Luhan is standing in front of the mirror, dressed in a tuxedo, with his hair styled perfectly.

He fixes his bowtie for the last time and exits the dressing room, only to enter another one.

'Daiyu,' he speaks up.

A girl walks up to him, but he cannot see her face. She is wearing a wedding gown and has her hair in a fancy updo with a veil falling down to her shoulders.

Suddenly, the scenery shifts, and now he is standing at the end of the aisle facing the entrance of the church.

She is led by her father, her face flushed as she is taking small steps, eyes fixed on the ground in a bashful fashion. He cannot see her face, but once again he knows it is Daiyu.

As she nears the end of the aisle, his heartbeat speeds up.

He reaches out towards her, but suddenly a man appears in front of him and holds Daiyu's hand instead.

They turn to face the priest and the ceremony begins. Daiyu smiles lovingly at her soon-to-be husband, and Luhan feels his heart shattering to pieces.

He knows it is a dream, he has this nightmare almost every night.

And when he opens his eyes, the heartache remains.

---

The tears Daiyu had been holding in for too long began to escape her eyes, slowly travelling down, wetting her cheeks and hair. She bit her lip while starting the engine of her car.

She brought a hand up to wipe the drops from her face and sniffled. Her vision was not clear because of the tears as she was overtaking more and more cars on her way.

Sun had already set and Daiyu parked her car near the seaside, having only the silent sound of waves hitting the coast to accompany her.

Her sniffles gradually grew into sobs. She did not keep her feelings repressed anymore.

Minutes passed and she was just sitting there, her mind filled with racing thoughts.

'Is there anyone for you to inform?'

She looks away and sighs.

'There's one person... But I'm not certain...'

'Tell them.', he states, not turning his gaze away. 'You will need someone.'

'But it seems wrong. I've been keeping this a secret...'

'Now it's too late to think about keeping it as a secret. You shouldn't have attempted to hide it in the first place.'

'You don't understand.'

'But the person you mentioned will.'

It was hours later when she finally snapped out of her daze. A heavy sigh escaped her lips and she got up before wiping her tears away.

She fished her phone from the bag and dialed a number that seemed to be engraved in her mind, even though she never called it.

'Daiyu...?' a raspy voice echoed through the speaker of her phone.

'Yeah...', she replied and silence followed for a minute or two. 'I need you, Luhan.'

'Do you know what time it is?' he questioned, with concern in his voice rather than anger.

'I'm sorry for calling this late,' she muttered bashfully.

He heaved a deep sigh. She could picture him palming his face and rubbing his eyes.

'It's okay... Where are you?', he asked after a long moment.

'At the beach near the gas station.'

'Okay,' with that, he hung up.

Daiyu locked the screen of her phone and lifted her eyes to watch the waves hit the coastline repeatedly.

She did not know how much time had passed before Luhan arrived. Everything seemed transient to her now, but at the same time, it was as if each minute dragged on more than the previous one. Distracted by the chaos in her mind, she could only think of how devastated she felt while sitting with her arms bringing her legs closer to her chest, and her chin rested on her knees.

'Yu.'

She turned her head at the sound of her nickname and saw him standing with his hands in the pockets of his coat.

Having stood up, she suddenly felt remorseful upon seeing his worn-out expression.

'You came.', she stated quietly.

'Of course I did.', he replied and s one of his arms around her waist, covering her with his coat.

He frowned as he realized she had become much thinner than he remembered her. His eyes hovered over her car, parked a small distance away, but he refrained from asking any questions. It was not the right time.

'Come. I'll take you to my place.'

---

'Would you like something to eat or drink?', Luhan asked as soon as they entered his flat.

'No, thanks.'

He gestured for her to take a seat on a couch before sitting down himself.

'Luhan...', Daiyu began, eyes locked at the view outside his window. She could only see stars and the moon shining through gaps between the leaves of the trees surrounding the building.

'You know you can tell me the truth.'

'Can I...', she trailed off once again and pursed her lips. 'I'm sorry.'

'For what?'

'For being selfish. I promise it's only for tonight.'

Upon hearing those words, Luhan furrowed his eyebrows. He had no inkling of what she meant until she rested her forehead against his chest while embracing his with her slender arms.

'I can hug you, can't I? It's what friends do. It's not too selfish... Right?'

He draped his arms around her in response before leaning towards her ear.

'Even if there's a reason for this to be labeled as selfish, I don't mind. I really don't mind. And can't think of one reason why your boyfriend would mind. It's alright.'

Daiyu's embrace only grew tighter around his body.

'You're too good. I sometimes feel like your kindness outweighs all of the bad things in the world, you know.'

They sat on the couch together, her body engulfed in his warm embrace.

It was not long until Luhan fell asleep, his head resting on a folded blanket.

Daiyu observed his facial features for some time, thinking how peaceful he looked. It felt wrong and unfair to the point that she started to feel uncomfortable. Pushing these thoughts away, soon she was dozing off as well.

---

'Why did you go to the beach?', Luhan asked after a long moment of awkward silence.

They were sitting at the table wordlessly. After eating breakfast both of them seemed to be growing slightly uncomfortable.

'We had a fight, and I left the house for some time. He said...', she trailed off, lost in her thoughts for a moment. 'He said we should take a break. He even moved out for a couple of days, but... We've already talked this through, and everything seems to be going back to normal. I needed some time to think about what is important for me, and what I really need.'

When his only response was silence, Daiyu looked out the window. 'Aren't you tired? Of all this?'

Once again, he did not answer.

'Because I am. I'm so tired.', she whispered.

Truthfully, Luhan was tired as well.

When he had confessed his feelings to her, Daiyu rejected him saying that she loved someone else. He had backed out not wanting to force himself upon her. His affection never faltered, as it was genuine, and he remained her best friend. As if that could ever suffice.

But that night, when she called him up a few minutes past midnight, he felt tired. Tired of having to suppress his feelings for her. Tired of faking smiles and laughter when his heart seemed to be shattering with her every word.

'Tired of what?', Luhan asked.

'Delaying the time I tell you something important.', she took a deep breath and turned to face him.

He gazed at her softly, trying to stop his own tears from falling.

He had seen this coming.

Are they getting married? I won't be able to endure it... It's the worst thing that could be happening to me right now.

Daiyu parted her lips as to speak, but her expression suddenly turned into that of panic and utter hopelessness. For what seemed to be forever, they were just staring at each other, with her face unreadable for Luhan.

'I will have to stop seeing you for some time...', tears started to gather in the corners of her eyes. 'A situation occurred... And I won't be able to leave the house for a while.'

Luhan finally dared to speak up.

'Daiyu, what happened?'

She got up and wiped her tears with the back of her hand.

'Thank you for putting me up for last night. And for allowing me to be selfish,' she heaved a deep sigh. 'Please, don't hate me.'

'Why would I hate you?' he got up as well, concern slowly taking over his face. 'What happened?' he insisted.

She just smiled apologetically in response.

'I need to go. Thank you, Luhan. I really appreciate everything you have done for me.'

'What are you talking about? Daiyu?'

He could only stand motionlessly while she was putting her coat on.

'Dai-'

She glanced back at him one last time before walking out the door.

'When can I see you again?' he asked, and she stopped abruptly.

'I don't know. But it won't be any time soon,' Daiyu replied while bowing her head slightly.

'Why can't you just tell me? Maybe I could help you or-'

'You can't,' she cut him off dryly. 'Bye, Luhan. And please, don't follow me.'

'But-'

The sound of doors closing prevented him from saying anything more.

---

'Have you told anybody?'

She turned her gaze away, ignoring the man's question.

'Why? Don't you know-'

'I do know!', she snapped. 'I tried, but I couldn't. And it doesn't matter anymore.'

He eyed her face thoroughly.

'It's your choice, but for most people it's easier that way.'

'There's no need to make anyone worried for such a... personal issue. I don’t see why you care so much.'

'I know I'm in no position to lecture you, especially since we're strangers, but please reconsider telling someone.'

She pursed her lips, and he shook his head in disbelief.

It was her choice after all.

---

Luhan was standing in front of the door to Daiyu's house. He knocked on the wooden surface and felt his already rapid heartbeat speed up even more at the thought of seeing her face.

'Daiyu,' he spoke up when he heard steps inside of the hall.

She did not come out, and nor did she open the door.

'What are you doing here?' he heard her muffled voice.

'I wanted to see you.'

She heaved a sigh, 'Please leave.'

'I can't.'

'Go, Luhan. Please, just go.'

'Daiyu, do you need anything?' he asked.

'I don't need anything from you. Don't come here anymore. Just leave me alone.'

'Is that what you really want?'

'Yes.'

'What's wrong? Tell me.', Luhan pleaded once again, resting his forehead on the door.

Whatever the secret was, he felt desperate to know more. Something, call it a gut feeling, told him he needed and deserved to know, as her best friend at the very least.

He lost track of time as he waited for her to come out. His words remained unanswered, however, just like hundreds of questions in his head.