DAHLIA - Xu Minghao

Chapter 15 - Goodbyes Don't Last Forever

"It's hard to say goodbye,
Oh, I tried couple million times."

***

     It was the last day off for the trainees, and the day that Yenling, Chao, Lihua and Daiyu were going back to Beijing. Meilin, Junhui, Minghao, Seungcheol and Jihoon were accompanying them to the airport. The teenagers were divided over three taxi's, traveling in complete silence.

      Meilin was sitting in a car with Minghao and Daiyu. The youngest girl was still staring out the window quietly, seemingly lost in thought. It was the most Meilin had seen her let down her walls, ever. She hadn't said a word since she had taken a seat, and to say it worried Meilin a lot was an understatement.

      But she kept quiet, well aware that Daiyu didn't like to talk about her problems. If she wanted to say something, she would. So Meilin just leaned her head on Minghao's shoulder and stared at her friend as Minghao rubbed circles on her arm. The ride to the airport seemed to take forever, adding a suspense to the coming goodbye that Meilin didn't like. As they neared Incheon International, Meilin felt the tears well up, and she was really struggling to hold them back. She didn't want to cry until she was saying her actual goodbyes at least.

     "Daiyu?" Meilin was snapped out of her thoughts by Minghao calling out for her friend. She looked up and saw a single tear trickle down Daiyu's cheek. The young girl looked up, making no move to wipe away the tear. "We're here." Minghao's voice was barely above a whisper as he addressed the girls, and only then did Meilin notice that they weren't driving anymore. With a sigh, she followed Minghao out of the car, and helped Daiyu with unloading her luggage. The second taxi arrived, and Yenling, Chao and Seungcheol got out. Meilin looked at her sister from the entrance as she grabbed her suitcases. Her throat closed up.

     The final taxi arrived, and Lihua, Junhui and Jihoon joined the rest of the teenagers at the entrance of the airport. Slowly, they made their way into the building. It wasn't very busy, and Meilin was surprised. She still remembered the day she had arrived, it was crawling with people. There must have been a celebrity group passing through at the same time as her, because the crowd consisted mostly of teenage girls, holding their phones and waiting impatiently.

     The group made their way to boarding, and it was there that Meilin burst out crying. There was no line, which meant that her friends could go right through, and this was goodbye.

     Yenling was immediately by Meilin's side, and hugged her sister tightly. They kneeled on the floor together, neither of their legs strong enough to be standing. Daiyu and Lihua joined the hug, and the boys stood around them protectively, both hiding them from sight and making sure that no one would accidentally step on the girls.

     Eventually, Chao broke, and kneeled down to join the hug too. He wasn't crying, and neither was Daiyu, but the boy was close to breaking down. That much was clear.

     After a few minutes, Meilin finally found the strength to stand up, and her friends followed her example. Goodbyes were exchanged in two different languages, and people hugged each other. Even Lihua and Jihoon hugged, and neither of them even complained about the affection. Meilin and Yenling shared one last goodbye, with the promise to see each other as soon as possible, whenever that would be.

     And then they were walking away from each other. Meilin to her boyfriend, and Yenling to the gates, with Chao's arm around her shoulder.

     Both of them were ugly crying as they took one last look at each other.

     Once her sister was fully out of sight, Meilin quickly turned away and made her way back to the lobby. The boys exchanged a look and ran after her before she had a chance to disappear from their sights. Jihoon reached her first, and swooped the girl into a hug, taking Meilin by surprise. But she gladly returned the affection. She needed that. Jihoon might not like hugs, but he was good at giving them. He rubbed her back as her body shook with every sob.