(Listen to 0330 by U-KISS : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=prEl8BGb6PE)

I wondered about letting go. 

Being around Woohyun was getting difficult and I wondered if it was a sign that I shouldn't be with him. But a more conscious part of me knew that the discomfort was because of my inability to return his smile with ease, to fearlessly hold his hand and hug him. The difficulties would only disappear with the distance between us. There was exactly a week left. Time had flown by at the speed of light and I half-heartedly prayed for more, that too hoping that fate would present a 'win-for-all' situation before me. 

"Is it because I'm not over him yet? Have I been loving two people at the same time?" I whispered to Kairi. My friend grimaced, changing it to a sympathetic smile when a quiet moment passed.

"Don't make it more difficult than it already is," she said. "Just tell yourself -- what can I do? What can I NOT do? Be honest with yourself, it'll be easier."

I furrowed my eyebrows until a familiar voice reached us. 

"I was looking for you."

It was like a time warp as I experienced the same feeling of body over mind. My heart recognized him faster than my conscience and I turned around to give him a small smile. Woohyun blinked at me and nodded at Kairi, making the latter pout her lips and mutter, "Don't brainwash her." She left with a smile towards me and a shrug towards him. Woohyun stifled a laugh and sat where Kairi had earlier been lying down. Our eyes met and I surprisingly eased.

"You're making this difficult for me," I finally said. Woohyun didnt' flinch, he was no longer the sensitive man who was full of reactions. Deep inside I knew that this development in personality had made me fall harder than expected.

"You're wrong," he calmly replied and raised his hands. Listen, he mouthed and I swallowed back whatever gibberish I was planning on saying.

"I know," he continued. "It's easier said than done to just walk away with me but I wish you could just..." His words faltered and he smiled. "I won't say anymore."

I heaved a sigh. "No. Tell me." How bad could it be, we had come so far....

"Remember why you left me?"

Okay so there was scope for worse.

"I'm not reopening any past wounds." Woohyun his lips and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "I just... I still don't know why we ended."

My jaw dropped open and shook my head in confusion. Until now, the only thing I had come up with for this crazy comeback was him trying to redeem us. When he didn't even know how things had died, how was the rebirth going to take place?

"You think I toughened up for you, right?" Woohyun smirked when I blushed and looked away. "Look here. Yeah, now keep looking. Don't turn away. Saya, we're not in high school. The only thing that has happened to me in the past five years is growing up. I wasn't incarcerated or taken the harsh step of self-exile. I matured, everyone does. So did you. Not really, though. Hey! Just listen."

The joke finished as a new light shone in his eyes. "The changes I wanted to experience with you took place but you weren't there by my side. I'd stay up all night, racking my brain and trying to figure out why you didn't call me later. Was I so bad to you? Was I not deserving of an explanation?"

Woohyun didn't run out of breath but I did. He wasn't trying to play the pity card, this was Woohyun as himself. All he wanted was for me to hear him out and so I did.

"You didn't wrong me, I know. You didn't love him back then, I know. It took time for you and sometimes I regret not swallowing my pride and begging you even more. But the more I think about it, the less I regret... The past few weeks were meant to be, at least that's what I feel. I've realized that life falls back into itself, that the pieces magnetically align with each other and that the two of us would continue to grow regardless of whether we're together or apart. But there's something else that I learned too..."

Woohyun then took my hand and instead of guilt, I embraced the warmth of relief.

"I cannot erase you. I will not erase you. The more we run away from each other, the more casualties will take place. This time it's Jae Hyo and if you turn away now, Lord knows who else will have to suffer in the future. I wish I could say this is for just the two of us. But our love is bigger than that Saya. Over the years, all it has done is strengthen. We never knew weakness."

Woohyun slowly let go of my hands as I gulped and pursed my lips. "We'll always get chances, we'll always be thrown in together. But each time we struggle out of each other's lives, we'll only tangle up the ones we love the most. We'll gamble for us but we'll destroy the others."

                                                                         *********************************************************

I bit back my tears and stood up. This is a tough path Saya, I thought as I walked away, my vision slowly blurring. But you chose this. Still, I won't let you go. Not ever.

As I turned around the corner, the looming figure of a familiar shadow stood in my peripheral. 

"Why don't you just take her away?" Hoya muttered. "It'll be easier, right?"

I snorted. "If it was all about the smooth road, who told you to interfere?"

I took one last glance at Saya's reflection and sighed. "You told me he sees your strength. Then why aren't you using it?"