Myeong pov
Right now, romance would be a luxury for me. I sat across the table, trying to appear calm, but my mind was spinning. The girl opposite me, with her earnest, blushing face and her tale of drunken courage, seemed to embody everything I felt I couldn't afford to be.
"Well..." I started, my voice betraying none of my inner turmoil. "The night of the afterparty, I..."
She leaned forward, her eyes wide with a mix of shame and residual excitement. "...kissed Haedo Seonbae."
...What? The word echoed in my head as I stared at her, my carefully constructed facade threatening to crack.
She lowered her gaze to the cup of green tea between her hands, her cheeks flushed a deep pink. "I'm not sure why I did that all of a sudden that night." She gestured with a timid hand. "I was just caught up in the moment... Oh, and I'd had a little bit to drink, so I had all this liquid courage!"
Meanwhile, the girl sitting in front of me is full of romance.
I took a breath, letting her story settle in my mind. "Y-you did...?" I managed to ask. The photo. The image of my own panicked face flashed through my mind.
But before I could dwell on the photo, a new voice broke through. I hadn't even noticed her approach.
"...To be honest, I overheard you two talking," the other girl said, her voice soft but her expression deeply troubled. She was the one who was always so composed. Now, she looked genuinely upset.
My mind raced: Who's the punk that leaked it? Did she hear that part too...? The wave of panic made my hands feel cold.
She looked directly at me, tears welling up in her eyes. "I'm sorry...!" she whispered, then turned to the other girl. "I thought Haedo Seonbae was going to confess his feelings for you..." The shame in her voice was palpable, and I could see the word "TIMID" flash across the scene as she covered her mouth.
The drama was unfolding right in front of me, a confession built on a misunderstanding, all thanks to that damned kiss and the leaked photo. My own troubles felt simultaneously trivial and enormous. The kiss was a mistake; the leak was a disaster. And now, this secret had unintended victims.
My friend's confession had unintentionally revealed something about herself. I tried to process what she was saying, nodding slowly. "Hm?"
She hesitated, then sighed. "He really is a jerk, like you said... but I don't know."
"Haedo Seonbae always seemed so strong to me." she continued, her gaze distant as if recalling a memory. "He seemed like the type of person who could finish a project and move on to the next one without looking back..."
I kept my thoughts to myself. Guess she doesn't really have any thoughts on Eunmil... but...
"...so I was planning to move on quietly..." she murmured, then chuckled weakly. "Heh... well, come to think of it, my feelings were already revealed a long time ago, so I guess it's too late to move on quietly."
She seemed lost in her own complicated feelings, describing a kind of distant admiration I hadn't expected.
"...But for some reason, he seemed so lonely that day." she confessed, her voice softening.
I looked at the image of the man in the corner of my eye—the one with the mysterious eye mask—who seemed to be listening intently. He had cut in before, and now he spoke again, his expression unreadable.
"Because you like me?" he said. That's what she was looking at.
"One day, seeing that bad side of him made me feel sorry for him." my friend continued, looking up with that same earnest, blushing face. "It was like he was someone who had lost..."
She paused, then looked down, focusing on her own sense of loneliness. "Looking at the way I run like crazy all by myself, I feel like a fool." She looked at the image of another girl, running. "Wouldn't it be more fun to run with everyone? I think that sometimes."
Her confession wasn't just about Haedo Seonbae; it was about wanting to belong, to share a burden. "I wanted to be that person." The person who was strong enough to face the world with him. "The person who could run alongside him."
I watched her face, a mix of admiration for her honesty and exasperation for her naivete. She saw the good, or at least the vulnerability, in a person I only saw as a source of trouble. It made me realize that even if I didn't want romance, my actions had certainly tangled me up in a complicated emotional mess.
I watched as my friend spoke, her words weaving a narrative of loneliness and misplaced heroism. "It was like he was someone who had lost something... and I wanted to be that missing piece for him."
Her romantic idealization of Haedo Seonbae was clear. She saw a deep, emotional void where I only saw a headache.
Then, the scene shifted dramatically. The background turned dark, and I saw Haedo Seonbae in his dark suit, his gaze intense. He looked exactly as my friend described him: "He seemed like the type of person who could finish a project and move on to the next one without looking back..."
But now, he was facing the other girl, the one who had overheard us, and his face held a look of sudden panic.
"Huh? How long have you been here?" he demanded. His eyes widened slightly as she stood there, her body trembling with a sudden, overwhelming emotion.
A huge speech bubble erupted from her, raw with accusation and humiliation. "AND THAT'S WHY I ENDED UP... THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!"
His shock was palpable. "What are you talking about? That was just acting."
Acting? My heart skipped a beat. So that kiss—the reason for the whole leaked photo fiasco—was nothing to him.
The girl's lower face, wet with emotion, was all I could see. She swallowed, trying to compose herself, but the shame and fury were too much. A new, explosive speech bubble appeared, practically vibrating with her outrage.
"MAYBE THAT WAS JUST ACTING TO YOU..." she screamed, tears streaming down her face. "...BUT FOR ME, THAT WAS MY FIRST KISS!!!"
The man's eyes, wide and startled, filled the panel. The camera pulled back to show the aftermath: him pinning her against a brick wall, his arms gripping her tightly, almost covering her completely. The moment of their original kiss, or whatever had just happened between them, was captured again, intense and desperate.
Her shoulders were hunched, hands gripping his sweater, and her final thought flashed across the panel, full of self-loathing: "...AND THEN I RAN AWAY, LIKE A FOOL..."
I slumped back in my chair. This is even messier than I thought. Haedo Seonbae used the kiss as an acting exercise, and she mistook it for a genuine romantic moment, which then led to her overhearing a conversation about a different kiss he had with me. My accidental drama had cascaded into her heartbreak.
My friend, Lisu, was trembling. Her initial romantic confession had devolved into pure, abject fear. She thrust her phone at me, tears streaming down her face, showing me the screen.
"But now he's texting me, and I'm too scared to respond..." she wailed, clutching her chest.
I took the phone and scrolled through the messages from "Haedo Seonbae."
Hey.
Answer the phone.
Hey! Heyyy!!
[...]
Leaving me on read? Seriously?
Pick up.
Where are you
Hey, Lisu.
"Oh..." I murmured, looking at the increasingly frantic texts.
I looked up at her, trying to suppress a laugh. "Well... I understand why you'd be scared..." I admitted. "He sounds like a debt collector..."
She gasped, her expression tightening further.
"But since you can't take back what you did, wouldn't it be best to just talk to him?" I suggested, pushing the phone back toward her. It was the sensible advice, but my gut told me 'sensible' and 'Haedo Seonbae' didn't belong in the same sentence.
She stared at me, fear clouding her eyes. "...He won't kill me, right...?" she asked in a small voice, reaching out and gently touching my arm as if for reassurance.
Even while saying something like that... I looked at her face again. Despite the panic, Lisu's eyes were filled with excitement. It was a kind of terrifying hope that only true infatuation could produce.
She looked at me as if to ask me... if it was okay for her to love him.
This wasn't just about a kiss or a text; it was about her future. I realized the true weight of her dilemma. The internal monologue I received was sudden and heavy: What Lisu was afraid of was losing her relationships if she started dating Haedo.
She leaned in, her voice barely a whisper, yet intensely focused. "You still like him, right?"
I saw the blush on her face as she waited for my answer. The situation was surreal. She was asking me, the girl who had also kissed him—albeit accidentally and drunkenly—for permission to pursue her feelings.
I gave a short nod, a deep breath escaping me. "...Yes." I paused, trying to find my strength, my conviction. "I do."
I looked her straight in the eye, trying to project the confidence she needed to hear, not the caution I felt. "It's all going to be fine. With Haedo, or with me." I was trying to tell her that no matter her choice in romance, I wasn't going anywhere.
Right now, romance would be a luxury for me. That was the thought that had started this entire uncomfortable coffee meeting. I watched Lisu's face, her cheeks still flushed from fear and excitement, and saw a stark contrast to my own guarded self.
Meanwhile, the girl sitting in front of me is full of romance.
I had tried to be helpful, to give sensible advice, but my mind kept circling back to the messy truth: her crush, Haedo Seonbae, was the source of my own major problem—the leaked photo that I worried would ruin my career. I recalled her tearful confession: "The night of the afterparty, I... kissed Haedo Seonbae."
My panicked reaction: "...What?" and the frantic thought: "Y-you did...? The photo." Then the realization that she didn't know the gravity of what she'd done. "I was just caught up in the moment... Oh, and I'd had a little bit to drink, so I had all this liquid courage!"
Then came the other girl, her face crumpling as she admitted, "...To be honest, I overheard you two talking." My internal alarm screamed: "Who's the punk that leaked it? Did she hear that part too...?"
Lisu's story wasn't just about a crush; it was about her choosing a life of vulnerability and emotional risk.
"What?! ...Can I do that in front of you, Seonbae?" she had asked me about pursuing him, and I had given her my blessing: "Of course."
Sigh. I took a slow breath. "It's really strange."
When I looked at her, I felt a deep sense of connection, almost like seeing a ghost of my former self. "When I look at her, it feels like I'm looking at a part of myself that I've lost."
I thought about my own path. "At twenty years old... Lisu will make a different choice from me. She's taking a different path than me."
My life was spent in the public eye. "Even though I have a job that lets me be loved by so many people... I think I have it harder than anyone when it comes to being truly loved." I understood the distance between my public persona and my real self. "My job lets me be seen... and people only love the parts that they see."
This fear was Lisu's fear now, too. "Do you think Haedo Seonbae will see me that way too?" she asked, her fingers fidgeting nervously with her phone. "Will he see me as a young fan who's just attracted to appearances and desperate for love?"
I wanted to tell her no, to promise her a fairy tale ending, but the cynical truth echoed in my mind.
"...What difference does it make if it's me, anyway?"
I realized then that this entire mess—the kisses, the photos, the drama—was less about Haedo and more about the complicated path Lisu was daring to take, a path I had long since abandoned. The question wasn't if she would be hurt, but How will things turn out for her? And, more silently, I wonder if Lisu has any idea of the complicated way I feel.
Right now, romance would be a luxury for me. I sat in the plush chair, listening to the unfolding drama across the table. Meanwhile, the girl sitting in front of me is full of romance.
I had started by acknowledging Lisu's nervous confession: "Well... The night of the afterparty, I... kissed Haedo Seonbae." My inner alarm bell immediately went off. "...What?" My panicked thought was immediate: The photo.
Lisu, however, was wrapped up in her own feelings. "I'm not sure why I did that all of a sudden that night." She blushed, stirring her matcha. "I was just caught up in the moment... Oh, and I'd had a little bit to drink, so I had all this liquid courage!"
Then, the other girl, her face full of tears, cut in. I ended up learning something unexpected. "...To be honest, I overheard you two talking." My mind raced with panic: Who's the punk that leaked it? Did she hear that part too...? I was desperately NERVOUS.
She confessed her misjudgment: "I'm sorry...!" Her voice was TIMID. "I thought Haedo Seonbae was going to confess his feelings for you..."
Lisu's admiration for Haedo was deep, even if confused. "He really is a jerk, like you said... but I don't know." She continued, describing him: "He seemed like the type of person who could finish a project and move on to the next one without looking back..." She added, "Guess she doesn't really have any thoughts on Eunmil... but..."
She explained her attraction: "...But for some reason, he seemed so lonely that day." She saw a lost soul she wanted to save. "It was like he was someone who had lost something... and I wanted to be that missing piece for him." She wanted to be "The person who could run alongside him." Her desire was simple: "Wouldn't it be more fun to run with everyone? I think that sometimes. I wanted to be that person."
My attention snapped to Haedo in my memory. He was confronting the other girl: "Huh? How long have you been here?" His face was tense. His explanation for my own accidental kiss was chilling: "What are you talking about? That was just acting. Because during the shoot... we kissed!"
The other girl's anguish erupted. "AND THAT'S WHY I ENDED UP... THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!" she screamed, humiliated. "MAYBE THAT WAS JUST ACTING TO YOU... BUT FOR ME, THAT WAS MY FIRST KISS!!!"
I saw the memory flash: Haedo, cornering her, her hands gripping his clothes, her anguished cry. The memory ended with her desperate retreat: "...AND THEN I RAN AWAY, LIKE A FOOL..."
Suddenly, the present came CRASHing back. Lisu's phone began to ring. Her face contorted with shock and fear. The caller ID was clear: Haedo Seonbae.
"...Uhh... um!!! H-He's calling me!!!! Ah! Answer it!" I shouted internally.
She grabbed the phone, screaming in a high-pitched panic. "...Aahhh#&%!!!!!!!" She fumbled with the device. "H-H-Hey? Ah! HELLO?!" She gulped, trying to steady herself. "..."
She jumped up from the table, her decision made. "I have to go...!!!" she yelled. She looked at me, a mixture of fear and adrenaline on her face. "THANK YOU! I'LL CALL YOU!!!"
I watched her rush off, hoping my earlier encouragement was enough. "SURE! GO AHEAD!!" I shouted after her, a genuine smile on my face. "THANKFULLY, AT THE CORE OF MY COMPLICATED FEELINGS... YOU'VE GOT THIS!"
As she left, my final, bittersweet hope was whispered into the quiet cafe air: "...IS MY HOPE THAT YOU, STILL POSSESSING THE RADIANCE OF BEING TWENTY YEARS OLD, WILL BE HAPPY."
I watched Lisu scramble out of the cafe, shouting an apology to the air as she bumped into the table, making the fine china rattle. "STAND, SORRY, SEONBAE!!" she yelled, rushing toward the exit.
I stared down at the teacup she had abandoned. The sound of her departure—a dramatic "CRASH!" that seemed to echo her panic—settled the quiet back over the expensive seating area.
It's just… Haedo Seonbae is coming back. The realization hit me, not with panic, but with a weary sense of inevitability. I was the one he was really looking for, and now, thanks to Lisu's dramatic exit, I was sitting here alone, an easy target.
I picked up my phone. I could check my social media, but I knew what I would find—the gossip was still swirling. I looked at the hateful comments and the sheer volume of notifications and felt that familiar, heavy weight. "I'm tired of being treated like a fool."
I thought back to the conversation Lisu had overheard. She knew about my kiss with Haedo, too. She had been so timid and apologetic about pursuing him, worried about crossing me.
I sighed, staring at my reflection in the dark phone screen. "What am I supposed to do, then? I really don't know."
The real problem isn't the kiss. The real problem was the photo. And the bigger problem was the constant feeling of being exposed and judged.
I put my phone down and looked toward the cafe entrance, half-expecting Haedo to materialize instantly. My hand moved to the cup again, the gentle heat a small comfort.
I knew I couldn't keep running from this. The rumors would only grow wilder if I stayed quiet. Maybe Lisu running headfirst into her crush was the right idea—just face the chaos.
I need to find out who leaked that photo and stop this nonsense once and for all. The thought crystallized into a fierce resolution. This scandal was a direct threat to my career and my sense of self. I was tired of being passive.
I took a deep, steadying breath. "Let's just… stop running away."
The rain pours down in thick, vertical lines, the sound an echoing "SWAAAA" that seems to fill the air. The setting is a city street, where the rain-soaked exterior of a building marked "CAFE DE MOO" is visible.
I am standing alone in the downpour, feeling the miserable cold and dampness cling to me. I'm wearing a dark jacket, a baseball cap pulled low, and a face mask, my long black hair hanging wetly around my shoulders. I look up, letting the water hit my exposed hand.
"WHAT'S UP WITH THE WEATHER LATELY?" I think, feeling irritated. "THE WEATHER REPORT WAS WRONG AGAIN."
As I walk, I see others around—a few people huddled under umbrellas, including two students. I feel a growing sense of isolation and discomfort. "THE RAIN STICKS TO MY SKIN..." The sight of others with companions seems to mock me.
"...LAUGHING AT ME AS IF TO SAY, 'YOU'RE ALONE.' THIS IS SO ANNOYING..." I close my eyes momentarily, frustration simmering.
The oppressive atmosphere makes me feel heavy. "THE MISERABLE RAIN..." I look down, my vision blurred by the water and perhaps a hidden tear. "...AND A FRIGID ROMANCE."
I stop suddenly, my eyes widening under the cap, and I whisper, "STOP."
There's a beat of silence, a moment of confusion. I look up. "?"
Then, realization hits me. "!"
Standing before me, holding a black umbrella, is a young man with striking white hair, dressed in a black turtleneck and a suit jacket. He looks directly at me, his expression cool and composed despite the rain.
After a long moment, I turn away from him, pulling the cap lower. "...I SHOULD HEAD BACK TOO."
I turned to leave, the rain a cold sheet against my back, but before I could take a full step, a voice reached me.
"...MANAGER EUN?"
I stopped, surprised, and looked up. The white-haired man, the one who had just appeared holding an umbrella, was now standing close beside me, his height immediately noticeable. He had shifted his umbrella, its silver canopy now covering both of us, offering an instant shield from the deluge.
I stared at him. He was the one I had just seen, still composed and striking with his dark clothes and pale hair.
The way he had said "Manager Eun" suggested familiarity, perhaps even concern, but all I could register was the sudden relief from the rain and the question mark hanging over his presence here.