When Last Night Didn't End

Epilogue: Crossroads and Points of No Return

Hye-jin's mouth pressed into a thin line. "A good thing someone was still willing to take a chance on you even through all that," she said. "I heard previous bosses' inputs are highly valued."

Rin shrugged. "My new boss is a think-outside-the-box type of person. They value output more than anything else and I'm the type to churn that out like a machine," a weak chuckle shook his shoulders. "One of the things I have to thank Ashley for."

"How are Ichika-san and Kaito-kun?" Hye-jin asked.

"With things easier for me at work and paying a lot better, I'm able to go home more often," he answered. "We're in this fairly new complex. Kaasan looks and acts happier too. Kaito's starting primary school soon."

Hye-jin stuck her lip out. Time flew. And it flew fast. That boy should grow up into a decent man or she'd whack him upside the head. She did take care of him for most of his infancy. "That's insanely better," she said. "I'm glad for you."

Red light blinked at the edge of Rin's vision. He looked down to find the plastic coaster had started beeping. Just on cue, the barista slid to the claim section and called his name. He gave a brief nod to Hye-jin before dashing off to the counter. He returned not long after, bearing almost the same drink as her.

He set it down on the table pushed against the glass windows. Outside, streams of people dressed for all kinds of occasions zipped in and out of his periphery. Cars of different sizes and colors zoomed, their engines soundless from behind the panes. The morning sunlight shone past the high-rise buildings and graced the road with faint beams. He turned to her amidst all that distraction.

"How about you?" Rin undressed his straw and stuck it through the plastic lid of his drink. "Had any breakthroughs recently?"

Hye-jin chewed on her lip before taking a tentative sip from her drink. The milky consistency slid down her throat faster than she wanted it to. "I've been accepted into the writing department of this rising game tech," she said. "My job is mostly to go around and acquire promising video game ideas. Every once in a while, I'd slide in my own pitches too."

Rin swirled his drink, letting the ice clink and clank against each other and the sides of the cup. "Had any luck with the pitches?"

She bobbed her head, her dark hair rivaling his unruly mop. A set of drop earrings dangled from her lobes, glinting with every ray of sunlight it caught. "I had one get through," she said. "It's passed to the art department after we completed the story-boarding. Can't be more excited."

"What's it about?" he prodded.

Instead of curling inside herself and telling him it's complicated from the get-go, Hye-jin merely stared out into the traffic show happening beyond them. "Ancient powers rising again, a group of unlikely heroes rising up to stop it, finding love and friendship," she said. "There's just this story gnawing at the back of my head. I think it started after we cleared out the apartment. There's more to it in the story-boards. Dragons. Books and keys. Things I can't spoil any further."

Something itched inside his own memory. Those plot elements...he's not kidding when he swore he had known something like that too. And he couldn't dismiss the feeling that he and Hye-jin might be the only people in this world who knew about it.

But, for whatever reason the universe exacted, he couldn't remember. Both of them couldn't. Maybe it's one of life's proper mysteries, one they would never find the answer to.

"I'm happy for you, Hye-jin," he said. "You're finally living your dream."

Hye-jin smiled then glanced at her watch. "I've been here for a full hour," she said. "Looks like my client won't ever show. How about you?"

Rin tapped a finger on the screen of his phone. "Time-in is thirty minutes ago," he said. "It's alright, though. My boss is understanding of their staff. I'll just work overtime tonight."

It's not like he could admit he found it nice, still, to talk to Hye-jin despite their falling out a few years ago. Upon examination, he found that he wasn't holding anything against her either. He wasn't blaming himself or anyone else too. It's just what it was. People meet and go along a journey together. Some move on, while others stay a little while longer. That's just the reality of life, and what happened to them was nothing short of a representation of it.

"If you're free, how about a game night? For old time's sake?" Hye-jin prompted, making Rin's head snap up from his phone screen. Had he been staring at it for too long? She tapped away on her own device, a calendar app blinking bright on the interface. "How does Saturday sound?"

Rin ran a mental check down his to-do list. He smiled at her. "Saturday sounds good," he said. "I'll tell Mom I'll take a day off at home."

Hye-jin typed the words into a calendar. Something about the action made it final and absolute. "Saturday it is, then," she said. "It's nice catching up, Rin."

"Likewise," he bobbed his head. "Good luck out there."

Her smile widened. "Thanks," she said. "You too."

With that, she gathered her things into her canvas bag and dashed out of the shop. She became a part of the montage of traffic they had just been watching earlier. Rin watched her frame blend and weave with the multi-colored sea of clothes and cars.

He found himself chuckling under his breath like an idiot.

Saturday couldn't come sooner.