CHAPTER 44

[Sol Han Na’s POV]

“I’m surprised you wanted to see me,” Myungsoo murmured across the table, his hands folded in a businesslike manner. “You just came from China, right? Don’t you need to rest?”

I looked down at my steaming cup of coffee. My heart is pounding and I am at a complete loss. I wish I could do something to make this less painful for him. But what? How?

“I need to talk to you, oppa. There’s something I have to tell you,” I began, my heartbeats further accelerating.

Myungsoo’s face fell.

“Why do I suddenly get this feeling that I shouldn’t be here?” he asked with a worried smile.

My heart constricted.

“I-I think it’d be better for you to hear this now than to delay it…” I murmured, suddenly unable to meet his eyes. I gulped. “You know I care for you, right? And I would’ve done anything to keep you from getting hurt but---“

“What’s your point, Hanna?” he interrupted and the sudden coldness in his tone made me flinch.

I sighed.

“I still love Baekhyun.”

“I know that.”

I looked up from my cup to stare at him. His expression was serious. Slowly, I whispered, “Then why?”

“Because I love you. Isn’t that obvious?” he declared. “Isn’t it clear to you yet? That the reason why I keep trying to fight for you although I know it’s still Baekhyun and no one else but Baekhyun is because I love you too much to just give up?”

Tears burned my eyes and I breathed deeply to stop them from falling.

“I don’t want you to end up with him, Hanna,” Myungsoo continued miserably. “That’s why I have to fight no matter what – even if it’s a losing battle. Because somehow, there’s still this small part in me that believes you could still love me back. There’s that part of me that wants to prove Baekhyun wrong.”

The mention of his name made me snap in attention.

“What do you mean, oppa?”

“He told me once that it is more difficult to make a person fall in love with you than make her love you for the second time,” he said, scoffing in disbelief. He shook his head and added weakly, “Maybe he’s right.”

I pursed my lips and whispered, “No. He isn’t.”

Myungsoo’s eyes widened and I continued, “It’s not hard to love you, oppa. Believe me. But the problem here is, I never stopped loving Baekhyun. Even after we broke up, I never really fell out of love. So the thing here isn’t that it’s difficult to fall in love with you. It’s just that… my heart already belonged to someone right from the beginning. And it’s sort of blocking all my feelings out.”

“So you mean you would’ve loved me…” he broke off, gazing at me with eyes full of hurt. “If Baekhyun’s not around.”

“I would have. Maybe,” I admitted. “You’re a great man, oppa. You’re like one of the most thou