“I’ll see you tomorrow,” Lani excitedly exclaimed into her phone.

“I’ll be waiting for you,” Lani could hear the smile in L.Joe’s voice and she couldn’t stop the smile that had been plastered across her own face.

It had been just about two months since L.Joe and Lani had physically seen each other and it had been two months since L.Joe and Lani had any sort of meaningful conversation. It was obvious to the two that their relationship was going downhill fast, and that’s when L.Joe made a desperate plea to his manager to give him time off. They had planned to see each other the following day, when Lani would come up to Seoul and stay the night at Teen Top’s dorm –of course without their manager knowing. What L.Joe didn’t know, was Lani was already on a train on her way to Seoul, a day earlier than expected to surprise him.

Lani exited the train, her heart beating fast as she began to get nervous. She took in a deep breath of fresh air and looked up at the sky that was painted pink and orange as the day was coming to an end. Given the time, she knew L.Joe would most likely be at the studio practicing as hard as ever for live performances, and got on the first bus going that direction. It was a 15 minute bus ride before she arrived in front of the familiar building, a million memories and thoughts flooding her mind, it had been awhile since she was last at the company. Her train of thought was lost when she saw bright red hair that she had only seen on her TV screen and in magazines, instantly her heart fluttered and a smile broke out from ear to ear.

Before her feet could do more than just stumble forward, her heart dropped and smile faded. Who was that woman L.Joe was with? Why did they look so comfortable together? What was he doing with her rather than practicing. Lani couldn't help but feel betrayed; after traveling that long distance to surprise him a day early, he was out having fun with another woman. Lani could only get a glimpse of her face before the two left the building and walked off; Lani's feet started moving before her brain did and before she knew it she found herself following secretly behind the two. They walked a few blocks before stopping at a small store, Lani quickly ran up to the window and looked in at the two talking and laughing as they looked at the wide selection of shoes. She couldn't recognize the woman whom L.Joe was with, but she knew for sure she was slightly older than he was. She continued to watch as L.Joe picked out a pair of shoes for the woman and she gladly tried them on.

Lani couldn't watch anymore, she felt empty and broken; she didn't want to see anymore and just turned and ran away. She wasn't sure where she was going, she had nowhere to go anymore, she didn't have an apartment anymore, she couldn't go to the company building, and Teen Top's dorm was out of the question. The only place Lani could possibly go was the one where Changjo had shown her, the place where she and Niel became friends. Lani had to find a different route to the old shed, since she could no longer enter the TOP Media property without valid ID. After a lot of searching and wandering many unknown streets, Lani found herself in front of the abandoned house at the back of the company's building. She walked around to where she remembered the shed to be and looked inside the cracked window. It was pitch black and from what she could see, there was no one in there. She searched her pockets and bag, but she knew she didn't have the key; it became insignificant to her when she moved away. She remembered that Niel had entered the shed multiple times through the window and attempted to do the same, but no matter how much she jiggled and pushed and tugged on that window, it wouldn't move, she just wasn't strong enough to move it on its rusty track.

Lani pulled out her phone and searched through her contact list, for a number she never bothered to click before.

[Come to the shed behind the building. Don't tell anyone. ~Lani]

She waited a few minutes before receiving a short response of 'okay' and slid down against the door of the shed, curling up in a ball in the dead grass. Before Lani could let her mind wander off to what she witnessed earlier, she saw a tall figure walking towards her; it was already too dark out to see anything more than shadows and figures moving around.

She stood up and gave a small bow, "sorry for making you come out, Niel," Lani apologized, feeling sympathetic for randomly dragging him outside. 

"It's okay, but I thought you didn't get here until tomorrow," Niel stated with confusion and surprise.

"I came a day early to surprise L.Joe, but..." Lani trailed off, staring at the ground. 

"But?" Niel persisted, unsure of what she was going to say.

"It's nothing," she quickly tried to mask any emotion that could be read in her face, "the reason I called you out here was because I couldn't get in the shed," she said changing the subject.

Niel just chuckled before heading over to the window and easily sliding it open, Lani just stared in disbelief at how easily Niel was able to open it. He helped her through the small opening before he followed suit and climbed in with ease; they faced each other in the small space, nothing but awkwardness in the air.

Niel cleared his throat, feeling uncomfortable in the situation, “Don’t tell me you came here to cry,” he slightly chuckled, with an underlying concern lingering in his voice.

“What other reason do I ever have to be here?” Lani joked, seriously answering Niel’s question. 

well, as promised, heres an update ~ wee ~