“To celebrate, I think we’re going to do something today!” you laughed and launched yourself at Daehyun.

            He staggered backwards a little. “You’re worse than my parents. Ha, they didn’t even think of doing something for me. What do you want to do?”

            You smiled at him. “Whatever. Let’s go eat!”

            Daehyun grinned. “My favorite,” he sang out. “I love this girl. You really take after my own heart.”

            You pinched his cheek. “Hmm, let’s go to the café. They have your favorite cheesecake. And then we can go take a walk by the boardwalk, okay?”

            An hour later, the two of you were walking hand in hand by the boardwalk, looking out over the pier. Daehyun handed you an ice cream cone and nudged you. “Take a bite.” You looked at him and crinkled your nose.

            “What disgusting flavor did you get while I was paying?”

            He widened his eyes in mock anger. “What? Why would I choose a bad flavor and then make you eat it?”

            “You purposely ordered the mango cheesecake even though you know I hate them!”

            He laughed. “Close your eyes and take a bite. If you don’t like it, you can kiss me.”

            You glared at him. “You’re such a weirdo.” But you tentatively took a bite and immediately spat it out. “Daehyun! It’s mango!”

            He was clutching his stomach, doubled over in laughter. “Sorry, it’s just. You closed your eyes and everything. I can’t help it. You’re just so adorable. What am I going to do without you?”

            “I don’t know. You tell me.”

            He leaned in and kissed you, completely forgetting about the ice cream. “I won’t ever have to find out.” You ducked away from him but you felt the blush spread over your body anyway.

            “I need to go home before my mom kills me.” He let out a tiny chuckle and followed you.

            You knew that Daehyun had started training with TS and you didn’t mind his lack of calls. You didn’t want to bother him. He was busy after all and didn’t really need you to nag after him all the time. But when a week went by without a peep from him, you started to get worried. He was in a big city and you knew that the ride back home was long but surely he could still call?

            You started to call him but always reached his voicemail. That was weird. Sometimes, the phone didn’t even ring, going immediately to his inbox. You sighed and waited for him to call instead. Nothing. One day, you decided you were going to venture to Seoul and find him.

            “Jung Daehyun, if you won’t come to me, you leave me with no choice but to go to you.”

            You reached the city late in the afternoon and went to the entertainment company. The large building intimidated you but you strode into the lobby.

            “How may I help you?” the secretary looked up from her work.

            “Yes, hi, may I ask to speak to one of the trainees?”

            She frowned slightly. “Do you have an appointment?”

            “Ah no, you see, I’m from his hometown and he hasn’t called back in a month and his family was getting worried.”

            She gave a small sigh. “I think it’ll be okay. I believe they’re on break right now. Head up to the third floor. Who are you looking for?”

            “Jung Daehyun.”

            pursed and her entire demeanor changed. “Are you sure? I don’t know if you’re allowed-”

            But you were already going up the stairs. You didn’t need to hear whatever excuses she was going to give you. You went to the third floor and peered into every room. Some were unoccupied and only one had the lights on. You looked in and saw six blonde boys. Your eyes blurred. Could she have been mistaken?

            One of them turned and your heart skipped. It was Daehyun. But he was blonde. You saw his eyes widen and then he gestured something to the other boys and walked to you. He pushed the doors open and stared at you.

            “What are you doing here?”

            You glared at him. “Worrying about you.” His face seemed to have collapsed and he looked at you.

            “I’m sorry. They took away our phones.”

            “So you don’t have any in the dorms?”

            He hung his head. “My parents know I’m okay.”

            Tears made your voice thick. “Your parents know you’re okay. But what about me?”

            Daehyun was looking pointedly off your shoulder. “I don’t know how you got in but you need to go.”

            “I need to go? I come all the way here and you just send me away?” He still wasn’t looking at you. “Jung Daehyun, look at me!”

            And when he did his eyes made you grow cold. “I can’t. The company doesn’t allow me to date. It’s against our contract. I’m sorry I couldn’t have told you earlier. I’m sorry you had to come all the way up here to hear this.” His voice was robotic.

            It took you a while to absorb all this. And when you did, it hit you. He was gone forever. He was taken in by his dream, consumed by the industry and now he was lost to you forever. “I’m going to be debuting in a few more months. I’ll see you around.”

            But he still didn’t turn to go. Instead, he looked at you and took a step forward. You saw his hand come up and knew what he was going to do. You took a step back and kept walking until your back hit the wall.

            All those years of encouraging him to follow his dreams have disappeared into this. You nodded slowly. “Good luck and congratulations. I guess I’ll see you around, on television.” And when you finally turned to go, you heard him let out a sob. 

This is for biggerthaninfinity