1

2

3

Am I hallucinating?

I blinked then let out a weak laugh. “Stop being cheesy, Kiki. You know I hate it.”

Kikwang just chuckled then started digging in his ice cream. I stole a glance at him and held back my smile. I was just about to eat my ice cream when suddenly Kikwang put a spoon of his ice cream in front of my lips.

“Say aaaahh~”

I rolled my eyes. “I’m not a kid, duh.”

“Ara~” he nodded. “Now open your mouth. Ppaliiiiiiii~”

I heaved out a sigh before letting Kikwang feed me with his ice cream. When it melted in my tongue, I couldn’t help but smile in delight. “I didn’t know the taste was this good. You never let me taste your ice cream before.”

“Now you know how it tastes.” he took another spoon of his ice cream and fed me again. “It’s nice to be with you again, Haerin-ah.”

“Oh boy~ You make it sound like we have been separated for a very long time.”

Something was landed on my shoulder and when I turned my head to check on it, I realized that it was Kikwang’s head. “What now?”

“Are you angry with me?”

“Why should I?”

Kikwang sighed. “Because I feel like you are. If you’re angry with me, please forgive me. I don’t know what I’ve done to you that make you angry but please forgive me.”

“You know I always forgive you.” I tried to control my voice so it wouldn’t show what I really felt. “No need to apologize.”

“About you and Dongwoon--“

I cut him off. “What about us?”

“Don’t break up with him.” Kikwang lifted his head off of my shoulder and looked straight in my eyes. “You don’t know how precious you are to him.”

Do you know how precious you are to me, Lee Kikwang?

“He smiles a lot because of you. He looks more vivid because of you.”

I sighed. “Do you really have feelings for me, Kiki?”

“I-- I..” he stuttered. He lifted his head off of my shoulder and looked down, playing with his fingers. I noticed his blushing cheeks and held back my smile. “I--“

“Do you want me to break up with Dongwoon?”

“NO!” Kikwang quickly answered, waving his hands no. “Please don’t.”

I felt a sharp pang in my heart. The boy I loved had feelings for me too but he didn’t want me.

“I’m happy as long as you’re happy. Yes, I do love you but I don’t want to hurt Dongwoon. He likes you a lot. He loves you. He--“

“Dongwoon’s love for me is bigger than yours?” I tried not to sound desperate but it seemed like I failed.

Kikwang hung his head low and bit his lower lip. “I love you more than myself, Haerin. I treasure you so much. I’d do anything to make you happy. But… you know there are times when we have to choose between love and friendship… I don’t want to lose you, but I also don’t want to hurt Dongwoon. Besides, I don’t know if you love me or not.”

I let my jaw half dropped. I couldn’t believe what I just heard.

“I don’t need the boyfriend-girlfriend title, Haerin. As long as you know that I love you, I think it’s enough for me.” he smiled at the floor and nodded to himself. “Yeah. That’s enough for me.”

I felt like exploding right now but I tried my best to cover it. I screamed in my head, asking God what I’d done in my previous life so I was in a chapter of life like this.

^^^^^

A week had passed since the last time I spent time with Kikwang at the ice cream parlor and I never saw him ever since. Dongwoon was nowhere to be seen as well. I tried calling his phone, but it was always off. Later did I know that they were doing overseas promotion and were so busy like hell.

I puffed my cheeks as I waited for the customer in front of me to finish his order. His back looked familiar, but since I was behind him, I couldn’t tell who it was.

“Have a nice meal, Joon-sshi.” the cashier girl smiled oh so widely to the customer in front of me. Joon? As in… MBLAQ’S JOON?!

The customer turned around, bringing a tray of food and ice cream, then gasped as he saw me. “Haerin-ah!”

I could feel people’s stare on my back and I slightly felt uncomfortable. I politely bowed and smiled to Joon. “Annyeong haseyo.”

“Isn’t she Dongwoon’s girlfriend?”

“She knows Joon too?”

“She’s prettier in real person.”

“I don’t like her preppy looks.”

People’s whispers were clear enough to be heard and I didn’t like it.

Joon smiled. “You’re alone here?”

“A-- Ah? Yes.” I stuttered. “I’ll order first then I’ll join with you.”

“Okay. Mir and I are sitting by the window.”

My eyes widened in happiness. “Mir is also here?”

Joon nodded. “Ppali.”

Joon left me and I quickly ordered. After getting what I wanted, I rushed to where Joon and Mir were sitting. I creased my forehead as I saw Mir’s uneasy face. “What’s wrong, Mireu?”

“I-- It’s…” Mir hesitated. He looked at Joon but the elder just shook his head no.

“Tell me what’s wrong.” I demanded. I sensed something wrong here. Totally wrong.

Mir looked at Joon once again with pleading eyes and the elder finally sighed and nodded. Mir slowly pushed his phone on the table towards me and I touched the screen to see what it was.

An online article showed up and I read every single word of it. I felt like something heavy was being dropped on my head as I finished reading.

“Neon gwaenchana?” Mir asked, I could tell that he was concerned.

I breathed in. “I’m fine.”

I closed my eyes and tried to digest everything. The title of the article I had just read suddenly popped in my mind.

“Dongwoon and his girlfriend are over?”