Junho chooses a table at the corner that is rather hidden from the public’s attention. He used to frequent this place when he was in high school. The main reason? Girls. Or a girl, to be exact. A special girl.

The place doesn’t change much. It still serves the same varieties of pastries, cakes and drinks. It still smells the same aromatic coffee. People who comes here are people who seek tranquility. For some reason, they still don’t talk much here. The little changes he notices are that they has changed the pendant lamp to new, cuter ones. There is also a nice mosaic mural finish on the wall behind the counter.

The best thing about this place is the caramel macchiato and the carrot cake. He ordered that overtime. But she, on the other hand, always ordered something different. The problem with her was that she took so much time to decide her order. There was a time when she took over an hour. When Junho pointed that out, she would give him a scowling look.

Across the street, is a small public library. She would rang him during the weekend, forcing him to study with her at the library. Junho wasn’t the studious type, but every time they visited the library, he was always the one who studied more. She always fell asleep in quiet places. He took a few pictures of her sleeping in the library. Some were cute, some just plain hilarious. The hilarious ones worked well for blackmails.

She would do anything to keep the pictures a secret. When threatening doesn’t work, she offered bribes. She washed his shoes for him, did his homework, backed him up when he skipped class. She had been really helpful, so he did something special for her on her birthday.

He took her to the cafe at night. There were no customers at the time, she probably found that weird but she didn’t question anything. All she knew was that Junho was going to treat her for her birthday. While she took her time to decide her order, the light suddenly went out. The whole cafe turned pitch black. She called his name but he stayed quiet on purpose. When the light went on again, Junho was sprawled on the floor, a knife buried half way into his chest. Blood, blood everywhere.

She let out a high-pitched, bone-chilling scream. She felt a tap on her shoulder, turned around and let out another scream. A classmate who worked there part time had a bloody zombie mask on. His shoulders shook uncontrollably from trying to stifle his laughter. She cried so hard that Junho couldn’t help but burst into laughter. Even though she was mad at them, she stopped crying when her birthday cake appeared. Junho walked her home that night. At the front gate, she gave him a peck on his lips. His ears turned chili red.

Junho looks at his watch. It is just ten more seconds before eight. She’ll be here soon. She has always been punctual. Junho counts with his fingers the last time they met. Five years. He looks up when the bell chimes. A woman steps in. She looks around until her eyes set on him. A wide, familiar smile spread on her lips.

“Junho!” She waves.

-

[Author’s Note] Because I feel sorry about what I did to Junho in Requiescat In Pace. Teehee.