Much like the day she left, Seoul is covered in a light blanket of snow that will most likely be gone the following day. It’s much colder than the day she departed Seoul but a tad bit warmer than London so Soojung doesn’t feel the need to complain. It’s been ten minutes and she’s still standing outside the door to her old apartment, fingers grazing the keypad with an anxious heart. She takes another breath and punches in the first number but the breath doesn’t hold long enough for her to punch in the second and the keypad flashes bright red again. Soojung swallows and her mind is running crazy at the thought of what is inside: the past, him, more specifically.

“Dammit, Jung Soojung,” she curses quietly and dials the six number code in the speed of light before pushing the door open. Her heart skips a beat then relaxes and falls into the comfort of home almost immediately. Her eyes scan the empty apartment and literally nothing has changed and makes a mental note to thank Sehun for keeping the apartment clean while she was gone.

“Welcome home,” Soojung whispers to herself before a slow smile grows on her pink lips.

It’s been two years and a lot has changed yet so much still remains the same. A few months after settling in London, Soojung stopped asking about Jongin. The last she heard, he’d moved out of his parent’s place and into a studio apartment with Kyungsoo. It’s not that she wasn’t curious what he was up to or anything, she just needed to let him go and recuperate her broken heart and the distance definitely helped. Out of sight, out of mind, they say.

Setting her purse down on the kitchen counter, Soojung turns to their picture on the wall that was taken during a skiing trip. His smile doesn’t feel like burning acid on her heart anymore and she takes it as a sign of coming a long way. She knows she’s not over him but the thought of him doesn’t hurt her anymore and it feels good to be able to look back on old memories without crying or feeling bitter. Soojung raises a hand to fix the slightly crooked frame back into place and fixates her eyes on Jongin.

“Kim Jongin,” she calls, the name rolling off her tongue effortlessly but filled with nostalgia. “How have you been?”

***

There’s a frown etched onto Sehun’s face as he watches the new students go through the choreography with Seulgi. The students are too controlled and there’s no sense of individuality. All they do is strictly follow the choreography and they do it well but Sehun heaves a sigh of disatisfaction.

“Wait,” Sehun says, finally speaking up after a long time of observing. He makes his way from the back wall to the front of the mirror and all eyes focus on him. “Everyone,” he turns to face the students and Seulgi turns to him. “I need each and every one of you to shout at the top of your lungs and jump as high as you can.”

They stare at him, dumbfounded and unsure if it’s a real command. He motions gently and one boy towards the back attempts to shout but his confidence dies out when nobody else joins in.

“You guys,” Sehun says warmly and this time, Seulgi steps aside to watch with a proud smile. “Dancing is not just about hitting that beat, making clean cut moves and what not. You’re all great but the one thing you lack the most is personality. It’s like a sad love song without any emotions.”

Sehun’s always had an intimidating image but that seems to shed in the students’ eyes as he spends the next hour just helping them let loose. When the class ends, Seulgi instantly turns to Sehun.

“Didn’t know you had that in you,” she teases from across the room and Sehun scoffs.

“You’re kidding,” he retorts with a smirk. “I use to dance like that, until Jongin pointed it out.” Seulgi makes a face and Sehun turns bashful. “I felt like I had no talent, no skills so for a very long time I just focused on perfecting my dancing skills but I never seemed to impress the teachers like how Jongin did. I didn’t understand why until he said it’s because I lacked personality, I was like a robot and too perfect.”

“And you weren’t mad when he said that?” Seulgi questions, handing him a water bottle.

Sehun scoffs. “I was pissed but then I understood when I took a step back and observed him. I didn’t want to admit it but he was ri—.”

Both Seulgi and Sehun snap their heads to the door when a knock interrupts their small moment.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to interrupt,” Soojung says, sneering at the two from the entrance with her arms folded.

“You’ve got to be kidding me!” Sehun exclaims, dashing from across the room to pull Soojung into a warm embrace. “Yah, when did you come home!? Why didn’t you tell me!?”

“She can answer your questions later! Seulgi’s turn!” Seulgi squeals and pries Sehun off Soojung so she can get her hug now. “This can’t be real!”

Once the whole “I can’t believe you're back” deal is all done, the three of them move to the lounge to grab some quick instant coffee.

“You’re not planning on going back, are you?” Sehun questions, handing Seulgi a small paper cup filled with coffee before taking his seat next to her.

Soojung shrugs with a small smirk. “I haven’t thought about it yet but I haven’t really thought about staying in Seoul either.”

Across the small table, Seulgi sighs. “Let’s not talk about that already. How’s your dad?”

“He’s good,” Soojung nods. “He’s thinking about coming for the holidays.”

Sehun shoots her an excited expression. “Oo! I hope he does, it’s been years! He must have been sad with you returning here.”

She pouts, confirming his words. “I felt bad, leaving him especially since I decided to return out of nowhere. Literally, one day I woke up and felt the need to return to Seoul.”

Seulgi and Sehun turn to each other, exchanging silence gazes before turning back to Soojung. The phone in Seulgi’s lap vibrates and she heaves a sigh.

“Shoot, I have to teach a ballet class now,” she pouts. “Call me later, we need to catch up.”

“Will do,” Soojung nods with Seulgi rising from her seat already.

Once his girlfriend is gone, Sehun returns his attention to his cousin and Soojung turns to him knowingly before avoids his gaze.

“Are you free this friday?” He suddenly asks and she raises a brow at him.

“Why?”

He hums for a second before smirking. “Because I’m throwing you a party. Forget it,” Sehun scoffs, adding a sassy dismissal hand wave. “Cancel all your plans this weekend because you’re going to get so faced.”

“Dude!” Soojung laughs as she tosses a punch into his bicep. “Come on, I just got back.”

“And you’re a year and a half late!” He retorts with a look of disbelief. “You were supposed to be back after six months. Jung, it’s been two years. Also, I’m very sad at the fact that we didn’t graduate together.”

She tosses her head back and closes her eyes with a long sigh leaving her lips. “I needed time away, you knew that.”

“So, are you good now then?” Sehun questions with his tone turning soft.

She swallows and slowly nods. “Yeah. I mean, it’s the past now and I’ve moved on. A part of me will always love him as a person and unlike then when I couldn’t even think about him without breaking down, I can look back with a smile. What we had was beautiful but that was then.”

Sehun isn’t convinced and he knows she isn’t either but he doesn’t point it out and nods. “So then, it’s okay if I invite him, right?”

She hesitates and it’s small enough to go by unnoticed but of course, Sehun catches it. “Of course.”

***

Looking back on it now, Soojung isn’t sure if this is a love that had went away or a love that never happened. Two years have gone and passed in a painful blink of an eye but the thought still haunts her daily. Fate is a cruel thing.

Seated at her usual booth, at her usual cafe, she cups her usual mug of a warm caramel macchiato. It is a Friday evening after all.

The door to the cafe rings but Soojung is too deep into her thoughts to care until a deep, manly voice orders for a caramel macchiato. She recognizes the voice because it use to whisper cheesy pickup lines into her ear and wrap itself around her name. Soojung turns and their eyes meet for the first in two years.

“Soojung.”

“Jongin?” Rising from her seat, the distance between them grows smaller and smaller. “Do you remember me?”

He smiles and she feels hopeful with her chest warming at the crinkling of his eyes. His lips part to speak but he’s cut off by the voice of a female. Jongin turns and his eyes melt when they land on Ariyoung.

“Oh, Soojung?” Ariyoung gasps in disbelief and the feeling of hope drops down to none. “When did you get back?”

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