“What?” he said after a couple of seconds after answering

“Jaehyun, I’ve been trying to reach you five times!” the other person yelled from the other line

“No need to yell, Doyoung. It’s 8 in the morning and I have to get ready for work. What is it?”

“You’ll never guess who just came back.”

Jaehyun wasn’t expectant on who Doyoung meant, since he really wasn’t feeling like doing the guessing game that morning. He was all groggy from tossing and turning from his sleep the whole night, he even had times where he’d wake up suddenly at 3am in the morning for no particular reason. After blanking out for a few seconds, he gave up on trying to point out who Doyoung was referring to

“Okay, I give up. Who are you even talking about, and why should I be worried?” Jaehyun asked in a whine, scratching the side of his head as he walked over to his bathroom and to his sink

“Y/n came back from America.”

For some reason, Jaehyun was a mix of both being not so surprised and being slightly confused. It had already been two years and yet he still felt indifferent for whenever he could hear, or even remember your name. He took a deep breath and looked at himself at the mirror, grazing his bottom lip lightly with his teeth

“Are you guys planning a reunion?” he asked without hesitation, clearing his throat after

“She wanted to see all of us tomorrow night and I was wondering if-“

“She invited me?” Jaehyun cut Doyoung off, feeling slightly taken aback

“I mean, she told me to tell you and-“

“Only you?” Jaehyun cut him off again, making Doyoung slightly confused

“She hasn’t come back ever since we graduated college. She probably changed numbers and lost a few contacts.” Doyoung gulped as he tried to explain at least a good reason, when he didn’t even know himself why you only contacted Doyoung for the gathering

Jaehyun wanted to speak on why you didn’t even think about contacting him. In his mind, he was feeling irritated. But outside, he wanted to show he was unfazed.

“Alright. I’ll call you later. I gotta shower.” Jaehyun rubbed his face with his other hand as he responded

“Wait.”

“What?”

“1pm. Roadhouse café in Apgujeong.” Doyoung spoke directly without hesitance, confusing Jaehyun

“You know my lunch break is only an hour.” Jaehyun said in monotone

“Just go.” Doyoung immediately hung up the phone, not even saying goodbye to Jaehyun

Jaehyun looked at himself in the mirror one more time, feeling quite irritated. However he realized he didn’t really want to think much of it since he wanted to move on. And yet the more he tried to, the more he could only have recurring thoughts of you.

And he hated it.

-

Jaehyun didn’t really care much if he was going to be working undertime that day, so he decided to go to the café Doyoung had told him. He felt like he knew what was going to happen, what was coming, even who he might even see at the café with. Once he arrived, he just stood outside with his eyes in his pockets as his eyes scanned the whole area inside, to which his sight stopped as soon as he recognized you, with your back facing the entrance.

To him, you hadn’t changed. Maybe a haircut once every few months, but your locks were still the same as the last time he saw you. He felt nervous all of the sudden on whether he should go inside or just ditch the whole scenario, but he wanted to show he had already moved on. Even though nothing had happened beyond what you both had, he just really wanted to get on with it and leave the past behind.

He opened the café door and walked over to you, standing behind you and looking at you in wonder. You were busy checking your phone for messages, not realizing Jaehyun has been behind you for already a minute. He cleared his throat as if he was doing it naturally, making you turn slightly to see if the guest you were expecting had arrived—and yet you were in for a whole new surprise

“Jaehyun.” you gave a small smile, standing up from your seat as his eyes roamed from your eyes, downwards, then back up to you whilst the smile in his face hadn’t left the whole duration of you facing each other

“Been a while.” he spoke as he took a step towards you, making you suddenly take a step back yourself

“Ah, did Doyoung tell you?” you asked, trying to be civil with him

“Yes, he did. I’m not sure if he’s coming right now.” he looked at his watch before looking at you again, trying to show how he wasn’t fazed by the fact that you had met again after having no contact with each other for two years

“Actually, I asked for you to come. Only you.” you admitted, to which Jaehyun was quite surprised with your words as he walked over to the seat across from you

You both were quiet for a while ever since he arrived, him taking a couple of sips of his drink and you not even able to speak. You ended up looking at him the whole time as he tried to not look back, afraid he’d say something wrong. But he wanted to be direct and wanted to know why you left, why you came back,

Why you never told him what your plans actually were after graduation, leaving him all of the sudden without telling him where you were to go right after.

“So, how’s everyone?” you asked, trying to kill the silence

“Fine.” he nodded, crossing his arms

“Jaehyun, I came back because I wanted to say sorry.” you said directly without hesitation, in hopes you could just patch up things together

“Well, for what?” he coldly replied, making you somehow feel disappointed by his response

“I left all of the sudden. After the competition, you know how we only focused on finals so we could graduate. And now…” you paused, trying to get yourself together

“Now, what?”

“I just want us to get back to where it was before.”

Both of you went silent yet again, but Jaehyun couldn’t contain himself from feeling betrayed and pissed

“You know what’s funny? You’re the one who left without a word, and yet you come back out of nowhere without explaining what happened.”

Jaehyun had a point, and you felt nothing but guilty from your mind up to your gut. As much as you didn’t want to admit everything, you really had no choice but to do so

“Okay, listen carefully.” you sighed, leaning back on you seat with your hands fidgeting on the ends of your skirt, Jaehyun’s eyes fixated to you the whole duration without any some sort of movement from his own seat

“I wanted to leave because I was afraid of admitting the fact that I might have, well, fallen in love with you. I was given an opportunity to work abroad thanks to a relative. But as soon as I about to leave, I felt like it was wrong. It was so damn wrong, that I forgot how much you actually meant to me as I took a step inside that airplane. I wanted to run back out and just run back to you, but I knew you would still feel betrayed. It’s been a couple of years and I still think that was the dumbest reason for me to leave. We were just friends, very close friends. Friends that, you know, mess around. And the more we did, the more I actually grew feelings inside that it suddenly felt weird seeing you on a regular basis. Maybe I was scared? Or maybe I was just trying to not let things become harder for you. So I chose to leave in the end so I could answer for you.”

Oh how much Jaehyun wanted to scream as to why, of all times you could leave, was once he had also realized he may had felt the same. He has been feeling tense the whole time you explained and the more he tried to grip on your words, it felt like daggers from every corner trying to pass right through him. As much as he wanted to yell how much you actually meant to him, how much time he had spent trying to figure out where you went, how long he had waited for your return, how much he needed you to be there for him even if you both weren’t to advance into the next level in your so-called “friends with benefits” relationship.

How many pieces he had to put back from that so-called heartbreak he had never gotten before he had met you.

But all of that was shattered by one mistake you had done, and that was leave without a word.

“So why didn’t you tell me beforehand?” Jaehyun looked down, containing himself from the whole time from trying to walk out

“I was embarrassed.” you let out an exasperated sigh, looking at your hands that went shaky all of the sudden

“I just want to ask one more thing.” Jaehyun was again, hesitant on asking what had been on his mind lately, but he just wanted to know the truth after everything

“Did you use Yuta, just to make me jealous, at one point?”

“For the most part… yes.” you didn’t have the guts to look at him as soon as he looked at you whilst raising his head, slightly appalled but he also expected it either way

“Did you both…” Jaehyun paused, taking back his words

“Yes. And it was all because I wanted to get my mind off of you.”  

That sentence itself, had already broken him for the second time. No, he probably thought it was one of the many times he had tried to move on but couldn’t. He had no choice, everything had already happened. The worst thing he could think of had happened. As much as he didn’t want to admit it, the fact that you both spent nights together made him feel like he wanted to have you all to himself, and him only.

But again, all of that was gone in just one go. One mistake made it more evident that it was likely over.

“I need to go back to work.” he stood up, grabbing his coffee as he was relieved to have it taken out, holding on to the already-cold beverage

You froze for a while as he stood up and took a few steps away, making you stand up immediately and turn to him even when his back was facing yours while he were to leave

“Are you coming tomorrow?” you asked out of the blue, making him pause for a minute and turn to you with a forced smile

“We’ll see.” he gave a light chuckle, turning again to walk away without even looking back to you

He got back to his workplace, as he only settled for a normal office job that he had been enduring for a year before he could resign. He walked in and took sips off of his coffee as if nothing had happened, not even getting any attention from his workmates, some of them your friends, who had no idea you both had met during lunch and that it made him late for work for almost an hour.

He got back to his cubicle and sat down, leaning back on his chair as he let out a sigh from tiredness, putting his hand over his forehead whilst letting his thumb massage one side of his temple as he closed his eyes. He opened his eyes slowly again after a while, looking at his computer screen to see if he had any work to do that could help him do an hour overtime to make up for his time at work. But in his mind, all the memories suddenly came back and made him pause from holding on to his computer mouse. He suddenly lost focus on what he were to do, as your name kept repeating in his mind. But again, his heart told him that what’s done, was done.

“Honestly, I would’ve understood if I was the only freshman in this class. And yet you’re here, Lucas, which makes the whole experience worse.” you whined, looking around to find a different seat, far away from Lucas as you walked over to the back

“What on earth did I ever do to you to hate me this much, y/n?” he followed you without knowing as he spoke, making you turn to look back at him all irritated

“I don’t know, maybe because you never apologized to me after you ‘accidentally’ dropped your bottle of water over my final project, which I spent three consecutive sleepless nights for!” you waved your hands in annoyance, and yet you both didn’t realize the others inside the classroom were already staring at the both of you while arguing

“I’ve got nothing to say.” he responded rather coldly, crossing his arms again as he took a step back to his desk

You looked around and noticed some of your classmates were already looking at both of you, some of them kind of containing their laughter either they found it funny or cute. Maybe even both.

Because you really had no choice, you decided to just sit next to Lucas—but you moved your seat many inches from him, making him almost burst into laughter

“What?” you gave him a stink eye, putting your bag on the desk

“It’s weird for us to even be in the same class together. Even weirder for us to have to sit together.” he rolled his eyes as he turned his head to look at the whiteboard, trying to ignore you as the professor arrived before you could even respond in spite

The whole time you were in class, it was just an exchange of either glances or eye rolls between both of you whenever you accidentally met eyes while looking around the classroom out of boredom from your own professor. However, you both didn’t really have a choice since you knew no one else but each other, so you had to suck it up for the most part.

“Alright, I want to have you all paired since I’m giving a small piece of homework.” your professor announced mid class, making you look around frantically in hopes you won’t get paired with Lucas

“However, I can only pair people who are in the same course. I think everyone here is an art major?” he asked, looking around the classroom as you contained yourself from raising your hand that you weren’t an art major just to make sure you weren’t gonna end up getting paired with Lucas

And yet, to your embarrassment, he actually did raise his hand

“Yes?”

“Sir, we’re both from the Sports department so we’re not-“ you suddenly slapped his shoulder so hard for him to stop him from speaking, making him look at you with a scrunched up face whilst rubbing the part where you had hit him hard

“I swear if we get paired-“

“Alright, you’re both automatically a pair then. This is to ensure that you won’t have a hard time trying to find each other to try and finish the homework in case your schedules didn’t meet.” your professor nodded, turning to his desk to grab his notebook for the list of the class

“Great, you idiot.” you mumbled, but Lucas was able to hear and poked your arm to try and get your attention

“Can we at least be civil with one another?” he asked, pouting slightly that made you frown as you turned your head to him

“Fine.” you groaned, leaning back on your seat as you crossed your arms

“Alright, looks like I have given enough for the homework. Anyways, you two at the back?” your professor pointed to you and Lucas as he stood from his table

“Why did you guys sign up for this class, by the way?” he asked out of curiosity, leaning on his desk as he crossed his arms

“We…” you paused, trying to think of a better reason than “Oh, I got here because my friends told me to sign up for this class” type of reason, by which of course, you didn’t end up getting any ideas

“We just… like art!” Lucas grinned and nodded, giving some of the students in class and even the professor a good roar of laughter as the school bell for dismissal had rang whilst everyone’s amusement

“Well I guess you’re both welcome here. Class, do your homework and I’ll see you all on Wednesday.” he walked out with his textbook and left the room in a jiffy, making you put your head on the table and whine rather lowly, Lucas looking at you as he stood up all confused and grabbing his backpack

“We’re gonna be late for our next class. It’s a major subject for all the Sports Department students.” he said as he put on his backpack, forcing you to stand up and put your own as well

“Can we ignore each other during the next class?” you grumbled, trying to walk away

“But what about our homew-“

“We’ll do something about it thirty minutes before class. Just please.” you sighed as you continued to leave, Lucas feeling quite let down as he was actually eager to finish the homework beforehand to not let the stress get to both of you

The two classes you both were in right after art class made you feel low in energy, especially because you were quite embarrassed by what had happened. Lucas, who usually sat at the back of the class due to his tall stature, couldn’t help but look at you and somehow feel bad. But he didn’t mean to embarrass you in any way since he only tried to help out.

“So you misread my text about the class number? No wonder you didn’t show up in class.” your friend whispered as she leaned near you, you resting your chin on your arm on the desk whilst scribbling on your notes

“Of all people, I had to be stuck with Lucas.” you sighed, turning to look at her slightly

“Lucas? Lucas Wong? Seriously? The guy who messed up your whole project for finals?” she gasped a bit, trying to hide her shock

“Who else?” you grumbled, blowing a raspberry as you continued on drawing doodles on your notes, trying to get what had happened at the class earlier and Lucas off of your mind

After all, you both only get to interact on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, thanks to your differences in majors within the Sports department.

-

Wednesday had come and you walked in to see your classroom was empty, even though you were five minutes early. Something was fishy, you thought, so you just went inside the classroom and waited by the teacher’s desk in hopes you could change your seat and be far from Lucas.

And yet to your surprise, Lucas had arrived and actually came running towards the door, just as surprised as you were to see the whole classroom bare.

“Where is everyone?” he asked, looking around the room whilst holding on to his backpack sling on his shoulder

“No clue.” you shrugged, leaning back on the chair

“Oh, there you are!” your professor suddenly arrived, panting slightly as he walked in the room

“Sir, where is everyone?” you asked as you stood up from your seat

“I forgot to tell you guys that the art students are having an orientation today, so class is cancelled and we’ll resume on Friday.” he explained, grinning

“Sir, what about our homework? I have our work here-“

“Ah, I’m gonna have to postpone the deadline to Friday. Don’t worry, at least you guys got ahead of the time to do the whole homework.” he chuckled as he looked at his watch

“Anyways, enjoy your short time off. I gotta go and get to the orientation. See you on Friday.” he left in a hurry, leaving you and Lucas looking all worn out from actually having the effort to have to go to that class and endure on seeing each other

You and Lucas walked out of the room together, trying to take in the fact that class had actually been postponed. Again, you both remembered that you were the only ones who had a different major within the class, so you had to understand that they would have other stuff to do that didn’t have anything to do with your own department

“Hey, Lucas? Did you actually do the homework?” you turned to look at Lucas, who was standing right behind you and looking at you the whole time

“Well, yeah. I mean, we had to at least have a page of the research.” he shrugged, holding up the piece of paper that has quite a number of paragraphs printed on it, showing how much research he actually did that quite impressed you

“You did all of that research? Without me?” you asked in appall, crossing your arms and furrowing your brows

“Has anyone ever told you how cute you look when you’re angry?” he commented whilst smirking, making you somehow feel confused and kind of embarrassed

“Shut up.” you rolled your eyes, turning to the other side of the hall to leave

“See you on the next class, cutie.” he called out as you walked, making you pause midway and try to contain yourself from getting angry

As soon as you turned to Lucas, he had a huge grin across his face as he looked at the papers he had worked on for your homework. For some reason, his smile made you feel some sort of fuzzy inside, noticing his features that you wanted to ignore from the beginning, and that he actually was quite, erm, handsome, to your admittance.

“Lucas.” you called, making him look up immediately without getting that “irritatingly adorable” grin off of his face

“Wanna walk to class together?” you asked, quite teasing him as you realized the change in his expression that slightly showed his bashful side

“Wait, what?”

“Never mind.” you quickly turned and walked away, to which Lucas was actually eager to walk out with you from the building to another one right across campus for your next class

“Wait up!” he ran and followed you towards the stairs, somehow not able to take off that huge grin off of his face again as he walked right behind you, as if he was some sort of a “guardian angel” that kept following you around

“Don’t tell anyone we walked out together, or else.” you said without turning to him as you walked

“I can’t promise that.” he responded immediately without thought

“Lucas.”