our delicate string | ???

3: strangers.

"oh." she let her tears fall, the ones she refused to let take her over. now, she let them control her like a puppet, just like the boy sitting across from her had done all this time.

"cheating was the only option?" she scoffed. "so that's the reason why you were silent at every date these past months? that's why i would always make the first move and all the plans? that's why i ended up loving you so much more than you ever did?" her tears ran down her face uncontrollably. she didn't care that everybody in the café was staring at her.

he hurt her.

"you were the only good thing in my life. you cheated and you don't know how much it shatters me to know that."

"i didn't cheat—"

"but you betrayed me." he stayed silent. "i can't believe you're trying to defend yourself right now rather than listen to me for one second." she aimed her eyes at the ceiling as if she were trying to place her tears back into her eyes. "is she nicer? is she prettier? what is it?"

"no, not at all, i just.." he was audacious enough to reach his hand out to hold hers, as she removed it from his quickly. "look, you're allowed to cry, i get it—"

"no, you don't." she looked at him. "because i don't want to cry for you."

she stood up and swung her bag over her arm, putting her coat back on. "we can talk later, when i'm ready." she refused to face him, so she talked with her back to him. "i hope she treats you well. you look happier than i've ever seen you." she began, a tear fell down her eye as she wiped it away, scoffing. "why would you do all this to me and make me feel so much worse than i already do? you made me the happiest and now to know that some girl is with you? some girl who must be so beautiful and charming to you is with you, it stings that you fell in love with her while i thought you loved me. why would you cheat on me?"

and with that, she left the traitor by himself at the coffee table, running his hands through his hair in agony.

— 💌 —

the girl walked slowly through the snow, allowing the flakes to surround her figure and melt onto her, as if the universe were crying for her.

the evening arrived early now-a-days,  it had only been 4 pm, a muffin and tea from Beomgyu's house wasn't enough to suffice her hunger. she took a seat at the cold bench, watching the snowflakes capture her hair. there was not a single soul on the streets, not at all. nobody there to comfort her—not that she wanted anybody to see her anyways.

at least, not like this. broken and vulnerable.

she felt foolish. crying for a boy who never loved her, who stood by her side because he was too afraid to tell her that he was cheating the whole time. she was angry at herself for never leaving him sooner. it wasn't her fault.

she wasn't boring. she was worthy of love, he didn't deserve the love she had for him. he held dearly to his heart love for another. another girl, a girl who understood him. a girl who loved him. but how could he be so blind to see that she was somebody loved him so much more?

her eyes grew puffy, her throat sore from the hours of crying. she hadn't gone home yet, her parents hadn't even bothered to call her. in the cold weather, the thing that warmed her up the most was ironically the snow that felt the most mellow to her.

furrowing her eyebrows, she felt her phone vibrate at her hip, pulling it out to see who the caller was. who could possibly want to call her when she felt at her worst?

it was chestnut boy.

she forgot that they exchanged numbers earlier. she rolled her eyes, thinking that this was the last thing she needed. then again, she also knew that he could possibly make a joke to cause her the smile she deserved after frowning all day. she hesitated and removed her finger from the decline button and picked up, placing the phone to her ear.

"hello?" her voice was sore, obvious she was crying through the other side.

"hey—" the boy paused. "wait, are you okay?"

"just tell me what you called for."

"you just forgot your gloves at my house earlier. i thought you'd want it, i heard it's supposed to be the coldest it's been this season." he said. "gloves are truly such an incredible thing, like you don't even need hand warmers and all of a sudden you're warm, you know?"

he could hear her chuckling from the other side, a smile plastered across his face.

"you're so stupid." she jokingly said.

"hey! i know you're not offending me—the guy who's literally going out of his way to give you your winter necessities that you forgot at my house. honestly, if you ask me, you're the stupid one for that."

she laughed. "thanks, Beomgyu, but i'm okay." she looked down at her finger, the invisible string a light, transparent color. maybe this string was meant to connect them as friends. maybe, this string is supposed to bring them closer.

but, why would he even care about her? he didn't even know her. he shouldn't bother to care about somebody he barely knew, right?

she shivered from the cold weather, her voice shaky and her face turning red from the freeze. she wrapped her red scarf and held it dearly.

"actually," she sniffled. "i could really use a friend right now. do you want to get food together?" she heard him pause. "never mind, sorry, forget i said that—"

"no, no, yeah," he smiled from the other end, happy to have somehow made a friend. but they weren't really friends. they were just acquaintances that wanted to get to know each other better to become friends. "i'd love to. we can meet at that noodle shop down the road from my house."

he stepped out of his house and held an extra jacket for the girl who was obviously not wearing one big enough if she was shivering.

"meet you there."

they hung up as she began to walk from the park bench to the restaurant, which wasn't far down at all. she loved the town she lived in, everything was so convenient. she hoped that if she could get her mind off of her ex-boyfriend, gosh, even saying that word stung...

if she could just get her mind off or everything that went down today, she could feel better. a million thoughts were running in her head, would she be bothering Beomgyu? would she be annoying him? no, right? it's just a smile late lunch. its okay.

beomgyu's pov ⭐️

Kang Aera

i want to be your friend, and friends comfort each other.

that's exactly what i'm going to do.

i know you probably think you're bothering me, trust me, you're not. making a friend who i can feel will stick around for a while has been the highlight of my day. i hope you feel the same.

friends.