MISSION: Love

+ twenty-six +

"We meet again, Yoon Hana."

I swallowed my saliva due to the nervous feeling rising inside me. He slowly made his way towards me with intimidation. I couldn't show him how afraid I was and stood my ground, giving him a confused look.

"You smoke?" Was the first thing I asked as I watched him inhale the cigarette as if his life depended on it. He laughed and said, "Why? Are you gonna scold me? I know you don't like people smoking."

"Don't stand near me. I have asthma."

He was surprised by the reply and chuckled once more, amused by my sudden words. He threw the cigarette to the ground before stepping on it. He leaned against the wall of the bar and grinned out of amusement, "So how's life after leaving Seoul? Prestigious school, huh? You seem like you're doing well."

I stayed silent and stared into his eyes then down to his plump lips. I then scrutinized his outfit and he seemed to be doing well too. In fact, very well.

"I'm a criminal psychologist now."

He grinned proudly and patted my shoulder before walking away, "Glad to see you have achieved your dream, kiddo."

I turned around to watch him leave me behind.

"Then, you'll be the best player in the team since you got lessons from the best player in the boys' team."

"You know you can always come here if you ever need to release your stress. I'll always be here."

His words started appearing in my mind. How he was sweet and a gentleman before I found out it was all just a lie. Well, Taehyun did succeed in hurting me. I wanted to grab Sunghoon's hand and stop him from leaving. I wanted to ask him how he actually felt about me. Did he have feelings for me?

I took a deep breath and brushed away the thoughts before entering the bar again. Heeseung waved at me and motioned for me to go to him. I obeyed and sat across from him, "Sorry."

"What took you so long? Did you meet old friends or something?"

I stopped what I was doing and ignored him. His smile faded and he asked, "Did you actually meet someone you know just now?" With a serious tone.

"I met Sunghoon."

"What did he do? What did you guys talk about?"

"Nothing. He was smoking and I kept staring at him."

Heeseung couldn't believe what he was hearing and scoffed, "Sunghoon? Smoking?"

"Yes," I nodded and drank the alcohol that was already on the table. He didn't ask more and continued drinking his liquor. I ordered another glass of strong liquor to forget about everything that happened that day. Meeting Sunghoon was the most awful decision ever. Now, all the unknown feelings I never knew I hid were coming out of the locked doors in my heart.

All I hoped was that would be the last time I would meet him. I didn't want to get hurt again.

💌

Heeseung

I held Hana in my arms as I put in the passcode to her penthouse. The door opened and let out a melodic sound, signalling that the door was opened. I carried her sleeping body into the house and went into her bedroom before placing her on the bed. She snored softly and turned over to the other side. I sat next to her and brushed her hair away from her face.

"You've endured a lot, Hana. You deserve to be happy."

I got up and left her bedroom. As I was heading to the door, my phone rang. Confusion grew inside me when I saw an unknown number displayed on the screen. I picked it up and stayed silent, waiting for the other person to start speaking.

"Hey, is this Heeseung? It's Ahrin."

My heart dropped as soon as she introduced herself. We had lost contact ever since we finished high school. My legs became weak as I searched for the couch.

"I know we haven't been talking for years but you're my childhood best friend. I'm getting married in a month and I really want you to be there. Sorry for telling you out of the blue."

She's getting married?

I felt my heart shattering into uncountable pieces. I forced out a smile, "Sure! What are friends for? Congratulations, Ahrin-ah."

The call ended and a tear escaped my eye. I lay down on the couch and stared at the ceiling for a while. Numerous questions were flooding my mind.