[Min-Ji]
Min-Ji had made a mistake.
A terrible mistake.
A life-threatening mistake.
A friendship-ending mistake.
He had texted Run-Seo:
Need to tell you something insane. I'll go to your place after work.
Now she was staring at him.
Waiting.
Expecting.
Demanding answers.
And Min-Ji suddenly realized he had absolutely no idea where to start.
Run-Seo narrowed her eyes.
"Well?"
Min-Ji pointed dramatically.
"You missed everything."
"What does that mean?"
"EVERYTHING."
"Min-Ji."
"You went on leave for two days and somehow missed enough drama for an entire television series."
Run-Seo folded her arms.
"I'm already regretting meeting you."
"You should be grateful."
"I'm not."
"You will be."
"I won't."
"You don't know that."
"I do."
Min-Ji sighed.
Then leaned forward.
"The CEO of NOCTIS came to the café while you were on leave."
Run-Seo froze.
Just slightly.
Most people wouldn't have noticed.
Min-Ji didn't.
"What?"
"The actual CEO."
Run-Seo blinked.
"What was she doing there?"
"That's what I thought!"
He pointed accusingly.
"Except she wasn't there for coffee."
Run-Seo felt an uncomfortable feeling settle in her stomach.
A bad feeling.
The kind that arrived before bad news.
"Then why was she there?"
Min-Ji stared at her.
Then lowered his voice.
"For No-Ah."
Silence.
Run-Seo's expression remained perfectly calm.
Too calm.
Min-Ji continued anyway.
Because he had no survival instincts.
"She walked in like she owned gravity."
"That's not an answer."
"It is emotionally."
"Min-Ji."
"Fine."
He leaned back.
Then explained everything.
The arrival.
The conversation.
The business card.
The way Mrs Yoon had looked at No-Ah.
The way No-Ah had gone completely still whenever Kei's name came up.
Run-Seo listened quietly.
Too quietly.
And the more she listened—
the tighter the feeling in her chest became.
Then Min-Ji reached the part he couldn't stop thinking about.
"And she..."
He hesitated.
Run-Seo looked up.
"What?"
Min-Ji scratched his head.
"She said No-Ah was pretty."
Run-Seo's stomach dropped.
"And then she said..."
He laughed awkwardly.
"...that it was no wonder Kei liked her."
Silence.
A very long silence.
Run-Seo stared at the table.
Min-Ji kept talking.
Unfortunately.
"Honestly, it was weird."
No response.
"Like really weird."
Still nothing.
"Run-Seo?"
She looked away.
Too quickly.
Min-Ji blinked.
Something twisted painfully in Run-Seo's chest.
Something ugly.
Something she hated.
Jealousy.
Not because Mrs Yoon thought No-Ah was pretty.
That wasn't it.
No-Ah was pretty.
Everyone knew that.
It was the certainty.
The casual certainty.
As if everyone had already accepted something Run-Seo didn't want to admit.
As if Kei liking No-Ah wasn't even a question anymore.
As if it was obvious.
As if it was true.
Her fingers curled slightly beneath the table.
Min-Ji finally frowned.
"...Why do you look upset?"
"I'm not upset."
"You are."
"I'm not."
"You look like you're about to fight furniture."
Run-Seo looked away.
Min-Ji watched her for a moment.
Confused.
Concerned.
Because this was strange.
Very strange.
Run-Seo suddenly laughed.
A short sound.
Humorless.
Min-Ji immediately disliked that.
"What?"
"Nothing."
"That wasn't a 'nothing' laugh."
"It was."
"It sounded expensive."
Run-Seo rubbed her forehead.
For a moment, neither of them spoke.
Then she said quietly:
"There's something I never told you."
Min-Ji blinked.
"...Okay?"
Run-Seo stared at the table.
Still avoiding his eyes.
"I didn't tell anyone, actually."
Min-Ji felt a tiny alarm bell ring somewhere in his head.
The kind that usually came before disaster.
"Run-Seo."
She exhaled slowly.
Then finally said:
"I used to date Kei."
Silence.
Min-Ji stared.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
Surely he had heard wrong.
"You what?"
Run-Seo closed her eyes.
There it was.
The reaction she'd been expecting.
"I dated Kei."
The silence somehow got louder.
Min-Ji's brain stopped functioning.
Completely.
Entirely.
No thoughts.
Only buffering.
Then—
"YOU WHAT?!"
Run-Seo immediately pointed at him.
"Lower your voice."
"YOU DATED KEI?"
"Volume."
Min-Ji lowered his voice exactly two percent.
"YOU DATED KEI?"
"That is not lower."
"YOU DATED KEI?!"
"MIN-JI."
He dropped back into his chair.
Looking personally betrayed.
Deeply betrayed.
Historically betrayed.
"How long?"
"A year."
Min-Ji nearly fell out of his seat.
"A YEAR?!"
Run-Seo sighed.
"Yes."
"A WHOLE YEAR?"
"Yes."
"A FULL TWELVE MONTHS?"
"Still yes."
Min-Ji pressed both hands against his face.
Then pointed at her.
Accusingly.
"You never told me."
"I know."
"You NEVER told me."
"I know."
"You let me find this out today?"
"I wasn't planning on telling you."
Min-Ji looked wounded.
Actually wounded.
"As your friend, I feel deceived."
"You're being dramatic."
"I thought I knew things."
"You know things."
"I clearly don't."
Run-Seo almost smiled.
Almost.
Then the smile disappeared.
Because the reason she hadn't told anyone wasn't funny.
Wasn't dramatic.
Just painful.
"I wanted it to stay over."
Min-Ji's expression softened.
Slightly.
Run-Seo looked down.
Tracing invisible patterns across the tabletop.
"He moved on."
The words were calm.
Too calm.
The kind of calm that only existed when someone had repeated the sentence to themselves a thousand times.
Min-Ji didn't joke this time.
Didn't interrupt.
Because for the first time since she'd arrived—
Run-Seo looked tired.
Really tired.
And then she laughed again.
Softly.
Bitterly.
"You know what's pathetic?"
Min-Ji didn't answer.
She wasn't really asking.
"I heard that story and my first reaction wasn't surprise."
She swallowed.
"It was jealousy."
The admission sat between them.
Heavy.
Embarrassing.
Honest.
Run-Seo looked away.
"I hate that."
Min-Ji stared at her.
Not sure what to say.
Because suddenly this wasn't gossip anymore.
It wasn't drama.
It wasn't some ridiculous story from work.
It was real.
Messy.
Complicated.
And sitting directly across from him.
Run-Seo leaned back in her chair.
Eyes fixed somewhere far away.
And despite everything—
despite how much she wanted to deny it—
Mrs Yoon's words kept echoing in her head.
No wonder Kei likes you.
Not liked.
Likes.
Present tense.
Min-Ji slowly sank back into his seat.
His mind replaying everything he'd heard.
Kei.
No-Ah.
Mrs Yoon.
The business card.
Run-Seo.
And the secret she'd been carrying for over a year.
Somehow, the situation had become infinitely more complicated.
And Min-Ji had a terrible feeling this wasn't even close to the worst of it.
☆ ☆ ☆