Chapter Seven: [There’s a Long Road Ahead]

            Myungsoo was headed towards great things.

                        So, as it had turned out, the problem with Myungsoo’s back was a recurring one and after several hours of much-needed bed rest, he bounced back to the same upbeat, lively person that he usually was.

            Taeyeon received the acceptance into a highly prestigious school and Sungyeol couldn’t help but nod his head appreciatively at the accomplishment. There was a glowingly proud look on Myungsoo’s face as he smiled through the tears that had come to his eyes and Sungyeol’s face cracked open into a small, tenuous smile.

            That particular school year was very near its end when Taeyeon had received the appointment to the Academy and Sungyeol, sitting beside Woohyun and listening to him chatter about shoes or about the extremely attractive girls that walked by (that Sungyeol actually found quite plain, if he were to be honest with Woohyun), saw how hard Myungsoo tried to hold himself together as the time for Taeyeon’s graduation grew nearer and nearer.

            Taeyeon graduated with honors, her family and friends proud and smiling and the days ticked by until she left for a rigorous training for the Academy. There was nothing that Sungyeol could do –after all, he and Taeyeon were not friends- but sit by and be there for Myungsoo when things got hard.

            The new school year started, the final year for Myungsoo, Sungyeol and Woohyun, and the trio was pumped. The addition of another friend to their circle drew them all closer together and though there were some, well, conflicts of interests, the bond between the four of them grew too strong to be broken.

            That year flew by, Woohyun and Soohyun (the newest addition to their group) getting accepted to colleges that were a few hours from where they lived, Sungyeol getting accepted to a college that he’d applied to on a whim that was on the other side of the country, and Myungsoo getting accepted into the same Academy that had taken Taeyeon in a year before.

            The weight of the accomplishment was heavy even on Sungyeol’s shoulders, though he had nothing to do with the appointment to the Academy and he felt his chest swell with pride as Myungsoo showed him the plaque that the school had sent him and sat and listened for hours as Myungsoo told him all about it.

            “Hey. Yeol?” Myungsoo asked one day, tapping Sungyeol on the shoulder during a literature class. Sungyeol didn’t turn around, only leaned back in his seat and turned his head to the side.

            “Can I borrow a pair of black pants for tomorrow? I’m supposed to wear this shirt that the Academy sent me with a pair of black pants and all I have is khakis.”

            Sungyeol’s eyebrows lifted into an amused smile.

            “Yeah, sure, I’ll bring some in,” he whispered back. “They may not fit, though; they’re kinda big on me.”

            “I’ll live,” Myungsoo hissed. “It’s only for a few hours and then I can change out. We’ll safety pin them or something.”

            Sungyeol nodded and then turned back to pretending to pay attention to what his rather eccentric teacher was prattling on about.

            “You’re a dove,” came from behind him. “Not an ugly brown one, but the pretty, white kind.”

            Sungyeol nearly snorted into his desk.

            The next day, Sungyeol stood up in the lobby of the school during lunch, listening to a state representative talk about Myungsoo’s accomplishments and how going to the school was a great honor. Myungsoo’s family spoke and then a few family friends and then, the representative asked if anybody else wanted to say anything. Stepping forward, Sungyeol opened his mouth to speak, a short monologue already prepared in his mind.

            “Two years ago, I moved here and then-“

            Suddenly hitting him so hard that he couldn’t see, Sungyeol started crying, his chest tightening up. Myungsoo let out a tiny grin and walked over and hugged him and into his shoulder, Sungyeol whispered an, “I’m so proud of you.”

            He didn’t even know where the tears came from, but for the rest of that day, he was very sensitive to whatever anybody said and warmth would spring to his eyes whenever he tried to talk. It was a real nuisance, he thought, and shook his head and pretty much kept to himself until it was time for him to head back home.   

            The four of them graduated not long after, Myungsoo and Sungyeol with honors and Woohyun and Soohyun with fairly high marks as well. They spent graduation night bowling and playing arcade games and enjoying their newfound freedom from school.

            The next morning, Myungsoo and Woohyun were part of a color guard, marching proudly down the street and lazy as usual, Sungyeol parked himself under a tree, out of the sun, to take pictures of them for memories for later. The other two changed out of the stiff, tight uniforms that were so unflattering on everybody and ended up walking around for a while. Sungyeol was headed to the beach in a couple of days and then up north for a few weeks immediately after that, and the weight of that weighed on him until he trailed behind them, wanting every moment to drag on and last.

            But, the time came and Woohyun got ready to get in his truck and pull away from them. Myungsoo gave him a tight hug and then pulled away, blinking furiously at the sky, and Sungyeol’s hug was a lot more loose as his arms felt extremely weak.

            “Have fun at the beach,” Woohyun told him. Sungyeol nodded, his mouth tightening up at the corner. To the right of him somewhere, Myungsoo sniffled.

            “You know, I won’t see you before you leave for college,” Sungyeol said. Woohyun paused from where he was getting into his vehicle. Looking down at the ground, he let out a small sigh and then started pulling himself up into the truck.

            “I know.”

            The engine rumbled to life and Woohyun pulled the seatbelt across his chest and fastened it. Backing up so that he could leave, he leaned over the passenger’s seat and rolled the window down.

            “You guys are losers, but you’re my losers, so that’s okay. Love you guys! Bye!” And with that, he peeled out of the parking lot, leaving Myungsoo and Sungyeol to compose themselves.

            “He’s crazy,” Sungyeol finally managed. Myungsoo let out a watery laugh.

            “Yeah,” he agreed, and they turned away and headed up the street.

            The final week before Myungsoo reported to basic training arrived a lot sooner than anybody had anticipated and Sungyeol spent the night at Myungsoo’s house for the final time two nights before Myungsoo had to leave.

            Neither of them talked about it, though Sungyeol wrote a letter to him, telling Myungsoo only to open it the night before he reported in to begin training. Myungsoo nodded and put the envelope on top of his bag and then prepared to take Sungyeol home for the final time.

            The ride home was no different from any other, Sungyeol noted, as they talked about idol groups and which member they shipped with who and which idol group member would make a good spouse. However, when Sungyeol got out of the truck to head inside his house, Myungsoo got out to.

            Swallowing hard against the lump in his throat, Sungyeol stepped up to Myungsoo and gave him one last hug before moving back and giving him a smile that felt far too crooked on his face to be reassuring at all.

            “You’ve got this,” Sungyeol said. “You’re gonna kill this, and in a few short weeks, it’ll be over and school will start and you won’t believe that you’ve done it.”

            Myungsoo nodded, sighing.

            “Don’t stress; you’ve got this,” Sungyeol encouraged, making the “fighting” sign with his hand. Myungsoo returned it and then got into his truck.

            “Jimin loves you!” He yelled at Sungyeol and Sungyeol couldn’t help but laugh as he turned around on his porch.

            “He loves you and Jungkook, too!” He called back and then turned away and headed inside.

            “Who was that?” Sungyeol’s brother asked, pointing out the door as Myungsoo’s truck rumbled away.

            “Myungsoo just left,” Sungyeol said, dropping his head to his brother’s shoulder and allowing a few tears to finally slip out. His brother rubbed his shoulder.

            “You’ll see him again,” he told Sungyeol. “Just wait a few more months and you’ll be headed to the concert and you’ll see him again.”

            “I know,” Sungyeol sighed. “It just feels really far away…”

            Sungyeol woke up the next morning with one thought on his mind:

            Myungsoo’s already left.

            Swallowing hard, he went about the day doing things as usual, nothing different but the thought of his friend travelling eighteen or twenty hours to report for basic training for the Academy. That night, he found it extremely difficult to sleep, waking up the next morning with his hair sticking up in clumps all over his head and his eyes puffy and unfocused.

            He texted Myungsoo a bit and the younger admitted to being nervous. Sungyeol grinned ruefully at his tablet as he read the message. You’ll be fine, he thought. You’ve definitely got this.

            There was a long road ahead of them, Sungyeol reporting for his own military basic training in a few months and Myungsoo reporting in just a few short hours. They were set on two different tracks, but their ambitions were running parallel to each other’s and they swore to never lose contact with each other and to always be there if they were needed.

            Sure, Sungyeol wanted to be selfish and he wanted to cry, but he was finished being selfish. Rather than crying because he wasn’t going to see his best friend –no, the young man who’d grown to be like a brother to him- he steeled himself, shoved back the tears and instead bragged to everybody that his best friend was going to the Academy.

            Yes, the road ahead was going to be long. It was going to be long and it was going to be hard, but as Sungyeol sat behind his laptop, fingers tapping away at his keyboard as he poured a few short words down into a document, sharing his story with the world, he looked down into his yard, seeing the green grass and the green trees and his dog meandering between it all, he knew, knew with every part of his body, that they were going to be alright.

            Woohyun was headed to become a linguist, already taking classes at his college.

            Soohyun was on track to become an author or a journalist, having moved in to his apartment the previous day.

            Myungsoo was already near the Academy, most likely steeling his nerves to begin to settle himself and focus on making it through the next several weeks.

            And Sungyeol? Sungyeol sat at his desk, leaning back in the chair, writing down their story so that one day, they could all come back and read it and remember where they had all come from and what had made them all close.

            The wind blew a few leaves around and Sungyeol smiled. He didn’t have an ending planned out for their story, but that was okay – the story was not finished.

            The four of them had a long life ahead of them and they all knew that there were going to be challenges. But, they were not afraid. As long as they had their friends and knew that there would always be someone there for them, no matter what, they would be fine.

*****************************************

Crappy ending is crappy, but, like it said before, it’s not the ending. A story like this between friends never has an end. Sure, it may slow down and it may seem to be stagnant for a while, but with a friendship like that, it never, ever will disappear.

I know that this is really short, but honestly, I don’t know what else to write. *scrapes brain for more ideas.* I’m working on a lot of other fics right now and can’t wait until they’re actually posted because I don’t like things to be in that awkward in-between stage where they’re half-finished and I JUST WANT MY STUFF TO BE PERFECT AND POSTED SO THAT YOU GUYS LIKE IT *breathes heavily*

My grammar, spelling, punctuation may be off (Actually, I’m sure that it is, don’t judge me), so I apologize.

Keep your good friends close to your heart, guys. They’re not always going to be right beside you physically, but there’s nothing better than being able to just sit back and think that someone is there for you and is just a phone call or a text away.

If you ever feel like you’re depressed, or sad, or feel alone, you’re not. You’d be surprised to find out that your friends are standing by to help you, but you have to let them in because they don’t work miracles and they don’t know how to help you.

Conquer your fears and get over your obstacles and you’ll be so much more proud of yourself than you ever could have imagined. Don’t be afraid of the future, but embrace it and all of its scary newness.

Thank you for reading this.

~~Mak~~