Summer was now upon them, and school was let out for the group, which meant that they had one final year left of high school before parting ways indefinitely. So for three months, they would be spending a majority of their time over at Kangin and Leeteuk’s house with their boyfriends. Donghae and Eunhyuk were in their bedroom, looking at brochures for colleges they’d received from their counselors. “All of these places look really nice,” Donghae said as he looked at colleges in Seoul and nearby cities. “Do you see any place you’d like to go?”

          “Um, Donghae, I’m not going to college,” Eunhyuk slowly informed.

          “What, what are you talking about?” Donghae asked.

          “I’m going to go do my mandatory military training after we graduate, so I can get it put behind me,” Eunhyuk explained.

          “But, but you’ll be gone for two years, I can’t be away from you for that long,” Donghae muttered as he lowered his head.

          “You could come with me,” Eunhyuk suggested.

          “But I wanna go to college and major in vocal arts. I thought we were gonna go together and then become a K-Pop duo,” Donghae reminded as tears welled in his eyes.

          Eunhyuk wrapped his arms around his boyfriend’s neck and kissed his lips gently. Donghae slid his arms around Eunhyuk’s body as the blonde laid him down on the bed. Eunhyuk Donghae’s face before whispering “I do wanna do that with you Donghae; I want nothing more than to have a future with you, but I have to go do this. I love you and I don’t wanna be apart from you either. Two whole years without is gonna be tough.”

          Donghae giggled quietly. “You know I can visit you once a month and help you with that,” he muttered as he ran his hands down his boyfriend’s chest and rested them on his jeans.

          Eunhyuk grinned at the brunette underneath him before kissing his lips again. “You better come like once or twice a week,” he joked as he and Donghae laughed.

          In Heechul’s bedroom, Heechul and Hankyung were watching TV and browsing on their laptops. “Heechul?” Hankyung said as he closed his laptop lid and looked at his raven haired boyfriend.

          “Yeah,” Heechul replied.

          “I have to talk to you about something important,” Hankyung stated seriously.

          “Are you breaking up with me?” Heechul asked as he looked at Hankyung.

          “No, no, nothing like that,” Hankyung promised before leaning forward and placing a quick kiss on his lips.

          “So what’s up?” Heechul wondered as he pulled his legs to his chest.

          “I have been given a scholarship offer to study for a year in China after high school,” Hankyung informed.

          “China?” Heechul muttered.

          “Yeah, but it’ll only be for a year,” Hankyung reminded.

          “Are you taking it?” Heechul whispered.

          “If my grades stay good through Senior year, then yeah I probably will,” Hankyung confirmed.

          “Fine, then just leave. Just abandon me like everyone else,” Heechul spat before standing up and storming over to his window; crossing his arms and looking outside.

          Hankyung slowly stood up and walked up behind his boyfriend. He felt Heechul begin to tremble and cry as Hankyung gently touched his arms and kissed his shoulder. “Heechul,” he said quietly before placing a kiss on the Korean’s neck.

          Heechul turned to Hankyung and cried “Please, please don’t leave me, don’t leave me all alone.”

          The blonde wrapped his arms around his boyfriend and held him close as Heechul sobbed into his neck. “I won’t be gone forever; I’m not going to abandon you, I love you,” Hankyung said.

          “We had plans to move away, far away where we could live alone and have a life together, and you promised you’d stay with me forever,” Heechul wept as he laid his head on Hankyung’s chest.

          “I will be with you, but I have a chance to help advance my knowledge in a field, and that’ll help me make more money, that I’ll ultimately use to take care of you with,” Hankyung reminded. “I want the best life for us, and if I do this, it’ll benefit us both.”

          “What am I supposed to do for a year without you? What if someone seduces you and tries to take you from me?” Heechul wondered as Hankyung held his face and the tears off of his cheeks.

          “Heechul, don’t worry, I’m not going to leave you for someone else; I love you baby, and I’ll always love you,” Hankyung promised. “You could stay here and get a job doing something while you wait. Trust me; I don’t wanna be away from you any longer than I have to be.”

          The blonde tilted Heechul’s face up to his and kissed his lips once more before running his lips down to rest on his boyfriend’s neck. Heechul slid his hands slowly to Hankyung’s shoulders and closed his eyes as his boyfriend kissed him. “You make me feel safe,” the raven haired teen whispered. “I don’t wanna lose that feeling.”

          “And you never will,” Hankyung replied as he placed his hands on Heechul’s waist. “Are you mad at me for wanting to do this?”

          “No, I’m not mad, I want you to do what you want; I’m just scared,” Heechul responded before nudging his face against Hankyung.

          “Don’t be afraid, we don’t have to worry about this for another year, and I promise you that we will be together forever,” Hankyung whispered before he held his boyfriend tighter and kissed him.

          Yesung and Ryeowook were in the living room watching TV. Ryeowook had his head lying on Yesung’s lap, and the dark haired teen was gently grazing his fingers up and down Ryeowook’s arm. “Yesung?” Ryeowook said.

          “What’s up?” Yesung wondered.

          “What are your plans for after high school?” Ryeowook asked.

          “I’m gonna probably start work,” Yesung responded.

          “Are you not gonna go to college?” Ryeowook inquired.

          “Probably not, what about you?” Yesung questioned as he ran a hand through Ryeowook’s hair.

          “I wanna go to one of the universities, but that would mean that I would have to be away from you,” Ryeowook replied. “And that’s something I don’t want.”

          Looking down at his boyfriend’s sad brown eyes, Yesung sighed before saying “Dammit Ryeowook, don’t do this.”

          The brunette jumped up as his boyfriend stood. “What are you talking about?” Ryeowook innocently asked.

          “Don’t make that sad face at me, because then it’s just gonna make me wanna keep you here longer,” Yesung stated before lowering his head.

          “What?” Ryeowook muttered as he took a step towards his boyfriend.

          Yesung raised his head and Ryeowook could see tears glistening in his eyes. “You just, you make me feel things I’m not used to feeling, and it makes me act weird and awkward when we’re together. The way you talk, the way you smile and laugh, every little thing about you I really like, and knowing that I’ll have to let you go when I’m already attached to you, it’s just, I lost three people I loved, and to be honest, I’m not ready to let go of another person I love,” Yesung slowly explained as a few tears escaped his eyes.

          Ryeowook slowly walked up to Yesung and placed his hands on his boyfriend’s face. “Then don’t let me go,” Ryeowook whispered before placing a kiss on his lips. Yesung pulled Ryeowook closer and buried his face in the brunette’s shoulder as Ryeowook ran his hands up and down Yesung’s back. “Don’t let me go.”

          In the kitchen, Leeteuk and Kangin were making dinner for the boys. “Can you believe we’ve had them for almost a year now?” Kangin asked.

          “I know, it feels like it’s going by so fast; pretty soon they’ll be heading out for college and then we’ll have an empty nest,” Leeteuk replied.

          “Well maybe not all of them, a couple of them may stay at home and attend a community college or something, or work,” Kangin reminded.

          “Either way, we’ll support them,” Leeteuk said.

          “Of course we will, but you know that this summer their boyfriends will more than likely be staying over every night,” Kangin responded.

          “I’ve prepared by buying food in bulk and started couponing, that way we can get more food for them,” Leeteuk remarked.

          “You’re such a smart money saver,” Kangin laughed as he hugged Leeteuk’s waist.

          “Thank you honey, now will you please call the boys to come in and eat?” Leeteuk requested. As the group ate dinner, Leeteuk noticed Sungmin was acting strangely quiet tonight. “Sweetheart, are you alright?”

          “I’m okay, just thinking about Kyuhyun. He’s been gone for almost three months now Leeteuk,” Sungmin reminded.

          “Don’t worry, I’m sure he’ll be back soon,” Leeteuk promised.

          “Can I please leave?” Sungmin requested.

          “Sure,” Leeteuk agreed as his blonde son stood up from the table and headed upstairs.

          After Sungmin had headed upstairs, the front door bell rang. “Could one of you go answer that please?” Kangin asked the other boys. Donghae stood up and walked to the front door before opening it and dropping his jaw at who he saw standing at the front door.

          Upstairs, Sungmin sat on his bed and looked down at a picture of Kyuhyun on his iPad. He stood up and grabbed a video game controller before asking the picture “Kyuhyun, do you wanna watch me play a video game?”

          “Sure,” a voice from behind him stated.

          Sungmin froze before turning around and seeing Kyuhyun standing at his doorway, leaning against the frame, and smiling. The blonde dropped the video game controller and let it bounce on the ground as he kept his eyes locked on the dark haired teen. “Kyuhyun?” he muttered, almost inaudibly.

          “Yeah, I’m back Minnie,” Kyuhyun whispered.