Happy belated birthday to my precious baozi, Xiumin! ♥♥♥

>>>Mari's POV<<<

"Terminal- uh huh. Yes it'll be the- what do you mean you forgot your passport? Check your purse again, we double checked everything before you left! I knew I should've came with you- found it?" I rolled my eyes, trying to keep my temper from boiling over. I was trying to navigate Yumee through Incheon airport by phone since she refused to have me there with her. She was determined to learn how not to get lost. Easier said than done. 

"She can play Bach and Mozart on the piano but she can't read a map of Incheon Airport?" Ren raised an eyebrow. He was busy stuffing himself with the last carton of mint chocolate chip ice cream from my freezer. 

I poked his stomach, "You can swim a 400 M individual medley in less than five minutes but can't make make popcorn without burning it." 

"I like mah corn extra crisp! It's added flavor."

"Yeah, charcoal flavor." 

"I found it!" Yumee chriped. "10:00 PM flight back to Beijing-"

"Beijing? You're supposed to be landing in Shanghai!"

"Oh, oops. Nevermind, wrong terminal. Heehee." 

"YUMEE!" 

"Terminal E5. I found it~" 

"Good lord." Ren shoved another spoonful of ice cream down his throat.

"Thanks for the help cuz."

"Yeah whatever, call me when you land in SHANGHAI." I replied. *If she even makes it there*

"I will! Tell everyone goodbye for me. I feel bad for leaving so suddenly."

"No problem...did you at least say goodbye to your boyfriend?" 

"What? What boyfriend?"

*Clueless girl* "Yixing, Zhang Yixing. He's also known as Lay, spent Christmas and New Years embarrassing himself in front of you, gave you free tours around Seoul while I was busy with work and school. You know that boyfriend?"

"He's not my boyfriend!" Yumee yelped. I could imagine the cherry red color her face probably turned from the blushing. "Yixing was just being a nice-"

"Oh, you call him by his real name? I don't even do that and I've known him longer." 

"Stop teasing me! I'll call you when I land in Beijing-"

"SHANGHAI!"

"SHANGHAI! Good day to you cousin!" She hung up angrily.

I chuckled and tossed my phone aside on the kitchen counter. "She totally likes him." 

"They'd make adorable musically talented mixed babies." Ren gave his spoon one last before tossing it into the kitchen sink behind him. "Now back to business, which college has interested you so far?" He skimmed through my notebook, the smile he had on earlier turned into a deep frown. The same frown he gets when the cosmetic store doesn't have his favorite BB Cream in stock. 

"What?" I asked. "My choices-" 

"Are all out of the country."

"So?" 

"Did you forget about your boyfriend?" 

I pouted and stared at him, "I'm working on that. Let me make a decision first before I break the news to Kai."

"So you plan on leaving him?" 

"You make it sound like I'm dumping him! I'm just going to college. Ever heard of long distance relationships?" 

"Sure, just not one that's ever had a happy ending. I mean sure, you'll start off strong with all the endless lovey dovey texts and late night Skype sessions. But then Kai will be busy with his life draining idol schedules and you'll be off tackling the business world in the states. Sooner or later those endless texts and late night Skype sessions will turn into two minute phone calls that consist of "what did you eat for lunch" or "did you sleep well?" The two of you will eventually cease all contact because life's a , which means your relationship will-" 

That earned a hard and loud smack on the arm from me. Ren yelped in shock and rubbed his arm. "We'll make it work." I mumbled.  "We have to make it work." Breaking up wasn't part of my plan for the future. 

"You're going to have to suffer at least one break up." 

I narrowed my eyes at my best friend. I poked his cheek this time, "What are you trying to tell me?"

"I've already made my final decision, I'm going to London to major in fashion and design." 

"London? You're going to England?!"

"Full ride scholarship to the University of Arts in London."

"You...OH MY GOD." He never even told me he applied there. "YOU NEVER SAID ANY-"

"I didn't expect getting accepted. I sent in early admissions last year and I just got the good news a few days ago."

"Ren, this is amazing! You're going to be a world-class fashion designer!" 

"And I expect my best friend to wear my very first line as the CEO of Kwon Enterprises." Ren pinched my cheek. "Yah, hurry up and send your application to Harvard. I know you, you've had your pretty little eyes on that place for a while now." 

I cleared my throat and drew imaginary lines on the surface of the marble countertops. I couldn't make eye contact with Ren. 

A slight gasp came from him, "You !"

"What?" I pouted. *, he's fast.*

"You already applied, didn't you?!"

My shoulder slumped. I exhaled loudly.

This time, I earned a hard and loud smack on the arm from Ren. "You already got accepted? Oh you little-YOU LIED TO ME. You said you didn't make a choice yet!"

"I didn't think I was going to get in! Hey, you didn't tell me about London!"

"I told you, I didn't think I would get accepted either!" 

"EXACTLY."

"Exactly what?!" Ren snapped. Someone was getting fiesty. 

"WE BOTH KEPT SECRETS FROM EACH OTHER SO WE'RE EVEN NOW."

"FINE."

"FINE."

"WHY ARE YOU STILL YELLING. I THOUGHT WE WERE-"

I slapped my hand over Ren's mouth. "Calm down~" I slowly retracted my hand from his mouth as he nodded obediently. 

A goofy smile crept up both our faces. We simultaneously jumped into each others arms and hopped up and down, "WE'RE GOING TO COLLEGE! AAAAAAAHHHHHHH!" 

"WE GOT INTO COLLEGE! YAAAAAYYYYY!" Ren screamed. 

He laughed and spun me around in numerous circles, "I'M GOING TO BE SURROUNDED BY DROP DEAD GORGEOUS MALE SUPER MODELS WHEN I'M A FASHION DESIGNER!" He threw me onto the couch and continued his happy dance with Choco in his arms. "Choco-yah, do you know why I'm going to be the most fabulously dressed man in the world?" 

Choco barked and his chin happily in response. 

I giggled uncontrollably, "Because..."

Ren ran over to give me a high five, "I'M GOING TO COLLEGE, MUTHAA~" He squeezed my hand and pulled me into another hug with Choco. "Creating works of art by day and partying it up in the dorms late at night- oh my lord. I'M DORMING! I'M MOVING OUT OF MY HELL HOLE AND LIVING ON MAH OWN!"

"We have to go celebrate!" 

"Hell yes we do!" Ren gave Choco to me and fished his phone out of his pocket. "I'm going to throw us a goodbye party." 

"Goodbye party?"

"We're going to college! Of course we need a goodbye party!"

"B-but, we haven't even graduated yet. I mean, we haven't even turned eighteen-"

"That's it, our birthday and goodbye party will be on the same day! It'll be one huge celebration, turning legal and signaling the start of our domination over the world. It's going to be the best party ever!" Ren hastily put his shoes on and opened the apartment door. He screamed out an "I'll call you later!" before leaving with a loud slam of the door. 

*What just happened?* Did I just confirm my future plans without even realizing it? I haven't even gotten the chance to-

The door bell rang before I could finish my train of thought. *Probably Ren again, idiot must've forgotten something* I opened the door, expecting to see the overly hyper seventeen year old again. But it was the exact opposite. What I got was a seemingly pissed off nineteen year old man with folded arms. *Oh boy*

"Hi there..." I gave a faint smile. My feet shuffled backwards as Kai entered, locking the door behind him. I eyed the black duffel bag in his hands, I'm guessing he just came back from a late night practice session. His piercing, extremely cold, stare began to frighten me. "Y-yah, what's wrong with you-" He dropped the bag on the floor and took a bigger steps to close the short distance between us. 

I yelped as his hands took hold of my waist. Our bodies molded perfectly together into a hug, leaving me utterly speechless and dumfounded. His lips could be felt pressed against my forehead. "Are you leaving me?" His voice was barely a whisper. 

I pulled away from him to meet his poker face stare. "What?"

"You're going away, aren't you? That's why you've been avoiding me. It clearly explains your lack of focus these days."

"Jongin, I-"

"I knew this would happen." Kai sighed and let go of my waist. He fell back onto the couch with his eyes closed. "I haven't even debuted yet and we're already drifting apart..."

*How dare you make assumptions without even letting me explain myself!*

I kicked his leg, only to have him respond with an angry glare. He pulled me onto his lap in a straddling position, making sure to secure my wrist in his hands to prevent any sudden violent attacks from me. "You've got some nerve to kick me when I'm clearly not happy with you at the moment." he growled. 

"Who says I'm happy with you either?" I shot back. "You can't go saying things like drifting apart without letting me tell my side of the story, idiot."

"Then tell me, Princess." 

"Don't you dare tease me right now, Kim Jongin."

"I'm not teasing, proceed." He let go of my wrists and used his hands to roam my back. 

I took a deep breath before continuing, "I got accepted into Harvard." 

Kai widened his eyes. "Wow, I knew you were smart but I didn't think-"

"I know, I'm still trying to figure out how I even got it."

"Are you really going?"

"I...I don't know. I wanted to talk to you about it and-"

"Go."

His words stunned me. How could he just say "go" without even thinking about it?

"Wait, what do you mean? Do you really want me to go?"

"Of course I don't want to say goodbye but I can't hold you back from pursuing your career."

"Sure, but-"

"Mari, I'm debuting soon and you're going off to college. We both knew this would eventually happen."

>>>Kai's POV<<<

The corner of her eyes began to fill with tears. She buried her face in my chest and choked out a response, "What's wrong with you?!"

I hugged her tightly, "Y-yah, why are you crying?" Mari was not the one to cry. She never cried this easily.

"But I don't want to leave you, idiot! How can you just tell me to leave without any hesitation. I feel like you don't want me anymore! How can you be such a heartless hole?!" 

I chuckled and patted her back, "I'd be heartless hole if I didn't let you go achieve your dream. You want to do your grandma proud and become a successful CEO, right?" 

She sniffed and pulled away from my embrace. Mari nodded cutely and pouted, "But I don't-"

"No buts." I cupped her face and wiped her tears away with my thumbs. "You are going to Harvard while I attempt to survive the music industry with EXO."

"It's four years without you!" Mari wailed. 

"There are such things as breaks. Pabo-yah, it's called a long distance relationship."

Her eyes watered once again, her tears spilled out like a waterfall this time. There was no end to it.

"Stop crying! You're going to get dehydrated from the amount of water you're losing!" 

"Long distance relationships never work out! We'll start off strong with the endless lovey dovey texts and late night Skype sessions. But then you'll be busy with life draining idol schedules and I'll be tackling the business world in the states. Sooner or later the endless texts and late night Skype sessions will turn into two minute phone calls that consist of "what did you eat for lunch" or "did you sleep well?" The two of us will eventually cease all contact because life's a , which means our relationship will-" 

"Woah there~" I kissed her to shut her up. She blinked and stared at me for a bit before pouting. Oh , she was going to start crying again. "Please don't cry! Please, please, please don't cry!" 

"Okay, sorry." Mari sniffed. She rested her head within the crook of my neck, her eyes closed as her arms hugged my torso. 

I closed my eyes as well, leaning my temple against her forehead. Her breathing calmed as I gently her back with one hand. I whispered into her ear, "We'll make it work. Don't worry, okay?" 

"Okay." She muttered. 

"I love you."

"I love you too." 

The warmth of each others embrace was beginning to draw the both of us into dreamland. The weight of her body pressed against mine gave me a sense of comfort. My arms around her body gave her a sense of security. The outside disturbance of honking and speeding cars from Seoul's midnight traffic turned into a faint murmur. The only sounds that could be heard was the synchronization of our heartbeats, along with the accompaniment of the clock that was ticking above us. Time wasn't a concern at the moment. Going back to the dorm wasn't an option.

In this moment in time, I wanted to hold Mari in my arms, forever. 

 

---End of Chapter 50---

 

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