[ july 7th, 2016, 2:34pm ]
aeri sat alone in the cafe, cold, freezing. she was supposed to wait for jaemin. since he promised to meet up with her because of distancing himself lately.
within the span of seven months, aeri and jaemin caught feelings for each other. but they didnt become official official. they just stayed as friends because they knew that being an item would complicate their lives.
but you know how everyone says that in a relationship, there's always someone who loves someone more than the other? well. in this relationship. aeri fell under "someone" and jaemin fell under "the other"
the beginning of june, it started. jaemin started to distance himself away from aeri and they both were aware of his own actions. but why didnt aeri confront him? every single time she wanted to go out, he'd fake a schedule just so they wont have to.
and that would turn into postponed outings, which never happened in the end. what was happening to jaemin? if aeri was smart, she would have seek help from mark, or donghyuck, or even jeno.
but aeri was scared. she was scared that if something was up, it would seem like as if she was bothering him and his group of friends. so she kept quiet.
aeri decided to wait. even though jaemin was 2 hours late, she still waited. that day, she waited for six hours. and wanna know the end to the story? jaemin didnt show up. so she left.
—
[ july 8th, 2016, 11:30 AM ]
aeri slammed her locker shut the moment she saw jaemin walk past by her without saying a word. she rolled her eyes. on the outside, she looked mad. but on the inside, her heart was breaking.
when she felt her heart break. she asked herself lots of questions. starting off with, what is this feeling that shes feeling? her heart says love. but her head says that youre too young to experience love.
but from what her mother has always said, no one is too young or too old to experience love. and that made her contradict herself. she wanted to believe that it was love that she was feeling.
because it would be so much easier to understand her feelings if she just concluded that it was love. so on that day, at 11:30 am exactly, kang aeri concluded that she loved na jaemin.
so on the 8th of july, aeri texted jaemin to meet her at the cafe that they always go to. because aeri knew that something was going on between them and she needed answers. and after all that, she thought of confessing to him.
when jaemin replied that he'd be there, aeri's heart lit up, filled with warmth and happiness. but she had no clue that the light in her heart was going to go out and that she would soon be feeling cold and empty instead of warmth and full.
[ july 8th, 2016, 5:38 PM ]
when aeri finished taking the first sip of her tea, jaemin started off and decided to break the ice between them. it's been a few weeks since they've last talked. and when aeri heard his voice after so long, she couldnt help but smile all to herself.
"hello, kang aeri," jaemin smiled. when he smiles, aeri always finds herself falling in love with him again. "it's been long since we last talked, right?" he effortlessly chuckled, taking off his coat and putting it down on the back rest of the chair.
aeri nodded her head. "we need to talk," she decided to speak up for herself. she was so excited to tell the news to the boy that was in front of her. so excited. she just wanted to blurt out that she loved him right then and there.
"we do, who should go first?" jaemin giggled. aeri pointed to jaemin, motioning him to go first. he took a sip of his coffee before starting to talk. "you must be wondering why i've been distancing myself from you, right?" he questioned, and she nodded
"seven months ago, i caught feelings for you, aeri," he started off his explanation. aeri lit up, she was anticipating for what he was about to say. regrets. — she shouldnt have.
"i-i know its a lot to take in, and you probably dont even feel the same way but–" he stopped halfway. aeri's heart was shouting, i do! yes i do! but her mouth was kept shut.
"but the feelings that i felt towards you kept getting stronger. i even came to a conclusion that it was love, maybe. crazy, right? we're only sixteen. even everybody thought i was falling in love," he chuckled. two seconds later, the smile on jaemin's lips fell apart. aeri became a little worried as to what he was going to say right after. "but?" she uttered.
jaemin sighed. "but— i realized that i was afraid. afraid of getting closer to you. all these thoughts ran through my mind like what if you hurt her? or what if she doesnt feel the same way?"
"that was why i distanced myself, aeri. i was afraid that i was going to hurt you. so — i decided to find someone else who would feel the same way as me," he confessed.
aeri felt her heart drop. she was so confused as to what was coming out of his mouth at the moment. "her name is seo jisol," he smiled as her name rolled off his tongue.
then, there was an awkward silence after the name of a random girl has been mentioned. aeri felt like breaking down because she thought he would have felt the same way as her.
"aeri, say something," jaemin nervously chuckled. aeri took a deep breath, before saying — "it wasnt love," and that only. when jaemin said he was confused, she just repeated the same thing.
"you said you were in love with me, but you werent. how else would you have been able to 'fall in love' with jisol so easily?" she blurted out, she had a point, jaemin thought.
"aeri, i had crazy and big feelings for you!" he defended himself. "then why didnt you tell me?! why didnt you do something?!" she loudly whispered, because she was about to cry.
jaemin rolled his eyes, "why? what difference would it have made, aeri?" he aggressively asked, sitting up straight. "it would have made a huge difference, jaemin!" she hissed back.
the boy in front of her stayed confused. aeri sighed. she looked at him in the eye and with all her little courage, she finally said — "im in love with you,"
jaemin fell silent. both of them did. nobody moved. the waiter noticed and came to their table, hoping to ease the tension. remember the waiter slash barista, jung jaehyun? yes. he's the one.
"everything okay here? anybody needs an extra refill?" jaehyun asked, just to make the atmosphere less heated. but it only made things worse. jaemin stood up, grabbed his coat, and said, "i have to go,"
aeri rubbed her temples. "jaemin, it's raining heavily outside, are you cra—" her sentence got interrupted. "i dont care, aeri! you messed up with my mind. you cant just come here and tell me you've fallen in love with me!" jaemin yelled. "and you know what? it may not be love to you but it may have been love to me. it was what i knew love to be, aeri," he continued.
leaving her speechless, he left the cafe. her heart broken, she felt the light in her heart going further away, and she felt her heart breaking into a million pieces.
when jaemin left, she finally felt her tears falling down, from her face and onto the table. jaehyun left the scene, to take a pack of tissues for her to use. when he came back, he placed the tissues for her on the table and whispered, "use the whole thing, dont worry,"
after that, he cleaned up their table. when aeri stopped crying, the time was 6:58 pm and still raining. jaehyun finished his 6:30 shift and decided to pull up a chair next to aeri and sit right next to her.
for a whole of 28 minutes, jung jaehyun sat right next to kang aeri, accompanying her crying. at one point, he even wrapped his arms around her shoulder and let his embrace make her feel warm from the cold.
when the time hit 7pm, aeri stood up and walked to the door. but jaehyun ran after her and stopped her from opening up the door. "its raining cats and dogs out there, and you have no coat or umbrella, you really wanna go out there?" he exclaimed.
she looked up at him, and sighed. "i have to go. it's getting late and my parents are going to get worried," she tried to push open the door one more time but jaehyun still stopped her.
"i'll drive you home, how about that? it's not like im a stranger. you've been coming to my cafe for seven whole months. we've seen each other for half a year. and we go to the same school," jaehyun explained, convincing her.
when aeri agreed, he told her to wait out at the front while he went back to the kitchen to finish up something. in about ten minutes, jaehyun finally pulled up up front so that aeri could easily get in his car.
"i made this for you," jaehyun said, as he gave aeri a cup of hot chocolate that he just made out back in the kitchen. aeri widened her eyes, shocked at his actions. "it's cold, aeri, and you always drink hot chocolate," he rolled his eyes.
"stop acting like as if we dont know each other," he laughed, lightening up the atmosphere. aeri smiled. his laugh somehow made her feel a little bit happier and less shitty than she already felt herself.
when jaehyun finally dropped her off, aeri fished out her wallet, wanting to pay jaehyun for the hot chocolate. but he stopped her. he snatched her wallet away from her and put it back in her bag.
"come on, it's on the house," he smiled, showing his dimples. he stretched out to the side to open the door for aeri, to make it easier for her to get out of the car. they bid each other goodbye then.
on that day, aeri lost a loved one but then gained a new friend. perhaps the 8th of july isnt so bad after all, she thought to herself