Petals Falling Down

The small town was blanketed in a layer of fallen cherry blossom petals. A scene that to most people would bring joy after the long harsh months of winter that the town had faced.

Young couples had emerged from the quaint houses that lined the streets to take in the picturesque views that seemed to come out of an anime. The snow had melted away making room for the grasses and smaller flowers to grow up in its place.

The trees turned green and then pink as the blossoms grew to their fullest potential, making people forget of the dark grey winter.

Hweseung usually loved this time of year, always making sure to take photos in front of pink blossoms that signaled a time of rebirth.

Rebirth... he huffed as he thought about all the pain he had gone through over the past few weeks. So much for rebirth.

After his grandmother had passed away a few weeks prior, he had become attached to the idea of staying by Seunghyub's side. Leaving was out of the question for him. However, when his manager had found out of the passing of Mrs. Yoo, he had demanded that Hweseung come back to Seoul on the soonest train.

Deep down he had known that he should be heading back. Technically that was the deal he had made with his manager. His grandmother needed someone to stay with her due to old age. He would either stay with her until she passed away, or until the beginning of summer.

"Whichever comes first." his manager had flippantly stated to him the day he finally convinced the man to let him leave on hiatus.

He had to go back to Seoul for his group. They had been gone too long and fans were getting antsy. It would be mean to make them wait.

Trying to push back the inevitable, was becoming less feasible as the days went on. Eventually he made up his mind. He would have to leave for a bit. But he would get back to this small town, back into Seunghyub's arms even if he had to crawl back.

Saying goodbye was the tricky part. Hweseung hated goodbyes. It made leaving feel permanent. Something that he didn't even say to his grandma as she lay in that dreaded hospital bed.

Surrounded by the stark white walls, he had chanted, "It will get better. When you get checked out of here we can visit the knitting shop and pick out some new yarn! You will get better." Maybe lying to himself made it more bearable, so that's what he did when he left Seunghyub.

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He woke up the morning after their date under the cherry blossom tree, motionlessly got up to take a walk around the town and buy the train ticket to Seoul. Only when he knew for sure that Seunghyub was at the cafe, did he go back to the house and pack his suitcase.

Looking around the messy room with blankets thrown on the floor on books stacked against the wall, a sense of sadness washed over him. He tried to memorize each and every inch of the room just in case he would be gone for a while.

Walking to the pile closest to Seunghyub's side, Hweseung picked up the book his boyfriend had been reading last week.

Sweet Bean Paste by Durian Sukegawa was sprawled out on the cover. He had remembered how Seunghyub had cried at the end of the book. How the older boy had turned to him and stated how much he missed his mother and how he was sorry about Mrs. Yoo.

They cried a lot the past few weeks. It had been rough.

Deciding to bring it with him to read while he was away, he slipped the book into his bag and looked around one last time before he started his journey down the winding paths, making sure to avoid the cafe area. He couldn't bring himself to say goodbye to Seunghyub. If he saw him, he wouldn't be able to get himself to leave for Seoul.