7th☀

Sarang

I stared outside the window, where Mijoo and Hwiyoung were talking. Oh, I said his name instead of always calling him an emphasized him. It feels better to say his name, but I can't say it's the same for all of us. 

"Things look heated," Wonwoo noted as we continued to stare outside. 

"It does..." I replied in a lower voice, digging my thumb into my pointer finger. I started to worry. Maybe I shouldn't have sent that message in the first place. Then this complication wouldn't have began. I was being selfish, only thinking about myself and wanting to find out the hidden truth. I should have been a better friend.

While most of us were looking outside to watch as Mijoo and Hwiyoung's talk started to look more intense over the seconds, a new customer entered Love + Flour, causing most of the workers in the bakery to pull back to work. 

I looked at who had just arrived and my lips stretched into a wide smile as I waved at him, hoping he'd see me. "Hansol! Choi Hansol!"

Hansol looked around the bakery and once he spotted me, he returned the smile and waved. "Hey, Sarang. I think I saw your friend outside. She's currently fighting with someone?"

I huffed a sigh as I pulled him nearer to the elevator of Love + Flour. I briefly explained what has happened and I didn't even know why I was doing that to an acquaintance. 

Hansol nodded understandably before his attention went back to the outside of the the bakery. "Wait, why's that guy going outside?"

I followed his head direction and couldn't help but grin in response. 

Mijoo

She stared at his face, actually both surprised and amused that he was standing right in front of her like this. Knowing him, he was usually a spectator but this time, he was actually stepping in to help her.

"Don't hug her without her permission." 

Hwiyoung scoffed as he jabs a finger into Wonwoo's chest, pushing him backwards. "And what are you going to do about it? Stop butting yourself into other people's businesses when you're clearly not welcomed in it."

Wonwoo slapped Hwiyoung's hand away and took a step closer to intimidate him with his blank face. "I'm butting in because you're crossing the lines. She said no. So stop bothering her."

"Wonwoo..." the name escaped weakly from Mijoo's lips. 

Hwiyoung roughly pushed Wonwoo back, causing him to fall two to three steps behind Mijoo. "I told you not to welcome yourself into other people's businesses. Can't understand Korean? Go back to kindergarten."

He wasn't even that great. It was starting again. Her cousin's voice and his words echoing in her head. Should she listen to him?

No, Mijoo quickly thought, inhaling a deep breath, it's my life. I should make my own judgments. I will be the one who will judge Hwiyoung and see if he really isn't that great.

So far, he was doing a good job at that part where Soonyoung called him 'wasn't that great'. But Mijoo didn't conclude it just yet. She was silently watching and judging. 

"You hurt our Mijoo. I won't make any excuses even if you were the guy she liked back then," Wonwoo said, recovering from what Hwiyoung just did. 

Hwiyoung scoffed. "This guy don't know when to give up. I told you, leave! Mijoo and I have things to discuss."

"No. You're just making things hard for her. Unfinished business? What crap are you saying?" Wonwoo asked him angrily. 

"You're crossing your lines, dude. I know we were all once friends but it's been two years. Things had happened," Hwiyoung spat by icily. 

Mijoo quietly shook her head, sighing. She's seen enough and made enough judgments. When she thought Hwiyoung would get rid of that side of him that she hated—the cold and mean side—it turned out that he hadn't. And in that one year they were all friends, she believed that he would have thought about changing. 

Guess not. Mijoo pressed her lips together, creating a thin, straight line as she continued to watch for a few more seconds. 

"Ah, so two years later, you're coming back for Mijoo and only Mijoo? Well, sorry. We're part of the package too. You take Mijoo, you take Sarang and I too," Wonwoo lightly told him with an intense gaze. 

When Hwiyoung was about to say something in return, Mijoo quickly stepped in and said, "I've decided."

The two boys stopped sharing an intense stare and turned their attention to her, confused on what she was saying. 

"What?" they chorused. Realizing they said something at the same time, they gave each other a glare. 

She first turned to Hwiyoung. "Look, Hwiyoung, it's been two years. As you can see, you're two years too late for all the words you have just said. I don't want to go through what we've already been through. I think it's time we start fresh with other people, Hwiyoung. Thanks, though. For being the guy I liked back then."

Hwiyoung's eyes softened as he started to look sad. "Mijoo, I can change. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have..."

Mijoo held a hand up, shaking her head. "You've just proven that you can't change. Maybe the reason our story ended so abruptly was because it couldn't continue. We were the wrong main characters in each other's lives. I'm not sad and I don't really regret a lot."

Wonwoo silently stood by the side—the same way he always did back then too. He was never part of the story, especially in Mijoo's love story.

"Mijoo, really. I can change. Just give me some ti—"

"No, Hwiyoung. It's time we end this. I'm tired. I don't want to deal with it again. Let me go now. Let's not see each other, too." 

"Mijoo—"

Mijoo extended her hand out and gave him a smile. It was the first one after two years. "Nice getting to know you, Kim Hwiyoung. Goodbye and farewell. I hope you live your life well. Let's try not to run into each other from now on."

Hwiyoung looked conflicted but he did his fair share of thinking until he realized that he would do everything to make her happy. Even if that meant he won't be the source of her happiness. Sucking in a deep breath, he finally held onto Mijoo's extended hand and said, "Farewell. I hope you live your life well, too."

As their backs turned on each other and they walked away, the memories started washing in like they were a colourful slideshow. 

☀

"I'm going to do it! I'm going to confess today," Mijoo told Wonwoo and Sarang excitedly as they all hung around the living room of Mijoo's house. 

Sarang looked at Mijoo proudly as she squealed lightly. "Will Mijoo finally have a boyfriend? This I need to see before I leave for Japan!"

Mijoo ended up blushing. "I don't think he'll accept me since he doesn't like me but I just wanted to confess to him."

"I support it," Wonwoo said, smiling whilst giving her a thumbs up. "Hwiyoung's a nice guy to hang with. He'll be a nice added member of our circle, don't you think? Except for his temper, he's a really chill guy."

"Oh, gosh, Sarang! Stop making that face! You're making me want to scream!" Mijoo said, going over to where Sarang was sitting to slap her on the shoulder. 

Sarang giggled in response, giving Mijoo a thumbs up. "After movies was the plan, right?"

Mijoo sheepishly shrugged. "Oh, I don't know... Maybe I shouldn't do it..."

"Yah!" both Wonwoo and Sarang shouted at the same time. 

Mijoo giggled as she walked over to where both of them sat and squeezed herself in the middle before throwing her hands over the both of them. "I'm kidding. I love you guys. Wish me luck."

"The odds are in your favours already. He likes you, I can tell," Wonwoo teased, throwing her a grin. 

Mijoo smacked the back of his head and rolled her eyes. "Okay, I get it. You guys are all knowing and whatever. Let's get going then."

"Okay!"

However, turn of events can leave scars on people's bodies. Most of the times, it would be the heart. And when Soonyoung managed to squeeze himself into that night, things went downhill real quick. 

That night, Mijoo and Soonyoung were having a talk together. A serious talk. Soonyoung was insulting Hwiyoung in so many ways and telling Mijoo he wasn't good for her, as a warning as both her closest cousin and a concerned soul for Mijoo's heart. 

Mijoo was angered with what Soonyoung was saying and screamed at his face, telling him it wasn't like that. Then, at the end of releasing her anger, she added, "I like him. He's the one my heart chose. So don't say anything about him like that or I won't hesitate to hurt you, even if you're my closest cousin."

What the two didn't know was that Hwiyoung was standing somewhere behind the tall plants of where they talked. One mistake like him accidentally slipping on his shoelace as he attempted to sneak away made things worst. 

The cousins had turned their head to the direction of the sound and when they noticed who it was and the fact that he had listened to everything, Mijoo ran away from the both of them, cutting all means of contact with them since she decided it was for the best. She was humiliated and she didn't want anything to do with them anymore. 

Everything was ruined. From wanting to confess to Hwiyoung to her close bond with Soonyoung. Everything was ruined from that one night. 

☀

The times they've spent together were short, but they were enjoyable. However, no matter how much fun they've spent in the past, all those sweetened feelings were no more. She couldn't feel it. It didn't make her smile nor did it made her want to say, "Ah... I wish to return to the old times."

We write stories everywhere we go, Mijoo thought as she continued walking farther from him, and with every story there is, there will always be an ending. As for endings, there's a thing about them. There will always be an ending and it doesn't care if the story was a long one or not. The ending will still be there. This was our ending, it turned out. 

Sarang 

Hansol was standing next to me as we continued to watch Hwiyoung, Wonwoo and Mijoo from the inside of Love + Flour. It was like watching some drama. The two main leads and the sad second lead. 

I turned to Hansol, wanting to comment about what was happening but paused when I saw Hansol's eyes. He hadn't noticed me staring him because he looked like he was reminded by something as he continued to watch the three outside. 

I stared deeper into his eyes, wondering what exactly it was. When his eyes started to look sparkly, I finally noticed that those were tears in his eyes. Something about the three reminded him of something painful and as much as I wanted to ask him, I couldn't. That would seem rude of me. 

But I was too curious and I couldn't help it. If I wanted to become a better friend of Hansol's, the least I thought about doing was asking him questions. Friendly questions. I hope he would answer them, though. 

I lightly pulled the sleeve of Hansol's school shirt and asked him, "Is something wrong? You look like you're going to cry again."

Hansol quickly snapped out of it and looked at me, baffled. "What? No. I'm not. Sorry, I think I fell into a daydream there."

I read something on the Internet before because I was bored. Plus, it was an interesting page to read about. It had something to do with the way people would act when they were lying. Their voices would go a little higher, they would avoid eye contact and start to do a lot of unnecessary movements. 

As I continued to stare at Hansol, I noticed that he was doing that last one. He was moving around a lot but his eyes remained unchanged.

That was when I found myself telling him of an old story I never thought I'd bring up ever again. "You know, there are a lot of things you can't share with someone you're not very close with in the first place. But the things you share with them will end up bringing the two of you closer and become better friends. So I'm going to share something with you. I know it probably won't open you up about your own story, but it's worth a try."

Hansol only looked at me, wondering what I was on about. 

I inhaled a deep breath before I said, "I broke up with my boyfriend not too long ago. If anyone else heard the story, it would look like I was being mean and abandoned him when he was suffering from a lot of things. But I've known him for a long time, actually, and he hasn't changed one bit. He's still a player after all these years. He's still mentally unstable after all these years. I know I'm not the first he's treated this way. 

"It makes me uncomfortable having to talk about him again but I decided to let it out so that I wouldn't feel uncomfortable anymore. He's my first boyfriend ever yet it felt like he wasn't in the first place. I don't know, I just don't like the fact I've ever liked him. He's a player and he'll stay that way for his entire life. 

"The first time I saw him, he was dating someone already. But I still liked him. Then, they were forced to break up for a reason I didn't know. I saw him less after the rumours of me liking him leaked. One day, he came to my class and told Wonwoo to hand me a piece of paper which had the words I love you written on it. Since I was sitting next to the window, he tend to slip papers there for me. One of them had the words do you like anyone? on them but I ignored it all because I concentrated on my studies more at that time and I was too young to date, I told myself."

I stopped for a moment to check if Hansol was still with me. Luckily, he was. 

Inhaling another deep breath, I continued, "When I left for Japan, I heard from Mijoo that her friend who transferred to our school for a year got together with him. Then I heard other stories such as cheating in between their relationships or whenever Mijoo's friend and him got into a fight, he'd go to his 'rebounds'." 

"That's nasty," Hansol commented, shaking his head in disapproval. 

"I know, right?" I agreed, nodding. "In conclusion, he's really no one that's worth a second chance."

Hansol nodded and said, "Thanks for telling me. I feel like you trust me. I want to share my story, too but I think it's still too painful for me to tell you. Maybe next time?"

"At least you considered wanting to tell me," I said with a smile. "That's good enough. That's the deal then?"

Hansol smiled back. "Yup. It's a deal. For now, I'm going to buy bread and go ahead. See you next time, Sarang. Oh, and good luck with your friends. Things looked heated a moment ago."

"Thanks, I'll take note of that. I'll see you next time as well," I said in response, waving him goodbye. 

It was funny how we became friends, honestly. Once in a while, life would give you a gift by letting other people enter your life uniquely like this. Sometimes, even if it all turned out bad in the end, you have to nod your head and thank life for at least giving you a gift. 

Wonwoo

"Thank you," Mijoo whispered as she and Wonwoo took a seat at the seat area of Love + Flour. 

Wonwoo turned around and raised an eyebrow. "For what?"

"For what you did," said Mijoo. "I almost fell for him again. It wasn't worth it, right?"

Wonwoo stayed quiet, thinking he didn't have a say to whether it was worth it or not. He knew in heart that it was an obvious no, but he wasn't sure which answer sounded more like he was giving a friendly warning. 

"I sure am glad to have you as a best friend, Jeon Wonwoo," Mijoo said, giving him a smile. "As a thank you gift, I'll buy you anything you want in the bakery. How does that sound?"

Wonwoo was happy that she was going to treat him, but the part where she said that she was thankful he was her best friend made him want to frown. He fought the urge of wanting to frown and gave it a thought. 

"Don't buy something too expensive or you won't be able to get yourself a strawberry milk," added Mijoo later on. 

Wonwoo gave her a smile in return. "I won't, gosh. I'm not risking our tradition of the strawberry milk. Give me a moment to look around the bakery for a moment." Wonwoo looked around, wondering whether he wanted someone cold or warm. His eyes wandered to the casing of cakes and immediately saw something he liked. Turning back to Mijoo, he said, "I want Oreo cheesecake shot, eomma."

Mijoo also looked towards the casing of cakes and got up. As she passed by Wonwoo, she smacked the top of the head and said, "Aish, I know I'm older than you but only for a few months! You don't have to call me eomma! Tsk!"

Mijoo stood in front of the cake casing and pointed at the Oreo cheesecake shot, telling Yejun—who was working as the cashier today—that she wanted that. 

Yejun smiled and took one out for her and wrapped it nicely in a cute box but Mijoo stopped him before he could finish up. "Ah, it's okay. I can just hand it to Wonwoo straight away. Do you have a small spoon, sunbae?"

Yejun paused and smiled sweetly in return before he removed the box and turned around to find the spoon in the scatter of small cabinets behind him. He eventually found it and handed it to her. "Here you go. You called me sunbae?"

Mijoo froze as she shyly smiled. "Yeah, um... aren't you older than us by a year?"

"Seventeen, yes." Yejun nodded, to which Mijoo found cute. "But you don't have to call me sunbae. You can call me oppa, if you want to. We see each other almost everyday, Mijoo. You can be comfortable with me."

Mijoo smiled back and bowed. "I will. Here's the money."

Yejun accepted the exact amount that she needed to give and nodded back sweetly. "Have a nice day and come back to Love + Flour any time soon!"

"You do know that I come back everyday, right?" Mijoo said in response.

Yejun laughed. "I know. Just rehearsing my lines. You know, when other customers are about to leave."

"Right." Mijoo nodded, giggling. "Going back now, bye Yejun oppa."

Yejun looked delighted to hear that and smiled in response. 

Wonwoo was watching them secretly. Well, it wasn't exactly secretly since anyone who was sane enough could see that he was staring at the both of them. Everyone but Yejun and Mijoo, that is. 

Wonwoo watched as they were immersed in their own world. Wonwoo has been by Mijoo's side for a long time. He's seen her fall in love with other guys and get hurt by them in the end. He knows everything about her. As much as he likes her, he couldn't risk the friendship they've built over the years. He has pushed himself too far into the friend zone island that there was no escape from it anymore. 

Much to his disappointment. 

Mijoo returned shortly and handed Wonwoo his Oreo cheesecake with a smile. "Are you happy now? I'm really thankful, still."

Wonwoo smiled back, shoving all his thoughts into the back of his head. "Yeah, I'm happy. I still can't wait for my strawberry milk, though."

"Does that mean you're joining?" Mijoo asked him. 

"If that's the only way to get my strawberry drink, then yes," Wonwoo answered, grinning at her. 

Mijoo laughed and lightly kicked his feet under the table. "Geez, Jeon Wonwoo. But, all the best to you. I hope you'll win, even if I already know you'll lose."

"Hey!" Wonwoo frowned at her. 

Mijoo acted like she didn't say anything wrong and even stared at him with a pair of innocent eyes. "What is it, Wonwoo? Did someone insult you? Oh, no! Well, eomma better take care of that little rascal. Tell me, Wonwoo, who did it?"

Wonwoo stared at her, thinking about how unbelievable she was being but at the same time, how cute she was. He really needed to stop those type of thoughts from flowing in his mind. He needed to see her as a friend and only as a friend. 

"Wait, where's Sarang?" Mijoo asked, looking around Love + Flour. 

"Sarang?" Wonwoo looked around as well, noticing that she wasn't where she was standing when Wonwoo last saw her. "That's odd. I swore she was standing there before I helped you out."

"Myeong oppa isn't here too," Mijoo noticed, goosebumps rising on her arm after the mention of his name. Okay, maybe she wasn't very used to him ever since she found out that Myeong thought she was pretty. 

"Should we give them a call? You know, in case they went on a secret date without telling us," Wonwoo said, holding his phone in his hand as he grinned. 

Mijoo kicked his feet in response. "No! The horrid thoughts!"

Wonwoo burst out laughing. "I was kidding. I think I heard the elevator door open a moment ago. Sarang's probably with her dad."

"Hmm, I wonder what they're talking about."

Sarang

After Hansol left, I was suddenly summoned by my dad, who was currently in his office in Love + Flour. I stepped into the elevator and pressed the close button so the doors would close but a figure had just managed to swiftly enter the elevator right before the doors could squeeze him. 

My eyes blinked with amazement as I stared at his face. "How was that even possible?"

Myeong looked at me, shrugging. "What? Which are you referring to?"

"The... the..." I pointed at the closed elevator doors, since I couldn't explain it any further. I was too amazed to. 

Myeong chuckled as he lightly patted me on the head. "This oppa can do wonders. Even more if you let me have Mijoo."

I slapped his arm. "Think again."

"What's wrong with me and her?" he asked with a pout.

"You are the problem," I bluntly answered, shaking my head. "I ship her with Yejun more. They're one year apart and he's tall, handsome, smart, kind and caring. Then there's you. You care too much about your looks."

Myeong scoffed lightly and leaned closer in with a grin. "You're just too scared to lose a handsome guy like me to Mijoo, right? There's no other reason why."

I groaned and ignored him until the elevator would reach the floor I needed to get off on. Noticing that Myeong was still in the elevator with me without pressing any other buttons, I raised an eyebrow at him. "Aren't you getting off at the second floor?"

Myeong smiled back. "Funny you'd assume that."

My eyes squinted. "You're not?"

Myeong shook his head and casually leaned against the walls of the elevator. "Nope. Your dad called me. He wanted to talk to me about something. I think he's going to hand me my pay check today, I'm not too sure."

"Oh," I answered, nodding. I didn't really need to know that, but oh well. It's always nice to know.

We finally arrived at the third floor and got off together. We walked further down the small hallway with a full length window that showed us the view below and the buildings across the street. 

We reached the door and I was the one who ended up knocking because of Myeong's silly excuse such as, 'You're the boss's daughter. You should knock.'

"Dad?" I asked as I peeked into the room after slightly opening the door. "Dad, are you in there?"

"Oh, Sarang!" Dad's low, sweet chuckle filled the room in an instant. "Come on in! Is Myeong there with you?"

"I'm here, Boss," Myeong answered, pushing the door open until it revealed the both of us. 

"Oh, great! Take a seat first. I was just about to let you two evaluate my newly invented dessert!" Dad said, pulling something out of the small fridge he had in his office.

"Is this why you called us, Dad? For us to be taste tasters?" I asked him, taking a seat on one of the high stools. 

"No, no. I have another reason to why I called the both of you here. Different reasons for the both of you, of course. But since you two are here, I decided to let you two be the taste tasters of my newest dessert," Dad said, handing Myeong and I something on a plate. "Go on. Try it and tell me what you think."

Not knowing what exactly it was, I took a bite. One thing's for sure, I tasted chocolate as well as white chocolate. As I tasted more, I discovered some parts that were fluffy—cake. I licked my lips and gobbled it all up. 

Myeong took a sight of me and shook his head. "How will you get a boyfriend if you're like that?" 

I ignored him and continued to stay on dessert heaven. I gave Dad a bright smile as I happily told him, "It's so delicious and addictive! This will totally win the customers!"

Dad's eyes sparkled. "Really?"

Myeong scoffed. "As expected from a good daughter. Everything her dad makes will be yummy, of course. Boss, easy with the chocolate ratio. You can't really taste the cake if you add too much chocolate. Some customers might not like it because of its high level of sweetness. Not everyone is a sweet lover."

Dad looked at Myeong with more professionalism and smiled at him proudly. "Myeong, you know you're like a son I never had, right? I love your honesty and criticism."

When Dad turned around to write something down in his recipe book, Myeong gave me a teasing smile as he bit into the dessert with no name. 

I rolled my eyes in response as I complained like a little kid, "Daddy, Myeong oppa is teasing me!"

Dad chuckled as he continued to write into his book. "Aren't you a little too old for those things, Sarang?"

Myeong was still grinning as he sat patiently on his seat. "Boss, I have to get down soon. Yejun took over my shift for a while but I don't know if he's managing."

Knowing Mijoo was somewhere downstairs, I think he'll exert all of his efforts. I ended up grinning to myself. 

"Okay, okay. Just a moment..." Dad finally put his pen down and dusted his hands against the apron tied around his waist. He went over to his office side and pulled a drawer open and picked up an envelope from it. "Here's your pay, Myeong. You've worked hard."

Myeong accepted it with two hands and bowed respectfully. "Thank you so much, Boss! I'll continue working hard. Got to get back to work right now, in fact. See you around, Sarang."

"You see me almost everyday, anyway," I said in response, playfully sticking out my tongue. 

Myeong was walking out of the room and opened the door. Before he'd close it, he gave me a wave with his back still facing me and finally closed the door, leaving Dad and I in the room. 

I asked Dad, "Myeong oppa is gone now. Is there something you wanted to talk about, Dad?"

Dad's face expression wasn't as bright and cheery as it was a moment ago when Myeong was still in the room. This time, he looked tired and stressed out. I could even see the wrinkles forming on his forehead and his eye bags under his eyes looked more clearer all of a sudden.

Out of concern, I asked, "Did something happen?"

Dad massaged the sides of his head before sitting down on the single grey couch in his office. His shoulders were slumped as he rested his elbows on his thighs with his head buried in his hands.

"Dad, what's going on?" I asked, feeling wary. 

Dad finally looked up and met my eyes. "Your mother has been admitted to the hospital after collapsing earlier this afternoon."

~Author's Notes~

Guys, I'm sentimental! My friend & brother & sunbae (lmao he's all three) graduated from high school today! :( I won't get to see him anymore in school and that makes me sadeu huhuhu I'll miss him!