Hongki pushed his stick forward and started off a slow, torturous journey back home. Flashbacks of what happened last night haunted him relentlessly. All he felt was a mixture of guilt, sorrow and anger. He was helpless. There was no way the relationship between Jaejin and him would ever fix itself. It was doomed.

He pulled up in front of their white terrace. He didn’t know what to hope for. To hope for Jaejin to be in there, smiling? To hope for Jaejin to not be in the house or in the his room? To hope that everything was still the way it was?

Hongki was plain tired. He didn’t want to give a about this anymore. He knew it was time to let Jaejin go. After all, he was the one who hurt him so bad. It’s not easy, he knew, but it was the best for Jaejin.

He stumbled into the house to find Jonghoon pouncing onto Seungri on the couch in front of the television. He immediately shot a disgusted look at them, still revolted by Jonghoon’s behavior last night. But he couldn’t care less about them, they were sand grains as far as Hongki concerned.

He walked up the stairs and slowed down as he passed Jaejin’s room. He knew he was in there; he saw his shoes outside their house. For a moment, he thought he could walk in, apologize and they could be back to normal. But reality sets in soon enough.

“Click!” Jaejin’s doorknob sounded as the person inside pushed the lock button. There was no way of getting in now. The room is protected and sealed; much like Jaejin’s heart. It hurt Hongki to have heard it, but maybe now, time is the best medicine. Maybe, just maybe, one day in the very far future, they would be more than best friends again. Maybe…

***

The next couple of weeks were back to the lonely days. This time, Hongki didn’t feel anger. He blamed it on himself. He knew he deserved it.

The streams of HongJae moments ended. Jaejin was back to hanging out with his HSM cast and other friends. That was on the surface. Most of the time, he was alone. Terribly alone. He couldn’t tell anyone his story. No one would ever understand his pain. It wasn’t just a week that he had put in, it was year and years of… of love. He could willingly forget that incident and return to how they were. But he was afraid, the prospect of Hongki betraying him again stops him from going any further from just typing in a text box ‘Hyung, I forgive you…’ and then deleting it. Most of the time, he ends up just lying flat on the grass patch of his alstroemeria garden and falling asleep under the stars.

***

02 March, Tuesday, 9.48pm

Hongki was driving home after a short celebration with his secondary school friends. Bzz, his phone sounded the default notification tone.

Lee Jaejinnie: Happy Birthday, Hyung~ Do you want to come by the garden for a while? I have some things to say to you.

Anxiety struck Hongki’s heart. How was he supposed to feel? He was happy, yet afraid of what Jaejin was going to say. Jaejin’s text sounded optimistic, but…one would never know what Lee Jaejin meant until you meet him in person. Argh, let’s just go and see what he has to say. And so, Hongki did a quick turn and headed down the road, that road.

Hongki got off the car and approached Jaejin apprehensively. The garden returned to its wonderland-like ambience, a total 180^o change from the last time he was here. A cooling breeze ruffled through Jaejin’s dark hair. Hongki rubbed his hands against each other and stuffed them in his coat pockets. What was awaiting him?

As Hongki neared Jaejin, the latter turned around with a stalk of alstroemeria in his tiny mouth. He was biting onto it like how a little kid would bite onto a stalk of ixora from the garden when he tries to sip on its nectar. Jaejin had his hands crossed, hugging his legs in front of him. He looked up at Hongki, dressed plainly in a beanie, long shirt, leggings and high cut Nike.

“Ah hyung, you’re here. Come, sit down,” Jaejin took the flower out of his mouth and patted the patch of grass beside him. He was awkward, but awkward was better than silence and ignorance.

Hongki sat down precariously, already wanting to rush into a long monologue about what really happened the other day, and a thousand million apologies. He was about to break the silence when Jaejin beat him to it.

“I know you’re going to apologize. Save it, I…that’s not the point of the meeting today,” Jaejin said while staring at the grass at his feet. He cleared his throat before continuing,

“I called you here today because…of course, first, to wish my hyung a very happy birthday,” Jaejin finally turned and looked Hongki in the eye. He was smiling, for the very first time since Hongki last saw him. His eyes twinkled mischievously, he knew the suspense was killing Hongki by the look on his hyung’s face.

“And second, to give you this flower.” Jaejin handed it to Hongki boldly. Hongki took it over and observed it. It was like all the previous alstroemerias he had received, in its full-bloom. This one was white. It seemed to glow under the moonlight.

“Remember what I told you about this flower? She is the perfect representation of a friendship’s twists, turns and growth. And today, I want to give you the last stalk of alstroemeria I will ever give to anyone because to you: I pledge my devotion, loyalty and everlasting friendship.”

Jaejin delivered his monologue in a soothing voice. He was more calm than he thought he would be, which is a good thing, he assumed. He smiled and turned to look at Hongki’s dazed face. Under the moonlight, Hongki’s smarting eyes shone in the darkness. Jaejin smiled at his hyung despite the longing he felt in his heart. Tears started welling up in Jaejin’s eyes when he saw his hyung tearing. Hongki returned the smile and almost laughed when Jaejin’s eyes turned red as well.

Hongki pulled Jaejin in for a bear hug and whispered in his ear,

“I will always be here when you need me.”

That was all Jaejin needed to hear. His closed his eyes and let the tears flow down his cheeks. He slowly wrapped his arms around Hongki’s warm back and muttered,

“Thank you, hyung,” while sniffing and trying to catch his breathe.

Hongki broke into laughter and said,

“Ah you kid, stop crying like a baby~ That’s what hyungs are for.” Hongki reached up and ruffled Jaejin’s hair lightly.

“So what do you think about going out to the bar tonight?” Hongki pulled away from Jaejin and asked. Seeing that the latter was hesitating, Hongki snatched his phone from his pocket and started running off towards his car. Jaejin stood up instantly and ran after his cackling hyung. Both of them were all smiles as they settled in Hongki’s car and drove off.

The white stalk of alstroemeria basked in the glory of the full moon tonight. What happens in this place, remains in this place. As far as the two Lee brothers were concerned, they were best of friends – friends who would never part, even at their deathbeds. 

And, this is the end of the story! I hope you won't kill me for the ending, but ever since I've decided to write this fic, I already had this ending in mind. 

And the last chapter to this story is released intentionally near FTISLAND's comeback date for 2015 (WOOHOO)! Go check out their Korean version of To The Light (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rCgj_qWL7aU)~ Leave a like, comment and share ;) #Pray #IWill #FTISLAND 

Would y'all like me to release some back-story chapters/sequels/prequels? If you do, please comment down below! I would gladly take on these chapters <3 Thank you so much for staying through the whole story, for those who started reading in 2013 XD 2014 has been a really busy year I apologise T^T I don't know when I will be starting a new fiction, but when I do please continue supporting! Also if you have any suggestions for fics, just comment haha I'll see if I can expand on those ideas. I know there are quite a few JongKi shippers reading my fics (I'm sorry so I'm a hardcore HongJae shipper) so maybe I'll insert some JongKi bromance/romance in future fics hehe (and not make Jonghoon the bastard). xoxo