Min-ji stood in the hallway and looked right at their hands.

Ho-jin still held onto Ji-hun. Min-ji stared for a second, but then she looked up at Ji-hun's red eyes. The surprise completely left her face, and she suddenly looked very soft and worried.

"Hi, Moon Ji-hun," she said. "Is everything okay?"

"I'm fine," Ji-hun said.

Min-ji turned to Ho-jin, and she sounded completely understanding.

"Sorry, Ho-jin," she said. "I didn't know you were busy."

"Ji-hun wasn't feeling well, so I came to check on him," Ho-jin said. "We're going outside to get some air now. We can talk later, Min-ji, okay?"

"Of course," Min-ji said.

Ho-jin and Ji-hun walked right past her. Min-ji stayed in the empty hallway, and she watched them leave.

"We haven't even talked a single word for a week anyway," she said to herself.

Her eyes filled with tears, so she quickly turned around and walked the other way.

Ho-jin and Ji-hun walked out of the school building, and the cold afternoon air hit them. The wind was loud, and the parking lot was mostly empty.

Ho-jin did not let go of Ji-hun's hand until they reached the chain-link fence by the basketball court. He finally stopped and dropped his hand.

Ji-hun leaned his back against the fence. The metal was cold through his sweater, and he looked down at his shoes. His chest still hurt, and he could not stop the tears.

Ho-jin took a crushed pack of cigarettes from his pocket. He put one in his mouth and lit it. He took a drag and blew the smoke into the wind. The smell of tobacco mixed with the cold air. He did not look at Ji-hun right away, and he just stared at the empty street.

Ji-hun wiped his wet face with his sleeve. He pressed his lips together so he would not make a sound, but his shoulders shook a little.

"You don't have to hide it," Ho-jin said.

"I'm fine," Ji-hun said.

His voice cracked, and he hated how weak he sounded.

Ho-jin turned his head and looked at him. He stepped closer and dropped his cigarette on the concrete. He stepped on it to put it out.

"It's okay to be angry," Ho-jin said.

"I'm not angry… I don't hate the world," Ji-hun said. "I just miss my mom."

Ji-hun could not hold it back anymore, so he covered his face with his hands. He cried silently against the fence.

Ho-jin stood right in front of him. He reached out and put his hand on the back of Ji-hun's neck, and his fingers were warm.

"I know," Ho-jin said.

Ji-hun kept his face hidden, and he let himself cry. Ho-jin kept his hand on his neck. The afternoon got darker, but he just stayed there with him.

—

Ji-hun did not sleep much that night. He stayed in bed and thought about Ho-jin. The memory of Ho-jin's hand on his neck made him incredibly happy, so he thought about it for hours.

Ho-jin came to his house the next morning.

They started their walk to school. They both still felt the weight of yesterday. Ji-hun's eyes were puffy from crying and lack of sleep, and Ho-jin did not look much better. It really upset Ho-jin to see a young kid like Ji-hun break down like that. He always tried so hard to look strong.

The street was quiet, and Ji-hun kept his hands in his pockets. He felt nervous. He wanted to talk, but he struggled to find the right words. He looked down at his shoes.

"Does the pain go away when you lose someone you love?" Ji-hun asked.

Ho-jin walked beside him. He thought Ji-hun still wanted to talk about his mom.

"It never completely goes away, but you slowly learn how to carry it without dropping everything else," he said.

They walked a little further. Ji-hun thought about this answer, and it gave him a little courage.

"Do you think true friends stay together forever?" Ji-hun asked.

Ho-jin looked at him.

"Some people leave, but the good ones always find a way to stay around," he said.

Ji-hun stopped walking. Ho-jin stopped right after him and turned around. Ji-hun felt his chest get tight. He could not hide his feelings anymore.

"Sunbae," Ji-hun said.

"Yeah?" Ho-jin asked.

Ji-hun looked at the ground first, and then he looked up at Ho-jin.

"I feel like my chest is gonna explode when I see you," he said. "I really don't wanna be without you. What am I gonna do when you leave?"

Ho-jin looked at him for a moment.

He understood the situation, and he saw it as a sweet, childhood first crush. He reached out and put his hand on Ji-hun's shoulder.

"You don't need to worry about that," he said.

"But you're leaving the school soon," Ji-hun said.

"I am," Ho-jin said. "But I'll still come back to see you. I promise. We'll always be friends, so don't stress over it."

They walked the rest of the way to school.

Ji-hun felt much better after that. He really believed Ho-jin's promise. They reached the main gate, and then they went to their own classrooms. Ji-hun felt truly happy for the rest of the morning.

—

The school was loud during the break, but Ho-jin did not notice the noise. He was busy at his locker.

Suddenly, he felt a sharp tug on his sleeve.

He turned around and saw Min-ji. Her face was red, and she looked like she had been waiting for him for a long time. She did not say anything at first. She just grabbed his arm and dragged him toward a nearby empty classroom. She pushed him inside and slammed the door.

The sudden silence in the room felt heavy.

"What's your problem?" Ho-jin asked. He tried to fix his shirt.

"My problem?" Min-ji asked. She stayed right by the door so he could not leave.

"You completely ditched me because of that little kid. I can't even see you anymore. You don't talk to me at school, and you never reply to my texts. It's like I don't even exist."

Ho-jin shook his head and leaned against a desk.

"That has nothing to do with it," he said. "You're just making things up in your head."

"I'm not making anything up," she said. She walked up to him and pushed him hard in the chest.

"You're always with him. You walk him to school, you eat with him, and you talk about him constantly. You threw me away for him. You're obsessed with him!"

Ho-jin stepped forward. He felt his face get hot with anger.

"Stop acting like this, are you out of your mind?" he said. "That kid needs a lot of help. He has absolutely nobody in his life right now. He's alone, Min-ji. Are you seriously jealous of a little kid who has nothing?"

"Aissshhh, he isn't a little kid," Min-ji said. Her voice got much louder and she started to shake.

"He knows exactly what he's doing. He's using you. He acts all sad and lonely so you'll stay with him. You just feel sorry for him, and you're blind to the truth. He's manpulating you everyday!"

"You're being crazy," he said. He looked at her like he didn't recognize her anymore.

"He went through terrible things. His life is a mess, and I'm just trying to be a good person. I'm trying to help someone who actually needs it. You're being totally selfish right now."

"I don't care about his life or his problems," she said. She was almost screaming now. "I care about us, but you chose him. You chose a random kid over your best friend. And we were more than just friends!"

"Yeah," Ho-jin said. "I never told you I'd stay with you forever, and you know it." He felt done with the conversation.

"If you wanna act like a jealous child, then I don't have anything else to say to you. We're done here."

Min-ji looked at him for a long second. She looked like she wanted to hit him or cry, but she just turned around. She opened the door and walked out without looking back.

Ho-jin stayed in the empty room for a minute and tried to catch his breath.

—

Ji-hun woke up very early that morning.

The sun was barely up, but he was already in the kitchen. He wanted to make something special for Ho-jin to show how happy he was.

He decided on pancakes. He moved quietly so he would not wake up his father. He mixed the flour and the milk, and he spent a long time making sure the batter was perfect. He cooked each pancake carefully until they were golden brown.

He found some clean paper and wrapped them up nicely so they would stay warm. He felt proud of himself. He imagined Ho-jin's face when he saw the surprise, and the thought made him smile.

He finished quickly and ran out the door.

He went to the usual spot where they met every morning, but Ho-jin was not there. Ji-hun waited for ten minutes, and then fifteen. He felt a little confused, but he thought maybe Ho-jin just went to school early.

He did not want the pancakes to get colder, so he started walking to school by himself. He held the small package tightly against his chest.

When he reached the school grounds, he looked around for Ho-jin. He was still smiling.

Suddenly, someone grabbed his arm from the side and pulled him into a corner behind the gym. It was Min-ji. Her eyes were red, and she looked like she wanted to hurt someone.

"Moon Ji-hun," she said, and she did not look friendly at all.

"Hi, noona¹," Ji-hun said. He felt a bit nervous. "Have you seen Ho-jin sunbae?"

"You're really attached to him, aren't you?" she asked. She didn't wait for an answer. "But don't get the wrong idea. Ho-jin doesn't even see you as a little brother. He doesn't even like you."

Ji-hun's smile faded.

"What are you talking about?"

"In the first week of school, the counselor called him," Min-ji said. She stepped closer to him.

"She told him everything. She told him about the car accident with your family. She told him your mom died and your dad went blind. She asked him to take special care of you because you're a pathetic kid with no one. He only stayed with you because the counselor told him to."

Ji-hun felt his heart stop.

"No," he said. "That's not true."

"It's true," she said. She looked him right in the eyes.

"I even know why your dad is blind. He leaned over to protect you when the car crashed, and the glass from the windshield went into his eyes. He lost his sight for you, and now Ho-jin has to deal with you because he feels sorry for you."

Ji-hun's hands started to shake. He couldn't hold the package anymore. The pancakes fell to the ground and the paper opened. They just sat there in the dirt.

Right then, Ho-jin walked around the corner. He saw them and stopped.

"Min-ji? What's going on?" he asked.

Ji-hun looked at Ho-jin, and his eyes were full of pain and anger. He didn't look like a child anymore.

"I'll make you pay for pitying me," he said.

He turned around and he ran away as fast as he could. Ho-jin stood there and he looked completely lost. He looked at the food on the ground and then he looked at Min-ji.

"What did you say to him?" Ho-jin asked.

"I told him the truth," she said. She started to cry. "I did it for us, Ho-jin. I wanted things to go back to how they were."

"There's no 'us' anymore," he said. "I don't wanna see you again. We're done."

He walked away from her and he did not look back.

Min-ji stayed there in the dirt and she cried out loud. She kept calling his name but he did not stop.

—

Ji-hun ran away from the school as fast as he could.

He did not look back. His eyes were so full of tears that everything looked blurry, and he felt like he could not breathe. He ran down the sidewalk and his chest hurt. Suddenly, his foot caught on a crack in the pavement and he fell down hard. His palms hit the rough ground and his knees were scraped.

He just stayed there on the ground for a minute.

He did not even try to get up. He waited for a second because he expected a hand to reach out to him. He thought Ho-jin would be there to pick him up like he always did, but the street was quiet. There was no one there. He realized then that Ho-jin was not coming for him anymore, and he started to sob even louder. He was all alone in the dirt.

He finally got up and he walked the rest of the way home.

He walked inside and he saw his father sitting on the couch. He looked at his father's eyes and he thought about what Min-ji said. He felt so much guilt and it was hard to even be in the same room.

He walked over and he put his arms around his father. He held him tightly and he cried into his shoulder.

"What's wrong?" his father asked. He reached out and touched Ji-hun's hair.

"I wanna quit the photography club," Ji-hun said.

His father stayed calm.

"You don't have to do anything you don't wanna do. But do you wanna tell me what happened?" he asked.

"There's nothing to tell," Ji-hun said. "I just don't wanna go back there ever again."

Ji-hun went to his room and he stayed there for the rest of the night. He could not sleep because he was crying so much, and he felt like he was all alone in the world.

—

The next morning, Ho-jin went to the photography club room very early. He hoped to see Ji-hun there so they could talk, but the room was empty and quiet.

He walked over to the main table and he saw a piece of paper. It was Ji-hun's resignation letter. Ho-jin picked it up and he read the short message. He sat down and he felt a heavy weight in his chest. He really loved Ji-hun like a younger brother, and his eyes filled with tears as he looked at the letter.

Ho-jin graduated a few weeks later and he left the school for good.

Ji-hun did not go to the ceremony and he did not try to say goodbye. He never saw Ho-jin again after that day.

The rest of the year felt very long and Ji-hun changed a lot. He did not look like a little kid anymore and it was like he grew up several years in just one season. He stopped smiling and he stayed quiet most of the time.

That was how the season ended, with Ho-jin gone and Ji-hun left behind in a world that felt much older and much emptier.

—

¹(누나) Noona: A word a boy or a man uses to call an older girl or woman. It means older sister, but guys also use it for close friends.