NINETEEN | CHANGLIX

YEAR FIFTEEN

THE FIFTEENTH YEAR they kissed for the first time.

Like the apples that grew during the season, that summer was as sweet as it was bitter, for Hyunjin had broken the news that by the end of it he would be leaving their small Korean town for the United States due to his father's new promotion. The news was tragic, however the pang of sudden sour shock was quickly overcome as they tried to make the most of it —desperate to fill camera rolls with as many memories as possible with their lifelong friend.

Most of the biterness however, did not come from being thousands of miles apart (for thankfully they were blessed with the wonders of the internet) but from Hyunjin himself, who was terribly saddened that he'd be missing halloween.

"It's literally the best time of the year," the enthusiast for the spooky day sulked miserably, hand drooping like a wilting flower to reveal the photo of them posing at the age of six. The shiny film revealed the first time they had gone trick-or-treating together, their smiles as wide as their mini-cauldrons as they hoped to get a large selection of treats.

Felix smiled at the wave of nostalgia the photo brought, shaking his head in laughter as he spotted a matching Jisung and Hyunjin dressed up as spiderman, crouching as if they could leap straight up and tackle the whole universe. Felix knew well that if they ended up dressing the same today Hyunjin would throw another world war —the boy loved his fashion, unlike Jisung who wore whatever he could find among toppling piles of ironed clothes that he'd never put away.

"Let me see that," Seungmin ordered, finally showing an interest away from his homework and towards their conversation, "We should totally recreate this."

"You're only saying that because your wizard outfit was pretty decent, " Felix scowled, "You're not the one who wore a trash bag as a cape," he shuddered at the awful memory.

"That will forever be iconic," Hyunjin reminisced, however the glow of the past soon faded from his eyes as he was transported to the current grey afternoon, "I just wish I had one more halloween with you dumbasses."

"If only we did," Jisung sighed, "That's like the only day my curfew isn't get-your-ass-home-as-soon-as-school-ends."

Sadly it was true, being an only child meant that Jisung's mother was extremely over protective and Halloween was truly one of the only nights where despite its dark origins, kids filled the streets long enough for her to trust him to be safe.

They would've moped longer, potentially even for days if Seungmin hadn't made them all jump out of their thoughts by banging his head loudly on the desk.

"You guys make my brain hurt," he groaned onto the wood, "If you want another halloween so badly why don't you just throw your own party?!"

"In the middle of August?" Despite it sounding skeptical Felix could see where the younger was coming from.

"Nope right at the end as our final memory," Seungmin offered, "We can get dressed and everything for old times sake."

Simultaneously they all looked towards Hyunjin, after all it was his party and therefore down to his approval. Yet when they looked over at the bed they found it empty, confusion and questions rising over them until—

All it took was the loud crash of a chair falling forward followed by a muffled Seungmin protesting to diminish any confusion, the answer given without any actual words.

Looking down Felix smiled at the sight of a lost-for-words, mousy brown-headed boy, barely visible beneath Hyunjin's embrace.

"KIM SEUNGMIN YOU'RE A FUCKING GENIUS."

__

They decided to throw the party at Seungmin's house for over the years it had become their unquestionable place of hangout. After spending the afternoon carving unreasonably expensive pumpkins into jack 0' lanterns and hanging fake spiders until their arms were sore, they had revamped to make the house look exactly as it should in October before Hyunjin's arrival.