What does one do when the person that they’ve loved and despised for the longest time now stared back at them?

That question flashed by Sooyoung’s mind as she stood at the doorway watching Changmin’s body skim past by hers…entering her dorm, or rather, walking straight back into her life.

He smelt the same.

His engraved signature scent of the perfect blend between fresh mint and laundry detergent was her favourite scent. Although easy to imitate, something was always so distinct with the way it oozed off him.

His smell…she concluded, was one that she could never quite forget for it held within it, memories of who they once were:

a happy normal couple.

On numerous accounts of their past, she recalled being awakened by the addictive beat of his knocks against her window. His random spur of the moment late night visits were at first very embarrassing as a no make up, frazzled hair, childish pjs presented Sooyoung answered his calls. But he was no different as he often found it troublesome to climb her willow tree upon her garden, the twigs ripping holes along his clothing, leaving evidence of his failures. But no matter what, his nightly visitations continued throughout the years during their span as a couple. It was always the same, starting off with his stupid smirk followed by a playful wink, and an embrace which his hands would land effortlessly around her small frame, his face nuzzled along the side of her neck…and the night breeze blowing what Sooyoung would call Shim Changmin’s natural cologne.

Breathe in. Breathe out.

It was those simple moments that would flood back into her mind whenever she smelt that indescribable concoction of light fresh mint and laundry detergent.

Sooyoung brushed her fingertips along the faded baseball uniform she donned and questioned to herself when exactly his scent slipped away from the holds of the fabric.

Breathe in. Breathe out.

But there it was now…she wondered if traces of his essence would seep into the walls of her dorm as she continued to watch him from a short distance.

His index finger played along the edge of her dining room table as he examined the area wondering how she had been living during those years that they were strangers.

While she watched him intently with the friendly Kyuhyun guy she had met and wondered about their relations with one another, but she quickly became flustered when she found herself locking gazes with Changmin’s familiar brown eyes.

The feeling that devoured her was unknown.

She wanted to stay cautious of her actions, to not give into something that could easily be a trap. Sooyoung knew all too well of the past, of the agonizing pain she had gone through…of the questions that were left unanswered and the equations of their relationship she killed herself trying to figure out.

The both of them had decided upon themselves long ago to approach the problem with nothing but a pen in hand; therefore, their mistakes being more difficult to erase.

Even still, she was melting in the inside. She hated herself for being so weak, but she was curious as to whether this damaged messed up relationship that they have could indeed be fixed.

She decided that she would possibly give it a try.

Her lips curled up slowly, flashing him a timid small smile. While he gave a reserve response in the form of a shy head bow, but never once did he let his eyes wander away from hers.

“So Sooyoung-ssi, you want a doughnut? Muffin?” Kyuhyun asked happily while he approached her holding one of each.

“Here. Have a bagel.” Changmin gently placed the baked good from the smaller bag and onto the table beside him as he sat down and slyly kicked the empty chair next to him out.

“Mmm neh. I’ll have that one.” Sooyoung quietly whispered as she pointed at Changmin the bagel.

“Goreh? Really?” Kyuhyun’s voice was visibly disappointed as he returned his two choices back into its containers. He brushed off his mistake and continued on with a smile. Kyuhyun wasn’t going to let a small error put a damp on his attitude.

He took the hot beverage from her and replaced it with his hand, leading her to the table while keeping their distance to each other rather close. Kyuhyun wanted to show that his morning visitation was solely to greet her---all because he wanted to see her. He ignored the idea of possibly coming across slightly creepy or obsessed, but he liked her.

It was as simple as that.

Although being gently guided, Sooyoung had to reshuffle her gait as she found herself close to stumbling upon her own footsteps when they told her to head to the empty seat beside Changmin while the rest of her body was being led the other way.

Changmin kept his head down and pretended to busy himself with his cell phone, but the reality was that he was anticipating for her presence beside him, his eyes focused on the floor…awaiting for her footsteps to come closer to him.

It never did.

He finally lifted his head back up when the screeches from a chair a few down was pulled out. In his mind, he laughed at himself for being so foolish as to think things would be so easy.

After leading Sooyoung to what he thought was the best position, Kyuhyun dragged himself over to retrieve the bagel. It was lighter than he thought it would be as he expected more than one baked good inside. Much to his surprise, there was just the single one. He picked it up with doubtful hands and suspiciously watched his friend from the corners of his eyes as he walked back to Sooyoung.

---

Earlier that day…

“What do you think she’d like?”

Kyuhyun had his face nearly pressed up against the glass display seriously examining each and every choice on the menu. He didn’t want to mess this up…he wanted to show her that he was capable of these small surprises that girls often would swoon over. He fiddled with his fingertips while trying to predict what type of treat Sooyoung would want.

“Yah chingu…you’re holding up the line…” Changmin lightly nudged his friend at the side while he endlessly apologized at the rowdy crowd that kept growing. He was slightly embarrassed by the fact that Kyuhyun was taking way too long at something as simple as ordering. He rubbed the back of his neck and sighed at the anxious child like attitude of his buddy.

“Can we get a few of the muffins and doughnuts? Oh and that over there.” He put it upon himself to order in his stead as he noticed that the cup of coffee that Kyuhyun had excitedly bought for this “dream girl” of his was starting to cool off with every wasted minute his friend spent undecided.

Changmin patted his buddy’s back lightly as he laughed at the nervous wreck Kyuhyun turned out to be. Kyuhyun puffed his cheeks and rambled on about nonsense concerns he had…small little things…he was over reacting.

“Maybe she’d want rice…this…we’re in Korea. Who wouldn’t want to eat rice in the morning?” Kyuhyun waved what he now thought was a bag full of useless contents where money was not well spent.

“Hey hey hey~ watch it. My breakfast is in there too.” Changmin frowned just thinking of his precious goodie getting thrown around due to his bud’s paper bag harassment.

“A handsome fellow like you came knocking on a door early morning with breakfast and coffee in hand…if that’s not written in the book of ‘how to be romantic’ then I give up,” he consoled while eyeing the bag.

“Remember that the smaller paper bag belongs to me arasso? I won’t settle for anything else,” Changmin was pleading, but was unsure if his friend even listened to one peep.

He was desperately hungry and would have ripped through the goodies if he had the chance to, but it wasn’t placed in his hands. He followed Kyuhyun up the stairs to the ideal girl’s dorm room. He kind of felt pathetic getting dragged into a situation like this…like a dog wagging its tail waiting for the owner to throw a treat at him. Is he going to feel like a third wheel? But Changmin was beyond hungry and he was definite that the anyone with ears would had heard the endless growls that erupted from his stomach like a fine tune.

---

He picked it up with doubtful hands and suspiciously watched his friend from the corners of his eyes as he walked back to Sooyoung. Kyuhyun desperately wanted to ignore the tinkle of noise that sounded from his buddy’s stomach, wanted to ignore the action of Changmin wrapping his hands around it trying to hide the cold hard fact that he was hungry, but was willing to change his mind of settling for something else.

Kyuhyun tried to hide his scepticism towards Changmin, but something eerie already crept into his thoughts.

He never realized that his emotions were getting the worst of him as he somewhat smashed the poor bagel onto the table in front of Sooyoung, startling the girl a tad bit.

“So, Sooyoung-ssi…do you usually like eating bagels for breakfast?”

Changmin couldn’t help but clench his hand into a fist as he watched Kyuhyun’s careless actions. He swore he told him to handle his food with care, but there he did it again…it was honestly pissing him off more than it should. He bit his tongue, refraining from instigating something that he knew he’d later on regret.

This is Cho Kyuhyun, he reminded himself, a friend. He’s a foolish type of friend who does childish things like clogging up the café’s line, but still a friend. Changmin brushed off any negative thoughts before they were able to sink any deeper. He laughed at his stupid self for thinking otherwise before he looked up and saw Sooyoung staring back at him with a dumbfounded look.

“So, Sooyoung-ssi…do you usually like eating bagels for breakfast?” Kyuhyun tried a second time.

She peeked inside and a small smile immediately formed along her lips.

“Mmm. Neh I do,” she answered genuinely.

“I used to always eat sweet stuff in the morning so I often got scolded for my sweet tooth early habits,” she began to rip small bite sized pieces of the bagel.

“Someone became very concerned about that and convinced me to switch to bagels…saying I’d get more of the nutritional value and ever since then I’ve been hooked on them. I don’t think I’d settle for anything else, but I’m scared I’ll gain a handful of pounds…” She pouted.

Kyuhyun was completely enchanted by her adorable aegyo that he naturally found himself affectionately Sooyoung hair. She was so precious…the things she’d say.

Changmin stared on and quietly thought to himself, 

Pabo, you’re as thin as my arm. Did you really listen to my concerns back then? Have you really been eating well all these years?

He stared at her seriously before motioning her discreetly to continue her meal.

It was not long after her second bite or so that she began to hear the rustling of noises from the bedrooms. She couldn’t allow another frantic Jessica to grace the scene followed by a male individual, innocently just a best friend or not, to appear. So without even a warning she hurriedly motioned for the two early risers to leave her premises.

The tall girl panicked, still full as her teeth remained busy munching away.

Normally, Kyuhyun would have found a reason to negotiate a longer stay, but he was thoroughly pleased with the outcome of the morning and agreed to her wishes. Something so simple as seeing her bat her eyelashes made him even more convinced that she was the one for him. He headed for the door, but quickly her head once more before making his exit.

Absolutely precious, he thought…absolutely just precious.

Changmin soon followed right after. He had not witnessed his friend’s tender actions as he himself was secretly busy doing something else at the last moments.

Sooyoung stood frozen staring at the bedroom doors praying that they remained shut until it was clear. She was too occupied to notice him approaching, their distance getting smaller. Changmin understood that Kyuhyun was a mere second or two away and so he had to act carefully. He didn’t want to do anything impulsive. So he remained cautious and ever so lightly from behind her, he whispered out,

“I left a note.”

Breathe in. Breathe out.

There it was again, that distinct Changmin natural cologne of fresh mint and laundry detergent. She closed her eyes when she felt the gentle blow of his words land on the tips of her ears, the ticklish tingling feeling still lives on inside her.

She opened her eyes and they were gone.

Upon her refrigerator door she giggled as she noticed his chicken scratch writing on the whiteboard, the note read:

“That was my bagel, but since you can’t seem to settle for anything else, I’ll just take one bite. Eat more.

My number is still the same. Call me if anything…”

She turned her head back and stared at the bagel that visibly had a bite mark engraved on it. She pulled out her phone and scrolled down to Changmin’s name. She stared at the light that hovered atop it. Over the past few years she had gone through countless new cell phones, always receiving a new contact number, but she always would add his info bacj in. No matter how stupid it seemed to her to include a number that most likely would have changed, it was always Shim Changmin’s details that were the first to be added. She never knew that he never changed it, that if she had ever decided to call him that the line would go through.

After all these years…it remained the same.

And it remained the same for that one reason.

Changmin, no matter how much hate he had bottled up inside him for the past few years over a girl named Choi Sooyoung, he could never bring it upon himself to switch phone numbers. Deep down hidden somewhere in the pitch darken nooks of his heart, he waited for her call, but it never came.

He cheated on her and she got married.

But was that really the case?

Only now would the two slowly realize that no matter how much one screws around with love, it will always find its way back. Like a boomerang, their love always swung its way back into the hands of the original owner.  

Sooyoung’s fingers delicately danced along the keyboard of her phone. She read it one time. Two time. Three times, four.

Breathe in. Breathe out.

His scent was still there. She decided to press send, her text message simply reading,

“You owe me a bite of a bagel. You eat more.”

=================================

A/N:

@xoxoe_  @FolderName  @byebye12: bwuahaha yes chingu drama...slowly, but surely XP

@Bam ROFL yes I have some serious problems when it comes to updating...I often feel horrible for being gone for months that I think I shouldn't have started a fic..  >_< But thank you for still loving it dear!