That night, you lay in bed wondering what had happened in that room that morning. Although you had stormed in all confrontational and emotional, you had actually ended up having a conversation with Yongguk that didn’t end up in either one of you strangling the other. It definitely had not ended the way you expected.

What did you expect then? A huge scene? If it had been two years ago, it probably would have been. You still had a fiery temper, but the years had definitely mellowed you slightly. Yongguk seemed changed too. He was… calmer somehow? While in the past he would have definitely yelled back at you, he seemed much more rational now. Perhaps it was because they were no longer close. It was hard to judge based on that one encounter after two years apart. You wondered… what would it be like now if the two of you were together again? No, you shouldn’t be wondering such things, not at this hour of the night. It was a dangerous time to be thinking dangerous things.

Involuntarily, your eyes fell on the hoodie that now lay on your chair. Even though you were alone, you hesitated guiltily before reaching for it. Wrapping it around your body, you inhaled its scent. It was crazy—he smelled exactly like he did two years ago. Then, feeling slightly psychotic, you pushed it aside. Still, you couldn’t stop the memories from flooding into your mind. He was always a gentleman whenever he was with you, always taking care of you, always making sure you were warm, even if it meant that he had to take off his own jacket and freeze in the cold. No, you admonished yourself in your head. You can’t just think of all the good times. Think of why you broke up! He was possessive and jealous, and nitpicked about the clothes you wore… But thinking about your fights made you think about the and those were definitely dangerous thoughts. Sighing loudly, you turned over in your bed and reached for your cell phone.

You spent the next few minutes scrolling through your social media applications for updates, and out of curiosity, clicked on Yongguk’s twitter page. His latest update, just half an hour ago, read: “Another sleepless night.” What did that mean? Was he working, or was he awake in bed thinking, like you? Could he be… thinking about you? You frustrated yourself with your own thoughts. Since when were you such a… girl? You were always the cool one, and even in your relationship with Yongguk in the past, you had to confess your feelings first because he was too shy to. You never had to lie around in bed agonizing about whether a boy liked you. It was so embarrassing, even if only you knew about it.

Resolutely, you opened up an empty text message box and typed: “I’m sorry for slapping you.” Before you could change your mind, you sent it. What ensued was the longest hour of your life. You lay there, wondering if he was going to reply. Maybe he wasn’t going to, on purpose. Maybe he’d changed his number. Just when you had given up waiting and decided he wasn’t using the same number, your screen lit up.

“How are you going to make up for it?”

Grinning, you replied: “You can slap me back.”

It took him a long while to reply again: “Okay. Please anticipate it.”

You laughed softly to yourself. There was absolutely no point to the conversation that you were having but you felt ridiculously happy that the two of you had actually advanced to this stage where you were joking and talking again. Assuming he was joking, of course. It’d been so long that you couldn’t claim to know his personality anymore. Before you could even begin to formulate what to reply, another message came in: “I want my hoodie back.”

“I’ll return it.”

“I want it now.”

You hesitated at this point. Was he being serious? “It’s too late.”

“You have a car. I’m at the studio, and I’m cold. Come now!”

You didn’t know what to make of that. Although you did want the two of you to be on good terms again, it felt strange that it would be happening so fast, considering you had just gone over to yell at him that morning. Over a song he wrote releasing all his frustration on you, no less. Deciding there was no point over-analyzing his every move, and that it really wasn’t much trouble for you to drive down to the TS studio anyway, you got up and got changed. What was the worst that could happen? He could have really just wanted his jacket back.

Moments later, you were pulling up to the building, and Yongguk was waiting for you on the sidewalk, like he’d said.

“You said you were cold,” you said accusingly as a greeting. He was already wearing another hoodie.

“I lied,” he said simply, smiling cheekily. “Come see where I work.”

You followed him. His cheerful disposition unsettled you. “Don’t you hate me?” you blurted out as the two of you descended the steps into the basement. “Aren’t you angry at me?”

He held the door open for you. “It’s small, but it’s got all the equipment I need to seriously write songs now.”

You entered the room, annoyed that he’d chosen to ignore your question. “Ya, Bang Yong Guk!”

“Ya, Kim Ha Na!” he replied, mimicking your tone. “Have some manners, I’m your oppa.”

You could only stare incredulously at him as he motioned for you to sit on the small two-seater couch against the wall. You sat.

“I’m angry,” he replied, sitting down in a swivel chair and turning to face you. “You’ve made me really angry for two years. But I don’t think it’s because I hate you.”

You fiddled with the zipper of the hoodie in your hands. “Why are you being nice now then?”

“Am I?” He smiled widely, showing his gums. “It’s a ploy. I’m gonna beat you up once you let your guard down.”

You kicked his chair lightly so he rolled a few inches backwards. “Don’t you dare try. I can still fight.”

He laughed, and looked at you for a moment, his eyes twinkling. Gosh, how long has it been since he looked at you like that? As fast as it had appeared, the twinkle disappeared again as he got quiet. “The song… I won’t promote it.”

“Why not?” you asked, surprised. “Other than the fact that it’s really mean to the person you’re rapping about, it could actually be a hit. And it’s your solo debut…”

“Oh, I’m not doing it because of you,” he said, grinning again. “It got banned from broadcast because of the violence in the video.”

You kicked his chair again in annoyance, although you were glad that you didn't have to hear this song anymore. “Why did you put in the gun-fight then? Was it because you felt like killing me?”

“Did you not listen to the lyrics?” he asked. “I just wanted you to regret it knowing what I am now.”

You sighed. “I never doubted that you were going to make it one day, even though my words were harsh then. And I wasn’t playing with you. I just… it’s no point arguing about what happened then. It’s over now. I just hope we can at least be friends instead of avoiding each other like enemies. And no more of those mean songs, please.”

Yongguk stared at you for a moment, his expression unreadable, as always. Then he held out his hand. “Okay. Friends.”

You shook his hand, smiling. “So, this is your studio now?”

He nodded. “I work here with some of the hyungs. We’re almost done with the songs for our debut album now. You still write?”

“Yeah,” you replied. “I go to this place at Shinsadong and learn from this guy who writes songs. He let me write some lyrics for a few songs, but I’m not allowed to compose music yet.”

“You can do that with me,” Yongguk offered. “I’m here alone most nights. You can come in and try your hand at it. I’ll just buy some earplugs and leave you alone. If I’m in a good mood, I might pretend to praise you.”

You laughed. “Hey, I’m much better now! Play me something from your album.”

Yongguk slid over to the computer and put on a song. It took about ten seconds before it sunk in that it was the dreaded ‘I Remember’.

“Ya! Not this one!”

He laughed and switched to another song, which you had to admit, sounded pretty promising. You smiled as you watched him move goofily and lip sync to the music. This was nice. It had taken two years and a very harsh song, but you were finally enjoying each other’s company again without a web of complicated feelings.

Maybe all you were ever meant to be was friends.