Under the mistletoe ||Choi Yeonjun✔️

9

DAMI'S POV

I was making myself avocado and toast when the doorbell rang. I kept the toast in my mouth and dusted my hands, going to the door. I pulled the toast out as I opened the door, seeing Yeonjun. "Hi," I said.

When I ran into him earlier, I didn't realize how weird this was. I kind of forgot we had a feud going on if that makes sense. I thought we were friends. Like old times. That's why I was laughing, being nonchalant, careless. But when I got back, I realized that wasn't the case because last night, literally less than twenty-four hours ago, we had another argument.

"Hey, can I uh, can I come in?" he asked.

"Oh, shit. Yeah, of course. Sorry," I chuckled awkwardly, stepping aside and letting him enter. I closed the door behind him and then turned to him. More awkward silence. "Do you uh, want some toast?" I offered.

"No, that's fine, I um..." he trailed off. I bet from the way I was acting earlier, he saw this conversation going a lot smoother than this.

"So, what's up?" I asked, leading him into the kitchen. I continued making myself a cup of tea and made one for him too because nobody knows this, but Yeonjun has a knack for tea. He loves tea. He makes tea all the time, all kinds of tea. Chamomile, lavender, green, herbal, you name it, he makes it.

"Dami-ah," he cleared his throat, "I don't hate you."

I nearly dropped the cup of tea while turning to face him. I never liked to admit it, but since I left, I always thought he did, and hearing him say that just... surprised me. "No?" I asked, handing him a cup.

He looked down at the cup and then back at me, biting back a smile. "No," he shook his head. "I act like it. Because I... I don't want to forgive you."

I nodded slowly while taking a seat opposite him.

"You hurt me when you left. You really did. You were my best friend and I knew you were going through a tough time and I was trying to help you. I was with you every single day of the week, right?"

I nodded, looking down at my tea.

"But I never imagined that I'd wake up one day and without warning, without any sign, you'd be gone. And that's exactly what happened. I took you to the arcade, dragging you out of your house just so you had a shot at having fun, and I thought you did. You were smiling, we were laughing. I thought we were getting somewhere. But then when I came to your house the next day, you were just... gone."

"Yeonjun, I-"

"Just hear me out, please." I sighed, keeping my mouth shut and just listening. "I don't think I realized how much I um," he paused. "How much I missed you." I looked up at him, seeing his eyes trained on the cup of tea. "I was so focused on holding a grudge and being angry with you, that I didn't really think about how you would feel. I'm sorry I was such a dick," he sighed, shaking his head, finally looking up at me.

"I'm sorry I left the way I did," I said. "I should have told you. I should have thought about it a little deeper but... I don't regret it, Yeonjun. Being there made it a lot easier. I was able to push it to the back of my mind and move on." Which is horrible. Because it just means I still haven't dealt with and accepted my mother's death.

"I still don't think that's what you should have done, but I get it." He keeps surprising me with his words today. I think the sun rose from the wrong side. "There's um, one more thing," he paused. He fell into silence for a minute, trying to gather his words. "I really want things to go back to the way they were."

And once again... I'm surprised. I thought he'd never want to be my friend again.

"But obviously, that will take a lot of time and it's going to be harder now that you're with Jungwon. Dami, I know he's not the type of guy to tell his girlfriend that she can't have guy friends, I know he won't get jealous. But he'll be hurt when he finds out that we have... history? Yeah, history," he nodded. "He'll be more hurt than ever."