So-eun liked caramel macchiato. Out of all the drinks served in the coffee shop, she would have chosen the caramel macchiato. This time, though, she had a regular-sized Americano.

Wonwoo looked over at her in amusement. "It's not poison, just coffee," he told her.

"Easy for you to say," she mumbled under her breath. "I can't believe you can tolerate this."

"It's still coffee."

"It's too bitter. At least, for my taste."

He let out an exasperated sigh and grabbed the cup from her. He took a gulp, cringing at the cool temperature. "Best served hot, which it would have been if you hadn't hesitated too long."

She rolled her eyes. "You're just weird." She glanced over to the menu board, then back to him. "You want anything to eat? My treat."

He looked over to the display of pastries and pointed at one of the cakes. "One chocolate cake?"

She nodded and hopped out of the chair. Just as she was about to take a step, a familiar face entered the coffee shop. She stood frozen in her place, contemplating whether it would be okay to order already or not. Glancing at Wonwoo, who had his attention elsewhere, she mustered up the courage to keep walking.

Please don't see me, she chanted in her head as she lined up right behind him. It worked, until he turned around to find a table. And looked straight at her.

She cursed under her breath, but managed to force a smile. "Junhong, hi."

"So-eun." He looked startled that she had greeted him first but a grin quickly replaced his expression.

Before, she would have definitely pretended she didn't recognize him first. However, it felt as though a weight had been lifted off her shoulders. While she still felt uncomfortable around her ex, she no longer felt the same bitterness that accompanied the thought of him.

"How are you?" he asked her.

So-eun blinked, unsure how to respond. Just then, the cashier called for her attention. Junhong mumbled an awkward apology for distracting her and left to sit down.

She returned to her table with two slices of chocolate cake. Wonwoo looked up as she arrived, helped her settle the plates down and went to return the tray for her.

"You don't look alright," he told her as he sat back down. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," she said. Sneaking a glance across the room, she caught sight of Junhong at one of the tables. She tore her gaze from that direction and faced her companion, who had followed her gaze.

"Sorry. I'm a little distracted, I guess," she mumbled, hoping he hadn't seen the other guy. They had gone to the same high school and he knew who she had been friends with, so of course he would recognize Junhong. She wasn't sure how she would handle a conflict if Wonwoo were to react to being in the same room as the guy. It was the first time she had spilled her guts about how her relationship ended to anyone outside of her family. She didn't know what to do.

He must have been curious because he followed where her gaze had been, and he frowned. "That's him, right?"

She couldn't lie, so she nodded. "I think he wants to be friends again. It's just me who is avoiding him," she confessed. For a split second, she was afraid of what Wonwoo was thinking. Did he think she was a coward for not wanting to confront her past mistakes? Did he secretly judge her for them? She watched his expression, which she found hard to read. At least, she told herself it was.

"Well, I believe it's your choice to do whatever." He shrugged. "Though I do think you both need some kind of closure. You two never really did talk about... what happened."

"No, we didn't. And it's over now. I don't see the need to visit the past."

He nodded, but So-eun had to admit it. He was right. She'd been carrying this cross on her own, and why? Because she was afraid of confronting the reality of it.

~~~~~

a/n:

If anything sounds weird or whatever, I am so sorry. I'm really trying to focus on school these days even though I want to keep writing. Although, I don't think I should be worrying about you guys hating me for the lack of updates or for posting crappy updates because no one really reads this story anymore huhu