Chanyeol clapped me on the shoulder, looking at me sympathetically. “Dude,” was all he said, but I understood the subtext. He was wishing me good luck. He quickly left as Areum was storming into the booth.

I tried to quickly explain, “Look, Areum, I can explain…”

“I don’t want to know who she is,” she interrupted, putting her hand up as a sign to stop. But then she contradicted herself by asking, “Is she an actress? Is she more famous than me?”

“No,” I replied, almost laughing. “No, she’s not an actress. She’s not famous at all.”

Areum frowned. “Then I really don’t understand why you would pick her,” she scoffed as she picked up her phone that had just beeped.

“I didn’t pick her,” I explained. “It just happened.”

She looked at me as though I was a foolish little boy. “Silly. That kind of stuff only happens in the movies,” she reminded me. “This is the real world.”

I nodded slowly. Okay, yeah, but this happened in real life too. Why didn’t she get that?

Areum’s phone went off again. “Oh,” she exclaimed, looking down at it, then gasped. “I have a date with Kai.” She looked up to tell me, “I have to go.”

“Whoa.” I stopped her as she was turning her back to me. She twirled around. “Are- are you breaking up with me?”

Areum looked thoughtful for a second then nodded with her usual saccharine smile. “Uh-huh.”

“Okay,” I said slowly. What just happened?

“Friends?” she asked out of pity I suspected.

“Sure.”

For the last time, she leaned in so that our cheeks touched, and said, “Mwah!” With a final pitying smile, she left happily and without a care. I was left so confused as to what just happened.

Chanyeol cleared it up for me. He knocked on the window, attracting my attention. I saw him hold up and point to a notepad onto which he wrote in large letters, “DUDE YOU’RE FREE.”

When I realized what he was saying, a large grin broke out onto my face. I was free to chase after whomever I wanted. And I knew exactly who I wanted.

“Bye, grandma. I love you,” my sister said as she stood by the car and pointed at my grandma instead of actually going up to her and hugging her.