Ara blinked. Once. Twice. She then took a deep breath, taking in what she just heard. Sehun was going to stay in Germany for another month? Another whole month? Feeling confused, disappointed and shocked at once, Ara leaned against the back of her chair. Was … was this some kind of joke? A bad joke, she thought, pressing her lips together. The past seven days, in which she'd been aware of her feelings, had been more than enough for her. Knowing one had to face such a long wait, without any contact from the person one loved, was terrible. The worst of all was that she missed him.

After having finally realized and acknowledged that fact, it seemed as if she missed him even more. The normal Ara wasn’t someone to bother herself with missing someone, or to occupy herself having such emotional thoughts. But it seemed that along with the realization of her feelings came the decrease of her rational self's power. Besides, who did she want to kid? She wouldn’t have acknowledged missing him if it wasn’t as severe as it was.

She wasn’t exaggerating things, not was she unnecessarily wasting time to think about it. It was just, that anything in her surroundings reminded her. Reminded her that a part – an important one – was missing. Sehun was part of her life. And having him gone now that she'd finally become aware of his importance was, in a way, suffering. It wasn’t as severe to make her cry – Park Ara wasn’t someone to cry –, but the strange feeling that made her unable to do anything with all her heart seemed to be worse than plain sadness. Emptiness was something she couldn’t grasp, she couldn’t get a hold of. No one could.

-

“Father, I accepted one month. I put a lot effort into my studies here. I did as you told, and now I want to go back,” Sehun said into his phone with gritted teeth. The month had been pure stress for him. He attended so many classes, even attending extra classes to improve his German and English, and when the classes were over, he would be visiting the company of his father's friend to get a better overview of companies (as the hospital wasn’t that much of a company). When he returned, he had to study. And then, utterly tired, he would fall into his bed. Other than the fact that everything concerning social life had been blocked by his father – so he would focus on his studies – he didn’t have time to contact his friends and Ara through other options (such as call centers or internet shops) either as his full schedule barely left him enough time to sleep – and sleep was what he really needed – so he couldn’t even dream of leaving the dormitory to look for call centers or internet shops.

However, it wasn’t as if all the studies had no result. No. Sehun had indeed learned very much about economics and having been faced with an actual company, he really knew what awaited him in the future. Now, he knew the responsibilities that came with a leading position, and he also grew to respect his father more. Even if he despised his father's harsh methods, he understood that the older male's life wasn’t easy as well. The hospital needed an heir. Sehun came to realize all that, and little did he know that the spark of willingness inside him was growing. Some things, he had to accept, even if they didn’t coincide with his own opinion.

One cannot get anything one wants. Life is just like this.

“I acknowledge your effort, but seeing how much you're putting into your studies I want to foster it even more. I am sure you learned a lot, and receiving the chance of studying one more month is worth a lot. I won't let that opportunity get wasted. If everything works out, we can get even half a month more,” his father explained, and as much as Sehun hated to admit it, what his father said seemed reasonable. It was a chance that should not be wasted. Sehun couldn’t deny everything he learned in only one month. But even if there was so much more to learn, he wanted to rest. He wanted to go back, see his friends and spend his time relaxing with them, and mostly he wanted to see Ara.

To say he missed her was a huge understatement. He missed her presence, her little smiles, her unusual way of cheering him up and giving him strength. He wanted her to tell him not to pressure himself too much. He wanted to see her working hard so he could tell himself not to slack off and work as hard. He wanted her raspberry scent to fill his nose, wanted her determined eyes to stare into his, and wanted to hear assuring words from her lips. Because he knew her voice was full of sincerity; he knew that when she assured him something, he'd believe her in a blink of an eye, because she always sounded certain, so sincere and determined. Such little things, he wanted … he needed.

Without him realizing it, the girl had become his source of strength. And right now, he could do nothing but reminisce the times she indirectly or directly helped himf. He drove himself on with the awareness that Ara was definitely working hard as always, back in Korea. He knew that even without him, she'd go on and work hard. And he wanted follow her lead. But, it was hard. Not having his source of strength around him was tiring. So, even if it hurt his pride, he told his father through the call, “But I … I miss Korea.” It was the first time he presented his father his vulnerable side. Even as a child, he never showed his parents or anyone else his vulnerability.

There was a moment of silence. “One of my friend has a child around the same age as you, and he wanted to send his child to your university as well. You’re both Korean, so you can become … friends,” his father said, a hint of awkwardness in his voice as he wasn’t used to trying to cheer his son up. But if Sehun said he missed home, then a same-age friend should be good. Besides, that child's father was a good friend of him; however he'd never met the child.

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