It was our Friday tradition. We never broke it.

Ever.

Never ever.

It was a tradition. 

It was not supposed to be broken.

And yet, it was, in front of my eyes as my best gal-friend, Soul-Unnie we called her, put off our traditional movie night and my best guy-friend, Sungyeol, agreed. It was too fast and too simple, too shocking and too sudden, but I couldn't do anything about it.

"You sure you can't get out of it? You did before," I pleaded, giving my best broken-hearted look. I saw the falter in her stance, but she stood firm.

"You know that I wouldn't have been able to make it anyways," she soothed gently. "Even if I wasn't going to tour Jiaheng around town this Friday, I would have been busy for..." 

She faltered and she shifted uncomfortably. Sungyeol and I looked at each other before looking at her piercingly.

"What?" I prodded carefully. 

"What's the matter Noona?" Sungyeol questioned, raising an eyebrow. His normally loud voice was softer and she opened carefully.

"I'd be touring England's academies," she muttered softly.

"...What?" I questioned, giving a shaky laugh. "Touring England's academies? What type of a joke is that?"

My attempts to play off the news were easily shot down.

"I was offered to skip the rest of high school and straight into the second year of college," she admitted, daring to meet my eyes before turning to Sungyeol who was shocked stiff. "Everything will be paid for and I'll be allowed to come visit November to January every year until graduation, but no other times."

"But-"

"There's no ifs, ands, or buts about it," she cut into my protest. She looked at me softly, giving an apologetic smile. "I'm taking it. It's a big chance."

"But our Friday nights-"

"-won't happen for a while," she completed, turning to Sungyeol. "I'm sorry to you too Yeollie. I don't think I'll every be able to repay the two of you."

"But Noona!" Sungyeol began to protest. "What about the two of us? We'll be lost without you! We need you! We were always together! Best friends forever! You promised!"

The accusation was so clear in his heartbroken voice, Soul-Umma shifted uncomfortably.

"I'm sorry," she repeated, unable to say much else. "But this is an opportunity of a lifetime. I can't turn it down."

"You can," Sungyeol protested, his eyes swimming with tears. "You will, won't you?"

She sighed.

"Yeollie," she called in a tone that we both knew all too well. He took off running. Soul-Unnie turned to me. 

"You should go after him. I don't have the right anymore," she murmured, turning to leave. 

"You should go after him," I countered, stopping her from leaving. "He...likes you."

"But you like him," she reminded gently, giving me that look again, the one that encouraged but crushed all at once, reminding me of something but making me forget about something too. She pulled away from me.

"Go."

So I ran. I was tall for a girl, but even at 170 cm, Sungyeol was over 180 cm and thus ran farther and faster. It took minutes before I caught up to him and even then, the two of us only collapsed to the ground, wheezing and crying all at once. 

"Why?" he cried finally. The two of us lay on our backs, crying under the shade of a large tree, ignoring the world around us and only focusing on ourselves under the sun's blaring heat and shade's icy presence. 

"Why is she leaving us?" he asked, as though he didn't understand.

I did.

I didn't like it, but I did.

Skipping three years of school? Her parents worked hard every day to make end's meet for her and her two sisters. Taking three years off of school plus the all-expense-paid scholarship would definitely take a burden off of them.

i didn't like it.

I wanted us to stay together, forever, as if time would stop just before she had spoken, before the tradition had been broken, before everything fell apart.

"Why is she leaving me?" he questioned again, the back of his palms over his face while crying. I rolled onto my stomach, brushing away my own tears and pushing aside a group of hair. I opened my mouth, but he spoke again.

"I love her."

My heart broke, but I grit my teeth, sitting up.

"Sungyeol," I called harshly, pulling his hands from his face. He looked at me, pink eyes with tears, but also shocked at my sudden aggressiveness.

"I love you."

Unlike the fierceness I called his name, the three words come out as a whisper, soft and barely heard, but lingering.

His eyes widened.

"Bu-"

"I know," I cut off, loosening the grip on his hands. I sat beside him, unable to make eye contact as my eyes strayed towards the grass beside his head and my feet. 

"I know you like Soul-Umma...But I...I always liked you," I admitted, glancing at him but quickly turning away. "...Sungyeol...everything is changing. Our classes changed in middle school, but we always stuck together. Our neighborhood and our homes changed in high school but we still visited every Friday...now neither can happen."

I took a breathe before continuing.

"Soul-Unnie is going to college before us, in another country no less. You finally got into that company Woollim that's in another province. I'm...I'm actually moving this summer to Busan. All the secrets - the loves - we hid are spilling out..." I trailed off before looking down at him. His eyes were still wide, but more dry, as if shocked from tears. 

"Sungyeol we can only hope for things now. Soul-Umma is hoping for our support. You were hoping that she'd fall in love with you and to debut soon. I'm hoping you'll fall in love with me and for everything to stay the same...Sungyeol, nothing's staying the same."

"I lost all hope," Sungyeol cut in, his voice cracking. "I just wanted...I just wanted us all to be happy. I pictured us staying the same forever, but nothing's working out."

"Then hope we'll remember," I urged, looking at him, our eyes matching, mine with determination and his with questions. 

"2 years, 5 years, 10 years, no matter how much time passes, I won't forget all the times we stuck together. I won't forget Soul-Unnie who always took care of me or you my first love. I won't forget the memories we shared or the moments we had. I won't forget anything. So you shouldn't either," I muttered, looking at him seriously. "Pray that even when we're apart, we'll always stay together in our hearts, that we won't forget but always remember that we won't cry, but laugh, and that we'll meet up again once more."

"Well said," a soft voice cut in. Above both of us, Soul-Unnie stood calmly. Sungyeol scrambled to sit up as Soul-Umma sat down beside us. 

"Another reason I was talking to Jiaheng was because his father runs a jewelry shop so I had these custom-made," she explained, pulling things out of her bag. 

"What are these?" Sungyeol asked, unable to keep the wonder and guilt from his tone.

"My present to the both of you," she stated simply. She held out her wrist, a jingling, silver infinity-sign bracelet on it. "With this, we'll always stick together. We're all separating this year. I'm going to England, Sungyeol to Seoul, and you're moving to Busan...So we'll keep these to remember each other by."

She gave an encouraging smile.

"Make a wish."

So we did.

Sungyeol and I carefully pulled the bracelets off of the packet and placed them on our wrists.

"Thanks Soul-Unnie," I cried, hugging her. She was always bad with skinship so I could feel her shift away from me, but she didn't push me away.

"Thanks Noona," Sungyeol agreed, crying into his sleeve this time. 

"Let's promise then," I suggested, wiping away my tears.

"Promise?" Sungyeol quesitoned. 

"In three years, let's meet back here in Gyunggido...on October 10," I decided, giving them my best smile despite the tears.

"It's a promise then," the two agreed, linking pinkies with me.

"When we return, get your feeling sorted out Sungyeol," Soul-Unnie ordered, giving him a knowing look. 

"When we return, you better not talk to me in English," he teased back. 

"No promises," she joked and the three of us laughed.

Friday, the three of us planted a tree in our secret hiding spot - Soul-Umma finishing her tour earlier - to meet back at in three years.

We spent our last month together as though nothing was wrong. 

Then Soul-Unnie left. 

When summer came, Sungyeol and I parted ways too. 

And so we split as though we'd never been together and yet as if we had never separated all at once.