“Do you still love her?”

Her voice was soft and her stature meek; not at all like the strong woman she was raised to be, and was. She knew he felt awkward hearing those words; glancing over to her left where he was, she saw him blink nervously and shuffle his feet. His strong, thick hands slid themselves home into his coat pocket and his shoulders lifted in a shrug.

“Who?” 

Song Ji-Hyo leaned back in her seat and let her hands grasp at the coffee cup in front of her. Whispers could be heard around them, the small crowd gathering together in angst as they watched the scene play on. “You know who,” Ji-Hyo huffed, slightly annoyed. “Don’t pretend like you don’t.”

It was a loaded question she knew, and this conversation hit more to home than she had realized. She knew he was starting to realize it too.

Kim Jong-Kook coughed and fidgeted in his seat before he took a sip of his hot tea. When she looked up at him, and he gazed back, his resolve weakened; the cup was far more interesting than her piercing gaze at the moment. With a sigh, he tried to calm down. “Do I have to answer that?”

“Asking a question requires an answer,” Ji-Hyo replied smartly. A tilt of her head followed the smarting remark and Jong-Kook almost wanted to laugh; no matter what the situation was, the fire in her would never be put out, he realized.

Did he love her? Still?

“I can’t lie to you,” he said sadly, words quieter than the soft rustles of the leaves he could hear through the open window. The crowd around them gave a small gasp, and he could see them huddle even closer together in excitement.

Ji-Hyo nodded and stared at her coffee cup blankly. “Then I guess this is it,” she whispered. Her voice quaked, her heart started to beat faster, and her hands slightly shook in front of her so she moved to grasp the now warmer cup on the table. She took a strong sip of the drink, and then stood up, both hands tightly gripping the strap of her satchel. She looked at him fiercely, and Jong-Kook couldn’t tell whether or not the flicker of hurt he saw in her eyes was real, or fake as her expression turned dour. “Don’t pretend like you know me, anymore. Let’s end it here.”