Hae Young’s POV

In front of us, there were twenty-two cups of steaming coffee, all with different flower and leaf foam designs.

And…

They were starting to cool.

I drummed my fingers for the ten-second countdown of the last ten seconds of our thirty minutes, expecting the always punctual WooHyun to arrive just as my fingers stopped.

To my surprise, there was only empty air where he should be.

“Hm,  maybe he’s testing our honesty and punctuality”, I remarked, and slid off my seat.

“It isn’t even a minute past the thirty. You need to give him time to walk over here, at least”, Dambi said, looking at the clock.

“No”, I replied, firm, “This man is never late. Something’s up.”

“Hae Young-“, Dambi called, but I had already walked out of the kitchen.

The first thing I felt was surprise when I realized that the café was absolutely empty. He didn’t go the bathroom, did he? I hesitated and scanned the café one more time… It really was empty… -!!! Wait… was that…outside…?

“Hae Young?”, Dambi called softly, entering the main café.

I put a finger to my lips, shushing her, as I silently walked over to her.

“What?”, she whispered to me when I was right next to her.

“Tell me… if that’s my brother Sunggyu outside…”, I whispered to her.

Her eyes widened with shock and she whispered back, “What? Why is he here? Is he here for you?”

“No idea, let’s find out”, I replied, and walked over to the café door. I thought I heard Dambi mutter something from behind me, but I’d already opened the door at this point.

“Oppa, what-?”, I started to say, addressing but Sunggyu, but I was abruptly and rudely cut off by WooHyun.

“And here she is, my lover, Son Dambi”, WooHyun said, briskly walking over to Dambi’s side and taking her hand.

WHAT!? Completely flabbergasted, I stared at Dambi with wide, owl eyes. I expected her to smirk or snicker at my surprise, but she met my huge eyes with owl eyes of her own.

What was going on?

“Dambi unni-“, I started, but I was cut short again by WooHyun.  

 “She’s been my beautiful light and amazing support ever since I first met her. Right ,dear?”, WooHyun said, glancing at Dambi.

Dambi was totally and utterly shocked, but she was looking out towards my brother, Myungsoo, Dongwoo, and some other high school girl, and she stuttered out, “Well-I-I-.”

WooHyun laughed softly and remarked, “Always so shy when I compliment you. You’re adorable, darling.” And then he brushed his lips against her cheek.

What. Was. Going. On!

Dambi had turned into a stone statute, wordlessly frozen from head to toe.

“So… the two of you…are…dating?”, my brother Sunggyu asked, confused. His eyebrows drawn almost touching, which was a sign of utter confusion.

“Yep!”, Woohyun replied cheerfully.

“So…”, WooHyun continued, his voice suddenly aggressive and ice cold “you better find another reason why you don’t want So Eun to work here, Kim Myungsoo.”

And then WooHyun turned sharply on his heel and marched inside, pulling Dambi inside with him.

The one dressed like a nerd, but still totally gorgeous, Kim Myungsoo, sighed deeply. I found myself admiring his side profile… his jaw was really… handsome…

Suddenly, his jaw became even more outlined as he tightened his jaw… He’d gritted his teeth in response to the girl So Eun’s words, which were, “Myungsoo, you’re coming with me right now.”

Myungsoo’s POV

Damn it. This conversation was not going to go well.

So Eun walked across the sidewalk and into a park, where a lot of little kids and their parents were playing hop scotch and swinging on the swings about fifty yards away. Holding in a sigh, I followed her, stopping behind her. Then, I crossed my arms and braced myself for her yelling.

“Myungsoo, what is your problem!?”, So Eun shouted angrily.

“We’re the ones that backstabbed WooHyun, so we should be apologetic, not untrusting!”

Hold it in, Myungsoo, restrain yourself. I felt like my teeth were going to break from gritting them so much.

“And what’s wrong with getting a job at a café anyways? It’s just a freaking job at a freaking café!”

I internally sighed deeply… How can she be so naïve?

“He’s a good guy”, So Eun ranted on, “I mean, he saved me from the girls when they were bullying me even though you weren’t around-!“

That’s it.

My anger just burst forward in a surmounting swell, “So that automatically makes me a bad guy, huh?! Because he was there and I wasn’t! Well, who was it that tried to hide the fact that you got hurt? Who was the one that-?”

So Eun interrupted suddenly, her voice dangerously flat.

 “Wouldn’t tell me about his problems with WooHyun? Wouldn’t tell me that the café was owned by WooHyun? You saw him through the window that one day I said I wanted a job there, didn’t you?”, So Eun stated calmly, coldly.

My voice caught in my throat…  Crap, I couldn’t deny it…

 “Why don’t you trust me?”, So Eun asked, her voice soft now, “What did I do that makes you doubt me so much..?”

I can’t keep lying to her and hiding my feelings about her… I love her so much but I…I…

“Eun-ah. Listen to me”, I said, closing my eyes.

No, I can tell her now. She won’t do anything drastic.

“Eun-ah. I’ve lived by myself ever since I was sixteen. I... know a little of what it’s like to be… self-reliant. But you... who has never experienced hunger, or true loneliness, especially loneliness… you who is always so trusting, so believing in the best of people.” I raised my hand to touch her cheek gently, but she backed away from me, her eyes wary.

I sighed and dropped my hand.

“Eun-ah, it’s not that I can’t trust you, but I can’t trust you to understand the situation around you…You being at the café today… proved that.”

“What do you mean?”, she asked me, her eyebrows wrinkling.

“You set yourself up for someone else to tell me that you were brushing me off to see WooHyun. I didn’t believe it-“, I reassured her hurriedly, noticing her about to blow over, “But that kind of situation… was naïve, and the implications of such a mistake is sometimes irreversible.”

So Eun looked at me like I was speaking another language.

I sighed and said, “Eun ah, let’s go home. We can talk about this later.” I turned to walk away, when suddenly So Eun called me, “Myungsoo Oppa.”

I turned back, “What, Eun ah?”

“I think I understand what you’re saying”, she told me, her eyes downcast.

“Eun ah”, I said, feeling regret at being too honest with her. This was a burden she wouldn’t have had to carry if only I’d kept my mouth shut. Damn…

“So”, So Eun said suddenly, confidently putting her hands on her hips, “Starting today, regardless of what happens to me, I’m moving out of your apartment and living on my own.”

Huh!?

“Eun…ah”, I said. Each syllable of her name left my mouth slowly, as I felt utterly dazed and shaken.

M-moving out?! Wha-?!!!

 a/n: <3 :D