost broke.

Jiyong saw through her fake smile, her watering eyes. He bit down a gasp, pursing his lips, crossing his arms on top of his knees. It hurt him to see her break. He clicked his tongue, wincing his right eye as he turned away from her haunting smile. Hating himself indefinitely.

He hated that he was leaving her. Like this; alone and unsure. He hated that he was always ending up having a dating scandal and hurting her. All eyes were always on him. Whatever he did, wherever he goes. Sometimes, he just sometimes, wondered if his popularity was worth all the peaceful moments robbed from them. If his dreams were really his dreams, if it prevented him from making her happy. He lost it at times, with all these wondering. Yet time was ticking. For both of them. And his confusion was not clearing up. He just had to make that decision he was never sure of. For both of them.

He clenched his fists tightly against his elbows. He forced the words out. “Don’t wait for me.”

Dara felt her heart drop at his words, she suddenly couldn’t feel her hands. Each word suddenly weighed her down. She heard wrong. She must have heard wrong. It felt cold. quivered as she refused to blink her eyes or look at him. She just breathed in and out through the silence that ensued, calming herself. Waiting for him to say it was a joke. But he kept silent. She bit down her trembling lip, gulping big lump in .

Slowly, she willed her head to face him, her eyes to raise and sought his. She pursed her lips, clasped her hands to keep them from shaking. Wind blew her hair, she couldn’t blink her eyes because her tears were threatening to fall. It was painful to look at him. His jaw was clenched and he wasn’t looking at her. If only he could look at her and see she didn’t want it. But he wouldn’t look. She caught her breath, dropping the hand that unconsciously reached out. He’d already made up his mind. She could clearly see he was taking this hard as well.

“Go and meet other people.” He bit on his fingernails. He was restless.

Dara bit the inside of her cheeks, to keep herself from begging him to stop saying those things. That it was hurting her. She gulped down a sob that was threatening to escape