Never in your life had you run so fast only to feel like you were moving at a snail’s pace. As soon as Woohyun revealed where he was, you had raced out of your apartment without a second thought. The elevator was too slow and you were only two floors up, so you had taken the stairs. You froze a few feet away from the entrance, unsure of what you had just done. This wasn’t right.

     Whatever had overcome you and made you sprint all the way here had also made you forget all the torment you’ve going through because of him. Even if instinct pulled you to Woohyun’s side at the very sound of his distress, you had to remember what he’d done to you. You couldn’t bring yourself to forgive him that easily, even if the exact moment your eyes met with his begged for it.

     You walked into the lobby slowly and peered around. From the chair nearest to the door, Woohyun stood up the moment he saw you. You made your way toward him as he put his phone in one of his pockets. He was soaked from head to toe from being out in the rain. This moment would’ve reminded you of a movie if it weren’t for the fact that it didn’t feel like one.
     Neither of you spoke, as you didn’t know what to say. Woohyun’s eyes looked red and sunken, and you couldn’t tell apart the tears from rain. This was the first time you’d seen him in a month, and he’d already looked like he’d aged five years. Just the thought of that made you wonder how you looked to him. Perhaps you looked even older.
     Woohyun murmured your name softly, and you shivered. He brought a hand up to your hair and ran his fingers through it slowly, causing your knees to lock in place. Your stomach felt as though it was knotted again, and you swore in your mind that this wasn’t happening.
     “______,” Woohyun uttered, almost in a whisper. “I’ve missed you.”

     He took his hand away from you and covered his face. “I’m so sorry.”

     Everything you had planned on saying to Woohyun if this situation ever arose was shot down faster by contradicting feelings. Your heart cried with him as he sank back down to his chair. You couldn’t tell him you hated him, because that just wasn’t true. You couldn’t tell him you never wanted to see him again, because every part of you had actually wanted to run to him. These feelings of yours were so agonizing, you weren’t sure which would be worse to tell, the lies or the truths.
     But as much as you wanted to tell him you missed him too, you knew it wouldn’t change a thing. He hurt you, and there was nothing he could do to fix it.

     “Please,” Woohyun asked, “I understand if you can’t forgive me, but please… I want to apologize.”

     You couldn’t think of anything to say. This entire situation was a mess. The only thing you could do was hope that nobody came in to see him like this. He knew that you wouldn’t be able to forgive him, yet he insisted on talking to you, on apologizing to you face-to-face. Even though you couldn’t forgive him, you couldn’t just turn him away.

     You noticed he was shivering. There were goosebumps on his skin from both the rain and his nerves.

     “Woohyun, let’s go to my apartment,” you urged. “It’s not safe for us to discuss this in a public place, and you’ll get sick if you don’t dry up.”

     Woohyun looked up at you worriedly. You took his hand and guided him to the elevator. You had to admit, for all the anger you felt toward him, feeling his skin again comforted you.

     You led him inside and went to grab a towel. You offered him a spot on the couch, to which he refused, sitting on the floor instead.

     “I’ll make you some tea,” you decided.

     After Woohyun had warmed up, drank up, and dried up, the two of you had nothing left to do but talk. Woohyun thanked you for everything, then asked for you to sit by him. You turned off the television and set the dishes inside the sink, stalling as much as you could.

     “I see you’re still as avoiding as ever,” smiled Woohyun. His teasing hit a nerve, but you tried to ignore it. “You didn’t miss me?”

     “It must be nice to be able to laugh and tease me again,” you snapped. “It’s as if nothing’s changed.”

     The smile faded from Woohyun’s face, and he immediately looked apologetic. You knew he wasn’t saying things to get under your skin, but there was still so much irritation that you were feeling more sensitive than usual.

     “I’m sorry,” Woohyun mumbled. He looked down at his feet and glanced at you every few seconds. “If there’s something you want to say to me, you should say it.”

     You bore your gaze at him so ruthlessly, he couldn’t look away. “You know what, Woohyun? I do have something to say.” He smirked by habit and motioned for you to proceed. Instantaneously, everything you had kept bottled up inside gathered together and formed themselves into coherent sentences.

     “I can’t forgive you, Woohyun. There is absolutely nothing you can say that would make up for the things you’ve said to me last time. Even though I rushed to you while you were crying downstairs, and even though I invited you inside, you can’t possibly think that I’m okay with you. I still can’t forget the way you ended things. You hurt me. Do you know how many nights I’ve gone without sleep because of the things you’ve said — the things we’ve lost?
     “Yes, I’ve missed you. There isn’t a moment that goes by that I wish things were back to the way they were. But did you even bother to take my feelings into consideration after you broke up with me? What about before you sent those texts? What did you think would happen if you came over and sobbed on the phone? That I’d take you back? I was trying to get over you, Woohyun.”

     You were practically in tears by the time you finished ranting, and Woohyun’s eyes were glued to you the entire time. He looked incredibly guilty as he took your hand in his.

     “Have you gotten over me?” he asked.

     Again, your mind thought of the meanest thing to say in an attempt to hurt him, but you couldn’t bring yourself to say it. It was a lie. You shook your head no and broke into tears. Woohyun sighed and looked at you furtively. He pulled you closer for you to fall into his hug. You cried even harder the moment your face rested against his chest. You missed his touch so much…

     “I know you said that nothing I say will ever make up for that time,” Woohyun began, “but what if… What if you give me another chance to make it up through my actions?” he asked.

     You pulled away from his chest and sat up. As you wiped away your tears, you took what he said and weighed it carefully in your mind. Although you didn’t think you could forgive him, you were more than willing to try. It might be tough, but this past month had been pretty tough as well. Trying again could be… Refreshing. Still, you needed an idea of what he meant before you could agree. Working by theory wasn’t always a good idea.
     “And how would you go about doing that?” you asked. Woohyun thought for a moment.

     “Haven’t you told me you wanted to be kissed in the rain?” he asked.

     “What?” you scoffed.

     “Yeah, like in the movies. Let’s go, right now,” he nagged as he pulled your hand toward him.

     You gave him no reaction.

     “Just kidding...” He said disappointedly as he let go of your hand.

     “Hmph.”

     Woohyun studied you carefully as he thought of a better example.

     “We can start things slow again,” he said. “It could be just like when we started dating. We’ll take more time to get to know each other, and know what the other one likes. I’ll even put in more effort in the things I do for you,” he said as he took your hand again.

     “I can take you out to dinner,” he said as he kissed the back of your palm. His charming side had made an appearance.

     “I’ll bring you bouquets every day,” he explained as he kissed your shoulder. He moved closer to you, and you were too entranced by what he was doing to protest.

     “I’ll even rub your feet and give you a massage every night,” he whispered as his lips floated toward yours.

     This was too much. You turned your face and held up your hands, gently pushing him away. He worried about whether he’d done or said something wrong again, until he noticed the smile that crept up on your face. “W-what?” he chuckled, looking you in the eyes.

     “Whoa, lover boy,” you teased, “I thought you said we could take things slow.”

     “You mean we aren’t allowed to kiss yet?” he smiled, staring at your lips.

     “Who do you know kisses before the first date?” you asked. “Besides, if you sent me a bouquet every day, there would be bees inside the house.”

     “What kind of logic is that?” Woohyun chuckled. “How about just a flower a day, then?”

     “A flower would be nice. By the end of the month, it would add up to a bouquet, and that’s if the flower doesn’t die.”

     Woohyun chuckled at your logic once more, and sat back to give you your space. “A flower it is,” he confirmed.

     The two of you gazed at each other for a moment.

     “Will I still get my kiss in the rain?” you asked, half-jokingly.

     “You can have a kiss right now, if you’d like,” Woohyun laughed.

     “No! We have to start slow,” you protested, but Woohyun didn’t mind. There was a glint in his eye as he watched you. For a ‘new’ boyfriend, he sure did stare at you lovingly.

     “Then we’ll start slow,” he whispered. His eyes darted back to your lips, and for a moment, you were inclined to giving in. But before you could do so, Woohyun stood up and handed you the towel you had given him to dry up with.
     “I should get going,” he said.

     “Oh, right. Will you be okay getting home?” you asked.

     “Yeah, I’ll be fine.”

     You accompanied him to the lobby’s doors. As he turned to say goodbye, he suddenly grabbed your hand. He picked you up effortlessly and carried you outside, despite your small cries of protests (which sounded more like giggles, to him).
     It wasn’t raining hard, but it was certainly more than a drizzle. Woohyun cradled you tenderly in his arms and stared — or tried to stare — up at the sky. He then looked down at you and smiled. Woohyun leaned down and brought his face closer to yours. You didn’t back away, even though you could have. Just as his lips were centimeters from yours, you closed your eyes and anticipated the kiss.
     You opened your eyes seconds later to see that he had not moved any closer. Woohyun’s smile became brighter and he pulled away.

     “Not yet!” He teased, “We haven’t even had our first date yet!”

     You laughed out of embarrassment and hit him playfully on the shoulder. He kissed your forehead and spun you around a few times before carefully setting you down under the building’s awning.

     Woohyun flagged down a nearby taxi. He turned around once more to say good night to you. As he ran his fingers through your hair, he pressed his forehead against yours and closed his eyes.

     “I’ll miss you tonight,” he murmured.

     “I’m only a phone call away,” you said in hopes of cheering him up.

     “Then it’s settled,” he said as he opened his eyes again. He stood back and beamed at you, and before you could ask him what he meant by that, he was already sitting in the taxi throwing hearts at you.

     When you returned to your apartment, you noticed your phone had a message.

     "See you Friday night! ♡ ￣ ▽ ￣ “

     You laughed at Woohyun's familiarity, but at that moment, something in the back of your mind had surfaced. The last hour with Woohyun had gone fairly well, and it had almost felt like it did in the past -- happy, safe, exciting... But there was still a lot to mend in your heart, and you wondered how easy it would really be to "start over" again. However, the more you thought about the Woohyun you knew before the breakup, the more you realized it was worth the chance. This decision truly was a leap of faith.