"Who has free coupons for hotpot?"

Yujin sat opposite the latter. "I used to eat here a lot. I probably spent most of my allowance here." She scrolls through the menu tablet at the side of the table.

"Do you like it that much?"

"Nothing ever goes wrong with a hotpot when everything goes into a hotpot."

"They give coupons here?" Minju never really comes here unless there's an event that calls for it.

Yujin nods. "You'll have to come here an absurd amount of time to get it. Do you eat prawns?" She lifts her gaze off the tablet. "Seafood or just meat?"

"Anything."

"Both then." Yujin places the orders. "Rice or noodles? Or both?"

"Are you a big eater?"

"If I want to be. So both?"

Minju nods as the aroma of assorted soups slowly makes her hunger rise. She remembers coming here during winter. Bubbling hot seafood broth warming up her body, boiled down ingredients that always manage to hit the spot.

However, she only ever comes here with one girl and no one else. This whole place reminds Minju of her.

"Do you dip your meat in raw eggs or sauce?" Yujin caught her dazing before her gaze met hers. "I have a special recipe for a sauce. I've had it tested by people and they said it's good so you don't have to worry. Do you want to try it?"

"You have a special sauce?"

Yujin nods excitedly just thinking about it. "I'll go make it." She stands up.

"I'll follow you." Minju points at her cast to remind her. The younger girl totally forgot as they went to the condiments cart.

Yujin blows out a small breath, looking at all the ingredients. "We'll need a little bit of everything. Almost everything."

Minju grabs a small bowl as Yujin scoops in some minced garlic. "A bit of these." She pours in red chilis, green onions, chilli flakes and some sesame seeds. She inches towards the liquid condiments. "This." She drizzles some spicy oil, black vinegar and peanut sauce.

"Lastly." She sprinkles some cilantro for fragrance. Looking at Minju, she smiles. "Done."

"What is this called?"

"What's it called?" Yujin tilts her head. "I've never really thought of a name. I just call it special sauce." They went back to the table that was already filled with their orders.

Sitting down, Yujin takes two pairs of chopsticks.

"You should give it a name," Minju said.

The latter wipes down the chopsticks, passing a pair to her. "You try it and tell me what it feels like." She shifts the sauce and the plate of meat to Minju.

The brunette briefly swirls a thin slice of beef in the soup for a few seconds and dips it into the sauce. Yujin watched her try it, looking out for her reaction.

And the first came–a long hum. Then it came with a set of slightly widened eyes.

"It's good, right?"

Minju couldn't help but nod at the combination. She covers while chewing. She gave one thumbs up, changing it to two.

"That good?" Yujin chuckles, seeing her nod frantically. "I should call it thumbs-up sauce. I didn't get one but two thumbs up." She pours the prawns and other ingredients in, letting it cook while the brunette helps her.

"Thumbs-up sauce sounds good." Minju snickers, turning up the heat of the pot.

Soon they started eating to their heart's content, telling each other things they couldn't since they didn't have each other's phone numbers. Self-induced torture. Whatever Yujin does influences a smile Minju didn't know she had.

An effortlessly flowing smile.

Perhaps the girl had humour in her bones. Every little thing causes a peal of laughter to erupt.

Now they're having a debate on the most famous topic in Korea.

"Let's say you are eating with a group of friends and your partner is present. A friend of yours had difficulty peeling off the perilla leaf. Would you help them?" Yujin's question left Minju with a simple answer.

"Why wouldn't I help my friend?"

"Okay, you have a girlfriend. And another girl couldn't peel it off. And that girl has feelings for you. Will you still help her?"

Minju gave it a thought. "It's just food, so yes." She saw Yujin's jaw drop.

"Why?"

"What's wrong?"

"Poor girlfriend of yours." Yujin tuts. "You'll be sleeping on the floor that night."

"Why? You wouldn't help her?" Minju didn't quite get it. "Why wouldn't you help someone?"

"You just don't."

"Why?"

"Your girlfriend must be thinking, why are you helping her? Are you trying to flirt with someone else? How dare you?"

"Just because of the perilla leaf?" The brunette raises an eyebrow, shoving kimchi into .

"Trust me, it's not just hard-to-peel perilla leaf." Yujin shakes her head. "You helping her is the problem."

"My girlfriend must be really petty then. Getting jealous over vegetables." Minju shrugs. "I'll peel all the perilla leaves for her. Will that solve everything?"

Yujin chuckles at her plan B and places a nicely peeled prawn on the girl's plate. "There are just some things that can't be explained. It looks simple but it could mean so many things. Like flipping the phone screen towards the table."

Minju wondered what the girl went through to think about all that. Flipping the phone screen towards the table only meant the person was hiding something. Or that the person didn't want notifications to distract their time together. Minju wasn't bothered by it, never having to go through toxicity but wondered if that's what the younger girl went through.

She looks at the piece of prawn and back at Yujin who ate as if she did nothing. The act of de-shelling a prawn. The effort it takes to de-shell a prawn, getting her hands all dirty. Not to mention, Yujin was the injured one. Yet, she managed to do it effortlessly.

"What happened earlier?" Minju asks, picking up the precious piece of prawn and dipping it into the special sauce.

"What happened?" Yujin beheaded the poor shrimp, shredding the shell off.

"You said something came up." Minju shoves the whole prawn into .

Yujin was fascinated by how it could fit in . "Oh, that?" She figured Minju would ask. "Someone showed up."

"Who?"

"Who else? She just showed up without telling me. It totally ruined my mood but I'm all good after seeing you." She didn't know how it came out so smoothly.

"Why did she go to you?" That could mean two things. She wanted to get back together or she had things that weren't returned to her and she had to get it back from Yujin.

Besides, the younger girl didn't break up for long. There was still room for patching up. Minju wasn't leaving that possibility out.

Yujin sighs, wiping her fingers against the napkin. "She wanted to talk. But I said no. We have nothing to talk about. And she told me she wanted to try again. Everything. But I don't see a point in getting back together when there's nothing left."

"You don't want to?"

Yujin slowly shakes her head. "I would if I was Yujin from a month ago."

"What changed?"

"You're asking me?" She chuckles. "Many things have changed." She sips on the soup and sees Minju just wanting to know more.

Putting down her spoon, she asks, "If she came back to you and asked for a second chance, what would you do?" Yujin didn't want to just answer but would like to hear what Minju's decision might be.

The older girl drops her gaze. She didn't even think and shook her head. "A second chance isn't possible," she said. "We have different situations. For you, maybe. For me, no." She was firm with her answer. "Our lives just didn't fit."

While the years were fun, reality draws them apart. She'd want to believe in right person, wrong time, but there would never be a wrong timing with the right person in the first place.

"Even if we're in different situations, I don't believe in second chances," Yujin says. "The only reason why I'd try to salvage a relationship was by thinking about the things we've been through. If I go back, I would be in the relationship because of the memories and not the person. It'll end the same way."

Minju puts herself in that situation. If Wonyoung came back to her and asked for a retry, what would make her say yes? The five years they've spent together? The thought of Wonyoung being with her during each milestone she passes. Her life for the past five years was filled with Wonyoung. Breaking up feels like she has wasted those five years of her life. Having a second chance would allow her to continue living in those five years.

But as Yujin said, are you getting back together because of the memories or because of the person?

Minju didn't know the exact answer when there was a mixture of both. It is impossible for a person to completely leave her life when they were a huge part of it. But decisions have already been made and there was no going back.

"You're not wrong." The brunette nods. "You won't regret saying no?"

Yujin takes a small deep breath. "I'll choose to focus on what's in front of me." She presses her lips into a straight line as her dimples sink into her cheeks. "There's no point living in the past if it hurts. Letting everything go would feel better. Even if it's just a little bit." She scooped some soup into Minju's bowl, making sure she was eating well.

"Although, it's easier said than done." Yujin wanted to stop thinking about it. "What are you doing next week?"

Minju sipped on the soup halfway, sitting up. "I have two weeks before my next shelf exam."

"What's that?"

"Just an exam that makes sure we aren't sleeping during rotations."

"And what's that?"

The brunette chuckles at those curious bright eyes. "There are two types. Core and elective rotations. Basically, what you see me doing in the hospital the other day. I help out when I can. Other than that, I stick with the team. The one I'm doing now focuses on cardiology."

"That's the one you wanna go into, right?" Yujin remembered her talking about it, earning a nod. "It must be hard. Where do you even find the time to study when you're in the hospital every hour of the day?"

"Shifts."

"Right." Yujin forgot those existed. "What do you think about having someone next to you while you study?" She quickly shoved a piece of meat into , glancing at the brunette.

Minju's response held a suspended moment, her expression shifting from surprise to realization, a smile playing at the corners of her lips. "Are you asking if I want to study with you?"

With still full, Yujin nodded, her dimples creating delightful little hollows in her flushed cheeks.

—

The scent of someone, the smell of things used to haunt Yujin. Wher