Minae's POV:

I pressed my forehead against the window of Sehun's car, watching as the buildings and people blurred by. Not able to withstand the cold feeling against my face anymore, I slowly backed off and wiped the newly-created fog off with my sleeve. Sighing, I faced the front again and laid my head back against the seat.

As he drove into the parking lot and stopped in front of the building's entrance, he unlocked the door for me to get out.

"Go ahead and start packing. I'll go park and head on up."

I nodded while walking in through the automatic doors, saying hello to the doorman on the way. Having done this over a thousand times, I mindlessly walked into the elevator and pressed the button, indicating that my apartment was on the 12th floor.

Hearing the doors open with a ding, I walked out and began to head towards my end of the hallway. Inserting the door code, I opened the door and slowly trudged inside.

The place had been just as I had left it before running over to Sehun's house. The empty cracker wrappers lied around the table, the sink was filled with dishes that needed to be washed, the blankets were still lying as a mess on my couch, untouched since Kai and I had been cuddling in them.

We may not have been together for the longest time, but there always seemed to be something that reminded me of him. It didn't matter how long we had dated. It was the memories and the impact he made on me that were important, and I had only realized that now.

Biting my lower lip, I immediately began to go to work. Sehun came in during the middle of my clean up and helped, making the process speed up a lot quicker. It didn't take long for the apartment to become squeaky clean, along with my fully packed suitcase waiting my the door. 

He walked around to unplug everything while I made a few last checks around the house.

"You ready?"

Sehun slung an arm around my shoulder and I nodded. Slipping into my shoes, I grabbed the suitcase as he opened the door, only to immediately halt after doing so.

There, before us, was Kai. He was holding a bouquet of flowers with his eyes wide open, staring back at me, Sehun, and then the suitcase.

"W-What's this?"

Sehun rolled his eyes.

"What do you think it is, Sherlock? She has her suitcase in her hand, and I'm here to help her. Put two things together, and I'm pretty sure you'll be able to figure out what's going on."

His arm dropped to his side, the flowers thudding onto the ground. I squeezed my eyes shut and hoped I was only imagining such things. To my dismay, Kai opened his mouth again.

"Minae."

He took a step in before Sehun pushed him out.

"Don't take on step near her. I think you've done enough damage. Now it's time for her to get rid of those stains."

"Minae."

He called my name again, only this time, it sounded like he was pleading.

"Baby?"

I sighed while stepping in front of Sehun, gesturing for him to give us our space. He complied, but not before glaring at Kai again.

"Babe, I - "

"Kai, stop. Just... Just stop."

He opened his mouth again to speak, but I simply cut him off.

"What we had was special. It was amazing. It was... Like a movie. But that's exactly the thing. Movies aren't real life. Movies don't depict true endings."

"Then we can change that."

"No. No, we can't. Let's face it Kai. You? You're high up there. People watch what you do. They care about what you do. There's always someone, whether its a friend, family, or even the ing papparazzi, keeping an eye on your every move. I'm not like that. In fact, I'm the complete opposite of that. Sometimes it feels like people don't give a about me, but I would much rather have that over what you have to deal with. To you, it's natural. Maybe it's because you grew up with it. Maybe it's because you like having the attention on you, and that's great, because you look amazing in the spotlight. But even if I was given the chance to be in that spotlight with you, I would turn it down. Being with you forever? That would be amazing, but it wouldn't be amazing enough for me to ditch my true feelings like that. I hate having people watch over me, and being with you would inevitably result in that. I'm sorry, Kai. I love you. I love you so much, and I forgive you for what you've done, because I know you were only doing what you thought was best. And because I love you, I'm going to stop this here. Before I start to fall out of love with you. Before I start to hate you. Before I start to hate life with you."

The tears were rolling down my cheek now as they couldn't be prevented. I looked at the ground to avoid his eyes, only to find myself shoved up against his chest as he pulled me into an embrace.

"I understand."

His voice was shaky, and it was evident that he had also failed at keeping the tears in. It only made me feel even more miserable. After all, who liked to see the ones they loved cry?

"But before I leave, before I let you go forever, call me Jongin. Call me Jongin, just like you did when we first started going out. But nothing more. I don't think I would be able to hold myself back if you did."

Slowly pulling away, I looked up into his eyes and took a finger to his cheeks, wiping away the salty drops.

"Jongin, I'll miss you."

The words came out muffled due to the tears, but it didn't matter. None of it mattered. He knew what I was saying. And he knew what courage it had taken to say any of this.

"I won't miss you, because I'll be watching over you each step of the way. I'm going to see you become the world's best barista, I'm going to see you find a new love, and I'm going to see you get married with him. Find someone amazing. Find someone that won't make me regret letting go of you. I can't say I'll do the same, but don't block yourself from other people because of me."

My lips were turning white from the amount of pressure I was placing on them as I bit down, trying to shove the tears and cries back in.

"I love you."

His words were light and airy, and yet, they managed to make my heart sink.

Placing a chaste kiss onto my cheeks, he picked the flowers off of the floor and placed them onto the table near the door. Slowly closing the door behind him, he looked back to take one last glance at me.

It was the moment I heard the door click when I collapsed onto the ground, finally letting the tears out in full force. Hearing the sounds, Sehun rushed out towards me and pulled me into a hug, caressing my hair.

"Shhh. It'll be alright. Everything will work itself out."

Jongin's POV:

It was because she was special to me.

It was because she had been the only one to make me smile as much as I did when I was around her.

It was because I loved her.

I didn't want to be the one to suppress her. I didn't want to be the one that placed her within the chains of society. After all, I knew those chains the best.

But I would definitely never forget her.

Not when I finally achieved my dream of being the best dancer.

Not when I got married.

Not when I had kids.

Why?

Because there was espresso everywhere. In the cities. In the villages. In Korea. In America.

And as long as there was espresso, there was Minae.

And no one would be able to forget a love like her.