“Eun Hye-ah, mianhae…”

Jong Kook looked away, trying to avoid any eye contact with his ex-crush. What he just did was really embarrassing. The thought of almost kissing Eun Hye made him scared. It wasn’t just about the guilty feeling he had for Ji Hyo. There was something more there.

Eun Hye however didn’t give any answer to Jong Kook’s apology. She looked down coldly as she stood up from where she sat earlier.

“Come on let’s go oppa.” She quickly turned her head away when Jong Kook lifted his head up to face her.

Slowly Jong Kook stood up. The pain he felt in his head hadn’t disappeared. For a moment he lost his balance but soon he was able to stand stably on his feet. He followed Eun Hye to the entrance door, heading to her car since he came to the bar with a cab, besides there was no way he could drive in that condition.

“How do you know I’m here anyway?” He asked reluctantly as he gave his own forehead a quick massage.

“The bartender called.” It was a short and cold answer which made everything even more awkward.

“How does he know your number?”  Subconsciously Eun Hye walked faster when she heard his question.

“We used to come here and you got drunk several times. About  years ago you gave him my number in case you passed out.” She sighed and slowed down her steps when she noticed how fast she had walked. “How could you forget that, oppa.” It was supposed to be a question but Eun Hye made it sounds like a cold statement about how much she hated Jong Kook for forgetting the past.

“Sorry, my mind is pretty messed up right now.” He blinked his eyes a few times and frowned, trying to ease the migraine.

Suddenly Eun Hye stopped walking and let out another sigh. She seemed frustrated and tired.

“Why me? Why not Ji Hyo unnie?” From the way she frowned, Jong Kook knew that she was going to burst into anger within just a few seconds. But talking about Ji Hyo wasn’t a good idea at that time.

“I don’t want to talk about that.” He walked pass her, not giving any effort to answer any kind of question which was related to Ji Hyo.

Secretly he took a very deep breath, trying to control his emotion. I am not going to look like a weak man in front of her. At least not now.

“Oppa, you’re being a jerk!” She suddenly yelled at him, surprising the elder man.

“Look, you made me come here in the middle of the night. Well I’m pissed off, but still I can forgive that. However, what you just did inside is unforgivable.” She pointed out to the bar as she walked fast toward him.

“Kissing me like that and calling me Ji Hyo? You’re a jerk oppa, you’re a jerk!”

Jong Kook couldn’t say anything. From any point of view, he knew that he was wrong for doing so. But he also knew that he didn’t do it on purpose. He was drunk and people did unforgivable mistakes when they’re drunk. He thought that the reason was enough to prove that he deserved to be forgiven.

There was a long silence until Eun Hye sighed again.

“Oppa, if you have any problem, you know you can tell me about it. Mianhae, I lost my patience. I know you wouldn’t do something like that for no reason.” She smiled sadly as she looked him in the eye.

Seeing her acting like that made Jong Kook feel guilty. His dongsaeng was very caring and loving. Every guy on the earth would fall for her surely.

“Oppa, is it related to Ji Hyo unnie?” Eun Hye walked closer to him, trying to comfort Jong Kook.

The way she assured him was so sweet that it made Jong Kook fell into her words. He really needed someone to talk, and Eun Hye was willing to listen. Once again she asked him about his problem and this time he surrendered.

“I broke up with her.”

They were silent for a moment.

Eun Hye tried hard to absorb Jong Kook’s statement. Somehow she felt that she was one of the causes of their breakup. Questions were hovering in her mind but she managed to control her confusion. The most important thing that time was to comfort the man standing in front of her. He looked fragile and that hurt Eun Hye even more. Without thinking any further, she put her arms around his waist, hugging him tightly.

“Annyeonghaseo noona.” Joong Ki smiled when he saw someone opened the door for him.

“Joong Ki-ah, what brings you here?” Ji Hyo smiled excitedly as she gave him a space to come in.

“Uhmm… actually… about Jong Kook hyu—“

“—I don’t want to talk about him right now, Joong Ki-ah.” Ji Hyo still smiled, but this time in a creepy way.

Joong Ki smiled sadly when he saw his noona acting strong as usual. He knew that she had been crying since there are lots of tissue papers scattered all around the floor. He also knew that today she wore glasses because her eyes were swollen due to the crying.

“Well then, do you want to go somewhere today?” being a good actor himself, he acted like there was nothing wrong because he knew that it was what his noona wanted. Acting like nothing happened was their main ability.

“Now? No. Don’t you see my eyes?” She said casually, not trying to hide the fact that she was crying a lot.

“Yep I see. I’m just acting like I know nothing.” He smiled widely as he sat comfortably on the sofa.

“And these tissues… you really should’ve cleaned up this mess before I came, noona.” He joked around, trying to make Ji Hyo laughed. He didn’t mind if it was only a small laughter.

“Yah you should’ve called! How would I know if you were coming if you didn’t tell me earlier?” She said laughingly.

“My bad noona. Hehehhe…”

“So, what brings you here?” Blankly Ji Hyo asked the question again.

“Ah noona, what do you want me to say?? I told you I come because I want to cheer you up. It has been 3 days. Please stop grieving. I want to see you smile.” Joong Ki said the words so sweetly but Ji Hyo pouted.  She knew she was being ridiculous but she also knew that nothing could cheer her up.

“So what are you going to do to cheer me up?”

“Yeah…. About that….” Joong Ki looked really doubtful. “I haven’t thought about it yet…. But we can figure it out together, right?”

Ji Hyo couldn’t help but burst into laughter when she heard her dongsaeng’s silliness. Deep inside she had a feeling that Joong Ki might succeed in cheering her up.

Hearing Ji Hyo’s laughter made Joong Ki felt butterflies in his tummy. She laughed!! She Laughed because of me!!! If he could, he would dance around the living room to express his happiness. But that would be really embarrassing.

“Let’s just go and drink coffee, Joong Ki-ah.” To be honest, she missed drinking Americano so much that she was sure she could drink a liter of it.

“Okay then, let’s go noona!” He animatedly stood up and walked fast to the door.

“Yah, do you really think I can go there looking like this??” She said ironically as she looked down at her clothes. Pink pajamas were really the right outfit to wear to the café.

“That looks cute on you, noona. I supposed you can wear it there.” He said seriously at first, but then he couldn’t hold his laughter anymore.

Being with Joong Ki-ah is really the best medicine for me. Ji Hyo thought as she went in to her bedroom to change her clothes. Maybe he really can cheer me up.

Ji Hyo was looking for a comfortable sweater she could wear when she found a dark blue t-shirt tucked between some jeans. She didn’t remember she had that kind of t-shirt so she took it out from the wardrobe. She went blank for a second before she realized whose shirt was that.

It was Jong Kook’s. It was a t-shirt that she borrowed from him because her clothes were wet. She remembered it clearly how Jong Kook’s car ran off a puddle of water and splashed mud to her clothes. Come on Ji Hyo, it’s just a memory. There is nothing special about it. She tried to convince herself that she was fine about it, although she knew she wasn’t right at all.

 These past 3 days she spent 16 hours thinking about Jong Kook. Well she used the other 8 hours to dream about him. Every morning there was a missed call from him and she couldn’t help but cry when she looked at the notification. She really wished she could answer him, but a part of her prevent her from doing so. She knew she wouldn’t be able to let him go once she heard his voice.

Drowned in her own world, Ji Hyo walked out from her bedroom. She still wore the pink pajama and she was now holding the dark blue shirt on her right hand. Joong Ki saw her unreadable expression and right away he noticed that she was having a fight with her own mind.

He knew she was thinking about Jong Kook. He could see it in her eyes. The pain and the fear were clearly shown in the way she behaved. Pitifully he walked toward her.

“Noona, what is it about?” Joong Ki asked caringly.

There was silence but soon Ji Hyo answered him hesitantly.

“ Uhh… nothing…” She kept looking down, observing the dark blue t-shirt.

Joong Ki quickly took a look at the shirt too. He knew the source of Ji Hyo’s breakdown was the shirt. After recognizing whose shirt it was, Joong Ki harshly grabbed it and took it away from Ji Hyo’s hand. If he could, he wanted to get rid of it as soon as possible. But he had no right to do so, so he just let it out of her sight.

“Look at me, noona.” Firmly he said to her. “Stop acting so tough. If you still need time to cry, then cry. Don’t hesitate.”

Slowly he took a step forward. Every movement he made was full of consideration, full of thoughts and love. He intertwined his fingers with her, holding his small hands tightly. Secretly he wished he had the right to do that every night and day.

“Noona, please just cry.” He placed one of his hands on her back, pulling Ji Hyo’s body closer to his.

Going back through the time, he realized that it was the tenth time he broke his own promise. The promise of not going to fall in love with Ji Hyo again. He sighed thinking how desperate he was.  He wanted something he would never get.

However this time, he promised himself he wouldn’t let the opportunity go anymore. He loved her and he was going to chase after her with no exception.

But then he let out another sigh, knowing that soon he would break that promise. He knew that Ji Hyo’s heart wasn’t for him.

Silently he tightened his arms around her, wishing that time would stop.