A/N: The image above does not belong to me. It belongs to the person who uploaded it on the internet.

Third Person POV

Off's listlessness and lack of attention to his work at the music store  did not escape his father's notice.

Finally at the end of the work day his father approached him.

"What's bothering you, son?" he asked Off.

"Nothing, dad, I'm alright," Off said, averting his face so that his father would not see the turmoil in his mind.

"Okay, if there's anything bothering you, I'm a willing listener," the dad assured him.

The father decided to leave Off alone. If Off was not ready to talk about whatever was bothering him, his father was not going to push it.

Gun noticed that the number of days in a week that Off would talk to him or text him got fewer and fewer and the evenings that he would invite him out to dinner became even less frequent.

Gun told himself that he was not going to ask why. Off was probably immersed in his family business more than he wanted to be so Gun decided that he was going to work harder at his family business as well.

When the three day business trip that Gun's father usually made at a certain part of the year came up, Gun offered to take over and his father thought that it was indeed time that Gun became more active and involved it it.

When Gun announced to Off that he was going to be gone for a week because the three day business affair included one day travel to and one day travel back, Off expressed his regret, but Gun somehow felt that the regret did not sound sincere. Should Gun be worried about something?

When Gun returned from his one week absence, he tried to contact Off to let him know that he was back but Off did not call him until the following day.

Gun tried to push back the tiny persistent and annoying thought that he should be worried that Off was having a change of mind about their relationship.

Gun let the months pass with being content with just twice in a month of having a dinner date with Off. The last evening that they had a dinner date Gun could no longer ignore the fact that they were just going through the motions of eating without being present to each other.

When Off brought Gun back to his doorstep, Gun turned to Off, placing a hand on his chest to ward him off when he tried to lean towards Gun for a kiss.

"Is there anything that you wish to tell me, Off?" Gun asked.

"Now that you ask, yes," Off replied, unable to look Gun in the eyes, He was looking down at his shoes instead.

Gun waited...... Silence. Gun waited another minute...... More silence. Gun waited some more...... Still more silence.

"Wait, Gun, please," Off pleaded when Gun made the motion to open his front door.

"Gun, I am a coward. I am the most contemptible coward that you would not want to spend the rest of your life with," Off said, still unable to look Gun in the eyes.

"I wasn't asking you to marry me and spend the rest of your life with you," Gun scoffed at Off.

"Yes, Gun, I don't deserve you, you deserve someone better," Off replied.

"So, you're breaking up with me right now?" Gun asked, his heart plummeting, even though he had seen this coming long time ago.

"No, Gun, no! I don't want to break up with you!" Off protested.

"Then what exactly is it that you want to do?" Gun asked, very puzzled and very hurt.

"I can't tell you right now, Gun, I'm too cowardly to tell you right now," Off said, running away towards his car without saying good night to Gun.

Three days of non-communication passed between Off and Gun. Gun told himself that he was not going to be the one to initiate communication with Off.

Then on Friday evening which was the fourth evening of silence from Off, Gun was just about to turn into his open driveway when he heard a soft honk behind him.

Gun looked at his rear view mirror. Off had parked his car behind him and was stepping out of his car.

Gun stayed inside his car but lowered his window and waited for Off to approach.

"Gun, can we talk, please?"

Gun rushed out of his car.

"Oh, god, what happened to you?" Gun asked in alarm when he noticed Off's pale face and blood shot eyes and reddened and swollen puffy nose.

Off did not reply but held out to Gun a large beige envelope with gold lettering printed on it, which looked like an invitation, but an invitation to what, to a wedding?

With a trembling hand, Gun accepted the envelope from Off's equally trembling fingers.

Gun slowly lifted the flap of the envelope and pulled out the beige cartolina paper from inside it.

Yes, it was indeed an invitation, but it was not an invitation to a wedding.

Gun looked up at Off. Off was silent but tears were flowing freely down his cheeks.

Gun quelled the urge to let his palm make sharp stinging contact on Off's face. It hit Gun's brain that Off had been on regency period the whole time that he was seeing Gun. Off did not have to explain to Gun what regency period was all about. 

Gun had completed a total of twenty four units of Theology in all the eight semesters that he had spent at the Catholic university from where he had graduated. So Gun knew all about seminary studies, the regency period and the final process of ordination.

Off had kept from him the secret that he was on his regency period and had made Gun a testing ground for his vocation, his calling to the priesthood. He was at the end of his regency period and he had made a decision between Gun and the priesthood, and obviously he had chosen the priesthood.

"Good bye," Gun said unable to even utter Off's name as he turned the doorknob.

When Off tried to grab Gun's wrist, Gun did not hold back anymore. He let fly his palm and it landed with a loud sharp slap across Off's face. Gun did not bother to watch Off's reaction but quickly entered the house and slammed the door shut. Gun went straight for the bedroom and flung himself face down on the bed and stayed that way for endless hours.

A/N: This is where the real story ends. The next chapter will be a happy ending for OffGun which will be fiction of course and will mark the end of this whole OffGun fan fic.