Spring Moon

14

That was it.

That was the endpoint of my lie. No, not a lie but an unclear truth. I would define it like that.

I confirmed Kevin's assumption about Joochan. That he was my ex, that he was hired by Sangyeon without the older knew anything about us, and that we had to work together for God knew how long.

Kevin was listening ever so attentively like there would be an exam about it later which somehow sent a shiver down my spine. I couldn't read the emotion in his eyes and neither did I know the motive of the fine scrunched of his eyebrows. Despite those, I found myself assuring Kevin that nothing would go wrong and so, he needn't worry about me having to stay close to Joochan.

And he scoffed.

"I didn't say anything about it," was what he said afterwards with a faint laughter escaping his system.

Up until this point, I was certain that no interaction occurred between him and Joochan back at the event. Even so, it surprised me that Kevin recognized Joochan well. While dating that guy back then, I'd never once introduced him properly to all my friends. It would either be him looking at their picture or them looking at his picture. Maybe, Kevin did notice him from one of the pictures I subconsciously uploaded to my social media but, I'd never expected that he would remember the foxy features of Hong Joochan.

I wondered if this was all. Was it really ended here? Would he never doubt me after knowing that my ex was working for me?

"But..." The sudden drag in his voice snapped me back into reality, blinking furiously as I waited for the continuation. "W-What is his position in the company?"

Stuttering, he was stuttering. Why?

"He's the illustrator," I satisfied his curiosity. "He's designing the cover for my upcoming book."

"Oh... What is your upcoming book's concept?"

At that, I pondered, having a train of thoughts railing along my brain. He was interested? Why? Was it his nature?

"Ivy..." A palm then moved in front of my face like the owner was wiping on wet glass, the size had me gasping and eventually, my reminiscing session ended effortlessly. "Are you even listening?"

I squeezed my eyes once before I let out a big amount of air from my system and found the editor's face across from me. Juyeon summoned me to the company on Sunday where I should be lying flatly on my soft bed, debating whether my life was still composed or not.

"I'm sorry... I think I'm not in reality yet," I tucked on my curls.

Juyeon smiled, his eyes somehow were portraying an apology. The sparkle in there looked like sadness or was it actually pity?

"I shouldn't have asked you to come. You should be resting, but I-"

"No..." I cut him in real quick, knowing where this conversation would lead us to. And I didn't like it even a bit. For, this was the responsibility that both of us needed to carry. "We have deadlines, don't we? I need to cooperate with you well."

The smile on his face became brighter, a set of his white teeth flashing. Just like that, I knew that Juyeon was already in a brighter mood. He would look too intimidating if he was mad, and I swore nobody wanted to see that version of him.

"So, what I said earlier was, you need to do some amendment on certain parts. I will do the annotation and email it back to you. Is it okay?"

"Sure... I'll check my inbox later."

"That's the Ivy whom I love!" His big palm once again appeared in front of my face, asking for a high-five. I hesitantly connected our hands, startled at how small my hand looked next to his. "You may go now, Ivy. Rest well, you must be tired from yesterday's event."

I chuckled, not quite deciphering. He was trying to be nice to me but not to himself.

"You too, Juyeon," I jolted up, cupping my waist as I squinted my eyes at him. "Working on Sunday already sounds... terrible."

He did the same next - chuckling, and I saw the frustration tinting in his eyes to deal with someone like me. I definitely, could be sarcastic with someone I knew for a long time.

Leaving his compartment, my phone dinged a notification that I recognized very well coming from the group chat consisting of my friends. Jacob started the conversation asking us to come to the cafe to hang out. And it continued with agreement from Faye and Chanhee. I honestly didn't have a plan to reply because it would take me about 5 minutes to reach there from my current location, so why not I go there and shout 'surprise'?

However, my plan was disrupted with the next text from Evelyn. Ivy, come and get your boyfriend, was what she said and the next thing I saw was a picture of Kevin sleeping in their cafe, at a table next to the bookshelf.

I couldn't complain why he needed to sleep there out of many places. For, it was his habit. He slept anywhere other than his bed.

Little did I know, the estimated 5 minutes to get to the cafe had been reduced to 2 minutes. Who would even believe the passive Ivy was sprinting? Even I was taken aback. So, for all this while my legs really could move faster?

Panting as I stepped inside being greeted by the aircond, my eyes wandered around looking for that one figure. Not because I could get embarrassed to find him sleeping in public, but because I wanted to cherish this beautiful opportunity to have him close. I should enjoy it while it lasts.

"Hey..." Jacob happened to pass by me, with a teasing smile on his face. "He's there."

I trailed his hand to where he pointed it out and later I found myself breathing out relief breath. Thanking Jacob, I made a beeline to get to where Kevin was, my internal was squealing. I never thought that I would get this opportunity again. To feel loved and to give love. It was quite surreal.

Upon reaching, I pulled out the seat next to him at the round table rather carefully so as not to wake him up. I assumed he must have been sleeping for quite some time considering that he looked so unbothered now.

Kevin wore a grey hoodie which the hood was covering his head as he slept. I barely could see his face, but still, I could imagine how he looked.

On the table, there were no drinks or meals he ordered, but an iPad. I was sure it was his because Kevin drew as his pastime.

Will it be okay to take a look? Despite the contemplation, I took the iPad and unlocked it, being greeted with a wallpaper which I knew he did by himself. It made me smile because the dark grey wallpaper was full of stars. Delusional as it sounded, I felt like he put it there to keep remembering me.

Slay, Ivy!

Kevin didn't set any password for the device. So, with a soft swipe, I already accessed its content which made my breath hitch in my throat. Before he fell asleep he must have not logged out properly from the last apps he was using. Because right now, I was looking at his digital painting.

Kevin Moon had a pair of golden hands, everything he sketched would be majestic. Through the apps he installed, he had sketched one - pastel was the base. There was a butterfly with a broken wing on one side and the detached part dissolved into dust. Just like what I described about my upcoming book that was currently under Joochan's care.

I felt moved when I saw a text box above the butterfly. Written there was 'Ivy's title'. But, on the other side, I couldn't help but wonder; why he did this?

"Is he..." I glanced over at the sleeping figure, recalling the conversation we had about Joochan yesterday. "Jealous?"