this is how we fall || kim sunwoo

ten

A small diner at the corner of the street near your place is what the two of you decide on. When you enter, the first thing you notice is how much it reminds you of the “before” images of that nice restaurant. Half of the diner is dark with the overhead lights flickering once in a while in an attempt to turn on, while the other half is cast in an unpleasant fluorescent light. There are pieces of garbage on the floor that an employee tries to sweep up as she greets you. In short, the state of it almost makes you want to walk right out.

But instead, you order your food. You sit down at a table towards the darker half of the room as you wait.

Sunwoo clears his throat. “You know,” he starts, a shy smile on his face, “I can read your palm too.”

“What?” That wasn’t remotely close to anything you imagined he would say. You give him a questioning look, frozen with confusion as you put your hand on the table, palm up. “Um, sure. Go for it.”

He gently runs his fingers over the lines on your palm, tracing them as he closes his eyes and pretends to envision something the way you do. Soon, your confusion fades into amusement at the effort that he’s putting into this. Each of his feather-like touches causes your heart to speed up a little, and you have to try to will your palms not to start sweating because that would not be attractive at all.

“So? What do you see?”

“Shh,” he whispers with his eyes firmly shut. “The spirit is still talking.”

You use the chance to really glance at him. Not much has changed since the last time you’d seen him, but somehow he looks even better now—perhaps healthier or more radiant, like he’s completely healed from the remnants of a broken heart plaguing him before. Maybe even happier. You wonder if what Hyunjae said about you healing broken people is true.

“I saw a lot of things,” Sunwoo opens his eyes, and his lips automatically curl into a smirk when he catches you staring. “First, I saw myself in your future.”

“And what were we doing?”

“We went on a picnic and ended up getting chased by bees,” he chuckles. “Then we went to a bookstore but ended up making out between the shelves. And well, we got kicked out by a tired employee who looked like it wasn’t his first time kicking people out for doing that.”

You stifle a laugh. “Why does it seem like our dates are always being interrupted?”

“Hmm,” he hums, “there was one where we had some peace, actually. It was when we were skating, and I fell right on my butt. Then you asked if it hurt when I fell for you. Or well, you tried to say it as a pickup line, but you messed it up.” Sunwoo pauses for a second, biting his lip. Almost hesitant. “Instead, you ended up asking me if I’ve fallen for you.”

“And? What did you say?” Your heart speeds up tenfold.

“I said yes, Y/N. I’ve fallen for you.” The corners of his mouth start to curve upward. “I think you already knew it by the time I said it, but you just smiled. Then you suddenly fell too, and we laughed about it.”

If you’d been afraid to confront your feelings before, now you’re no longer afraid. The insecurities that had been plaguing you suddenly fade away, leaving only one thing clear in your head: there would be no more running.

“Then I said I fell for you too, right?”

“Yeah, you did.” The initial shock on his face turns into a beam, the crinkles near his eyes appearing. “And if you want, I can show you how each of these scenes are supposed to happen.”

“Okay, sure. Show me.”

Sunwoo lets out a loud exhale. “That’s a relief. For a second I thought you were going to argue with everything the way I did with your reading.”

“Hey—I’m nicer than you are,” you shoot him a glare. “Who even does that?”

“Yeah, I’ll admit that wasn’t the greatest impression. Maybe we can start over?”

“Well,” you pretend to think about it but can’t help the smile creeping onto your face. “This is kind of a shitty place for a first date.”

“Maybe our first date will be that picnic I saw in my reading then. But without the bees, yeah?”

“Okay, sure.”

“Oh yeah, have your wounds healed? They didn’t leave any scars, did they?” He lifts your hand to examine it carefully before taking your other hand as well. Turning them over to look at the rest, and then simply holding them.

And suddenly, it clicks into place. The small scars you’d seen on the hands in the vision, the dimness of the diner, and the blurred face of the lover. Everything seems to line up so perfectly that it has your head spinning for a second with deja vu. Had it really been you in the vision? Was the lover not someone with your hairstyle, nor Sunwoo’s ex, but actually you yourself? And wasn’t this moment at the diner—with your hands and the tiny, healing scars on them enveloped by Sunwoo's—the first scene in the vision? Maybe this is how it happens. You really hope that this is how it happens.

You don’t know whether you should tell him or not, but when you look up and see the small smile dancing on his lips and the sparkle in his eyes, you get the feeling that Sunwoo already knows. And whether he’s purposely trying to recreate the scene or whether he merely lets it occur, the gesture ignites a sort of warmth in your heart. It fuels the seed of hope that maybe, just maybe, you won’t have to say goodbye one day.