Jiyong's POV:

"Oh my God" I said, shocked. I couldn't believe what Chaelin had been through. I felt a burst of anger at her ex-boyfriend, but it was snuffed out by the much larger flare of guilt. I looked at my glass of wine, almost full.

" I am so, so sorry about what happened, I should have asked your consent no matter the situation. I see now that it must have brought back some very bad memories for you. I didn't mean to cause you any discomfort, Chaelin, and I will do anything to make it up to you."

I looked at her, her eyes were shiny with tears, her lips were trembling, I wanted to comfort her, but I did not want to alarm her further.

"It's ok oppa. I forgive you, thank you for listening to my story without any judgment, it means a lot to me." she whispered

"Of course. I want you to know that I will always be here for you and support you."

She got up from her seat and held her arms out to me. I immediately got up and put my arms around her. she buried her head against my neck, and as I bent down her scent of strawberries enveloped me. I don't know how long we stood there, her hands pressing against my back, it could have been hours or minutes, her scent was everywhere and she was everything, the rest of the world didn't exist.When I'm with her I feel time and everybody else fade away. Stop it! She just confided in you! You need to be a friend now, you can't have any other agendas.

She finally pulled away and looked at me, there were tear tracks on her cheeks, I brushed them away with my thumb.

"Hey, look, it's ok now. I'm here." she looked a bit confused by that statement, even in her emotional state "Your friends are all here and we all support you, ok? Nobody is going to hurt you anymore." I quickly amended

"Yeah. Thank You." she agreed. Her voice had become more steady and she had stopped shaking.

"Are we friends again?" I asked, smiling, trying to lighten up the mood

"Yeah, of course" She said her face was red and she was smiling shyly. God, she looked so sweet and innocent. Wait, I can't think like that! What's wrong with me!

"Do you want to go to dinner tomorrow? Just for fun.I mean, we have a vacation, might as well enjoy it right?" I sputtered. God, this was embarrassing.I really shouldn't do this.....but I need to be her friend and I can't just avoid her because I feel strange around her, I desperately want to be her friend and hang out with her. I won't act on any of these feelings, that's the solution.

"Um..yeah, I don't think I'm really doing anything tomorrow,so sure!"

"Oh...uh...great, that's good.It's excellent, actually." What was up with me? I had hung out with her many times, there's no reason to be nervous! "So...I'll see you then."

"Wait." Chaelin called. her hands were fisted at her sides and she looked determined, yet nervous at the same time. She must be bracing herself for something.

" Is it going to be awkward between us from now on, since I told you this? I know it's kind of weird and everything...."

"What! No, I'm glad you trusted me enough to tell me. I feel like I know you better, and that's not a bad thing at all. It might have been a shock to me, but don't worry I'm not going to act or treat you weirdly because of that."

"Thank you. So..um..yeah I'll see you then!" She was beaming. She skipped over to me and pressed her lips against my cheek, her hair tickling my neck, and walked out of the cafe.