A chance meeting 8 years after you had first fallen in love with him, had he changed? Was he the same Namjoon that had captured your heart all those years ago, or had his idol lifestyle altered the nerdy boy you once knew?
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First published June 2...
After leaving the home of the student you were tutoring before you evening shift at the convenience store, you stopped off at the coffee shop in Jangmun-ro. You were friends with one of the Baristas in there; Sua. She was younger than you by a few months and the closest friend you had who was single and understood the plights of being unmarried and childless in your late twenties/early thirties.
She knew about Namjoon.
In fact, she was the only one of your friends who did know.
Sua did not like Namjoon. She said that he was a coward for stringing you along knowing full well that he couldn't have a proper relationship with you. She was fully supportive when your ex-boyfriend proposed to you and threw a fit when you told her you were leaving him.
"You're far too picky," she would whine as you would sit in the late night Baskin Robins store lamenting how miserable you were.
You frowned at her because you knew what she was about to say.
"You will never find a carbon copy of Namjoon so stop looking. He's probably too busy messing around with those stick-thin idols and makeup noonas. Forget about him. If he wasn't man enough to commit to you then, he's not going to be man enough to commit to you now. Anyway, you wouldn't even be able to get near him anymore. His bodyguards probably have bodyguards. He is soo famous it hurts."
Again, you frowned at your friend. She was right but you didn't want to hear it.
"I love you, Unnie, but you're not in a good place. You don't need his drama."
After the messy breakup, you had been left with little to no money. To add insult to injury, your employer refused to renew your teaching visa for reasons they could not disclose.
Here you were, verging on bankruptcy with no job in a foreign country yet he was still on your mind. Sua thought you were crazy.
She's right. Crazy for him.
Half of the time you cringed at yourself because normal people would have moved on by now. Maybe you were nostalgic for him in the past because he was the only one who you had ever felt deeply connected to? Maybe you were nostalgic for him because he was the only connection you would ever need to know?
As time marched on, you found yourself a moderately well-paid weekly tutoring job for a lovely girl from a rich Korean family. She was struggling with her English so her Father had hired you solely because he had an office based in your home city. They were a kind and peaceful family who let you rent out one of their many apartments in Hongdae for a discounted price. You felt safe there.
However, you were having to pay off various loans from flying back and forth to renew your working visas; this is why you were supplementing your income at the convenience store.
"How was your little pet today?" Sua asked as she made you a mint hot chocolate.
"We learnt about subjunctive form," you proudly boasted.
Sua looked confused. Her English wasn't the best. You explained it in Korean and she nodded. As there were no customers after you, she began chattering on and you zoned out.
Namjoon was still on your mind. You wondered if he was actually going to come back to the store like he said he would. If he did, maybe you should listen to him? After all, he did owe you an explanation for why he ended things so abruptly. A simple meeting wouldn't cause any harm. You were mature enough to accept that. Closure would do you good.
"And?" Sua questioned as she stood with her hands on her hips.
Due to the fact you were wrestling with thoughts of Namjoon in your head, you had completely ignored everything she had said.
"Unnie! You're not listening! What is on your mind now?"
She leant forwards and whispered in your ear with a cheeky smile.
"Did Park Seojoon appear at the house again?!"
You rolled your eyes at her.
"It's not Park Seojoon! He is Kang-nim's assistant! Why do you think he's a celebrity?!"
"Because he's gorgeous! And anyway, I heard you had a thing for celebr-," she started teasing.
"Shush," you abruptly cut her off. "Don't mention that."
Sua playfully tutted at you and a look of pink embarrassment flooded her cheeks.
"Unnie, I'm sorry. I just worry that you are still thinking of him. I want you to move on before you turn into Miss Haversham."
"Ha Ha, very funny... not," you stuck your tongue out at her.
You were about to put your middle finger up to her as well but another customer walked in. Knowing that she had to serve the customer and that any chance of her back-chat would be inappropriate whilst serving, you quickly called out to her as you grabbed your drink.
"See you later!"
And with that, you turned and left the shop.
You were going to tell Sua that you had seen him but you had chickened-out. However, you weren't going to chicken-out from Namjoon. You decided you were going to listen to what he had to say for himself. But you weren't going to let your guard down. If he wanted to apologise, it had to be sincere and not just a pathetic gesture of good will because of who he was.
As you sipped your drink, walking down the sidewalk, you wondered if you were making the right decision. How could it be wrong? After all this time, you still knew he was someone special. Maybe you could still be friends?
You pulled your coat collar tightly to make yourself snuggly and warm against the cold Seoul wind.
One meeting, to clear the air. Nothing more, nothing less.
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That's Joonie laughing because we all know that 'one meeting' is definitely not going to be just one meeting :3 PS thank you all so much for reading this <3
