It was ten minutes before recess and yet someone couldn't hold back his hunger. Eric turned to his seatmate for attention, only to be coldly ignored.

"Yaa." He nudged his friend's elbow, who was busy copying notes written on the whiteboard. As the other knew what it was all about, he smiled.

"I'm busy." Eric frowned upon the reply. He then continued writing on his own book.

The bell rang and Eric was the first one to leave the class. When he remembered he had forgotten something, or someone, he turned behind.

"Hyesung, hurry!" The boy named Hyesung smirked and walked towards his impatient friend. The two then made their way to the cafeteria with Eric holding tightly onto Hyesung's arm.

Eric was sitting outside the court while the other boys were playing basketball. His best friend from another class came to him.

"Yo. What are you doing here?" Minwoo asked, looking confused.

"I'm watching Hyesung." Eric pointed at the slim boy who was so into the game; and Eric bet that guy didn't even saw him there. His friend hit the back of his head. "Ouww."

"I mean, why aren't you playing?" Eric grinned.

"I injured my ankle two days ago. Coach told me to skip today's practice. But how could I?"

"Why couldn't you?" Minwoo had the idea on that, but he just wanted to ask.

"I want to see Hyesung play." Eric replied with a grin, making Minwoo shook his head.

"Coach is so going to yell at you." Minwoo patted his friend's back and stood up to leave.

"Where are you going?"

"I have soccer practice." Minwoo hurriedly walked away when he saw more of his team members rushing towards the field.

An hour went by and Eric was still sitting at his spot, watching intently at his friend. Every time that particular person scored, he clapped his hands excitedly. He even jumped. But when his coach eventually realized his presence, he cowered.

"Why didn't you go home?"

"I can't miss practice because of this small injury." Eric smiled, hoping to get on the coach's good mood.

"Let me remind you, it wasn't a small injury." The coach looked at him worriedly.

"It's recovering, coach. Don't worry." Eric heard the coach sighed.

"Fine. If I see you put stress on your foot, I'll kick you out of the team."

"Oh no no no. Please don't. I promise I'll take good care of my foot, ah feet." He clasped his hands together, pleading to the coach. The latter shook his head before leaving towards the center of the court. That was when Eric noticed Hyesung was looking at him. He fixed his posture and waved vigorously at the boy. He was surprised when Hyesung came to him.

"What are you doing here?"

"You're the hundredth person to ask that same question." Eric pouted. Hyesung took a seat beside him.

"And what did you answer to those hundred people?" Eric passed a water bottle to Hyesung while the other was wiping his sweats.

"I wanted to see you play. As usual." Hyesung chuckled.

"As usual? You weren't usually injured." Eric just stared at his friend while mentally responding to his statement. "So how did I do today?"

"You've been better." Hyesung almost dropped the bottle from his hand. He turned to Eric who was smiling. "Is it because I didn't play with you today? Ah don't worry. Once this get better, I'll play." Eric patted his bandaged ankle.

"Don't be so full of yourself." Hyesung got up, packing his stuff to leave. But he stopped when he realized his friend was still staring blankly at his foot. "Eric." The called man looked up. "Are you going to stay here?" He looked around to see other players were already leaving the court. He smiled. "What?"

"You'll walk me home??" Eric immediately stood up next to Hyesung. The latter shook his head.

"Hey be careful. I don't want to carry you home." Hyesung started walking away but Eric just stood still. He was pouting when Hyesung stopped and turned to him. "Hurry." Eric smiled widely as he made his way to Hyesung. And without sparing even a second, he held onto Hyesung's arm as they walked home.

"I want to marry you someday." Eric said with a very sincere tone. But Hyesung laughed.

"Crazy. Finish school first before you talk about marriage."

"Does that mean you would accept me?" Eric eagerly asked.

"Like I said, finish school first." Eric tightened the hold on Hyesung's arm. He was quite satisfied over the answer.

One day, a teacher was absent so they were told to study by themselves. Eric smiled as it was the chance he had been waiting for. He turned to his seatmate to start chatting about stuff, when he realized Hyesung was doodling things on his note book. Eric got curious; he carefully peeked over to see.

"Poems?" He asked. Hyesung immediately closed the book with his face flushed. "Song lyrics?" He shook his head. "Don't tell me it's a love letter?" Hyesung's face blushed harder. "Omg. Are you cheating on me?" Eric widened his eyes at his friend, earning a knock on his head.

"Crazy. Why would I cheat on you?" Hyesung kept the book in his bag, totally disappointed that Eric had seen what he'd been hiding for a while.

"Because we're an item--" He covered Eric's mouth before he even finished talking.

"Stop saying those stupid things. People would mistaken it for real." Hyesung sighed as he let go and turned to the front. He didn't notice Eric's expression changed. He wouldn't know that Eric was sad over his last sentence.

Hyesung walked to his class with slumped shoulders. This view made Eric curious, and somehow frustrated. Hyesung would only be like that when he faced rejection; be it for class assignments or club projects. Eric didn't want to ask because he was afraid of what he would hear from that boy's mouth. Even though it was a rare case that the guy would actually talk about it.

Eric was walking home alone that evening because Hyesung had stuff to take care of. That was when Minwoo jumped onto him from behind.

"Eric!!" He shouted at the boy's ear, earning a sharp hit on his head. "Ouchh."

"I'm not deaf okay." Eric continued walking with Minwoo trailing behind him.

"How's Hyesung?"

"He's fine. Why?"

"I heard that girl didn't accept his confession." Eric stopped as his mind was busily processing what he had just heard. "It must be hard on him--"

"Did you just say 'girl'?" Eric asked. He looked intently into Minwoo's small eyes.

"Yep. He confessed to a girl from my class last week. He supposed to get the answer today, and from what I heard, she rejected him." Eric gasped. He brought his hand to his heart as it felt weird. It was beating just fine, except the pace had quickened a little bit. He was confused over his feelings; was he angry that Hyesung kept a secret from him, or was he sad that Hyesung actually liked someone? "Eric!!" Eric turned to Minwoo. "I didn't know he didn't tell you this. You guys are like best friends--" Minwoo was cut off by Eric's sudden dash, leaving him behind.

Eric slammed his room door shut and slumped on the bed. He was surprised, angry, disappointed. Most importantly, he was sad. Why would Hyesung kept it a secret from him? Minwoo was right about them being best friends. But what he had just heard made him questioned their friendship status. Eric then sat up, staring at the picture frame on his study table. Two 11-year-old boys smiling happily, with arms draped around each other's shoulder. He sighed. If they were to take a picture with that same pose, it would come out way differently now that 6 years had passed. Minwoo's words came ringing in his mind again.

"He actually liked someone?"

After a few rounds of free desserts, Minwoo eventually agreed to tell Eric who that girl was. He couldn't ask Hyesung himself. After finding out the girl's name and roughly how she looked like, Eric started his mission. He needed to find her.

Standing in front of Minwoo's class after recess, Eric pretended to talk with random students who passed by the corridor. Five minutes later, the one he'd been waiting for finally showed up. He was sure she was the girl Minwoo talked about. He scanned her from top to bottom.

'Not bad,' he thought to himself. He then noticed the girl was looking at him too.

"Eric Mun?" The girl called. Eric fixed his posture and gave her a slight nod.

"You are?" Eric kept his steady pose. The girl suddenly smiled at him.

"I'm Han Hyerin." Eric nodded as the girl's reply confirmed his guess.

"Ah okay." He turned to walk to his class but the girl stopped him.

"Nice meeting you." Eric just nodded and quickly got away from the girl.

On his way back, he kept thinking the reasons why would the girl rejected Hyesung's confession? He knew his best friend always received confessions from other girls, but he never responded to any one of them. And to think that this was the first in a while that Hyesung had come to like someone, Eric was confused. He wanted to know why so badly.

Hyesung had returned to normal after a week. He was being his talkative self and this made one person happier than ever.

"Hyesung, let's go to the ice cream shop later. I'm craving for some chocolate ice cream."

"Don't you have anything else to crave other than ice cream?"

"If I tell you, would you help to satisfy it?" Eric grinned.

"It depends." Hyesung knew from the grin that Eric meant something not related to food.

"I'm craving for you." Eric giggled. Hyesung's guess was right.

"Crazy." He turned away from Eric.

"So? Would you help to satisfy it?" Hyesung sighed.

"I said it depends."

"Ahh just tell me."

"How would you want to satisfy that crazy crave?" Hyesung calmly asked, for he knew Eric was in his teasing mood.

"I want you to come for a sleepover at my house this weekend." Hyesung chuckled.

"For what?"

"Ah just come and play with me. We always did that when we were kids." Eric pouted.

"Let's just go to that ice cream shop." Hyesung grabbed his bag and walked out of the class. He definitely didn't want to play along with Eric's weird jokes.

"Hyesung!!" Eric shouted, but the said boy just continued walking. He sighed and hurriedly ran to catch up with his best friend.

The two ended up at the ice cream shop as Hyesung had won a little bet they played while on their way there. Eric went to sit after placing order for them. Suddenly feeling awkward, Hyesung excused himself to the restroom.

Eric just looked around the shop while waiting for Hyesung. The ice creams eventually came so Eric pulled the two bowls toward him. He wanted to have a taste of Hyesung's before the owner came. He took a spoonful of the strawberry-flavoured dessert and shoved it to his mouth, enjoying the freezing cold sensation.

"Eric." With the spoon still in his mouth, he turned to the voice of a girl. It was the girl named Hyerin. "Surprised seeing you here." He mentally cursed at her.

"It's a public place." He answered coldly. The girl was eyeing the ice creams on the table.

"You're here with someone?" Eric gulped. He didn't want the girl to know that Hyesung was there. He pulled the two bowls even closer to him.

"I'm alone." He shoved a spoonful of his own chocolate ice cream into his mouth. The girl chuckled.

"I like guys who love ice creams." She smiled, but Eric didn't find her pretty at all. He wondered why would his best friend like this girl.

"Hyerin, let's go." He turned to the counter where there were a few other girls from his school.

"I've to go now. See you soon." She waved, flashing a smile as she walked away. But Eric just nodded.

Hyesung had seen everything. He was surprised that Eric knew the girl that rejected his confession the other day. Slowly he went back to the table, smiling.

"Your ice cream had melted." Eric pushed the bowl to his friend. Hyesung chuckled upon the sight.

"So you had some?" Eric grinned. "I need to taste yours too then." But Eric pulled away his bowl from Hyesung's reach. "Heyy."

"I'm the one craving for this." Eric stuck out his tongue.

"Fine. I was going to pay for these, but now... You pay for yourself--"

"Aaaaa~~" Eric whined, shoving his bowl towards his friend. "Pay for me. Pay for me." Hyesung chuckled. And he wondered why Eric didn't mention at all about meeting students from their school just now.

Eric was happy to getting his friend back. He wanted to ask about the girl but he was afraid that it would make Hyesung mad. One day, he was using Hyesung's book when he noticed the girl's name written on one of the pages.

"Hyesung." He called, pointing at the writing. He heard Hyesung sighed as he used an eraser to wipe out the name. "Won't you tell me anything?"

"She's a past. I'm moving on now." Hyesung continued doing his work, leaving Eric even curious. Eric then decided he had to befriend with the girl to know why she rejected him. If only he knew that was the most stupid decision he had ever made.

Walking alone towards the library, Eric was humming tunes to his favorite song. It was a peaceful walk, until he saw the person he wanted to see.

"Hyerin." The girl turned, all smiling when she saw Eric. "What are you doing here?" Hyerin gaped. She was obviously surprised that Eric talked to her first.

"I'm bringing these books to the library."

"Ahh let's walk together then. I'm going there too." And that was the start of their unlikely friendship.

Two weeks went by and Eric had gotten closer to Hyerin. Hyesung noticed this but he held back the urges to ask. Everytime he saw Hyerin coming towards Eric, Hyesung would get up and left the place. And he was sure Eric didn't mind. Eric too noticed that Hyesung knew about his friendship with that girl. But what would he tell Hyesung? That he befriended her because he wanted to know the reason Hyesung was rejected? He would get a beating if anyone found out about that. And each time Hyesung left them alone, Eric was somehow relieved. He didn't want Hyesung to fall for her again.

On the other hand, Hyerin was happy that Eric had become her friend. She came to like Eric, because Eric always talked about random stuff whenever they were together. And each day, she learned something new about him, which drawing her closer to him. She knew it was only a matter of time before she'd be completely fallen for Eric.

In class, Eric was being his normal self, which was Hyesung's best friend. But after class, he switched to being Hyerin's friend. Even other students assumed they were already a couple. Hyesung heard people talked about Eric and Hyerin, but he forced himself to not care at all. He didn't want to lose his best friend. All this while, Eric seemed to have forgotten his initial intention. And he didn't realized he had pushed away his beloved best friend, whom he had promised to marry when they finished school someday. Who would save their friendship if not themselves?

The dreadful news eventually had gotten out. Eric and Hyerin had officially become a couple. The most disappointed person over this news was none other than Hyesung. He wasn't mad that Eric had that girl as his girfriend. He wasn't even jealous. He was mad that Eric didn't tell him anything about it. This made Hyesung furious. The two best friend went into an awkward friendship for the rest of their school days.

The relationship didn't last long. Right after they finished high school, Hyerin stopped contacting Eric. He learned that she had moved to a new place and she didn't want any attachment to her old life. Eric could only sighed.

Days went by and Eric had become lonely. He missed his best friend. Staring at the picture on the table, his heart ached. He knew Hyesung must be feeling mad at him. Since he became a couple with the girl, they rarely spent time together. They didn't even talked. Eric regretted his selfish act. And it was too late to make amends because Hyesung too had moved to someplace far. Hyesung was brokenhearted.

One day, Eric was surfing his social networking site when he got friend requests from his old classmates. From there, he tried to search for Hyesung's. And he was very lucky to find him being Minwoo's mutual friend. He immediately added him to his friends list and started to communicate.

Eric: Hey Hyesung. It's me.

It took a week before Hyesung finally replied to his message.

Hyesung: Hey. How's life?

Eric: It used to be good. When you're around.

Hyesung was sad over Eric's reply. He missed his best friend the past months and now he knew his best friend missed him too. But how would he reply to that? Fortunately, being the impatient one, Eric sent another message.

Eric: When will I see you again?

Hyesung: Let's see... After I finish my studies?

Eric was ecstatic.

Eric: Really? When would that be?

Hyesung: After four years.

Eric: Wahh. But I can wait. I miss you.

Hyesung was touched.

A few weeks later, Eric was excited that his best friend started talking to him again. He always visited Hyesung's profile page; scrolled down to learn about his new life as a college student. He was glad though when he found out that Hyesung only went away to further his study. Their friendship had gotten better and Eric felt like he got his old life back. The only difference was he could only talk to his best friend through the Internet.

Eric: Remember what I said last year?

Hyesung: You said lots of things Eric. You can't expect me to remember everything.

Eric laughed.

Eric: That day when I said I want to marry you.

Hyesung was taken aback. He didn't expect Eric to still remember about that.

Hyesung: You and your cheesy words.

Eric: You remember, right?

Hyesung: So what if I do remember?

Eric giggled.

Eric: I still want to marry you.

Hyesung was at a loss. He didn't reply for the next one week, until the eager guy started messaging him in the middle of the day.

Eric: I've finished school now.

That reminded Hyesung about his excuse back then. Should he upgrade it this time?

Hyesung: Finish your study first before talking about marriage. :P

Seeing the emoticon Hyesung had sent, Eric was relieved. He thought Hyesung avoided him the past week because of that issue. But now that he replied, Eric got his hope high again.

Eric: Once I've finished my study, I bet you're going to say 'get decent job first'. Right?

Hyesung laughed. He didn't even think about that. But thanks to Eric, now he knew.

Hyesung: Thanks for the info. Keke.

Eric was on the verge of pulling out all of his hair. He didn't mean to bring this issue up as a joke. He was serious; he wanted answer. But seeing it being a laughing stock, he sighed. He needed to bring this up again some other time.

Four years passed, and Eric had completed his study. He was excited to know that he had achieved his promise to his one and only deareast friend. Thinking that they were going to see each other in a week made Eric grinned the whole journey home from his graduation ceremony.

But for the whole week, there were no messages from Hyesung. He tried calling the number Hyesung had given weeks ago, only to hear the hated voicemail. Eric wouldn't give up just yet. On the said day, he dressed up handsomely and drove to Hyesung's house. He knew they should meet at the ice cream shop, but it wouldn't hurt to surprise Hyesung by appearing at his door early in the morning. After taking a deep breath, Eric knocked on the front door. A middle-aged lady greeted him.

"Eric? What are you doing here all of a sudden?" Eric was puzzled. Could it be that Hyesung didn't tell his mother anything?

"I want to see Hyesung. Is he ready?" The house owner frowned. She looked worriedly at the young guy in front of her.

"Eric, Hyesung didn't tell you?" She put her hands on his shoulders, preparing to keep him steady from any shock he might experience later.

"Tell me what?" Eric's heart was beating fast. Seeing the look on the lady's face, he knew it wasn't going to be good.

"Hyesung had moved to the States for four years already. And he won't come back anytime soon." His breathing stopped; his head was working hard to process the words. "He said he met someone there. And they're getting married in a year." Eric took a few steps back. He couldn't believe what he had just heard. "Ahh he left something for you. Wait here." Eric sat on the bench, trying to calm himself down. The lady then came, bringing a small box in her hands. "Hyesung told me to give this to you, in case you came for him." Eric accepted the box and tears started forming in his eyes. "Eric?"

"Thank you Aunty. Excuse me." He left the house and hurriedly got into his car. Tears streaming down his face as he stared at the box. Slowly he opened it, and a letter caught his attention first.

Eric,

I know you'd come to my house. I'm sorry for lying to you all these years. I just couldn't bring myself to tell you the truth.

I won't go back home. Ever. When you kept saying you wanted to marry me, I felt weird. Thinking that maybe you were joking, I played along. But it eventually made me afraid to face you. Now, I ran out of excuses to give and I guess this is the ultimate way to tell you I can't marry you. And until this very moment, I still don't have the reasons why.

I'm good here. I've been better there, I know. But I've been good here for the past four years. If you ever miss me, just pray for my happiness, okay? That'd be good.

Take care, Eric.

Your friend,

Hyesung

P/s: Did you get a decent job already? :)

Eric clenched the letter in his fist. He wasn't joking when he said he wanted to marry Hyesung. With one definite thought in his mind, he started driving home.

"I'm going to get a decent job there and I will find you. And I won't give up until I get to tell you that I was and I'm still serious over the marriage thing! Just you wait, Hyesung!!"

A/N: I miss SHINHWA. :'(