"leave me," aera voices out, clear enough for her friend to hear, but he doesn't let go of her hand. rather, she's being dragged out of the crowded bus, forced to get off even before it's her stop, which annoys her enough to yank her hand back and shoot a glare at the taller guy, "no, don't you dare say anything to me. i don't wanna hear it," tears trickle her eyes as she turns on her feet, about to get on the bus again.

"stop it aera! it's enough now!"

aera flinches at the loud voice and the hand pulling her back, the people of the bus also watch them with judgmental looks now. she takes a step back, deciding to leave this bus and probably wait for the next one for she had no energy left to stand those looks she'd get from people in there. so she, gestures the bus driver to leave, and hears her friend sighing behind her.

"i'm sorry," he says, "i didn't mean to shout. it's just that everything is driving me crazy an—"

"and?" aera faces him, glaring at the two, "you, jake, get this in your head that i'm not someone you can just fool around with like that. you didn't want to talk to me, you kept ignoring me like i didn't even exist, you have a problem when i don't tell you stuff, then you have problem when i do try to talk to you. why is everything as per your convenience?! did you ever stop and think of me?! this whole week, jake, be honest... did you think past yourself— about me? about how i was feeling? maybe i needed some time, or maybe i there was something going on with me? no, you didn't! you know why? because all what matters to you is yourself! you're selfish and you didn't see anything apart from the fact that i didn't tell you about moving to sydney!"

"yeah, fine i am selfish!" jake yells back, "and what are you?! you were going to leave without even telling us! did you think about us— what we'll do or how we'll feel, aera? imagine one day you wake up and suddenly the person you're closest to is not in the same city— or no, not in the same country as you out of nowhere. wouldn't that feel weird? wouldn't that hurt you too?"

aera opens her mouth to stay something, but then stops, shaking her head and looks down. she moves away, taking a seat on the bus stop and breathes out deeply, plugging in her earphones to her phone, "i don't wanna talk, leave me alone,"

jake glares at her, turning to clay, who sighs, gesturing him to stay calm and speaks, "ri, let's talk, please. i know what we did was really stupid of us, but please let's not waste today like this. you're moving away in a week..."

aera rubs her eyes, shaking her head and looks away from them, trying her best to keep in the tears and look for the next bus heading the way to her home. clay however, sits next to her, casually snaking his arm on back of her seat and leans back, "we're sorry,"

she glances at the boys, dropping a tear and stands up from the seat, clutching on her bag tightly, turning on her heels to walk away. "aera," jake calls, his voice shaking in fear as clay stands up as well, "don't leave..."

"you said we were best friends right?"

aera gulps in a sob, not looking back and keeps her eyes on the street right ahead of her, walking with steps as slow as if she were dead. with every step away from her friends, she could feel her chest getting heavier and throat tightening with an unfamiliar feeling that felt like someone was squeezing her throat. the vision is blurred, but she manages not to stumble and hope that she would be successful going away from the two boys she claimed as her best friends.

she should've known it would go like this. when the letter she received from the university of sydney, where she applied with negligible hope of getting in, stated that she's actually accepted. she was more than just happy. but the fact that she hadn't told her best friends— who promised to stay together for a long time— about it, and she knew that they were probably thinking that they will go to college together and live their life with all fun and adventure here in seoul like their high school days. aera could see this coming ever since that day two weeks ago, however she didn't think of it to be this bad.

of course saying goodbye wasn't going to be easy, moreover it was known to her that she won't be able to do it without crying her heart out holding her two idiots. and trust me when i say she still wanted do it— to hug both the boys and vent to them about how she'll miss them and that her college life will suck without them. but what jake and clay did instead, made her want to leave without a word.

they apparently came to know about it from someone who was not aera herself. it was probably the other day when the boys were hanging out with some of their school friends when one of them curiously asked if they knew about aera moving to australia for her further studies. the boys first denied, saying that she wasn't going anywhere, but then their confidence dropped eventually when the other guy sounded sure as he talked to them, telling that aera's actually leaving seoul soon to study law in sydney.

before aera did the explaining herself, jake was already mad, bombarding her with questions and only questions of why she didn't think it was important to tell them. aera cried to him that day, apologizing to both him and clay and explaining that she didn't mean to hide anything. she hadn't even expected to get in in the first place and everything happened just so fast. jungkook was the person who in fact informed aera as well. ever since the news broke to her, she was concerned about living alone, leaving everything behind— home, family, friends, language, culture— just everything.

between all this, she said, she couldn't gather enough courage to face the boys yet without having an emotional meltdown. she had thought going to sydney would be a new beginning and was excited about it if ever she made it in. now when she actually did make it, things felt less enjoyable, considering that her jimin oppa, namjoon, yoongi, jin, hoseok, their wives and children, taehyung, jungkook, jake and clay, were all supposed to be left behind.

aera blinks her eyes, glancing back once she's come away from the bus stop and sighs on not finding her boys following her like they usually did in normal conditions. she nibbles on her lip, staring at her feet that stand still on the paved pedestrian growing dark. for a moment she's turning back, letting all of her anger and grudges slide, only wanting to hug the two boys and spend her last week in seoul with them wearing a smile. but then she doesn't move, not having enough courage to still face them, especially after what all happened.

"aera?" she startles at the touch on her shoulder, dropping her phone that she had been clutching tightly all this while, "i'm so sorry, i didn't mean to startle you, honey," haewon smiles apologetically, picking up the phone for the younger girl and notices her off expression, close to crying.

"what happened aera? are you okay?" she asks, handing her the phone back and aera lifts her eyes up slowly to meet haewon's face. shaking her head, sliding a tear down from aera's cheek, hugging the elder tightly and rests her chin on her shoulder. haewon pats her back gently, not understanding what made aera cry in the middle of the street out of nowhere.

"i don't know what to do, unnie..." aera hushes out, licking her lips nervously as she tries her best to hold in her cries, "help me please..."

"what's wrong?"

"jake and clay... i- i don't know how to confront them. they were mad at me— they came to know about me going to sydney from someone else before i told them. they kept ignoring me this whole week when i wanted to talk to them and didn't listen to me. i gave up today, i was mad at them too for behaving like this. now they're... clay said they're sorry, and i just left them there, unnie. i don't know anything what to do..."

"relax, calm down first," haewon says, wiping off the tears from aera's face and smiles softly, "you guys are so stupid. go and talk to them, fix it. you just have seven days and six nights, together. don't ruin it like this,"

aera nibbles on her lip, letting out more tears as she hugs haewon tightly, "are you sure?"

"yes, go right now," haewon pats her back, "give me your bag, and don't worry about your brothers. i'll talk to them okay?"

aera nods at her, heaving out a shaky breath as she's still on verge of breaking into tears. haewon hails a cab for her, asking her for the money, which she refuses and leaves, making haewon chuckle. her phone rings, showing her husband's name, "yes, i'm on my way," she sighs.

"i told you to take the car," jimin says.

"it's fine, jimin. i'll come in about twenty minutes,"

"alright, be safe. love you,"

"yeah, bye mr desperate,"

"we'll see about that,"

"yea— oh wait, please call jungkook and tell him that aera might be a little late today. she's with her friends right now, they had a sudden meet up,"

"oh? did you meet her?"

"yeah, just ran into her. poor girl, looked worried about leaving her friends once she goes to australia,"

"i know, she's so stressed about it," jimin sighs, "anyway, i'll call jungkook. bye, come home quickly,"

"gosh! you can never be—"

"no, my love, see you soon,"

•••

"wait! stop here!" aera says hastily, seeing jake and clay walking on the side of the street. she turns to the driver, quickly pulling out her wallet and shoves a few bills towards the man, "keep the change, thank you," her lips mutters in a hurry, getting out of the car and takes a deep breath, jogging to catch up with the two boys.

"jake! clay! wait," she voices out, biting on the inside of her cheek, watching the boys turning to her instantly as she approaches them. she forces a small smile through her glassy eyes, having difficulty even making out their faces due to the tears brimming her eyes.

"aera..." jake hushes out, glancing at clay who's equally confused and relieved at the same time.

"what are you—"

"shh," she stands near him, shaking her head for him to not say anything and just steps closer, dropping a tear as she wraps her arms around his waist hesitantly, hugging him without a word.

clay closes his eyes, not giving much thought and brings his arms around aera, hugging her tighter. she sniffs softly, tears streaming down her face and gets absorbed in the fabric of clay's t-shirt. aera lifts up her eyes, breathing a bit calmer than before and glances at jake, opening one arm for him and pouts when he doesn't hug her right away.

"say sorry," the boy speaks with tear filling his eyes too, earning a smack from aera as she breaks into a sob, "no, i'm serious. say sorry,"

"i have to go..." she says.

"no," jake refuses, "you said you—"

"i'm sorry..."

jake looks away, his chest puffing up as he breathes in deeply, calming himself down, hugging aera tightly, leaning down to her shoulder, "why..." he whispers, letting tears fall from his eyes too while aera's already crying.

clay joins the hug like they always did, hugging aera from behind and rubs his eyes, seeing her cry so much for the fact that they won't have each other like this after a few days. they feel her hands loosening on them eventually, but she never lifts up her head from jake's chest, crying silently, holding onto clay's hand gently like a feather.

"ri, it's okay," clay rubs her back, gulping down a sob and pulls her straight, "don't cry,"

"i don't wanna leave you..." she sobs again, wrapping her arms around his neck, crying with her breath hitching and tears getting soaked in his t-shirt.

"i know," he hushes out.

"let's go," jake says, wiping her tears and takes her hand, nodding for clay to come as well.

"where?" clay asks.

"home,"

aera doesn't protest, following him quietly as her eyes remain pinned on jake's hand holding hers securely. she rubs her eyes slowly, curling her fingers to hold him back and glances at clay.

"hm?" clay leans down a bit, assuming that she wanted to say something, "water?" aera stays quiet, making him sigh and turn to jake, "bro, wait i'll get some water,"

"it's fine," aera mumbles, clearing her throat, "let's just go,"

"are you sure? it won't take me long,"

"really, i'm okay,"

clay nods, heading towards their apartment which isn't that far from here as they were already close enough. aera however, doesn't really feel at ease, until the door of the elevator slides shut and jake presses the button to their floor, assuring her that she's indeed with her best friends, half way done fixing things up, but what keeps haunting her is that this won't last long.

she leans back against the wall, staring at her feet under the thick silence and sighs, noticing the cold weather for the first time ever since  the evening. her arms come up for a second, brushing on her skin to provide warmth for a brief second. the elevator dings and the doors slide apart, ending the moment with a wave of cool wind swarming inside from the open glass right along the glass hallway that was made of transperant glass with the soul purpose of letting people enjoy the view of soul from up here.

aera glances down at the cracked screen of her phone, glowing up when she presses the power button. 19:36 hrs. jake punches in the code into the security lock before opening the door and lets her enter first, thankfully into a warmer place considering that she didn't have any fabric on her arms.

aera takes off her shoes, not waiting for the boys to say anything and takes up her favourite spot on the recliner in the corner, pulling the nearest blanket— which one of the boys probably forgot to put back in place— and curls into a ball.

"are you okay?" clay asks, sitting down after he has brought a bottle of water and the remote of the air conditioner.

"yeah," she leans forward, taking the bottle and and sips some water from it, heaving out a deep breath as she sits straight now, removing the hair from her face, "i'm okay now,"

clay smiles at that, shaking his head as he leans back, eyes roaming about for a little while. he reaches out slowly, pulling the blanket away and frowns at aera, keeping his eyes on her right leg, "what's that?"

"what?" she looks down, stretching her legs straight and gasps on finding a bruise, "ouch, it hurts,"

"stop acting, you didn't even know if was there," clay rolls his eyes.

"but now i know! ow, it hurts!"

"seriously, aera. stop,"

"you don't kno—"

"move aside," jake comes, changed into his sweatpants and a hoodie, throwing himself almost on the girl, getting a groan from her, "i told you to move aside," he grumbles, bringing up the blanket and then pulls aera into a hug too, "i was talking to you clay, move aside."

"asshole," clay scoffs.

"hey, stop," aera pulls herself back, crossing her legs as she sits facing jake, while he waits for her to give him a good reason not to be cuddling right now, "we should talk,"

"i'm not holding your mouth am i?" jake says.

"i'm serious," aera sighs deeply.

"i'm way more serious, " jake straightens himself, "i don't wanna let you go. not now. not a week later. never,"

aera averts her eyes from him, facing clay instead who says nothing, just watches her with a soft gaze, making the girl whine, throwing a cushion at him, "i'll leave this instant if you both have to act so weird!"

"what did i do?" clay says, holding in a laugh which aera notices and kicks him this time.

"stop laughing!"

"i'm not laughing! stop hitting me!"

aera shakes her head, leaning back and sighs deeply, stretching her legs straight and glances at jake, who gives her a warning glare if she's about to kick him. she giggles lightly, kicking him once, and backs away instantly when he rolls up his sleeve, ready to fight.

"okay sorryyyy!" she shrieks, being pulled back and finds two pairs of hands tickling her sides, making her squeal and laugh, squirming between their arms, "sto- ahhh! stop! i'm sorry!" she laughs, turning to her side, trying to push the hands away and waits for a second to catch her breath, "god..."

jake lays next to her while clay, positions himself near their head, laying sideways so aera rolls on her stomach, resting her elbows on the couch and her chin on her hand, "no more wasting time, we have some serious things to talk about,"

"yeah, you start," jake says, laying on his side.

"stay away," aera warns, smacking his hand away from resting on her back.

"i'm just trying to hug you, what's so wrong in that?" he huffs.

"learn something from clay. he's not trying to hug me,"

"he wants to, trust me on that," jake smirks.

"shut up, why do you even speak?" clay hisses.

"i know right?" aera huffs, "anyway, so uhm let's start. it was after the prom, i was thinking about everything y'know, eunwoo said he wants to be a doctor, even you, clay knew that you wanted to be a doctor. jake knew he wanted to join the defence forces. it was just me who had no idea what to do with my life... so me and jungkookie were talking about it and i told him after sometime that i've been seeing some law courses for my graduate's degree. i was looking more and—"

"so a lawyer?" jake interrupts and aera nods at him with a smile, "are you sure? why not business? your family business is huge,"

"yeah, but i don't know. it never intrigued me the way thinking about the law thingy does. actually nothing excited me more than this," aera shrugs her shoulders, "so then, i filled in the form with my brother and haewon unnie. i thought i wouldn't get in, because there are many other candidates and getting in the university of sydney isn't easy. so i didn't tell anyone, thinking of it as just a blind shot.

"but you made it in," clay says, "then what?"

"i didn't know i made it in," aera looks down, "jungkook came home late that day and i was already sleeping. then he woke me up and showed me the letter from sydney. he was so happy, he even called jimin oppa at that very moment to inform him. i was happy too... but with each hour passing after that, i was more worried and scared.

"scared to face you guys, scared to leave my brothers, scared to leave seoul, scared to move to a completely new place all alone. everything started feeling so overwhelming that i was reconsidering my decision... both my brothers talked to me and said that it's okay to feel the way i was feeling and they felt like that too when they came to seoul the first time. but at least they had our parents..." she smiles sadly, fiddling with her fingers, "i'm gonna be alone there... without anyone, in a different city, a different country, a different continent, in a different time zone, between strangers. the thought itself scares me still... i couldn't even get a grip on myself, how was i supposed to talk to you both and explain everything to you?"

"you know, aera," clay clears his throat, "when we set our goals, whatever it might be, the first step is actually the hardest one. your first step would be moving away from us, from your family. but if you know that it's important, if you wanna study there in sydney, you can't take me and jake with you, or your keep your brothers with you forever,"

"he's right," jake nods, staring at the ceiling above, "it's not like i want you to leave. but seeing things like this... i won't be able to stop you— y'know knowing that it's for your own good. for you future. i won't be able to stop you. so do what you feel is right for you,"

"sounds like you don't like my idea," aera says.

"no, i like it," jake says, "it's your life, you do what you want. who am i to say anything?"

"stop talking like that," aera pouts, making jake chuckle lightly.

"no, aera i really mean it. you should do what you want. at the end of the day everything should make sense to you rather anybody else, so if you think it's the right choice, then it probably is. give it a shot,"

"that means i'll leave next week— on tuesday,"

"that also means we've got just seven days with you," clay says, "and i don't want us to miss even a second of it,"

"yeah," aera smiles, hugging the boys together and kisses their cheeks, "thank you so much, i love you guys,"

•••

the boys didn't lie when they said they'd live every moment of these last seven days with aera. from countless sneak outs, long drives, late night calls, stealing soju, doing prank calls, and bombing up the storage of their phones with hundreds of pictures, they left nothing untouched. aera felt happy, content with everything, not as scared as she was when she first confronted the boys. but still a part of her hurts knowing that she's leaving this place today to start a new life somewhere else, probably with new people.

she hugs her friends one last time, smiling at them with teary eyes, "i'm gonna miss you so much,"

"we'll miss you too," jake says, hugging her tightly and kisses her cheek, "we're your only best friends, get it? no other boys there. don't let anyone take our place,"

aera hits his arm, chuckling lightly and hugs clay, "i agree with him on this one," clay says, patting her back, "no other boys, aera,"

"you both are stupid," she shakes her head, kissing his cheek and smiles, "take care, and please don't ever stop calling me and texting me okay?"

"never," clay smiles.

"take care of yourself," jake sighs, holding aera's hand, as he looks down, "we won't be there with you, so please don't get lost and don't trust the guys out there. and if anybody, i mean anybody, hurts you, you kick them hard,"

"yeah," clay nods, "and if there's ever anything you wanna talk about, you can call us whenever you want,"

aera smiles at their words, nodding her head and pulls away, wiping her tears as she hugs jimin next. he closes his eyes, kissing the top of her head, "i don't know what to say... just take care of yourself, and call me if there's even the slightest problem okay? i won't be able to show up instantly, but i'll make sure to get the very first flight and reach you as soon as possible,"

"wow, thanks," aera giggles, "i'll call you everyday then,"

jimin chuckles, cupping the sister's face and smiles warmly, "my child, i can't believe you're leaving me already..." he sighs.

"don't say that..." aera pouts, "i won't be able to go if you cry right now, oppa,"

"yes, hyung, we decided that we wanna see riri off with a smile," jungkook says.

"right," haewon says, hugging aera from the side and pinches her cheek, "everything will be all right, yeah? don't stress about it too much,"

"thank you," aera nods with a smile, crouching down to see jiwon too who's a bit cranky today considering that it's his time to go to bed. she holds the boy's hand, pulling him in a hug and pecks his lips, "bye, jiwon, noona will miss you the most,"

"noona..." the three-year-old sticks to him, finally realising that she's actually going away tears fill his round eyes and a cry rolls out of his lips, "noona no' goin away... ji— mish you noona..."

"i know, sweetheart, but i have to go," she pouts at him, "but don't worry, i'll call daddy everyday and he'll make sure that ji gets to see me alright?"

"daddy..." jiwon glances at jimin, who nods assuringly and crouches near the toddler.

"say love you noona,"

"ji 'ove you noona," jiwon mumbles, pecking aera's lips and rubs his eyes, "i' mish you,"

"i'll miss you too," aera says, standing up as she carries jiwon in her arms and wipes the tears off his soft cheeks, "i think i should go now, bye," she speaks softly, handing him to jimin, who smiles at her with teary eyes and gives her one last hug, kissing her forehead.

"have a good time in sydney," jimin hushes out, "and call me when you land there,"

"yeah, don't worry too much about me, koo's there,"

jimin nods, patting her head and turns to jungkook, "take care, and if there's anything, call me," jungkook nods assuringly, picking up the bags with his and aera's clothes, handing her the tickets and passports as they head inside to check in.

aera waves at her friends, her brother and her unnie, also sending a flying kiss to jiwon who has started crying again, squirming in jimin's arms to run to aera. she smiles sadly at the toddler, taking a deep breath as jungkook pats her back, giving away the luggage while they join the line for the security check.

"i never thought it'd be so hard," aera mumbles.

"i knew it," jungkook shrugs, "the first steps towards anything are the hardest,"

aera looks up at him, remembering the exact words clay told her, making her smile to herself as she nods, determined to take this first step bravely and come off stronger for future, because that's what she learnt from her family and her friends.

"thank you," aera says, getting a smile from jungkook as he ruffles her hair. she turns back one last time, eyes moving to where jake and clay were standing and gives them a smile, mouthing to them 'thank you' as well.

____________

a/n- do you hace a similar story when you had to leve your friends behind whatever the reason might be?

also, please take care of yourself. viral infections are getting so common these days. even i'm suffering from cold and fever, so yeah please take care. ❣️