Someone from behind me cleared their throat, making me realize that I was still standing at the end of the last step while staring outside of the café. I quickly mumbled an apology and stepped aside before I nervously cleared my throat.

I glanced outside and saw Wheein walking towards the entrance of her café. She looked different now that I got a clearer view of her face. Her bangs completely covered her forehead, emphasizing the intensity of her eyes; her eyes that looked so serious, making her look mature and scary. The softness and brightness in her eyes were gone now, so unlike the Wheein I knew.

Before she could even get inside the café, I looked for the bathroom and rushed towards it.

“Oh, Wheein! Someone was looking for you earlier”

I cussed under my breath and jogged towards the bathroom when I heard the male barista, whom I knew as Kyungwoo based on his name tag. I pushed the door open, relieved that it wasn’t locked before I closed the door behind me.

“Really? Who?”

I heard Wheein ask the barista before I completely closed the door, shutting all the noise outside the bathroom. I closed my eyes and leaned my forehead on the door before I breathed deeply. I furrowed my eyebrows and shut my eyes tightly, feeling the ache in my chest when the image of Wheein kissing someone else kept on repeating in my head.

I pushed myself away from the door, placed my drink on the sink, and grabbed my phone from my bag. I dialled Hyejin’s number and started pacing inside the small bathroom while I ran my hand through my hair.

“Dammit” I whispered when my call went to voicemail this time.

I dialled her number again before I stopped pacing and faced my reflection. I gripped the edge of the sink really hard, trying to divert the ache I’m feeling in my chest into how hard I was holding onto the sink.

“What?!” Hyejin said, definitely irritated by me for calling her again. “Are you still not inside the café?”

“Why didn’t you say that she’s already in a relationship, Hyejin?” I whispered, feeling my voice about to break from saying it out loud while I shut my eyes tightly again to stop myself from crying.

“Wha… What do you mean?” she started, her voice softening.

“I saw her kissing someone in the parking lot when I was waiting for her. I think they went out to eat lunch together. I… Was I really too late?” I clamped my mouth right away and silently cleared my throat when my voice broke right after I asked her that question. “She just moved out yesterday, right? Was I too late already?”

“Hey… Hey… Stop crying. Are you crying?”

“No”

I am.

My tears had found their way out of my eyes and now they’re falling directly into the sink. I wanted to go back to my apartment. I wanted to see my son right away and hugged him tightly. I wanted to run because I couldn’t handle seeing Wheein kissing someone else, knowing that she’s with someone else already.

“Where are you right now?” Hyejin asked, her voice turning serious.

“I’m still in the café. I’m in the bathroom” I weakly responded.

“She’s not with someone else. I know she’s not in a relationship with anyone. I know she still loves you”

“But why, Hyejin? Why is she kissing someone else if she still loves me?” I asked before I sniffed back my tears and wiped the tears on my cheeks with the back of my arm. “I don’t understand…”

“Can you describe to me who was kissing her?”

“I… She’s around Wheein’s height. Long and dark hair. I didn’t get to see her face. All that’s running in my head now is the image of them kissing.” I gripped the sink tightly again before I whispered, “Dammit…”

“Wait, Byul is saying something” Hyejin said before I heard a toned down conversation from their end. “Okay, okay. Yeah… I think so” she mumbled but I think it was still directed to Byul rather than to me.

While Hyejin was still talking to Byul, I took the time to compose myself. I sniffed back my tears before I grabbed some tissues and wiped my face. I crumpled it and threw it inside the trash bin before I cleared my throat. I buried my fingers in my hair and gripped it, relieving myself from the stress.

“Yongsun? Are you still there?”

“Yeah…”

“Okay, here’s the thing. There’s this girl who’s been pursuing Wheein back when we were still staying in Jeonju. I forgot about her already but luckily, Byul remembered her. We’re not sure if it’s her since we didn’t see her face. Her name is Taeyeon. She’s around Wheein’s older sister’s age. She knew Wheein because of her older sister”

“And Wheein is also…”

“No” Hyejin answered right away before I could even finish my question. “She doesn’t and Wheein kept on telling her that she only sees her like an older sister”

“So why are they kissing?”

“I don’t know,” Hyejin said exasperatedly. “Maybe Wheein and Taeyeon made a deal. Maybe Wheein said to Taeyeon that she’d try. I don’t know, Yongsun”

“She said she’s moving on from me. She never said about finding someone else”

“I don’t know. Wheein could be stupid sometimes but she’s hurt too, which would make her extra stupid. Maybe you should ask Wheein and then tell me so I’d know. You’re there and I’m here in Seoul. And besides, you Eric-Nam-ed her”

“I what?” I asked, my eyebrows furrowing from confusion.

“Eric Nam. Your ex fiancé”

“What does this have to do with him?”

“You left Wheein to be with someone else. Your ex fiancé left you to be with someone else”

“I didn’t leave Wheein. I was being honest with her when I thought I couldn’t love her. That’s different” I argued, slightly frowning at the sink in front of me now.

“Same difference. Now stop crying like you didn’t hurt her as well and go talk to her.” She sighed heavily before she whispered, “I told you it won’t be as easy as you thought. I thought you knew the risk in pursuing Wheein. Are you giving up right away just because you saw her kissing someone else? You didn’t even know if they’re together or not”

“But what if they are? Am I supposed to destroy their relationship just because I wanted to be with Wheein? I can’t do that”

“Then find it out. Stop sulking in the bathroom and go talk to her. You’re just equally as stupid as Wheein, you know? I thought you’re smart” she whispered while I could imagine her rolling her eyes at me.

“Fine…” I whispered before I pushed myself to stand up straight and sighed heavily. “I… I’ll go now”

“Good and stop calling me in the middle of work,” Hyejin said.

“You can always call us around this time since it’s not the rush hour. Don’t worry”

I smiled when I heard the faint voice of Byul before I heard Hyejin scolding her. “Thank you, Hyejin. I’ll call you again when it’s not the rush hour. Bye”

“Bye!” Hyejin said before she ended the call right away.

I placed my phone back in my bag and sighed heavily. I leaned both of my hands on the sink and closed my eyes, giving myself time to compose myself. I immediately regretted it because I still couldn’t get rid of the image of seeing Wheein kissing somebody. I washed and dried my hands instead. Then I grabbed my cup on the sink before I headed out of the bathroom.

I pulled the door open and was about to step out when I saw Wheein jumping back, getting startled when I opened the door. I opened my mouth to say something but found no words to say to her. I wanted to ask her about the woman that she kissed, who Hyejin and Byul thought was Taeyeon. I wanted to confess but I’m too nervous to do that. I also wanted to ask her if she still loves me or not.

What stopped me from moving and talking though was her eyes on me. She ran her eyes all over me, pausing on the cup I was holding before she met my gaze again.

Eric said that the eyes never lied. That’s how he found out that I don’t love him anymore. Seeing Wheein’s gaze on me, I hoped eyes would lie because her gaze seemed so cold and intimidating. Her eyes were always welcoming but it felt like she hates seeing me right now.

“Wheein…” I whispered, at the time she asked, “What are you doing here?”

She didn’t even greet me or said hi. She didn’t even seem fazed that I’m here. She didn’t look nervous at all too. She seemed so cold. She felt so cold and I don’t like this version of Wheein.

Was this my doing?

“I need to…” I hurriedly cleared my throat when a lump got stuck in my throat from nervousness. “I need to talk to you, Wheein”

“I think I have told you already that we shouldn’t talk anymore. Have you forgotten about that?” she asked, her eyebrows furrowing like she’s irritated by me.

“I just need a second to talk with you, Wheein. This won’t take long”

“I’m busy, Yongsun. If you could please step aside, I need to use the bathroom”

I hurriedly moved out of the bathroom because she scared me so much. My heart is pounding from nervousness, but now I’m scared as well. She’s never like this to me before so it’s making me uncomfortable.

She walked inside the bathroom and closed the door while I’m left standing outside of the bathroom this time. I thought Wheein not talking to me or not acknowledging my presence was the worst. I’d rather have her not talk to me than receive her cold shoulder. I couldn’t stand it. I don’t like seeing it. Her eyes felt like daggers and she’s willing to throw them towards me because she doesn’t like seeing me anymore.

I stood in front of the bathroom door when I heard the door knob being turned from the other side. I blocked Wheein’s pathway just to make sure that she wouldn’t walk around me or escape me this time. If I could convince her that we could go somewhere private, that would be really good. That’s all I ever want. I don’t want to confess here. Not like this as well.

She stared at me like how she looked at me earlier while I gulped hard, feeling nervous once again. “What are you still doing here?”

I gulped hard once again by how foreign her voice sounded. I quickly wiped my palms on my dress as I said, “Can I talk to you Wheein? I just need a moment to talk to you”

“I’m busy, Yongsun. You should go back. Excuse me.” She tried to walk to the side but I stepped in front of her and held her arm. “What are you doing? I need to work” she said, eyebrows scrunching from irritation.

“I just need to talk to you. Please Wheein…”

“What part of I’m busy do you not understand?”

I immediately dropped my hand and averted her gaze when she glared at me. That’s one dagger thrown towards me right there, making me step back right away. “I’ll just wait for you then” I whispered weakly, unable to meet her gaze anymore while I rapidly blinked my eyes.

“Go home” she said before she walked around me, leaving me by myself standing in front of the bathroom.

“Don’t you love me anymore?” I whispered to myself as I took deep breaths, urging myself not to cry.

This is not just hard. This is almost impossible.

I waited for Wheein for a couple of minutes but seeing that she’s not coming out of her office, I decided to go back to my hotel room and unpack. I also read and replied to a couple of Eric’s texts, which were all related to Yongjae. They had already arrived back in Eric’s place and Yongjae seemed to be oblivious to the fact that I’m not with them yet. He’d probably be grumpy later at night if he won’t see me for a long time.

When it was almost dinner time, I walked back to Wheein’s café to wait for her there. There were more people in the café than earlier. I couldn’t just sit down and wait without a drink so I walked towards the end of the line to order.

I leaned to the side and saw Wheein was manning the cashier while the female barista earlier, I knew as Yoonyoung was with Kyunwoo now in the espresso machine. I’m feeling a little less nervous this time because I could see Wheein smiling behind the cash register. Maybe I could get a smile from her too once she’d be entertaining me.

She wasn’t. I was just being too hopeful when I was still on the line.

Her smile instantly went away and her glare was back again when she saw that it was me. “What are you still doing here? I told you to go back home”

My eyebrows slightly furrowed when I heard the same line from her again. I decided to be angry this time because if I won’t, I’d be hurt and I might cry in front of her. I’ll just cry later in my hotel room but I’m going to toughen myself up for now.

“Is that how you treat your customers or am I receiving special treatment from you?” I asked, seeing how her two baristas paused from what they’re doing to look at me and Wheein. I grabbed my wallet from my bag before I glanced at her again, returning her glare with a huge smile. Then I looked at the menu behind her and whispered to myself, “Let’s see…”

“What are you doing?”

“Ordering. Do other customers do something else when they’re in front of the cash register?” I asked, glancing at her briefly before I glanced at the menu again. I already knew what I wanted. I’m just taking my time to see how she would react or what she’s going to say next.

“You should’ve thought of what you’re going to order while you were still on the line” she mumbled.

“You’re aware that my eyesight is not good, right? I couldn’t possibly see the menu all the way from the back of the line.” I glanced at Wheein and returned her glare with a smile once again. “I’d like to have a mint chocolate please”

“We’re phasing out mint chocolate. We also ran out of stock for that one. Kindly please step aside so I could entertain the next customer”

I leaned forward instead and smiled so wide when her glare went away for a second as she blinked her eyes at me, flustered by how close our faces were. I could see a light blush creeping up her face too. There she is! There’s the Wheein I know. I know she’s still lying deep inside the glare she’s showing me.

I turned my head to the side and saw Yoonyoung, the one who entertained me earlier, was already looking at me. “Do you have mint chocolate, right? The one I ordered earlier”

“Yes, mam” she nervously responded, eyeing me and Wheein curiously.

“There we go,” I whispered before I leaned back and winked at Wheein. “One mint chocolate please.” I grabbed a few bills from my wallet and handed Wheein my payment.

She was back to glaring at me again as she inputted my order. “Did you just come here in Jeonju to order mint chocolate when you could have ordered it in Seoul?” she whispered under her breath.

I think she didn’t mean to say this out loud but my eyes and ears were on her every movement. It would be impossible for me to miss it.

“Hyejin told me you never had mint chocolate in Seoul. She said that you personally make the drink just for me” I said to her, smiling a little when her eyes widened for a moment before she was back to glaring at me again. “I’d like to talk to you, Wheein” I said, turning serious now as I stared at her intently.

“I’m busy” she said as she handed me my receipt.

I held my receipt and her hand and made sure that she was looking at me. I don’t care if she was glaring at me. I just want her to know that I’m being serious here and that I’m not making fun of her. “I’ll wait for you” I whispered, squeezing her hand once before I stepped to the side to get my order.

I smiled and thanked Kyungwoo, who handed me my drink, before I walked towards the empty booth by the windows. I placed my drink down first before I sat down and placed my receipt and wallet inside my bag again. I pulled out my phone to check on Yongjae while taking sips of my drink.

Eric sent a photo of him with his two brothers, Yongjae and Yongkeey. Yongjae was sitting down on the floor while holding onto his feet with Yongkeey beside him. Eric and his brothers were crouching and sitting down behind Yongjae and Yongkeey while holding diapers, Yongjae’s milk bottles and Yongkeey’s leash and food bowl. Yongjae was smiling so wide and Yongkeey was looking at Yongjae, always on guard for her baby brother. On the other hand, Eric and his brothers looked overly exhausted. I think they exaggerated their poses a bit but I could see in their faces that they’re really stressed and tired from watching over my babies.

I smiled at the photo,