I blink.
"Wha-Tae Sung-"
"No arguments. You owe me one anyway."
"For what?"
"For saving you from looking like a ghost who got kicked out of the afterlife."
I snort.
Actually snort.
And it feels so strange, so foreign to laugh even for half a second-
like my face forgot how it's supposed to stretch.
He nudges my shoulder gently. "Come on. Don't make me drag you across the street. I'm deceptively strong, you know."
I sigh, defeated.
Mostly because it's easier to walk than stand still.
We cross the street in silence, the air biting at our skin, the wind tugging at my coat like a toddler begging for attention.
The café glows dimly ahead-
tiny orange lights in the window, fog on the glass. The smell of roasted beans and cinnamon already curling out the door.
It smells like a life I don't live.
We step inside, and everything is too warm.
Too soft. Too tender. Too safe.
A kind of warmth that doesn't belong to me anymore.
The floor squeaks beneath our shoes, the heater hums low above our heads. I loosen my scarf, pretend like I belong here. Pretend like I didn't just forget how to breathe two nights ago.
Tae Sung's talking to the barista, something about extra foam and ginger syrup, and I'm nodding along, pretending I'm not somewhere else-
When I look up.
And everything
stops.
The breath in my chest. The blood in my veins. The world, spinning just a second ago, screeches to a halt like it saw a ghost.
He's there.
Behind the counter.
White apron tied around his waist.
Name tag hanging crooked from his chest.
Sleeves rolled. Hair slightly wet from the cold.
Han Wool.
My Han Wool.
Except-
he's not mine anymore.
And he's not here as a customer.
He's working.
Behind the counter, taking an order, nodding, smiling that small, polite smile he saves for strangers. That awkward one where he presses his lips together, like he doesn't quite know how to make it real.
He's here.
Working.
He joined here.
He joined-
I freeze.
My feet root to the floor.
He didn't.
He wouldn't.
But he-
Did he?
Did he take a part-time job here?
Because it's near the hospital?
Because he knew I came here sometimes with the team?
Because he wanted to see me?
The questions rise like smoke, filling my lungs, choking my thoughts.
And then-
His eyes find mine.
ANDA SEDANG MEMBACA
When the Clock Strikes|Pi Han Ul x Reader|
Fiksyen PeminatBeak Cheonga never expected much from life. Not love, not warmth-just survival. Adopted into a wealthy family that never truly wanted her, she learned how to exist in the empty spaces between their affection. Transferring from Daehwa High to Yusung...
(S02) Chapter 39
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