Zephyr | Lee Felix

Chapter 24

MONDAY, WEEK 5

The moment her eyes widen when he asks the question, Hyunjin feels an immediate sense of regret washing all over him. Why did it have to be that question—out of everything else? So vague yet personal.

"A-Actually--"

"I have." She speaks, unintentionally cutting him off. "Once."

Hyunjin's heart stops for a moment. Once; and was it with the mutual friend they both had, Christopher? The vision of the journal he accidentally discovered in her apartment is still bright and clear as the day, and all her beautiful moments are captured through Chris's lens.

He tries to keep his emotions in check, to mask all the thoughts going insane in his head. But he can't help but ask anyway.

"With... Christopher?"

"Oh. Yes." She looks a little surprised as she continues, "It... it is Christopher. How did you guess that?"

"Just a hunch." He mutters, looking down at his feet, hoping that she doesn't suspect him any further. "You two seem close."

"Ah. I thought we looked like friends..." She taps her chin in amusement before giving him a tiny grin of embarrassment, "Guess we're not too subtle huh?"

"Well..." He pauses, "You guys seem like really good friends. So I thought you might have some sort of history with Chris."

Eugene shrugs her shoulders nonchalantly, "You have good observation, I guess. Well, it's been a while so we're fine now."

Hyunjin feels a pang in his heart at her casual response regarding their relationship. They're just fine now. But it weirdly hurts to hear her talk about it so casually like it's some insignificant thing in the past.

"You seem... so unbothered. I assume it was a good breakup?" Hyunjin asks carefully.

Eugene turns her head to him, contemplating. 

"You're really observant, aren't you?"

She pauses for a moment before continuing, "I guess it was... as good as a breakup can be, I suppose. We both agreed that it was for the best. No hard feelings."

She sounds so nonchalant, so unruffled, it makes Hyunjin's chest ache all over again. She's talking about a breakup that, just a moment ago, she'd described as being in love. 

"No hard feelings?" He repeats, his voice laced with a hint of disbelief.

"No hard feelings." She nods, though, her expression turns slightly sentimental a second later. "We... just had a proper closure a few days ago, actually."

Hyunjin feels a jolt at her words. They had a proper closure a few days ago? What did that even mean?

"Closure, huh?" He manages to say. "Sounds... final."

"The first-ever closure was already done months ago." Eugene chuckles softly, but there's dryness in her tone still. "It seems like Chris never fully gets over it, though. Clearly, there were things that hadn't been communicated properly. And we managed to have a small talk not long ago."

Hyunjin processes her explanation, his heart sinking further with each word. So they broke up a while ago, but Chris still isn't over it? And they had a talk, a closure, just a few days ago?

His mind is spinning with questions, with doubts. Is there a chance they could get back together? Or is it really over?

"If... if you ever had the chance to go back to Chris." Hyunjin carefully chooses his words with a nervous smile, "Would... you?"