The fragrant of freshly brewed coffee filled the air. I took a deep breath. “I miss being here.” “You’ve only gone for a few months.” “ I  missed our café. Now, let’s start preparing. Customers will be coming in soon!” I threw an apron onto Eunri’s face. “Yah!” She glared at me. I laughed as I changed the sign on the door from ‘closed’ to ‘open’.  I skipped back to the counter as Eunri welcomed the customers in.

I looked at the clock on the wall. 11am. Business is slow now and will allow pick up at around 1pm. “Eunri, I’ll go buy some lunch for us okay?” “Okay!” I took my apron off, grabbed my wallet and walked to the food court nearby.

“Woah!” A little kid bumped into me, causing me to drop my wallet. “Sorry…” “It’s alright.” I smiled. “Don’t run alright? It’s dangerous. You might fall.” He nodded and walked to his parents. I bent down. Just before I pick up my wallet, someone else already picked it up. “Here you go.” I stood up and took my wallet from him. “Thank you.” I smiled. “Youngjae! Wrong way!” A deep, husky voice shouted. “Who are you talking to?” Oh no… Yongguk… I immediately looked down. He approached me. “Hyerin?” Before I could walk away, he grabbed my arm. “What do you want?” I hissed. “I’ll catch up with you guys later.” He told the guy named Youngjae. Youngjae nodded and walked off with the other 4 boys.  “Hyerin, we need to talk.” “There’s nothing to talk about.” I muttered and tried to wiggle my arm out of his grip. “ Let’s find a place to sit down and talk.” “I don’t want to! Let go!” He started pulling me towards my café. Still as strong headed as ever…

 “Hyerin? I thought you went to buy lunch?” Eunri looked at me, surprised. “Isn’t that…Bang Yongguk?” She gasped. “Nice to meet you again, Eunri.”Yongguk greeted her. She snorted. “Yeah. Real nice.” She rolled her eys and went to the counter. “Sit down.” He said. I slumped into a chair and crossed my arms, giving him the ‘talk’ face. “Why were you avoiding me?” “Me? Avoiding you? “ I laughed coldly. “What happened 5 years ago? Do you remember?” “i-i- Hyerin, I…” “Your promise? Do you still remember? Remember what you said?” He looked at me blankly. “Let me repeat it for you. ‘I’ll be back. I promise. Trust me.’ No?” “Hyerin, I’ve been really busy…” “Yeah, so busy that you couldn’t take a second off to call or text me or something.” “ I’m sorry, Hyerin…” He looked down and bit his lip. Was I too harsh?  I sighed and spoke more gently. “I wasn’t even sure if we were still together… Till 2 years later, I made up my mind that we aren’t. I’m really happy that you’re living your dream now, Yongguk.” “I never meant to cause you so much pain. I’m sorry. Training… Work has gotten too far into my head that it made me forget that you were the mostg important… I- I’m sorry.” “It’s alright. It doesn’t matter anymore.” I smiled and got up. “Coffee?”I asked. “Latte.” “As usual.” I laughed and went to prepare a cup of Latte for him. I really miss making coffee for Yongguk…

“Here you go.” I smiled as I set the cup of latte on the table. He took a sip. “Just like last time…” “I know you like it extra sweet so I added more sugar.” “You still remember?” He looked at me and set his cup down. “ Of course. Why not?” “ I thought you hated me so much that you’ll uhm… forget everything. And it has been 5 years already.”   “ Little thing like this are harder to forget.”I smiled painfully. “And I never hated you. Really.” “I’m glad to hear that.” He said softly and got up from his seat. “I have to go. I’ll see you again.” He smiled and left the café. I’ll see you again? Really?

I couldn’t sleep at night. Tossing, turning and thinking about Yongguk. I got up, got dresses and went out of the house quietly, careful not to wake Eunri up. I took a deep breath and started walking to the park. For the last 5 years, whenever I feel troubled, I would go to the park where Yongguk asked me out. That particular spot in the park… It feels so special. It just feels like Yonnguk is sitting there with me, listening to my sorrows and sharing my troubles. I walked through the moonlit park to ‘our special spot’. I saw someone’s back view. I inched closer. Yongguk? He looked up. “Oh, Hey Hyerin.” He smiled and patted a spot beside him. I sat down. “What’s wrong Yongguk?” “Hmm?” “ What’s wrong? You look… solemn.” “Just thinking about some things. You?” “Me?” I asked. “Uh huh. Everytime you feel troubled, you’ll come here.” I looked down and smiled a little. “ Nothing… So how was life for the…past 5 years?” “ Pretty busy. But worth it. What about you?” I looked up and he smiled at me. “Me?” I laughed. “I spent the past 5 years wondering if you’ll ever come back…” I said softly and looked down again. He sighed. “I’m the one who is causing you to feel troubled tonight?” “No.” I lied. “You know Hyerin, you’re not a good liar. You were never a good one.” He chuckled. “Remember when I asked you if you liked me?” “Yeah, I lied to you saying no and end up regretting because I thought I missed the chance to be with you. But the next day, you showed up on my doorstep and was like ‘I know you like me.’” I laughed at the memories. “And then afterschool, I brought you here and asked you out.” I nodded and smiled.  He looked up and smiled at me. “It’s really late. I’ll walk you home.”

“Goodnight, Yongguk.” Just as I was about to enter, he grabbed my arm. “I forgot something.” He placed a kiss on my forehead and walked off into the dark, lonely streets of the night. I stood there, shocked. I quickly closed the door and went back to bed. What… what is this? Wth Yongguk.