“So? Has anything changed?”

Gwiboon doesn’t know how many times she has heard this question from Taeyeon but she knows the answer hasn’t changed. Just like how nothing has changed.

“No, Tae.” Gwiboon sighs into the receiver of her phone while she stares at the ceiling and pictures Taeyeon looking frustrated, “Nothing. Absolutely nothing has changed between us. Please stop asking me this question.”

“But you told me he started reading your novel a month ago!” Gwiboon’s overly concerned best friend reasons, “Plus yours is a short novel, unnie. It shouldn’t take him so long to finish it especially when he loves reading… why hasn’t he said anything to you?”

“I don’t know, maybe he hasn’t finished it?” Gwiboon answers, feeling as fed up as Taeyeon sounds, “Or maybe… he didn’t see the importance of finishing it? Maybe a romance novel isn’t worth his time.”

“Maybe you should just go to his house right now and demand him to finish the book so that nerd can realise you’re actually writing about the sad love story between you and him.”

There’s no malice in Taeyeon’s words but Gwiboon feels as if her best friend has just thrown a punch at her. It hurts so bad because every single word Taeyeon has said is the truth. And well, the truth bloody hurts.

It hurts that Gwiboon has been in love with Choi Minho for the past year and a half. It hurts when Minho has no clue about her feelings. It hurts even more to pine for someone to the extent that she decides to vent her frustration by writing about her unrequited love and making it into a short novel that is begging for a sequel. She says this because the novel ends at the part where the protagonist finally confesses her feelings. And the rest, which Gwiboon knows will come but doesn’t exactly know what will happen, is left unwritten.

“Unnie?” Taeyeon’s apologetic voice pulls her out of her thoughts, “I just… I want you to be happy.”

Gwiboon smiles sadly, “I’m alright. I’ll be fine.”

“I’ll never understand why you’ve put yourself through such misery…” Taeyeon thinks out loud, “You’re Kim Gwiboon, beautiful, witty, talented, and it’s not as if no one wants to date you, but you end up falling in love with a nerd who isn’t even smart enough to see that you’re in love with him. Where’s the logic in that?!”

“Don’t bother figuring it out.” Gwiboon advises, “I’ve been asking myself that every day since I stopped being in denial about my feelings for him but I still can’t understand why.”

“Unnie…” Taeyeon sighs, “How much do you regret hitting him at the book store?”

Gwiboon stops to think about Taeyeon’s seemingly nonsensical but very much serious question.

She’ll never forget the first time she met Minho. It was the day her first novel came out in bookstores. Gwiboon had been so excited that she visited the largest bookstore in Seoul first thing in the morning just so she could admire her book displayed on the shelves. When she saw her books printed in hardcover filling one entire shelf of the New Releases section, she couldn’t contain her happiness. So ecstatic was Gwiboon that she did a little dance and punched her fists in the air only to end up accidentally hitting someone in the face.

Of course, that someone turned out to be Minho.

If it was a light brush against Minho’s face, she could have just apologised and things would have ended there. But as fate would have it, it wasn’t. One of her fists collided with Minho’s face hard enough to knock his over-sized round glasses out of place and in the process, leave a cut just below his right eye. It stung and Minho had winced in pain. That made Gwiboon more apologetic and worried than she originally was.

It was nothing too serious though; and Minho himself had brushed it off, simply adjusting his glasses back into place and ignoring the cut, so he could hurry off as if human interaction was a challenge to him. Gwiboon, however, wasn’t going to let him leave like that. Like she would with any other friend or stranger, she began fussing over him and never stopped even until today.

Perhaps that’s why she has only herself to blame for falling in love with Minho. After the incident, Gwiboon finds out that Minho doesn’t know how to take good care of himself. Maybe he does… but he can’t be bothered to. Not when his whole life revolves around being a production assistant who dreams to be a renowned film director one day.

Minho’s job practically consumes his entire life and as much as Gwiboon can understand his passion for film (it’s similar to her passion for writing), she worries about him. How Minho wants to live his life is really none of her business but Gwiboon can’t help but meddle in his affairs. What’s weird and somewhat funny is that Minho doesn’t mind having Gwiboon in his life at all. Their first meeting may have been sudden and unexpected but it’s unusually easy for them to become friends.

The more time they spend with each other, the more Gwiboon likes Minho. And that includes his overgrown hair, tacky glasses, unstylish clothes and awkward mannerisms. Even though he looks and acts exactly like how you’d imagine a nerd to be, there’s just something charming and attractive about Minho that makes Gwiboon think about the possibility of being more than just friends. Soon enough, all that fussing turns into something more and Gwiboon realises that she cares too much about Minho. It takes her long to admit but she knows she’s doing it out of love more than anything else.

If Gwiboon has a choice, she would rather not fall in love with someone. It’s always easier to be loved and accept someone’s love. Loving someone is bittersweet, more bitter than sweet especially if it’s an unrequited love, but does Gwiboon regret it?

No.

And she tells Taeyeon this.

“I’m glad I hit him actually.” Gwiboon smiles as she continues, “It’s tough but I like being able to love someone… better yet when I end up writing my third book because of him.”

“You’re stu-… silly.”

“Someone’s being polite.”

“Do me a favour, will you, unnie?”

“Hmm?”

“Just go to his house right now and tell him you love him.”

“Actually…”

“What? Were you planning to do that?”

“I am going over to his house to catch up with him later…”

“That’s great! It’s perfect timing, you can-”

“But I won’t confess to him like you want me to.”

“Unnie!”

“Goodbye Tae~”

“No, unnie, you-”

With that, Gwiboon hangs up and ignores the rest of her incoming calls which she bets is from her best friend. She knows exactly what Taeyeon wants to say so she really doesn’t need to hear it out loud. Besides, looking at the time, Gwiboon has to get ready and leave her house in half an hour or else Minho would be kept waiting.

It’s been slightly over a month since they last met. Gwiboon, as an up and coming contemporary romance author, has been busy promoting her latest book while Minho’s been working tirelessly at the broadcast station, juggling a number of projects all at once. Gwiboon can bet he doesn’t even spend much time at his own home. If it wasn’t for her, Minho probably wouldn’t have much of a reason to leave the station. In fact, she’s happy that Minho is even making time for her. It’s the little things like this that Gwiboon treasures the most.

A few steps away from the door of Minho’s apartment, Gwiboon finds herself smiling as if she has won a million dollars. She can’t help it though; she’s just in such a good mood knowing that they can finally spend time with each other after a month apart. Barely able to contain her excitement, Gwiboon rings the doorbell and waits impatiently for Minho to open the door.

When he does, she leaps into his arms and gives him a big hug.

“Hey you!” Gwiboon greets enthusiastically, “I’ve missed you.”

Minho laughs and awkwardly pats her back as his way to return the hug, “But we talk every other day…”

“We don’t see each other enough though…” Gwiboon pouts as she pulls away from the hug before Minho can get more uncomfortable than he already is and takes a good look at him, “You need a haircut, Minho.”

“Soon.” Minho simply answers and gives a small smile before he changes the subject, “What shall we do for dinner?”

“We could order in?” Gwiboon suggests, “Something simple will do.”

“Alright, I’ll go get the menus and we could decide which eatery to order from…” Minho nods and points to the living room, “Make yourself at home.”

While Minho heads towards the kitchen, Gwiboon walks further into the small apartment and quickly scans the living area. It isn’t as messy as she thought it would be. Minho must have done some tidying up before she arrived. Still, it’s an organised mess and Gwiboon’s fingers itch to help him clean the place a little more. Before she knows it, she’s straightening the cushions on the two-seater sofa and then lifting the stuff on the coffee table so she can wipe any dust away with a tissue.

While cleaning, Gwiboon easily spots her book that she gave Minho before it was even released at the bottom of the small stack of books near the side of the table. She carefully takes it out and can’t help but smile as she holds Minho’s copy of her own book in her hands.

It isn’t her intention to check if there are signs that indicate Minho has read the book but as Gwiboon flicks through the pages, she notices that certain pages have been dog-eared. She starts paying careful attention and realises that the last page which has been marked with a dog-ear but folded back into place is somewhere at the end of the second last chapter in her book.

Gwiboon’s heart skips a beat.

That could only mean one thing.

“Minho!”

Gwiboon finds herself calling out for her friend before she can stop to think.

“Yeah?”

Minho’s voice comes from behind her and Gwiboon instantly turns around while pointing at her book.

“You’ve finished reading this?”

Holding a bunch of crumpled leaflets in his hands, Minho nods and joins her in the living room.

“Wh- when…?” Gwiboon has never been more nervous.

“About a week after you gave it to me…” As he sets the leaflets aside, Minho answers, looking slightly guilty as if he knows it’s his fault for not telling Gwiboon earlier.

“And you never told me?” Gwiboon asks confusedly.

“I was… well, I was… umm…” Minho pushes his glasses up his nose and clears his throat before he tries forming a coherent sentence to explain himself to Gwiboon, “I was trying to understand? You see, the story’s so familiar so I think I may have gotten the wrong idea-”

“You didn’t.”

Gwiboon interrupts Minho as she places the book back onto the table before taking a few steps closer to her visibly confused friend.

“You didn’t get the wrong idea, silly.” Gwiboon clarifies with a slight smile before she says in an almost whisper, “It is about us.”

Minho’s eyes widen comically but Gwiboon just thinks it’s cute. It makes her a little less nervous, enough for her to find the courage to confess her feelings for him.

“Minho, you’re one of my closest friends… and I’ve loved having you in my life,” Gwiboon reaches out for his hand and holds it lightly in hers, “You’ve given me a friendship that I don’t ever want to lose… I already have so much of you but now I want the best of you.”

“That’s…” Minho his lips nervously as he looks into her eyes, “-a line from the last page of your book.”

Gwiboon smiles, “Yeah.”

“But you didn’t write about what happened after the confession.” Minho frowns.

“I thought stopping there was good enough… that the protagonist finally confessed the feelings she kept to herself for so long. It’s a kind of happy ending too.”

She may not have known this when she wrote the ending then but Gwiboon now knows it is a happy ending. At this moment in time, she feels so much lighter, so much happier now that she has finally got her feelings across. However, it seems that Minho doesn’t feel the same way as he shakes his head and squeezes Gwiboon’s hand.

“You’re not really good at being a romance novelist when you don’t give your readers a happy ending.” Minho points out, “You’ll need to write that sequel no matter what.”

“Excuse me, who’s the author here?” Gwiboon jabs at Minho’s chest as she laughs, “I’ve written three books, mind you. I know what I’m doing.”

“Gwiboon?”

Minho suddenly becomes serious that the smile on Gwiboon’s face turns awkward.

“Yeah?”

“I just thought you should know that you’ve always had all of me.”

Gwiboon blinks, unable to respond as she lets Minho’s words sink in. But Minho takes her silence the wrong way.

“Should I not have said that?” Minho bites his bottom lip, just about ready to panic at the situation, “Sorry I don’t want our friendship to be ruined because-”

Gwiboon tips toes and silences Minho with a light kiss.

“You idiot.” She mutters after she pulls away and gently rubs her lipstick stain off Minho’s lips, looking fondly at Minho, “If it isn’t clear enough, I’ve loved you for a long time.”

“Can’t be as long as me…” Minho blurts out.

“What?” An amused smile grows on Gwiboon’s face, “And how do you know? Unless it was love at first sight, you can’t be-“

Gwiboon’s sentence is replaced with a gasp.

“You got to be kidding me.”

Minho remains silent, lips suddenly glued tightly together.

“Choi Minho!”

He starts avoiding her eyes.

“Why didn’t you tell me!!”

Minho turns away.

“Umm, I think we should order dinner-”

“Don’t you dare change the subject.”

Gwiboon quickly wraps her arms around Minho’s hips before he can go anywhere.

“Gwiboon!” Minho squirms anxiously, his body more tense than Gwiboon has ever seen or felt.

“What? Does this make you uncomfortable?” Gwiboon can’t help but smirk.

“A little?”

“Well, get used to it, my love, because we’re going to be getting so much more intimate in the future.”

Minho gulps but Gwiboon ignores his uneasiness and even presses her body against his, hugging him closer and tighter, just to make it clear that she isn’t going to let him go… not now, not ever.

Besides, she thinks Minho deserves this after making her suffer from a seemingly one-sided love for too long.