Who could stay in Im Hani's life if not Yang Jungwon?
Both Jungwon and Hani had undoubtedly changed each other's lives. As lovers, they now set a path into the world much more complicated. But now, the question is not whether they'll be able to expr...
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There was so much to clear out. The suffocating air, the noise of the café, the water piling at the bottom of the iced drinks, and the tension between Jake and Hani.
They were now seated at a café— The same place where they last hung out. It started with a message from Jake, asking to meet Hani— Almost desperate.
The latter agreed, guilty for suddenly ignoring her friend. She knew that if she wanted to keep her friendship with him, she needed to clarify a lot of things between them.
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"My coffee is too bitter." Jake hisses yet smiled after taking a sip of his iced coffee, a very obvious attempt to kill the silence between them. He stole a glimpse of her.
The soft light from outside hits her face delicately, her features always unexplainably harmonizing with each other, she's as beautiful as ever.
Hani only gave a small smile back. "I can get you sugar from the counter if you want to." She offered, but Jake only shook his head.
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"No need, I think I need to cut off sweets anyway." He chuckled off, though it birthed to yet another awkward silence.
Hani didn't know where to start. Should she open the topic of their friendship right away? Should she prolong this? This was torture for her.
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"So..." Hani trailed off, reaching for the glass of iced tea on the table, swirling the straw around. "How have you been?"
"Awful." Jake answered almost instantly, as if he knew what Hani's question would be, and it's evident in her face that she didn't expect it.
"Oh." She expressed. "Why?"
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"Because you've been avoiding me." Jake answered, his smile fading as soon as he uttered his words. "I felt shitty because I thought I've done something so terribly wrong that you didn't want to do anything with me anymore."
"I think it's worse than when I got a bad mark on my essay." Jake joked, but it did little to lighten the mood up.
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Jake's words was bitter coffee to Hani, it wasn't a pleasuring thing to hear, but it was necessary to wake her up.
"Is it okay to ask why you've ignored me, Hani?" There was a tinge of sadness in Jake's voice. Hani could almost see his heart breaking through looking at his eyes.
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She could do nothing but look down. She already hurt Jake, so would it really matter if she confronted the obvious now?
"Jake," She paused for a moment, biting her lips. Hani took a deep breath and closed her eyes momentarily. "Do you like me?"
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"What do you mean?" Jake frowns, his lips slightly agaped. He did not expect that too. Maybe they weren't used to this confrontational atmosphere, but it is exactly what they need.
Jake stared directly at Hani, and it made her uncomfortable. She shifted from her seat and looked away, staring at the streets as she caressed her arms. "You know what I mean by it."
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There was a silent pause between them. There was only the noise from the other customers. There was too much time to think about now— A freedom they they fear.
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An audible sigh came out from Jake, breaking the reccuring silence between them. "Do you really want to hear the answer?"
No, Hani does not want to hear Jake say it. So, she kept silent. Each second made her heart heavier. And Jake asking if she wanted the answer just confirmed everything. Jake does like her.
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Seeing the lack of response, Jake smiled bitterly as he looked out the window. "You knew deep inside, Hani."
What was worse was the timing of the new song that played in the café: No Other Heart by Mac DeMarco, a song that Jake has been listening to each night he prayed for fate to change its tides; To let him feel what it's like to be Hani's significant other.
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"Is it true? You've been feelin' sort of low these days."
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He pursed his lips together and stood straight. He breathed in deeply as a terrible attempt to get the burden off his chest. "I'm sorry for being selfish, for taking whatever you offered."
"I've never felt like this for anyone, so I hope you understand why I keep letting myself get closer to you even after knowing that you're with someone else already."
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"Just don't have a place to go these days. Must be bringin' you down."
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Hani could only feel half of what Jake probably experienced all this time, and it was already paining her a lot. "Didn't it hurt?"
"It did—" Jake cuts himself off with a breathy smile. His eyes faltered. "It does."
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"If it's so, then come on, give this loverboy a try."
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"But I figured that something is better than nothing. So I just told myself to get used to the pain." He admitted.
Jake's gaze were on Hani and only her, yet she could not even spare him a glance now. She looked crestfallen.
Jake knew Hani. He knows that she feels guilty for letting all this happen. And seeing how sad her eyes were, how gloomy she's become, he could hear his heart breaking right then and there.
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"I'll put the sparkle right back in your eyes What could you lose?"
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She was just as heartbroken, but their difference was that she grieved for a broken friendship, while he's suffering with a love that was yet to even happen.
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"Jungwon is lucky to have you." He must like hurting himself, because that very sentence was enough to shatter his heart beyond repair.
Hani only nodded, having nothing to say anymore.
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"Well, for one, her heart belongs to another. And no other heart will do."
