The tears didn’t stop once I got home. Despite the fact I had long ago calmed down on the bus, I was still sobbing extremely hard, silent tears streaming down my face. Without answering my brother’s questions or my mother’s worried looks, I rushed upstairs into the bathroom.

Staring at the image in the mirror, I shook my head in disgust. “Pathetic,” I thought as I studied the red, swollen eyes, runny nose and chapped lips reflected in the glass. I’d promised myself that after Taec, I would never cry for another man; but, it’s funny how those things turn out. After another glimpse of the miserable person front of me, I shook my head again and began to wash my face. The warm water soothed and calmed me, eventually bringing the incessant flow of tears to a stop. Finally, after I felt and looked decent enough, I left the bathroom, slipping into my bedroom and locking the door without a sound.

At that moment, I noticed my coat was and had been vibrating for the past few minutes, but I was too focused on stopping my tears to notice. Pulling my small flip phone out of my pocket, I saw one letter displayed on the screen that had my stomach doing flips. ‘J’. My finger hesitated for only a second before pressing the ignore button. I sat down on my bed and scrolled through my call logs to see that Jaebeom had been calling and texting me non-stop since the bus had pulled off without him. Though they used a variety of words, they all said the same thing: “I’m sorry.”

With a sad sigh, I tossed my phone onto my bed. Why was I even mad at him? Was it the fact that he lied? The fact that he watched me suffer in wait for my “Romeo”, silently feigning ignorance? Or was it just that I was overwhelmed with emotions, confused by the fact the two men I thought I loved were actually the same person and he loved me back. I sat up slowly and stared at my phone, which had long ago stopped ringing.

Had I overreacted?

“Ugh,” I groaned in frustration as I lay back on my bed. “Even now that I know who you are, you’ve still got me going in circles, Romeo.” I whispered to no one in particular. Just then, my phone, which I had thrown down next to me on the bed, beeped, signaling the receipt of a new voicemail. I froze. It was from Jaebeom, of course, and I was hesitant to listen to it. If I heard his voice, his sweet, smooth voice, I would probably run to him or run away. Whichever impulse came first and was stronger. But, I listened to it all the same. The consequences could be dealt with later.

Holding the ‘1’ on my keypad, I held my breath as the automated system spoke and following its droning message, came a melodic tone through the speaker. “Mina…” His voice trailed off with a shaky sigh. “Please pick up. I need to–I need to talk to you. I know I should’ve told you about the letters and I know I should’ve been there for you, baby girl, but please let me explain. Don’t just walk away from me; not now, not never. Just call me back when you’re ready. I’ll wait as long as you want me to.” I immediately exited my mailbox and threw my phone back on my bed. Tears were thick in my throat again and I wiped at my eyes in an attempt to stop them from falling. Things were getting so complicated; I wished I could turn back time to when Jaebeom was just my best friend and Romeo was just a phantom who held my heart in his poetic hands.

That thought sparked an urge within me and I stood from my bed. Falling to my knees, I slid a small, intricate box from under my bed and opened it, exposing a barrage of letters written on plain, white stationary. I opened the very first one on the top of the pile and smiled. This was the first letter I’d ever gotten from him, a letter that had started the craziest months of my life.