Luisa finished inputting grades and looked away from her computer screen tiredly. The end of the school year was upon her, and she was glad that she was up to date with all her grades. She'd learned her lesson about leaving things until the final week. She rose on shaky legs and stretched.

"Hey, there. You done?" A blonde, curly-headed woman stuck her head into Luisa's classroom.

"Thank God, yes," Luisa sighed. "I do not want to look at another assignment for the next few days." She saw Elena's eyes sparkle.

"Great," the blonde woman said. "How about we look at a few margaritas today after work?"

"Shhh." Luisa held a finger to her lips. "What if a student hears you?"

Elena's head disappeared from the doorway before she turned back to face the room. "There's no one around. Come on. What do you say? Patty already said she would join us. It's Friday. Loosen up!"

Luisa couldn't hold back her smile at her friend's energy. "Okay, sure. What time and where?"

"Tavernesque at 5," the blonde woman answered immediately.

"Isn't that place a bit...pretentious?" Luisa asked slowly. She had heard about the popular bar that was frequented by hoity-toity singles.

"Pretentious? No! It's the favorite of bankers, business owners, and other such high-end people," her friend replied. "Plus, I hear that the male patrons are quite the sight for the eyes. You'll have no trouble catching someone's eye, but maybe you can share some of the rejects with the rest of us. I'd love to catch me some handsome hotshot."

"One more comment like that, and I won't go."

Elena laughed. "Okay, okay. If you want, you can ride with me. I didn't see your car outside."

"Thanks. It's in the shop until tomorrow. I'll see you in a bit."

Luisa sat back down at her desk to put things in order. She had avoided most socializing up until now, but it was time to throw caution to the wind. The prospect of spending the entire summer alone loomed large. Her mind immediately went to Seokjin.

She shook the vision away. She had certainly made a mess of things, and she had deliberately downplayed any connection to him. Now he was dating the pretty physical therapist assistant who'd stuck by his side the last few weeks. She was pretty, cheerful, friendly, and bright—everything a man could want.

Was she everything that Seokjin wanted?

Stop it, she berated herself silently. You passed up on him, so you have no right to cry about it now.

She had seen the way the woman looked at Seokjin every time she took him to his appointments. She didn't think much of it because what girl wouldn't look at him with hearts in her eyes?

She was still waiting for the right time to tell him that she was ready to try again. They had waited long enough after his breakup with Emily.

During one of the appointments, while she was scrolling through her phone, she looked up to see how he was doing with his exercises. She saw the easy way he laughed with Lydia. She saw the way her hands lingered just a bit longer than they needed to over his arm and shoulders. Again, what woman wouldn't want to touch him?

After a while, Lydia came to sit next to her and started asking her questions. At first, it seemed just small talk while Seokjin finished his workout. But then her questions became very specific. What she really wanted to know was if Luisa and Seokjin were involved.

Luisa had smiled to herself and was about to tell her that, yes, there was something between them, but the therapist spoke first.

"He told me that he was trying to move away from a woman who liked him, someone who's been around him for some time, but nothing ever happened."

Luisa blinked. "He said that?" Her mind immediately wondered if he had grown tired of waiting for her.

Lydia lowered her voice. "Yeah. I'm sure you know how nice and considerate Seokjin is. He said he doesn't know how to tell her that he's not interested in her after all this time. He didn't say her name." The redhead paused and resumed in a louder voice: "Still, it's nice of you to bring him to his sessions. You wouldn't know anything about this girlfriend?"

Luisa stayed silent.

"It's not you, is it? If it is, I'm sorry—"

"We're just...old friends."

"So you're not the clingy woman he talks about? You're not together then?" the therapist persisted.

Luisa wondered if Seokjin had meant her, the woman who hung around but never went anywhere with their relationship, the one he was trying to let down. Was she the clingy woman? She shook her head. "Oh...no."

The weights that Seokjin was working with suddenly clanged loudly, and Lydia rushed over to help him.

Seeing the redhead touch him gently made Luisa clench her jaw. Seokjin looked at the girl with a flirtatious smile on his face, and she turned away. So, he was attracted to her. It wasn't just a case of a woman trying hard to get him to notice her. He had already noticed her.

She averted her eyes and instead stared at her phone, pretending she was busy looking at something. She gulped a few times until the dryness in her throat eased a bit. When she looked up again, Lydia was practically leaning on Seokjin, both of them were smiling.

With every smile and chuckle of Seokjin's, her heart broke just a bit more. She couldn't fault him. It was true that she'd never allowed their relationship to get off the ground. Now, she could only watch as he had a new beginning elsewhere. She could only wish him well.

Maybe they were always destined to be just friends. With a loud sigh, she finished gathering up her things and walked out of her room to join Elena on her quest to catch the eye of some handsome hotshot at Tavernesque. She, too, should face reality and move on.