The next day, Kangyeon went to the café early.
His mind had been a mess ever since Jin Woobin had stopped by yesterday. He kept thinking about Yeonwoo's KakaoTalk messages. That she was sorry. That I hadn't looked well. When I left.
He ordered a vanilla latte and sat by the window. He opened his laptop but didn't look at the screen. He only looked at his reflection in the glass. A sharp jawline, wolf-like eyes. Sitting in front of Yeonwoo with this face, he was looking at her with Dohwa's heart inside.
Will she come today?
6:20 p.m. The café door opened.
It was Yeonwoo. Something was different today. She ordered at the counter, sat across from Kangyeon, and didn't put in her earbuds at all. It was the first time.
“Hello.”
Kangyeon spoke. Yeonwoo nodded. Just like usual. But Kangyeon noticed it. Yeonwoo's gaze lingered longer than usual. Not three seconds, but five. Not five, but seven.
“Were you okay yesterday?”
Yeonwoo asked. Kangyeon blinked.
“Huh?”
“Yesterday. Someone suddenly showed up. I thought it might've been uncomfortable for you.”
Kangyeon's heart dropped. Yeonwoo had been worried about what happened yesterday. She hadn't just asked over KakaoTalk—she was asking him directly.
“Oh, no. I was fine.”
“Really?”
Yeonwoo took a sip of her Americano. Her face was expressionless. But Kangyeon knew. When Yeonwoo asked something so matter-of-factly, it meant she really was concerned. If she didn't care, she wouldn't have asked.
“Was that your boyfriend?”
Kangyeon asked, pretending not to know. Do Kangyeon was a man she didn't know, after all.
“……Yes.”
Yeonwoo's answer was short. Shorter than usual. Normally, she wouldn't even say yes and would just let it pass, but today she answered. Yet there was no emotion in that yes. Neither that she liked him nor that she disliked him. It was simply the tone of someone stating a fact.
“Have you been together long?”
“It’s been a while.”
“Is he a good person?”
Yeonwoo looked at Kangyeon. This time, there was an expression on her face. How should he put it? She looked amused. The face of someone entertained by a man she didn't know asking about her boyfriend.
“I don't know.”
Everything was contained in those few words. Kangyeon took a sip of his vanilla latte. It tasted bitter. It was a vanilla latte, but it tasted bitter.
“Kangyeon.”
Yeonwoo called him. Kangyeon looked up.
“Do you have a girlfriend?”
Kangyeon choked on his latte. He coughed and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. Yeonwoo looked at him. Her eyes were indifferent. But there was something behind that indifference.
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Just…… There is someone I like, but I haven't been able to tell her yet.”
He didn't know why he said that. It had simply come out. Kangyeon wanted to smack himself in the mouth.
Yeonwoo looked at him. For a long time. Seven seconds. Ten.
“It's my first time seeing someone say something like that and mean it.”
Yeonwoo spoke, her voice slightly lower.
Kangyeon smiled. The corners of Yeonwoo's lips lifted a little.
They left the café. It was dark outside. Streetlamp light settled over the road.
“Get home safe.”
Kangyeon spoke. Yeonwoo nodded and turned away.
Three steps. Yeonwoo stopped.
“Kangyeon.”
“Yes?”
“You said earlier that there was someone you liked.”
“……Yes.”
“Tell her. Tell her you like her without knowing how she feels.”
Kangyeon was speechless. Without turning around, Yeonwoo said,
“I don't think anyone would dislike hearing that.”
Yeonwoo walked away. Kangyeon stood there, watching her back. Beneath the streetlights, Yeonwoo's brown hair grew smaller.
Tell her.
I want to tell her. I want to run after her right now and tell her. I'm Dohwa. I'm right in front of you. Right here.
But his feet wouldn't move.
When he got home, he checked his phone. He had a KakaoTalk message.
Yeonwoo: Dohwa Yeonwoo: I talked to that guy at the café today Yeonwoo: He said there's someone he likes Yeonwoo: But he couldn't tell her Dohwa: Huh? Why can't he tell her? Yeonwoo: He doesn't know if she likes him Yeonwoo: But he said not knowing made him like her even more Yeonwoo: Doesn't that sound familiar?
Kangyeon's hand went rigid around his phone.
Dohwa: Where? Yeonwoo: You Yeonwoo: You said that to me before Yeonwoo: That you didn't know if Yeonwoo liked you, but not knowing made you like her even more Yeonwoo: You said it when you were drunk. Don't you remember?
Kangyeon set his phone down. He stared at the ceiling.
He remembered. His sophomore year of college. He had gotten drunk and said it to Yeonwoo. “I don't know if you like me, but I think not knowing makes me like you even more.” Yeonwoo had laughed and said, “You're drunk.”
Today, Do Kangyeon had said the same thing. In the same tone.
Did she figure it out?
His heart pounded like crazy. But then Yeonwoo's next KakaoTalk message arrived.
Yeonwoo: I just thought it was interesting that someone said something similar Yeonwoo: I guess there's someone in the world who even talks like you lol
Dohwa: lol There are probably lots of people like that
His fingers trembled as he typed. Pretending to be calm was this difficult.
Yeonwoo: Is that so Yeonwoo: But I was seriously shocked Yeonwoo: For a second, I thought you'd been reincarnated as a man and were sitting in front of me lol
Kangyeon set his phone down. He got out of bed and opened the window. Cold air rushed in.
That had been close. His old verbal habit had slipped out. The way he talked as Dohwa had popped out of Do Kangyeon's mouth. Yeonwoo still hadn't connected the dots. She had stopped at, “I just thought it was interesting that someone said something similar.”
But what would happen if things like this kept piling up? His scent, the way he talked, vanilla lattes. Each one was a coincidence, but once three or four coincidences piled up, they were no longer coincidences.
I need to be careful.
But part of him didn't want to be careful. Part of him wanted Yeonwoo to recognize him. Wanted her to realize that man was Dohwa.
It was a contradiction. He couldn't let her find out, but he wanted her to find out.
Kangyeon closed the window. As he slipped beneath the covers, he checked his phone one more time. Yeonwoo's last KakaoTalk message was still on the screen.
“For a second, I thought you'd been reincarnated as a man and were sitting in front of me lol”
Kangyeon turned his phone facedown. It wasn't reincarnation. It was a curse. It wasn't even funny, but the corners of his mouth lifted.