21

"Hey, Yongguk?"

Snapping back from his musing, Yongguk tilted his head up to see one of the staff was looking at him, giving such worried look over his silence.

"Yes?" he raised his eyebrows, placing a smile down his face.

"Are you not feeling well? You've been musing for minutes," he made sure while flipping over the documents with a hand.

"I'm okay," Yongguk straightened his sitting position, began running his eyes around the papers on his table.

"If you aren't that well, you can go home instead," the staff adviced, glancing at the elder from behind his glasses. "We don't have a lot of works too."

"No," Yongguk quickly denied, pressing his lips in hesitant. "It's okay. I'm just a little bored."

"Really?" he smirked, not fully convinced yet he didn't really want to know about his private life either. "Just go home and rest whenever you want, hyung. I can handle all of this alone."

Yongguk just threw him a smile, still didn't feel the need to leave yet since he was really afraid if Jieun was still waiting for him at the office. He couldn't meet her—not yet. He hadn't prepare himself to speak to her before and meeting her again after settling his feelings down was giving him another indecision inward. He needed a little time to put everything back in the order, and he believed he would be able to meet and talk to her later.

He just need to brush his emotions away, to reassure himself that she was just another old friend that he used to know—nothing more.

Nothing more.

Would he come back?

Jieun looked up to the night sky, not finding the moon around since it might be hiding behind the dark clouds as she counted how long she had been waiting there.

Six? Seven hours?

Ah—it's almost ten hours already.

A low sigh escaped her lips when she leant against the wall and fixed her eyes to the front side of the building, hoping the one that she was waiting for would suddenly appeared there. She believed he would come, though. He didn't say anything when she told him that she would wait there—and she took it as an agreement between them somehow.

What was he doing now? Did he feel impatient to meet her too? Or he purposely stayed late just so he could avoid her?

Hundred of questions were running inside her head as she closed her eyes to compose herself back. She shouldn't had those kind of thoughts. She really shouldn't.

He will come—she told her ownself inward, repeating the sentence over and over again.

God, God, would you help me this time?

Slowly, she heard those footsteps coming closer to where she stood, before it finally stopped right before she opened her eyes. She looked into that guy whose standing a metre in front of her, finding slight of guilty was painted across his cold face probably because he didn't expect her to be still waiting there—like an insane. But she didn't care. Not at all.

"Have you done?" she smiled, straightening her standing position on her flat shoes.

Yongguk pressed his lips together, failed on his attempt to fake a smile. "You're still here."

It was definitely not a question for Jieun. "I've promised."

He let out a very soft sigh, not wanting her to hear it somehow before turning his head away. "What do you want?"

Jieun put her confidence to the top of her head despite she could clearly see his unhappy expression that was wordlessly telling her to leave instead. She took a deep breath, neatly placing her eyes on his figure before saying, "what about a cup of midnight coffee?"

"I thought you mean we were going to a coffee shop,"

Jieun turned to Yongguk that was unhappily holding a paper cup of his black coffee before slowly smiled in amusement. "Isn't anything packed in a paper always taste better?"

"I just know about it," he raised an eyebrow, looking convinced by her words.

While Jieun really wanted to laugh out loud already.

"Honestly," she took a sip of her espresso before going on, "I don't have much money with me. Please bear with my finance."

Hearing her reason made Yongguk realized that those girl had leave all of her career in Seoul just to come and meet him, somehow causing him to feel lifted up and distressed at the same time.

"Why do you come here?" he finally asked, as soon as they sat on the sidewalk fence.

Jieun sighed, looking down into her white shoes with a small smile on. "I don't really know."

Yongguk turned and looked at her, waiting for her to continue.

"I just feel like something between us has being left unfinished," she muttered, rubbing the paper cup's side with her thumbs to relieve her nervousness. "And it's really bothering me."

Yongguk felt something was down inside his throat upon hearing her confession, knowing he was actually had the same feeling yet he just let it buried alongside with all of his past memories instead. And it was way more painful than what he thought may be.

"Unfinished?" he whispered, more likely to his ownself.

"I had a lot to say that time," she continued, now moving her eyes into the nearly dying street in front of them. "but I was really dumb, you know?"

Yongguk's lips automatically tugging up a little to hear her calling herself as a dumb, realizing that the girl next to him was indeed has changed. "Is that so?"

"I wasn't able to say what I really want or to show how I exactly feel. I ended up causing a lot of misunderstanding and hurted so many people around me," she chuckled, slowly remembering all of the past time before she turned and looked at Yongguk in a wondering gaze, "are you—one of them?"

Yongguk felt like his heart was tightly clutched upon his eyes met with hers, where he wanted to turn away so bad to settle down his emotion for a while but he knew he couldn't do that no matter how. He let himself drowned into her eyes—completely, without him trying to get off.

Yet still, he knew it shouldn't be that way.

"What do you expect me to say?" he slowly asked, with his deep voice that was beautifully ringing through her ears.

That never failed on making her heart bloomed.

"Truth," she replied, without any hesitation at all. "I want you to say the truth."

He smiled, half-heartedly. "Then I think no."

Jieun frowned a little, wanting to ask him how he didn't feel hurted by the way she acted in the past yet before she could open her lips, he went on, "I don't have any reason to feel hurted at all."

Swallowing all of her questions down, Jieun took another sip of her espresso, moving her gaze away from him. She didn't think he was being honest yet she couldn't force him to admit it as well. He was now a married man afterall—and he had to sweep everything between them away since it was already over long time ago. She was the fool one that keep on thinking about it.

They were nothing more than old friends to him.

"I think you were the one whose hurted the most," he stated, out of a sudden.

And Jieun quickly looked at him, quite disbelief of what she just heard.

"I was a young guy at that time and it was so hard for me to make you happy," he bitterly smiled, keep on staring at her face. "I'm sorry."

No—it wasn't his fault.

Instead, he was really trying his best. He really did.

"I was really happy," she smiled, holding back all the tears that were waiting to fall down. "And I'm thankful of it."

He didn't say anything.

He was only smiling, a little mirthlessly, before turning his gaze away from her.

And she couldn't hold herself to not ask those question.

"If you weren't a young guy that time," she muttered, still with her eyes following every moves that he made, "what would you do?"

He looked back at her, now without a smile on his face. "I will just do the same."

She smiled, somehow knowing he would answer that way. "I wonder what would happen if I hold you back that time."

"We will just end up the same, though," he chuckled, driedly. "We are here for a reason."

Right. Perhaps fate just didn't approve them to be together.

There might be no other way out for them.

But was it really like that?

Or they just made up an excuse to erase their memories?

"I have one question left," she muttered, in the middle of their silence.

And she felt his eyes bored into her, hitting straight into her spine where she could constantly found herself being stunned there, between his deep gaze that was only fixed on her eyes.

Making it hard for her to turn away.

To prentend the feelings weren't there anymore.

"Did you ever like me?"

"Who are you?"

Junhong frowned upon being asked that kind of question just the moment after he opened the door for that strange man, totally confused about his sudden visit.

"I'm Choi Junhong," he replied, hesitantly. "And you?"

"I'm Yoo Youngjae, Jieun's friend—I don't really know we could be considered as friend or not though," he shrugged, pushing his glasses against his nose bridge. "What about you?"

"Uh—" Junhong paused for a while, sensed the bitterness on his lips to answer that question. "I'm her friend too."

"Her boyfriend?" he guessed, without any mean smile on his face.

And Junhong began wondering how he could know about it.

Yet he wasn't in a mood to correct his suspection, though.

"She's not home. Maybe you can come back tomorrow since it's already dark," he told him, carelessly.

"Ah—no problem," Youngjae smiled, taking a card from inside his bag first before handing it to him. "I just want to invite her to my agency's event."

Junhong took it while keep recalling the previous conversation that he ever had with Jieun, since he felt like those girl ever talked about someone like him before. "Are you—that song composer?"

Youngjae's eyes lit up a little, couldn't really hide his excitement to know that those guy recognized him. "Yes."

"Oh," Junhong nodded, grinning in awkward later. " She happened to tell me about you once before."

"Really?" his left eyebrow lifted up, curiosed. "What was that about?"

Junhong shrugged, couldn't really remember exactly. "Something like you are a very inspirational composer and a nice person."

Youngjae nodded, trying to push the embarassment that was suddenly crawling into him.

"So you opened an agency?" Junhong asked, reading the front part of the invitation where he could read the agency's name and contacts.

"I share it with my friend, though," he smiled, "he has some interests on underground music so we just somehow connected."

"Underground?" Junhong looked back at the elder with widened eyes, not expecting it at all. "You just made me feel like I should come too."

Youngjae laughed, a friendly one. "Feel free."

"It's not like she can go alone either," he smirked in playful way.

"The event will be much better with more people," Youngjae convinced, running his thumb beneath his bag's strip before goes on, "if you want to meet my friend and share your interest, then I recommend you to come as well."

Junhong nodded, flipping over the invitation to see the information further. "I'll tell Jieun first. Thank you."

"No problem," he gave a broad smile, getting ready to leave. "Then see you this Friday."

"Have a nice day," Junhong bowed down when the elder walked away, before he straightened his position back and went inside the room.

He used to love underground music as well, and he'd like to come to the event but more than anything else, he'd prefer if he and Jieun would already leaving Busan before Friday. He didn't even care about those event anymore if she came back home later saying that the thing between her and Yongguk had already over. He just wanted to be with her again—that's all.

So, after having those kind of thoughts, he was about to shove the invitation aside when his eyes accidentally caught those name which printed on the right side of the card, followed by another small words below the name that seemed like the person's contact information.

He flipped the card back, wanting to see it clearer while hoping what he saw was wrong but everything went different from what he wanted.

He was right.

It was indeed his name.

The vice president—Bang Yongguk.

However, I want to thank all of my readers that have been with me since "Counting Backwards" or the beginning of this sequel—I really thankful for all your support through subscribing, commenting and even upvoting. Thank you.

And now, I want to ask for your opinion. Do you prefer Jieun to end up with Yongguk or Junhong instead?

Please tell me about your thoughts and reason why you want them to end up together! Thank you!