During noon, Ming came to visit as promised. Over the past five months, Sato and Ming seemed to have switched positions when it came to physique. Sato was now the skinny and sickly boy, while Ming had gotten fitter from picking up running as a pastime. To be safe, Madel had conducted a full body pat down of Ming's body, even though Sato had already said that she could fully trust the young man that was coming to visit him.
"Hello, Sato." Written all over Ming's face was the word 'glad'. His heart had always been restless every time he thought back to his best friend that was stuck in bed. Seeing Sato in person now had relieved him from all the worries that piled on his shoulders.
"Hey, Ming. You look great." Sato smiled as he gave out a light laugh. He was extremely happy that he was able to speak to his best friend again.
"Thank you. How is your body?"
"It's taking some time to get used to again. I've been doing rehabilitation treatment these days. My voice will come back sooner or later too."
"I see… I wish that you would recover faster then."
"Haha, thank you for your wishes." Sato's smile never left his face when speaking to Ming. He been wanting to speak to his best friend for the longest of times. "How have you been?"
"Life has taken a turn for the better for me…" Ming proceeded to recall the past five month's major events for Sato. He told the boy about him coming out to his family and as a result, was kicked out of the house. He told Sato about how he had become friends with his interesting boy that was now a national soccer player for Country Z. He told Sato about his living condition and his predicament. That last statement soon led to Ming's second purpose for visiting Sato today.
"The reason why I visited today was not just to check on you," There was a sense of longing in Ming's voice as he spoke to his best friend, "I came today to tell you that I had received the Black Box Financial Aid Program."
"The Black Box Financial Aid Program? Are you talking about the Black Box Space Program? The company you had been thinking about working as a mechanical engineer ever since you had entered university?" Sato couldn't be happier for his best friend, yet he felt that Ming was still hiding something from him. It all became clear soon after.
"Yeah, the Black Box Space Program had accepted my application.." Ming paused in his thoughts. He took in a deep breath as he broke the news to the young man. "The financial aid scheme is a joint program that requires me to continue my studies in Muller's Institute of Sciences and Technology. As you know, that University is in Country U. This means that this would be the last time I would be seeing you in a long time."
"Oh, when are you leaving?" Sato's voice became bleak.
"This coming Sunday."
"This really is the last time I will be seeing you…" Sato's eyes turned watery involuntarily. Wanting to hide his tears, he was not even able to look at Ming and was just looking down at his legs.
"That is not true, Sato. We could always call each other, right?" Ming knew that Sato was crying. He had observed the boy's mannerisms for a whole year and knew what Sato was doing. Pulling Sato into his embrace, Ming gave the boy a warm hug. Compared to the past him, the Li Ming now just wanted to comfort his best friend. "I will always be there for you when you need me. Just drop me a call and I will help you as best as I could over the phone."
Hearing Ming's mature thought process, Sato quickly wiped his tears away. With the technology of today, it was indeed not hard to keep in contact with his best friend.
"Alright. You promise that you will pick up your phone when I call you?" Sato pulled himself away as he looked at Ming in the eye.
"Of course, I promise to pick up the phone when you call." Ming smiled back warmheartedly.
"That's fine then. You can go overseas and get that dream job of yours." Sato was happy for his best friend. He was truly happy for all that Ming had achieved using his own efforts. "What will you be doing until you leave for Country U?"
"I have to break the news to my new friend." Ming's face had a complicated expression that Sato could not understand. Since Ming did not want to share further, Sato chose to just support him unconditionally.
"Have some confidence in yourself. You already broke the news to me. So it should not be so hard to tell this friend of yours."
"Haha. He is very stubborn, so it would probably be much harder to tell him."
"Really? I feel like I am a pretty stubborn person too."
"Nah, you're not too much yourself." The pair of boys laughed ceremoniously together, already forgetting about the sad news that they shared between the both of them. The two of them reminisced about the past and how they had met. They had come so far as individuals and eventually, started walking down their own path of life. Thinking back, the game that had brought the both of them closer, Ray of Light, was not played by either of them at the moment.
Sato was sick for five months and now that he was back, he had other more important things to do than enjoy his favourite game. For Ming, the boy had been fully focused on improving his GPA and scoring the Financial aid program. He had not touched the game for an even longer time than Sato. It would be a while before either of them would play the game again, much less play it together.
"A temporary goodbye, Sato." Heading back home, Ming turned around at the door to look at Sato who was supporting himself up. "A temporary goodbye…"