'Hello Yunho, why don't you take a seat.'

The young man smiled and walked anxiously across the room. He went straight towards the empty chair by the table where he was directed to sit down.

He always feels nervous whenever he was asked for a private meeting with Lee Soo Man. Especially so that this was only the second time by themselves.

He took a deep breath and sat down. He smiled at the kind chairman and handed him an expensive wine bottle as a gift. The chairman happily received it and nodded his head in appreciation.

'I'm sorry for the sudden summon. You must be quite surprised why I called you.'

Yunho kept on smiling but said nothing.

Laughing, Lee Soo Man started to relax on his seat, in an attempt to ease the young man's nervousness. 'If I remember correctly, the last time we had an intimate meeting was during the time your other three members decided to leave your group, correct?'

Yunho stiffened and lowered his gaze, obviously unprepared for this talk. The chairman wasn't the type to beat around the bush. All of them knew that. Still, bringing up this topic made him uncomfortable because the memory of that day was still so clear, he couldn't forget a single second of it.

'Yes. You asked me if I should've stopped them from leaving the group.'

'Yes... Yes, I did.'

Yunho didn't say anything else for a while as he sailed back in time. It was a painful journey that even now, after so many years have passed by, the pain haven't really gone away. 'I know I should've stopped them, but I didn't. There were just so many things happening at the time. Stuff that's beyond our control. Beyond our individual principles we live by. Before I know it, all of us started to have a different goal in life and staying together would've just hurt us instead.'

Yunho didn't expect the gush of emotions that poured in. Remembering the past gave him a crushing pain in his heart. But to say that he could've tried harder for them to stay would be foolish.

Because it was just so impossible.

There was already a sore spot. To pretend that it didn't exist and continuously work together would only worsen everything. They would only grow to resent each other that's why... that's why he decided to let go. Yunho decided to let go before it came to the point that he will never learn to forgive them anymore.

'And I do think that you did the right thing.'

Yunho smiled weakly and leaned his back on the chair. Somehow, he was relieved that he was finally able to say this out loud without being judged by the people who doesn't even have the slightest inkling of what he was going through at the time.

As if they betrayed them.

As if they weren't damaged by the parting as well.

In that sense, the chairman was different from everybody. He was the one who practically raised them. To let go of his 'children' will never be so easy, even to him.

But they cut the ties.

All they can do was accept the harsh judgement bestowed on their shoulders.

There was a short period of silence that lingered. Yunho watched the pensive look in the eyes of his second father, an expression full of regret and grief. He wondered how much the old man must have been hurting. It was when Yunho realized that the chairman was looking at an old picture on his desk.

He was looking at an old pict