Was he crying?!

"S-Seunghyun..." Evie called out. She walked to him and touched his shoulder.

"HAHAHAHAHA! Oh my goodness. I have always wanted to do that to someone! I... can't... stop... laughing. HAHAHA!" Seunghyun sounded a bit crazed by then.

Evie huffed. "YAH! I thought you were crying. I was really worried you were hurt by what they said."

"Mwo? Not at all! I couldn't possibly care what they thought. Their opinions don't matter. O-only yours does. Are you alright, though? They were your friends. I'm sorry if you felt I was out of line," he apologized.

"Huh? No way! They can't possibly be my friends anymore after what they said about you! And what do you mean by only my opinion matters to you?" Evie asked with her heart fluttering.

"Uh... It's true. I only care about what you think of me. W-w-we're best friends aren't we? You're one of the very few who care for me, ME and not my looks. I-I mean you don't care how I look or dress and you still hang out with me," he said nervously.

"Hmm... I guess so. I learned a long time ago that good looks don't guarantee a good person. It's what is inside that counts," Evie said sadly. "Come on! Lets go to the park. The weather's really nice today so we can just sit around and do nothing."

"Sure, lets go," Seunghyun agreed. That not-so-subtle change of subject was a big hint for him to drop it too.

They spent the rest of the afternoon just hanging and lazing around in the park. Seunghyun bought ice creams for both of them and they ate them while sitting under a shady tree. Evie was pretty subdued since their talk about people and Seunghyun was too preoccupied with how he was going to break the news to her to really notice that both of them were pretty quiet. But they had been friends a long time and silences between them could be comfortable too.

They were lying on their backs on the grass looking up at the sky which was getting a little overcast when Seunghyun cleared his throat. "Evie..."

"Hmm?" She was sleepy and her eyes were half open.

"I-I've got something to tell you."

"Yeah? What is it?"

"I'mgoingbacktoKoreatomorrow," Seunghyun said in a rush.

It took a few seconds for Seunghyun's words to process in Evie's foggy brain. When she finally understood what she thought she heard her eyes shot wide open and she jolted into a sitting position.

"WHAT?! What did you say? I think I didn't hear you correctly."

Seunghyun continued lying down. He avoided looking at her and stared up at the grey sky. "You heard me correctly."

"Say it. Say it again. I need to know it's not true," Evie shook her head in denial. They still had another two months left before their exams ended! He couldn't be going away so soon.

"I'm flying back to Korea tomorrow. Something's come up and they need me back there. You know I haven't gone back for a holiday these three years, right? Well, that's because I didn't feel like going back and I needed a break. Now that they have asked me to go back I can't refuse them and they need me back home," he said quietly.

Evie was silent. Her mind was in a whirl. What was he talking about? Who was 'they'? And he didn't go back because he needed a break? Break from what? The only time they were allowed to go home was when classes were on break. She always thought that Seunghyun didn't go back home because expenses were tight or something so she always asked him to come with her to stay with her grandmother. Why couldn't he refuse them? Their exams were coming up and those were more important weren't they? It couldn't be a family emergency otherwise Seunghyun would have left as soon as he had gotten word but instead he had been keeping this from her for the past few days.

"Evie, say something."

"When? What time tomorrow? We might as well make the most of today if we're not going to see each other for awhile."

"6 a.m. I have to be at the airport by 4. Evie, aren't you going to ask me anything? Like why? Or when am I coming back?" Seunghyun was now sitting up too and looking at her.

Evie turned her head to face him. "Fine. The 'why' I won't ask because it's probably one of those things you don't like to talk about that's why you're being so vague. So, I'll ask when. When are you coming back?"

Seunghyun shifted uncomfortably. "I'm not. Coming back I mean. Maybe for short trips or holidays but not for university. I've already taken the exams the dean arranged for me so actually I have already graduated. You will come visit me in Korea, right?"

She gaped at him. He had known about his going back to Korea not just a few days but a few weeks! He had to have taken the exams at night after everyone had gone back. It was not unheard of but still uncommon and only for special cases like important people who didn't have time to stay the whole 3 years. Who was Seunghyun? Evie was sad and hurt. Sad because he was leaving and hurt because he didn't tell her sooner.

"Why didn't you tell me earlier? You knew about this for weeks! I thought we were best friends!" she yelled at him.

"I know and I'm sorry. Every time I wanted to tell you the words just got stuck. Maybe I was selfish in not wanting to tell you but I didn't want you to feel sad. You've been my best friend since my first day here and I just didn't want our time to end. Forgive me? Please?" Seunghyun apologized.

Evie sighed and nodded. She could never stay mad at him for long. He never really did anything terrible and also maybe it was because she had a crush on him so she felt like she could forgive him almost anything.

"Hey, are you crying, Evie?" 

"No. I-I'm not. I *sniff* just *sniff*..."

"Sshh. It's okay to cry, Evie. I'm gonna miss you too," Seunghyun patted her back awkwardly and moved closer to her. He never did well with girls let alone crying ones.

Evie leaned into Seunghyun and buried her face in his long-sleeved sweater. She hated crying. Crying made you weak and all you got to show for it was a blotchy face and nothing else solved. She never let anyone see her tears and when she cried for any reason, it was alone. This was the first time she had cried in front of Seunghyun but somehow she felt secure in his arms.

As Evie was crying, the first raindrop fell from the sky onto Seunghyun's hand that was on her shoulder, complementing her emotions.

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It's chapter 4!! I wrote this while I had a cold and felt emo so maybe it affected my characters too. I really didn't intend for the scene to be quite that sad.

So what do you think? Please please please comment and give me feedback and suggestions!

And I want to thank my subscribers and readers! I feel really happy every time I see the numbers increase! Thanks for reading and look out for more to come! :D