2 months Later

Jihyo rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. Her head was throbbing and she felt as though at any second she would throw up.

“Drink this.”

A glass of water was placed on the coffee table along with some aspirin. Jihyo whispered out a quiet thank you to Momo who sat down next to her.

“Jihyo we need to talk.” Nayeon said as she sat on the other side of Jihyo.

“Can’t it wait until later, I don’t exactly feel all that great.”

“It can’t wait, we’re doing this now.” Nayeon wasn’t trying to be mean but her voice was stern and when Jihyo turned she saw Momo with an apologetic look on her face.

“Listen Jihyo, when Momo and I agreed to let you stay here with us, we figured you would at least try to find somewhere for yourself, but all you do is go out and get drunk just to come back here and pass out.” Nayeon let it all out without stopping. “We know you’re hurt and everything and it’s not easy, but if you’re not even going to try then you can’t stay with us any longer.”

Momo sighed as she started, “It’s not that we don’t want you here Jihyo, you’re one of our best friends and we want to be here for you, but we’re worried. Ever since you and Minsu broke up, all you do is go to school, work, go out to drink and cry. We don’t think it’s healthy.”

Jihyo couldn’t meet their eyes, it was the truth and she felt pathetic, being lectured by her two friends like this. She couldn’t cope well with the break up, after Jihyo left Minsu, he tried desperately to contact her but to no avail. And instead of finding ways to feel better she would make things worse for herself by getting drunk every few nights.

“I’ll go if you want me to go, I’m sorry for being a burden like this.” Jihyo stood to leave the room but it was Nayeon who stopped her.

“Didn’t you just hear what Momo said? We’re worried about you, we hate seeing you like this, you changed so much over the past month and it’s scary. You’ve never gotten so drunk so often as you do now, we know why you’re doing it but that doesn’t make it right. We don’t want you to leave Jihyo but please start taking better care of yourself.”

Momo didn’t need to look at Nayeon to know she was crying, it absolutely killed her inside to know her friend is suffering and doing nothing but making it worse.

Jihyo felt terrible, her friends are worried sick about her but if she was being honest with herself, she didn’t know what she was supposed to be doing.

“I’m sorry, I don’t want to worry you guys… what should I do?”

Jihyo felt disappointed with herself, she didn’t think her habits would affect them like they did but here she was with a crying Nayeon and a worried Momo.

“First of all no more going out and getting drunk.”

That was something Jihyo could live with, but she knew it would take more than that.

“Second, you’ll be exercising with me everyday!” Momo seemed excited. Nayeon wasn’t one to get up at 4 am just to torture herself for almost 2 hours, so having Jihyo with her would be refreshing.

There was no way Jihyo could say no to the demands, she had no place to go if she didn’t have Nayeon and Momo. Her friends all had roommates she wasn’t acquainted with, and her parents didn’t even know about the break up yet, she wasn’t ready to tell them.

“And most importantly, you have to get over Minsu.”

Jihyo figured she could do anything but that. The couple had been together for almost 4 years, she had so many firsts with Minsu and having it all thrown away so suddenly destroyed her. Even two months later, Jihyo wondered if she made the right decision leaving him that night.

“I know it’s easier said than done Jihyo, but you have to move on, he hurt you and you deserve to be happy.” Momo’s gentle words encouraged her but she knew in her heart, ‘getting over someone’ wasn’t going to happen overnight.

*****

“One large Chai tea latte!!!!”

Jihyo heard her order being called and went to the counter to reach for her drink when another hand touched hers.

“Whoops! Guess we got the same drink huh?” The voice she heard was deep and when she looked up she saw a handsome guy in front of her smiling.

“I think you should take this one, I can wait a few more minutes.”

He handed Jihyo the drink expecting her to leave afterwards but instead she stood there, just staring.

“Uh… I’m Minsu by the way, it’s nice to meet you?”

He still had the bright smile on his face awaiting a response. And just like that Jihyo’s brain went back to working.

“Oh, oh I’m sorry!” She bowed deeply, “My name’s Jihyo, it’s nice to meet you.”

He laughed and Jihyo felt a bit at ease, he didn’t seem to think much of her malfunction.

“Well Jihyo, it seems like we both have great taste don’t we?”

Jihyo nodded shyly with a smile. “I guess we do”

*****

Jihyo is walking to work, vividly remembering that day she met Minsu. She sighed. She wasn’t a complete emotional wreck like she was 2 months ago, she still hurt but she’s doing her best to work through everything going on in her head.

It had been a few days since Nayeon and Momo talked some sense into and while her body was sore and aching from having to keep up with Momo, she certainly didn’t miss all the hangovers she’d wake up with.

When she arrived in the cafe, she was greeted with her two favorite coworkers Jeongyeon and Dahyun.

“Morning Jihyo! I was starting to think you weren’t going to come, you’re usually so early.” Jihyo was thankful for Dahyun’s bright energy, the cafe would seem a lot duller if it didn’t have her here.

“Morning Jihyo” a tired Jeongyeon greeted, Jihyo could tell her caffeine kick hadn’t yet hit the older girl since she had a less than enthusiastic reply but she wouldn’t hold it against her.

Jihyo took a deep breath before tying her apron behind her back, hopefully the day would go by quick so she could look into finding a place for herself. She had thought about leaving after her talk with her friends, even after they explained to her she could stay so long as she doesn’t destroy herself. But thinking about it, Jihyo felt it was probably best to live by herself. She had been with Minsu for almost 4 years, 2 of those years were spent actually living together and before then she hadn’t had a proper roommate or a place to herself. She figured she could use this as an opportunity to be on her own. It was scary and she was still hurting but she felt like maybe she could do it.

*****

Where do you think we should put the dresser?”

Jihyo has a good eye for interior design and if she wasn’t already 2 years into her business degree, she might think about decorating houses for a living.

“Leave it where it is, besides I don’t think it’d fit anywhere besides the corner it’s in.”

Minsu stepped beside Jihyo to get a good look at the room. Despite being a pretty bare room, he knew that it was still perfect because it was theirs. That’s when Jihyo’s voice brought him out of his thoughts.

“I asked if you wanted pizza or chinese takeout tonight, what were you thinking about?” She had a slightly concerned look on her face. Jihyo knew that moving in together was a big step in their relationship she was just hoping that he didn’t have any regrets.

“Nothing, I’m just happy, since we’re officially moved in and everything. Even though it looks a little empty now I’m excited to make this a good home with you.”

Jihyo couldn’t help but smile at his words, she knew they were sincere and she felt the same way too.

*****

“Jihyo could you do me a favor pretty please?” Jihyo looked up from her spot, it was a pretty slow day so she was seated in the back waiting for business to come in.

“Dahyun and I are going to the convenience store next door, do you think you could man the fort while we get some snacks?” Jeongyeon pouted her lips and moved closer to Jihyo so the younger girl could get a good look at her. “We promise to buy your favorite bread!” Dahyun chimed in.

Jihyo definitely couldn’t resist the bribe. “Sure, but try not to take too long, and don’t forget that the melon bread is my favorite.” Jeongyeon and dahyun smiled while grabbing their wallets. “We’ll get you as much melon bread as you want!” The sound of the bell in the entrance let her know the two were gone, now she just had to hope that there would be no rush of people within the next 10 minutes. Lucky for Jihyo just 1 customer came in.

“Hello welcome to-” Jihyo paused when she finally looked up.

“Hi Jihyo, how, how are you doing?” There was caution in his voice when he spoke to her. The last interaction was a door to his face when came to Nayeon and Momo’s place trying to apologize yet again to her. That was 2 weeks ago.

“What can I get for you today?” Her voice felt strained coming out of .

“One large Chai tea latte please.” Despite the handful of people that were already in the cafe, Jihyo felt like it was just the two of them in the room.

“I’ll have that drink right out for you.” Jihyo worked fast, she didn’t want him being around here longer than he needed to, and while working on the drink she could feel his gaze on her. She wanted so badly to throw him out, but he hadn’t done anything except ask her how she was, and order a drink. She of course would get a stern talking to by her manager if they were to find out she kicked out a customer.

She finally put the lid on the cup, but she didn’t bother calling the drink out, he was already at the counter waiting for her. She was ready to walk to the back and wait there until he left, or until Dahyun and Jeongyeon came back but his voice called for her.

“Jihyo, please can we talk?” He stood there drink in hand, and in the back of her head she knew that talking to him might be good for her, but her heart stopped her and told her that she just wasn’t ready yet.

“I can’t. Soon maybe, but right now, I think, I think I need more time.” Her voice was quiet, it’s not like the patrons of the cafe needed to hear about her business. For Minsu, it was more than what he was expecting, from having a door slammed in your face, ‘soon maybe’ , gave him hope. He didn’t say anything more before turning to leave the cafe and giving one last look to the girl he hurt.

Soon. Maybe.

omg an update and it didn't take me a whole year this is a new record. But anyway,I'm so scared that my writing but that's not gonna stop me. Pretty please leave questions or comments or criticism they make me happy and motivated. I'm nervous about updating just because I want everyone to like it, and I also want the story to make sense. Sorry for the lack of Sana but right now we are gonna focus on Jihyo bc my girlie is going thru it. I'll stop talking now though, please enjoy and lemme know what you think byeeeee