CHASING YOUTH. wsn ✓

031.

i guess that was goodbye.

—

wooyoung hugged yunho the tightest, the taller sobbing his eyes out. mingi was behind him, rubbing his back comfortably so that yunho could calm down, hopefully. wooyoung felt the tears stinging his eyes, but he won't let them fall. no, not yet. not when he hasn't seen the person he needed to say goodbye the most to.

"you're going to come back often, right?" yeosang asked gingerly, reaching out to embrace wooyoung. wooyoung sighed. out of all of san's friends, he felt connected to yeosang the most. the older related to him in all the best ways possible, knowing when to stop pushing wooyoung's buttons and when to joke around. despite knowing kyungmin for such a little time, kyungmin had also taken a liking into yeosang, telling wooyoung that he wouldn't mind if he stayed with yeosang as well. wooyoung was glad, of course, but that just all made him guilty to agreeing to his parents' decision for him. out of all the agreements he backed out of, he just couldn't back out of this one. he just couldn't, wooyoung knew that, since it concerned his future.

wooyoung chuckled drily, no more humour left in him as it seems like san took that part away with him that afternoon as well, "as often as my parents let. i mean, if i get bored there, i'll fly back on the first plane so i can annoy you guys again. be grateful that jung wooyoung is getting away from you guys."

they broke apart and wooyoung saw the messy state of his friends. some were crying and the others were just smiling at him. it was a longing smile, a smile that reminded wooyoung just how much each and every single one of them mean to him, meant to his youth. they were all important people in his youth, and wooyoung'll never allow himself to forget them. not even a single thing about them.

"the flight to new york will be boarding in an hour. all passengers on this flight should start making their way to the boarding gate and await for further announcements there. thank you." came the airport announcement. wooyoung sighed, looking at his friends one last time, "well, i guess this is goodbye?"

yunho shook his head, he rushed forward to tightly hug wooyoung once again, the rest of them hugging wooyoung tightly as well, until they formed a circle of crying, smiling, hugging friends in the middle of the airport. "it's just a see you later," hongjoong said, smiling at wooyoung and pinching the younger's cheek, a thing hongjoong used to do when wooyoung was in his freshmen year, "not a goodbye, but a see you later, hm?"

wooyoung nodded. he looked around and when he didn't see the person he was longing to see the most, he looked over at mingi, "he-he isn't coming, is he?"

mingi shook his head, and in mingi's eyes, wooyoung could tell that the older was sorry that san couldn't come, "i'm sorry. i tried my best and he just," a sigh, "he just wouldn't come."

wooyoung didn't say anything. he just nodded grimly and took something out of his backpack. he gave it to mingi and with a very, very forced smile and eyes filled with tears that were threatening to fall down any second now, "just—give him this when you see him, please? as a—one last thing for you to do for me."

"anything," mingi said, hugging wooyoung one last time with one arm around the smaller's shoulders, wooyoung finally breaking into tears, "i'll do anything for you, wooyoung. just like any of us would."

wooyoung nodded against mingi's chest, sniffing and pulling away, wiping his tears away with a pained smile. "see you—see you soon. see you soon, guys." wooyoung said and started to move towards the area with the sign of 'leaving seoul'. wooyoung could hear the 'see you later's and the 'we'll miss you, wooyoung!' from his friends, but he didn't dare to turn around, knowing that if he did, he'll never leave seoul. wooyoung didn't get to hear the thing he wanted to hear anyway, so what's the point of staying anyway?

so he stepped through, completing all the departure process and that's when he turned around. to his surprise, he saw san standing there. all of his friends were gone, but they must've seen him somehow because san was holding the letter wooyoung wrote to him in his hands. san smiled, raising a hand to wave goodbye to wooyoung. wooyoung chuckled. he knew that between them, it wouldn't be a 'see you later', it was definitely a 'goodbye'. and somehow, wooyoung felt okay with it. he raised his hand, too, and waved goodbye to san, the two former lovers finally parting ways from each other and going their separate paths.

[END.]