Daehyun's POV~

It's been 5 days since my father had asked me to move to Japan with him and I still haven't given him my answer. I haven't seen Luhan either, except when he came to fill out his drop-out forms. Hanbyul hasn't been herself either; she's been forcing herself to be happy around me. 

Every time I would ask her about what happened with Luhan, she refused to tell me anything. She would change the topic or turn the opposite direction if I did ask. 

Even during group sessions, she would ignore me here and there. 

I was starting to get pissed off. 

After the group session was done for the day and everyone had left, I grabbed Hanbyul's wrist and dragged her up to my room. I shut my door and locked it. 

"W-what are you doing?" she asked covering her body with her arms. I rolled my eyes and told her to sit down. She sat on the edge of my bed as I took a seat by my computer desk. 

"What's up with you lately?" I asked. "You've been avoiding me. Why?"

"I haven't been avoiding y-"

"Don't lie to me, pabo," I frowned. "What are you hiding from me? What exactly happened when you were with Luhan?"

She didn't dare say a word. She was protecting him. 

I got out of my chair and walked towards her as she shifted in her place. I kneeled on one knee in front of her and looked in her eyes, holding her hands that laid on her lap. 

"What happened when you were there?" I calmly asked. I saw that she swallowed hard, fighting the temptation. "Hanbyul, you're not leaving my room until you tell me something that will satisfy my curious heart."

Her lips were tightly pressed together and she cleared . 

"We talked, Luhan and I talked," she quietly said. "That's it."

"Not enough," I said demanding for more. "What did you guys talk about?"

She sighed and stood up, frustrated. "Daehyun, why do you want to know? This has nothing to do with you."

"Because it's the only way I can help him, Hanbyul," I said, receiving her frustrated energy. I stood up and grabbed her arms. "I can't approach him and I know it's difficult for you to approach him too, but at least you get something out of it. He can only be honest with you, Hanbyul."

She was breathing heavily, hesitating. 

"Hanbyul," I begged. "I know that you're aware of him dropping out. And sharing the same thoughts, I don't want him to drop out. So you have to tell me something; anything that will help me help him."

She averted her eyes and let out a deep breath. 

"Fine," she agreed. I felt relieved hearing that. "But I'm only telling you these things because I still believe that you and Luhan will return to who you guys were when you were kids. Because you're the only one who can change his mind."

I smiled and hugged her tight as she returned the hug. "Thank you, Hanbyul."

"Yeah," she replied.

Just then, there was a knock at the door. 

"Buddy?" I heard my father's voice. I widened my eyes and released the hug. 

"Oh no," I whispered with a curse and looked at Hanbyul. I knew why he had come; it was to discuss about my decision. Not only that, but Hanbyul didn't know anything about it either. 

"Do you want me to hide under the covers again?" she asked biting her bottom lip. 

"Nah, just stay here," I said. "I'll go talk to him downstairs."

She nodded and I went to unlock the door. I opened it wide enough for me to fit through and for him to not see Hanbyul since they've never met before. 

"About Jap-"

"Let's talk downstairs in the kitchen. I'm a bit thirsty," I lied and dragged him down the stairs. 

In the kitchen, I poured us a glass of water and we took a seat by the dining table. 

"About Japan, have you thought about it?" he asked, taking a gulp of the water. 

"I haven't put much thought into it," I replied honestly. "I've been too focused on my upcoming exams, graduation and stuff."

My father gave me a look and sighed. "You know I have a deadline, right? I need to know what your decision is by the end of this month, so I can start planning our lives in Japan after you graduate."

"Yeah," I whispered. 

"Buddy, all I really need is a yes or a no. It shouldn't be that hard," appa said soon taking another gulp of his water. 

I wondered why it was so hard to make that decision. 

I wanted to move because I wanted to accompany appa, but it's not like he'd be home anyways. 

I wanted to create new memories there, but with whom?

Even if I went to Japan, it wouldn't be any different than the lifestyle I'm currently living here in Korea. 

"Daehyun, I really hope you can come to Japan with me," appa smiled. "We'd have fun there. Please, think about it."

"Yeah," I responded and drunk my water.

"Well, I have a business dinner to get ready for, so I'll excuse myself," he said and stood up, then just froze. His eyes were looking behind me and I widened my eyes, knowing that there could only be one thing he was looking at; one person.

I turned around and saw Hanbyul. I immediately stood up. 

"Han-"

"Hello," my father spoke. She softly smiled and bowed to him. "And who may you be?"

"My name is Park Hanbyul," she introduced herself. "I'm a friend of Daehyun's."

"Ahh, I see," he smiled. I swallowed hard and felt my face burn up, embarrassed. 

"Uhm, I kind of overheard you two talk," she softly spoke. 

I felt my heart hit against my chest. 

"Are you taking Daehyun to Japan with you?" she cautiously asked as my father snickered. 

"I plan to, but that all depends on his answer," he replied to her question and looked to me. She was also looking at me. 

I felt the heavy pressure. 

"Well, I'll leave the two of you to talk," appa said looking at his watch, then turned to Hanbyul. "It was nice meeting you."

"You too," she smiled and bowed as he walked passed her and out the front door. 

"About Japan-"

"Why didn't you tell me?" she asked with a pout. That pouted melted my heart, in a guilty way.  

"I didn't know when the right time was because you kept ignoring me," I partially lied. "I was going to tell you sooner or later."

Her eyes traveled down to the ground. "You haven't decided yet, huh?"

"No, not yet," I said. "Although it may seem like an easy question to answer for you, it's not so easy for me. For once in my life, I might be able to get close to my dad again, but I have a feeling it wouldn't be any different than it is now. That's why it's difficult."

She understood my situation and didn't say anything with that same pout. 

"Don't give me that face," I sighed and walked to her. I gave her a hug. "Once I make my final decision, I'll let you know, okay? I do have a deadline after all."

She nodded against my chest. I smiled and hugged her tighter. 

Days went by and Hanbyul had told me everything she and Luhan talked about. She told me about his journals and the things that were written in them. 

I couldn't help, but felt betrayed. As his friend, he wasn't able to seek comfort from me and bottled everything up. 

I was disappointed in myself for giving up on him and for judging him after the accident. I should have known something was wrong by the time he started acting strange. But like me, he's not good at expressing his emotions. 

I had to do something for him...for us. 

With the help of Hanbyul, I received Luhan's new address and headed on over to his house after school. 

Just the exterior of the place was horrible. I walked up the stairs as it creaked and wobbled, but I managed to get to the roof; to his house. 

I took a deep breath and approached the door, knocking on it. There was no answer at the first few knocks, so I knocked louder. 

"Is he not home?" I wondered, scratching the back of my head. 

"Daehyun?" I heard his voice from behind. I turned around and saw Luhan with wide eyes. "How did you-"

"A little bird told me," I shrugged then suddenly became serious. "Lets talk, hyung."

He sighed and agreed to talk, so we entered his shabby house. It reeked. It was broken down.

"Sorry, there isn't much room to sit," he apologized, kicking his stuff out of the way.

There was hardly anything in this so-called house. A mattress on the floor, clothes messily stacked in the corner and pots and pans on the "kitchen" counter.

"So, what did you want to talk about?" he asked half-heartedly.

"Stuff," I answered. I walked around his house trying to look for his journals in this mess.

"Stuff?" he questioned. "Be more specific."

"I don't know," I said and looked at him. "Maybe the truth? The truth that you've been hiding from me?"

He smirked with a scoff and crossed his arms, leaning against the counter. "She told you, didn't she?"

"You can't blame her, hyung," I frowned. "She wants to help you like how I do."

"I know," Luhan sighed. "I knew she was going to tell you about it all sooner or later, so I'm not disappointed at her for that."

"That's right, because you should be disappointed at yourself," I smirked. "I had to hear everything from her and not you, yourself."

Luhan's eyes traveled down to the floor. I saw he had a faint smile.

"You don't know how long I've been disappointed at myself," he softly said. "I've been living like that for the past few years."

I furrowed my eyebrows and pushed myself off the wall. I walked towards him. "Why? Why didn't you tell me anything?"

"What was the point of telling you when you've already started hating me?" he said, his head still hanging low.

"Are you stupid? Before all of that! Why didn't you tell me the moment your parents started to argue? The moment you lost yourself?!" I shouted with rage. I was annoyed to the max. "If you had seeked help from me, none of this would have happened! You wouldn't have assulted me; I wouldn't have hated you; you wouldn't have had to desperately ask for my forgiveness! You and I would have still been best friends, but because of your own selfishness, it all turned out to be like this!"

"I admit that it was all my fault! But what can I do now?!" he croaked. "It's not like I can go back in time and fix everything, Daehyung. I can't!"

He was crying. Like a child, he was crying.

"Hyung," I whispered. "It's okay to not be okay. Please don't hide in the past anymore. So please, come back to school...come back to me, hyung."

Luhan shook his head. "I can't go back. I can't face anyone anymore. I'm too embarrassed...too scared."

I deeply sighed and wiped his tears away as he sniffled.

"You know I've started realizing that I shouldn't live up to others expectations," I comforted him, like I should have when we were pre-teens. "I shouldn't be what others expect me to be. I shouldn't be afraid of who I am or what my parent's social status is. I should start living for myself and if not for myself then for others. For me, I didn't want to live for my parents. I didn't even want to continue my education if it were not for the people I've encountered and became friends with. Hanbyul. Youngjae. Surprisingly, Sulli and Krystal. I've decided that I want to do well with and for them. I want to make them proud. I want to graduate alongside them and smile together. Don't you have the same thoughts as me? Don't you want to graduate with us? So don't feel that there's nothing left for you; that there's no one because we're still here. You just won't look in our direction. Let us be your strength. Let us be your friends, hyung. Don't drop out because we want to graduate with you. At least let us be selfish to this point."

He started to sob. I didn't know how to react since this was the first time I've seen him sobbing, so I patted his back.

"Don't be afraid of those who can only speak ill of you," I encouraged. "If you live in fear, then that's all you'll have. So let us protect you until you overcome that fear."