“I have to get there soon,” Yongguk thought to himself, “Before he leaves, everyone must be together.”  The sound of his shoes hitting the concrete echoed across the bridge as he turned the corner, carrying Zelo on his back.  Yongguk had already been running as fast as he could for a while now and fatigue was slowly starting to set in, but he could’t stop; he couldn’t stop now.

 “What’s going on,” Zelo quietly questioned while opening his eyes ever so slightly to take in the sight of the bridge.  It’s the bridge they all would cross as children to play in the forest just on the other side.

 “Don’t..,” Yongguk began to reply before having to take a few breaths, fatigue still setting in, “worry… I’ll get us to everyone.  Just hold on.”  The look in Yongguks’ eyes was of sadness and determination.  Nothing was going to stop him.

 “Okay,” Zelo replied in a very quiet tone while resting his head on Yongguks’ shoulder, “I just want to see everyone happy and together.”

 Yongguk finally reached the other side of the bridge, so just like from childhood he took a sharp left, a right and then began running up the small dirt path into the forest towards their ‘secret base’ they found as children.

 Yongguks’ thoughts began to jump to back when they were children, before the tragedy happened on that sunny, summer day…

The creak of metal sliding against the ground interrupted the talking amongst friends.  Daehyun, Youngjae, Jongup, Himchan, and Zelo all looked towards Yongguk, who was now standing in the doorway of a rundown old shack in the middle of the forest with the door flung wide open.

 “What do you think!?” Yongguk asked his group of friends with a large smile upon his face.  “I found this place last week so we are going to make this our secret base,” He uttered quickly while scanning the faces of his stunned friends.

 “Awesome!” Youngjae said while quickly running inside.

 “Does it have a kitchen?” Daehyun asked while Youngjae made noise from inside.

 “I hope so,” Himchan replied while wrapping his arm around Daehyuns’ neck, “If not, we’ll just have to make one!”

 Those three slowly moved inside their base.  Jongup and Zelo looked at each other, then back at Yongguk, who still had a huge grin on his face.  They just smiled and then calmly walked inside to join the others.

 The inside of the shack was dusty and dirty from being abandoned for many years.  The musty smell was slowly disappearing while the door remained open.  Another loud creak echoed within the shack as a small window was forced open by Himchan.  “That was louder than expected,” he said with a slight chuckle.

 “No kitchen or cooking area of any kind,” Daehyun said with a sad expression on his face.  He meandered over to a small stack of tires in one corner, dusted it off, and then plopped down on them for a makeshift seat.

 “Alright,” Yongguk said after everyone slowly started to find a place to sit down, “We need some things for our base, so bring your favorite toys and maybe a chair.  I’ll get the rest.”  He gave a big smile to his group of friends, who just smiled back and all responded at the same time with a loud, “Yeah!”

Yongguks’ mind snapped back to reality as he stumbled a little while stepping into the shallow river.  He didn’t want to waste time going a little ways down to the wooden bridge so he carefully, but quickly, made his way across the river – the water barely coming up to his knees.  He stepped up onto the bank on the other side, regained his composure, adjusted his hands’ postition under Zelos’ legs and began the final trek up the hill to the small clearing where the shack was located.

 After a few more minutes of panting, Yongguk finally saw the shack come into view with the soft glow of yellow light emanating from the door and window.  He heard the quiet chatter and laughter of friends when he approached the doorway.  He quickly barged in and stopped just inside the door.  Everyone was startled by his sudden entrance and quickly jumped to their feet.

 “What’s wrong?”  Himchan and Daehyun said almost simultaneously.

 “Zelo… is Zelo still here!?”  Youngjae exclaimed while slowly approaching Yongguk.

 “Yes… but it’s not looking good,” Yongguk replied with a sad tone while glancing backwards toward Zelo on his back.  He forgot that it was only himself that could see Zelo.  He still wasn’t sure why he came only to him nor why it is only himself that see him.  Maybe it’s punishment?  Maybe it’s a blessing?  Maybe because Zelo had something unfulfilled he wanted to do or hear?

 “It’s not fair that it has been only you who can see him!  We all wanted to see him again, too!” Daehyun shouted.

 “Calm down, there isn’t anything we can do about that now,” Himchan said with a solemn tone.

 “I don’t understand it at all,”  Yongguk began with before taking a slight pause to look up at each of their faces, “Maybe because it was my fault… that he..di-“

 “NO!”  Jongup shouted so loud that is startled everyone.  “It was our fault for putting you two in that situation when… we… were kids,” he ended with very slowly before calmly sitting back down.

 Everyone just hung their head down, looking at the floor, as if they were all being drawn back to that day eight years ago…

The cicadas were being extremely loud in the shade of the trees.  The warm, summer air softly blew through the leaves.  White puffy clouds would occasionally disturb the blazing rays of the sun beating down upon the land.

 Beep, beep, beep, click, click, beep, beep could be heard from within their secret base.  Sounds of friends playing with Gameboys together in the seclusion and cool shade of the shack.  No one sitting very close together, so as to not get hot from the extra body heat.

 Daehyun and Yongjae were the closest together, with Daehyun sitting on a wooden ladder step and Youngjae sitting on an old barrel that they rolled up the hill into the shack for an extra seat.  Those two quietly look at each other, nod, and then go about with the plan they had thought up to see about something.

 “Hey, Yongguk,” Youngjae started to say, “You like Zelo, don’t you?”  All the noise within the shack quickly halted while everyone looked at Youngjae and then to Yongguk.

 “Wh-wh-wha-what kind of a question is that,” Yongguk replied with a slightly red face of embarrassment.

 “Do you?”  “How about it?”  “You can say it.”  These phrases slowly began to arise from the others while looking back and forth at Zelo and Yongguk.

 “I don’t see why that is impor-“ Yongguk began to say before being abruptly interjected by Daehyun.  “Just answer the question,” Daehyun said with a complete monotone voice.

 The red in his face turning from embarrassment to annoyance and he hastily blurted out, “Who could like an UGLY…-“ His gaze catches Zelos’ eyes, who only gives a half-hearted smile towards him.  Yongguk quickly gets upset with himself, so he covers his eyes and darts out the door leaving everyone else behind.

 “You shouldn’t have done that!”  Zelo yelled at the others who were stunned from both Yongguks’ and his expression.

 “Well,” Daehyun started again, “Do you like Yongg-“ he tried to say before Zelo started in again.  “I don’t have time for this, I must go find Yongguk!”  Zelo jumps up from his seat and quickly runs out the door.  “Yongguuuuuuuuk,” he shouts while moving away from the shack. “Yoonnngguuukk,” can be heard by others, slowly growing fainter as Zelo gets further away from the shack.

 “We should help to,” Jongup says and quickly runs out the door chasing after them.  Everyone else slowly gets up and begins to help track down Yongguk, as well.

 Time passed and Youngjae was the first to find Yongguk sitting down in the forest just staring up at the clouds in the sky, tears running down his face for the horrible thing he said to Zelo.  Youngjae apologized to him.  “We never should have done that to you.  That was mean and I am sorry,” he says to Yongguk who slowly sits up and wipes his face clear.  “It’s okay.  I just need some time alone,” Yongguk said back towards Youngjae who then helps him to his feet.  “Let’s go back and have some more fun,” Youngjae said with a small smile on his face, trying to hide his anger at himself.

 Those two made their way back to the shack where Daehyun was standing completely white in the face, tears in his eyes, and his body shaking.

 “What’s wrong?” Youngjae questioned him while they walked closer.

 “It’s okay, I forgive you,”  Yongguk said approaching Daehyun.

 Daehyun saw them approaching him and completely broke down.  His knees gave out and he collapsed to the ground on all fours.  “I’M SO SORRY,” Daehyun exclaimed to their feet, “I’M SO SORRY, SO SORRY, SO SOR-“ he tried to continue saying, but he couldn’t hold back the tears any longer and he just broke down crying uncontrollably.  Yongguk tried to calm him, but it wasn’t working.

 After a few minutes of trying, all he is able to get from Daehyun was him pointing in the direction of the river down the hill.  Yongguk took off sprinting in that direction while Youngjae stayed with Daehyun for a few more minutes before following behind him.

 Yongguk saw Himchan and Jongup standing on the side of the dirt path, looking down a rather steep hill towards the bank of the river.  He saw Himchan holding one of Zelos’ shoes in his hands with tears streaming down both of their faces.  He slowed his pace and stopped next to where those two were standing and looked to match where they are gazing.

 There, in the water, face down, missing one shoe, was Zelo.  A red stream of water was flowing down the river from his body and he wasn’t moving.  Yongguk dropped to his knees, wraps his arms around himself, and let out a loud and sad yell…

 They all seemed to come back to reality at roughly the same time and Yongguk exclaimed, “Zelo.  Zelo where did you go!?”  He looks around himself quickly, but he couldn’t seem to find him.

 “What happened?  Where did he go,” Himchan questioned Yongguk.

 “I.. I don’t know.  He was on my back and then I just couldn’t feel nor see him anymore,” he exclaimed while spinning in circles.  “Zelo.. ZELO!”

 “It’s a game,” they all hear ever so quietly.  “It’s a game of hide and seek,” they heard Zelo’s voice but with a tone of holding back tears.

 “We don’t have time for this right now, Zelo,” Yongguk said.  “Come on out, everyone is here, just like you wanted.”

 “You have to find me first,”  Zelo said with obvious crying in his voice.  I don’t want to leave yet now that they are finally being friends again, Zelo thought to himself.

 “I’ll check outside!” Yongguk said hastily while running back outside.

 “I’ll help!” Daehyun, Himchan, and Youngjae said together, following right behind Yongguk.

 Jongup was remembering the one place that Zelo would hide when they played hide and seek as kids; the top of the mountain next to a huge oak tree that overlooked their town.  Jongup exited the shack into the cool, but humid night air.  It would be sunrise soon.

 “Let’s check the top of the mountain!” Jongup yelled as loud as he could to get the attention of the others who were in different locations in the forest.

 “Okay!” He got a single response from everyone at once.

 They all slowly met each other while walking up the rest of the dirt path to the top of the mountain.  I hope you are here, Zelo, Jongup thought to himself.

 I’ll be there, everyone, Zelo said to himself while following them all up the hill.

 The top of the mountain comes into view as the moon was sinking over the horizon.  The large, sturdy oak tree at the very peak of the mountain loomed over the view of the town like a statue of a deity protecting a sacred city.

 Zelo walked past everyone, because no one could see him anymore, and stood next to the tree.  He put his right hand against the trunk of the tree and gazed down at the town he would have grown up in and found his first love.

 “I don’t see him up here eith-“ Daehyun began to say before Zelo cut him off mid-sentence.

 “Everyone,” Zelo said quietly, “I want to thank you for all the fun you gave me back then.  I truly had fun and I treasure you all.”

 “This isn’t funny anymore,” Yongguk said, “Show yourself to me again.  Please.”

 “It appears I can’t do that anymore.  Sorry, but it looks like my time is up,” Zelo said while turning around to face his friends.

 “Youngjae,” Zelo began with a quiet voice, “Thank you for helping me with the video games!  You truly are amazing and funny.  Don’t ever stop being yourself.”  Youngjae began to cry.

 “Daehyun – Thank you for letting me try all your different sweets and foods.  They were all amazing and delicious.”  Daehyun joined in with Youngjae.

 “Himchan – You truly are the glue to his great group of friends.  You are calm and intelligent so please don’t let them stop being friends again.”  Himchan turned around and began to cry.

 “Jongup – Although you are dorky you have a good heart.  I hope you find someone amazing that will love you as much as you deserve.”  Jongup sat down on the grass and lowered his head so the others wouldn’t see the tears running down his face.

 “Yongguk – You were the greatest thing to happen to me.  I’m so thankful you brought me into this group of friends and I always did like you.”  Yongguk tried his hardest to hold back the tears while looking down at the ground.

 The red glow of the morning sunrise began to break the darkness of the horizon.  Although they couldn’t see it, Zelo was giving them the biggest smile that he could muster through all his tears.  “Looks like it’s time for me go,” Zelo said while starting to slowly turn towards the sun that was beginning to peak over the yellow-hued horizon.

 “Wait,” Yongguk said while slowing raising his head, “There is something I have to say.”

 The others tried to choke back their sadness and all looked in Yongguks’ direction.

 “Zelo,” he began to say, “I did like you and I will always love you.  I would have dated you if that day hadn’t taken you from me..”  A single tear from Yongguks’ right eye began to stream down his face while staring at the now visible Zelo standing next to the tree.  The others were all awe struck as they could now all see Zelo standing next to the tree, clear as day.

 “I…,” Daehyun began to stutter, “I… can… see you.”  A collective me tooresounded from the group as they all clearly stare at Zelo.

 Tears were starting to freely fall from everyone’s eyes because they could finally see their long lost friend who died tragically eight years ago.

 Zelo had the largest smile on his face that he could muster because he was just so happy that everyone could finally see him after all this time.  He knew his time was just about up after Yongguk finally confessed his feelings.  His smile started to go away as he felt his link to the world slipping.

 “WAIT PLEASE,” Daehyun yelled so loud the town below probably heard him, “Everyone, we forgot the rules of the game.”  Everyone slowly turned to look at Daehyun and then they all nodded at each other.  Zelo had a puzzled look on his face as he looked one last time at his group of amazing friends.

 They all looked back at Zelo, who was confused at what Daehyun was talking about.

 “Zeeelloo,” Daehyun started and everyone joined in for the next part, “We found you!”

 Zelo stood there shocked at first and then he began to cry. The sun now brightly shining down upon Zelo’s back.  He closed his eyes and brought back that giant smile that went from ear to ear.  Daehyun, Himchan, Youngjae, Jongup, and Yongguk all looked down at the ground afterwards, the tears starting to flow again.

 Yongguk looked back up towards the tree after a minute and Zelo was gone.  The others couldn’t hold their sadness anymore and broke down in emotion.  Yongguk tried to hold his composure for as long as possible, but even he found himself sobbing uncontrollably.

 Over several hours, they all started to slowly leave the top of the mountain.  Yongguk remained sitting next to that tree, staring down at the down, and taking in the warm of the sun.  “Goodbye,” he quietly said to himself before clamoring to his feet and heading back down the mountain himself.

 He was surprised to see the others sitting, eyes still red, just outside the shack.

 “See you tomorrow?” Daehyun asked towards everyone.

 “Yes,” they all responded in unison before walking back down the dirt path, across the small river, and then across the large bridge back into town.

let me know what you think and then I'll pass it on ^_^