As I opened my front door the next morning, I was greeted by a basket. I brought it inside my home and set it on a table, checking it for any notes. I carefully opened the lid a bit and peered in, but all I could see were boxes. I pulled one of them out and read the label.

          “Mint Tea” it said. I smiled because I instantly knew it was from one person and one person only. I took the boxes out and stacked them next to each other in my tea cabinet. After I had them lined up nicely and was satisfied, I took my phone and sent him a short “thank you”, and sighed contentedly. I sat in the living room and thought about what to do with myself. I could go for another walk, and hope that a repeat of yesterday did not happen. Or, I could stay in, and ensure myself I would be safe from anything.

          I decided on the latter as I turned my stereo on and the soothing music filled the room. I walked over to my bookcase and browsed through my collection, happily stumbling on a book I had yet to read. I pulled it off the shelf and curled up into my fluffy chair and began to read.

          I flipped page after page, readings the words, wishing I could have a happy life like the people in the story. When I was about halfway through the novel, I decided to stretch for a bit. My phone vibrated in my pocket and I pulled it out to see I had a message.

          The words on the screen shined so brightly up at me. “Can we talk?” It was from Yongguk. One of the last people I had expected. I did not want to see him face to face though. “What is it?” I sent back. I put my phone on silent and went back to my chair and curled back up with my book. I did not dare to check my phone again until after I had finished my book.

          Even then, I was questioning if I wanted to look and see if he said anything. When my curiosity got the best of me, I grabbed my phone and quickly turned the screen on and went to my messages. Sitting there in the inbox was one from him. I took a deep breath before I opened it.

          “I’m actually not sorry.” It started. Of course you were not sorry, how could you be sorry? I scoffed and continued to read. “I’m not sorry because while I did love you, and you loved me, we weren’t really in love. I knew you loved Yongnam, and you knew I loved Himchan.” My eyes pricked with tears again as his words sunk in. He was right.

          That bastard was right. And that is what made everything hurt all the more. I sniffed and wiped my tears before responding. “You’re right. Does Yongnam know?” If Yongguk had told Yongnam that he knew everything and regardless still dated me, I honestly did not what I would do. At this point, I could do anything.

          I sat in my chair and chewed on my thumbnail. I held my knees close to my chest as I anxiously awaited his reply. When my phone vibrated, I opened his message and I saw exactly what I did not want to see. It simply said ”yes.”

          My body wracked with sobs. I had been a joke this entire time. Neither of them loved them, yet I had still invested myself into the relationship. I scrunched my eyes shut as the tears poured out of them, I could do nothing to stop them.

          This was worse than our breakup had been. As I sat in my chair sobbing, I felt arms wrap around my shoulders and I opened my eyes in fright. I saw Youngjae hugging me and I cried harder. I did not deserve this, I did not deserve anything nice. I pushed him away from me and just sobbed harder. I slapped his hand as he tried to reach for me.

          “Daehyun, please calm down.” He softly cooed. I sniffed and rubbed my nose with the back of my hand.

          “No, Youngjae. Please just go.” I begged, wanting to send him away. I tried to stand up, but my legs had gone numb from being pulled against my body for so long and they gave up. I fell into Youngjae’s embrace as he picked me up and carried me to the bedroom.

          He carefully set me down on the bed and sat next to me. I rolled away from him because I did not want to see his face, and I did not want him to see mine either. I just wailed into the pillows, letting my emotions pour out. While I cried, Youngjae patted my back, trying to calm me.

          When I had cried myself to exhaustion, I slept while Youngjae rubbed my back softly. I was not sure how long I had slept for, but when I awoke, I was greeted by a familiar smell. My mint tea. I groggily got up from the bed and headed into the kitchen.

          Sitting on the counter was a cup of tea. I looked around for Youngjae, but I could not find him anywhere. I walked over to the cup and saw there was a note underneath it. I took a sip of the hot liquid and held the note up with shaking fingers.

          “I love you.”

          My heart clenched in my chest and I let my cup of tea fall to the floor, while my body slid down the counter and landed in a slump next to the puddle of sweet liquid. I held the note in my hands and just sighed. I had no more tears to cry.

          I grabbed the edge of the counter and hauled myself up and shakily searched for my phone. I dialed a number and waited.

          “Hello?” he answered.

          “Why, Youngjae?” I asked. Why would he do this, especially now?

          “Because, Daehyun. Why not?” he countered. “Because” was not an answer.

          “Because I’m not worth it Youngjae! I’m obviously not worth it as evident by the recent happenings.” I spat at him.

          I heard him sigh on the other end of the line. “Daehyun, I’m not Yongnam, and I’m not Yongguk. To me, you’re worth it.”

          With those words, I began to dry sob. My body shook as I cried into the phone and Youngjae listened. He did not say anything, he just listened, and I was so grateful. He waited until I quieted my loud sobs to quiet squeaks.

          “Daehyun?” he called out quietly. I closed my eyes at the gentle tone of his voice, it was so soothing.

          “I’m here.” I replied.

          “I know you might not see it this way yet, but Daehyun, they aren’t worth it. Not if they did this to you.” He said. I wanted to berate him, but there was a tug at my mind and I stopped. I just hummed in response to him.

          “And Daehyun?” he called once more.

          “What?” I was so spent from the day’s activities, I did not want to deal with anything else but I did not want to turn him down from saying what he wanted to.

          “Get some sleep, then when you wake up, drink some tea, and put cold spoons on your eyes. Or else you’ll be a mess tomorrow.” He requested with a small chuckle.

          I smiled slightly into the phone and said “will do” before hanging up with him and dragging myself back to the bed.

          I did not set any alarm, and I had turned my phone off, shut my blinds and shut myself off from the world as I hid under my blankets and closed my eyes, waiting for sleep to take over.