Chapter 26: Letting Her Down Easy

Tuesday | November 21th, 2023 | 3:19 PM

"Is it always going to be this slow?" Ningning asked. I lifted my head up from my phone and turned around, finding the younger girl standing next to the register, leaning against the counter.

"Yup, usually." I yawned.

"Be glad it's dead, at least. Wouldn't want a crazy busy shift," Chungha chimed in, walking out from the kitchen. She was carrying a stack of cups, walking over to the cup rack. I nodded in response, "Exactly, we get to just loaf around until we clock out."

"I don't know, I think I'm just bored since I'm doing nothing," Ningning sighed, a pout on her face.

Karina, who was cleaning the tables near the front of the store, giggled, "I have to agree with Ningning, I'd rather there be customers. There's only so much you can talk about before we lose a conversation and start going on our phones."

"Fair enough," Chungha said, turning her head to look back at us.

"You're just a workaholic, Karina," I scoffed, teasing her. She rolled her eyes and turned around, grabbing a spray bottle from her waist pouch and continuing her wiping.

"I thought working here would be an exciting experience, not a snoozefest," Ningning whined, "That's how my auntie described it at least."

"You know, if you really want to work, then go make Minjae and me drinks. I’ll take a wintermelon tea," Chungha suggested with a entitled smirk. I shook my head in disagreement, "No, no, you don't have to do that Ningning."

"Quit teasing her," Karina added, her eyes focused on her cleaning. Ningning sighed and pulled out her phone, sitting down on one of the stools. I glanced at the clock, finding out it'd be a while before we closed shop. Finding our short conversation dying out, I turned my attention back to my phone.

I casually typed out a response to whatever Chaewon had texted me:

sounds boring

id rather visit a zoo or an aquarium or smth

If I’m being honest, the past couple days have been good to me. For once, it felt like things were going right for me. It was a strange feeling, to go a day without any sort of self-loathing or dismissive thoughts. For a moment, I was confident? The only time my mood dipped was whenever I thought about Haerin, but for the most part, the past few days had been nothing but pure bliss.

Chaewon and I were back together, and things were looking pretty great. The only downside was that I had yet to tell my friends. It wasn't like I was avoiding the subject. In fact, I was actually quite happy with the situation, and was open to discussing it. But I never really got that chance to talk about it naturally. Even Nakyung didn't know anything about us, and she was the first person I'd go to tell but I never had the time with her recently.

It didn't matter much, though. We were happy and things were fine.

In my hands, I felt a response vibrate from my phone, the message popping up:

Chaewon

museums are not boring

you just dont appreciate art

thats true, i dont

Chaewon

ughhhhh dont you like the ambience and elegence

nope, too nobel for me

"Who are you texting?" Ningning spoke out, catching my attention. She was standing directly behind me, a cheeky smile on her face. I can tell she wasn't trying to snoop, just trying to find a way to start a conversation to stay entertained. I turned my phone over and sent it back onto the table.

"A friend," I shrugged. Karina laughed out loud, Chungha giggling as well, "If he says it's a friend, he's probably talking about that girl."

Karina hummed in agreement, "How have you and Haerin been, I haven't asked you about her in a while." Hmm yeah, that was the conversation that's happening. Now that it was here, shoot, how do you explain myself? For a while now, I've been interested in this one girl, and I wasn't sure if anything would come out of it. But, now, my ex from years ago reappeared and now we're back together.

"She's fine, we just hung out last week." I answered, being vague on purpose.

"Oooh, really?" Chungha wiggled her eyebrows. Ningning and Karina seemed curious as well, and Chungha was the only one brave enough to ask, "What did you two do?"

"Eat, talk," I responded, scratching my eye. "You know, stuff friends do."

"Anything else?"

"Nope."

"Sounds like a date," Ningning commented. Ningning excitedly walked back over to the counter, "Was it a date?"

"Not a date."

"Then what was it?" Karina pried.

"Just something two friends would do. Nothing big."

"So, what are you two now? Friends? More?" Chungha questioned, "Don't lie, neither. We can all tell."

"Yeah, wait, what happened to your ex?" Karina asked. And there it was, the momentary pause that told everything they needed to know about me. Collectively, the three girls' eyes widened and their jaws went slack, staring at me as if they could read my thoughts.

"Oh, did something happen?" Karina's question was innocent, but her tone was full of mischief. Chungha chuckled, and Ningning leaned against the counter, staring at me, anticipating my answer. I looked down at my phone, seeing that Chaewon had texted back, and was tempted to use that as a reason to leave this conversation. But it'd probably raise more questions, so I didn't bother.

"Uh, not really. We're just back together," I tried to avoid saying any more, hoping the girls would catch the hint. Unfortunately, they did catch it.

Like a choir, they harmonized their oohs and ahhs. They were teasing, and I could see their grins as they were all enjoying my embarrassment. In that moment, I've come to realize, they only ever talk about my love life and never theirs. I don't know what that says about me, but it can't be anything good.

"How did that happen?" Karina smiled brightly.

"Just stuff happened, and here we are," I waved it off, trying to keep a nonchalant demeanor.

"Don't be like that, come on, spill." Chungha insisted, waving her hand for me to continue.

"Spill!" Ningning egged on. Reading Ningning's face, I made the educated guess that Ningning has a strong love for, well, love. She was very eager to hear more.

"Fine," I sighed, running my hand through my hair, "Well, it happened just a few days ago. Chaewon called me up to hang out, so I drove up and met her at her dorm."

"Wait, drove up? She doesn't go to school here? How far is her school?" Karina cut in, and Ningning was curious too, leaning forward as she listened.

"Yeah, no, she doesn't go to school here. Her school's like an hour drive away."

"Wow," Karina gasped.