She did not meet Myungsoo the next day, or the day after that. The next three days went by and he never showed up. He rarely answered her calls—not that she called that much anyway. But she called four times it all of it reached voicemail. He only called back at random times when she was having her class or late at night when she was already preparing to sleep.

She wondered what he was doing that made him so busy or where he was living that the rules were much tighter than the army. Maybe he just lost interest in her.  Or maybe he was never interested in her in the first place. Eunhee shrugged. It did not matter anyway.

She was about to continue her math homework when the doorbell rang.

“Eunhee, can you get it?” Her aunt’s voice penetrated the walls of her room.

“Yeah,” Eunhee shouted back as she pushed herself up lazily. It must be Sora. She must have forgotten her keys again.

Her aunt must be cooking because a wonderful aroma wafted into the halls. Eunhee skipped excitedly. Her stomach was beginning to perform an orchestra. The doorbell rang again, and again and again, thundering in impatience. Eunhee huffed and mentally cursed Sora. She swung the door. Just as she was about to open to nag at her cousin, she stopped. It was not Sora.

“Who is it, Eunhee?” Her aunt’s head popped out of the kitchen.

“Aunt it’s really—“

“Well, who is it?” She wiped her hands on her apron upon seeing Eunhee’s startled expression and walked towards her. Her footsteps stopped when the man outside the door came into view. She smiled.

“And who might you be?”

Myungsoo inclined his head in respect and smiled back.

Eunhee looked at Myungsoo then to her Aunt. “Oh he’s—“

“I’m Kim Myungsoo. Eunhee’s… friend.”

“Why don’t you come in?” She made a gesture to beckon him inside.

Eunhee bit her lips as she fumbled with the hem of her dress uncomfortably. “Aunt, that is not—“

“Sure, that would be great, thank you.” Myungsoo’s voice dominated over hers.

“No, he’s not—“

“Its okay, Eunhee” Her aunt looked at her and smiled.

Five minutes later, Myungsoo was plopped on her sofa, drinking orange juice with a plate of cookies served on the table. Eunhee sat uncomfortably beside him listening to the clanging of utensils in the kitchen.

Myungsoo heaved. “So…” Eunhee sighed.

“I called you and you didn’t answer any of my calls. Why? And you call me whenever I’m doing something important or late at night which is a very inconsiderable thing to do-” She couldn’t stop herself from muttering. Myungsoo hushed her. Eunhee immediately stopped talking.

“I’m sorry. I’ve been very busy lately,” Myungsoo admitted. Eunhee raised an eyebrow. Busy with what? He had promised, well, he didn’t, but he did say he was going to tell her the truth the next day after the call. But then she shook her head. Why did she even care anyway? It’s not like they’re still together and had to always talk on the phone.

“Well you had more than enough time to muster up your courage to tell me the truth behind our….um,” Eunhee coughed. “Break up.”

Myungsoo looked down onto his lap. “Yeah I—“

The door burst open suddenly and Sora raced in. “Eunhee! Did you—“

The scene in front of her processed in her mind and she stopped. “Oh.”

Sora smiled nervously and looked at Myungsoo. And then back to Eunhee. And then back to Myungsoo. An expression of disbelief flashed across her face.

“Eunhee... am I seeing what I am seeing?” Sora said, her gaze never leaving Myungsoo.

Then, she turned to Eunhee. In a harsh whisper, she asked, “What is that guy doing here? In my house?”

Eunhee stood up. “Why? Is something wrong?”

“Oh my god do you know who he is?”

“He’s Myungsoo. Why?”

“Oh my god you really don’t know.”

“What?”

Myungsoo was beginning to stand up beside her.

“What the hell am I supposed to know?” Eunhee asked, furious.

“He’s L of INFINITE.”

“What in the world is that?”

Then, everything clicked. She knew that group. That was why his face seemed familiar, she knew saw him somewhere else before. That was why he was extra busy. She turned to Myungsoo.

“You never told me.” She didn’t know why she felt a pang of betrayal.

“That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you. You know, all these trainings and music videos and photo shoots going on… I can’t spend every second with you like how I used to,” Myungsoo said, the corners of his mouth forming a frown.

“I do want to be with you, but look at all the things stopping me from being in a relationship with you. I wish I can find a way to organize everything, but my schedules have been super packed lately, especially with our comeback coming up. ‘The Chaser’ is something we have put in a lot of effort into, and we can’t disappoint our beloved Inspirits,” he added. Eunhee nodded her head.

“Oh my goodness I sounded like that greasy guy, Woohyun.” Sora chuckled, making Myungsoo smirk at her.

“You’re obviously an Inspirit,” he stated. Sora blushed and Eunhee had to giggle at that. Seeing her cousin embarrassed was funny.

“I like you the most in Infinite, to be honest,” Sora had said it too quickly but Myungsoo grasped every word and he patted Sora’s arm.

“Thanks. But can you please leave me and Eunhee alone for a while? I want to have a heart-to-heart conversation with her,” Myungsoo said, giving Sora his most sincere smile. Sora’s eyes twinkled and she nodded her head in glee. Then, she left.

Myungsoo blew a sigh of relief and easiness gushed through him. It felt good to let everything out.

“So that’s why you broke up with me…to pursue your dreams?” Eunhee asked. Myungsoo bit his lip. He tends to do that when he’s unsure.

“Sort of, but of course it was a hard thing for me to do. I loved you, I still do, but-“Now it was Eunhee’s turn to hush him.

“You did the right thing. It was a tough choice but a girl can’t possibly stop you from doing what you wanted to do. I admire you for that, Myungsoo. I had a feeling you didn’t break up with me because you were tired of me. I mean, it was all too sudden. We didn’t even fight before that break-up,” Eunhee said.

“Thanks. For telling me everything,” she said again. Myungsoo felt his eyes water.

‘Oh god, Myungsoo, don’t cry in front of the girl you love,’ he thought. However, his brain completely went against him and he cried. Eunhee gasped at the sudden outburst.

“Did I just make a guy cry…?” Eunhee questioned. Myungsoo let out a muffled laugh. He squinted and embraced her in a bear hug. The warmth of her body against his made him feel loved. It felt like the old times again. He breathed in the familiar vanilla scent that he always did before he broke up with her. She still smelt the same. Pleasant and pure.

“You did,” he croaked. They stayed like that for a while until her aunt’s voice boomed in their ears. Myungsoo and Eunhee flinched.

“DINNNNNNNNNNERRRRR TIIIIIIIMEEEEEE!” her aunt clapped her hands.