Song Joongki has been in a relationship with Moon Chaewon for quite a long time now. Three years, to be specific. He’s always been sure that she loves him truly but recently, it’s as if they had been growing distant with each other.

He doesn’t know why. Or maybe he does. Maybe it’s his cold attitude towards her that causes her to push him away. It’s just that Joongki is having trouble showing his feelings towards her… making him appear cold.

 

Chaewon loves Joongki. She really does, but it’s like she’s getting tired of the way he treats her. Like they’re not together anymore, but actually they still are. Sometimes she feels like he doesn’t really care. But she endures all of it. For him.

 

“Chaewon noona, what’s up with you and Joongki-ssi? I don’t see him much these days huh?” Yonghwa asks Chaewon as they were having coffee at Angel in Us.

“It’s Joongki HYUNG, you know.” Chaewon corrects him.

 

Yonghwa is Chaewon’s and Joongki’s close friend… a.k.a their cupid. Before the two of them officially became a couple, it was because of Yonghwa that Joongki had the courage to ask Chaewon out. Yonghwa would encourage Joongki and at the same time he’d tease Chaewon about him. Thus the result of ChaeKi, as Yonghwa likes to call it. He’d laugh at them before when they were being too cheesy in front of him. That’s why he’s Chaewon’s go-to buddy when they have a fight.

 

“Ah, you know I rarely call him hyung.” Yonghwa laughs.

“He’s probably busy with company work right now.” Chaewon replies nonchalantly.

 

Yonghwa notices Chaewon’s mood and is instantly concerned about her. What could have possible happened this time? He’s been noticing that these days, Chaewon has been quiet and unlike her usual bubbly self. Also, Joongki hasn’t been contacting him and last time he tried to invite him out to drink, he’d rejected him.

 

He clenches his fist. He doesn’t want Chaewon like this. It makes his chest… hurt inside. He’s been secretly liking her for a long time as well. But he forces his feeling down because he knows. He knows Chaewon only loves Joongki. He can see it in her eyes every time she talks about him.

 

“Ya, stop looking at your coffee like that or else it will taste bad.” Yonghwa says to the blank-faced Chaewon.

 

This makes Chaewon smile a bit.

 

“Mwo? What face am I making at it?” She asks. Chaewon doesn’t even realize she’s been zoning out until Yonghwa interrupted her thoughts.

“Aigoo, noona you’ve been looking at it like it was the most bad-tasting coffee ever. Jinjja, tell me what’s bothering you.” Yonghwa says to her in a concerned tone.

“Ani. It’s just… Joongki-ssi and I haven’t been talking much lately. I don’t know what’s happening to him. I mean, I try hard but it’s like he doesn’t care.” Chaewon almost whispers to herself.

 

Yonghwa’s heart is aching for Chaewon.

 

“Chaewon-ssi, don’t be like that… I’m sure he cares for you.” He says helplessly.

 

Chaewon doesn’t reply to that. What’s there to say? After a long silence, Yonghwa’s face suddenly lights up.

 

“Noona! I know what we should do!” Yonghwa exclaims.

“Hm? What are you up to?” Chaewon raises her eyebrows at him.

“Aha, just come with me.” Yonghwa stands up and drags Chaewon with him.

“Omo, where are you taking me Yonghwa-ssi?!”

“I’m kidnapping you noona! You’ll see!” Yonghwa states and laughs at himself.

 

Meanwhile, Joongki is sitting in his office and thinking of Chaewon. What can she be doing right now? He thinks to himself. He misses her so much. He’s been stuck in the office for a week now and whenever he and Chaewon would see each other, it’s either he’s tired or he’s dead tired and pissed. That’s why lately they’re not really spending time together.

 

“Maybe I should ask her to dinner tonight…” he says to himself.

 

But then Chaewon might reject him because of the way he’s being cold to her at times. He thinks… No. This time, he’ll make it right and apologize to her. He picks up his phone and types…

 

“Chaewon-ah, do you want to have dinner with me tonight? You decide where^^”

 

Joongki’s thumb is just hovering above the send button but he suddenly puts his phone down. What if she doesn’t want to go? Ani, Joongki. Man up. Finally he picks it up again and presses send.

 

Please say you’ll have dinner with me Chaewon-ah… Jebal.

 

 

“Yonghwa-ssi! This is too much fun, let’s play another round.” Chaewon exclaims.

“Aniyo!! You’ll just beat me again!” Yonghwa scowls at Chaewon.

“No I won’t, come on I’ll go easy on you promise!” Chaewon laughs.

“Fine.”

 

Yonghwa and Chaewon have been playing in the arcade center for 2 hours now. It’s been forever since Chaewon had played a gun-shooting game so she was beyond thrilled when they played the game. Yonghwa kept losing to Chaewon in the game but he was happy. Happy that at least he made her smile even in simple ways.

 

“Bang! Go die zombies! Wooo!” Chaewon is shouting at the screen.

“Noona! Take it easy!!” Yonghwa is laughing so hard now.

 

Chaewon lost to Yonghwa when they played Guitar Hero - Yonghwa did it on purpose, Chaewon knew he’s good at playing the guitar - so she went to the House of the Dead 4 and redeemed herself. If she could remember correctly, they’d played 4 rounds already. It’s just so fun. She couldn’t remember the last time she had this much fun. Thank god Yonghwa brought her here.

 

“Gomawo Yonghwa-ssi. I had fun.” Chaewon says to him as they were eating dinner at Lotteria.

“Oh you obviously did! You almost finished the Boss round awhile ago, woah.” Yonghwa says.

“Well, I’m just that good. You should learn from your noona, you know.” She teases him.

Yonghwa laughs sarcastically, “Ne, sometime I’ll go to you for lessons.”

 

After finishing their dinner, Yonghwa and Chaewon say goodbye to each other.

 

Chaewon pinches Yonghwa’s cheek and says, “Bye then, kamsahamnida!”

 

“Bye!”

 

As Chaewon was on her way home, she gets her phone from her bag and sees that there were 3 messages from Joongki. Oh no she thinks to herself. She didn’t realize that her phone had sounded because she was so hooked in the arcade a while ago. She opens the messages and reads them…

 

“Chaewon-ah, do you want to have dinner with me tonight? You decide where^^”

 

“Chaewon-ssi, why aren’t you replying?”

 

“Are you alright? Eodiya? Are you at home? I’m going there right now.”

 

Aishh, how stupid of you Chaewon. She doesn’t bother replying to the messages because she’s already hurrying towards her house. It’s only a few blocks away... and as she enters the front door, she hear Joongki’s voice from the living room.

 

“Chaewon-ah? Is that you?” he calls out. His voice sounds obviously worried.

“Joongki-ssi! Ne, it’s me.” Chaewon walks toward him.

“Where have you been and why aren’t you answering my texts? I thought something had happened so I went straight here.” Joongki was asking all at once.

 

He can’t help it, he was so worried. And when he arrived at Chaewon’s house, there was no one. Good thing he still had the duplicate key so he was able to go in.

 

“Gwenchana Joongki-ssi. Mianhaeyo… I wasn’t able to answer your texts because Yonghwa and I were at the arcade center.” Chaewon said quietly.

“Mwo?” Joongki replied.

 

Joongki couldn’t believe it. What did he just hear? Chaewon wasn’t answering his texts because she was with Yonghwa! He knows he’s a close friend but still, he was worried sick about her yet she was just having fun. He tries to be calm but it was just making him annoyed.

 

“You weren’t replying because you were in the arcade center?” he repeated.

“Yes.”

 

Breathe Joongki.

 

“Let’s eat dinner. Are you hungry?” Joongki decides to ask.

 

Crap. Chaewon is starting to feel guilty. She was with Yonghwa the whole day. And she had already eaten dinner with him. And now Joongki’s asking if the two of them could eat dinner.

 

“Mianhe, but I already ate.” She tells him. She doesn’t want to lie to Joongki, she can’t.

 

Joongki doesn’t know what to say. A lot of things are going through his head and he feels hurt.

 

“With Yonghwa too?” he asks in a flat tone.

“Ne. Mianhae Joongki-ssi… I didn’t know we were supposed to have dinner” Chaewon couldn’t say anything else.

 

This was it. Joongki felt betrayed. Yonghwa was a friend but he can’t help feeling jealous because Chaewon was spending more time with him. How can he? He trusted them. He was so mad.

 

“Chaewon-ah, tell me. Are you and Yonghwa…?” He couldn’t finish his question.

“What?! Aniyo! What are you thinking?” Chaewon looks up to his face, shocked.

“Are you cheating on me?! With Yonghwa of all people?” Joongki says to her.

“What are you saying? I would never – “

“Stop lying to me! Just tell me the truth, I know he likes you. Do you like him back?”

“Can you hear what you’re saying now?! I never even thought of other guys, then you think I’m cheating on you? How could you?”

 

Chaewon is crying now. She doesn’t know why Joongki’s reacting like this. Why would he think that she and Yonghwa were together. They were friends! Nothing more.

 

What had he done? Joongki realized that he’d made their situation worse. He went here to apologize to Chaewon and fix things up but what did he do instead? He moved towards Chaewon and reached out to her but she jerked away from him.

 

“I-I’m sorry, I-I – “ he started.

“No, I don’t want to talk to you right now. Get out.” Chaewon’s voice is hard.

“Chaewon-ah, mianhae. I didn’t reali –“ Joongki tried to explain.

“Jebal. Please get out!” Chaewon started to push Joongki towards the door. Her tears were streaming uncontrollably and she was so upset.

 

When Joongki was out of her house did she only allowed herself to cry helplessly. How could he? She repeated again and again. Didn’t he trust her? She lay in bed but still her tears continued to soak the pillow. What was happening to them? Is this where their relationship would end?

 

Joongki was mad. But right now he was mad at no one but himself. He was stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Why did he even think that Chaewon would cheat on him? And with Yonghwa of all? Stupid. Stupid. How can he ever apologize to Chaewon after what he had done? He gets his phone and dials her number. She won’t pick up. Of course she wouldn’t! But still, Joongki calls and calls… yet Chaewon doesn’t answer.

 

Joongki wakes up to the sound of his phone ringing. He realized that he’d fallen asleep while trying to contact Chaewon last night. Maybe Chaewon finally decided to call him, he thinks. He grabs his phone but unfortunately it wasn’t Chaewon calling.

 

It was Yonghwa. Joongki remembers what he thought about Yonghwa last night and instantly feels guilty. He had thought badly of Yonghwa when all he ever did was to be a good friend to him. Joongki stares at his phone but finally decides to answer it.

 

“Annyeong…” Joongki says.

“Hyung! What happened with you and noona last night?” a panicked Yonghwa was asking.

“Wae? Did she call you?”

“Ne. She was crying when she called me last night. I wanted to call you but you weren’t answering.” He said.

Joongki just sighs. “Mianhae. It’s all my fault.”

“Waeyo? What did you two fight over.. uh, I mean it’s okay if it’s private, you don’t – “

“I thought she cheated on me…” Joongki said quietly.

“Mwo?!”

“… with you.”

“Joongki! What the… noona wouldn’t! I would never – “

“I know. I was wrong, and foolish. I was mad and I didn’t think straight last night. Because of that I’m sorry. I don’t know if you’ll ever forgive me.” Joongki was rambling in frustration and regret.

“Meet me at our usual place. NOW.” Yonghwa said and ended the conversation.

“Hello? Yonghwa?” Joongki said but Yonghwa had already left and was on his way to their meeting place.

 

Joongki arrived at the coffee shop a few minutes later and Yonghwa was already there. When Yonghwa saw Joongki he walked towards him and brought his fist to Joongki’s face.

 

“That’s for being an idiot.” Yonghwa said.

“I deserved that…” Joongki said while holding his swollen cheek.

 

Yonghwa suddenly tackled Joongki into a tight hug and said, “And this is because I forgive you. But now you should get your right there at Chaewon’s house. Go!”

 

Joongki can’t believe it. He was so glad he had Yonghwa as his friend but now he needed to find Chaewon before it’s too late.

 

“Gomawo, Yonghwa-ssi. I owe you!” he said as he was already running back to his car.

 

Dingdong. Dingdong.

 

There was no answer. Joongki was in front of Chaewon’s doorstep but it doesn’t seem like she’s at home.

 

“Uh, excuse me. Did you happen to see where Chaewon went?” he asked the guy who lived right next to Chaewon.

“Oh. I think she already left.”

“Gomawo!”

 

Joongki thought hard where to find Chaewon. He needed to talk to her now. To apologize for everything. To tell her he loved her. That he cared.

 

Joongki ran through the streets hoping that she had just left the house. Maybe he’d catch up with her somewhere. Then suddenly he catches a glimpse of a familiar red trench coat. He knows that coat. That must be Chaewon, he remembered that coat she always wore when they went out during date nights back then. Joongki runs as fast as he could and grabs the lady’s arm.

 

“Chaewon-ah!” he exclaims.

Chaewon recognizes the voice and turns around.

“Joongki.. –“

“Jeongmal mianhaeyo Chaewon-ah. Please forgive me. I was wrong and stupid and I should have never thought that you would do such a thing.”

 

Chaewon doesn’t speak. Joongki suddenly hugs her hard and doesn’t let her go.

“Jebal Chaewon-ah. I’m sorry for being away from you all this time. I’ll make it up to you, I swear. Just give me another chance, I – “

“I forgive you…” Chaewon whispers into Joongki’s ears.

“You do..?”

“Yes…after all we’ve been through, I don’t think you being a babo is enough to put this relationship to waste.” Chaewon says.

 

Joongki laughs in relief. He couldn’t be luckier to have Chaewon.

 

Joongki breathes in. This it it. Do it Joongki. It’s now or never.

 

“Chaewon-ah. I love you..” Joongki finally pulls back and holds Chaewon’s face.

“I love you too.” Chaewon smiles back at him.

“… Will you marry me then?” Joongki asks.

 

His face is hoping. Waiting for her answer. If she says yes, then he’s certain that he’ll never let Chaewon go. Never. He doesn’t realize that he’s actually holding his breath, waiting for her reply.

 

Chaewon is taken aback. Joongki finally asked her! She never thought that he would ever do it, but here he is, waiting for a reply. She had already forgiven him. And now she’s ready to spend her future with the only person she loves.

 

“Yes, Joongki-ssi. Yes.” she embraces him once again.

“Gomawo, Chaewon-ah! Saranghae.” Joongki says with pure joy in his heart.

“Nado saranghae, Joongki.” Chaewon can’t keep her happiness inside.

 

And together, the two of them are ready to face another new chapter in their lives… as one.