Chanyeol had been standing outside of the café for the past few minutes now and he’s been looking at Jiyoung who was manning the cashier at the time. He’s been trying to find the courage to walk in there and talk to her but he doesn’t know why he’s so nervous.

It’s just Jiyoung, he thought to himself. Man up!

He took a deep breath and took a step forward before stopping and groaned out in frustration. He really couldn’t do this. If it was any other times, he would just walk in there and chat normally with her and laugh at his own jokes as Jiyoung rolled her eyes.

But today was different.

And it was all because of what Yejin had told him this morning.

He had been so nervous while he waited for her to show up at the studio that morning and had been wondering what her reply would be to what he said yesterday. He had trouble sleeping the night before as he was so nervous and had been scolding himself for blurting things out like that and making Yejin run away.

And when Yejin showed up, he felt like he could pass out from the nerves. He watched as she approached him and told her that she was sorry but she couldn’t be with him. He couldn’t lie and say that he wasn’t disappointed because he was. But what she said after was what made him forget all about it.

‘You do know that Jiyoung likes you, don’t you? Or are you just playing dumb?’

At first he thought that she was just making things up just to not make him feel bad after she rejected him but when she punched his chest and shouted at him, he realized that she was serious.

And that was what brought him here. He needed to know. No wait, he needed her to say it herself.

He stood there again and looked at her and after a few minutes, he decided that what he was doing was stupid and wanted to go back up to the studio. But just as he was about to turn around, Jiyoung’s eyes landed on him and she gave him a wave and asked him to come inside.

Chanyeol sighed and took a deep breath before he made his way into the café.

‘What were you doing standing there?’ Was the first thing Jiyoung asked as he stepped inside.

‘Yeah, I was just…’ He racked his head trying to find a reason as Jiyoung looked at him curiously. ‘Nothing.’

Jiyoung frowned at him. ‘What’s wrong with you?’

Chanyeol shook his head and flashed her an awkward smile. Jiyoung looked at him curiously for a while before turning around to make him his coffee.

He looked at her and wondered how she could act so natural in front of the person she likes when he was a bumbling mess when he was in front of Yejin all those times before.

When Jiyoung finished making his coffee, she handed it to him and gave him a grin.

‘Yejin rejected me.’ He said as he took it from her.

Jiyoung’s smile fell and she rolled her eyes. ‘Of course she did, I told you she liked Baekhyun, didn’t I?’

Chanyeol watched as she wiped the counter after making the coffee and took a deep breath to steady his beating heart.

‘She told me that you like me. Is that true?’

Jiyoung froze and turned to look at him with her wide eyes.

Chanyeol gulped and asked, ‘Do you? Do you really like me?’

Jiyoung looked away and closed her eyes as she let out her breath. Slowly, she put the cloth away before standing in front of him and looking him in the eyes.

‘I do.’ She said confidently even though she actually felt like collapsing.

‘How come you’ve never told me?’ He asked.

Jiyoung rolled her eyes. ‘How can I when all you do is talk about other women? And besides, you’re my best friend. I couldn’t risk it when I know you don’t feel the same way.’

‘How would you know? Have you ever asked me?’ Chanyeol replied and Jiyoung went silent as she stared at him.

‘Do you have feelings for me?’ she asked.

They both looked at each other for a while before Chanyeol shook his head slightly.

‘I’ve never thought about it before.’

Jiyoung rolled her eyes and sighed loudly. ‘See? So what’s the big deal, right now?’

‘I’ve never thought about it because you’ve never given me any sort of impression to make me think about it. If you had flirted with me here and there, then maybe I would’ve thought about it more.’ Chanyeol replied frustratedly.

‘So, it’s my fault now?’ Jiyoung shouted before she realized she was in the café. She looked around and was thankful that not a lot of people were around and most of them were busy minding their own business to pay any attention to their argument. ‘You’re the one who’s blind! How dare you put the blame on me?’ she continued.

Chanyeol took a step backwards and took a few deep breaths to calm himself down. This was not the way he imagined things would play out. He thought that they were going to talk about it like adults instead of getting into an argument like children.

He opened his eyes and looked at Jiyoung who was glaring at him.

‘Look,’ he started. ‘I don’t want us to fight. Okay, I admit I was blind but you should’ve just told me. You know me and you know that I wouldn’t have let something like this get in between our friendship.’ He said.

Jiyoung looked away because he was right. She knows that he’s not the kind to do that but it’s not easy for you to just go to someone and tell them that you like them.

‘I’ve thought about this for awhile and I’m not rejecting you.’ He said.

Jiyoung’s eyes flew up to his, clearly shocked at what he had said.

‘I think that maybe we should give it a try. We both know what the other’s likes and dislikes and we know that we get along great together, already. So it wouldn’t actually be that bad for us to be together, right?’

Chanyeol looked at her sheepishly and smiled at her as he waited for her reply. He had made his decision after he talked to Yejin that morning and hadn’t stopped thinking about it even until he walked in here earlier and he’s not changing his decision. He wants to give this a try.

But he was taken aback when Jiyoung suddenly pushed his shoulders harshly from behind the counter and made him stumble a couple of step backwards.

‘Do you think I would accept being your rebound?’ Jiyoung shouted.

‘What?’ He asked and shook his head. ‘You’re not a rebound. I’m being serious.’

‘And I’m serious too!’ Jiyoung shouted before she got out from behind the counter and towards him. She grabbed his wrist and dragged him to the entrance before shoving him outside. ‘Get out of here before I punch you in the face or something.’

Chanyeol watched as she closed the door and walked towards the back of the café where he knew the staff room was. He totally didn’t expect for that to happen and he stood there dumbfounded for the next few minutes.

            Yejin who was warming