It had been more than two weeks since they’d met at the café.
Now, when Yeonwoo sat across from Kangyeon, she hung her bag over the back of the chair. At first, she’d kept it on her lap. Just in case she needed to get up at any moment. The fact that she’d moved it to the backrest meant she was starting to think about staying a little longer.
Kangyeon was the kind of person who counted things like that. He counted every little change in Yeonwoo, remembered them, and took them out to examine under the covers at night.
“What did you do today?”
Yeonwoo asked first. Kangyeon almost choked on his vanilla latte. It was the first time Yeonwoo had asked him how he was doing before he asked her.
“Oh, I was just working. What about you?”
“Work.”
“Was it rough?”
“Every day is rough.”
Yeonwoo drank her Americano. Her face was blank. But Kangyeon knew. Yeonwoo only complained expressionlessly to people she was comfortable with. She didn’t complain to people she wasn’t comfortable with at all. It was too much trouble.
She’s complaining to me.
That fact was sweeter than the vanilla latte.
The café door opened.
Kangyeon turned his head instinctively. It had become a habit—looking toward the door around the time Yeonwoo usually arrived. But Yeonwoo was already sitting across from him.
The person who came in was a man. Tall and lean, wearing a leather jacket. Kangyeon’s body went rigid.
It was Jin Woobin.
Jin Woobin walked past the counter and looked around the café. He was searching for someone. His eyes landed on Yeonwoo. Then on Kangyeon, sitting across from her.
“Hey.”
Jin Woobin came over to Yeonwoo’s side. She looked up. Her expression didn’t change. She didn’t look happy to see him, or annoyed, either. Her face simply said, Oh, you’re here.
“What are you doing here? I called, but you didn’t answer.”
“My battery was dead.”
There it was again. Yeonwoo’s go-to excuse with Jin Woobin.
Jin Woobin looked Kangyeon up and down. Six-foot-two, broad shoulders, wolf-like eyes. Jin Woobin’s expression shifted slightly. It wasn’t wariness. He was sizing him up. Who is this guy, and why is he sitting in front of my girlfriend?
“Who’s he?”
Jin Woobin asked Yeonwoo, not Kangyeon.
“Someone I know from the café.”
Yeonwoo’s answer was short. Her tone said she had no intention of explaining further.
“Oh, yeah?”
Jin Woobin pulled over an empty chair and sat down beside Yeonwoo. The arrangement made it look as if he’d wedged himself between her and Kangyeon. Kangyeon drank his vanilla latte. It wasn’t sweet. It was the same vanilla latte, but it wasn’t sweet anymore.
“I’m hungry. Let’s go get something to eat.”
Jin Woobin spoke to Yeonwoo without even glancing at Kangyeon. It was the way he erased someone’s existence.
“I’m drinking coffee.”
“You’re practically done.”
There was barely any Americano left in Yeonwoo’s cup. She looked down at it.
Kangyeon didn’t open his mouth. He couldn’t. Doh Kangyeon was a stranger to this man. He had no right to stop someone’s girlfriend from going off with her boyfriend.
But his fist was clenched in his lap.
“…Okay.”
Yeonwoo stood up and picked up her bag—the one she’d hung over the back of the chair.
She looked at Kangyeon. For a moment. A very brief moment.
“I’ll get going.”
“Okay. Take care.”
He didn’t know if his voice had sounded normal. It seemed like it had, but maybe it had come out a little lower than usual.
Yeonwoo left with Jin Woobin. The café door closed. Through the glass, Kangyeon saw Jin Woobin drape an arm over Yeonwoo’s shoulder. She didn’t pull away. Or rather, she probably didn’t bother because it was too much trouble. Still.
Kangyeon took another sip of his vanilla latte. It was lukewarm.
He went home and took a shower. Hot water streamed over his shoulders. In the mirror, he saw the face of a man: a sharp jawline, wolf-like eyes. He was more handsome than Jin Woobin. Objectively speaking. But what good was that? To Yeonwoo, this face was just “someone I know from the café.”
His phone rang.
Yeonwoo: Dohwa Yeonwoo: Woobin came all the way to the café today Yeonwoo: I swear, he’s leaving me on read and then showing up like this—he’s driving me crazy
Kangyeon looked at his phone while drying his wet hair with a towel.
Dohwa: All the way to the café? Why? Yeonwoo: I wasn’t answering his calls, so he came looking for me Yeonwoo: I was having coffee with someone I know, and he totally killed the mood Dohwa: Someone you know? Yeonwoo: Yeah, Doh Kangyeon—the one I told you about Yeonwoo: The guy I see at the café all the time
Kangyeon tightened his grip on the phone.
Dohwa: That must’ve been awkward, having your boyfriend show up in front of that guy Yeonwoo: It wasn’t really awkward Yeonwoo: I just felt kind of bad Dohwa: Bad? Why? Yeonwoo: I don’t know Yeonwoo: I just did
Kangyeon set his phone down and stared at the ceiling.
She’d felt bad. Yeonwoo. For him. She’d felt bad that Jin Woobin had shown up and interrupted their time together.
Yeonwoo wasn’t someone who felt bad for strangers. She didn’t feel bad for people she had no interest in, either. That was Yeonwoo.
She felt bad for me.
Kangyeon pulled the blanket up. The image of Jin Woobin’s arm around Yeonwoo’s shoulder came back to him. He’d been angry earlier, but now another feeling was mixed in.
Yeonwoo had said she felt bad. Those words weighed more than Jin Woobin’s arm.
He picked up his phone again.
Dohwa: I’m sure that guy didn’t care Dohwa: Don’t worry Yeonwoo: You think so? Yeonwoo: But he looked kind of upset Yeonwoo: When I left
He looked kind of upset.
That meant she’d looked at my face. She’d looked at me when I left.
She’d felt bad. She’d thought he looked upset. She’d looked at that guy.
Kangyeon turned his phone facedown and lay on his side. I hope she doesn’t talk about Jin Woobin tomorrow. Tomorrow, I just want to drink coffee with her.
He didn’t feel bad. Somehow.