Monday, 1:15 pm

Taeyeon sighed relieved when she saw the people reunited in the hall of the Barchester. The roads were reopened, trains worked and half of the landing lanes of the airport were ready. She was occupied by finding taxies and limousines for all the clients.

She has spent a sleepless night in the room the director gave her, obsessed by Jiyong’s behavior. On one side she would have liked to spend one last night with him, but she was scared he would have thought she just wanted . And in reality she now wanted something else. Maybe he wanted too. There was that toast. And he had kissed her when they were outside, in the snow. She hated the way her mind replayed those moments, trying to make it like there was something between them. Maybe there was. Maybe not. What mattered? He told her he didn’t want any distraction from the game, right? And that day he would leave the city.

“Hi.”
The deep tone of Jiyong’s voice made her feel weak, and that moment was not an exception. The Eagles had went down the entrance and were making a queue to pay at the cash.
“Hi Jiyong.” She responded, realizing he had a tired face. “You seem tired.”
“I didn’t sleep well tonight.”
“Neither did I.”
Jiyong quickly diverted his eyes somewhere else. He didn’t want to hear that, thought Taeyeon.
“Do you need me to call you a taxi or something like that?” she asked trying to keep her voice stable. He was leaving. She felt that.
“No, it’s all organized.” He put his hands in the pockets of his jeans.”Uh, listen.” He took a piece of paper and gave it to her so quickly that it almost fell down. “This is my calendar of my games and there is my house’s number.” He said quickly. “If you will ever feel alone or if you want to talk. Or something like that.”
“Oh.” Taeyeon blushed. “Alright.” She took the paper and put it in the pocket of her jacket. “Thank you.”
“No problem.” He slowly brought is eyes to hers. “Well, I think we will see next January.”
“I’ll be here.” She said with false happiness in her voice.
“Spend a nice year.”
“You too.” A knot formed in . It was difficult to breathe. Jiyong didn’t move. She thought he wanted to say something but didn’t find the words. Something that would only make their goodbye even more awkward. Leave, she begged in silence.

Finally, Jiyong turned around like if he heard her and he went were his teammates were waiting for him, giving her his back until the very last moment. Until when the Eagles started to exit the hotel. Only then he watched her. Taeyeon, deliberately, moved her gaze. She didn’t want him to see her crying.

Monday, 2:15 pm