The fresh aroma of the newly brewed coffee settled in front of her filled her senses. Byulyi sat alone in the table situated at the corner of the coffee shop. Her chin rested on her palm as she leans on her seat gazing at the steet outside. It has been months since she last came back to the said coffee shop as she was reminded of the past. She finally got the courage to come back to the place she once loved and grab a coffee for herself. She just had the urge to get coffee as it was her favorite and she would like to believe that her very system is pumping out coffee instead of blood.

It was the place where she met her first love. It was the place where they first held hands. It was the place where they had their first date. It was the place where they said those daunting yet endearing three words.

It was also the place where they broke up.
 

"What do you mean you want to break up?" Byulyi asked. Distraught evident in her face and in her voice. "Did I do something wrong? Wh.. l... Why are you being like this?"

Yooa was there right in front of her, unable to look at her straight in the eyes. "No, there's nothing wrong with you, Byul. It's not you, it's me..."

Byulyi scoffed after the last line Yooa said. There it goes, the typical cliché breakup line. "Yooa, you're not making any sense..."

"I don't know, Byul, I don't know..." Yooa exclaimed, "I don't know. I guess I just woke up one day and realized that I don't love you anymore. I tried, Byul. Believe me, I tried." A tear now escapes Yooa's eyes. "Byul, I tried to do things to rekindle my love for you. But I don't know why, after all the efforts I did, it didn't and it never came back." If only she she knows what happened within herself, why she had fallen out of love, Yooa could have given Byulyi a clearer reason why. But she can't, she just can't.

Byulyi shook her head with intensity, trying to convince herself that everything Yooa said was just some other voice in her head. "No... No, that can't be... I..." Byulyi was also on the verge of crying, but she tried to hold it back by biting her lips so hard until she tasted that familiar copper-like taste. "Yooa, please give me a chance, give us a chance and I'll try to do everything that I can to bring back what we once have please." Byulyi pleaded while grabbing Yooa's hands in between hers. Call her desperate, but she really wants to do everything to make Yooa fall in love with her back again.

Yooa gently pried away her hands from Byulyi's clasp and instead held her hands this time. "Byul, I'm sorry. I really am." She then proceeded to kiss Byulyi's knuckles. Byulyi couldn't hold back her tears any longer and just let the stream flow on her face. "Byul, I just wish that we could remain as friends. I genuinely wish that you would find the right person soon. Who knows you might find them here?" Yooa smiled at the thought. Byulyi, on the other hand couldn't. Here she was, in front of her girlfriend, rather her ex-girlfriend, bawling and she had the audacity to wish her well and to look for someone else immediately.

Byulyi retracted her hands back rather harshly. "Leave me now, please. If you're such in a hurry to break up with me and to have me find someone else so quick, leave now." Byulyi replied back in spite.

Yooa let out an apologetic smile and held Byulyi's face gently in between her palms and, for the last time, kissed her forehead as a parting gift.

"I'm sorry, Byulyi. Goodbye."

 

Byulyi's thoughts were cut off when Yongsun waved a piece of paper in front of her. She noticed that the older woman brought along her own mug to the table. Yongsun is the owner of the coffee shop and does serve coffee from time to time if she feels like it. Although she has two baristas under her wing, she still goes behind the counter every now and then.

"You've got two people to help you out here in the shop already but why do still take over sometimes and make coffee?" Byulyi asked out of curiousity. The coffee shop is running fine, Yongsun's staff are pretty much trustworthy and could even handle store matters even if Yongsun herself isn't present, so this pretty much stirs Byulyi's curiousity as to why she still dons the apron from time to time.

Yongsun simply smiled as she inputs Byulyi's order. "Is there such rule that store owners can't handle other stuff aside from managing the business?" Yongsun glanced up, awaiting Byulyi's reply. Byulyi shook her head vigoruously and Yongsun chuckled at the gesture. "See? None right? So why can't I do this, then? It's actually fun interacting with my customers and getting to know them based on the coffee that they order."

Whenever Yongsun serves coffee, she never forgets to include a note for her customers as a way to cheer them up or to console them if she feels that they are in a bad mood or so Byulyi thinks.

Choose coffee than a confusing relationship. It will make your heart beat faster but will not break it.

Byulyi chuckled at the note. Yongsun went along as well and chuckled. "You haven't visited in a long time, Byul. I missed you." Yongsun lamented, "With your disappearance and Yooa not being with you right now, I took it upon myself to guess that you have broken up, thus the note." Yongsun explained while letting out a nervous chuckle, hoping that Byulyi isn't hurt or offended in any way.

"Yeah, you're right." Byulyi's reply was curt. No, she wasn't annoyed or offended at Yongsun's statement but it's just that she really hasn't gathered up much energy to interact with people once again. After her break up, she spent the first month being locked up in the premise of her apartment, only going out for groceries. The next months were spent in trips that she hardly even enjoyed since she would pretty much lock herself up again in her hotel room. "I'm sorry, Yongsun-ssi, but it's just that I just don't have the energy to interact with people again. This whole excursion is just a trial for me to see if I have really recovered. But I guess I really haven't."

"Do you mind?" Yongsun asked while gesturing to the seat across Byulyi. Byulyi simply nodded and watched as Yongsun situates herself in the seat across her. Yongsun looked beautiful with the light illuminating her like she was some God-sent angel. How did she not notice this before? Has Yongsun always been this beautiful? She shook of her thoughts for now and brought her senses back to the current situation right now.

"Do you want to talk about it, Byul?" Yongsun asked. Yongsun shifted her position in order for her to be comfortable, propping her elbow on the table while resting her head on the back of her hand.

Byulyi took a few sips from her coffee before letting out a long sigh. She glanced back at the street outside and contemplated whether or not she would pour out to Yongsun everything that has been running in her mind for quite some time now.

Looking back at the woman in front of her, she was sipping her coffee while fixing her stare at her, seemingly waiting for her to talk. Yongsun was about to speak when Byulyi got to her first. "I just couldn't understand why."

"Understand what, Byul?" Yongsun asked as she settles her mug down and in between her palms.

"Why did she fall out love? Is that even possible?" Byulyi ran her fingers through her tresses. She still couldn't comprehend why she left like that so easily. Yongsun took another sip from her coffee before easing out Byulyi's confusion. "Sometimes, love is like coffee, Byul. It starts off really warm but the longer it stays in your palm, it would cool down and you would loose interest in drinking it already, believing it doesn't taste the same when you first got it hot. You may reheat it again, if you want to, but are you certain that you still want to finish that coffee?"

Yongsun was right. If she chose to hold on to Yooa and forced her to not break off with her, she wasn't entirely sure that what she was planning to do would really make them rekindle their lo