Like a breath of fresh air, Byunghyun's nerves were calmed by the smell of gasoline. He took the bitter smell in, maybe letting one too many brain cells die off. Behind black shades and long sleeves, held the round circles and old red ribbons he's been building up for a couple years now. Everything was coming undone. They blew away into the distance with no goodbyes.

'If only my heavy heart would too..' This thought was pushed into the back of his mind, buried and left to die. Still, he gripped tighter to the steering wheel just a bit, and if you listened, you could hear regret singing along with the radio.

Byunghyun actually felt calm. He didn't know where he was driving anymore. His navigation system placed Chanhee's place first, but he couldn't remember deleting it moments ago before shutting off his GPS. In another sharp turn, he was falling behind a new road of unspoken goodbyes and a night sky that couldn't hold him back anymore. Every night, he would struggle with sleeping for multiple things but he only had one in mind lately. He thought that maybe if he thought about it long enough, it would all just go away. The people who hurt him could just drive away somewhere like they've always done, but not this time. He was the one running away and he didn't feel like turning back.

'You hurt me right here. Right here, and I'm tired of it.'

A red light stopped his car and he pushed back on his seat heavily. He checked his cellphone with his thumb on the 'send' button but he just erased all the messages all together. With a flick of his wrist, he tossed his phone in the back seat without any second thought then leaned back again in his seat. Brown eyes peered over the road he was on and he realized that couldn't recognize any of the signs or street names. There were not-so yet familiar sounds of laughter and drunkard folks running around everywhere. It seemed like everyone had somewhere to be, but not him. He couldn't think of a place where he belonged right now except in his seat, ready to run away. The radio sang his regrets softly as the air conditioning was bouncing back his soft breathing. The moment the green light lit, he ran for it. He didn't want to look back anymore, but he also didn't know where he was going.

'You held onto my hand like it was a seat belt. You were ready to go with me anywhere. Where are we going now? Get out of here...'

He rolled down the windows at some point, hoping to let all his frustrated feelings go. His foot pressed onto the pedal a little harder too, hoping to run away from his memories. The more Byunghyun thought about running away, it sounded so nice. It was like a smooth wind passing through his hair on a nice summer day. The sun would kiss his skin softly, and the endless ocean always gave him that freedom he's searched for all his life. But there would still be that hand to hold him back. That hand would have a friend, and they would hold his body into a cool chest to calm his nerves. A soft laugh and a loving kiss would keep him from leaving. He didn't have a reason to leave then, but he didn't think his reason to stay would drive him away.

"WATCH OUT!"

The breaks slammed.


.
 

Byunghyun laid the young teen on his messy couch. The blood on his hands was already starting to dry, but he just wiped it away on his jeans. Every part of his body was aching and he could barely feel his hands. They were shaking? He didn't realize it. The person on his couch could be dead, but he didn't bother checking. Among his loud heartbeat in his head, he could still hear soft breathes somewhere in the room.

"..f..ing...what..what the h..hell.."

There were wilting petals touching the ground one by one within passing minutes. Byunghyun doesn't even know how long the kid's been crying to himself at this point or how long he's been sitting on the ground listening to it. Has it really been an hour since he hit him?

"..thanks for..s..saving.."

"I hit you." There wasn't any tone in his voice.

"I know."

"You could have died. I could have left you there and get arrested. I could have just kept driving and toss your body aside a ditch or down a bridge. I could have-"

"But you didn't."

The rising sun started shining through the window blinds and for the first time in a while, Byunghyun felt warm tears running aside his cheeks. He quickly wiped them away with his s