Final
Love Me the SameWhat's your biggest regret?
She stared at those four words silently for a few minutes. She was so still that you would be forgiven for thinking that she was a mannequin. After three agonizing minutes, she finally picked up her pen and scribbled two words quickly before standing and picking up her bag before leaving the cafe. He had been watching her for the past ten minutes or so and when he realised that she had left a piece of paper on the table, he immediately went over. His eyes scanned the paper and upon reading her hastily written answer, a small smile tugged at his lips.
***
The next day, she was back at the cafe, this time with another piece of paper. She didn't seem to be in a hurry to write anything on it though, she was leaning back in her chair and slowly sipping her latte as she scrolled through an app on her phone, the paper once again on the table. Standing behind the counter, he was blatantly staring at her. She was fascinating, ever since the first time she had stepped into the cafe (about a month ago) she had caught his attention. He couldn't explain why though, something about her just made him take notice of her. His coworkers always caught him looking at her and made it a point to whenever she came to the cafe, but they didn't mean anything by it and they usually left him alone after a while.
Close to twenty minutes had passed before she finally turned her gaze to the paper in front of her. Putting her phone aside and leaning slightly forward, her pen already in her hand, she spent a few seconds reading what was on the paper before she began to write, no hesitation this time. When she was done, she stood up and left abruptly, just like the day before. This piece of paper was left on the table again, and feeling a strong sense of deja vu, he headed over to the table and looked at what she had written. Unlike yesterday, however, a frown appeared on his face and he folded the paper, tucking it into his pocket as he strode back to the counter.
***
This went on for close to a week, her coming into the cafe and writing before hurrying out and leaving whatever she had written on her table. He had also been collecting what she had written and it was puzzling his coworkers but they decided against asking him about it as he was a fiercely private person.
He was secretly thinking a lot about her and what she wrote. Although he didn't know her, when he read her words she felt so familiar to him - it was as though she had read his mind and somehow managed to put the mess that was his emotions into words. It was kind of scary to him, but at the same time he wanted to get to know her better. Who was she?
***
She suddenly stopped coming to the cafe. The first day, he chalked it up to her being too busy, but as the days dragged on and she still did not make an appearance, he began to worry. Did something happen to her? Why isn't she coming? It's been so long. In reality, it had only been three days.
On the fourth day, she finally came back to the cafe. The moment she walked in, he knew. Looking up from the counter, he made eye contact with her and his mouth involuntarily formed a smile. She was surprised by the friendly stranger, but nevertheless smiled back as she placed her order (yet another latte, that was the only thing she seemed to drink).
There was no paper with her today. She sat at her usual table and stared out of the window while thoughtfully sipping on her latte. She seemed at peace though, just watching people walk by and life pass before her eyes. He alternated between staring at her and at the piece of paper he had in his hand. He was nervous, did he want to pass it to her? He didn't want to mess anything up but he hadn't felt such a strong urge to do anything in such a long time. Finally taking a deep breath and deciding to just it up, he walked with long strides to her table. She glanced up, her eyes widening slightly as she noticed him approaching.
When he was next to her, he stopped and placed the piece of paper that he had been clutching tightly in his hand onto the table. "I... thought you might want to read this," he walked away quickly, leaving her confused. Curiosity getting the better of her, a slender arm reached out and she picked up the paper and began to read.
This may seem a bit creepy, but I've been reading what you write and leave behind in the cafe and I have never related to someone more in my life. It feels like you know me inside out and I know that this is probably weird because what you wrote were all your own personal thoughts and feelings but I understand them. I understand you. Maybe we could meet up talk about it?
I'm Jungkook by the way.
Oh and also, that survey question that you had about your biggest regret? 'Nothing/Everything' shouldn't be an answer but it would be the same answer I'd give too.
She smiled. She had expected someone to pick up her scattered journal entries, but she hadn't thought that they would be kept and read by the same person. Things just became a lot more interesting. She looked over at the counter and saw Jungkook, who frantically looked away and pretended to be busy dusting the counter. A laugh escaped from her as she stood up and made her way over to the counter to him, a teasing tone in her voice as she said, "I don't mind if we meet up and talk about it, maybe after your work ends? I want to hear what you have to say about the complexity of the heart and love and how we are all connected in one way or another." He looked startled and it was adorable. "Uh, okay, I end at um, 8pm. We can go for dinner?" His voice went one octave higher at the end of his sentence and he blushed. "Sure. And if you were wondering, my name is Jieun. Lee Jieun."
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