After that day Hyunjoong had left, he never came back. Was I the one that caused his absence? Starting to get a little worried, I decided to search for him.

"HJ!" I cried as I visited all the places we had gone during the summer.

The park, the mall, the ice cream parlor, the caffes in which he was not allowed to go in for some reason, and the river banks where we had become friends. Searching for hours, there was no sign of him and I was already out of breath.

I almost gave up. I had almost lost all my hope in finding him when I remembered that there was one place where I hadn't searched. The track. With all the energy I had left, I ran, ignoring the pain and going as fast as my legs could carry me. When I got there, I immediately dashed to the seat we had sat on during the race and saw him lying there on the bench with his eyes closed.

Panting and gasping, I stood above him, looking down. I think he must've noticed that a shadow was covering the sun for he opened his eyes and smiled a little when he saw me.

"How'd you know I was here?" he asked, closing his eyes once again.

"Pabo! Of course I'd know you're here!" I said loudly. "I could find you anywhere if you asked me to."

He opened his eyes again and sat up, motioning me to sit down beside him. I did so and we both quietly just sat there with no talk, only staring at the empty track and feeling the cool breeze.

"Are you sure you still want to be with me?" Hyunjoong suddenly asked, breaking the comfortable silence.

My head turned to face him and I threw my arms around his neck. "You idiot... You may be a dog to other people but you're still HJ to me. Don't just disappear like that. Do you know how worried I was?"

Closing his eyes, I felt him hug me back with a smile. "I'm glad you think that way," he murmured and then pulled away, holding my shoulders to make me face him. "But I'm about at my limit. I was planning to hold on a little longer to go to your house tonight to say one last farewell."

I felt tears boil in my eyes. "Wait... What do you mean...? Are you leaving? You can't leave me alone."

My vision was becoming blurry but I saw the crease of his mouth go up. His eyes dimmed and seemed sorrowful. He pulled me closer and wrapped his arms around me once again. "I won't leave you... I will never leave you. I've had a lot of fun because of you and Hachi and I will never forget you. But everyone has their limits."

"Wait, HJ--" I tried to speak, tears starting to fall.

"Farewell... Youngsaeng... Remember, don't give up."

He disappeared into thin air at his last word and my arms became empty. I found his collar in the palm of my hands and my tears fell more rapidly. All of a sudden, I heard a clink from the track and I turned to see a beautiful large golden dog sprinting on the track; fur flowing with the wind, eyes sparkling in the sun and it seemed like it were glowing. Hyunjoong. I ran as fast as I could to the fence, wanting to chase after him, my mind a blur, but I saw the majestic retriever fade away as it ran past me.

"HYUNJOONG!!!!!!!!!!" I wailed loudly as my legs gave away and I collapsed at the fence, fist clenching so hard that it started to bleed.

I left the track. One hand bleeding and the other tightly clutching onto the collar of Hyunjoong.