Picking up her vibrating cellphone, the girl hesitated as soon as she saw the name on her caller ID. Seeing his face even for a brief second caused a pang of despair to flood through her mind. Her stomach churned as her finger hovered over the green ‘talk’ button. Summing up her courage, she touched the green button and brought the phone to her ear.

“Hello?” she murmured, barely above a whisper.

“Babe,” Jung Ilhoon said, attempting to be soothing. “Ahra.” Hearing him speak her name, Im Ahra’s words caught in . His words, however few they were, were meant to be comforting. Instead, they filled her with contempt and disgust. Wasn’t he her boyfriend? She knew she was supposed to love him and deep down, she did, but now she understood what people meant when they said ‘love is pain.’

“Yes?” was all she could muster up in return. Ahra didn’t have the strength or thought to say any more. That was okay though-- she wasn’t a very talkative person to begin with. Ilhoon hadn’t doubted her once. She, on the other hand, had doubts about him all the time. Ahra had seen the way he’s interacted with other girls. She’s even seen him spend time alone with them without telling her about it. That was okay though, she thought. As long as they were together, everything was alright. Of course, she’s never dreamed of going behind his back with another man- that’d be so unlike her. But Ahra always let Ilhoon do whatever he wants. He’d always come back to her.

“Listen, I…I know we haven’t been spending as much time together like before,” he explained. Ahra nodded her head in agreement. That was because he’s been meeting up with other girls. Another wave of hurt washed through her body, but she still stayed on the line, waiting for him to finish. She wanted to be a good girlfriend to him and no matter how much pain she was feeling, she still loved Ilhoon with all her heart. He continued, “So, I was thinking...do you want to have a date with me today? At our favorite coffee shop in downtown? I know it’s kind of sudden, but I really want to see you.”

A smile crept over her face. She knew that in the end, he would always come back to her. Ahra felt elated at the fact that he wanted to spend time with her today. Accepting his proposal immediately, she was sure that he could feel her grinning through the phone. All of her melancholy thoughts quickly exited her system as a new sunny disposition took over. Ahra was as giddy as a schoolgirl in love. No, she WAS a giddy schoolgirl in love.

Walking down the sidewalk, Ahra barely felt the cold nipping at her as she rushed to get to the coffee shop. It was already springtime, but winter had left a lingering chill for the past month. Pushing open the door, the tinkling bells sounded as she walked inside. Warmth spread all over Ahra’s body as she saw Ilhoon’s familiar figure already sitting down at their favorite window seat. He smiled at her, and like a bee to a flower, she made his way toward him.

“Glad you could make it,” he said as she sat down, passing her a cup of hot chocolate in one fluid motion. His voice was like honey to her. All Ahra could do was give him a shy smile and let herself be mesmerized in his presence. This is the way things should be.

A waitress passed by and set a pitcher of water down on their table, as well as two glasses. Ahra reached forward to grab the pitcher, but so did Ilhoon. Their hands touched for a brief moment before Ahra withdrew her hand and blushed. A playful smile appeared on Ilhoon’s lips as he began to pour water for the two of them. Suddenly, Ahra noticed his expression change slightly. His eyes were pointed in her direction, but there was a mischievous glint in his eyes and his smile turned into a smirk. Ilhoon’s tongue brushed across his lower lip momentarily. He got a distracted look in his eyes as they wandered over.

Ahra had time to notice a pretty girl walk past their table as Ilhoon’s gaze doggedly followed her before feeling a wet sensation on her lap. The water he was pouring into her cup was overflowing. A sharp intake of her breath brought him back to his senses. Apologizing profusely, he began to clean up the spill. She forgave him, of course, although the hurt in her heart had returned. Today, she thought that maybe- maybe- it would be the one day when all her suspicions and doubts would be proved wrong. She tried swatting away the pressing thoughts that kept appearing inside her mind.

Ahra got up to get more napkins, and when she returned, she was disheartened to see that his gaze was still wandering. A lull in the conversation caused awkwardness to settle between them. Ahra fixated her eyes on the wooden table’s patterns, drowning in her thoughts. When she dared look up, she caught him staring in the other girl’s direction again, but Ahra didn’t dare speak up. Instead, she gave him an innocent smile when his attention turned back on her. No, she would keep quiet about this issue. She assured herself that this was just a phase he was going to get over soon. Ignoring the gnawing aching that was manifesting inside of her, Ahra willed herself to be strong.  It seemed as if she was so fragile that just a single touch could shatter her into a million little pieces. All she could do to keep herself from falling apart was continue to put up this pretense of obliviousness. She hoped that one day he would return her love as well. As Ilhoon held her gaze, her face masked her true emotions, displaying a naïve, carefree girl. Ahra’s eyes, however, looked at him with such emotion, it was as if they were pleading to him. Please. Please love me.