As the cafe door opened, a familiar silhouette entered. A man wearing his usual black hat pulled down low, earphones clutched in one hand, walked toward the counter. I raised my head at the sound of his approach, and the sight of their eyes meeting left me speechless for a moment.
“Is it okay to stay in the same spot today?”
Jungkook nodded and spoke briefly.
“And… today, please recommend something other than iced Americano.”
It was unexpected. I instinctively recited the recommended menu.
"Cinnamon cream lattes are popular today. For those who like something a little bitter..."
Before I could finish speaking, Jeongguk smiled and nodded.
“Give me that. I need something sweet.
Oh, and I'd like a brownie too."
And then he added the brownie. With his face as cold as ever, but with a slightly different look in his eyes.
As I turned around after receiving my order, I felt my mind start to unravel. Every little change in my gaze, every change in my order, seemed to unnecessarily make me even more nervous.
While I was pouring coffee, Jeongguk quietly approached me.
“It’s... quiet here, so I like it.”
Those words might have sounded like a simple greeting to some, but they struck me as strangely unfamiliar and profound. He handed me a coffee cup and asked.
“Then the reason you come every day is because it’s quiet?”
Jungkook looked at me and smiled very slowly.
“No. I don’t think it’s just because of the quiet atmosphere.”
Jeongguk's tone was so vague that I didn't ask any more questions. I didn't even want to delve into the meaning of his words. No, actually, I wanted to know, but I felt I wasn't qualified to do so.
.
As I was putting the brownies in, I asked myself:
Why do you pretend not to know him?
More precisely, why do you refuse to acknowledge his memories?
It was a dream. The one and only dream I'd harbored since childhood. To become a dancer, I practiced until my body broke, and spent every day refining myself.
Jungkook was the one who shared that dream. He was the one who danced with me, who fell apart with me—the one who was at the center of the moment when I turned my back on the stage.
Meeting him wasn't a simple reunion. It forced me to acknowledge what I'd given up on, and it brought out emotions I'd suppressed for too long.
I know why he keeps coming back. It's because he can't forget me.
The memories he had decided not to forget and to protect remain intact in his memory.
“Does that person come every day?”
My coworker asked. I nodded, pretending to smile.
"Yeah. I order a brownie and an Americano every day. Not today, though."
“Was he your boyfriend?”
"no."
He said it firmly.
But a part of me couldn't deny it. In fact, our relationship was even deeper than that.
The person I shared a dream with. And the past I most wanted to forget.
Through the cafe window, I could see Jungkook sitting there. As always, he was drinking coffee while looking out the window.
In that place, there was a quiet loneliness, as if someone had been waiting for someone for a long time.
Jungkook turned his head and met her gaze. At that moment, he didn't look away.
We made eye contact for the first time.
It was a very brief moment.
But, Jeongguk was sure.
That she remembers.
She also said that she had not forgotten herself, that time.