My phone rings, startling me as I type away at my computer.
I look at the caller ID, picking it up after seeing Seulgi's name lighting up the screen.
"Hey, you know I'm working right?" I chuckle as I answer the phone.
"Yeah I know. Sorry if I'm interrupting but I really need to talk to you. Are we able to meet tonight? Maybe I could come to your apartment?" She sounds tired and slightly upset.
"Is everything okay?" I turn away from my computer as I try to focus on my friend.
"I'm just confused that's all. Yuta just texted to cancel our dinner plans. He said he had to organise something for the cafe. I just need to talk to you, about him."
Seulgi pauses as she takes a breath. I pick up a pen just to chew on the end of it.
"I'll send Jungwoo a message to let him know that you're coming over. Is 5 okay?"
"Thank you so much Hyeji. I don't know what I'd do without you." She sighs and I smile softly.
"Listen, I need to get back to work but I'll see you tonight." I tell her.
She bids goodbye and I hang up first.
"Is everything okay?" Taeyong asks, looking away from his screen to face me.
"Can you do me a favour?" I ask and he nods slowly.
"I need you to try and ask Yuta about his relationship with Seulgi. But in a way that he doesn't think you're questioning it."
"How do you want me to do that exactly?" He looks lost and I just pull my fingers through my hair as I turn to face my screen again.
"I'm not sure. I'm just worried that he is going to hurt Seulgi. He's been acting really strange around her recently. She is my best friend and the last thing I want is for her to get hurt."
"I'll see what I can do" He agreed to my favour and I mutter a thanks as I take a few deep breaths before getting back to work.
Jaehyun hasn't said a word to us since he started working three hours ago now. He just signed into his computer and got straight to it.
Not even Taeyong and I work that hard and we've been here for one year now.
"Lunch starts in 5 minutes" Taeyong states happily and my stomach growls almost on cue.
"I'm starving" I place my hands on my empty stomach and plaster a grin on my lips as I look at him.
"Should we go out or just get sandwiches from Osaka Blend like usual?"
"I think sandwiches will be fine" I state and Taeyong just nods before focusing on his work once more.
I have half a chapter to go. I tell myself that I won't leave for lunch until I've finished it.
"You need to rest Hyeji. One day you are going to get sick from overworking and I'm going I have to look after you."
A phrase Yuta once told me suddenly comes to mind. He used to always be really concerned when I decided to stay back at work or whenever I worked at home.
He was convinced that I was going to become ill because of the amount of hours I do.
The five minutes quickly runs out and I haven't finished the chapter.
Taeyong and Jaehyun are already in their coats, having turned off their computers.
"Hyeji?" Taeyong calls my name as he waits beside my desk, Jaehyun a few steps behind him.
I think about telling him to leave without me and will follow when I'm ready but I decide to listen to Yuta's old words.
"Let's go eat."
—
Jungwoo isn't home when Yuta drops me off at 4:30. Apparently he offered to stay back and lock up at 5.
Seulgi arrived a few minutes before 5. She looked exhausted when she walked into the apartment.
I just took her to the couch and sat her down quickly before going to grab a box of tissues, not sure if she was going to cry or not.
She pulls out a couple of tissues before taking a deep breath, trying to calm herself.
"How long were you and Yuta together before he asked you to move into his apartment?" She asks me.
"We had been dating for two months. I moved in straight after we graduated. He wouldn't let me go anywhere else." I nearly smile at the memory but remind myself that his current girlfriend is sitting beside me.
"We have been dating for a year and he hasn't even brought up the idea of us living together. I'm still stuck with my mom." She frowns and I nod, not knowing what to say.
"The last week he has been acting really strange. He keeps cancelling our plans. It feels as though he is trying to avoid me."
I clasp my hands together in my lap and lower my gaze.
"You haven't had a fight or anything?"
"No, but I feel like we will soon. I was hoping you'd know what was going on with him."
That's when it hits me that he hasn't told her about his grandma. She'd be a lot more sympathetic if she knew.
"I think you might just need to give him some space for a while. That may be the best thing for your relationship right now."
Seulgi sniffs and wipes her eye stiffly. I hadn't even noticed that she had started crying.
"I really love him, Hyeji. I don't want us to end."
"Hey, don't even think about that" I lean over and pull her into my embrace. "You guys are just going through a tough time right now. Everything will be fine. Just give it some time. Give him some space."
"I know I sound awful but I don't want to give him space. I'm his girlfriend. If anything, I want to be closer to him. I want to live with him but he won't let me."
She begins to sob softly and I can't help myself from protecting Yuta. This is a delicate time for him. She needs to back off.
"Yuta is a sensitive person Seulgi. Believe me when I say that you need to give him some space for the next week and bit. If you want the two of you to last you can't be constantly nagging him and asking what's wrong. If he wants to tell you he will but stop pushing him."
She quietens after my small rant and gently pushes me away.
"Is there something that I don't know? That you and him do?" She asks, her voice soft.
"Yes. There is and no I can't tell you. That's his choice to make." I confess.
"How could-" I interrupt her before she gets too angry.
"Three people know about this. Yuta, Taeyong and I. No one else knows and I am going to keep it that way."
She breathes deeply as though she were trying to calm herself. I speak again before she has the chance.
"I swear if you pressure him to tell you then I don't know what I'll do to you. Let Yuta have this one thing secret okay? It's really hard for him and I don't want him to be even more hurt because of you."
"I'm your best friend and he is your ex yet you are protecting him?" Seulgi seems to be slightly hurt.
"I'm protecting you both" I try to sound convincing as that is my aim but I can already see it all falling apart.
"It really doesn't feel like it" She frowns and straightened herself on the couch so she is no longer leaning against me.
"Do you remember when we were little and our parents wouldn't allow us to hang out because we had a lot of homework to do. At the time we hated them but it was for the best. Believe me this is for the best."
The truth is, I don't want Yuta or Seulgi to be hurt, but I have a really bad feeling that they will be.
Taeyong's POV
"You seem quiet" I state softly as Yuta stirs his coffee over and over again.
We are at his apartment, seated at the dining table. I asked to come over to do what Hyeji asked me to.
I've been here for 20 minutes and not much has been said. I must say, Yuta does seem to be acting really strange.
It'll be because it's his grandma's anniversary next week. He always acts strange around it.
"I guess I am. What did you want to talk to me about?" He pulls out the spoon and places it on the table beside the cup, slowly lifting his gaze to meet mine.
"You seem to be acting strange with Seulgi recently. Did something happen between you two?" I internally cringe at how obvious that question is.
Yuta raises a brow but doesn't question my intentions.
"She's been fine. She is great, but Tae, she isn't my great" He explains softly and I just nod as he continues to speak.
"We all know that I don't love her. Yes I like her but I don't see us lasting."
"Why have you let the relationship go for so long then?" I can't help but ask.
"I'm not sure. After the sudden breakup with Hyeji, my heart was in shreds. Seulgi was the first person who seemed to help put it back together. So I held onto her and I let her go once I was strong again. But I wasn't able to push her away." He speaks easily, as though the idea that him and Seulgi may break up doesn't affect him.
"Yuta, you need to think through this. You don't want to hurt Seulgi. You can't just leave her suddenly. You don't have a good reason." I try to convince him.
He sighs and leans back in the seat, pulling his hands through his hair.
"I feel guilty for leading her on but I don't know what else to do. I should love her but I don't. She should be the person I want but she isn't. How much longer can I act as though I don't love her best friend anymore?"
"What?"
"I never stopped loving Hyeji. I still love her as much as I did before I lost her."
His eyes begin to well up and I take a sip of my drink. The atmosphere quickly grows slightly awkward.
"I will be alone for my Grandma's anniversary this year and it's going to be really hard for me."
"I can come here. I can be with you" I offer but he is quick to deny me.
"Don't worry. I should be alone."
Suddenly his phone begins to ring. He looks at the caller ID and quickly answers it.
"Hyeji ah. What's up?" He smiles softly but the expression fades as he hears what she has to say.
"I'll be there soon." He hangs up and sighs in frustration. I don't have to ask what she said as he explains for me.
"Seulgi is a mess and wants to go home. Hyeji believes she it would be dangerous for her to catch a bus alone in the state she is in. She wants me to come and pick her up."
"Why didn't Seulgi ask?" It would make more sense if she asked her own boyfriend to pick her up.
"Because she knew that I wouldn't have come."
Yuta stands and leaves the apartment before I have the chance to react to his response.
Hyeji's POV
Seulgi won't stop crying. She is convinced that her and Yuta are going to break up.
I'm glad Yuta is coming to pick her up. She is too vulnerable to catch a bus right now.
There is a knock at the front door and I hear Jungwoo answering it.
"Seulgi, he's here" I tell her and she just ignores me.
I look up as I hear footsteps entering the room. Yuta stands in the doorway, his car keys in one hand while the other hand just hangs by his side.
He looks tired.
"Thanks for ringing" He mumbles and I just continue to examine his worn out features.
Surely he didn't look this exhausted earlier..
He's getting worse.
I'm getting worried.
He never gets this bad near the anniversary of his grandma. What's so different this year?
"Oppa!" Seulgi tells and rushes out of the chair, over to her boyfriend. She leans against his chest and just cries.
He wraps his loose arm around her and gently rubs her back, holding eye contact with me as he does so.
"I'll see you in the morning" He pulls away from Seulgi as he goes to leave with her.
"Yuta" I call out his name, causing him to stop and turn to listen to me again.
"Please get some rest."
"Don't worry."
He smiles that healing smile of his, causing my heart to flutter as he takes Seulgi's hand and leaves the apartment.
"You still love him" Jungwoo states as he walks past the lounge room.
"Shut up." Is my only response as I can't deny what he has said. I can only deny that the feelings are real.
For Seulgi's sake.