Eun Mi 

Annie's eyes widened and her jaw dropped. "He said what?!" 

I said nothing, simply stared down at my iced coffee. Annie had just gotten back from the honeymoon and had wanted to meet up so that she could tell me all about it. But when she had settled down into the chair in front of me, she took one look and knew that something was wrong. 

"And then what did you say?" Annie stared at me intently, awaiting my response. 

"Your coffee's gonna get cold." I nodded at her steaming cup of mocha. 

"Like that's important right now." She rolled her eyes. "What did you say?"

"I said no. Just friends."

"Why? You guys are so great together! I've never seen you happier than when you were with him. And it's completely obvious that you both are still madly in love with each other. Everyone knows it, and so do you. The only solution is to be together!" Annie smiled brightly. 

I shot her a look. "Annie, it's not that simple." 

"Why?" she demanded. "This is really simpler than anything in the world!"

"Because! Because I feel guilty since I'm the one who made all those assumptions. Because he still chose to leave me like that. Because we both caused each other so much pain!" I bit my lip before continuing. "And because... I'm afraid to get hurt again."

Annie's face softened. "But that's all over now. Forgive and move on. And who knows, maybe this time it'll be happily ever after."

An image of Dayday and I smiling at each other warmly came to mind. 

"The only way to do that is to not be together. I'd like to completely avoid him and pretend he doesn't exist altogether, but the guy is just so damn persistent." I gulped down the rest of my drink and then grabbed my bag, turning to leave.

Annie rushed to follow me. "Where are you going now?"

"To cut off ties with him. It's for the better. For both of us." 

____________________________

Of course, all that determination that I had built up quickly dissolved as soon as he flashed me that smile of his. I took a deep breath before taking the last few steps to reach him. 

Before I start the long monologue that I had planned on my way here, Dayday said, "Let's go shopping. I'll buy you whatever you'd like."

Now, this is a line that would make most girls squeal and jump at. Under normal circumstances, I'd be pretty happy too. Nobody would ignore an offer like that. But I kept myself in check. Dayday and I had the least of normal relationships, and things were still awkward between us. How was I to agree?

"Dayday... I said just friends, remember?" I glanced down at my feet, pretending not to see some of the cheeriness drain from his face. 

"Dayday quickly recovered. "Friends can't go shopping together? You and Annie go all the time," he replied. He grabbed my arm and dragged me to his car before I could retort back with an argument. 

When we reached the mall, I was still hesitant. Dayday sensed this and took charge. He pulled me to the nearest store and started picking things off racks, draping the hangers over his arm. Dayday did this until he had gone around the whole section. Then, he pushed me into a change room along with about ten outfits.

"Try them on," he commanded. "And then come out after each one."

Sighing, I did as I was told. There was no possible way of escape without him noticing, and the clothes that he had picked were exactly what I would've picked myself. Dayday knew me so well, even after so long. 

I quickly stripped and pulled the first outfit on. It was a blue one shoulder silk top with a flowy black skirt that reached my knees. I unlocked the door and walked out barefoot. Dayday looked up from the magazine he was flipping through. His eyes did a full scan before he gave a satisfied nod and a half smile. 

"Looks good."

The next five or so outfits all got the nod of approval from him. The seventh outfit that I tried was actually something that I had picked. It was a white halter top dress with red floral patterns that came with a floppy sun hat. I liked it as soon as I tried it on. Dayday, on the hand, strongly disagreed. 

"No."

"Why? It's so pretty," I argued, smoothing down the front of the dress. 

Dayday shook his head. "The hat makes your face look chubby and the flowery stuff look like they came from an old tablecloth. Pretty girls shouldn't wear ugly clothing."

I turned around and stared him, my mouth open. 

Dayday merely grinned and shrugged. "Friends are honest with each other." He went back to reading his magazine. "Try the next one on."

"No, I'm done." I went back into the change room and changed out of the dress. When I emerged empty handed, Dayday asked, "What about the stuff that looked good?"

"You really think that I'm going to let you buy all this for me?" I gave him a skeptical look.

"Nah, I don't. But I'm gonna buy it all for you anyway." He went into the change room, scooped up all the clothes that he had approved of, and proceeded to the cash register. 

By the end of the day, I arrived home with six outfits, a pair of Chanel sunglasses, and two pairs of shoes. All courtesy of Dayday.