After getting off the bus, I made a beeline for the university canteen, my stomach grumbling with the urgency of a war drum. The place was nearly empty— too early for the usual flood of students. I grabbed a tray of corn soup and kimbap, though what I really wanted was a steaming bowl of ramen. But one slurp of ramen would have been like swallowing knives to my split and wounded lips.
I found a seat at the farthest corner of the canteen, the perfect spot to disappear. The last thing I wanted was anyone seeing me like this. Scars. Bruises. I took off my mask and started sipping the soup.
Just as I started to relax, an Iced Americano landed in front of me. I looked up, eyebrows raised, only to find Choi Aera standing there, frowning at me. Her eyes traced the marks on my face.
Why is she here? Why does it seem like I have been running into her so much even though I am already thinking of not making any contact with her? Seeing her face is always reminding me of that night.
I glared at her, hoping it would send her away. But of course, she didn't budge. "This is for you," she said, pushing the drink closer.
"I don't like iced Americano," I muttered, refusing to meet her eyes.
Aera's lips curled into a smirk, her tone dripping with sarcasm. "You're not even Korean if you don't like iced Americano."
Was she really doing this? Teasing me? Now, of all times? I shot her a look. "What do you want?"
"You know what I want," she said, voice lowering. It wasn't the teasing tone anymore. It was something else — concern. And I hated it.
"No, Aera. I don't," I retorted.
"What happened to your face? I mean, your whole body's messed up, Bohyun!" She leaned in, her voice growing sharper. "You were fine last night when you took me home. So, what? Did you go pick a fight with a bulldozer after?"
I didn't need this right now. I ignored her question. "Did you follow me here?"
She didn't even acknowledge my question, her eyes drilling into me. "You were fine last night," she repeated. "Now, you look like you went through hell. What happened?"
I stared at her, feeling the weight of her concern. But I wasn't about to let her in. "Aera, stop being so interested in me. I'm not the kind of guy you wanna hang out with." I said, biting another piece of kimbap.
She threw her hands up in mock frustration. "Oh, great! Now you're doing the whole brooding-tough-guy act? Spare me. I just asked what happened."
I looked away, focusing on my soup, hoping she'd leave. But instead, she stood, pushing the Iced Americano toward me again. "Here. If you don't want it, throw it away."
I let out a sigh of relief as she walked away — only for her to whip around and march right back toward me. She leaned in so close I could feel her breath on my face. "You know there's a welcome party for freshmen after class, right?"
My heart jumped into my throat, and I froze, completely thrown off by the sudden proximity. She was so close, her presence buzzing in the air between us. I managed to stammer out a response, "Y-yeah, I know."
Her lips curled into a grin, and she turned and walked off. I watched her retreating figure, my mind spinning. I let out a long breath, running a hand through my hair. GOD! What was that!
All I remembered about her was Jinwoo and the way it made me mad every time I saw him treating her like an object. He wasn't the type of guy I wanted in my circle, but fate had other plans. He'd challenged me to a skateboard race on the second week at university in the original timeline, wanting to join our crew if he won. Back then, it was just me and Sunghoon, keeping our team tight, looking for talents. Jinwoo had skill, no doubt about that. But he was no match for me. The guy rode with pure anger, like he had something to prove, and it cost him the race.
"Pretty good, Jinwoo," Sunghoon had said. "You should join us. Winning isn't everything. Bohyun has experience of competing at the national level. He's in a different league."
"I'll join the team," he'd said, his jaw tight. "But Bohyun, don't think you're all that just because you've been to nationals. One day, I'll beat you. Just watch."
I shrugged. "Sure. You can have it in your way."
That day marked the start of our uneasy friendship. Our crew, the Tungsten Riders, grew to twelve strong. But with Jinwoo, there was always a lingering tension, like he was constantly measuring himself against me. Sometimes the way he talked about things didn't really leave such good impressions on me.
I had heard that Aera and Jinwoo had been close since middle school, and from what I remembered, they got together in the summer of freshman year. Which meant... they weren't a couple yet in this timeline.
And all I could think of, Aera deserves someone better than Jinwoo. I remembered him always ignoring her, never really looking out for her whenever we had team practices or other gatherings. Aera always had a cheerful personality but she looked lonely and fragile whenever I saw her with Jinwoo. I wondered why a girl like her chose Jinwoo. It hurt me to see her like that.
I remembered, one time, I saw her crying in the corner of a street beside a pub where we had a team gathering. Jinwoo and she had a fight, just because—she said she was feeling sick and wanted to go home. Jinwoo, lowering his voice, said, "why do you always bother, Aera? Everyone is having a blast inside and now you want to go home."
"Jinwoo, I'm sorry. My blood pressure has been running low since this morning. You don't have to take me home. I can go myself. You can have fun," Aera retorted.
"You are seriously making me a bad guy here. I know how much I like to hangout. And now you are making it look like, I'm letting my girlfriend go alone home this late at night. You are seriously a burden sometimes —"
"What did you say?" Her voice was barely above a whisper now.
"Um—" Jinwoo stuttered, realising what he just said, "Aera, I'm sorry, okay? I didn't mean to." Jinwoo took her hand. Aera shoved his hands off saying, "Jinwoo, if we talk now, we'll end up fighting. You should get inside."
"Aera—don't be like this. You know, I love you, right? Let's get inside and have fun."
"Jinwoo, please —" she raised her voice a bit, "just go. Let me be alone for some time."
Jinwoo looked at her for a few seconds before saying, "text me when you get home." Then he turned away to get inside the pub and saw me standing there. He turned his gaze away, feeling a bit embarrassed. Then she started crying, without making a sound.
I went inside the pub and got my bag. I couldn't just let her be alone this late. She was already walking. I ran past her. Sunghoon followed from behind. She stopped seeing us. Sunghoon looked back and asked, "aren't you coming?"
"Is the party over?" She asked, her eyes were still watery.
"Yea, for us," Sunghoon said, studying her face a second. "Bohyun got himself a curfew time. And it's past that." He added, smiling. I glared at him for speaking nonsense again. But then Aera chuckled softly. I almost froze. She was suddenly glowing. Did she always look this beautiful when she smiled? Had I ever really seen her smiling like this?
"Let me—" I said, gesturing at her bag.
"No, it's alright."
"Just let him—" Sunghoon nudged, smiling.
"Why though?" She asked, confused. I ignored it, taking her bag while Sunghoon started cracking another joke.
"Um—thanks," she said.
"It's heavy," I muttered under my breath.
"That's why I said you don't really have to—" She uttered, trying to take the bag.
"He meant it's heavy for you. Come on," Sunghoon chimed in.
About last night, even though Jinwoo tried hard not to show it, there was anger raging up inside him. I could see it just like I did last night at the infirmary when he came to look for Aera.
I grabbed the iced Americano she'd left behind, staring at it for a moment before taking a sip. I always preferred tea, something warmer, comforting. Sunghoon pressed me too many times to have Iced Americano and I never let him overpower me. Also, I never had anything related to coffee. It was my first time sipping into Iced Americano, and I didn't know why I would even take it when I could just throw it away like Aera suggested.
It was really good! God! How could I ignore this heavenly tasted drink! I smiled at myself thinking I was a fool.