"Wonwoo?"

His voice was still the same, maybe slightly deeper. Wonwoo wondered if he would still look the same as well, but he refused to look behind just yet. He wasn't ready to face the person once more. 

"It's Wonwoo... Right?"

Wonwoo frowned, finally turning around to face the source of the voice. His breath caught in his throat at seeing him again. He grew taller over the course of years, as Wonwoo noticed that the other was well taller than him by a few inches. His black hair styled neatly on his head, as opposed to his own dyed-brown hair. His eyes were wide as he stared at Wonwoo, who had dropped his frown and opted for a blank expression that he had mastered. 

"Wonwoo," Mingyu repeated, though his voice broke. 

Wonwoo glanced into the cafe through the glass window, seeing Sujeong leaving her seat to walk towards the entrance, most likely realising his presence. He looked back at Mingyu, before turning around again with a heavy heart, willing himself to just walk away. As he took a first step, Mingyu's voice rang through his ears, sounding desperate.

"Don't go yet... Please."

Wonwoo shut his eyes, trying to get himself together. Mingyu left. Mingyu left him without wanting to explain to him anything. Mingyu was the one who had broken his heart into many tiny pieces and stomped on them, leaving him in a broken mess. What right did he have to tell him not to go yet?

He continued taking a few steps before Sujeong stopped him. 

"Suyeon isn't Mingyu's," she declared. 

Wonwoo stopped short, glancing at Sujeong. The girl isn't Mingyu's? Does that mean--

"What do you mean?" He frowned, striding towards her. "You cheated on him?"

Sujeong took a step back, intimidated. "We aren't together. We've never been."

Wonwoo turned to Mingyu this time, feeling confused and frustrated. He wasn't supposed to care. 

Mingyu took a step towards him carefully. "Were you, uh... Worried for me?" Wonwoo wasn't supposed to care.

The other laughed humourlessly. "Oh, gosh. I'm going ing crazy." He ran a hand through his hair, feeling like a mad man. "So what? So what if the both of you have never been together?" He stalked towards Mingyu and poked his finger on his chest. "It doesn't change the fact that you left. You lied to me. You wanted to leave without telling me anything. You broke me, Mingyu." 

Wonwoo watched as Mingyu's expression fell and his eyes welled up with unshed tears. "I know, Wonwoo, and God knows how I felt that day when I had to leave you. I didn't want it, Wonwoo, trust me. The one mistake that I should have never done was not telling you about my parents' arrangement with Sujeong's. I knew it all along yet I hid it from you. I was afraid, Wonwoo. I didn't know what to do, and telling you didn't seem like an option at the time. I didn't want to worry you, and I didn't want to hurt your feelings."

"Well, great job, ," Wonwoo scoffed. "Yet you tried to leave for Japan without telling me anything."

Mingyu looked away. 

"That was... My fault," Sujeong interrupted. "He was genuinely worried for you and wanted to see you, but I held him back. I went as far as getting his parents to control him. He was told not to show any remorse towards you when you arrived at his house. He really didn't want this, Wonwoo. I sincerely apologise for everything I did that time. When we were in Japan, Mingyu didn't speak to me at all. We didn't speak for months actually. Then I made many mistakes, one of which led to... Suyeon. Mingyu helped me out of pity, and I soon regret everything I'd done when he began telling me stories of the both of you. It was too late though, as we couldn't convince our parents to turn back their decision. Mingyu and I relied on one another. We were friends. Nothing more."

"I didn't think you'd accept me back in your life after you told me that you didn't want to see me again," Mingyu continued. "After we graduated, I was afraid of coming back. I'm a coward, I know. But my emotions had always been a mess when it came to you. When Sujeong insisted in coming back to Korea so that she could meet the author behind her favourite books, I thought of it as an opportunity. I thought that if we do bump into each other, it's probably fate. And then I got a call an hour ago from Sujeong, saying that she bumped into someone I'd want to see."

"That author happened to be Wonwoo, Mingyu," Sujeong spoke.

Mingyu's eyes widened in surprise. "You're a writer?"

Wonwoo shifted in his position, his head swimming with a million thoughts. "Yes, and I owned that bookstore there." He gestured towards it. 

"Wow, Wonwoo..." Mingyu breathed. "You're doing so well... It's really been long, huh?"

Wonwoo nodded slowly. "I picked myself up and focused on my career." He sighed. "I need time to think. I just... I don't think I could ever just forget about this, you know? Like I said, Mingyu, you broke me." A stray tear fell down his cheek, and Wonwoo swiped it away just as fast. "You know where to find me," he mumbled, turning away one last time and walking away. 

As Wonwoo closed the door to his store behind him, he stared at the empty place where remnants of the book signing remained. In a heap of emotions, he kicked his chair, sending it across the room. 

" you, Mingyu. you for coming back when I told you not to. Who are you to come back and, what, reconcile with me?" He scoffed. "As if."

He punched the nearest wall repeatedly, trying to numb his frustration through the pain inflicted. Punch, after punch, he conveyed his anger, frustration and confusion until his knuckles bruised and bled. He dropped onto the ground, clutching his chest. 

"Who are you... To come back... Kim Mingyu..." he spoke softly to himself. "Why is my heart like this? Why does it still reach out to him even after all he'd done to me?"

Because it wasn't entirely his fault, and you know it now. 

"I hate myself."

Throughout the years, Wonwoo had built a wall in himself to control his emotions, and to build his own self-confidence. Yet, all that crumbled down the moment Mingyu called his name. He hated how Mingyu affected him that much.

Most of all, he hated the fact that he still loved him after all these years.

Wonwoo had known Mingyu since they were in kindergarten, and they'd been best friends till the day they started dating. All those memories and time spent together couldn't just be forgotten instantly. In comparison to the huge ordeal that had happened, the amount of good memories they both shared most probably outweighed it. This was what frustrated Wonwoo the most. Was he supposed to forgive Mingyu then?

There was a knock on the door right then, and Wonwoo stood up quickly, trying to compose himself. He wiped the stray tears that managed to escape despite him trying to keep them at bay, and hid his injured hand behind him.

Seungcheol's head popped out from the entrance, his eyes scanning the bookstore before landing on Wonwoo. He sighed, taking a step inside.

"I thought you weren't in because of the Closed sign you'd placed," Seungcheol spoke, placing a plastic bag of what seemed like fried chicken, on the table that was previously used for the book signing.

He frowned, realising the chair that was previously there was missing, before he spotted it thrown onto the ground, a few feet away. 

"Were you robbed?"

Wonwoo scoffed, laughing. Trust Seungcheol to cheer him up, albeit unknowingly. He shook his head in response.

"Then why is the chair knocked over like that?" Seungcheol asked again. He narrowed his eyes in Wonwoo's direction. "Why are your eyes red-- Wait, were you crying?"

Sighing, Wonwoo thought that it was no use keeping his situation from his friend. "I was just... Frustrated." He took a seat on the edge of the table.

"Frustrated? Did something happen during your book signing?"

He shook his head. "No, it was... Something else. Remember what we talked about yesterday?"

Seungcheol nodded. "Yeah, about your childhood friend who soon became your first love, and that everything didn't last." It probably then dawned on Seungcheol as his eyes widen in realisation. "Oh... Don't tell me that thing happened again."

Wonwoo raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"You know, that thing when you talk about someone and that someone suddenly appears in your life again," his friend explained. "So... He came back?"

With his shoulders drooping, he nodded. "He came back, with Sujeong... and her daughter." Before Seungcheol could comment on it, he quickly continued. "But it turns out that the girl wasn't Mingyu's. The both of them explained that they were never together even after leaving for Japan."

"And...? That still doesn't change the fact how he left you, though?" 

Wonwoo was glad Seungcheol understood him. He then told him everthing that had transpired just moments before, and what exactly happened on Mingyu's side.

"So..." Seungcheol trailed off thoughtfully. "I'm guessing he wants your forgiveness and also wants you back?" 

Wonwoo shrugged. "I'm not sure what he wants exactly, actually. He just... Explained everything."

"That just means he does want you back, and is asking for your forgiveness too. He wouldn't have unnecessarily explain to you what happened all those years ago," Seungcheol tried explaining. 

"That's the thing," Wonwoo messed up his hair. "Am I supposed to forgive like that? Am I supposed to take him back into my life like he didn't leave me broken all those years ago?"

Seungcheol sighed, leaning against the cashier counter. "I'm not in your position to exactly understand what you must be going through, but here's my opinion, alright?" Wonwoo nodded, staring at the ground. "Don't forgive him just yet. Ask him if he'll be back in Korea for good, and if he is, then that's good I guess. Just slowly let him into your life again, and then maybe you'd soon learn to forgive him."

"Let him in again?" Wonwoo parroted. "I mean... How...?" He asked, looking up at Seungcheol and feeling lost.

"You just let him do the talking most of the time. And when you feel like you're more comfortable, then you talk to him more as well. I guess it's a matter of re-adjusting to him as well."

Wonwoo nodded carefully, taking in his friend's words seriously. "Okay... I think. I think I've got it. I know what to do." 

Seungcheol clapped his hands. "That's good then. Now, back to the reason why I dropped by. I bought some fried chicken on the way here to celebrate your book signing. You must be hungry. But first, let's tend to your injured hand, yeah? Don't think I didn't see it."

Wonwoo smiled sheepishly. "Thanks, man."

*

The first time Mingyu visited his store, it was a week after the both had met after a long time. 

The bell rung, indicating that a customer had just entered. 

"Welcome. Good after..." Wonwoo stopped short upon seeing