12. made up

12. made up

hojin: can we talk?

yumi had been staring at her phone for almost an hour now. she remembered her mother's words from last night. don't hurt hojin. reject him gently. he's your best friend, you shouldn't be harsh. he'll understand and respect you.

yumi: sure, you can come over

when he arrived, the tension between was palpable. yumi motioned for him to sit, neither of them seemed to know where to start.

"i've been thinking about what you said," yumi said softly. "hojin, i need to be honest with you."

hojin looked at her, his expression guarded. "yumi, i—"

"no, let me finish, please," she interrupted gently. "i care about you so much, hojin. you're my best friend. but i don't feel the same way about you. not in that way."

his face fell, but he didn't say anything.

"i don't want to lose our friendship, hojin," yumi continued. "you mean so much to me, and i don't want anything to change between us."

hojin's gaze softened, but there was still pain in his eyes. "i don't want to lose you either, yumi. i just don't know what to do anymore."

"we'll figure it out together, okay?" she smiled. "i know it's not easy. but we've been through so much together, we can get through this too. i don't want you to feel like i'm rejecting you as a person. it's just that... i can't give you what you want, but i still want you in my life."

they sat there in silence for a while, just holding each other's hands. the conversation wasn't easy, but yumi was glad it was over. it felt like they were finally honest with each other.

"how about we go out after work?" hojin asked, breaking the silence.

"are you sure?" yumi asked, unsure of how to feel about this.

"we can still go out, we do it all the time." he chuckled. "we could go shopping, and then go to the movies."

"sure, i'd love that." yumi smiled.

yumi and hojin drove to work together, like they always did. yumi felt happy again. she was glad they finally talked about it, and now they were okay. there was still some tension between them, but she knew everything would be okay soon.

yumi's phone buzzed, and when she checked, she couldn't help but smile.

joshua: we're going out tomorrow after work. dress... warmly, i guess? it's going to be cold.

yumi: what if i'm busy

joshua: won't take no for an answer

yumi: bossy, much?

joshua: i like being around you :)

yumi: fineee! can't say no to you anyway <3

yumi couldn't help but wonder, where was he taking her? was this a date? she had no idea what to think, but she tried her best to hide her smile. she didn't want anymore fights with hojin.

but how can she stop smiling when all she can think about is joshua?

────୨ৎ────

word count : 495