We stayed like that, back to back with only the wood of the door between us, for at least one hour. I only heard him go away when the rain started to disappear, and it was safe for him to go. I felt empty, when I heard the creasing of his coat against the door, and his heavy footsteps as he walked away on the porch. In fact, I felt so empty that I didn’t have any power left in my body, and couldn’t get up. I stayed sitting there for at least thirty minutes after his departure. I was too tired to cry, too tired to try to make him stay. Because I knew that I didn’t want him to come back.

I got up and slowly went to my bedroom, and laid in my bed, over my blanket. I stared at my ceiling, trying to compose a thought in my brain, but nothing worked. My mind was blank. And I think I prefered it that way, or I would have gone crazy wondering about what he meant. What was he going to explain ? I didn’t need explanations. I only wanted to be left alone.

Even if I was a tiny bit curious.

I fell asleep, eventually, after full minutes laying down. A dreamless, calm sleep, only interrupted by a text notification I received on my phone. It was Hyunwoo, offering me to go to the mall with him, which was unexpected. We never went to the mall, usually. We didn’t like big crowds.

But then it all made sense. Minhyuk’s friend, Hyunwoo’s probable crush, worked in one of the shops there. And he was apparently too shy to go alone.

With a smile on my lips, I accepted, and got up to wash myself up before taking my car to pick him up.

He had a smile on his lips when I arrived, and I couldn’t help myself but smile as well. I decided to put Wonho back where he deserved to be for messing up my head, which was in the trash bin of my mind. I had no time to deal with him right now. I had to play Cupid.

“- Why are you smiling like this ? Hyunwoo asked me as he got into the car.

- Because you’re happy.”

He looked at me with a confused expression in his eyes, still smiling. He kept singing along the songs playing on the radio while I drove to the mall, a sign that he was, in fact, feeling pretty good that day.

“- I saw Wonho, I murmured during one of the few songs he didn’t know.

- Wait, really ? he turned to me, shocked. How ? I mean, are you okay ?

- I am, strangely. He showed up to my house when it was raining a few hours ago. He just said he’s going to wait for me, because he wants to explain everything.

- That’s good, right ? He wants no more secrets between the two of you.

- But I’m confused of why he’d talk to me in the first place. I mean, dating me was the result of a bet he did with his friends.

- Actually, Hyungwon, I’m pretty sure that’s not the case.

- He said so, I sighed, getting annoyed.

- No, he never did. You asked two questions, and one of them was about a bet. The other one was about if he liked you. He answered a simple yes, are you really sure he answered to the one about the bet ?

- Yes. Why else would he hang out with me ?

- Because you’re an amazing person, and he wanted to get to know you more.”

I shrugged, embarrassed and pissed by his words. I told him I didn’t want to talk about it anymore, and he just nodded. I could tell he was a bit annoyed as well, and I felt guilty as I probably ruined the good mood he was in before our little conversation. We arrived at the mall shortly after that, and we walked in silence towards the shop he wanted to go to. I lowered my head, watching my feet, not knowing how to act. We eventually stopped in front of the shop, and as I raised my eyes to meet Hyunwoo’s face, I was glad to see a smile on his lips.

“- Lin ! Hi, I forgot you worked here, called Hyunwoo.

- Oh hi ! Hold on, I need to finish with this costumer and I have a break,” responded Lin.

Lin was a simple girl by appearance, she had straight brown hair with bangs and small glasses. She dressed nicely usually, but very simply, but that day she was wearing her job uniform.

She told us to wait for about five minutes to hang out with her, so that’s what we did. Hyunwoo and I chatted a bit, and I could see the light in his eyes, that lit as soon as he saw her. This was really adorable, but I’d never say that to him. He was still too shy to talk to me about it, but I knew he thought he didn’t need to, and he was right. I already knew everything just by looking at him, and his cheesy smile.

Lin joined us five minutes later as she said, and told us she had a thirty minutes break. She also mentioned that one of her friends came over to her house for the summer because she lived far away, so Lin needed to wait for her at a coffee shop. She invited us to join her, so we did.

I didn’t talk that much. I didn’t know Lin that well, I’d only chat with her once or twice every month. It was Hyunwoo who was close to her, so I listened to them talk for a bit, not wanting to bother them.

“- Lin !”

A familiar voice suddenly went in the frame. I raised my head up, confused, when I saw a gentle pair of black eyes that I knew too well.

“- Hyungwon ?

- Mia ?”