What Lies in Front of Us

“WHO DARES TO CALL ME AT 2 ING AM IN THE MORNING?!?”

“H-Heechul-hyung?” I sniffle into my phone.

“Donghae! Are you alright? Well of course not, you’re crying… What happened?”

“I-I take the *sob* job offer..”

“Oh, god. Hae, what did he do?” I flinch slightly at the pet name you always give me.

“He- he.. he asked me, if I.. if I would be his best man”

“Oh, no…”

“He’s going to marry her, hyung, he’s gonna marry her!” I can’t hold it anymore and my sobs turn into cries of pain and heartbreak.

“Hae.. Please, calm down… Do you have a car in Seoul?”

“N-no. Nobody n-needs a car he-here”

“Pack your things, I’ll be there in 2 ½ to 3 hours”  I take very unpretty and loud, shaky breaths before I manage to mumble a soft ‘Okay’ and he hangs up. I can’t think about you, because if I do, I’m sure I’ll collapse, so I quickly make my way to my room and pull out three suitcases and start packing everything. Everything, except for things that could remind me of you, knowing that Heechul-hyung would probably find and burn them. Way too early I’m done and there’s nothing left in my apartment but photo’s, plushies of Nemo you got me for all my birthdays, that I’m certainly gonna miss (though I did pack the biggest one), clothes I bought while shopping with you and of course Cora in her fishbowl, the real clownfish you got me as a present for my birthday last month. I still remember your face when you told me how you at first wanted to call it Nemo; then Marlin, because he wasn’t missing a part of his fin, but then you were told that he was actually a she and you needed to google for the name of Nemo’s mother, before you could finally give me my present. I feed her one last time before checking the time on my phone. 4:16 am. I still have 15-45 minutes left.

I start typing a message, the scene that was taking place only hours ago popping into my mind again.

Flashback

“Would you be my best man?”

I literally feel my chest being ripped apart. I know what I was hoping for couldn’t be real, but I’m definetly not prepared for this to happen. So I just blurt out the first thing popping into my head:

“I’m moving to Gwangju” You frown immediately and I almost hate myself for taking that wide smile off your face. I can’t say anything, still being shocked myself.

“W-what?”

“I was offered the post of vice president at my company’s branch in Gwangju. It’s a really nice job; I’d get more money, some friends of mine already work there, also I would live much closer to my mother and you know how lonely she is, since, you know.. since my dad died…” Plus I’d be away from you and your fiancé…

“But… But that’s like… 150 miles away”

“170 miles, actually…”

“That’s almost 3 hours of driving… How are we going to see each other?” Probably not at all. Hopefully. “And how are you coming to my wedding?” Just the same.

“I don’t know, Hyukjae. I don’t know if I can make it... With the new position comes a lot of work, so…“ We stay silent for a while and I don’t dare to look you in the eyes, afraid, that I might start crying.

“I… I think I should go now…” You get up and leave the room, my home and probably my life, without looking back to see the tears forming in my eyes.

End of Flashback

Hyukjae’s POV

“I’m moving to Gwangju”

That sentence keeps replaying in my head as I make my way as silently as possible to my bedroom, where I know Hyoyeon is waiting for me. I change into pajamas and carefully crawl under the blanket, hugging my hopefully-soon-to-be-fiancé from behind. She’s stirring slightly.

“Did I wake you up? I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to” She turns in my arms, now facing me.

“No, it’s okay. I’m always glad if I get to see you, even if it’s like” She looks at her digital clock “2am” Leaning up she presses her lips firmly against my own. Even though this touch doesn’t make my heart flutter like it used to, I know that this is right; I know this is meant to be. I wouldn’t know how to survive without her, especially now that Donghae leaves for a place a three-hour-drive away. My best friend, maybe for me to never see again once he’s gone. Both of us will be busy with work. He, probably even more than myself because of his new position and unhealthy ambition. Beside that I have a girlfriend to take care of, who can be very clingy and sometimes would get jealous, but I love her and would never want to lose her.

“Why did you take me out to this really fancy restaurant? Normally you would sneak into my house and cook for me or wait at yours with dinner ready and rose petals on the bed…”

“I wanted to plan something with food that actually tastes good” I smile widely at her.

“Your cooking isn’t that bad… But seriously. Why did you take me out? I could’ve met your friend anywhere”

“Best friend. And as I said, I planned something. But seeing how the evening progressed the romantic atmosphere somehow got lost…” Plus I wanted my best man to be there when I ask you to marry me.

“I couldn’t think of something any more romantic than this right now. Both of us together, just cuddling in bed with lights out… That restaurant is nothing compared to this…
Now what did you plan, I’m curious?” She pouts. How cute. But nothing compared to Donghae’s pout. I let out a chuckle, tighten my grip on her and whisper seductively into her ear.

“I’ll tell you tomorrow” She tries hard to deepen her pout but fails as my breath tickles her ear and causes her to giggle. Like that we fall asleep until something lightens up the room, awakening me in the process. I look around for the source and identify my phone as the culprit. Inwardly groaning I reach back, carefully trying not to wake my girlfriend again.

4:22 am

[X] 1 unread message [A/N [X] <- failed attempt to make something look like an envelope]

From: Hae~

Hey, Hyukjae
I’m leaving today. Heechul will fetch me up and I’ll live with him in Gwangju until I find an apartment to rent.
I’m sorry that I didn’t tell you goodbye personally, but it just turned out like this.
Please take good care of Cora; I will leave her here, since I don’t know if animals of any kind are allowed in the available apartments. I’d leave you the key, but I know you have your own, so just fetch her up when you have time, she doesn’t need to be fed until tomorrow. Feel free to take whatever’s left in the apartment; Heechul told me that he had furniture he didn’t need any more that I could use, so I don’t need to take those things with me. See it as a wedding gift from me, since I don’t know if I can attend your marriage.
So… I guess we’ll see each other sometime…

What?!? He’s leaving today?!?

I get up hastily after removing myself from Hyoyeon’s embrace and run still towards the door, grabbing my keys on the way out, still in my pajamas, consisting of a pair of grey baggy sweatpants.

Furiously I drive down the familiar streets towards his apartment block, gripping the steering wheel and cursing at every single stoplight for changing just a few seconds too early. I pass the last one in my hurry, seeing that there’s no one around at this early hour anyways. Arriving I jump outside, slipping my copy of his keys into the pocket of my pants, and into the big building in front of me. I storm up the stairs, ignoring the elevator in front of me that would take too long waiting for; I need to keep moving. I don’t know why I’m this anxious; I just have the feeling that if I don’t get to see him now, I might never see him again. Finally getting to the fourth floor I knock hard on his door, not caring about his neighbors, and yell breathlessly.

“Donghae? Hae!”

No answer.

I rummage through my pocket and try fitting the key into its lock (failing until the third attempt because of my shaky hands) and, by now feeling my bare feet freeze on the tiled floor, make my way inside. I walk towards the living room and turn on the light in progress. Like this I go through the whole apartment looking for him, the last room being the most probable: his bedroom. But I don’t find him. I don’t find anything. No DVD’s, no CD’s, no clothes lying on the floor (They always do, even if it’s been less lately and now that I think of it, I rarely even was in his bedroom since I met Hyoyeon).

Normally I would scold him for his messy behavior, but now I wish for nothing more than some of his shirts being carelessly tossed to places they shouldn’t be, or just any evidence of his presence; still I can’t change the fact that there is none. At least not enough to hold against the proof of his disappearance.

He’s gone.

And like he promised in his text, he left certain things behind; but not only furniture. On his bed are still two of the stuffed Nemo’s I bought him and walking through the other lifeless rooms I find a clownfished key chain on the kitchen table, Cora in her bowl with the fish food next to her and pictures all over the apartment, that either show me or remind me of a scene where I was holding the camera to take the photo. Everything that’s still here has one thing in common.

It’s somehow related to me. And that’s when realization hits me.

He wants to forget me.

____________________________________________________________

Finally I get this done!
I’ll try to update every weekend, seeing that during the week is kind of impossible with all the school-stuff and it took me almost the whole day typing what I had written (in school, so no complaints :D), correcting mistakes, adding or scratching things, working on details or things in general. I beta-ed and proofread it just now and I’m really tired (and still have homework to do), even though it’s only half past ten in the evening, so please don't mind the mistakes.

Even though I'm kind of unsatisfied with it what I wrote, I really hope you guys leave a lot of nice comments like you did last chapter, it would give me the strength and motivation to write the next one^^

Love you all!
Bye <3~

P.S.: And I want to apologize to everyone if it's already monday in your country... I didn't reckon with time zones... sorry ^^'