"Can I ask you for help?"

 

She looked at him with her brows furrowed in confusion. "Yeah, sure."   "Well," Donghae started, but he really doesn't know how to express himself. "You see-" he took another pause and tried to construct it in his head. "Nevermind."   Her elbow was resting on the backrest of the bench and used her fist for her head's support. She could see that he was having a hard time to say something and she was worried. "What is it? Is it work-related, a family problem, or something like a conflict with your buddies? C'mon you can tell me anything."   His eyes were fixed on the river, then sighed before he spoke. "Actually, I have this friend who needs help with something. He met a girl and they became friends and recently he told me that he likes her. I asked him if he has admitted his feelings for her, but he said no. I already told him that he should man up and just tell her the truth about his feelings, but he said that he might ruin their friendship-"   Jessica suddenly grabbed her chance to ask him after spotting the proper timing. "Like, if they break up?"   He nodded as a reply, soon after he continued his tale. "I mean telling him that he should just confess, that's coming from a guy's perspective, but I wanna hear it from a woman's perspective so I can share it to him to help him decide better."   Her head slowly turned and looked at the river as she thought of the situation and tried to put herself in the shoes of the girl in Donghae's story. "Well, I don't know. I mean, I was the boring kid and you know why, right? But I did see that on movies, books, and TV shows, so I guess I can say that he's got a point that he doesn't wanna ruin their friendship, but I think it's best if he should just tell her the truth because he might regret it if he doesn't." She looked at him again and noticed that he is now looking at her as she explained. "I mean, I don't wanna be dramatic and all and I'm not trying to be, but in the world of fiction, characters regret it when they don't admit their feelings because there's someone else who will suddenly appear."   Donghae nodded in agreement. "Then that character will be wasted, then call himself or herself stupid for not being quick enough."   She chuckled softly while nodding. "But what I learned in life was you gotta say what you want and what you need to say because you'll never know how short the time's going to be." She looked at the gap between them as sadness filled her eyes. She sighed and smiled sadly before meeting his eyes again. "I guess I can say that I'm with you on this one. Go and tell him to admit his feelings before it's too late. Anything can happen in a blink of an eye and living a life with regrets is not ideal for anyone."   "Yeah, okay." He kept nodding his head and looked back at the river.   Jessica shifted in her seat and just looked at the view in front of them. Again, she closed her eyes and felt the mild breeze. It was a bit later in the afternoon and the wind's making her sleepier than earlier.   There was a few moments of silence between the two again and Donghae kept glancing at Jessica again and again. After a couple more glances, his head no longer faced the direction of the river and his eyes only focused on the girl. He faced the river again and silently took a deep breath before breaking the silence between them.   "Sica," he paused and gulped the nervousness down his throat to let his voice out. "I like you."    Slowly, Jessica opened her eyes and blinked. She wasn't sure if she misheard what Donghae had just said or if she heard it loud and clear. "What?" Her voice was low, almost a whisper.   "I like you, Jessica. When I first met you and when I was still new in the company, I thought that you hated me because there was someone else who shared your position and I really didn't feel welcome, so I pushed my feelings aside because I thought they won't last for long. When I saw you on that rainy night, crying about the painful past that you wanted to forget so you turned to alcohol, I saw the real you. I saw the real Jessica whom I thought was ice cold and cruel, but beneath that strong front that you showed everyone, there was a fragile girl. At that mom