“Hey,” Hyunjin said, when she spotted the other girl. Her blonde hair was up in a ponytail, and she looked as beautiful as ever. As she leaned down to plant a small kiss on Jinsol’s cheek, she felt the other girl’s famel stiffen. She immediately felt a knot form in her stomach.

**


 

Hyunjin threw herself on her bed the second she got home, not bothering to take her shoes off. She let the tears freely fall down her cheeks, not caring about how uncomfortable sleeping on a tear-soaked pillow would be that night. She tried to stop them from flowing out, but found herself sighing and letting go- if her body wanted to cry, then so be it.

 

“How could this happen?” She said as she recalled the conversation she’d had with her now ex-girlfriend, “I...” she trailed off, barely able to form a coherent thought, sobbing into her pillow.

 

Jinsol had broken up with her, and she hadn’t seen it coming. She’d had a bad feeling the second she’d sat down, but she’d brushed it off as anxiety, as her insecurities had started bubbling up to the surface.

 

But the moment she saw Jinsol’s face, the feeling had gotten stronger, until her heart was racing and her palms were clammy. She’d always dreaded it, but she hadn’t known it would happen so soon into their relationship.

 

After a few minutes of crying, she rose up and wiped away her tears, sniffling uncontrollably. She could remember everything about the scene- the way Jinsol was dressed, her knee-length skirt accentuating her pretty legs, the pink tablecloth on the table, hell, she could even remember the face of their waitress. She swears the moment Jinsol told her she’d met someone else, she could feel the mascara run down her cheeks, and the sound of her hand dropping on the table. It all felt like a bad dream, the memory vivid but far away, yet it was all too real for Hyunjin to ignore.

 

She picked up her phone, struggling to unlock it as the tears stained the screen, and dialed Heejin’s number.

 

After a few rings, she finally picked up, “Hyunjin? Is everything okay?”

 

“Jinsol broke up with me,” she said in between sobs, her voice hoarse from crying.

**

 

She had a hard time moving on. Despite Heejin’s best efforts to cheer her up, she saw a little bit of Jinsol everywhere and carried part of her in her heart. Time was going on for everybody else, but she couldn’t even bring herself to try and erase Jinsol from her mind. They said absence made the heart grow fonder, and in Hyunjin’s case, not only did it make her miss Jinsol, but it also amplified her emotions, more than she could ever imagine. She longed for her little smiles, the way they’d exchange notes when no one was watching, their inside jokes, everything reminded her of the special bond she and Jinsol used to share. The thought of Jinsol sharing all these same things with Jungeun was enough to send her spiralling, she imagined them eating strawberry ice cream together and sharing a spoon, Jinsol retelling Jungeun the jokes she’d made, taking her to their old spot, making her listen to songs they’d discovered together.

 

“Hyunjin, you okay?” Heejin asked, her voice dripping with worry, and Hyunjin quietly nodded.

“Clearly, you’re not,” she said, taking Hyunjin’s hand in hers, “Do you want to talk about it?”

 

Hyunjin nodded, a single tear making its way down her face, “Everything reminds me of her. I can’t stand it anymore.”

 

Heejin’s gaze immediately softened, “Come on, we’re getting ice cream.”

 

“No, everything but ice cream,” she said, wiping her tears, “It reminds me too much of the way Jinsol and I always picked the same flavor. Strawberry,” she continued, a little smile forming on her face, which was quickly replaced by a frown, “God, I’ll never get over her,” she buried her face in her hands.

 

“Well, that’s just another reason to go,” Heejin said, looking her in the eye and tilting her head, “Let’s make some new memories. We’re not sharing a spoon though... That's nasty,” she

**

 

“Getting ice cream wasn’t such a bad idea, after all,” she said, as she watched Heejin try to balance her spoon on her nose, “I feel a little better. Thanks Heej,” she moved to the other side of the booth and wrapped Heejin in a side hug.

 

“Aw, Hyunjin,” she wrapped both arms around her friend, ‘Anything for you. So what shall we do next?” she said as she glanced at Hyunjin’s empty ice cream bowl.

 

“Well, Jinsol and I used to go to this pizza parlor…”

 

“Fine,” Heejin said, grabbing her backpack, “When I’m done with you, you won’t even remember her.”

**

 

Hyunjin entered the pizza parlor, laughing at one of Heejin’s so-bad-it’s funny jokes, when she stopped dead in her tracks.

 

There was Jinsol, sitting with her new girlfriend, feeding her a slice of pizza. Just like they used to do.

 

Hyunjin narrowed her eyes as she watched Jinsol and Jungeun from the door. How dare Jinsol bring her new girlfriend to what was their place? She knew it was an exaggerated reaction, but she couldn’t help but feel all kinds of ways- the wound of the breakup was still wide open, and this honestly felt like Jinsol was pouring salt into it. She felt like she shouldn’t have been there, almost like an intruder.

 

Hyunjin grabbed her bag, and left, leaving Heejin alone and confused.