Jeonghan stared at his phone that was ringing in his hand while he was on his break at Pledis Pizza. He wasn’t sure if he was just imagining things, because he really didn’t think Soo Min would be calling him ever again.

 

Incoming Call...

Pikachu

 

By the time the phone stopped ringing, he frowned and cursed under his breath. He missed the chance to answer! Damn it! But then… his phone started ringing again.

 

Incoming Call…

Pikachu

 

He quickly answered it this time and put his phone to his ear and caught her mumbling something in a bitter tone. “Oh, did he finally answer?”

 

“Soo Min?” He asked.

 

“You did answer! Finally!” She said with slurred words. “Can I have one large pepperoni pizza and a liter of Sprite?”

 

“... have you been drinking?” He asked with a frown. It was clear by the way she was talking.

 

“Yeah, so what?” She snickered at his question. “Am I not allowed to? Sheesh! I didn’t want to but it’s too late. I don’t understand how anyone can drink that stuff?!” Her complaining had him laughing quietly. “I would rather drink a Sprite, so can I have one?”

 

“You want a Sprite?” He repeated.

 

“Yeah!”

“Do you know who you called?” He worried if she didn’t realize it and dialed the wrong number, but that was very unlikely.

 

“Yeah, I know who I called and I’m asking for a pizza and Sprite, is that too much to ask for?! You work in a pizza joint, it should be easy, right?!”

 

“But… I’m in Seoul and you’re in Busan.” He pointed out. “You’re better off ordering from a pizza joint in Busan.”

 

“Tch, really?” She didn’t sound pleased with that reply. “I guess that was a lie when you told me that you’d come to Busan to be with me!” Jeonghan’s eyes went wide. “You don’t remember at all, do you? You called me after you had been drinking and told me how much you loved me and that if I wouldn’t come back, you’d come to me instead. It was all just a lie, wasn’t it? And here I was feeling so guilty about it all and started drinking!”

 

“No, it wasn’t a lie!” Jeonghan quickly said. “I might not remember it, but I know it was definitely not a lie!”

 

“Then what are you waiting for? Get your over here with my pizza and Sprite!” She almost demanded and hung up, not giving him a chance to say anything in reply.

 

“Wow.” He said with a hint of laughter. He wasn't expecting anything like that to happen and he started to feel guilty. She was drinking because of me?

 

Jeonghan called up Jisoo to ask about arranging one of those speedy airplane tickets for him while he left work and went home to pack a few things to take with him on the short and unexpected trip. He didn’t say much to Mingyu and Junhui when he left work, he sort of left without them noticing. He’d explain himself later. Won Woo had gotten back from Busan in time to attend his shift at Pledis Pizza and was out on delivery when Jeonghan left.

 

“How long will I even be there?” He said to himself when he packed three outfits. He knew he’d be there at least a day. Now he was getting nervous. But… she was drunk. Does she really want to see me? He was afraid that once she was sober things would be different. Sober or not… I want to see her, even if it’s the last time. It would be the closure they both needed after all of this.

 

Once he was done packing, he met Jisoo at the airport who had the ticket ready for him.

 

“Sorry, I wish I could go with you but I have things to attend to tomorrow morning. It'll be Bo-Young’s birthday and I wanted to make sure it's special. I'm sure you understand, right?”

 

“I guess.” Jeonghan muttered while accepting the ticket from him. He wouldn’t want to keep Jisoo away from celebrating his girlfriend’s birthday, the first birthday since they started to date. The reminded him, Soo Min’s birthday was coming up, too. What a shame things ended the way they did. “I've never been to Busan before…”

 

“That's what your phone and navigation is for!” Jisoo gave a sheepish laugh. “I'll text you the address to follow for when you take a cab.”

 

“Thanks.” Jeonghan still didn't seem pleased that he'd be going on this trip alone. He wondered if he should get a hold of Won Woo or something to help him, maybe even Jihoon?

 

“You better go now before you miss your flight!” Jisoo snapped him out of it and gave him a small push towards his destination. “Good luck~!” He called after him with a cute wave.

 

Jeonghan managed a small smile before heading to where he needed to be. If he was honest, he was nervous. Super nervous. He was going to meet Soo Min, alone. This did seem better because it was between him and her but he was also worried about things not working out, then he'd be stuck in a city he's never been to. I doubt she'd let me get lost… he was just overthinking it. If anything, he could call his friends for help!

 

Once he was on the plane, he took a few moments to calm down. He tried to think of what to say when they meet. What should he say? What could he say to make things right? Even if they don't get back together, he really wanted to be on good terms with her, at least they could be friends… though it might be difficult for Jeonghan, but he'd rather have her as a friend than out of his life.

 

He had about two hours to think about it now.

Soo Min was sitting outside on her grandmother's front sidewalk by herself humming out of tune to a love song she heard on the tv earlier. She had her phone in one hand and a plastic cup in the other with some alcohol still in it. This was going to be her last cup for sure.

 

After getting off the phone with Jeonghan, she got nervous. She didn't realize how demanding she sounded before hanging up and didn't think he was really going to come in the end, but he had texted her saying he got on the plane a while ago and that made her drink more to get rid of the nerves. It definitely worked since she didn't have a care in the world while sitting outside this Friday night alone, drinking and humming incorrectly to a love song that just came out. A few neighbors had passed by her and looked at her funny but all she would do is grin at them with a wave and compliment them as they passed. “Nice hair.” “Nice shirt.” “Nice dog!” eventually, her grandmother's neighbor came home and noticed her on the sidewalk.

 

“Evening, Mrs. Yeo!” Soo Min greeted.

 

“Have you been drinking?” The elder frowned. “How old are you again? Where is your grandmother?”

 

“I don't know!” Soo Min shrugged and took another sip of her drink. “Halmoni is young, wild and free, she can do what she wants! And I'm 19 (Korean age), I can drink if I want!” She'd be turning 19 Western age in little over a week, she was 18 currently but her Korean age is actually 19.

 

“Just don't over do it, hangovers aren't very fun.” The elder gave a pitiful laugh. “Go inside.”

 

“No!” She shook her head along with her shoulders. “I'm waiting for someone, he's not here yet!” She took another sip.

 

“Don't stay put here for too long, okay?”

 

“Okay~!” Soo Min chirped. The neighbor headed inside and made a call to her grandmother to let her know what was going on.

 

It wasn't long before a cab pulled up on the street and Soo Min almost choked on her drink when the door opened and she saw Jeonghan get out and swing a duffle bag over his shoulder. “He's here!” She quickly got up when he started to approach her after paying the can driver. “Squirtle~! I'm so happy to see you!” She exclaimed with a bright smile.

 

Jeonghan stood in front of her with a weak smile of his own. He was happy to see her too but, he wished she wasn't so drunk at the moment. “I'm here.” He said a few seconds later.

 

“Uh,” she looked at him and then around him before pouting, “Where's the pizza?! And the Sprite!”

 

“I couldn't bring that on the plane and I've never been to this city before.” He replied with a sheepish smile. “We can order one to this house?”  

 

“Yeah, we can do that!” She smiled and beckoned him to follow her into the house. “Welcome, to the almighty Soo Soo’s bubble castle!” She beamed with her arms held wide open to welcome him into the room. It got a genuine laugh out of him, it was so cute. He really missed her. Then he noticed her take another drink from her plastic cup.

 

“Are you still drinking?” He frowned.

 

“You want some?!” She only held it over to him, it was half full. “That one is actually tolerable, I forget what it is already but mixed berry something!”

 

Seeing her stand there and watch him, he felt like she wasn't going to do anything else until he took a sip, so he did. Vodka. The taste wasn't that bad to him and now that he thought about it, maybe it wouldn't hurt to drink it since she offered and it wasn't that much… maybe it'd help him with his nerves too?

 

“Pizza time!” Her loud cheery voice snapped him out of it. “Let's order it!”

The wait for their pizza didn't take long and Jeonghan finished what was left of her drink while they waited. He felt a bit buzzed but nothing too crazy, he was still able to comprehend everything and think straight but he knew she was beyond that now. He only hoped eating some pizza would help sober her up a bit. He stopped her from pouring anymore drinks and she pouted for awhile, he thought it was funny and cute of course.

 

Things seemed to be happening so fast, it almost made him dizzy. This was definitely how he thought things would go when he arrived. He had thought things would be a little more dramatic, that there were be tears and confessions and maybe a hug. But the first thing she did was smile and say how happy she was to see him. That really pulled at his heart strings… he didn’t think she’d ever be happy to see him after everything that happened. Because of that greeting, he was at a loss of how to respond and act, so that’s why he accepted the rest of her drink, maybe it would help him think of something if he wasn’t so damn nervous and scared.

 

Despite that, they hardly talked since he got there and it was probably because she was so out of it, she was distracted by everything, she could barely hold a conversation! But overall she seemed quite happy having him there, he could tell. He noticed the few times she would look at him and give him a big bright smile and giggle before getting distracted again.

Maybe things wouldn't be so difficult after all? Maybe he didn’t need to drink the vodka?

 

Jeonghan cleaned up the coffee table when they were finished while Soo Min got distracted by the tv, there was a kdrama playing and a romantic scene was building up. She watched it intently and blushed when the couple kissed. Jeonghan wasn't in the room and she quietly squealed. “Wah, I want this…” her smile faltered. She started to think about her relationship with Jeonghan and what she did. Just because she was drunk didn’t mean that she didn’t remember what was going on.

 

“Hey,” His voice snapped her out of it. “Are you okay?” He was clearly concerned and she simply smiled at him. He had sat down on the couch after returning and left some space between them.

 

“I'm okay.” She nodded before scooting to sit closer to him. She didn't notice him visibly tense up when she got close. She continued to watch the drama and every few minutes she would get a little closer until her shoulder was touching his. She really didn't sense anything from him at all, it was probably impaired by the alcohol, but he was very tense now, but probably not in a bad way, more like in a ‘what's happening?!’ kind of way.

 

He was worried yet happy. But he didn't want to think too much about it, it was clear that she was still drunk and so maybe it doesn't even mean anything? Drunk people do stupid things all the time, right? Perhaps he was misunderstanding that? Then he felt her rest her head on his shoulder.

 

His heartbeat started to pick up and he was feeling those emotions from when they first started to fall in love. He was nervous and felt the butterflies fluttering in his stomach but it was bittersweet to be feeling that now in this situation. When another kissing scene came up on the screen he stilled. He wanted that too.

 

When he looked over to her, he caught her already looking at him with a small smile on her lips. It was already clear what she wanted to do when she started to lean forward and he caught himself slightly leaning forward too. When both of their lips touched, he felt overwhelmed. He pulled away a few seconds later. “No.”

 

“What is it?” She frowned.

 

“Don't. You're drunk…” he said softly, but she went in for another kiss. It was difficult for him because while he wanted this, he knew it was wrong. He pulled away again and avoided her eyes. “You're probably not thinking straight.”

 

“I know what I'm doing!” She said in a pouting tone before reaching over and made him face her again. “I just want to kiss you… because I miss you.” She said with a hint of hurt in her tone. Hearing her say that made him push those negative thoughts aside and he leaned into kiss her back. The kiss they shared didn't seem to be one of those drunk kisses with no meaning, it had meaning and feelings and everything they had before she left. It lasted for a long time. Things started to feel like before but slightly different since they hadn’t really kissed like this when they were together. They hadn’t gotten that far back then, but tonight it was happening.

 

The alcohol in their systems definitely didn’t help Jeonghan with his self control once the kiss started to get a bit heated. His hands started to travel on her body and she didn’t reject him not once and instead did the same to him. Everything was mutual right now, that should be a good thing but…

 

“I’m sorry.” Jeonghan said softly once he parted from her. She frowned and was about to ask him what was wrong but he got up and left out the front door. He needed some fresh air, he needed to cool down before he took things too far. Now was not to time for this, definitely not in this situation. He couldn’t allow this, it didn’t seem right.

 

Soo Min remained inside wondering what went wrong while she lied on the couch. That close and intimate encounter had her pretty flustered at the moment so she wasn’t able to think straight, but after a few minutes she did think about it. She admits maybe she shouldn’t have kissed him so soon like that, maybe she shouldn’t have insisted on continuing it… but her feelings were still there, they were still true and she doesn’t regret it. Not in the slightest. I just hope he feels the same.

He spent nearly an hour outside until he heard the door open and heard Soo Min walk up behind him. “You should come back inside, it’s cold out here.” She said quietly. She sounded more sober this time and he was glad.

 

“I’m fine. Don’t worry.” He said in reply and didn’t look back. He was sitting on the front steps while hugging his knees to his chest. He had been thinking about everything during this past hour, mostly of their positive memories together. There was a long silence between them before she spoke again.

 

“... I’m sorry.” She said softly. “But I don’t regret anything from tonight. I don’t regret kissing you.” Hearing her admit that made his heartbeat pick up, those warm fuzzy feelings had returned. He was happy to hear that. Too bad they were in the situation they were in or else he would have got up and hugged her. “Do you regret it, Jeonghan?” She asked before sitting down next to him. She left some space between them this time.

 

“No.” He answered calmly. “I just regret not being the one to kiss you first.” He added with a hint of laughter, like he was trying to make the mood less serious and it worked because she giggled and they shared a cute smile together. “You surprised me. I really didn’t expect any of this to happen when I got here.”

 

“Me either.” She gave a sheepish smile before hugging her knees to her chest and rested her chin on her folded arms. “I thought things would go a lot differently. I thought things would be worse. I thought it was going to be difficult to face you again… even though I had a bit of help from the alcohol, it turned out to be everything but chaotic and I feel stupid about it. I must be the biggest drama queen on this planet.”

 

“Maybe.” He chuckled when she pouted at him. “You live and learn, right?”

 

“Right.” She nodded in agreement. A moment of silence came between them before she sighed. “Jeonghan?”

 

“Yeah?”

 

“I’m sorry.” She said before looking away when the sting in the back of her eyes got worse. “I’m so sorry for hurting you like that. I’m sorry for leaving. I’m sorry for not coming to talk to you before making any rash decisions. I’m sorry for not being honest with you. I’ve missed you. I missed you so much and it hurts. I’m sorry.” The tears streamed down her cheeks before she buried her head into her folded arms to cry.

 

It went without saying that Jeonghan felt bad for her, even guilty. He wished he wasn’t the reason why she was so sad and crying like this but he was. His heart was breaking again and he hesitantly reached a hand out towards her, he thought about giving her a pat on her shoulder, but he felt like that wouldn’t be good enough. Should he even touch her at all? Could he really comfort her right now?

 

He debated on it for a few minutes before he finally decided what to do. He scooted over to lessen the space between them and proceeded to wrap his arm around her shaking shoulders to bring her close into a side hug. She didn’t push him away and only leaned into him, allowing him to comfort her. Eventually, the tears started to fall from his eyes as well. It was such an emotional moment, he couldn’t help it. They cried on the front porch together for a short while before heading inside because of the concerned neighbor who came out to ask what was wrong. He apologized and helped Soo Min back into the house without answering them.

 

After shutting the front door he was suddenly grabbed into a tight hug by Soo Min. It surprised him but he quickly wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly with a small smile on his lips. It was nice having her in his arms again and he wished he could never let go. “It’s late.” But he had to. “You should sleep.”

 

“What about you?” She asked with no signs of letting go.

 

“I should sleep too.” He chuckled.

 

“Then, let’s go sleep.” She muttered before parting and took one of his hands into hers.

 

“Together?” He asked and remained in his spot near the door. He seemed a little surprised and she smiled.

 

“Sorry, I guess I’m being a little selfish aren’t I?” She sighed and let go of his hand. “You can sleep in my room, I’ll sleep in halmoni’s room, sound good?”

 

“... maybe it’s better that way.” He reluctantly admitted. Despite he would be okay if they stayed together, it just didn’t seem right since they were still broken up, let alone, they just reunited a few hours ago. He could tell she was disappointed in that answer, but he hoped she’d understand why he decided that. Why it would be difficult for him.

 

She led him to her room so he could get settled for the night with his duffle bag. He didn’t bring much, just three changes of clothes, some dry shampoo, his toothbrush and toothpaste, his wallet and phone charger. He really didn’t know how long he was going to be staying, but that didn’t mean he was going to pack his whole apartment either. She told him where the bathroom was and he proceeded to go wash up for the night while she went to the kitchen to tidy up. Despite drinking so much, she managed to sober up enough to do some simple tasks. Perhaps she was someone who handled alcohol pretty well for their first time.There was a load of dishes she meant to do before Won Woo left earlier, before she disappointed everyone. While she did the dishes, it gave her time to think about what was to come.

 

Are we good? We talked.  Now what? Do we get back together? Does he want to get back together? Should we not get back together? What will we do? What can we do? What will I do?

 

Once she was done with the dishes, she returned to her room to check on Jeonghan and to tell him goodnight. “If you need anything, don’t hesitate to ask.” She said with a kind smile.

 

“I will, thanks.” He returned that smile and gave a small wave before she shut the door to give him his privacy. He let out a tired sigh and started to look around the room.

 

There weren’t much on the walls and it seemed pretty plain and boring, if he didn’t know any better, he would have thought he was in a guest room or something and not Soo Min’s room. But then he noticed she had seemed pretty simple since he met her, she never asked for a lot while they were together when it came to materialistic things. She was always fine with the bare minimum. He snickered at that and got up to check out some of the photos on the wall by her closet.

 

They seemed to be old photos from childhood, obviously the two little girls in the photo had to be of Min Hee and Soo Min. They seemed really happy in the photo and that was probably because it was one of their birthdays. There weren’t many of the childhood photos, but there were some from when they were older, in high school to be more clear. But in one particular photo, he could tell Soo Min was still in middle school, it was probably before she skipped a grade. And there was also a familiar face in the photo. It was Ren. Anyone could recognize him with those platinum blonde locks anywhere. The image seemed nice until Jeonghan noticed the way Soo Min was looking at Ren from her spot on the left. Her sister was between them. It was hard to tell if Ren was dating Min Hee at the time, but he just took a wild guess and decided maybe he was judging by the way the blonde had his arm around Min Hee’s waist.

 

He felt bad. He couldn’t imagine how she must’ve felt back then at such a young age. To be crushing on someone you couldn’t have. And to think she almost had what she wanted when she met Jeonghan, but then he went and ruined it all with his jealous feelings. The moment turned bittersweet. He felt like that was enough looking around for now and went back over to the bed to lie down. He stared at the ceiling for the longest time, it might have been a few hours but he couldn’t be so sure since he just blanked out for a bit. Just when he was about to turn on his side so he could finally go to sleep, there was a knock on the door and it opened. He looked over to see Soo Min poking her head in. “Can’t sleep?”

 

“I was about to.” He said with a light laugh. “You can’t sleep?”

 

“No.” She shook her head and remained at the door.

 

“Why?”

 

“I feel like you’ll be gone when I wake up.” She admitted and it was clear that she was lonely right now. “I don’t want to wake up and find out it was all a dream. Even if I could go without the drinking bit, I really wanted to see you one way or another. I struggled a lot trying to do just that… so I don’t want to wake up and find out none of this was real.”

 

“I understand.” He sat up and swung his legs over so he was sitting on the side edge of her bed. He beckoned her over to come sit with him and she immediately made her way over after shutting the door. “Well, first thing’s first. I don’t plan on leaving so soon. So you don’t have to worry about that. I wouldn’t leave without telling you either, okay?” She nodded and looked slightly relieved. “Secondly, I really don’t know my way around the city and it’s my first time coming here. So, I’d like to go sightseeing if possible?”

 

“Of course! I’ll show you around.” Her mood did a 180 degree flip and he was happy to see that.

 

“It’ll be fun.” He chuckled. “So, don’t worry anymore, okay? Even after what happened, I still want you to be a part of my life somehow. I know what happened between us was unfortunate and it might be a little weird going forwards, but you did a lot for me without even knowing it. You mean a lot to me now, I’d rather be around you than apart from you. I won’t leave you suddenly without a word because I still care about you. Do you understand?”

 

“I understand.” She nodded with a sad smile. “I feel the same.”

 

“Good.” He managed a genuine smile. “We’ll talk more tomorrow, alright? Get some sleep.”

 

“Okay, got it!” Her smile brightened up a bit and she was in a better mood compared to when she first came into the room. “Thank you. Goodnight, sleep tight, and don’t let the…”

 

“Caterpies bite.” He finished her sentence. It’s been awhile since he heard any pokémon references and he didn’t realize how much he missed that. “Goodnight, Pikachu.”

 

“Goodnight, Squirtle.” She waved before shutting the door. He was able to fall asleep shortly after she left and he had nothing but good dreams, so did she.

The next morning, Jeonghan woke up to the smell of breakfast. He figured Soo Min had woken up and oddly enough, it felt like the old days, which weren’t too long ago, it’s only been about a month to be honest. It was nice though. He got up and got dressed before heading to the bathroom to wash up. When he was done, he approached the kitchen. He could see her plating the food and he was impressed that he had such perfect timing.

 

“Good morning~!” She smiled brightly at him. It was hard not to smile back, it was contagious. But it wasn’t like he wasn’t going to smile in the first place.

 

“Good morning.” He greeted back before entering the room to take his seat at the small table. Everything looked delicious and he was ready to eat.

 

“It’s been awhile since I cooked, so I apologize if it doesn’t taste as great from before.” Soo Min admitted before he could take a bite.

 

“That’s okay.” He assured her. “I’m sure it’s going to taste good because it looks good.”

 

“Tch, that logic.” She snickered, but in a playful way. It was cute. Jeonghan was glad to see her back to her old self. He heard from Jisoo that she wasn’t the same after the breakup, but after he came with her pizza, she was back to her old self! It just took a Squirtle to bring her back to normal. He thought with huge smile. That’s when his phone buzzed in his pocket.

 

Mingyu: Hyung, where are you?! TT TT

 

He noticed there were several other missed text he got earlier this morning, as well.

 

Won Woo: Where did you go?

Junhui: Jeonghan, where are you?

Seungcheol: Han, where are you? Won Woo texted me asking if you came here last night.

Channie: Hyung! I saw Won Woo-hyung’s text on Cheol-hyung’s phone. Where are you?!

Soonyoung: Hyung, we’re worried about you. Where did you go?

Seokmin: Soonyoung told me you’re missing. Hyung, are you alright?

Seungkwan: Hyung! Where are you! Please answer me! TT TT

Minghao: Hyung, are you okay?

Hansol: Hyung, where are you? It’s okay if you went somewhere to think, just please tell us you’re okay!

Jihoon: Hyung, where are you?

 

He almost felt dizzy seeing everyone’s texts but smiled. “What is it?” Soo Min asked curiously, she could figure what it was but thought to ask anyway.

 

“Just a few texts from the others.” He said with a sheepish laugh. He felt bad for worrying them, but happy that they cared so much. “A few as in, everyone. Seems like they spammed my phone this morning.”

 

“I’m sorry.” She frowned. She knew it was probably her fault since she was the one who called him over and took up a lot of his time.

 

“It’s okay, don’t worry. It’s what friends do, they worry. It’d be disappointing if no one noticed I was gone, you know?” He pointed out and she giggled while agreeing. “I’m just gonna reply to them real quick.”

 

“Sure, go ahead.” She gestured for him to do just that. “It’s not like there’s a sign saying no phones at the table.” She added and earned a laugh from him, it was clear that she was joking. Instead of replying to all of them individually, he went to their group chat on their Kakao talk app. They hadn’t been texting in there for awhile but it was more convenient to answer them all at once.

 

Jeonghan: I’m okay, don’t worry. I’ll be home soon :)

 

His notifications blew up a second later when they all replied to him. The two were startled since he had put his phone down to eat while he waited for a reply, but he didn’t think his friends would be up this early and reply so quickly. “Wow.” She said, impressed. “Someone is quite popular this morning.”

“I know.” He said with an apologetic laugh.

 

Mingyu: OMG Hyung! Are you alright?!

Mingyu: Where did you go off to during work last night?

Seungcheol: Glad you’re okay!

Seungkwan: Hyung! TT TT

Channie: TT TT

Junhui: Thank god you’re okay!

Hansol: Thanks for replying! We were so worried!

Seokmin: I’m so glad you’re okay!

Jihoon: When will you be home?

Won Woo: Don’t do that again.

Soonyoung: Yeah, you scared us! D:

Seungcheol: Han, you might want to reply something again or these kids won’t let your phone rest!

 

Jeonghan: I’ll be home soon.

I’ll explain myself then, so just be patient!

 

Mingyu: Hyung! TT TT

Seungkwan: TT TT

Channie: TT TT

Junhui: OTL

Jihoon: You guys are being dramatic.

Seungcheol: Let them be!  TT TT

Jihoon: Not you too!

 

Jeonghan chuckled at the conversations that kept coming in after he responded. He muted the chat room for now so his phone wouldn’t constantly be buzzing throughout the day, because it seemed like they decided to keep using the chat to talk with each other. With that out of the way, he continued to eat with Soo Min. Her mood seemed to falter a bit since that and he could understand why. She was probably still guilty about leaving his friends, too.

 

Just then, Soo Min’s phone buzzed on her side of the table and she was almost spooked. She could see it was a text from Won Woo and she hesitated about checking it.

 

“Go ahead, it’s not like there’s a sign saying no phones at the table.” He grinned.

 

“Haha. Be quiet.” She rolled her eyes, but again in a playful manner. She decided maybe she should answer the text before Won Woo blows up her phone as well.

 

Won Woo: Morning, be sure to eat.

 

Soo Min: Good morning, I am eating.

Thanks~!

 

Won Woo: Really? You better not be lying.

 

Soo Min: I am, really. Do I need to send

a photo for you to believe me?

 

Won Woo: Yes. Do that.

 

She sighed at that reply and proceeded to take a quick photo. She sent it off without realizing that Jeonghan’s plate and elbow were in the photo.

 

Won Woo: So, you’re with Jeonghan right now?

 

“Dang, your friends are impressive. They know exactly what your elbow looks like!” She couldn’t help but laugh.

 

“Really?”

 

“Yeah, it was Won Woo. I sent a photo to prove that I was eating and I guess he saw your elbow in the picture. That’s kind of… weird.” She admitted. “I wonder if he spends his free time looking at your elbows.”

 

“Stop.” He laughed. “I’m pretty sure he put one and one together.”

 

“True.” She smiled. “Your friends are pretty smart then!”

 

Soo Min: Congratulations, you guessed right.

I’ll talk to you later~! ^^

 

They were able to finish their breakfast shortly after that and headed out for their planned adventure. Hopefully today was going to be fun and full of positive happy memories for the two.

“This is where I used to go to school.” Soo Min said as she and Jeonghan were standing in front of a large building. It was her old high school to be more exact.

 

“Nice.” He smiled and admired the building. “I wish I could’ve gone to this school, maybe my grades wouldn’t have been so poor.” He chuckled when she frowned at him. She knew he was referring to how she skipped a grade.

 

“I wonder what that would have been like, to see you walking down the hallways…” she smiled and looked back to the building. “Would I have crushed on you instead of Ren?”

 

“You would have.” He laughed. “I just know it.”

 

“Conceited much?” She chuckled. It’s been like this all morning. They would say things like that and would make the other laugh, it felt like things hadn’t changed much and that was good.  

 

“Nearly all of the girls at my high school had a crush on me at some point during their time there.” He explained. “Didn’t Ren have a lot of girls crushing on him, too? Because he was the popular one?”

 

“I guess you have a point.” She pouted. “It’s not fair that you both have to be so good looking, at least I didn’t let it affect my grades!” She added with a small laugh. “Min Hee almost got held back because she spent so much time ogling over Ren instead of studying and focusing in class.”

 

“Wow.” Jeonghan was amused. “You must have some strong will power to stay focused.” He admired that.

 

“Yes, I did.” She nodded with a proud smile.

 

“Cute.” He said with a smile. It was clear that made her happy.

 

“Thanks!” She said brightly in reply. “I’ll show you the library I used to study at until I got headaches and nosebleeds.”

 

“Jeez… you were really focused.” He frowned before he followed her to their next destination. It wasn’t that long of a walk and they were there within a few minutes.

 

“This is where I got my smarts.” She giggled while pointing at her head. “I basically lived here, I was studying so much.” She turned and looked up at the building’s name. Storybook Library. It was all for Ren in the end. It was bittersweet to be visiting this place and she looked back to Jeonghan. But I guess fate had something else in store. Because had she not graduated early, she would still be stuck here in Busan finishing high school. She wouldn’t have moved to Seoul and met Jisoo’s many friends… maybe she would have a year later, but she was glad she got to meet them sooner than later.

 

“You don’t understand how people can drink, and I can’t understand how anyone would want to purposely study.” He said with a hurt expression. He hated studying and she remembered him saying that before.

 

“It’s called motivation.” She laughed. “I wanted good grades!” She didn’t want to state the real reason, but he already knew about it anyway.

 

“I guess I can understand that.” He nodded with a weak smile. I should be more motivated, too. He thought and admired her admiring the library. I want to do better…

 

“Are you hungry yet?” She asked after a few minutes. “I know a good place to eat at for lunch, I’ll buy!” She said with another bright smile.

 

“Okay.” He nodded and followed after her. They were having such a good time now.

After arriving to the restaurant, they spent a few moments talking about the menu and what she would recommend. Jeonghan trusted her taste in food and had her order what she thought he’d like. When it was decided, she left to the front to make the order. The waiting period wasn’t long, it was only a few minutes and Jeonghan was impressed by how fast and good the service was. He aimed to be that quick when he goes back to work.

 

They were enjoying their meal until...

 

“Soo Min?” They heard her name being called and someone came up to their table. “So, we meet again, so soon?” He chuckled before he noticed Jeonghan sitting across from her. “Oh, sorry, I didn’t see you there!”

 

“It’s okay.” Jeonghan assured him with a small smile before he looked to Soo Min for an explanation on who he was. He seemed to be familiar with her, he was guessing she knew him, obviously.

 

“Oh yeah, this is Woo Sung. We went to high school together.” She explained to Jeonghan before turning to Woo Sung. “And this is Jeonghan.” She said with a nervous smile. “The guy I met in Seoul.”

 

“Oh!” Woo Sung looked surprised before he gave a weak smile. “I see, sorry to interrupt! Enjoy the rest of your meal~!” He added before returning to his small table of friends.

 

“What was that all about?” Jeonghan asked curiously. He felt like there was something strange with that guy, like he was disappointed when Soo Min told him his name.

 

“I talked to him yesterday. We kept bumping into each other throughout the week and he kept asking what was wrong because I wasn’t so good at hiding my expressions. I told him about us.” She said quietly. “He sort of told me what I needed to hear, and I told him that I would go back to Seoul. I didn’t think I’d bump into him again today… let alone, that you’re here with me now!”

 

“I see.” He chuckled at her expression. She looked like she had been caught red handed. “But I’ll be honest, he seemed kind of disappointed when you told him who I was?”

 

“Oh? Really?” She seemed confused and he guessed she didn’t notice it.

 

“Yeah… did something happen between you two already?” He almost sounded jealous and he could tell from her faltering expression. “I’m sorry, I don’t mean it like that.”

 

“I know.” She assured him. “I’m frowning because… yeah, something did happen and I didn’t like it.” She added. “The second day I bumped into him, he tried to flirt with me.”

 

“Oh…”

 

“I didn’t like it, because he said something similar to what you said to me a while ago and it just didn’t feel right. It felt like it should only be you saying it.”

 

“Saying what?”

 

“Maybe it was fate?” She repeated the words and he paused before he smiled. “Yeah, so that’s what it was.” She said before going back to her food with a flustered expression.

 

“Okay, I understand.” He said quietly before looking back to Woo Sung’s table. He caught the guy staring their way and looked away when he noticed Jeonghan glance their way.

 

“He also dated my sister before she dated Ren.” She brought up a moment later. “I don’t know why they broke up but either way, I wouldn’t want to date him if he asked because it’d feel wrong dating someone who dated my sister.”

 

“True. That would be kind of strange… though, I don’t see the harm in giving him a chance.”

 

“What?” She looked up quickly and saw that sad smile on his face. She felt her heart ache a bit. What was he implying?

 

“I don’t know…” he trailed off.

 

“Are you saying I should date him?” She was straight forward with her question and he was surprised.

 

“If you wanted to…” he said softly and looked down at the table. He really didn’t want to say that, it was clear.

 

“But I don’t want to.” She protested. “Why would I date someone else when… I still want to be with you?” She confessed and she could see Jeonghan was a mix of surprised and happy to hear that.

 

“Sorry, I just thought to give you a chance to date someone else. What if I’m really not the one for you after what happened?” He didn’t want to say that either, but he knew he should. It’d just eat away at him on the inside if he wasn’t honest with her from the start. “I wouldn’t have a problem if you dated him… and I wouldn’t have a problem if you wanted to stay with him. He probably could treat you better than I did.”

 

“But…”

“I just had to say it. I’d regret it if I didn’t say all of that.” He said with a small smile. “Don’t overthink it, but do keep that in mind.”

 

“Okay.” She nodded with a dejected expression. He figured she must’ve really meant it when she said she wanted to be with him, but here he was, telling her it was okay to date other guys. Maybe she was getting the idea that he didn’t really like her as much as before they broke up, otherwise he wouldn’t be saying that, but he has his reason!

 

They finished their meal shortly after and left. She forced a smile and said she’d take him to the old playground she hung out at when she wanted time alone to think or to just swing, because she loved swinging as a kid. There was no one around when they arrived and she was glad. This meant they could play on the swings without being judged!

 

It was quiet between the two after they got there. Jeonghan was just enjoying the view and weather while Soo Min pushed herself back and forth with her feet and was hung up on what he said earlier. I don’t understand why he said that. It was really bothering her, unfortunately. She sighed.

 

“You’re still thinking about it, aren’t you?” He chuckled and looked at her passing him every few seconds.

 

“I am.” She pouted. “I don’t like it.”

 

“Oh?”

 

“Don’t tell me I can date other guys. You’re supposed to tell me to stay away from other guys, right?”

 

“No.”

 

“Why?”

 

“Because… we’re not together anymore.” He said the truth and she looked hurt. Her swinging came to a stop as she looked at him with that expression and he had to look away. “But, I guess personally I would like it if you didn’t go around other guys…”

 

“And I personally would like it if you didn’t go around other girls…” when he looked at her, she was smiling at him.

 

“Okay, I won’t.” He nodded.

 

“Were you planning to?!” She suddenly frowned and he laughed.

 

“No! Stop assuming things!” He said before he took a few steps back and kicked off so he could start his swing. She watched him with a pout until a smile came to her lips. She got up and turned around so when she started to swing, she could see him each time they passed. It was cute.

 

Eventually, he stopped his swing so he could start pushing her from behind. Every now and then, she’d lean back to look at him when she was on the other side of the swingset and he’d laugh at the silly upside down face she made. Near the end, he went to the front and her swinging started to die down until he was standing in front of her swing with his hands gripping the chains below her own hands. She was staring up at him with a small smile and he was looking down at her with the same smile. After a moment, he bent down a little to be eye level with her. He didn’t say anything and she wasn’t sure what to say, either, so they just enjoyed the moment instead.

 

Before she was about to suggest they go sightsee a bit more, he surprised her when he leaned forward and lessened the space between their faces. He was only a few inches away and he held back a chuckle when he saw her blushing cheeks. “Is there anywhere else you want to show me before the day is over?” He asked and finally took a step back so she could stand up.

 

“Uh…” she stuttered out before giving a sheepish smile. “Sure.”

“This arcade isn’t as great as the one you took me to in Seoul.” She said with an apologetic smile. There were only a few things to do in there, but Jeonghan looked happy nonetheless. It was probably because he saw the basketball game.

 

“This is the only game that matters.” He chuckled while walking over to it.

 

“Right.” She giggled and followed after him. “Have you been practicing?” She asked while inserting the money so they could play.

 

“Maybe.” He lied. There was no way he has been, not with everything that was going on, but he didn’t want to ruin the mood and say all of that. It was just better to play along with the question.

 

“Then what should we play for?” She asked with a mischievous grin.

 

“I don’t know.” He shrugged and tried to think about it.

 

“If I win, you stay with me until Monday morning?” Because she figured he was going home tomorrow morning. He was a bit surprised she said such a thing, but he realized maybe he could try something of his own, too.

 

“Alright. And if I win… you’ll come back to Seoul with me?” He expected her to be surprised as well, and she was. He also expected her mood to drop and things to go bad, but he really wanted to put it out there, he just had to. She wasn’t upset though and instead… she smiled.

 

“Okay.” She nodded.

 

It felt unreal to Jeonghan, like that was too easy, but maybe he was just overthinking it.

 

I really want to win.

 

He thought to himself before the game started.

 

I need to win…

 

I need to bring her home with me.

 

I have to…

 

The game started and the two did their best to score as many points as they needed. When the game was over, Jeonghan stared at the scores for a long time.

---

Chapter nine~!

WHO WON?!

CLIFFHANGER AHA

You’re welcome~!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Years~!

LOL