"Woohyun," my mom snapped at me. "This is not a joke. Please stop looking at your phone and help me choose some mushrooms!" She gave an exasperated sigh. "You know how much this dinner means a lot to me. To you. Is it too much to ask for you to just help me with some grocery shoppinf for tomorrow night?"

Reluctantly, I stowed my phone away in my pocket. I knew Minji would be annoyed that I didn't reply to her, but I didn't want to anger my mom anymore. I could tell by the way her jaw muscle twitched that she was not to be messed with.

"Woohyun, a punnet of strawberries please," she said, consulting her list. I nodded and turned the corner into the fruit section of the supermarket. As I scanned the room for the juicy red fruit, my heart stopped in my chest. I froze.

No. No. This was not happening. Everything was a bad dream. I was having a nightmare, and any minute I would wake up covered in cold sweat and a hammering heartbeat.

I blinked once, twice, but the vision Hana and her mom wheeling their trolley full of groceries toward where my mom was standing would not go away.

I had kept the news of our breakup to myself - I didn't tell my brother or my mom. I knew how angry they would be at me for letting a girl like Hana go. She had helped me, my brother and my family through a tough time. I didn't feel like being lectured on losing Hana and how stupid I was, because I knew it already. I thought back to that chilling, dark look she have me at Sunggyu and Hanbyul's party and shivered.

Was it normal to have regrets for breaking up, even though I initiated it? Even though it was my fault? The insecurity and intimidation I felt by that guy she was always around - Chansung? - manifested itself as ignorance and shallowness. Shallowness that I lashed out onto her.

I was feeling the pressure of being on the football team and the unspoken rules that came with it. Cheerleaders and footballers were always together. Over eighty percent of my team were dating a cheerleader. We were always together, planning matches and routines. Discussing what songs we would use. Being the 'superiors' at my university.

I wasn't strong enough to defy the social standards, but I hated admitting this to myself. So, I looked for the next best reason, and that presented itself perfectly to me as Hana and her project guy.

I knew she was faithful. I knew she would never do anything I had ever said to Minji, but my subconscious found it easier to blame her than myself. It was easier for me to accept that I was breaking up with her for a good reason - she would be happier without me - than a horrible, inhumane reason - she looked bad for me. And this was partly true. She would be better without a boyfriend who couldn't get his priorities straight. She would be better off without me, bringing her all this pain and suffering that was so one sided.

"Woohyun, have you got them yet?" My mother snapped rather loudly, wheeling her full trolley toward me.

I was watching Hana out of the corner of my eye. At the mention of my name, her head snapped up and our eyes locked. I tried to send her silent, pleading messages. We held each other's gaze for a moment, then she broke it off and wheeled the trolley away with her mom.

I thought I had saved us. My mom was always nagging me to invite Hana over for dinner as a thankyou for everything, but I would always politely brush her off and say Hana was busy. I really thought that my deft trolley skills had saved me.

"Is that Hana?" My mom squinted into the distance. I thought I had saved us. "Woohyun, is that her?"

I nodded miserably. "Yes, mom."

"Aish," she slapped me on the arm. "Why don't you go say hi to your girlfriend?! Why didn't you tell me she was here?"

She quickly manuveoured the trolley so it was closer to her's, and cried out, "HANA!"

My head ducked in embarrassment. Everyone in the shop was staring. Hana was pretending not to hear my mom but Hana's mom, Mrs. Kim, looked up curiously at the madwoman waving her arms and calling out her daughter's name.

Once she had gotten their attention, my mom wheeled the trolley over and our mothers began conversing eagerly about us. I stood behind my mom and pretended to look at some apples. This was by far the most awkward situation I had ever been in. I wished the ground would open up and swallow me up. I would rather be anywhere - and that wasn't an exaggeration - than here.

"So, will you b coming tomorrow night, Hana?"

I snapped out of my thoughts and looked at Hana again, giving her more pleading looks. I was worried that she wouldn't understand me, but who was I kidding? This was Hana. My Hana, who always knew what I was thinking.

"I'm-I'm not sure, Mrs. Nam," Hana finally replied in a strangled voice. "I'll see?" Her tone was more questioning, as she searched my eyes for answers. I shrugged infinitesimally.

"Well," my mom sounded a bit hurt. "This will he a great opportunity for me to thank you for everything you've done! And just think of all the guests that will be there. I'm sure it will be a great opportunity for you both! Many of the top engineering CEOs will be there," she beamed proudly. "I'm funding a research project on a new cyclotron!"

My breath caught in my throat. It would be a good opportunity for Hana. And, when the guests learned of her scholarship and high scores, they would be fighting to give her an internship or paid training.

"Yes, you should come, Hana," I heard myself saying. As soon as the words left my mouth, I wanted to snatch them and put them back in my mouth. "It will be good to introduce yourself to all the big names in engineering."

Hana stared at me for a full minute, it seemed like, her eyes full of confusion, fear, and something else I couldn't place. Was it longing? Hope? Disgust?

My mom looked between us curiously. Then she chuckled cutely.

"Ah! Young love," she cooed to Mrs. Kim. "I'll leave you guys to it! Hana, you know our address and what time it begins, right? I'll have Woohyun drop off an invitation to your house later today, I just knew that boy hadn't done it yet, aish!"

Our moms exchanged a few more words, shook hands a bit awkwardly and then wheeled their trolleys away.

"Mom," I hissed.

She gave me a knowing smile and I rolled my eyes. She took my mortification as embarrassment for how she acted in front of Hana, not the awkwardness of the situation - you know - how we were broken up, and all.

On the car home after shopping and having lunch with my mom, we stopped at a traffic light and she turned to give me another knowing look. What on earth....?

"Woohyun, why didn't you drop off your invitation to her yet?" She asked me, a slightly disappointing tone in her voice.

She had given me Hana's invitation two weeks before, but I stuffed it at the bottom of my file, promising her I'd do it. In present day, it was still there, as crumpled and creased as ever.

"I knew there was a good reason for carrying spare invitations in my bag," my mom beamed widely. "Now, tell me, where does she live, Woohyun? I'm sure she's done shopping now; if not, you can leave it in her mailbox."

I opened my mouth to protest, but that muscle was twitching again.

"Don't even try, son." She fiddled with the GPS. "Address?"

When we arrived at Hana's house, I pretended to fiddle with my seatbelt to avoid going inside. This had got to be the most awkward situation I have ever been in, in my whole life. After what happened at the supermarket.

I prayed and prayed that she hadn't reached home yet after bumping into her at the supermarket, so I could just leave the invite in her letterbox and go.

"Well?" My mom's voice broke my thoughts again. "I don't have all day, Woohyun. Go ring her doorbell!"

I scraped and dragged my feet all the way to her front door. I took a deep breath and, before I could chicken out, I pressed the doorbell.

A voice sounded from the speaker next to the doorbell. My heart flopped in my chest; it was Hana.

"Who is it?" She asked.

I cleared my throat. If I said it was me, would she refuse to see me? Or would she keep the word she had given to my mother?

"It's-it's me," I stuttered. "Uh, Woohyun.

There was a pause on her end. Finally, she seemed to remember I was actually standing there and pressed a button. I heard the front door unlock and open slightly. Throwing a glance back to my mom in the car, I walked in carefully, almost bumping into Hana, who had come down to greet me.

We both stared at each other. My heart was doing weird things again in my chest but I tried to ignore it.

"Here's your, um, invitation," I finally said. I was stuttering and stalling like crazy; what happened to the eloquent, smooth talking Woohyun?

"Thanks," she said, not meeting my eyes. When she reached to get it from my hands, they touched briefly and a jolt of electricity flowed up my arm. I jumped in shock, as did Hana.

"Sorry," I muttered awkwardly. Wow, I just wanted to fling myself infront of a car right now. What was wrong with me? "I, uh, hope you can come."

She nodded. "I'll try," she said, not meeting my eyes again. "Please thank your mom for the invite."

"Sure."

We both cleared our throats. "Well," she began. "I'm helping my mom dye her hair, so I should probably be getting back...."

I nodded. "Of course."

She finally stopped fiddling with her shirt and looked up at me. "Thanks for stopping by, Woohyun." She gave me a small, tight smile.

I couldn't help but beam back. After seeing her smile, I felt like I could run a marathon and not run out of breath. I felt like screaming on top of a mountain because the happiness at seeing her face in a smile was too much for me to bear. It didn't matter if we weren't together - I just wanted to see her smile.