“Hyung, are you okay?” Sanghyun asked, watching Joon playing with his food.

“What? Yeah, I’m fine,” Joon said, sounding distracted. Sanghyun frowned.

“Is the food bad?”

“No, I’m just not hungry anymore.”

“Should we go home?”

“Yeah.”

They got up from the table in silence, Sanghyun still frowning at his friend’s odd attitude. Joon paid for the meal and they walked out of the restaurant.

“Hey, do you wanna go to my place? I just got this new video game, and I thought we could give it a try,” Joon said.

“Video game? But, hyung, you don’t like video games.”

“I—I thought I’d see why you make such a fuss about those things!” Joon exclaimed defensively. “Do you wanna play with me or not?”

“Okay, let’s go! What kind of video game is it, anyway?”

“I can’t remember.”

Sanghyun rolled his eyes.

~*~*~*~*~*~

“Ha! I beat you again! Really hyung, you’re not made for this!”

“I’m letting you win, that’s all!”

“Yeah, sure.” Sanghyun put down his controller. “I’m thirsty, do you have any sodas here?”

“I don’t drink those things,” Joon answered. “But I could buy some if you’d like.”

“Really?” Sanghyun asked, his eyes widened in surprise. “Wow, you’re very generous today.”

Joon glared at him.

“Just kidding, hyung,” Sanghyun said with a smile. “Thanks.”

“Yeah, no problem,” Joon said with a wave of his had. He grabbed his wallet and keys, and turned for the door. “I’ll be back in a minute.”

Sanghyun watched the door close and started looking around. Joon had recently moved out of his parents house, saying he wanted some independence. He lived on his own, and Sanghyun always wondered if his friend really liked being alone. Didn’t Joon miss his family? He couldn’t imagine living without his mom and his sisters, especially Dara, who was always looking after him.

He got up from the floor with a sigh, and went to look around the living room. There were a few books on a shelf, several CDs lined up below, and a stereo. Sanghyun guessed Joon liked to practice in his living room.

Slowly, he made his way to the kitchen, going straight to the fridge, to see if his friend had something there that he’d like.

“Ugh, it’s all full of instant ramen,” he said, closing the fridge’s door. “Doesn't he have anything with meat?”

Turning around, he saw a book lying on the counter. He took it and started flipping the pages. It looked like a movie script. Turning it around he saw the title on the front page, written in English.

Ninja Assassin.

Curious, he turned the page and began reading it. He sat on the stool closest to him and placed the book back on the counter as he kept on reading.

He got so engrossed in the script that he didn’t notice the front door opening again, or Joon coming in with a six-pack of canned sodas.

“What are you doing?” Joon asked. Sanghyun let out a yelp and looked up at Joon.

“Ah, sorry hyung. I got a bit bored so I started looking around.”

“That’s okay,” Joon said, placing the sodas on the counter. “What were you reading?”

Sanghyun picked up the script and showed it to Joon. His friend turned pale when he saw it.

“What is this, hyung?”

“A movie script, babo, what else?”

“Yeah, I noticed that. I mean, why do you have it? And why is it written in English?”

“Uh, it’s—it’s nothing,” Joon stuttered, taking the script from him and throwing it away. It landed on the rug, a few pages bending.

“Aren't I your friend, hyung?” Sanghyun asked in a sad tone.

“Yeah.”

“Then why won’t you tell me? Friends tell each other things, right?”

Joon sighed forcefully, running a hand through his hair. He went to pick up the script from where it had landed and stared at it for a few seconds.

“I went to a casting a while ago,” he said, “It’s for a foreign movie. I—I think they liked what I did ‘cause I got a call a couple of days ago, and they sent me the script.”

“You got a role in a foreign movie? That’s so cool! And it sounds really interesting from what I read.”

“Yeah, but I’m going to say no.” Joon sighed again.

“What? Why? Hyung, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity! You can’t reject it!”

“The thing is... if I say yes, I’d have to go to Los Angeles for three months.”

~*~*~*~*~*~

Sanghyun couldn’t sleep.

He kept thinking about what Joon had said to him before he left his friend’s house.

“I don’t want to go to L.A. and leave you here.”

What was that supposed to mean? Did Joon really think that he couldn’t take care of himself?

Maybe that was his own fault.

He had always been too dependant on Joon, relying on his older friend to help him out when he got in trouble. His infamous breakdown when Joon went to college still made him blush in embarrassment.

I have to prove to him that I can be fine on my own.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Over the next few days, Sanghyun attempted to convince Joon that he’d be fine, and that he didn’t have to stay in Seoul and miss his big opportunity (“Rain is going to be in it too, hyung! You love Rain!”), but not even the prospect of being close to his favorite idol seemed to change Joon’s mind about rejecting the part.

He was again at Joon’s apartment, reading the script out loud and commenting on how awesome the scenes would look on a movie screen.

“Stop this, Sanghyun, I’ve already made up my mind, I’m not going,” Joon said, when Sanghyun stopped reading for a moment to get some air.

“Why?” he asked.

“I already told you.”

“I’m not a baby, I can take care of myself!” Sanghyun exclaimed, feeling angry, all of a sudden. I’m not a little boy who needs to be protected all the time.

“I never said you couldn’t!”

“You told me you won’t go because you don’t want to leave me here!”

“Yeah, but that’s not why,” Joon said, turning away.

“Why, then?”

“I—I can’t tell you.”

Sanghyun let out a frustrated sigh. He dropped the script on the couch and got up, grabbing his backpack.

“Okay, fine, don’t tell me. I don’t care. I’m trying to be a good friend, encouraging to go after your dreams, but you obviously don’t care about your own future. I’m leaving,” Sanghyun said, walking towards the door.

“Yah, Sanghyun, wait,” Joon called, going after him. He grabbed Sanghyun by the elbow and turned him around.

“What?”

“I’m sorry.”

Sanghyun twisted his arm, and Joon’s grip loosened.

“Bye, hyung.”

~*~*~*~*~*~

He felt wretched.

In all their years of friendship, Sanghyun had never spoken to Joon like that. The older boy had been too shocked by his sudden departure that he didn’t try to stop Sanghyun again.

Sanghyun had left Joon’s building in a rush of anger that hadn’t subsided until he was halfway home. By the time he reached his house, his anger had completely dissipated, leaving him with a weird feeling of emptiness in his chest.

Dara saw him standing in the hallway, and her expression turned surprised.

“I thought you were going to sleep over at Joon’s,” she said, watching him take off his shoes.

“We sort of had a fight, so I came back home,” he replied.

“You and Joon fought?” she asked incredulously.

“Yeah. I don’t wanna talk about it, noona, so please don’t ask.”

“Okay.”

He ignored the worried look on his sister’s face as he went up to his room. He closed the door, and dropped his bag on the floor. Sighing, he changed his clothes and got into bed.

It took him several hours of tossing and turning to finally succumb to sleep.

He woke up with the first rays of sunlight, feeling as if he hadn’t slept at all. A flash of light to his left caught his attention.

He took his phone from the nightstand, and saw that he had two new messages from Joon.

I called the director. I said I’d go, the first message said. He touched the screen to move on to the next message.

I leave in two days.

sorry for the late update, life's been hectic the last couple of weeks.

what did I just do? Aside from the not so subtle mention of Ninja Assassin, did I just get Joon out of the picture? I don't even know what I'm writing anymore, this story has a mind of its own xD.

I'm sorry if this chapter is kinda lame, I've been really stressed our lately, and I don't think I'll have time to write anything for at least two weeks, since I'm in the middle of my mid-term exams. (procrastination FTW!)

So, we end this chappie with a bit of a cliffhanger? Yeah, I know, I'm being evil. *evil laugh* ehem... I have a question. Should I tag this as joondoong as well? I'm not sure if I should, but there's a lot of joondoong moments, so I thought that maybe I should tag it? What do you guys think?

Again, thanks to everyone who has read, subscribed, commented and/or upvoted this story, you guys are too awesome for words; aaaaaannnd in case you guys didn't notice, I HAVE A POSTER FOR THIS STORY OMG, a thousand million thanks to enidlenej for the wonderful poster :D

(I just realized this is turning into an angst fest OTL. must. make. more. funny....).

Until next time~~!