“He said he never made promises that he couldn't keep.” Daesung told himself. He had been repeating that sentence to himself over and over again, like a mantra, to keep the worry demons away. He had started in silence, but figured saying it out loud would give it more power. He was going to believe in Seunghyun's words. He wouldn't have promised to come back unless he was actually planning on coming back. He wasn't the type to give him false hope.

A little while, he had said. How long was a little while? A day? A week? A month? It couldn't be.. a year? The only thing he had promised was to come back, he had said nothing about a specific time frame. The knot in his stomach grew with every step he took. The further he got from the school grounds, the further he felt from Seunghyun. It didn't make any sense, for Seunghyun wasn't at school, he wasn't anywhere. He was gone. No matter where Daesung was, he would be equally gone. Still his heart ached at every foot he put between him and the spot where he last saw him.

After what felt like eternity, he finally reached his house. He grabbed the doorknob, but something prevented him from turning it. It was too symbolic. The moment he closed the door to his house, it was as if he was closing the door on their all too short chapter together. The book wasn't over, it wasn't the last chapter, it couldn't be the last chapter for there were too many loose ends. He wasn't finished reading. If need be, he was going to continue their story on his own, wielding his heart's pen fueled with red hot ink, creating a future for them in the eye of the storm, so that no matter how hard the winds of adversity blew, they would have a safe place to rest. Together.

He took a deep breath and resolutely turned the knob. He barely had a chance to walk through the door, before his mom came running and pulled him inside. She was all flustered and incoherent, muttering something unintelligible as she fetched a big, fat envelope that was lying on the sofa table. She pushed it into his arms, bouncing in place as if she couldn't wait for him to open it. Her eyes were sparkling with curiosity.

Taken aback, Daesung looked down at the envelope. It was heavy, like there was a stack of papers inside. He stared at the logo in the corner. YG. Why was the YG corporation sending him a stack of papers? Had there been some mix up at the post office? He reread his name on the front of the envelope, Kang Daesung. That was him alright. He had no idea what was going on. He wasn't used to getting any mail at all, but a letter from YG? There was only one way to find out what they wanted.

As he started tearing it open, his stomach churned. Had the YG corporation set up a loan company and this was a notice telling him that his dad had once again screwed them over, listing him as a co-signer, having forged his signature and now it was time to collect? He knew YG already had an entertainment company, a cosmetics division, a fashion label and a university, but he had never heard of them operating a loan service. With his heart in his throat, he pulled the documents out.

Dear Kang Daesung,

We are pleased to inform you that your application has been accepted, and we hereby invite you to an official audition with the Theater & Music department. The scholarship recipients will be chosen based on the performance at the audition. Only 10 candidates will be chosen to receive a full scholarship, so make sure to come well prepared. For additional information, refer to the introductory package below.

Best regards,

Choi Dongwook,

Head of the Theater & Music department

Yang Hyunsuk College of Arts

He read it twice, before handing it to his mom, who was just about to explode from anticipation, eager to know what was going on. She read it in under two seconds and let out an excited yelp.

“You applied for YG University's Theater department?” she squeaked, practically glowing, not able to take her pride filled eyes off the acceptance letter.

“Uhm... no...” he shrugged, holding the introductory packet unopened in his hands, staring at the date of the audition that was carefully marked on the outside of the folder. It had his name on it. He had an audition. At the best drama school in the country. And all he could do was blink his eyes, that was the extent of his reaction.

“What? You didn't apply? Are you sure? Then how...?” she asked baffled.

“It has your name on it, and our address. It's very unlikely this was meant for some other Kang Daesung. And I don't think YG is powerful enough to follow each and every citizen, like some all seeing higher power, choosing among even the ones that didn't apply. So someone had to have sent in an application. Do you have any idea who that could be? A teacher, maybe? Although it's weird that they wouldn't have let you know.” she scratched her head, trying to get to the bottom of this.

Daesung sat down in a daze. He had an idea, he had a pretty good idea. It had Seunghyun's scent all over it. He just couldn't figure out how he had done it. How could he fill out his application behind his back, he had even filled out his ID number correctly and all kinds of personal information he couldn't imagine how he had obtained. He sifted through the package in his lap, he stopped at a preparation list where a sentence caught his eye. It told him that in addition to an interview and an impromptu performance, he had to prepare a showcase different from the application video material. Video material? How on Earth had Seunghyun gotten his hands on video material, and of what? Had he preformed in the video himself? He was pretty sure he would lose his spot the moment the entrance committee found out the guy in the video and he were not the one and the same. And they would realize it the moment they laid eyes on him, for his appearance was in stark contrast to Seunghyun's dashing looks.

A sudden smirk stuck itself to his mother's lips. “It's Seunghyun, isn't it. Aigoo, that sweetheart.” she beamed, hugging the acceptance letter.

“So, you're going to do the audition, right?” she asked in a bright voice, not waiting for confirmation of her Seunghyun-theory.

He couldn't deny that it made him excited just to hold the papers in his hands, it was a doorway to a whole other life. A magical life filled with vibrant colors and music. It sure was tempting, but the doorway was guarded by a locked door and he didn't have the key.

“Nah, I applied to the local college for business management, I've already got early admissions and a preapproved scholarship. It's the sensible thing to do.” he said resolutely, releasing this beautiful pipe dream into the air like letting go of a balloon full of helium, watching it as it rose into the air, out of reach and out of sight.

His mom sat down next to him, and put her hand on his shoulder. “But what do you want?” she asked, looking him right in the eyes.

“The world doesn't revolve around what I want.” he answered stubbornly. He was doing this for them, for her. His entire life, his mom had worked herself to the ground just so that he could lead a decent life, now it was his turn.

She took both his hands in hers, taking a breath before speaking. “Daesung-ah, please don't make your life choices based on me. You are just going to resent me later on and I won't be able to live with that. Why do you think I work so hard? It's to make sure that you don't end up like me. I want something greater for you. I want you to do what makes you happy, sweety. And even if I have to take on another ten extra jobs to help make that happen, I will happily do it. It's worth it.”.

“Mom...” he whispered, speechless, his eyes welling up with tears.

“Think about it, honey.” she said as she kissed him softly on the forehead, before leaving for work.

He threw himself onto the bed, feeling the weight of the exhaustion as it took over his body. His mind was completely blank. He felt nothing. As he went over the events of the last couple of days, it was as if they had happened to someone else. He closed his eyes and tried to revive the feeling of Seunghyun's warm embrace, wondering whether he was ever going to experience it again. He knew he was lucky to have gotten one perfect weekend with the man of his dreams, but he was greedy. He wanted a lifetime with him. He couldn't even go hit him over the head with the acceptance letter, lovingly scolding him for single handedly trying to make his dreams happen. How did he always know all his secret desires? He was such an amazing person and he didn't even realize it. Ah, he wanted to talk to him. He needed to talk to him. He already missed him like crazy. He sat up and pulled out his phone. Would he pick up? He took a deep breath and pressed the call button. Seunghyun's phone was turned off. Faced with the reality of the situation, his caged feelings made a break for it, overloading his system. Hugging his pillow, he cried himself to sleep.

At lunch the next day he timidly joined G-Dragon and Youngbae at their table, waiting for an opportunity to raise the subject of the application. He desperately needed to discuss it with someone. Deep down inside he wanted to go to the audition, but he had zero confidence and not the first clue about how to prepare for it. He wished he could talk to Seunghyun about it, but he already knew what he would say. He would tell him to go for it and then proceed to stuff him full of the courage needed to do it. He resented Seunghyun for having turned his life upside down, giving him everything he never knew he wanted, getting him hooked on happiness and then when he needed him the most, disappearing into thin air, leaving him to deal with his strange new life all on his own.

As soon as there was a lull in the conversation, he pulled out the information, handing it to G-Dragon, his face red from embarrassment.

“No way! Awesome! I thought you decided against applying? Congratulations!” G-Dragon exclaimed excitedly, showing Youngbae the documents.

“Nice! We also got one, we've already started the preparations. Don't worry, we'll help you!” Youngbae beamed, flashing him one of his overly cute, encouraging smiles.