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Lisa was the last person he expected to hear from that Sunday evening.

But there it was, her name and a picture of the two of them at Jennie’s twenty-second birthday lighting up his iPhone screen with Lisa’s personalized ringtone blaring throughout the small electronics store. Ever since the party last weekend, thoughts of Lisa had plagued his mind. Jennie’s words had made home in his head and nothing else seemed to matter. When had she told Jennie she wanted to speak with him? Why had she told Jennie that? Did it mean she wanted them back together? And if so, why hadn’t she communicated that with him yet? But mostly, Taehyung was annoyed that Lisa was making decisions on her own again.

He exchanged glances with his brother, Seokjin. Seokjin frowned and then motioned to Taehyung that he would be right back before walking out of the store and toward a retail kiosk sitting in the middle of the mall. His thoughts raced, debating momentarily on whether he should answer the phone or not. Before his brain could come to a decision, his thumb was swiping left, and the phone was to his ear.

“Hey, Lisa,” Taehyung said into the receiver. He was trying his hardest not to sound too surprised or too elated.

She sighed, something she only did when she was relieved, and replied, “Hey Taehyung. How are you doing?”

He shrugged even though she couldn’t see it and said, “I’m doing okay. How are you? How’s Thailand?”

“Oh, I’m wonderful. Thailand is beautiful.”

“And the job?”

“Amazing,” she gushed. “They set me up with an apartment and I have my own office. The windows are huge!”

Taehyung smiled. Despite the lingering, unwavering anger he held for their break-up, he was happy to know that she was doing good. He still cared about her, and he wanted her to be happy and it seemed she was just that.

The line went quiet for a moment, an awkward feeling worming its way between the two former lovers. Taehyung cleared his throat. “So, what’s up? Did you want to talk about something?”

“No, I –” she began but stopped herself. Another silence, and then, “I heard Jimin and Sana got engaged. I’m happy to hear that.”

Oh. So that’s what this was about. She didn’t just hear about Sana and Jimin’s engagement, she heard about Taehyung and his new friend too. She was calling to see if he had moved on and had become interested in someone else.

 She was calling to ask about Lucille.

He couldn’t help but smile. Classic Lisa. The sweetest girl on earth had been cursed with the ugliest of traits: jealousy. Even Lisa could admit she didn’t much care for that part of herself, but she couldn’t help it. Lisa had to be everyone’s first pick. It’s why she and Sana could never become close because she couldn’t stand the idea of Jennie having another best friend. It’s why she couldn’t go into business with her sister as she couldn’t digest sharing the glory of success with someone else and it’s why she worked her off at her marketing firm to get this promotion. The same promotion that sent her to Thailand.

“Yeah,” Taehyung bit the bait. “They had a surprise engagement party over the weekend. You wouldn’t believe how many people showed up.”

“If Jimin was throwing it, I imagine it would be around one hundred or so,” Lisa said through a forced laugh. “I heard one of Sana’s old friends showed up. Someone she knew since middle school?”

At least she was trying to be upfront. “I’m not sure, there were so many people there.” If she wanted to know, she would have to say her name and Taehyung knew Jennie had told her every detail down to what Lucille was wearing.

“She’s a mixed girl? I think her name was Lucille?”

“Oh, Luce! Yeah, she was there,” Taehyung confirmed.

“Luce? You seem mighty chummy with a girl you just met,” Lisa replied.

Taehyung began pacing the aisles of the small store, pretending to look at the various Apple watches and computers. “I’ve known her since I was a kid. Her grandmother used to work for my family.”

“Oh,” was all Lisa said. Then, “Well, it’s nice to catch up with an old friend.” She emphasized the word friend. Taehyung knew what Lisa was looking for. She was looking for confirmation that Taehyung and Luce weren’t dating but he wasn’t going to give it to her. She forfeited all rights to his life when she decided to break up with him without any proper discussion. He would find this all to be nearly flattering if it wasn’t so damn annoying. “Actually, Tae, I did want to discuss us.”

“What is there to discuss?”

“I’m not saying we should get back together but what I am hoping is that neither one of us hops into anything new too soon,” she began. “I just think it would be silly, especially since I’ll be back in a year.”

Taehyung passed by a table filled with tablets, his brows furrowing. “Are you asking me not to date anyone until you return?”

“No, I—”

“And what happens if you return and decide you don’t want a relationship? What then?”

“Then we move on,” Lisa replied.

“What you’re asking of me is completely unfair. You know that, right?”

Silence. Taehyung could hear Lisa taking a slow, deep, breath on the other line before exhaling just as slowly. “I still care about you, Taehyung.”

“I still care about you too.”

“So then what’s the problem?”

“You’re asking me to put my life on hold because a jealous hair crawled up your ,” Taehyung snapped. He took a breath of his own and then apologized. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to snap.”

“It’s okay,” Lisa said quietly. “I get it. I – it’s unfair to ask you that. I just – I don’t want to give up on us yet, but I do think the time apart will do us some good.”

“You sound conflicted,” Taehyung said.

“I am,” she admitted. “It’s been … hard.”

“It’s been hard for me too,” Taehyung admitted as well. “But I think you’re right about this time apart being good for us. It’s not like we were the ideal couple before you left.”

“That’s true. Too damn true,” Lisa replied.

They had spent most of their time before Lisa’s departure arguing about the most trivial of things. When her job offered her the promotion, Taehyung saw it as a secret blessing, as much as he hated to admit it. Lisa later admitted she felt the same way. That should have been the first sign that something was off in their relationship but neither one seemed to want to face the bitter truth.

“Do you still love me?” Taehyung asked and he felt foolish for it, but he had to know.

“I do,” Lisa told him. “Do you still love me?”

“I never stopped,” Taehy