Reunited;

The wind swirls around him. His soft and fluffy hair moves; following the rhythm of the wind, gracefully. The sound of the waves crashing the seashore can be heard, followed by the sound of chirping seagulls. They are flying towards the sun that casts some reddish orange hues on the horizon.

The reddish orange of the sunset. He loves it.

He smiles. Calm. Free. Happy. Sad. Pleased. All mixed into one. Making a great feeling creeps in into his soul; the feeling of a burden being lifted up from his shoulders. That feeling. He loves it.

He lets out a sigh, hanging his head. The smile is still there, not leaving his pretty face. Lifting up his head, he looks directly towards the sun that is slowly descending to give a new light to the needs to start a new day. Like the sun is giving a new hope to start a new life; better than yesterday.

His lips turn into a grin as a familiar scene suddenly pops out of his mind; showing the time where they were still together, still twelve—as one—watching the sunrise while shouting their hopes for 2014. The only thing that sets it apart is he is alone and it is the sunset, not sunrise.

“I hope 2014 will be our year!”

The voice rings in his head; chanting every word with hopes and expectations behind it. A tear manages to find its way on his cheek and he quickly sheds the tear. I miss that time. A heavy sigh escapes his lips. So much.

Sensing a presence of someone, he turns to his right. A tall figure is looking ahead with a smile plastered on his face. With all that fancy-looking clothes, he still hasn’t changed. His smile widens.

That tall figure turns to his left; facing him. His smile is still the same; showing all of his white teeth. He grins back. It’s hard not to.

It’s a long stare. They stare at each other. All those words that couldn’t be uttered all this time, feels as if it’s been expressed in that long, longing stare.

“You look great, Han. After all this time,” the tall figure voices out, breaking the silence between them despite the sound of chirping seagulls and the ocean crashes on the seashore can be heard.

He smiles and nods slightly. “All this time, huh?” he looks at the tall figure beside him. He receives a nod. “You too, Yifan. You look great.” a smile appears on his face.

They look away and stare at the setting sun. The chirping seagulls are now gone. Dusk is approaching; indicating that time is passing. But the two best friends are still not budging. It doesn’t even cross their mind to move. Because they want to save and cherish this beautiful moment together without leaving any pieces of it.

“You think I did the right thing, Yifan?”

Yifan, who is still looking ahead though the sun has long disappeared from the view—is now spreading the reddish orange colour on the horizon—purses his lips before tearing away his gaze from the view to Luhan.

Luhan is standing with his head hanging low, hands in his pant pockets. He kicks the sand effortlessly before lifting his head up to look at Yifan. Eyes full of questions and doubts. He reminds Yifan of a little kid. A wonder how this man in front of him is a few months older than him.

He smiles slightly. “Yes, you did,” Yifan answers, though there’s a little bit of hesitancy in his reply, Luhan looks relieved and convinced and Yifan thinks maybe that’s what actually Luhan wanted to hear. So that, he wouldn’t have to feel bad about what had happened. He bites his lower lip before continuing to speak. “It may sound selfish at first, but eventually, they will understand and be grateful that you chose this path.” His large hand that has been in the pocket of his pants all these times, is now brought to land on Luhan’s hair; patting his head, gently.

Luhan looks up to him and Yifan swears he can see a curious and naïve little kid in this big doe eyes, how small Luhan looks right now, how vulnerable he is. A glint was once there is now fading a little as time goes by. That saddens Yifan, a little bit.

“How about the others?”

He is taken aback by the question from Luhan. Yifan swears he hears Luhan’s voice breaks. A lump form in his throat and he brings down his hand, slowly putting it on the shorter male’s shoulder. He grips it gently. That question is left unanswered; carried by the sea breeze; swallowed by the silence that engulfs them.

After a long silence, he speaks, “We’re not leaving,” he pats Luhan’s shoulder. “We may look like we are, but the truth is, we are not,” he stares into the brown eyes, deeply. “Then, we are what?” the brown eyes asks the taller. “We’re just....,” he lets his hand to fall on his side before continuing to answer Luhan. “....being apart.” he casts away his eyes to the horizon, holding a tear from escaping.

Luhan lets out a sigh and purses his lips. “They do support you, Yifan,” he looks at Yifan with a meaningful look.

“I know,” Yifan answers, calmly. Still looking at the horizon.

Grinning, Yifan repeats again. “I know.” and now, he looks at Luhan.

Luhan breaks into a knowing smile and he pats Yifan’s arm. “It’s good to know.”

And now, they are facing each other. “I missed you, Yifan.” Luhan says as he opens his arms widely, ready to receive a big hug from Yifan. “I missed you too, Luhan.” Yifan brings Luhan into his embrace. They hug each other tightly as if they hug loosely, they would lose each other, again.

             It’s a long hug. As though they express their longing all this time in such a tight, long hug.