Yoojin spent the next three days with her phone switched off.

She didn’t visit Hweji’s shop, and did her best to avoid bumping into any of those three.

It was only when she saw the email she received from her partner in her college assessment, reminding her that it was their last day and they really needed to finish that project, that she finally switched her phone on to find two text messages from Hweji and a nonstop flow of messages from call catcher letting her know that Sunggyu had tried to ring her many times.

“Earth to Yoojin. You in there?”

Someone was waving his hand in front of her face a couple of times, but Yoojin was completely in a daze and didn’t notice it until it slapped her in the face lightly. 

“Are we done here?”  He asked, as if he was repeating himself for the fifth time, and he probably was. 

“Hyunseung!”  Someone shouted in the distance, causing him to look away briefly before turning his gaze back to Yoojin expectantly. 

“Is it okay if I leave? I kind of have plans…”

“Yeah, go. We’re done here anyway.” 

Hyunseung ruffled her hair gently, smiling.  “Sorry I dragged you here so early this morning. At least we got this done, right? The rest are only getting started,”  he nodded at a couple of their classmates also finally entering the computer room to work on their assessments.  “Hey, I probably won’t see you until the finals so just in case, good luck, yeah? You can do it!” 

Yoojin smiled softly as he squeezed her shoulder.  “You too, Seung. Let’s do our best.”

She stayed in the computer room for another couple of hours, until no one else was there but her.  As the only person who wasn’t thrilled about having the friday off, she felt like a loner.  But she did realise that it was ridiculous to feel that way, when she didn’t even return anyone’s calls.

The phone on her desk lit up to let her know that someone was trying to make contact with her. 

She turned it upside down and covered her face pretending she hadn’t seen it.

But she had seen it. 

“Yoojin!”  Sunggyu’s voice sounded panicked when she finally answered,  “Are you okay? Where are you?”

“I’ve been in college, working on my last assessment all morning. Why?”

“I just…”  he trailed off.  “I was just wondering how you were doing? Want to meet up?”

“I can’t. I have to study for my finals.”

It was true.  They were starting next week so she really should have tried to study a little, but instead she was sitting on the computer playing Solitaire for hours after Hyunseung left her.  There was just no chance for her to be able to concentrate on studies when her chest felt so tight, with her heart pounding painfully against it, and her stomach tied in knots. 

She told herself it was the stress of the exams making her feel that way but she knew it was plain and simple. 

The thought of leaving Kim Sunggyu, never to be able to snuggle up to him again on a lazy after noon, or getting to inhale the subtle but y scent of his cologne, or hearing his sweet voice except maybe through the phone which also sounded nice but not as nice as in person;  losing him was going to rip her soul into shreds and she felt crazy for becoming so attached to this man within just three weeks.

To her, these three weeks felt more like years, or at least months; and she was sure Sunggyu felt it too. 

“Do you want me to leave you alone until you’re finished with exams?”

“Actually,”  she quickly spoke up again,  “Where are you right now? Let’s meet.”

-

Yoojin tried not to look nervous or distressed when she approached Sunggyu who was leaning against the spire with his knee up as he kept his eyes on his phone.  It seemed like such a typical thing to do while waiting for someone, and yet it was refreshing. 

“Sunggyu,”  she spoke his name softly and smiled when Sunggyu turned to her and, without wasting a second, wrapped his arms around her. 

They didn’t say anything else for some time as they made their way to the nearest McDonalds for some coffee like they agreed on the phone.  It wasn’t until they sat down that they finally started talking.  Sunggyu randomly decided to talk about the TV show they were both into, which was a little strange but it didn’t matter as long as he managed to actually engage her in a conversation despite her distant attitude. 

From there, as usual, their conversations evolved in different directions until returning to themselves again, and also to Hweji and Myungsoo.  Apparently, Hweji’s coffee shop was fully booked for the next two days due to two consecutive birthday parties to be held there;  of course she was thrilled as that meant lots of money.  Myungsoo had also calmed down and was finally acting like himself again.

Nothing different about Sunggyu, he admitted, except that he missed her. 

She tried her best to hide her heavy-hearted expression and replace it with a shy smile.

-

“Hey, I have a crazy idea.”  Sunggyu announced to her after a short silence while he was walking Yoojin home that evening.

“I don’t want to hear it.”  She had enough crazy in her life for a lifetime in the past three weeks.

“How do you feel about clubbing?”

“I do not. Ten out of ten, I would never do that.”

“Great,”  Sunggyu chuckled, taking her hand gently into his own before lacing their fingers,  “Then that's what we'll do.”

Yoojin stared at him incredulously.  She couldn’t tell if Sunggyu was being serious or not but, nonetheless, she was too tired and lazy to argue.  If Sunggyu wanted to go clubbing with her, he would have to face the consequence of her being a complete bore the whole way through it.

-

With the semester lectures done with, Hweji busy with her fully booked shop, and Sunggyu working too, Yoojin had nothing to do with her day off other than to study.  Even so, she didn’t hesitate to let Myungsoo distract her from that, although she found it a little strange that he would want to meet up with her all of a sudden. 

They weren’t exactly close, even after that night. 

“Did you hear Sunggyu’s songs yet?”

Yoojin simply nodded, “It’s nice.”

“I think you should tell him that you’re leaving.”

“Fine, I’ll tell him,”  she mumbled.

“I mean right now, not next week after your final exam is over.”

Yoojin stared at him with raised eyebrows while he continued to give her a serious look. 

“Look, I like you Yoojin; and I like Sunggyu too, but the two of you are frustrating the hell out of me with this stupidity. You’ve made him fall for you deeper day by day, only to eventually leave him hanging once you leave.”

“Myungsoo—”

“No. Listen to me. Do you know who’s gonna have to deal with his miserable and depressed state when you leave? Me. And I won’t be able to do much for him because guess what? I’ll be pretty sad too.”

Yoojin stood up and almost reached for her tea to throw at him, but stopped herself. She breathed in, opening to say something but, for a moment, nothing came out.  Then she whispered,  “I need air,”  and ran out promptly.

It was raining outside, like the sky was crying so that she wouldn’t have to. 

“Yoojin,”  said the person she least wanted to be seen by at that precise moment.  “Why are you crying?”

She approached him slowly, shoving her hands inside his denim jacket, and crossed her arms around his back. 

Sunggyu wrapped his free arm around her, holding the umbrella above them with the other hand.  He didn’t see Myungsoo at the entrance of the shop, watching that little moment, so Myungsoo went back inside and ordered another coffee to pass the time. 

By the time he went out there again, it was no longer raining and the dysfunctional couple-not-couple were no longer out there.

Sighing, Myungsoo made his way to Hweji’s shop to see if the birthday party had ended so he could spend the rest of the evening there.