“Medium caramel iced coffee and a blueberry cheesecake” I smiled and placed the food items in front of the student. I clocked in about an hour ago after my last class. Even though I’m dead tired, I still couldn’t stop the smile that grazes on my lips. I’m excited for tonight because my boyfriend Yongguk and I are finally going to see each other. We haven’t seen one another for a week now because we’re both busy with work and school. “Noona” I whipped my head to the side and found one of my younger co-workers holding a tray. “Table six, please.” I happily took the tray from him and walked to the table I’m serving.

After hour, I took my break. I glanced at the clock and sighed. There’s still four hours of my shift. I was standing behind the counter when I felt my phone vibrate on my back pocket. I glanced at the screen and my face lit up, “Hi Oppa” I leaned on the counter as I listened to his deep voice. “Hey baby, aren’t you supposed to be working?” I glanced at my manager, Himchan as he raised an eyebrow at me.

“If you know, then why are you calling me?” I answered in the same playful tone as his.

“Just making sure that I’m not interrupting anything”

“I’m on break”

“Good” he said and I could hear him shuffling on his end of the line. “Hey… I’m sorry about tonight”

“Why?” I silently prayed in my head that he won’t cancel on me… again.

“Family dinner”

“Oh… that’s okay. Maybe next time.”

“No no, come. I want you to come.”

As much as I want t get to know his family, I honestly didn’t want to come.

“Ani, I uhmm… actually, it’s okay oppa I-“

“Please”

I sighed, “Did they invite me or did you?”

“Doesn’t matter. I want you to come.”

“I doubt they invited me… you know they don't want me there. I know they don’t”

“Baby com-“

“I gotta go, my break’s over. Have fun, and don’t worry about me. I’ll see you next time.” Please just hang up, I pleaded in my head.

“Alright then…”

I hung up. His family never did like me. Especially his mother. She said it’s because my parents were divorced. But I have a feeling there’s more to it. The first time I met her, she looked me up and down. At first I thought it was normal, but then she totally ignored my presence the whole time we had dinner together. I always felt intimidated under her gaze.

“Hey” I snapped out of my thoughts and turned to my side. “You okay?” Himchan oppa asked me and I just smiled at him and nodded my head. “What happened now?” he asked as I was walking away. “Family dinner” was all I said before I went back to tending customers. He knew what I meant. If there was anyone who knew about my relationship with Yongguk, it would be Himchan. They were bestfriends after all. Himchan is my boss, the manager of the small café I work at and he introduced me Yongguk.

I didn’t see him for three days after that. We did text and talked to each other on the phone. But whenever we speak to each other, I do most of the talking and he would only hummed or answer with one or two words. I was the one who was texting him first. It was odd because for the past year and a half that we’re together, he was always the one to text me first. I was sitting on the floor in front of the coffee table, typing away on my laptop. Tonight, my little brother Junhong is meeting up with Yongguk. He was going to introduced Junhong to some of his producer friends. My brother and Yongguk adore each other. Sometimes, they even forget that I’m in the same room as them when we are all together.

“Well at least Junhong is seeing him tonight” I mumbled to myself. Then I heard the front door of our apartment beep. I waited to see who it was and in come Junhong, dragging his feet. “You’re back early” I said without looking at him. “We didn’t go” he said in a disappointed tone before walking towards his room. I furrowed my eyebrows and stood up. “What do you mean you didn’t go?” I leaned on his doorframe as I watch him pull his shirt off and drop on his bed, face down.

“We didn’t go” he mumbled and turned his head to the side to face me. “I was there waiting for him, but then he called, said he can’t come anymore cos he can’t make it on time. He went to visit someone with someone and they were still far away and so he told me to just go home. He said we can go some other time.”

Our relationship went from lovey dovey to barely seeing and talking to each other in a span of three weeks. In those three weeks, I didn’t care much because I had better things to worry about. In a span of three weeks a lot has happened. Exams made my brain explode and projects made me have no life. My parent’s divorce was finalized and my father went abroad with his mistress. My mother also found a boyfriend and they moved in together in Gangnam. Then I found out Junhong and I were adopted. That he and I weren’t siblings by blood. That news shattered me. I tried to rack my brain on why I didn’t notice that when we were children.  I’m four years older than him, old enough to have some sort of childhood memories, but I didn’t. I was even more shocked that both our parents decided not to support us anymore. I’m not even earning enough for myself, but now I have to support my brother as well. Junhong doesn’t even know that we’re adopted and that he and I are not blood related. I'm not ready to tell him. I don't even know how to.

I needed someone to talk to. Sure, my best friend Min was there to comfort me. But the one person I needed the most wasn’t.

I was already physically and emotionally drained as it is when I found out that she came back. Song Jieun, that’s her name. She was Yongguk’s friend since he was a kid, heck they practically knew each other since they were in diapers. I heard their parents were high school friends. Yongguk never talked about her to me. Himchan told me about her. I knew I shouldn’t have been jealous of her, but I was. It didn’t help that he mentioned they were each other’s first love. I knew he didn’t mean to say that to me by the way he stopped himself from talking.

 Himchan said she came back from New York a month ago. That’s when Yongguk and I started to drift apart.

I sat on the couch that night. I just sat there. I should be studying, but I wasn’t. Instead, I was thinking about him and her. I knew they were together. Those frequent family dinners and gatherings of his included her and her family. So many things went through my head, but I shook them off. They’re just friends.

But then the next day, I saw them together at the café. I placed my belongings in the room at the back. I wasn’t supposed to be working, but someone called off and I’m taking their shift. I was on my way back out when I heard his voice, followed by a female’s. I stopped at the end of the hallway and my heart started to beat faster. I swallowed hard when I stepped forward. Yongguk was here in the café with her. He knows my schedule and he knew I wasn’t working today, so he came with her. They were talking to Himchan, facing away from me. Himchan noticed me walking towards them and I could tell he was slightly panicking. I guess Yongguk noticed his gaze and he turned to me. He froze for a couple of seconds before a smile broke out on his face. Then she turned around. She was beautiful. I clenched my fist behind my back and walked slowly towards them. I don’t know why I feel so nervous all of a sudden.

“Hyun” Yongguk rubbed his nape and looked down. He only does that when he’s nervous. I walked behind the counter and stood next to Himchan. “I didn’t know you were working today”

“I didn’t know I was going to see you today,” I retorted back, suddenly gaining confidence in myself until she spoke.

“Hi” she greeted and I faced forward.

“Hello”

“My name is Jieun, these two pabo’s friend” She  stretched her hand in front of me and I hesitantly shook it. “You must be a friend of theirs as well.” I almost choke on my own saliva. Friends? Himchan and I are friends, yes. But Yongguk and I are more than that. Did he not mention to her that I’m his girlfriend? “Actually Jieun, she’s my girlfriend.”

“Oh! She’s Hyunae! Omo, I’m so sorry! I had no idea you were her.”

“It’s okay… uhmm I have to start work. It’s nice meeting you, Jieun-ssi”

After about half an hour, they left. Throughout the time they were here, I could feel his eyes on me but I avoided him. Before he left, I saw him hesitating on whether he should say goodbye to me or not. In the end, Jiuen waved to me first and so did he.

My shift ended and I was really tired that I imagined how soft my bed was while I was driving home. Junhong was sleeping over his friend’s house since it was a Friday and he didn’t have school tomorrow. I pulled in into our parking lot and noticed a familiar black car next to my parking space. When I got to our floor, I see Yongguk sitting on the floor by our door. He heard my footsteps and he stood up. “Hey” he stepped aside to let me enter the passcode. “Why are you waiting out here?” I asked, considering he knows the passcode to my apartment. He followed behind me but stopped in the middle of the living.

“About today” he said and I turned around to face him. He was rubbing his nape again.

“What about today?” I was tired and all I wanted was to sleep.

“Jieun”

I clenched my fist so hard that my nails were digging through the skin of my palms. The thoughts that I flooded through my head last night washed over me once again. I decided to throw those thought away and forget about them, but now that I have the chance, I didn’t want to miss it. I want to confront him.

“I missed you” I blurted out.

“I missed you too”

“Have you? Have you really missed me?”

“Yeah, of course” He defended.

“Didn’t seem like it” I turned to walk to my bedroom but he grabbed my arm.

“Hey, wait a minute” He can sense my hostility.

“Who’s Jieun to you?” I already know. Himchan told me about her. But I wanted to hear it directly from him.

“She’s… she’s a friend. Why?”

“I heard she came back a month ago” He froze and his mouth gaped open. “Is she… is she the reason why you-“

“No” he shook his head, “No that’s-“

“My parents are finally divorced” My voice cracked and the tears that pooled in my eyes fell down my cheeks. “They finalized their divorce.” I was crying in front of him now. Yongguk took a step forward and reached out a hand, but I stepped back. “My dad moved to London with his mistress and mom is living together with her boyfriend.”

“Baby, don’t cry plea-“

“Junhong and I are adopted and he’s not my real brother.” All the things he missed out on, the things that put me through misery just spurted out my mouth. “Did you know any of that?” I furiously wiped my tears. “Of course not” I said angrily. “You don’t know because every time I call you or try to talk to you” I stepped forward and nudged his chest with my finger, “You always seem to be busy.”

“Hyunae, baby please let me explain” he pleaded. “Okay” I answered immediately and he was taken aback. “Fine, explain. Please explain to me why I haven’t seen my boyfriend for the past weeks. Explain to me why he barely talks to me anymore.” My voice cracked, coming out as a whisper, “Please explain to me why you weren’t there when I needed you the most.” I felt so weak. My tears wouldn’t stop from flowing and my body felt like giving up. I stared at him through glossy eyes as he stands before me.

“Jieun came back and-“ I couldn’t help but scoff. He paused, then continued. “She came back and… and my mom wanted me to-“

“So you were with her all this time? When you had family gatherings, she was there?... When I needed you… you were with her?” He didn’t say anything. He looked down and avoided my stare. “I know about her” I whispered as I walk to the couch and sat down. I was feeling so drained. “What… what do you mean?” Yongguk followed me and sat in front of me on the coffee table. “I know she’s your best friend. I know your mom adores her” I looked up and we stared at each other. “I know… I know she’s your first love.” I went back to fiddling with my fingers. Yongguk was silent and I wanted to hit him. “You’re not… you don’t  still…” Then I noticed his hands. He wasn’t wearing his ring or the watch I gave to him on his birthday. He always wear those two items. “Do you still love her?” The fresh tears slid down my cheeks. “I… I don’t know.”

I could feel my heart cracking again. “You… you don’t know?” I asked in disbelief and he shook his head, “I don’t know how I feel about her. When she came back it’s like-“

“Choose” I breathed out softly.

“What?” Our gazes met and he searched my eyes. “Wha-“

“Choose… me or her?”

I saw him gulped and he broke our gaze. He shifted his eyes down his lap. When he kept quiet, I knew his answer. My hand instinctively covered my mouth as it threatened to let out a cry.

It became a two-shot!