Luhan sat in his car quietly, trying to gather his thoughts. The ring was safely tucked into the pocket of his blazer. Last night he had gone home at ten o’clock, the perfect wedding ring carefully stored in a shopping bag. It was a princess cut stone centered on a slender band with lissome engravings, thin veins of silver wrapping gracefully around the diamond. Hidden along the inner façade of the ring was the day that they first met, September 27th, 2011. The ring was rather small and inexpensive compared to the other rings, but Luhan knew that he would be living off instant noodles for the next year. But it was worth it, he reminded himself. The design of the ring was elegant, sophisticated, beautiful, and perfect, just like Yoona. His Yoona.

He was planning to propose that night, after dinner. He would pretend like his car had broken down and then he would walk her home and then pop the question. Luhan hadn’t planned anything further, because he couldn’t bear to imagine that she would reject him. Looking into the rearview mirror, he slicked his hair back one more time and then pressed the gas pedal.

As he drove, he tapped his fingers nervously on the dashboard, his eyes darting to the tiny keychain hanging from the rearview mirror. It was a detailed deer figurine that Yoona gave him on their first anniversary. When she gave it to him, she told him that she had seen it at a flea market while she was on vacation and it had reminded her of Luhan. Although Yoona had brought him various other gifts, it was this simple trinket that he held dearest. He wasn’t sure what it was that made him so attracted to it. Maybe it was the startled doe eyes that were almost lifelike, the long, willowy legs, or the petite fluff of a tail, each individual lock of fur carved delicately.

When he pulled up to the gate of Yoona’s apartment, she was already waiting outside. As she stood up and entered the car, Luhan couldn’t help but to admire his girlfriend’s beauty. Her cream colored dress hung just above her ankles, a thin cobalt shawl draped over her shoulders. Luhan loved the way her hair was twisted into a simple braid and that her makeup was minimal--not that she needed it anyways.  She was so pretty she almost glittered. The dull streetlights beaming on her face reminded Luhan of a certain night four years ago, a different, equally pretty girl standing in front of him. He shook himself a little and reached for Yoona’s hand, his lips brushing against her fingertips in a butterfly kiss.

“You look ravishing tonight, Miss Im Yoona.” Soon to be Mrs. Lu Yoona, Luhan thought as he winked cheesily at her, a noticeable blush dusting her cheeks.  

⋘⋘❆⋙⋙

Yoona held Luhan’s hand as they stood in front of the restaurant. It was a high class restaurant, tinted glass windows lining the walls, sheer curtains exposing the silhouettes of people seated inside. It was a four-star restaurant in the least, and could surely qualify as a five-star. Without turning her head, she looked sideways at Luhan. He had never taken her anywhere like this before.

“Our reservation is waiting for us, Miss Im.” Luhan said smoothly, waving her towards the frosted doors. Once they entered, a smartly dressed waiter greeted them. “Reservation for two. Are you Mr. Lu?”

Luhan nodded and they followed him to a private table. Yoona had never imagined herself sitting in one of the ornate chairs drinking expensive champagne when she walked by these kinds of restaurants. She had always been the kind of girl who would just swing by Pizza Hut whenever she felt hungry or order fried chicken at 1 a.m. And this change was almost refreshing for her. If Luhan being senior attorney meant more dinners in places like this, she wholeheartedly supported him.

A waitress walked by, sliding a plate of appetizers onto their table. She smiled ambiently at the two, “You two are really a flawless couple, I wish you the best of luck with your relationship!” Luhan nodded happily while Yoona could only stare at the plate, dazed. Two lonely scallops sat in the center of the plate, decorated with a few sprigs of mint and drizzled in a dark red sauce. Her stomach twisted into a queasy knot. She would definitely be taking a trip to McDonalds afterwards.

“Luhan, how’ve you been? Haven’t seen you around much.” Yoona teased. Her careless comment made Luhan rethink the amount of time he had spent with her since his birthday- which had been a few months already.

“I’m sorry...I’ve been fine and it’s just been busy with work and I haven’t quite had time.” Luhan replied guiltily.

“That’s okay. It’s the thought that counts, right?” Yoona assured him, her attention focused on picking out the sprigs of mint on her plate. But Luhan couldn’t help but wonder if she was really comfortable with the idea of not being able to see him for more than a few times a month. He knew that Yoona was too thoughtful to voice her actual opinion, and he stared suspiciously at her as she picked at her food.

“Hey, Lu, what are you doing? Aren’t you hungry?” Yoona asked, narrowing her eyes at him. Before he could interject, Yoona continued, “Because if you’re not, I’ll gladly eat your share of this meal.” She smiled cheekily and Luhan couldn’t help but to smile himself before picking up his fork and taking one. She was glad that he had refused, because she was sure that she couldn’t force down any more of the mushy fish cakes. They ate in silence, occasionally taking a sip of champagne. Finally Yoona wiped with the edge of her napkin and put down her spoon, the metal clanking gently on the glass tableware.

“Also, I, uh, have a surprise for you too. My manager put me on a last-minute business trip to Norway. I’m leaving tomorrow.”

Luhan’s eyes popped open. “Tomorrow?” he managed to choke out.

“Yeah, which means I have to pack tonight. Sorry Luhan, but I might have to leave earlier than we planned.”

“That’s alright.” In Luhan’s book, that was definitely not alright. “I’ll take you home, come on.” He smoothly motioned for the waiter to take the bill, but inside, Luhan was panicking. The romantic mood he had tried so hard to set was gone. If he proposed now, the whole thing would seem weird, but if he didn’t do it now, who knew when they would see each other again? Yoona led the way out as he tried to make a decision.

They had been walking down the street for awhile when Luhan stopped.“Hey Yoona. I have something I need to tell you.”

“Hmm?” Yoona turned around, her eyes widening. “What is it?”

“I, Yoona, I wanted to, yes um, tell you that,” Luhan fumbled with his coat pocket, the box slipping from his fingers. He cursed under his breath and tried to dig his hand deeper into the fabric without ripping it. “I really uh-I really love you, Yoona, and it’s-” A loud voice behind them cut them off, probably from the bar that they had passed.

“Hahahahaha, don’t touch meeeee. Stop! Stop! Haha...” A girl shouted into the street, her words slurring. Luhan found a little familiarity with her voice, but he shook it off, irritated. “Eh! What are you doing! I said-stooop please stop!”

“Uh, look, Yoona, it’s been an amazing three-”

“Bwohaha! That tiiiiickles, stop! Get away from me!” That was the last straw for Luhan.

“Hey, you! What the heck!” Luhan began walking towards the two people in front of the club.  “Can you just get a room and shut-” The words dissolved in his throat when he saw her face.

It was not her. It couldn’t be. Five years ago he had left her alone in an alleyway. Five years later when he had finally moved on and she was back. No, not now.

His face was hidden in the shade of the night. She grabbed his arm desperately, stumbling in her heels. A dark, muscular man was standing behind her, agitated.

“Can youuuu help meee, please. Can you tell thiiiis man that I don’t waaaant to go with him? Pretty please? Please.” She didn’t seem to really notice him, him Luhan, and Luhan wanted to shake her and shout, It’s me, Tiffany, It’s me, Luhan. But he was frozen.

“Luhan?” Yoona tapped his shoulder questioningly, biting her lip. He looked away from her gaze.

“You should go home, Yoona. I have to take...my friend home. I’ll call you tomorrow morning.” Luhan replied.

Yoona stood there silently for awhile, her conflicting emotions swirling inside. You idiot, Luhan! she wanted to yell. You never finished what you were going to say to me! And now you’re leaving me alone to go with someone else!

But Yoona plastered a smile onto her face.“Make sure she gets home safe, okay?”

Yoona nodded with understanding, feeling an aching disappointment as she continued walking without him.

⋘⋘❆⋙⋙

Luhan took another glance at the man standing on the other side of the sidewalk. “I’m sorry, but my friend is too drunk to be here. I’ll take her home, if you don’t mind.” He glared silently, daring the man to object. The man bobbed his head apathetically, turning back to the club. Luhan scoffed quietly to himself when the man had disappeared back into the loud music and dancing. Tiffany pulled on his sleeve, demanding his attention.

“Thaaank you, but you don’t have to take meee home. I’ll be gooooing now, sir.”

“You’re going to drive yourself home?” Luhan asked, his forehead frowning.

“Yeeeah, why?”

“You’re too drunk, Tiff. You’ll get into an accident. I’ll drive you home.” Luhan suggested firmly, grabbing Tiffany’s arm and dragging her back to the restaurant his car was parked in front of. She was too drunk and tired to argue and just followed as best as she could, her eyelids feeling heavy.

“Waaaaait, how do you know my name?” She suddenly accused, freeing her hand from his grasp and trying to stand by herself, wobbling. “Why should I trust you?”

“It’s me, Tiffany. It’s your...friend, Luhan, remember?”

“Ohhhh...aah.” She remembered that name from somewhere. She gave in, the information not processing all the way through her dimmed mind until she had entered his car. “Luhan??” She bolted up in her seat, hitting the ceiling of the car, and fell back unconscious.

As he pulled out of the parking lot, Luhan suddenly realized that he had no idea where Tiffany lived.

Nothing would happen if he took her back to his apartment, right?

⋘⋘❆⋙⋙

Yoona wondered vaguely if it was her fault for leaving early. The sidewalk space beside her felt empty without Luhan there to talk to her and hold her hand. As she passed the closed stores lining the street, she pressed her finger on the misted windows, leaving a dark line on the cold glass, condensation wetting her fingertips. The headlights of a car reflected onto the window. Yoona turned her head nonchalantly before she noticed...wasn’t that Luhan’s car? As she looked closer, she made out his handsome profile, his smooth forehead, curved nose, full lips, gelled hair...and that girl from earlier was in the passenger’s seat. Yoona’s eyes were b with tears again as she watched her boyfriend drive away with another girl.

When Yoona thought back to earlier, she realized Luhan’s expression when she saw the girl’s face hadn’t only been surprise: it had been recognition. What was his relationship with this mystery girl? Why would he drive her home but tell Yoona that his car had broken down?

⋘⋘❆⋙⋙

Luhan tried to wake her, but Tiffany Hwang was out cold. Lifting her out of the car, Luhan stumbled, the box in his suit pocket slipping out and onto the wet cement. With a tiny pop, the latch clicked open. The diamond glowered at him.               

Luhan carried her up three flights of stairs. Each step reminded him of what he was doing to Yoona. He was bringing Tiffany to his apartment. His…ex. The word dried out the back of his throat. Luhan didn’t dare look at Tiffany’s face. He just stared at the ground, suddenly feeling afraid for Yoona.

He was for Im Yoona, Im Yoona only, he reminded himself. No space for Tiffany Hwang.

Ouch.

Finally, he was in his apartment. Luhan almost collapsed on the ground in relief. Sitting in an office for a few years had really made him unfit.

Maybe it was time for him to get that gym membership again.

He set Tiffany down on his couch and went to the kitchen pantry to fill a glass of water and grab a blister pack of pills for her. Luhan absentmindedly grabbed a mug from the dishwasher before dropping it back on the rack. He couldn’t let her use the couple mug Yoona had given him.

But she was already sleeping on the couch with a throw Yoona had knit him and he couldn’t move her anywhere else, because that’s where Yoona slept and all of a sudden Luhan felt really, really guilty.

He set Tiffany’s water down and pulled out his phone to call Yoona, hoping that he would be able to coherently explain himself as it rang.

I’m sorry, the number you are trying to reach is not available right now. Please call back or leave a message at the tone.

Luhan hung up without waiting to leave a message and bitterly laughed to himself. “Guess I don’t have to worry about explaining myself anymore.” He took out the box again and clicked it open. The diamond caught the light, lighting up Luhan’s tiny kitchen.

He stood up and found himself back by the couch, watching Tiffany. His eyelids drooped and he let himself drift off to sleep.  

⋘⋘❆⋙⋙

Yoona awoke to the sound of her phone’s alarm, angry beeping.

The night before she had walked home and made herself kimchi fried rice, which she’d only eaten a few times in her life: when she and Luhan had their first fight, when Luhan had received an anonymous love letter, when Luhan stopped talking to her for a whole month, and then that night. Ms. Won had stumbled in indignantly, complaining. Oh, Yoona, I’m so glad you’re home. I’m afraid the mattress in your guest room is too cushioned for this old back. I need something firmer. Yoona slept in her own guest room that night.

She tossed her bed covers off in anger and grabbed her phone to turn off the alarm. Through her sleep encrusted eyes, Yoona noticed that she had a missed call.

“Who would call me at 1 a.m. in the morning?” she mumbled to herself sleepily.

I’ll call you tomorrow morning. 

Yoona bolted awake. Oh shoot. She tried to call back, but he never picked up.

“Argh, you know I’m a heavy sleeper in the morning.” She muttered, grabbing her suitcase and downing her coffee without the usual two packets of sugar and three spoons of cream. Yoona hated black coffee, but all of a sudden, it seemed comforting.

Luhan liked his coffee black.

Yoona brushed off the thought and got ready to leave the apartment.

“Yoona dear, do you have any more toothpaste? I’m afraid my toothpaste ran out last night.” Ms. Won interjected before she could open the door. Yoona clenched her teeth and opened her suitcase to give her the travel-size tube that she always kept with her. She dug around annoyed, realizing she needed to leave. Like, now. She began flinging her clothes out, desperately trying to just find the stupid toothpaste and get to the airport on time. Finally, she saw the tip of her cosmetic bag poking out under a pinstriped blazer and ripped the zipper open, throwing the toothpaste at Ms. Won, no longer caring if she caught it or not. She stuffed everything back and ran for her car. She was late.

She yanked the ignition, her pretty face pulled into an uncharacteristic scowl. On the way to the airport, she beeped her car horn at five people, glared at the homeless man who asked her if she wanted a newspaper, cut in front of three cars, almost hit a squirrel, and swore at the idiot who tried to flirt with her at a traffic light. When Yoona pulled into the parking lot of the local United Airlines airport, she sprinted into the door, her luggage dragging limply behind her as she checked in, registered her belongings, and found the departure gate. For the first time that morning, she felt relieved; the plane had not yet left.

But all her relief vanished when she reached her seat. Yoona double checked seat number 34B. And triple checked. She had the center seat. There was a chatty old man in the window seat and a girl that was whining to her mother, who was trying to deal with what seemed to be her three sons and other two daughters while asking about seating arrangements. The flight attendant politely replied that the compartment was full and new seats couldn’t be arranged. She squeezed next to the seats and took her seat, feeling uncomfortable. There was a movie playing on the flat screen TV in the front of the plane, but Yoona was too far away to get a clear view.

Yoona looked through the magazines in the back of the seats. Duty-free advertisements, more ads, tour packages, ads, and SkyMall. She pulled out the duty-free magazine and put on the free headphones, wincing when the cheap plastic foam caught on her earrings. Hopefully her sunglasses and the headphones would be enough to deter anyone from talking to her--

Someone was tapping her on the shoulder. Yoona slowly removed her headphones and turned around to face the elderly man sitting on her right. He pointed to outside the window.

“Doesn’t that cloud look like a filet mignon?” he asked cheerfully, his greying moustache moving with each syllable.  

Yoona had wasted her only chance of eating filet mignon on a plate of overpriced mollusks to please Luhan, so she just nodded stiffly. To her, the cloud just seemed like an irregularly-shaped, meaningless lump.

“You know, the best filet mignon isn’t even shaped like a proper filet. In order to produce the most magnificent filet, the chef must project his own passion and love for the art of beef onto the filet itself. Ooohhh, if I only had the teeth to eat it again…” he trailed off, absentmindedly gnashing his gums together. Yoona leaned away to avoid the spray of saliva and foul breath. Maybe if she just left to his own daydreams, she would be able to read her ads in peace…

“I see that you’ve been looking at that Tiffany ring for quite a while now. Reminds me of my own wedding. Boy, when I was proposing, I could hardly get the words out, I was so nervous! Hoo-hoo, to be young again...say, do you have a fiancé? A boo? A macaroni to your cheese? Or whatever you call them now.”

Yoona, again, had no idea how to respond. Luhan had never called her a noodle. Or him cheese. She turned around and put her headphones back on. A few minutes passed by peacefully.

And then more tapping.

This time, Yoona yanked the headphones, silently screaming in pain as they caught on her earrings again. The little girl from before was grinning up at her with an evil, chocolate-y smile.

“Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, wanna hear a really funny joke? How many tickles does it take to make an octopus laugh?”

Before Yoona could even open , the little girl burst into deranged laughter. “Ten tickles, hahahahahaha, tentacles, get it, get it, get it? Wanna hear another one????”

“How do you get an elephant in a fridge? You put it in and close the door! How do you put giraffes in the fridge? Take the elephant out and put giraffes in! What animals weren’t at the animal meeting? The giraffes, they were in the fridge! How do you cross a crocodile river? Swim, because the crocodiles are at the meeting!”

Yoona was about ready to jump out the emergency exit. She smiled as politely as she could manage and said, very nicely, “Hey sweetie, I’m trying to uh...finish reading this article, can you be quiet for just a sec?” She pointed to the bottom of the Toyota ad, at the fine print scrawled across the page. The girl pouted and went back to blowing bubbles in her chocolate milk.

Yoona squinted at the tiny font and pretended to read intently, the text lulling her to sleep. She closed her eyes for a moment. Suddenly, she felt a cold splash against her arm. Her eyes flew open to see a tiny river of chocolate milk carving its way down her sleeve. The girl was chuckling maniacally.

The mother rushed up, snatching the carton of milk from her daughter and attacked Yoona with a tub of disinfectant wipes, sending occasional glares at her daughter, who was too amused to notice.  

Yoona had tried fending off the mother, but her attempts proved to be futile and she was too tired to argue anyways. The girl was begrudgingly said sorry and was replaced by a broody teenager. The mother apologized profusely and insisted that her son behaved much better.

She stuck her hand in her bag, feeling around for the cold, glassy surface of her phone for a much needed game of Candy Crush.

Yoona powered on her phone, and waited for the familiar Apple logo to appear.

And waited. And waited some more…

She was about to cry in desperation. Now she would have to wait for her phone to charge back up again, and iPhones took so long. She stuck her hand back in her bag and rummaged around to come up with nothing.

Yoona assured herself that it was with her other luggage and returned to her stack of advertisements, feeling slightly unsatisfied.

⋘⋘❆⋙⋙

Luhan felt his phone buzzing on the kitchen table. He gathered up all his motivation and scraped himself off the coffee table and grabbed his phone. There was a text message from Baekhyun, Are you coming to work today? He jolted himself awake. 9:37 AM.

He had successfully gelled his hair back and was brushing his teeth when he suddenly remembered:

Tiffany was still on the couch.

He ran back to the living room, his mouth still foaming with mint toothpaste. Tiffany was still buried under the pile of blankets he had tossed onto her the night before. He had to get her up and back to her apartment before leaving for work himself--so much for being the exemplary employee he was trying to be and getting that promotion. He quickly spat out the remaining toothpaste and poured a cup of boiling hot coffee down his throat before grabbing his laptop and shoes. Luhan ran back over to the couch and nudged the mountain of fabric.

Her eyes opened slowly and Luhan could see the recognition and surprise in her eyes when she propped herself up.

“...Luhan?” She reached out with her fingertips timidly, almost like she was afraid that he would disappear before her, and it would all be over. “I’m not dreaming right now, right?” She touched his face, her cold fingers fluttering on his skin like butterfly wings.

Luhan’s stomach turned at her glistening look of hope.

“We’re in our apartment in Paris and you just came back from your job and the pot of coffee I made is cold and the leftovers I saved you are in the fridge and-” she stopped as tear rolled down her cheek, betraying her words.

“We’re not together anymore right? We’re in California and you’re going to your job and you just made coffee and you’re going to pick up breakfast for yourself.”

Gently, Luhan removed her hand from his face and put it by her side. And that was the moment when Luhan broke her heart for the second time.  

She asked him to go downstairs first and give her a few minutes as she pulled herself together. He left, feeling a little bit guilty.

They sat in Luhan’s car, the air heavy with tension no amount of air conditioning would clear. Tiffany balanced on the very edge of her seat and looked straight out the window as if to create an further divide the rift between them.. No matter how much her muscles ached, she refused to give in. She couldn’t look at him anymore--not after throwing away her pride like that.

Luhan gripped the steering wheel tightly, forcing his eyes to stay on the road in front of him. He itched to reach out and turn on the radio or roll down the window.

He cleared his throat pointedly.

Tiffany didn’t budge.

“He-augh--” Luhan coughed to hide his cracking voice. “Tiffany, I uh, I need your address.”

She typed it into her phone and handed it to him without even turning around. Luhan accepted the phone with a sigh.

At least he had the robotic voice of the GPS to accompany him now.

After a painfully long and awkward ride, Luhan pulled into the parking lot of an apartment building. He told Tiffany goodbye, but she didn’t seem to be paying attention anyways. When she opened the car door and exited onto the pavement,  she stopped mid-step and all at once, she threw up, her legs crumpling weakly beneath her. Luhan cursed in his head and got out of the car, rushing towards the girl, helping her up. Surprisingly, she didn’t protest and just  followed him limply.  She told him the floor and room number in a hoarse voice. A janitor hurried towards the mess on the parking lot concrete, throwing disapproving looks and muttering something about “young people these days.”

Luhan dragged Tiffany towards the elevator and when they finally stopped in front of  Tiffany’s apartment room, he was surprised that the door swung open before he even knocked. A disheveled looking girl was behind the door, concern obvious on her face.

“Tiffany! Where were you?! I was so freaking worried! I waited for you for the whole night!” she exclaimed, helping her into the house. Luhan stood outside the apartment silently. The girl came back to the door, gazing at him pointedly. Her stare was colder than ice and made Luhan want to shrink away.

“I, uh found her in front of a club. I’m Luhan. And you?” he said nervously, noticing the girl’s eyebrows raise subtly underneath her chocolate bangs at the mention of his name.  

“You don’t need to know that.” She nodded at him dismissively and was about to close the door when Luhan stuck his foot out, stopping her. The girl looked at him again, tearing him apart with eyes like blades of steel.

He rummaged in his pocket and scribbled his number on an old receipt, handing it to her. “Could you maybe call me when Tiffany is feeling better? I, uh, think we have a few things we need to talk about.”

She plucked the crumpled piece of paper out of his outstretched hand and slammed the apartment door shut with a resounding thud.