-- October 01, 2018, 9:00 AM --

-- A Cafe in Mapo-gu, Seoul --

The team decided to meet at a cafe in the Mapo-gu area by 9:30 AM. Sunmi decided to go there a bit earlier to grab a cup of coffee and try out some of the treats that they had. She was seated beside the window and she looked at the view outside and sat there lost in thought, that she failed to notice someone walk up to her table until that person cleared their throat. She looked up to see Sehun.

"Oh, oppa." Sunmi awkwardly greeted as she stood up to welcome him. Sehun just nodded at her before pulling out the chair in front of her and sitting there. He didn't say anything and Sunmi slowly sat back down and fiddled with her coffee cup.

"Did you order?" She asked him and he just nodded, still staring at her. Sunmi felt like she was an experiment being studied with the way he scrutinized her.

"Is there something on my face?" She decided to ask him and he shook his head no.

"You changed a lot the past 10 months." He finally said.

"Everyone changed. Even your hair color has changed." Sunmi joked to try and ease the tension between the both of them.

"What else has changed?" Sehun asked her and Sunmi didn't know how to answer.

"My height?" Sunmi answered in question form as she wasn't sure if that was what he meant.

"What about your feelings for me? Has that changed?" He finally asked her directly. Sunmi straightened up, trying to form the words to answer his question.

"No, it hasn't." She decided to take the honesty route.

"So, why, then? Didn't you trust me enough to tell me? Or even just leave me something that would let me know you were alive and fine?" Sehun asked her.

"K-nim specifically stated that Jaesuk-oppa and I don't get in touch with you guys." Sunmi carefully said, not wanting to get him angry.

"Bull. You could have found a way around it if you wanted to. I searched for you for months, any trace, clue, or lead I had, no matter how small, I gave it my all because I wanted to know the truth. I wanted to know if you really were dead or if someone had been holding you captive. I wanted to save you." Sehun told her and this time, she didn't know what to say.

"But all this time, you were fine. While I had nightmares of the night of the explosion, while I blamed myself for being unable to save you, you were alive and well. Do you know how that makes me feel? Like I was betrayed. Because while you were off doing whatever K wanted you to do, I was stuck living with memories of you." Sehun continued to say.

"Did you ever even stop to think about me? About how I was doing?" He asked again.

"Of course I did. The reason why I begged Jaesuk-oppa to watch you instead was because I couldn't bear to see you do that to yourself. I'm sorry I didn't find another way to tell you. I'm sorry I hurt you." Sunmi told him, trying to reach out for his hand that was on top of the table but he pulled back and he shook his head at her, the feelings of hurt clouding his mind.

"I love you, Sunmi, but I don't think I'll ever get past the hurt that you put me through the last few months." He told her and all she could do was nod.

"I understand. I hope that this won't affect how we work around each other, though. I at least want to be friends again, oppa. And, the team needs us even more with Kwangsoo-oppa missing. Also, I hope you'll be able to forgive me one day. Thank you for the memories." Sunmi said as she pulled off the ring he gave her that she was still wearing and slid it over the table to him. He shook his head at her and slid it back.

"It was meant for you. Keep it as a sign of us rebuilding our friendship." He told her and she just nodded at him, choosing to put the ring in her pocket for now. She then stood up.

"Excuse me for a bit." She told him as she left for the bathroom.

Once she was inside, her tears started falling and she did her best to wipe them away. She calmed herself down and made sure that no one could notice that she was crying. She then sighed as she pulled out the ring from her pocket and unclasped her locket necklace to put it there instead. She looked at the mirror once more to check if she looked normal and exited the bathroom to go back to her table. Once she got back, she saw Sejeong already there, laughing with Sehun. Sunmi put on her best smile.

"Oh, unnie. You're here!" She called out and Sejeong looked away from Sehun to look at her.

"Sunmi-ah!" She cried out as she stood up and ran to hug the younger woman.

"Unnie, you're squishing me." Sunmi told her.

"Sorry, sorry. It's just that, I thought you were dead but you're not. And I saw you for the first time in months but I didn't get to do this yesterday. I missed you so much!" Sejeong happily told her as she pulled away. Sunmi fixed her hair and clothing as they both walked back to where Sehun was still seated, just looking at them.

"I missed you a lot, too, Unnie." Sunmi said with a smile. The trio continued talking to each other, Sejeong leading most of the conversation by asking Sehun and Sunmi questions. Slowly, the awkward atmosphere between Sehun and Sunmi disappeared and it was like a flashback to around a year ago when the SunSeSe trio was formed. Sejeong was