“Congratulations.” 

 

Jaehyun wished Jibeom, bitterly, before turning away and walking back to the fair to his friends. He knew he couldn’t be alone right now. There was just too much going on inside his head.

 

Once he walked far enough, he took out his phone from his pocket and saw that there were many missed calls from his friends. Daeyeol and Jangjun must have told Seungmin and Youngtaek what they saw because the four of them have been contacting him for the past forty minutes.

 

He called the first person that came to his mind.

 

“He...hello? Yy..you--Youngtaek?” Youngtaek heard Jaehyun’s voice breaking on the other line.

 

“Jaehyun? Where are you? Are you okay? Daeyeol and Jangjun hyung told us what happened. Are you ---” Youngtaek got cut off by the sound of Jaehyun crying.

 

“Y-yo-youngtaek…” Jaehyun tried to call out his friend’s name but failed to properly do so. His legs suddenly gave out and he couldn’t stand up from where he was. He sat on the side of the street and was suddenly crying his eyes out.

 

    Meanwhile the four friends were all over the campus looking for Jaehyun ever since he left the fair. They were running all around while Youngtaek tried to talk calmly to Jaehyun over the phone.

 

    “Jaehyun… Please tell us where you are…” Youngtaek heard the muffled sound of Jaehyun’s sobs over the phone. He knew those sounds all too well. Jaehyun has been crying like this over the past month, but this was the worst one he heard so far. He thinks Jaehyun couldn't talk because he couldn’t stop crying.

 

    “Hey… Jaehyun… At least tell us where you are… We’re really worried about you right now.” Youngtaek was close to crying too because he knew how hurt his friend was. “If you can’t talk, at least open the location on your phone and we’ll go to you. Let us help you... please?”

 

    Jaehyun did as he was told. He wanted to talk to his friend over the phone but he couldn’t bring himself to speak because of all the crying.

 

    “Hyungs! Seungmin! I know where Jaehyun is! He sent me his location.” Youngtaek shouted to the other three.

 

    “Let’s go!” Daeyeol said and they ran to the location that Jaehyun sent them.

 

    Once they arrived at the location, they were taken aback by the sight in front of them. They didn’t know Jaehyun would look this devastated. They knew him as a strong and bright person. Seeing him like this terribly broke their hearts. 

 

He was sitting at the side of the street, knees clutched to his chest. He hid his face in between his legs and even from afar they could see that he was shaking, probably because of how hard he was crying.

 

    “Hey Jaehyun. We’re here.” Jangjun was the first one to approach and sit down next to Jaehyun. He smiled comfortingly at the distressed kid beside him. They all sat beside Jaehyun at the side of the street.

 

Jaehyun didn't even look at them. He kept his head down and suddenly hugged Youngtaek who was beside him on the other side. The four friends just looked at each other and let Jaehyun cry his heart out. 

 

"It's okay Jaehyun. We're here now. You have us." Youngtaek just continuously pats Jaehyun’s back to comfort him while the other let out his emotions.

 

    After Jaehyun calmed down, the five friends went to a restaurant that was still open near their dorms. They ate quietly and the four, excluding Jaehyun who just played with the food on his plate, looked at each other not knowing what to say.

 

    “So...." Jangjun started the conversation. "Do you want to talk about it?” He took a mouthful of his food and cautiously looked at Jaehyun and the others.

 

    “But it’s totally fine if you don’t want to! We understand!” Youngtaek waved his hands furiously.

 

    “It’s okay guys…”, Jaehyun raised his head and smiled at his friends. “I can’t thank you enough for being here for me.”

 

    “Hey! What are friends for, right? You know we’re always here for you.” Daeyeol grinned at Jaehyun.

 

    “Uhmm… Could we order some alcohol?” Jaehyun asked his friends. He thought the alcohol might help him with whatever was happening.

 

    “Are you sure you want to drink?” Seungmin asked him.

 

    “Ya! Seungmin! Stop being so overprotective to Jaehyun!” Youngtaek teased Seungmin for being so motherly again. 

 

“He clearly needs the drink now. I think it’s a good idea to order some alcohol!” Jangjun, being the alcohol lover he is, instantly called the waiter and ordered for them. 

 

The drinks arrived at their table right away and Jangjun poured the alcohol in their respective shot glasses.

 

Jaehyun didn’t even wait for them to toast together and immediately drank from his glass. He got one of the bottles and poured himself another drink.

 

“Hey ---” Seungmin was about to scold Jaehyun for being so reckless with drinking, but Youngtaek grabbed his hand under the table and looked at Seungmin in a threatening way.

 

“Eyyy~ Just let Jaehyun be for tonight.” Youngtaek whispered to Seungmin.

 

“Fine fine.” Seungmin rolled his eyes at Youngtaek, “Can you let go of my hand now, please?” He raised his eyebrows at him.

 

Youngtaek didn’t notice he was still holding Seungmin’s hand. He let it go at once and drank from his shot glass awkwardly. 

 

‘What was that Youngtaek? Why are you acting all fiddly over that?’ He talked to himself in his head.

 

The four other guys started talking about some band that they heard perform at the fair a while ago. Meanwhile, Jaehyun was too preoccupied with his own thoughts to join the conversation.

 

He opened his phone, browsed his gallery, and looked through all of his photos with Jibeom.

 

'I can't believe it. We're really officially over.' He thought to himself as he looked at their photos smiling happily together. He continuously takes shots of alcohol as he looks at the pictures that will now be just memories of the past.

 

'What happened? How did we become like this? We were so happy…' Jaehyun didn't even realize that he said his thoughts out loud, loud enough that his friends heard him. 

 

Youngtaek who was beside him looked at what Jaehyun was doing and saw that he was staring at his pictures with Jibeom. Before he could do or say anything, Jangjun beat him to it and snatched Jaehyun's phone away from him.

 

"Ya ya ya!!! Stop looking at these Jaehyun!" Jangjun scolded him.

 

"We are confiscating your phone. You're drinking too much and you're starting to get drunk." Daeyeol said.

 

He took the phone from Jangjun and gave it to Youngtaek. "Here Youngtaek. Keep his phone for a while. Don't let him take it for the meantime. Who knows what he might do. He might drunk text or call Jibeom and we don't want that happening."

 

"As if I want to talk to that bastard again." Jaehyun scoffed, drinking another shot.

 

Seven bottles of alcohol later, Jaehyun was already drunk. Well, after drinking four bottles alone, who wouldn’t be drunk? 

 

He was becoming very clingy and wouldn't let go of Youngtaek's arm beside him.

 

"You guys won't leave me right?" Jaehyun asked, pouting his lips, eyes closed and still clinging to Youngtaek.

 

"Of course we won't! We're always going to be here for you Jaehyun." Youngtaek replied, laughing at how cute Jaehyun looked right now, clinging to him.

 

"That's right! You guys are nothing like him! You're loyal to me and wouldn't replace me!" Jaehyun suddenly sat up straight and hiccuped from all the alcohol he drank, his eyes still closed.

 

"I think it's time we head home. This one needs to be put into bed." Seungmin said, calling the waiter to pay their bill.

 

Outside the restaurant, the five boys bid goodbye to each other.

 

"Are you sure you guys can handle this?" Daeyeol asked Seungmin and Youngtaek who held each of Jaehyun's arms on their shoulders.

 

"Kim Jibeom, you piece of sh*t!!!" Jaehyun suddenly shouted. Then he got quiet again and rested his head on Youngtaek's shoulder. The four friends just laughed at their drunk friend.

 

"We're fine hyung. Our dorm is just 5 minutes from here. We can handle this." Seungmin assured their older friends.

 

"Alright. Inform us when you get home, okay?" Jangjun said, still looking worriedly over drunk Jaehyun.

 

“Yes hyung! Take care on your way home!” Youngtaek waved at their friends and he and Seungmin dragged Jaehyun on their way home.

 

"Congratulations, glad you're doing great, woah~~ Congratulations, how are you okay WOOAAAHHHH" Jaehyun loudly sang DAY6's 'Congratulations' while the three walked back to their dorm. Seungmin and Youngtaek just laughed at their friend's antics.

 

"Ya… Jaehyun-ah… Who knew you'd still be a good singer even when you're dead drunk huh?" Youngtaek looked at his friend and chuckled, commenting on Jaehyun's singing.

 

"How could you be so fine~ I can see it in your eyes~ The same look that you gave me, that kills me inside, ooohh~" Jaehyun continued singing, losing his balance as he walked. It was a good thing he had Youngtaek and Seungmin holding him at both sides, so he didn't have his face to the floor right now.

 

"Let him be… At least he can express how he's feeling like this." Seungmin looked at Youngtaek, waiting for a response. But he saw his friend too absorbed in Jaehyun's singing, and that he started singing along with Jaehyun too.  

 

"I don't even need to ask, yeah~ I know you too damn well, yeah~ I can see that smile and can tell that you did more than move on~" 

 

He decided to not interfere with it and just quietly carried Jaehyun on one shoulder, while the other two sang the whole way back.

 

"I hate that you're happy~ I hope that you can't sleep~ Just knowing that I could be with somebody new~ That I'd be just like you~~~" Youngtaek and Jaehyin continued to sing while Seungmin just shook his head at what his two friends were doing.

 

Once they finally reached their dorm, Jaehyun was tired from all the stumbling and singing he did.

 

"You can go rest now, Seungmin. I'll be the one to put Jaehyun to bed." Youngtaek told Seungmin, taking off their shoes at the entrance of their dorm.

 

"Alright. Just call me if you need help. I'll be going to my bed now. Good night!" Seungmin replied, going into his room.

 

Youngtaek went into Jaehyun's room while dragging the other that was still clinging to his arm.

 

"Hey Jaehyun-ah. We're home. You can go to bed now." Youngtaek carefully peeled off Jaehyun's arms from his and gently sat down Jaehyun on his bed. 

 

Jaehyun already had his eyes closed and Youngtaek tucked in Jaehyun in his bed.

 

"Youngtaek?" Jaehyun called for his friend, eyes still closed.

 

"Hmm?"

 

"Why does it ache so much?" Jaehyun slowly opened his eyes and looked at his friend, tears forming in his eyes again. 

 

"I feel like dying. I feel like my world has been crushed. What hurts more is that Jibeom seems to be completely fine without me, while I'm just so miserable here. I can't take it. It hurts so much here." Jaehyun started to cry again, holding his hand on his heart.

 

"Shhh… It'll be okay Jaehyun-ah. It'll be okay…" Youngtaek calmed his friend down, patting his head gently. 

 

"You should probably sleep now Jaehyun, get some rest…" He continued petting Jaehyun's head. The other was slowly getting sleepy, his eyelids getting heavy and his breathing becoming more steady.

 

"Please don't leave me." Before falling asleep Jaehyun subconsciously murmured, and held Youngtaek's hand.

 

"Okay okay… I won't leave you until you fall asleep." Youngtaek smiled at his friend who was gradually drifting off to his dream world.

 

When Youngtaek was sure that Jaehyun was already sleeping, he warily took his hand from Jaehyun's grip. He watched his friend of six years fall asleep. Maybe he would stay a few minutes more just to watch Jaehyun sleep. 

 

He reminisces the times they were so happy in high school. He couldn't bear to see Jaehyun lose all that energy and brightness over a guy like Jibeom.

 

“Don’t worry Jaehyun. We’ll be here with you through all of this. We’ll help you get over him. I’ll help you forget him.”

 

Little did he know Seungmin was outside of the door and heard everything he said to drunk Jaehyun on the bed.