"We need to talk." 

That's the text that Eric gets from Joon one day at school during study hall. He has seen enough movies to know that this text is most likely not going to lead to good news. Eric is an optimistic guy though, so he holds onto the small chance that this will not lead to something negative. 

Eric meets Joon later at lunch, in their usual spot. As soon as he sits down, he notices how upset Joon looks. 

"Joonie, what's wrong?" Eric questions, holding onto Joon's hand. 

"Ricky, I have something to tell you."

"What is it?"

"I..." Joon begins, but he pauses for a moment. 

"Joon, it's alright. You can tell me anything." 

"I'm.... moving. And I won't see you again for a few years." 

"What?!" Eric replies, shocked. 

"My dad got a job overseas, so we have to move. We'll be over there for at least four years. And we leave tomorrow morning." Joon explains. 

"Does.... does this mean it's over?"

"I don't know. I guess. I mean, how can we have a long distance relationship for four years? I don't know, what do you think?" 

"I agree with you. Having a long distance relationship for that long would be hard. We wouldn't get to go on dates, kiss, or hug like we do now. It just wouldn't be the same." Eric answers truthfully. 

"I'll miss you." Joon says, hugging Eric tightly and now crying. 

"I'll miss you too." Eric replies, hugging Joon. 

When they stop hugging, Eric sees the tears streaming down Joon's face and wants to break down with him. However, he chooses to hold back and comfort him instead. Eric wipes Joon's tears and comes up with a great idea. 

"How about we make a promise to each other?"

"Like what?"

"When you come back to Korea, if both of us are still single we should start dating again. We could pick up where we left off." Eric suggests. 

"I love that idea." Joon responds, linking his pinky with Eric's in agreement. 

"Riiiiinngggg!" Goes the bell indicating that lunch is now over.

"Meet me at my locker after school so we can walk out together one last time." Joon says, kissing Eric before leaving for class. 

During the rest of his classes, all Eric can think about is having to say goodbye to Joon. He doesn't want to, but there is nothing that he can do. Joon will be gone tomorrow morning no matter what. When his last class finishes, Eric walks to Joon's locker to meet him. 

"Ready to go?" Joon asks, once Eric comes over. 

"No, I'll never be. I don't want you to go."

"I know, I wish there was something I could do so we could be together." Joon replies, hugging Eric. 

"Can we kiss one last time?" Eric brings up. 

Joon stops hugging Eric and kisses him. They make sure that it is a long, sweet kiss since it will be their last one. Following the kiss, they share a long, tight hug. 

"Unfortunately, we have to get going now. My dad is here to pick me up and we have to finish packing." Joon reluctantly announces, slowly breaking the hug. 

Upon hearing those words, Eric starts to tear up a little bit. 

"It's okay, Eric. Remember our promise?" Joon states, wiping Eric's tears. 

"You're right. Let me walk you outside." Eric replies, holding onto Joon's hand so the two of them can walk to the parking lot together. 

When they reach the parking lot, they say their goodbyes and hug each other one final time. 

"Who knows, maybe you'll find a guy who is even better than me." Joon says. 

"I doubt it.... I guess I'll see you in a few years."

"See you in a few years." Joon responds, giving Eric one final kiss before going to his dad's car. 

Eric watches the car drive away before turning around to walk home. What a terrible way to start the weekend. 

Halfway there, the tears start to fall. By the time Eric reaches the dorm, he is on the verge of sobbing. Which is exactly what he does when he enters the dorm. 

Eric takes off his shoes and puts his backpack aside before running to the living room while sobbing loudly. He just plops face down onto the floor and starts crying hard into his arm. 

"Oh my gosh. Eric, what's wrong? Did something happen at school?" Jacob inquires, getting up from the couch where he was watching television. 

Eric tries to explain what happened, but Jacob can't understand him through his sobs. 

"Can you calm down for me so that I can understand a little better?"

 Eric takes a deep breath before repeating himself. 

"Joon and I broke up because he's moving away for four years tomorrow. I might not ever see him again." Eric explains, before going back to sobbing on the floor. 

"I'm sorry that happened, squishy. Do you need a hug?"

"Yes." Eric answers through sobs. 

Eric holds onto Jacob and does not seem like he will be letting go anytime soon, so Jacob decides that the two of them go to the couch and cuddle instead. On the couch, Eric buries his face in Jacob's sweater and keeps crying. 

"It's alright, squishy. It's okay to be upset, just let it out." Jacob comforts him. 

"It hurts so much." 

"Hyung, what's going on out here?" Sunwoo asks, walking into the living rubbing his eyes since he just got up from a nap. 

"Eric and Joon broke up."

"Oh. I'm sorry about that Eric. Don't worry though, you'll feel better soon." Sunwoo encourages. 

"No I won't. This is the worst thing to happen in my entire life." Eric cries. 

"He still needs a little time." Jacob says, patting Eric's back. 

Eric stays with Jacob on the couch and cries for about an hour and a half until he ends up falling asleep. 

"Hey, Jacob. I'm back from the store." Sangyeon calls out when he enters the dorm. 

He walks over to Jacob and finds him with Eric in the living room. 

"Did Eric fall asleep on you while watching television again?"

"I wish. He and Joon just broke up and he is really heartbroken. He's been crying ever since he got back from school and he cried himself to sleep just now." Jacob explains. 

"My poor maknae." Sangyeon says, Eric's hair. 

"Sangyeon, I'm worried about him. Just look at how he is sleeping."

Sangyeon observes Eric and realizes that he is completely still. 

"You're right, he is so stiff."

"I know. He usually stretches or moves around a bit in his sleep. It might take a while for him to cope with this." Jacob says. 

"However long it takes, we'll be there for our maknae." Sangyeon responds, kissing the top of Eric's head. 

Eric sleeps until dinner, and the only reason he gets up is because Jacob wakes him. 

"Come on, babykins. It's time for dinner. We made your favorites. Noodles and fried chicken." Jacob tells Eric, as he leads him to the kitchen. 

Jacob sits Eric down at the table and places his food in front of him. 

Five minutes go by and Eric does not touch his food at all, he would rather go to his room. 

"Hyung, can I go to bed?" Eric asks. 

"But you haven't touched your dinner, squishy." Haknyeon says. 

"I'm not all that hungry." 

"Can you at least take just one bite? Please?" Sangyeon pleads. 

Eric picks up the chicken and takes a bite. 

"Okay, you can go to bed." Sangyeon replies. 

"I'll come tuck you in, in a second." Jacob says, as Eric gets up. 

As Jacob is tucking Eric in, he sees that his tears are starting to come back. 

"Gummy bear, if you need anything during the night don't be afraid to ask us. Even if you have to wake us up, we'll be there for you." Jacob informs him. 

"Thanks hyung. Good night."

"Good night."

Saturday and Sunday go exactly the same way. Eric spends most of his day crying, and the boys take turns comforting him. 

On Monday morning, when Eric is getting ready for school he doesn't want to eat breakfast, he just drinks some orange juice. 

As Sangyeon and Jacob are walking him to school, they notice how upset he still is. Maybe being at school will bring up memories and make this worse.

"Eric, if you don't want to go to school for a while, you don't have to." Sangyeon says. 

"No, that's alright hyung." 

"We mean it, squishy. If you need to come home, just call us and we'll pick you up." Jacob adds, giving Eric a hug before he walks into school. 

Eric walks into school and goes to his locker. Usually, Joon would hang out with him for a couple minutes before Eric would walk him to class. Now, Eric just walks to class and sits down quietly. The day goes by pretty slowly, but without much issues. However, once Eric has the class that he shared with Joon, all the memories come back to him. 

The time they did a school project together, the time they studied together, passing notes to Joon in class. Being in this room is too painful for him, he wants to break down and cry because he knows that he will never get to experience these things again. Sangyeon and Jacob's offer to stay home seems like a good idea now. 

Eric asks his teacher to go to the nurse because he does not feel well. At the nurse's office, he lies and says that he is sick and needs to go home. Luckily, she believes him and Eric gets picked up about ten minutes later. 

Just like the day before, he lays on the living room floor and cries. 

"Do you want to talk about it?" Chanhee asks Eric, sitting down next to him. 

"School was horrible. I went to the class that Joon and I had, then I got flooded with so many memories and it made me sad that I'll never be able to have that again." Eric replies, holding onto his hyung and crying. 

"Eric, how about we go to the arcade? That will take your mind off of things." Younghoon suggests. 

"Joon and I had our first date at the arcade." Eric states, crying even harder now and running to his room. 

"Younghoon!" Changmin angrily whispers, hitting Younghoon.

"I forgot, sorry." 

"What can we do to make him feel better? It hurts seeing our little prince so sad like this." Jaehyun says. 

"I think I know what to do. Jacob, can you pack the fishing gear while I go talk to Eric?" Sangyeon blurts out. 

Jacob nods and Sangyeon goes to convince Eric into coming with him. Once Eric calms down, he agrees to go with Sangyeon to the fishing pond. 

At the pond, Sangyeon and Eric sit on the edge with their lines in the water. It is silent for several minutes until Eric suddenly makes a remark. 

"Hyung, I don't think I will ever find another guy again." 

"Eric, that's not true. You'll find another boyfriend." Sangyeon assures. 

"That's easy for you to say, you're married. You don't know what it's like having a boyfriend and then breaking up with him." Eric responds. 

"What, you think that I have just been married to Jacob my whole life? I had boyfriends and broke up with them when I was your age too." Sangyeon begins. 

"Look, I know it's hard losing your first boyfriend. I remember when it happened to me, I was just as upset as you were, but I eventually felt better. Then, I had some more boyfriends until I finally met Jacob." 

"What I am trying to say is that while it might seem like everything is over and you will never meet someone again, that's just not true. You have plenty of time to meet the one that is right for you." Sangyeon concludes. 

"You really think I can find another guy as great as Joon?" Eric inquires. 

"I know you will. You're such a great guy, boys will be busting down the door to be with you sooner than you think."

Eric smiles in response. 

"Can soon be a little bit from now? I feel much better, but I'm still a little upset and miss Joon." Eric says. 

"Of course it can. You can take as much time as you need before you're ready to start dating again." Sangyeon answers, putting his arm around Eric and bringing him closer. 

"Thanks for taking me out here, hyung. It really made me feel better." 

"I know how you like coming out here when you need to clear your mind, so I was hoping it would still work."

"Well, I do have one more problem. Could you help me with it?" Eric mentions. 

"Anything."

"I'm starving. Will you take me home and make me something to eat?" Eric asks.

"You bet I will. You haven't eaten a proper meal in a couple days, so how about I make you a meal fit for a prince?" 

"As long as I can have ice cream for dessert."

"Of course you can, we'll make an ice cream sundae for you." Sangyeon responds, ruffling Eric's hair as the two of them walk back to the car to drive home.