Moonlight: Stars, Eclipses, & Full Moons

For a Reason

Kyungsoo's POV

I'm a firm believer that everything happens for a reason, whether there's a higher power like Fate controlling the narrative or it's just simply the coincidental causes of the decisions you make. Even when bad things happen to me, this was the thought that has always comforted me; there's something good that will come out of this, some door that will open because this one was closed. Maybe it's because I was forced to deal with harsh realities from a young age, but thinking like this has been the easiest way for me to accept and cope with the things I can't control.

Unfortunately, what is it hasn't done is made the pain of those moments hurt any less, which made explaining this to a broken-hearted sixteen-year-old who had been dumped for the first time even more difficult.

"I don't get it. I thought he liked me," Lily said, lips forming a sad pout as tears rolled down her cheeks. "Am I not likable?"

"No, that's not it, sweetie," I said as I continued to rub her back comfortingly. "I'm sure he did like you, but that doesn't mean he was going to like you forever. And I'm sure some part of him still does. You can like someone but not want to date them."

She looked at me with sharp eyes. "So I'm just not dateable is what you're saying? That's great, that's wonderful." She laid her face in her pillow and began crying again.

I sighed, temporarily closing my eyes. "No, that's not what I meant. I just meant that as much as you like someone and as much as they like you back, that doesn't mean those feelings are gonna be big enough to last forever. Sometimes, you just realize that certain people are better off as your friends than your partners. And besides, you're only 16. You're gonna have so much more time to find someone to spend the rest of your life with."

Lily sniffled and slowly lifted her head. "But you and dad meat when you were in high school and you're still together." She glanced between me and Jongin, who was sitting at her desk chair facing us. 

"That's different, princess," he said in a calm voice. "I imprinted on your dad. You didn't imprint on Jiwan and he didn't imprint on you."

"But," I interjected quickly, "that doesn't mean that the things you felt for him weren't still valid and real. Imprinting just means it's more likely those feelings will last longer, and that's not going with happen to everyone you date." The expression on her face softened, but she was still pouting and sniffling every now and again. 

"Has someone ever dumped you?" she asked me after another sniffle. 

Of course, there was a time when I thought the pain of being dumped for the first time would be the worst pain I'd ever experience, too. I'm not talking about the elementary school, "dating" one day and broken up the next day kind of dumped. I mean the kind that comes after you've been actually dating for almost an entire year, the kind that hits right as you realize this person is probably your first love and you've started imagining a future with them. Yeah, the kind that really shatters your veil of innocence and destroys your heart. 

In hindsight, I should have seen it coming. He was a senior and I was a naive sophomore, who somehow thought that even after he graduated and went to college that we'd still date. That probably had a lot to do with the age difference that I so stupidly ignored when Luhan warned might be three years too big. But I think what hurt more than having my heart broken was the fact that he didn't seem as upset about it, like it had been part of his plan the whole time and my feelings didn't really matter.

"Say it, I know you want to," I said, trying to stop anymore tears from leaving my eyes but completely failing. 

Luhan sighed and rolled his eyes. "I'm not gonna say I told you so to my heartbroken best friend," he replied. I kept looking at him, though, somehow knowing exactly what he was thinking. "But I did warn you that this could happen."