I had decided to try some cooking to get my mind off of everything.

 

“Ja...jang…myeon,” I sang cheerfully, carefully pouring the black bean sauce over the noodles. The smells were delicious. “I’ve only seen your beauty on TV, but you’re mine now,” I added, giggling. Throwing the bowls and pans into the sink, I sat down to visually savor the dish in front of me. Since no one was home, I would be able to wolf down as much noodles as I wanted without fear. “Here we go,” I murmured. I hadn’t been this excited in days.

 

Suddenly, someone tightly wrapped their arms around me. I was bound and unable to move.

 

Emitting a shrill scream, I jerked my hand, punching the intruder right in the face. My elbow drove itself into his gut, forcing a grunt out of him. Grabbing the nearest pan I could find, I whirled around to face the perpetrator.

 

Chanyeol groaned weakly, clutching his stomach as he dropped to the ground.

 

“What the--Chanyeol!” I gasped, falling to my knees beside him.

 

“Why would you do that?” he whined. “It hurts.”

 

“Why’d you scare me then? I thought you were with Baekhyun when everyone left in the morning,” I complained. “I was simply trying to enjoy my noodles alone but--” Chanyeol moaned again. “Did I really hurt you?” I asked quickly, interrupting myself. “Sorry.”

 

His hand moved from his stomach to the pan that lay in my hands. “You were going to beat me up with this?” Chanyeol grinned for the first time in what felt like forever.

 

I turned the pan over in my hands. “I watched this movie once where the guy fought off a ton of guards with a pan.”

 

“He won?”

 

“Not exactly. He lost to their horse. It was an animation,” I added, seeing the expression on his face.

 

Chanyeol shook his head, amused. After I helped him up, his eyes fell to the platter lying on the table. “Mind if I tried some?”

 

“I would refuse you if I didn’t know about how little you’ve eaten over the last few days,” I said grudgingly, letting him steal the jajangmyeon that dangled off the edge of my fork.

 

“It’s good!” Chanyeol said brightly, muffled by the noodles. “Especially for your first try at making them.”

 

I beamed at him. Chanyeol looked refreshed, much better than he had looked yesterday. “You can finish them,” I replied after taking a bite. “You need the energy.” Swishing a sip of water, I slipped off the edge of my stool and padded towards the living room.

 

“Thanks darling,” he called out.

 

I stopped, slightly startled. Ahmad had never called me darling, or any other pet name for that matter, during the 2 years that we had dated.

 

Right on cue, the dorm’s phone rang. “Hello?”

 

“Hey.” As expected, it was Ahmad. “The managers still aren’t letting me in and you’re not coming out. You weren’t even answering the phone.” Kai had given Ahmad the dorm’s phone number without my consent. As a result, Ahmad had been calling so often that I occasionally unplugged the phone in order to avoid his calls.

 

“I’m a little busy,” I replied, throwing a glance at Chanyeol. He was watching me with a stony expression.

 

“Not too busy to hold a date at the Namsan Tower?” Ahmad asked, under the impression that he was giving me a treat.

 

“I already went, Ahmad,” I objected with a sigh. Suddenly, I remembered. “Wait. Aren’t you leaving today?”

 

There was a beat of silence. “Tomorrow.” Something sounded a little odd in Ahmad’s tone of voice.

 

I frowned. If Ahmad was leaving tomorrow, I had to do it it today. “Okay, I’ll meet you. Not at Namsan Tower, though.” I paused. “How about--”

 

“I’m outside the dorm,” he interjected. “Come out when you’re ready, and let’s drive somewhere.”

 

I hung up, heaving another sigh.

 

An hour later, I wore a black trenchcoat with a heavy grey scarf. I slung a bag over my shoulder, in case I was going to be gone for a while.

 

“Where are you going?” Chanyeol asked, watching me with a bewildered look as I rushed past him.

 

“Oh, Chanyeol.” I slid back over to him with a giggle. “I’m going to talk to Ahmad. I need to get it over with before he leaves.” I wrapped my arms around him.

 

“Really?” Chanyeol’s face lit up as he hugged me back. “Should I come with you?”

 

“That would make it even more awkward,” I objected, laughing. “I won’t be gone for a while.”

 

“What do I do if I miss you?”

 

“Call Ahmad and ask for me,” I replied with a smile. “Try to sound like Jessica.”

 

Stuffing on my boots, I staggered towards the door. “Come home fast,” Chanyeol called out as I shut the door behind me.

 

“Natasha,” Ahmad greeted me once I joined him inside his car. “Finally.”

 

I looked at him. “You okay?     You look a bit...jittery.” Ahmad did look slightly anxious as he locked the doors.

 

“Huh? No,” he answered quickly. “I haven’t seen you in a while, that’s all.”

 

I buckled on my seatbelt. “Why don’t we go to a nearby café or something? I need to talk to you anyway.”

 

“Oh, I’ve already got a place in mind,” Ahmad replied, starting the car. “It’s nowhere near a café.”

 

Approximately half an hour later, I jolted awake. The wordless drive to Ahmad’s destination had coaxed me into a heavy nap. “Ahmad?” I called out, looking around. He had abandoned me as I slept, parking the car before leaving me alone.

 

I was just about to let myself out of the car when Ahmad popped up at the window. “Come out,” he mouthed.

 

“This was your big destination?” I asked disbelievingly once I exited the vehicle. “We’re at the airport, Ahmad.”

 

He was silent for a minute. I hadn’t noticed the luggages and bags waiting for him, unloaded out of the car and standing behind his trunk. “What if I told you that I had lied to you?” he asked.

 

“What do you mean?” I said suspiciously.

 

“I’m not leaving tomorrow. I’m leaving today.”

 

It took a moment for me to register what he said. “Oh.”

 

Ahmad slid his hand into mine. “I didn’t really get to see you during my entire trip here, so we might as well spend time here.”

 

We began to walk towards the airport together. “Your mom called me,” Ahmad stated.

 

“Really? What did she say?”

 

“She asked if she could talk to you. She had thought that you had let me stay with you.” He let out a little laugh. “I said that you had left me all alone.”

 

“Seriously, Ahmad? It was your choice to come over here in the first place.”

 

“Yeah, because I missed you,” he retorted with an insulted voice. “I’d thought that my girlfriend of two years had missed me too.”

 

I sighed, feeling a twinge of guilt. “Sorry. I guess I never really thanked you for visiting me.”

 

“You’re welcome. I’m glad I cleared up those stupid rumors too,” he added with a grin.

 

I stayed silent.

 

Half an hour later, we were sitting on the benches, counting down the minutes until Ahmad’s flight. We were fluctuating between long periods of silence and punctuated conversation as we waited.

 

When I noticed that there were 10 minutes remaining, I knew that I had to do it.

 

“Ahmad,” I began falteringly. He turned to face me. “Look. I would have talked to you earlier if I knew that you were leaving today…” I trailed off, unsure as of how to continue.

 

“What’s wrong?” he asked, reaching for my hand.

 

“I know this might feel random, but it’s because I tend to bottle up my feelings instead of letting them out.” I took a shaky breath. “I feel like our relationship isn’t going to carry on much longer. I had felt like this long before coming here to Korea, but had decided to stay silent for the sake of our relationship. But now…” I awkwardly let my hand out of his grasp, and Ahmad’s eyes fell to his empty hand. “There’s so much about you that just doesn’t click with me. Right now, I honestly feel so frustrated, irritated and done with us.”

 

Ahmad was speechless as my words resonated in the air around us. “So you’ve decided to dump me,” he answered quietly, swallowing. “Right here, right now.”

 

I stood up, intending to leave. “It was inevitable, Ahmad. We weren’t meant to stay together forever.”

 

Finally. It was finally over.

 

I had managed to take a step away from him when Ahmad gripped my wrist, wrapping his fingers around it like a vise. His eyes were still cast on his lap.

 

“No, Natasha,” he said slowly, a cold tone in his voice. “You’re not going to leave me like that.”

 

A chill ran down my spine. “Let go of me, Ahmad.”

 

“I’m afraid I can’t, Natasha.” When he raised his eyes to look at me, I saw a different person behind them. “What if I told you that I had lied to you?”

 

He was repeating the question that he had asked me thirty minutes ago.

 

“What?” I hissed. I couldn’t believe my ears.

 

“The plane scheduled to arrive in ten minutes will be taking me back to Canada.” His grip tightened, and I felt my hand begin to throb slightly. “I’ve booked two tickets. You’re coming with me.”