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the door opened after a few minutes, making your heart drop and you kept your mouth shut, even preventing yourself from breathing. a pair of shoes came into your line of vision, making you look up shakily. you were more than ready to take a run for it but all you see is a boy around your age, adorning a grey sweater and fluffy hair looking at you with a smile on his face.

“ they didn’t see you come in here so you’re alright” he tells you, breaking the silence and staring contest both shared. you heave a big sigh of relief, standing up from your place and spent the afternoon with your first friend ─ keum donghyun.

13 years old you was best of friends with keum donghyun

although you didn’t know where he lived nor would he tell you when you asked, he was always in that abandoned apartment when you were there. you would always get into the room on the fifth floor, sitting on the worn out bed waiting for keumdong to arrive and spend the rest of the afternoon with you.

“ do you want to go on an adventure with me?” keumdong asks as he sat beside you, staring at the sky. you turn to him and the flashlight he had in hand, looking at him with curious eyes. he chuckles, wringing the flashlight on and pulled you out of the room.

“ are you sure we’re allowed to go around, donghyun? what if the grownups scold us?” you hiss at him, still holding onto his hand as he navigated through hallways and up the sixth floor. he turns to you and nods, breaking into a big smile as he pulls you into a room.

sitting down on a chair, you try to scan around the room even if the sun had little light already. donghyun was rummaging around, going through a closet that was too old already that you wondered if it was older than you and keumdong’s age. you expected it, though. this was an abandoned apartment and no one stayed in it anymore except you both coming here almost every afternoon.

“ here!” keumdong exclaims, whipping out an album with brown exterior that was covered in dust. you look at him skeptically as he sat down beside you, blowing away the dust accumulated on the top of the brown album. he laughs as you coughed out, the dust particles choking you suddenly.

“ where did you find that, keum?”

“ just here” he replies shortly, pointing his flashlight at the album and opened it slowly with a proud smile on his face. a bunch of pressed flowers were on each page, making you gasp at how pretty they were. donghyun just looks at you with a smile on his face while you practically snatched the album away from him.

“ this is so pretty! you’re so awesome, keumdong” you mumble, sending him a thumbs up. he laughs, messing your hair a little before scooting closer to take a look at the preserved beauty of the flowers. he wouldn’t mind looking at this little album for forever ─ at least you were there and the smile on our face.

maybe, keumdong wanted to stay a little longer.

14 years old you still loved being with keum donghyun

“ that’s an abandoned apartment. why would you like to go there every afternoon? who knows there’s ghosts in there” a friend of yours asks, staring at you in wonder as you stopped by the abandoned apartment. you just laugh, waving your hand off with a reassuring smile.

“ keumdong is there to accompany me so there won’t be any problem”

“ who’s keumdong? never heard of that name around the neighbourhood ─ ”

“ he’s my friend! anyways, i’ll go already, okay? i’ll see you tomorrow!” you wave at your friend who just nodded, even if not fully convinced of the friend you were referring to. no one ever entered that apartment ever since and now you’re going there as if it was your house.

what could go wrong? fourteen year old you just wanted to meet donghyun every afternoon

“ what took you so long? i was going to show you something again” donghyun asks, hearing you enter the room at the fifth floor. he sulkily crosses his arms, pouting and turning away from you. you chuckle, shaking his shoulder to face you with a frown on your face too.

“ i’m sorry! my friend just asked why i’m always coming here when it was abandoned” you say, truthfully, and keumdong’s eyes widen before turning back at you. startled, you flinch a little at his abrupt action.

“ what did you say then? did you say you had a friend or ─ ”

“ of course! i said i had a friend name keumdong who i see every afternoon!” you exclaim happily, obviously missing the stutter in donghyun’s words. he just laughs, a proud smile etching on his face and engulfing you in a hug.

“ we’re friends forever, right?” donghyun asks you, very quietly over a whisper, his arms tightening around your frame as he awaits for an answer. you chuckle, snuggling closer to him with a smile on your face.

“ of course! you’re my bestfriend!”

15 years old you slowly started to drift away from keum donghyun

you rarely visited the abandoned building. figuring out you and keumdong had lives outside that very building ─ you opted to not go there all the time due to schoolworks, your new friends, and being with life in general.

but even if you were busy, you never forgot donghyun. you loved him dearly ─ and you still visited the building when you can. he was always there when you visited and you’re relieved at that. you wondered how he always had the right timing of coming by but you never questioned him. climbing up the stairs, you twist the old doorknob open and enter the room.

to your dismay, keumdong wasn’t there. naturally, you would enter the room and see him either laying down on the bed or looking out the window with the cold wind gently kissing his face. today, there was no keumdong in the room, so you waited for a few minutes ─ that turned into an hour.

an hour had passed, and the cold was getting into you. due to the absence of a heater or any warm clothes in the room, you just sucked it up and sat there in hopes the boy would suddenly appear out of nowhere. you thought maybe he was mad you don’t come by often anymore and that you didn’t care about your friendship anymore ─ but the twisting doorknob made you look up from your thoughts.

“ am i too late?” there enters keumdong with a smile on his face, a jacket in hand and a mug. you sigh in relief, running towards him and trapping into a hug. keumdong laughs at you, setting the mug down on the bedside table and sat down beside you.

“ where have you been, dumbass? i thought you were mad at me for not coming by everyday” you say, sulkily punching his shoulder and rolled your eyes. he smiles at you ─ that typical eyesmile of his that looked so adorable and suited donghyun so well.

“ i wasn’t mad! i made you hot chocolate before coming here but then i spilled all over the kitchen so i cleaned up for a bit” he explains as he sheepishly messes his hair, embarrassed. you stay silent in disbelief before breaking into fits of laughter ─ keumdong was the best friend you could ever have and you hoped he would never leave you.

you both didn’t see each other for months after that day.

16 years old you forgot keum donghyun completely

naturally, the existence of keumdong had erased completely from your mind. you were extremely busy with everything you didn’t have the time to visit the abandoned apartment already ─ and because keumdong was just your imaginary friend.

you never realized, but the boy who had always been by your side during afternoons of your life had always been a piece of your imagination, a figment of a creative mind that was yours.

although by then, keumdong watches you clumsily slip out the album of pressed flowers he gave you, watching you pickup the album with a face of confusion. he knew you forgot who gave it to you ─ smiling sadly and lovingly as you flip through the pages as if it was the first time you saw the album, reminding him of the first time you had seen the album.

that was two years ago ─ you both were still so young and naïve, believing anything you both swore to each other. and now you were sitting in front of donghyun who had his arms on his knees and covering his face with his palms. you sat straight, a sigh leaving your lips as silence had engulfed you both.

the fight a few minutes ago was the most painful, frustration and hurt laced in both you and your boyfriend’s voice. it has been going on like this for almost a year. fights have been more frequent and you both always had distance between each other now.

“ let’s break up” donghyun breaks the silence, closing his eyes as you whip your head towards him. your heart broke into two almost instantly, the sinking feeling in your stomach dropping to the lowest as you stared at him.

“ huh?”

“ we’ve been fighting almost everytime we see each other. are you not tired? we’ve been trying to save this relationship since last year and i ─ “ donghyun suddenly pauses, taking a deep breath as he sits up to stare at you. you just stare back at him, waiting for whatever he was going to say. no matter how much it’ll hurt, no matter how much it’ll scar you ─ you still wanted to listen.

“ i fell out of love”

“ is it because we both fell out of love?”

your eyes widen, as well as donghyun’s. so this was the reason and yet even if you both had done this ─ the heartache this would leave you will forever be permanent without any other word.

“ i guess it is” you mumble, smiling sadly and lowering your gaze while fiddling with your fingers ─ an action you do when you don’t feel comfortable. donghyun notices, sighing and standing up from his seat. you hastily look up, following after him to see him putting on his shoes on the front door.

“ donghyun ─ “

“ don’t make this difficult for the both of us, okay? i loved you and you loved me. in the three years, i think that’s enough already”