Our Old Manager.

The Choice She Made.

The thought followed Y/N home.

It stayed with her through the closing shift, through the walk back to the apartment. Even through dinner, when Daniela sat across from her and complained about school that had apparently been designed to ruin her entire week.

Y/N laughed when she was supposed to. She answered when Daniela asked her questions. She even stole a piece of food from Daniela's plate. Everything felt normal, yet there was one thought she couldn't seem to push away.

Y/N stared down at her plate. Her fork stopped halfway to her mouth. "Are you okay?" Daniela noticed.

Y/N looked up quickly. "Yeah."

Daniela narrowed her eyes. "You're doing the thing again." Y/N frowned even though she knew by now she could never hide her true feelings form the younger one, "What thing?"

"Thinking too loudly."

Y/N almost laughed. "I didn't know thoughts could be loud."

"Yours can."

Y/N shook her head. "I'm fine." Daniela studied her for another second. Then, rather than pushing, she returned to her food. "Okay."

That was it. No interrogation. No pressure and Y/N looked at her. Daniela had no idea, not yet.

Later that night, Daniela went to bed early. Y/N stayed in the living room. The apartment was dark except for the light from her phone.

She opened her browser and stared at the search bar. Her thumb hovered above the keyboard. She already knew what she was looking for. This time, she typed it without hesitation.

flights to the United States.

Search results appeared. Y/N stared at them. She scrolled through the options around the end of the month. One date caught her attention so she opened it. Then another page.

She checked the price. The travel time. The baggage allowance. Next, she opened her notes app.

She began making a list but slowly, as she read out what she typed, it felt strange. She had spent years building the café.

Years convincing herself she could never leave it for more than a few days, except for that era of her where Yunjin was around. Now, she was quietly figuring out how to leave it behind. Not forever, just long enough. Her eyes moved back to the flight information. She saved the page, then locked her phone.

For a few seconds, she sat completely still. She wasn't imagining it anymore. She was preparing.

A quiet sound came from behind her. "You can't sleep?" Y/N nearly dropped the phone. She turned and found Daniela stood in the hallway. Her hair was messy, and she rubbed one eye sleepily. Y/N quickly turned the screen off. "Did I wake you?"

"No." Daniela walked into the kitchen and grabbed a glass of water. She took a sip before looking back at Y/N. "You've been sitting here for a while."

"Yeah, I couldn't sleep."

Daniela nodded. She waddled over to Y/N and plopped down onto her lap. Neither of them spoke. Y/N looked at her. There was something she wanted to tell her. Something she had already decided, but she wasn't ready to say it yet.

"Dani?" Y/N softly called out while letting the younger girl leaned their foreheads together.

"Yeah?"

"If you were leaving somewhere..." Y/N started. Daniela tilted her head. "Somewhere?"

"Yeah." Y/N nodded."Would you be scared?"