“Where are you?! Are you with ______ again?! What the hell. You might as well be dating her! Bye!”, that’s what you heard Chanyeol’s girlfriend yelling over the phone.

“She hung up in your face again huh?”, you asked sympathetically.

“Yeah, it’s nothing new. She’s been getting so pissy about you and I hanging out lately”, he mumbled.

He sighed and started texting on his phone. You figured he was sending his girlfriend a text apologizing or something. You felt bad, you didn’t want to be the reason why him and his girlfriend were arguing. He loved her. You knew that, but somewhere in the back of your mind you couldn’t quite figure out why. Every time you saw her or heard stories about her from him, it was always the same thing. Her flaunting herself over Chanyeol in front of you. Her putting him down. Her yelling at him for no good reason. Basically just treating him like a little kid in your opinion. He deserved so much better.

“I think you should just go see her. I know if I were her, I’d be mad too if my boyfriend just sent a text after an argument and kept hanging out with some girl”, you told him.

“But you’re not just some girl”, he said under his breath.

“Huh? What was that?”, you asked, not catching it.

“Uh, nothing. You’re right. I’ll go see her. I’m sorry I asked you to come out only just to go back home after 10-15 minutes”.

———

“Baby, please don’t be mad”, Chanyeol pleaded as he grabbed his girlfriend’s arm.

“Why?! Why shouldn’t I be mad?! Should I be happy that my boyfriend would rather hang out with another girl when he could be spending that time with me?!”, she spat.

“But she’s just a friend!”, he said, trying to defend himself.

“Yeah, right. That’s what they all say. I see the way you look at her Chanyeol. The way your face lights up when she calls or texts you. I don’t like it. Don’t you dare try to lie to me and say that you don’t do those things either”, she continued.

She shook off his grip and leered at him.

“I’m giving you one last chance. It’s either me or her Chanyeol, I’m serious”.

———

You: So how’d everything go? 

Chanyeol: Not too good. Actually not good at all..

You: She’s still mad eh?

Chanyeol: Very.

Chanyeol: I don’t know what to do.

You: Do you want to talk about it?

Chanyeol: Yeah, can we meet up somewhere?

———

You sat on a bench waiting for Chanyeol with two coffees in hand. Finally he got there.

“Here”, you said handing him a cup.

He thanked you as he rubbed his hands together and took the cup.

“Soo…”, you started, not sure how to go about the situation.

He sat there in silence for a few minutes, taking sips of coffee here and there. You looked down and spun your cup around a few times, waiting for him to talk.

“She’s really mad this time”, he finally said.

“What happened?”, you asked tentatively.

“Well…”, he began.

“She doesn’t really like us hanging out. I guess she sees you as a threat of some sort, like I’m going to cheat on her with you”, he continued.

“She wants me to choose between you two…”

“What?! That’s ridiculous! We’re just friends, you don’t like me in that sort of way anyways!”, you responded.

He was quiet for a moment.

“R-right?”, you asked, confused.

“I don’t know anymore”, he said softly, taking another sip of coffee.

You were flabbergasted. You didn’t see that coming at all. All you could do was blankly stare at him. This whole time you were talking, he never once looked your way. He either looked down or straight ahead, pursing his lips once in a while. You could tell he was having a hard time trying to express and get his feelings and thoughts out. You stayed quiet, not knowing how to respond.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to dump that on you along with my personal problems. You must be surprised”, he said apologetically.

“N-no, it’s fine. We’re here to find a solution so it’s only natural to get out all your feelings and thoughts. That way we know what we’re dealing with and where to start”, you reassured him.

“Although, I can’t tell you what to do. That’s your decision and conclusion to come to. All I can do is give you my opinion and advice”.

“I really do love her, but when she told me to choose between you or her…”, he said suddenly.

“My heart dropped. My mind went blank. I didn’t know what to think or how to react. You’re my friend first and foremost but I felt some type of way. Not like a ‘oh, I’m gonna lose a friend’ way, it was something else. I can’t really quite put my finger on it…”

The more he let his feelings spill out, the more speechless you became. This whole situation just got ten times more complicated than it should have been with his one skeptical confession.

“So what do you think?”, he asked after he was done.

“Well, I’m going to be very blunt about this so please don’t hold anything against me”, you warned first and foremost. You took a deep breath.

“I honestly think you deserve better. I’m not saying that you’re gonna find it with me nor am I telling you to break up with her, but from a friend and a girls’ point of view, she doesn’t treat you right at all”, you began, getting the most important point out there.

“Yeah, of course you love her but how does she truly make you feel? Are you happy when you’re with her? Even if you had an uncertain feeling when you had to choose between us, what would be worth it? I personally wouldn’t want you to choose between the two of us. I mean, who would want to choose between someone they love and a close friend? Does she really love you if she’s giving you that ultimatum?”.

———

Chanyeol sat there and listened to her every word. She made a lot of sense and had a lot of valid points but he still didn’t know what to do.

“I understand what you’re trying to say, but I still don’t know what to do. I’m at a complete loss”, he said.

“I know, it’ll be a hard decision if you have to choose. Why don’t you try talking it out with her again after she cools off? Maybe come to a compromise?”, she suggested.

He nodded his head. Maybe that was the best choice he thought. He wouldn’t be able to stand himself if he actually tried to choose between the two girls.

“Thank you. I really appreciate you. I’ll try talking to her again when she’s not so mad”, he decided.

She nodded and smiled at him. That was that, but something kept eating at him…

“I don’t know why but somehow it feels like I just got rejected on top of everything else that’s going on”, he chuckled as he messed with the top of the cup.