The Love We Hide

Ep 2 : Beneath The Surface

Soo-Jin sat by the window of her favorite café, watching the rain gently patter against the glass. The coffee in front of her had long gone cold, untouched, as her mind wandered. Ji-Hoon's words from their last encounter still echoed in her head.

*"It's better if we don't get close."*

Why did that statement bother her so much? They had barely known each other for a month, and yet something about him tugged at her heart in ways she couldn't understand. He was cold, distant, and guarded-qualities she should find repellent. But instead, she was drawn to him, like a moth to a flame.

The door of the café chimed, and Soo-Jin instinctively looked up, expecting just another random customer. But her breath hitched as Ji-Hoon stepped inside, his sharp suit drenched from the rain. His eyes met hers, and for a brief moment, she saw a flicker of something behind his usual steely gaze-something raw, almost vulnerable.

Without a word, he approached her table, standing awkwardly at the edge as if unsure whether to sit down. "May I?" he finally asked, his voice softer than she had ever heard.

Soo-Jin nodded, trying to keep her heartbeat steady. Ji-Hoon sat across from her, his eyes darting to the coffee cup and then back to her.

"I was in the neighborhood," he explained, though it sounded more like an excuse.

She raised an eyebrow, calling him out with her silence. They both knew it was a lie. He wasn't the type to randomly stumble into places-everything about Ji-Hoon screamed control. So why was he here?

"I wanted to apologize," he said after a long pause. "For what I said the other night."

Soo-Jin blinked, not expecting an apology from him. "You don't have to," she replied, but even she didn't believe her own words.

"I do," he insisted, leaning forward slightly, his eyes more intense now. "I was out of line. It's just... getting close to people... it's not something I'm good at."

She stared at him, trying to understand the layers beneath his cold exterior. There was something more-something he wasn't telling her.

"Why?" she asked quietly. "Why is it so hard for you to let people in?"

Ji-Hoon looked away, his jaw tightening. For a moment, she thought he wouldn't answer, but then he spoke, his voice low and filled with a hidden pain.

"Because I've lost people," he admitted, his hands clenched tightly on the table. "And it's easier to keep everyone at a distance than to feel that again."

Soo-Jin's heart ached at the raw vulnerability in his confession. She had known pain too, the kind that left scars invisible to the eye. But Ji-Hoon... his pain seemed deeper, darker, as if he had been carrying it for a long time.

"You don't have to carry it alone," she whispered, barely realizing she had said it out loud.

Ji-Hoon's eyes met hers, a mix of surprise and something else-something she couldn't quite place. Before he could respond, his phone rang, shattering the moment.

With a frustrated sigh, he checked the caller ID and stood up. "I have to go," he said, his voice returning to its usual distant tone. "But thank you... for listening."

And just like that, he was gone, leaving Soo-Jin alone with her thoughts and the cold coffee that still sat untouched in front of her.

As the rain continued to fall outside, Soo-Jin couldn't help but wonder-how long would Ji-Hoon keep hiding from the world? And more importantly, why did she feel so compelled to help him find his way out of the darkness?