Minae's POV:

Pouting as I watched his backview leaving through the door, I yelled out one last before goodbye before Sehun headed for the cafe. Even with me at his house, business still had to go on.

Deciding to do something in return for letting me stay in his apartment, I walked towards the cleaning supplies and began to go at it. To be honest, cleaning was more of like an excuse for me to take my mind off of the whole Kai scenario. There was still a part of me that wanted to just break down and cry myself to sleep, but at the same time, I didn't want to seem so pitiful.

Each part of the house I cleaned somehow made me feel as if I was fulfilling myself in some kind of way. At the pace I was going, it didn't take long before the whole place was spotless, and to be honest, it felt great. I guess it was just like a metaphor - one that symbolized myself cleaning off all of the dirty events that had just taken place.

Sighing, I wiped the beads of sweat off of my forehead and walked into the kitchen to go and grab a glass of water. Mindlessly filling the cup with a drink, I found my thoughts slowly shifting towards Kai again. It was at that moment when I heard the doorbell, snapping me out of my endless zoning off and scaring the hell out of me. Dropping the glass cup, which was starting to overflow, I let out a little yelp before ruffling my hair. 

Not wanting to keep the person outside of Sehun's door waiting, I sighed and carefully made my way around the glass bits to open the entrance. To my surprise, I found Baekhyun in front of me, foolishly grinning while holding up a grocery bag. Cocking my head, I gave him a light smile and he walked in, eyes widening at the mess on the floor.

Hurriedly rushing past him, I knelt down to start picking up the shards. From the rushed pace I was going at, I felt a piece cut my finger and winced from the pain. Baekhyun seemed to have noticed as he rushed over and placed my finger to his lips, the blood. I pulled away, slightly embarressed.

"Minae, go stand over there while I clean this up. You're too much of a clutz to be doing this."

Frowning but knowing he was right, I did as I was told as he vacuumed the mess. Only after he finished did he gesture for me to sit down at the dining room table, setting the grocery bag down. He rummaged through it and pulled out some containers of soup, still warm in their thermals.

"What's this, oppa?"

"Sehun told me you weren't in the best mood so he sent me over here."

I smiled at the thought and shook my head. Man, I would really have to get a nice cup to replace the one I broke. Especially with him being so considerate like this.

While grabbing some bowls and spoons, Baekhyun kept poking his head in my direction to check up on me.

"Do you want to tell me what happened? I know we may not be as close as you are with Sehun, but you can still trust me."

His words lit up my face. Sighing, I placed my head onto the table.

"It's Kai. We're over now."

"Over? As in you guys broke up?"

Ha. Breaking up would have been better than what I had to witness.

"Something like that."

He nodded and poured some of the soup into a bowl, shoving it in my face and telling me to eat.

"I'm sorry about that."

"No. It's fine. It happens to the best of us."

"You're a really strong girl, Minae. Do you know that?"

I simply stared at the soup in silence.

"That may be why I like you so much."

I gave him my best smile.

"Thanks, oppa. I like you too."

He sighed while setting down his spoon on the table. Wondering what the trouble was, I looked up, only to see his hand grab mine.

"Minae. I don't think you get what I'm trying to say."

I was utterly confused.

"Trying to say what?"

He paused for a moment before leaning in close to my face.

"I like you Minae. I've liked you for the longest time, ever since I first came in and you served me my coffee. That was the whole reason why I got a job at the cafe in the first place. Sehun was trying to help me when he found out, but it just happened to be the day you and Kai started going out. I know I'm being rash by telling you all of this a day after you've gone through a break up, but I just wanted to get the feelings off of my chest, especially with you going and all. I just thought I would regret it forever if I kept my mouth shut."

My mind was swirling around with thoughts and my eyes darted from left to right, up and down.

"I-I'm sorry, oppa. I - "

"There's no need to apologize. Everyone has one of those crushes, and you just happened to be mine. As much as I like you, I just have this feeling that we aren't meant to be. So I'm not going to try to work things out. Let's just be friends, friends that keep in contact even when you go."

I was grateful of his attitude, but completely lost with his last sentence.

"Oppa, you would be my friend no matter what. But what do you mean me going somewhere? Who told you anything about that?"

"Sehun did. He said he wants to take you away from Korea for a while."

"What?! Why?"

He shrugged.

"Something about helping you get through your struggles and giving you an opportunity to become a better barista. That is what you want, isn't it?"

Hearing the door open, I calmly sat down on the living room couch and crossed my arms across my chest. As his footsteps were nearing, I set a stony look on my face and he froze the instant he saw me. Awkwardly rubbing the nape of his neck, he threw off his jacket and took the seat next to me.

"So..."

"What the hell was Baekhyun oppa talking about?"

"Well I'm pretty sure he just mixed up someone else's information with you and - "

"Oppa."

My voice had a tone of warning and he immediately died down. his hair with his hand, he sighed before turning my body to face him.

"Look, Minae. I've been thinking all night about what happened to you, and I thought I came up with the best solution."

He stared at me and I stared right back.

"Well? Aren't you going to tell me?"

"I'm not going to tell you unless you promise to consider it."

"Fine. But there's no guarantee."

He shrugged.

"Good enough... Let's go backpacking, Minae. Travel around the world, tasting coffee from countries all over. Learn their secrets, master the recipes, and become the best baristas in the world. You could get away from Kai, from Korea, from all of this."

To be honest, the idea struck me hard, but I couldn't tell whether it was in a positive way or a negative way.

"What about your parents? What about their business? I thought the cafe was something you did to bypass time."

He shook his head.

"My little brother's going to take over. They just figured that since he had the desire and passion for it, he would be a better choice than someone like me who doesn't give the smallest . And besides, I've grown to love the cafe. Each day I spend there, I find myself liking the art more and more. Baekhyun agreed to watch over the place and I already hired a few new workers. What do you say Minae? You told me you've always wanted to do this. It's been your dream for years."

He was right. I had been dreaming of this for the longest time. But there was still one thing bothering me.

"But - "

"What do you mean by 'but'?!"

"Oppa, I don't want to make it look like I'm running away. It would make me look weak and cowardly, and that's a side of me that I never want to show Kai again."

"It isn't running away because the issue's already over. You're never going back to that ever again, not if I'm alive and breathing. Running away would be knowing that there's still a possibility. But not in your case. No. I know I'm being harsh on you and I know you will take time to get over him, but that's exactly my point. You'll get over him. He has to get married to that anyways."

He was right.

I wasn't running away since there was nothing to run away from.

Kai and I were already over.

Looking up, I looked him dead in the eyes.

"When do I start packing?"