Chapter 42 - Remember the Promise?

All the eyes in the cafeteria turned to her, but Yiyoung couldn’t find it in herself to be embarrassed. She scratched her head, too busy trying to decide whether she should wait for him in the cafeteria. In an attempt to distract herself, she grabbed her phone.

She called Jaehee, planning on only letting it ring three times before hanging up, but her friend picked up the phone quickly.

Jaehee didn’t even let Yiyoung speak. “If you’re calling me to escape from the blind date, then make sure to leave your will before running.”

“No, I’m not trying to run away,” Yiyoung exclaimed, “but this blind date has to be cancelled…”

“Nonsense. If you cancel it, then you and I will be strangers from tomorrow.”

 “Please, I’m begging you, cancel it. I really can’t meet this guy today.”

“Then, within the next ten seconds, give me a good reason why I should cancel it.”

Yiyoung wracked her brain. The shock from the earlier had wiped her mind blank. Slowly, she regained her senses and listed the reasons in her head.

 Firstly, she had sincerely promised to help Muyeol since he had helped many times. Secondly, he was now asking her to fulfill her promise by getting married to him. Muyeol never said anything meaningless. He wouldn’t have joked about something as serious as marriage. ‘Then… does this mean we’re really going to get married?’

“Ten… nine…” Jaehee started the countdown over the phone.

“I met a schoolmate at the cafeteria by coincidence.” Yiyoung almost felt proud for being able to sort her thoughts so quickly in such a complicated situation.

“So?”

“Well, I was sitting in the cafeteria, and no one could recognize me, but my schoolmate recognized me right away.”

“Is this schoolmate a man or a woman?”

“A man.”

“So he saw you after a long time and still recognized you? Really? You honestly looked like a different person today, and you’re saying he recognized you immediately? Did he used to like you? Were you his first love?”

“Well… something like that.” Yiyoung laughed nervously. Muyeol was the one who showed up out of nowhere to ask her such a strange thing, so the least he could do was go along with Yiyoung’s excuse.

“Wow, really? That’s great, Yiyoung! No wonder why he recognized you right away.”

“I guess so.”

 “So, did he ask you out tonight? Does he want to catch up?” 

“I don’t know… He just said he needed to talk to me.”

“About what?” Jaehee exclaimed excitedly, “He’s going to ask you out, right? Will he tell you how much he missed you?”

Yiyoung giggled lightly as she listened to her friend fuss over her reunion with Muyeol. She knew very well that Jaehee’s imagination was going into overdrive. But soon she remembered why she had called her friend in the first place. “I don’t know, but I think I should listen to what he has to say. I’m really sorry about this. If you give me the guy’s phone number, I’ll call him and explain.”

Jaehee had refused to give Yiyoung her date’s phone number because she was afraid of her canceling the date; she was hell-bent on seeing Yiyoung go on a date.

“Are you really telling me the truth?” Jaehee asked, “Can you swear on your breakfast, lunch, and dinner?”

Although Yiyoung’s busy work life only allowed her to eat whatever meal she could get her hands on, she genuinely loved food, and nothing made her happier than having a nice meal. “Yes, I swear on all three meals that I’m telling the truth.”

“Alright. I’ll call your date and take care of it. But tell me, does your schoolmate look better than my boyfriend?”

Yiyoung didn’t have to think to answer that question. “More than good looking, he’s charismatic.”

“Oh! Got it. I’m so excited for you.”

“Thank you. And I’m sorry for being such a pain.”

“No problem. It’s better to meet someone you have a higher chance of ending up with. Anyhow, your schoolmate is very lucky, he must have been shocked to find out his first love became a doctor.”

“I think ten seconds got over a while ago,” Yiyoung teased.

“Fine, I’ll leave you alone now. Good luck. And don’t shy away from sleeping with him!”

“Bye,” Yiyoung said pointedly.

“Alright,” Jaehee muttered and hung up the phone.

However, Yiyoung was still dwelling on what her friend had said. She couldn’t help but laugh. ‘Sleep with Muyeol? What a joke.’

The growl of her stomach pulled her out of her thoughts, and Yiyoung dropped her head on the table. Her shift was over, and she had the day off tomorrow. She had originally planned to go home after the date and have cheese ramen.

‘That’s a bad idea.’ Yiyoung sat back up. ‘I just met Muyeol. How could I just eat ramen? I should ask him to have dinner with me.’

Soon, she grew bored of waiting, so she took her phone out to kill time. She pulled up the thesis that she had started reading recently and got lost in it. She lost all awareness of her surroundings, and didn’t even hear Muyeol pull out the chair across her to sit down.

At first, Muyeol waited for a few moments to allow Yiyoung to realize his presence, but when he realized she was too focused to notice anything around her, he decided to let her know he was back. He leaned forward and knocked on the table with his knuckles.

Yiyoung slowly lifted her head and met his eyes. Her large, black eyes were still bright; they hadn’t lost their sparkle at all. In fact, they seemed to be brimming with confidence. Perhaps this poise of hers was a result of having lived independently for so long.

“Did you eat?” Muyeol asked. 

“Not yet. Let’s have something good.”

“Alright, sounds good.”

“Yay! I’m so excited,” Yiyoung cheered, and her joy brought a small smile to his face. It reminded him of the old days.

‘Yay, it’s finally time to eat!’ Yiyoung thought. 

Muyeol walked next to her. He couldn’t tell what it was, but there was something different about Yiyoung. He would know; after all, they had spent seven years together, and she was the person who Muyeol used to look at the most.

Muyeol looked at her again, her neat ponytail swinging as with each step. She no longer looked like the Yiyoung he once knew.