amaranthine.

vingt-cinq

-          "this is my final project," he said. "and, after the teacher gets a look at it, i'd like to give this to you. a thank-you, for being a wonderful sitter and the nicest person i've met here. you've made this first semester so much easier, i can't even tell you."

"it's been the same for me," yerin confessed, feeling her heart sink. this was the beginning of goodbye. "all i've done since i met you is look forward to these café meetings."

she had said too much, and now jeongguk was silent. yerin studied her hands as her stomach twisted on itself.

why did you have to ruin it? now he knows you think about him all the time. right now he's realizing the stargazing and the meet-ups and the texting meant something to you.

but he was pushing a slip of paper into her hands.

"here's my dorm, and room number," he said softly. "please come over. i've got more art books, if that's any reason to spend time with me. and i've got a coffeemaker - it's nothing like the coffee you get here, but at least it's something. and stargazing...we could go out on the roof if you wanted to...i just don't want say goodbye again."

now it was jeongguk's turn to flush red.

again.

"you remember...?" yerin's eyes widened.

"you were my best friend when we were little," he said slowly, gauging her response. "you're the one with the pretty garden, and the stars on your ceiling. we would catch fireflies—"

"and make pillowforts. that was you." yerin's heart was pounding, and jeongguk nodded. in his face she saw the little boy who'd pick bouquets of dandelions for her.

"it was me!" he laughed when she saw the shock on her face, and she laughed in surprise at his laughter. it was all so ridiculous, so absurd.

"and then you came to my high school!!" yerin gasped. "you transferred and you were best friends with jimin! we went on that art museum field trip together!"

"and then we graduated and i never saw you again..." jeongguk's mouth opened as he realized. "and now we're here. it's like fate."

they both sat in silence for a moment, pondering the intersections of their two paths.

and suddenly the moment was over; jeongguk stood up, apologetic, saying that he had to study for finals. before he left the café, yerin saw him glance over his shoulder and give her one last smile before he disappeared into the dark street.

so our story isn't over, after all.

(a/n: aRE U GUYS SCREAMING BC IM SCREAMING - its finally starting to happen thank godddd)