Shelved Love

Chapter Twelve

It was the first Saturday since Bin and Ye Jin were "officially" dating.

They had spent some time together, but work limited that time, so they were both looking forward to the weekend since it meant they could do something together.

Ye Jin had done her school work during the whole morning and part of the afternoon so she can visit Bin at Author Attic that night.

She was opening the bookstore's door when she heard some voices in the middle of an argument.

Bin and that beautiful woman, Young-min, were so deep into their words exchange that none of them noticed her arriving.

"Please, stay away from her", Bin told Young-min.

"Why, Bin? Why can I be her friend? She needs a mother figure in her life. I'm just trying to help, why can you see that?", she replied.

To Ye Jin that seemed to be a personal conversation. She didn't want to be a busybody, she should turn around and let them solve their problem but an invisible force seemed to hold her there.

"She doesn't need any...", he stopped his words and ran his hands over his face in frustration. "Young-min, I appreciate your attempts to help us, if you're doing it for the right reason", he was calmer, "but you really don't have to. Hee-young and I are ok".

"What does 'the right reason' supposed to mean, Bin? You perfectly know why I'm doing this".

He closed his eyes and let out a frustration sigh.

"You have to stop, Young-min".

"I made a mistake, Bin, I know that, but how many times do I need to tell you that I'm sorry for you to forgive me?", her voice was getting louder.

Bin placed his hands on her shoulders.

"That's what I'm trying to tell you. You don't have to say you're sorry anymore, you don't have to do anything. We are ok, we even can be friends, but nothing is going to happen between us anymore".

"But why not? We can go back in time", her voice was weaker this time.

"No, we can't", Bin slowly shook his head.

Ye Jin stepped back and she was about to turned around, but her moves caught Bin's attention and their eyes met.

His eyes widened and her cheeks blushed in embarrassment.

"I'll come back later", she said pointing at the door with her thumb.

"Ye-jin, wait", Bin said trying to stopped her. He was concerned that she had misunderstood the situation.

"It's ok, Bin", Ye -jin assured him with a tiny smile. "I bet you have a lot to talk about", she turned her gaze to Young-min, who was looking at her with disdain once again.

"Yes, we have", the woman said with fury.

"No, we don't. We have already finished our conversation", Bin said to Young-min, who widened her eyes in realization of something happening between Bin and the newly arrived.

"Is it because of her?", her mouth opened in disbelief. "She's just a kid, Bin. She will never understand what you and Hee-young need".

Ye-jin was muted as she was feeling uncomfortable now that the conversation was about her, especially since she didn't know exactly what Bin was expecting from their relationship.

"You mean, as you did in the past?", Bin asked her slowly.

The expression on Young-min changed as she realized that had choose the wrong excuse for Bin to end his relationship with Ye-jin. She turned to the door with a snort and walked straight to it, hitting Ye-jin's arm in her path.