Replacement | hyunho ✓

28.

Lee Minho

I arrived at the coffee shop and looked around to spot the red haired girl. She had a baby blue skirt on and a white top. She looked really pretty but somehow I didn't feel myself getting attracted to her. It's just the start, you'll get there.

I walked up to her and when she noticed me, she gave me a wide smile and waved at me. I sat down at the table and inspected her face more closely. Her eyes were a light brown colour and her skin was a bit to the red side. She had a button nose with light freckles on it just like Felix. She looked nervous to see me the first time but also relieved at the same time.

"I can't believe you're real." She said and slapped her hand on her mouth when she realised she said it out loud. "I'm sorry- I didn't mean to say that out loud-"

"It's fine." I chuckled.

"Oh my god, I'm so embarrassed, it's just that I was a bit worried that I'll get catfished or something since you're so famous and all but I decided to give it a try and I'm happy I did." She explained. "God, you look even prettier in real life."

"You're making me all red— thank you! You look really cute too." I complimented.

"Aw, thanks. I though it might be too much or something." She laughed.

"Oh, no it isn't. You look great." I shrugged her off.

"Thanks. Let's order our coffee, shall we?" She asked and I nodded.

The waitress came to our table and asked us what we would like to order.

"Umm, an iced americano and?" She turned to me.

"And..." I was contemplating between the iced americano and a blueberry milkshake that seemed to catch my eye. "Um.. blueberry milkshake please." I decided.

"Alright, I'll be back with your orders in a few." The waitress smiled and left our table.

"So, I already know a lot about you since I'm quite a bit of a fan. If you have any questions about me, feel free to ask." She said.

"Uh, I have. Where are you from?" I asked.

"My dad is Chinese and my mother is just Korean. I was born in Busan and I went to California for two years to study aboard." She replied.

"How long have you been here?" I asked.

"Just a few months. I've decided to just continue my studies here since the whole new language concept was too overwhelming." She chuckled. "Anyways, tell me about your parents."

"Oh, my mother lives alone and I don't really have a father. My mom was a bit of a.. rebellious teen and she got pregnant at a party while drunk and never heard of my father ever again. So she has been a single mom ever since she was 16. That's about it." I spoke.

"Oh, that must have been tough for your mother. I have to babysit my little sister sometimes and that's already exhausting enough." She sighed.

"Yeah, I never was a difficult child though so I hope it wasn't too bad." I shrugged.

"So you were the perfect child every mother dreamed of?" She giggled.

"I guess kind of? I was pretty smart and my relatives always complimented me for my looks and I was never really annoying." I laughed.

"So you were the perfect child! I can see it, Lee Minho, the boy with no flaws." She joked.

"I still am." I laughed with her.

"Definitely. You're perfect in any way." She said.

"I was only joking. I'm definitely not perfect. I tend to be stubborn and get jealous easily." I said. "It's a bad trait of mine which I really like to work on."

"That's alright. I am pretty stubborn too." She nodded in understanding.

We kept talking like that until our drinks came. I took a sip from the milkshake I ordered. It tasted delicious but my stomach felt empty because I hadn't eaten since breakfast. The date itself was going as smooth as butter yet I still felt like something was wrong.

I pushed that feeling as far as I could because negativity is the thing I need the least at that moment.

After we were done, we just chatted for a bit more. Apparently the girl just broke up with her ex and she's trying to move on. That's why she's going on dates. I knew from that, that she still wasn't over her ex. She was still heart broken and that led again to...

Hyunjin. Why am I always used as a rebound? As a replacement.

It's starting to get annoying, seriously. I just wanted to go home.

"And so he went for that blonde girl instead, can you believe that?" She scoffed while telling the story. "He didn't even know her!"

Blah. Blah. Blah.

The only thing she was talking about now was how she broke up with her ex and how moved on a few days later. It was a toxic relationship indeed but it seemed as if they were both trying to find distractions from one another which was useless.

"That's very sad." I nodded at her in disinterest.

"Right? He didn't even feel bad and the worst thing is that I still see him almost every day because we go to the same uni." She complained. "I bet he's just trying to make me jealous."

"Hmm." I hummed.

"Ugh, I can't believe I actually fell in love with him. He's not even close to being as pretty as you yet here I am still thinking about him." She sighed. "I'm sorry."

Yeah, that was the last straw.

"Uhm, sorry, I just remembered I promised my aunt to pick up her son from school. I'm running a bit late so.." I got up and placed the money on the table.

"Oh, that's fine. Our date was fun and thanks for paying." She said.

"No problem. Um, I guess this is it." I said, while she's getting up too. "Also, here's an advice from me. It seems like you're still in love with your ex. You both are trying to forget about each other but perhaps it's time to go talk it out and wait a bit until you think about dating again. You're a nice girl, really but your mind is still occupied with someone else." I stated.

"I.. guess you're right. I'm sorry for wasting your time. I really am selfish. I was talking about my issues the whole time, it must have been so annoying for you." She sighed. "I'll try to talk to him, thank you so, so much, Minho! I feel like I lost something special by not being over my ex. You deserve everything." She added with a smile.

I gave her a light hug to comfort her. "No, you deserve everything, Chaeyoung. You're really sweet and if your stupid ex can't see that you're wonderful then he's definitely not worth it." I said.

"Thanks, you're wonderful too." She smiled and then we said goodbye to each other.

We both parted our ways, probably never seeing each other ever again. She was right, this whole thing was a waste of the time for the both of us.

She needs time to get over her ex and I was there again to comfort her.

I took the car and started driving again to the hotel. The date lasted for about an hour which was pretty long, it first started with fun get-to-know questions and ended with me being her therapist and listening to her issues.

It was good while it lasted, I guess. Now it's time to go back to my miserable life and face Hyunjin again. I haven't thought about him when we were on the date but now I am.

You know what I need to do to sort my feelings? I need to kiss Hyunjin again. That's when I will know that if my weird feelings are actually because I like him or not. But that will never happen because Hyunjin kissed me when he was drunk. He would never do that willingly because he hates me and he made that clear.