Youngjae couldn't believe it. His voice got stuck in his throat as he laid his eyes on his old friend and crush.

"Youngjae is that you?"

Daehyun's eyes were wide with shock while Youngjae felt like he was stuck in time. Youngjae's eyes darted to the person Daehyun was with. It was a girl, she was remarkably shorter than him, but she was just as gorgeous. Jet black hair that stood out against her pale skin, lips tinted with a rosy shade, and her dark eyes were like a void you can be into. Daehyun had his arm wrapped around her petite waist; they looked good together.

"Daehyun? Who is that?" , The girl asked.

Daehyun looked at her almost like he forgot she was there. "Oh uh, he's one of my childhood friends, the one I usually talked about.”

The girl looked at Youngjae, "oh you mean the one that ran away and avoided you?"

Daehyun frowned, "Yeah that one..."

"Doesn't sound like a childhood friend, at least not anymore anyways right?" She sounded spiteful, and Youngjae couldn’t help but agree. His face turned into a rigid one, and he looked longingly into the distance, wanting to run away once again.

"Uh well... I'm sorry for disrupting your date I'll get going, nice seeing you again Daehyun." Youngjae bid a farewell with a wave and began to speed walk away as fast as his foot could take him.

 "Wait! Youngjae!" Daehyun tried to stop him, but Youngjae was already far away in his mind and his heart.

Youngjae quickly took cover in an alleyway for a breather, and he heard how loud his heartbeat was. The whole situation just reminded him of his entire high school memories again, and not in a nice way. As he slouched down on a step of stairs, he felt himself grow weary and exhausted and those tears from early caught up with him.

"So much for getting some fresh air. Why do I feel like I can never catch a break...?”

He wiped away the tears with the sleeves of his sweater hoping the effort would cause his eyes to stop. Instead, it only worsened, and he ended up looking like a mess. He can tell the tip of his nose was red, from the crying and rubbing by focusing on the center of his face. He huffed, feeling frustrated at himself, he pulled the hood from his khaki jacket to shield himself from others and made his way straight home, hunching down.  

He neared his apartment in which he lives alone; he moved out of his parents’ house the minute he started college due to him wanting to be a responsible young adult. He was very thankful that his parents had let him at all, they were mostly strict and overbearing, so it had surprised him that they said yes.

His apartment complex overall was a rather large one that catered towards college students. The building itself was gray and very modern as well as high, at least twelve stories. Due to its nature of aiming towards students, the renting was cheap. However, there was a shorter period to stay. There were at least three or four rooms on each floor, and Youngjae himself resided in the third floor. Youngjae never really met anybody else that had lived on his level so when he arrived and saw both Daehyun and his presumed girlfriend waiting outside a door, it nearly caused him to fall into cardiac arrest.

Youngjae mumbled under his breath, “Are you serious.”

The most logical action to take to avoid the possible situation of meeting again and having to explain himself was to either quickly duck into the apartment or come back at a later time. Youngjae decided to go with the latter mainly because he highly doubts he can get into his apartment without being seen. He recalls he has yet to refill his snack pantry because to quote himself, “I have no self-control” and consumes everything in his wake. Therefore he quickly takes a moment to leave and make haste to go to the convenience mart at the corner. And everything would have been fine if not for when he was deciding on his last snack he had felt a poke on his shoulder, and guess who? Peekaboo! It was Jung Daehyun. Youngjae turned around in fake surprise, hoping to give off the vibe that he did not just see the other a quick minute ago.

"Not going to say anything?"

Daehyun ran his hand through his hair and hesitated to speak, "Sorry about earlier Seojung doesn't really like being interrupted or rather have me not paying attention to her." Both parties laughed awkwardly. "D-Don’t worry about it you guys were on a date, I didn't mean to intrude."

"Just act cool Youngjae," Youngjae thought to himself.

Daehyun chuckled, "I see you are still taking the blame as usual?"

“What's that supposed to mean?"

Daehyun shook his head, "Nothing, never mind."

Silence proceeded to fall between the two parties.

"Do you maybe want to go to a cafe with me? You know catch up for good old times sake?"

Youngjae blinked a bit taken aback by his invitation, “I mean weren't you just on a date?” He thought to himself. "It’s fine if you don't want to. You look a bit tired," Daehyun laughed awkwardly again. "I'm alright. I'll go like you said for old time sake." Youngjae smiled.

The two of them walked silently to a nearby cafe called "Two Rabbits," which was a slightly hipster-chic designed cafe. Inside it was warm and cozy compared to the windy winter weather that was howling outside, the two sat in the back where it was less crowded so they could speak more freely.

Youngjae felt a little troubled, for one he left behind his snack collection at the convenience store, unfortunately, he didn't buy anything due to getting interrupted. Also, he found himself troubled about how he should act around Daehyun, mainly because where they had ended wasn’t in the very most pleasant case but also there was still residual feelings. Which is why there was no surprise when Youngjae found himself staring fondly at the other, a bad habit of his.

Daehyun cleared his throat, "Do you perhaps want something to drink?"

Whenever Youngjae was zoned into something, it was difficult to come back from it, even with Daehyun’s lips moving Youngjae still couldn’t grasp the situation. Another bad habit.

"Hello? Earth to Youngjae?"

Daehyun waved his hands in front of the others face causing the younger to blink and shift back a bit.

"Oh, my bad I spaced out for a bit." He laughed awkwardly making the other chuckle.

"Still the same. Anyways do you want to drink anything?" "Oh... Guess I'll just take a Caramel Macchiato." Daehyun nodded and called over one of the waiters, who appeared to be in a shocked daze because of all the customers, and ordered the drinks with an additional cheesecake.

"I see you kept the cheesecake addiction all these years." "It's not an addiction. Cheesecake is just that good." Youngjae rolled his eyes and laughed which caused the other male to join in as well.

"How long has it been since we talked?"

Youngjae hummed, "Probably only five years."

Daehyun scoffed, "You say it like it’s nothing."

Youngjae frowned at this remark.

"It wasn't as easy as you think," He thought to himself.

"Did you miss me any of those years," the other teased, trying to pinch one of Youngjae's cheeks. The younger swatted his hand away.

"You wish I did," he said weakly. Daehyun looked at him with slightly hurt eyes but quickly laughed. "This reminds me of our little kid days; we were conjoined!" "And everyone teased us, wow that was so fun," Youngjae replied a bit sarcastically. "They did, they did. I miss being a teenager… Now I have to think about my future and responsibilities." Youngjae paused for a little, "...Well, that's the whole point of growing up".  

Daehyun nodded in response.

 "Have you found yourself a girlfriend yet?" Youngjae pursed his lips, "Uh no...No not yet." "Aw don’t look so stiff! Meeting the right person can be hard if you want I can help you look for someone." Daehyun gave his old friend a reassuring smile and a thumbs up.

"That's what friends should do right?" Youngjae shifted uncomfortably in his seat, "I think I'm good Daehyun… I'm not looking for a relationship." Daehyun watched Youngjae's face as if he was searching for something, but stopped and huffed, “Ah, alright...is this a touchy subject? Did something happen?” Youngjae frowned, "No, no I'm fine don't worry about me."  

Youngjae hated talking about this particular subject, especially if his parents were involved, they expected a lot from him. The younger male found difficulty when dealing with the relationship sphere; it was an unexplored realm for him. Every time he had tried to get into one, he soon realized that he just didn’t like the other person the way he thought he did. Quickly deciding to shift the focus of the topic, "What about you? How are things going with...?"

"Seojung?”

“Yeah,” Youngjae replied flatly.

“Well, we've been together for eight months now." "Oh wow, that's a long time..." Youngjae felt a tinge of jealousy seep through him; he tried his best to brush it off. “Yeah it seems like it, but I feel as if that we barely started dating yesterday."

Youngjae didn’t know if that was a bad or good remark, so he just ignored it.

"I met her through a blind date, a friend thought we’d be good together, and here we are,” He ended with a slight chuckle. Daehyun paused and scanned Youngjae again before speaking, "Are you free tomorrow?"

Youngjae blinked and thought about it before replying, "Tomorrow? I think so...why?"

"I was just wondering if you wanted to perhaps hang out with me, it’s getting late, and we can have more time to talk tomorrow. Of course, that’s if you want to."

Youngjae was a bit surprised because he didn’t think that his old friend was this interested in seeing him again, he was hesitant, but he supposed it couldn’t hurt for a day. He bit his lip trying to figure himself out, but eventually concluding with, "Uh perhaps can I text you my answer later on? I'm not so sure."

Daehyun smiled loosely, "Yeah sure of course, no rush. You don't have my number right?"

Youngjae shook his head. Daehyun pulled out his phone and handed it to the other and said, "Put your number in." Youngjae followed the order and gave it back, Daehyun then proceeded to send the other a text that contained only a smiling emoji. "There now you have it and if I want I can message you whenever" the older beamed. Youngjae smiled, the small gesture filling him with joy, but that voice in the back of his head broke in with, "Don't think this means anything, " and he found his smile falter back a bit.

The older stood up and stretched his arms up. "Well it's getting late, I'll see you tomorrow maybe?" Youngjae nodded in response, "Yeah I'll let you know." The two proceeded to leave the cafe and wave at each other while parting their separate ways.