It was already past office hours but he was one of the few who remained in the building. Myungsoo was trying to consume himself with the amount of work he had been doing He needed both an excuse not to be with Soojung and a distraction to keep him from thinking about Suzy. His head was already aching but he didn’t want to rest since it would surely bring him into an aching trance of yearning for the woman he loves.

He sighed as he massaged his temples and shut his eyes tight but then, the ringing of his phone distracted him. His hand automatically fished it out of his pocket and upon seeing the Caller ID, he widened his eyes. That one syllable name registered in his phone was enough to make all the sleepiness and headache crumble away.

“Su,” he read with a whisper.

Not wasting the opportunity, he answered it at the third ring. With a hoarse voice, he asked, “Hello?”

There was silence and at that time, Myungsoo wanted to curse at the possibility of someone pulling a prank on him. However, he finally heard the voice that he had been longing for so long.

“Hello, Myungsoo.”

This time, it was Myungsoo’s turn to be engulfed in a long silence. There was a big smile plastered across his face but at the same time, worried tears were forming in his eyes. There were so many things he wanted to say: “I miss you”, “I love you”, “How are you?” but instead, he could only come up with muttering her name.

“Suzy?”

“Hmmm,” he heard her hum but that alone was sending his heart thumping so loudly in his chest. He was thinking of the most appropriate thing that he could say, but Suzy had already beaten him up on it. He heard her utter, “I’m back in Seoul.”

And at that moment, he had nothing but to say but an “I want to see you.”

But for the second time, Suzy had beaten him up on it and said, “Let’s meet up.”

“Sure,” he answered without any hesitation.

“How about tomorrow?” she asked.

“What time?” he asked back.

“You decide the time and the place,” she suggested. “Since you’re more busy than I am.”

He closed his eyes, trying to think of a certain location. Time was not an issue for him for Suzy was a priority and he could cancel any meeting for her. He just needed the perfect place in order to appease her. He didn’t want to waste the opportunity she was giving him.

“Tomorrow, 4pm at the café near our university,” he said.

“Okay,” she shortly replied before ending the call.

And the lack of any term of endearment or loving words made Myungsoo anxious the whole night. However, somehow he was thankful that Suzy didn’t say “Bye”.

Myungsoo looked at his reflection at the mirror, making sure that every side of him looked handsome. He felt like he was going through their first date all over again. The nervousness almost ate him whole. Somehow, somewhere deep inside him, he knew that this meeting of theirs would also seal their fate as a couple. With a bouquet of fifteen mixed red and white roses, he arrived at the meeting place one hour before the said time.

He had been drinking tons of water since then but his throat still felt dry. Anxious, he kept drumming his fingers at the wooden table. He was in a deep trance, thinking of how to properly talk to the girl again. But every now and then, he’d look around to check if she was around the vicinity. When the bell hanging by the door tinkled and a familiar figure crossed his sight, Myungsoo automatically stood up.

While he was in his complete office outfit with suit and tie, she was in her casual clothes – a thick coat wrapped around her upper body while she opted for pants for her lower torso. Nonetheless, as she swept her hair back, she had Myungsoo gaping. Her beauty was eternal and perhaps, the longing also made her appearance more magnified in Myungsoo’s eyes. She was as gorgeous as he had last seen her; but this time, she was more whole than broken.

Suzy, on the other hand, looked around and realized that the café was not like it was used to be. It was renovated yet it still carried the nostalgic aura for her. The two of them used to study in this café back in their university days and it was the same café where she had formally met Soojung as Myungsoo’s fiancée. When her gaze met his, her lips curved into a small yet timid smile which he reciprocated with his own. Her feet automatically moved towards him even if each step was heavy to take.

“Hi,” it was Myungsoo who first greeted.

“Hello,” she awkwardly replied.

“Uhmmm,” Myungsoo hummed as if his brain shut down for a moment when he saw her. But then, his eyes travelled to the flowers and with a cough, he handed it to her and said, “For you.”

“You shouldn’t have bothered yourself,” she whispered before putting the flowers back to the table.

As both of them sat down, he asked, “So am I going to order the usual?”

“So am I going to order the usual?” the sentence echoed in Suzy’s ears. It was meant to be a normal part of their conversation but that was what it pained her—everything that they used to be.

“No. It’s okay,” she said with her gaze kept down low. “Let’s just talk.”

“Ahhh,” he merely replied before sitting back down in silence. He tried to smile and in an attempt to facilitate a conversation, he asked, “So how’s your vacation?”

“It helped a lot, I guess,” she gave a weak chuckle but he noticed how pain crossed her eyes.

He wanted to beat around the bush so that he could extend their time together. He then asked, “How are Yerin and Jimin doing?”

“They’re doing well in school and they’ve grown up beautifully too,” she answered. “It’s just that, Jimin’s being cautious about her weight now.”

Myungsoo chortled a little before asking again, “And ‘Gyeom?”

“Yugyeom’s taller than you now, and he had even dyed his hair pink,” she with her gaze still on the wooden table.

“And ommeoni?”

Suzy bit her lower lip before giving a small smile as she said, “She’s fine too. Her health condition is improving.”

There was a long silence before Suzy heard him ask another question.

“And how about you? How are you, Su?”

The way he said “Su” prickled her heart more. But then, she let out a long sigh before finally meeting his gaze and in his eyes, she saw worry and pain. However, she didn’t know that Myungsoo’s eyes just reflected the same emotions that could be seen in her own. She chewed on her lower lip and with every ounce of courage left in her, she sighed yet again before saying,

“Myungsoo, let’s stop this.”

She noticed how he suddenly stiffened and his jaw tightened upon her words. However, he still managed to fake a smile and feign innocence as he asked, “What do you mean by ‘this’?”

“Everything,” she answered. “Let’s end it here.”

“Everything?” he repeated with an empty and shallow smile. “How could you end a six-year worth of relationship with just one sentence? When have you become so heartless?”

Suzy couldn’t say anything in return. She just stared at him while his gaze wavered.

“Time. Maybe you just need more time. Please don’t act on it so hastily, Su,” he tried to convince her.

“I have taken a lot of time to come to this decision, Myungsoo,” she replied. With a gulp, she added, “And this is final.”

“Is it because you already have Sehun?” he asked with such a bitter voice.

“No,” she shook her head hardly. “Things are just too complicated, Myungsoo. You’re about to have a kid – “

“I swear, Suzy. I did not intentionally sleep with Soojung. I was drunk,” he tried to reason out.

“But still,” Suzy was about to retort.

But Myungsoo already had an answer, “The kid… we could raise him as our kid. We could still be together, Su.”

He reached for her hand on the table and squeezed them but Suzy abruptly took it back and answered, “There’s a limit to ever