“I don’t want to do this,” Risae said for the billionth time. It was Friday evening and Haneul was walking her towards the restaurant where she was supposed to meet with Minseok.

“I know,” Haneul replied soothingly, her arm linked through Risae’s in case the younger decided to make a run for it. “It’s not going to be pleasant, that’s for sure. But at least hear him out, okay? Then those idiots will quit bothering you.”

“You mean those idiots as in Yixing? As in the one you like?” Risae demanded, half-amused and half-exasperated.

Haneul blushed. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she lied. “Oh look, there’s the restaurant. Now don’t start crying or anything, okay? Just listen to what he has to say. You don’t even have to talk to him if you don’t want to. And I’ll be right outside the door waiting for you, okay?”

Risae took a deep breath. “O-okay, I guess. I really don’t have a choice in this, do I?”

“Nope,” Haneul agreed. “Now go. Good luck!”

Risae’s hand was shaking as she pushed open the door to the restaurant. There was a beaming hostess waiting just inside the door, ready to welcome her with a friendly smile and a well-rehearsed greeting.

“How many will be joining us today?” the hostess asked politely.

“Ah, I’m actually meeting someone,” Risae muttered, checking the time on her phone. “I’m a little late, so he’s probably already here.”

“Is it a gentleman with light-colored hair?” the hostess asked, and Risae nodded. She remembered when the stylists had first dyed Minseok’s hair. He had hated it so much, but now he loved it. She supposed his tastes just changed, and not just his tastes in hair. “Right this way,” the hostess said, and she led Risae into the main part of the dining room.

Risae saw him right away, sitting at a little table at the back of the restaurant. He was wearing dark clothes and, even from the front, she could see that he looked like . In fact, he looked almost as bad as she did, but that was little consolation.

“Is that who you’re meeting?” the hostess asked politely, obviously pleased with herself at finding Risae’s dinner partner so quickly.

Risae sighed and nodded. “Yeah, unfortunately.”

Minseok looked up when she approached the table, jumping to his feet. “R-risae,” he began, voice trembling.

She held up her hand to stop him. “I’m not staying and eating,” she said shortly, sitting down without even bothering to take her sweater off. “So you better say what you want to say and do it quickly.”

Minseok swallowed harshly and resumed his seat. He didn’t speak for a moment, apparently at a loss for words. He just stared at her and fiddled with his napkin. Risae couldn’t look at him; those familiar brown eyes just made her heart break over and over again.

“Risae,” he finally began. “I am so, so sorry.”

She snorted derisively. If this was the big speech he had planned, she was going to be sorely disappointed. She knew that he was good with words; she’d been reading his lyrics for ages. She expected something a little more extravagant.

Minseok took another deep breath. “There are really no words to adequately express how guilty I feel, how much I regret what I did. You trusted me and I abused that trust, ruined it. I can tell you how sorry I am over and over again, but I know that it won’t take back what I’ve done and it won’t ease the pain I’ve caused you. What I did was deplorable, disgusting, and unforgivable. I know this. And-”

He was interrupted by a voice, one that Risae hated to her very core. “Oppa? What are you doing here?”

The girl, tall and thin and perfectly shaped, turned and smiled at Risae, a disgustingly fake smile. “Risae-unnie! Long time no see! How have you been?”

Risae glared at the girl, the girl with the too-long legs and the too-perky s and the too-fake smile. Even though the girl, Song Jimin, was wearing a knee-length dress with a lacy sweater, Risae could only imagine her . with an equally Minseok on top of her.

Risae abruptly got to her feet and left. She didn’t even turn around when Minseok shouted after her, breaking into a run until she exited the restaurant.

Haneul looked shocked at her unexpected exit. “Risae!” she exclaimed, taking in the fresh tears that were coursing down her best friends cheeks. “What the hell happened in there? Are you okay?”

Risae shook her head, not trusting herself to speak. “Let’s get out of here,” she begged. “Please! I’ll tell you about it when we get home.”

It wasn’t until she was safely snuggled into her bed with not only a cup of hot chocolate but also her favorite ramyun that Risae was able to recount the story to Haneul.

“That Jimin was there?” Haneul gasped, appropriately appalled. “At the same restaurant?”

Risae nodded miserably. “Minseok looked shocked, so I don’t think he planned it. But I wouldn’t put it past that scheming to stalk him, just so she can run into him like that. But whatever. I don’t even care. She can have him. I don’t want him anymore.”

Haneul gave her friend a sad look. “What did he say?”

“He said that he was sorry,” Risae said disgustedly, rolling her eyes. “I bet he is sorry. But that doesn’t change the fact that he did what he did. I’m done with him, Haneul. I’m ing done. And if one more of his friends comes and says something to me about it, I’ll probably punch them in the nose.”