We decided not to cross the line.

Episode 104. Late Confession

"All right. Miguel.

Thank you for calling me. I'll be there soon."




It was an unexpected guest.




"What are you talking about?

Julien?

You mean... he's at Miguel's cafe right now?"





"Ha..."

"I guess so...

What is this...?"





"Are you going to go see him?"





"I should. He's come all the way here...
 
He wouldn't have come without a reason."





"Then... I'll go with you."





"You want me to go with you, Hoonji?

What are you talking about.

I'm not a child...

Julien just lives in Paris; he's still Korean.

There's no need to run into Hoonji too."





"If you're trying to say something,

I should hear it too."




He looked ready to follow me out at once.




"I'll go and come back, and tell you everything exactly as it is.

You don't trust me?"




"It's not that I don't trust you,

it's that I don't trust men.

No, I...

it's been months since it ended, so why are you showing up now?"





"Huh?? Didn't Hoonji come all the way to Spain to find you too...?"





"No... are Julien and I the same?"





"No. They're completely different.

Completely different."





Calming him down

was the first priority.





"Hoonji. Sit down.

I think I need to meet him alone.

For both you and him,

I think that's the polite thing to do."





"..."





"Hm?"

I asked him again when he gave no answer.






Hoonji was silent for a moment.

Soon, he quietly nodded.





"Hoonji... I'll be back.

And... when you're alone...

try not to read books if possible,

and listen to music instead."





He snorted at my words.





I felt uneasy leaving him alone at home,

and uneasy going together wasn't any different.





Meeting Julien again, the one I'd last parted with in Paris,

was also stressful.





I changed clothes and left the house.


'But... why did he come without even contacting me first...?'






When I opened the cafe door and stepped inside,

I saw Julien getting to his feet as he looked at me.





"Long time no see.

How have you been, Junga?"





"Julien, long time no see.

I've been well. How about you, Julien?"





"You don't call me Julie anymore?"



For a moment, I couldn't answer.





"Ah... sit down, Julien."





"You still like lattes the most?"





"Yes..."





"I'll order it for you."





He was still courteous,

calm and gentle.





"Seeing each other again like this after a few months...

strangely enough, I still don't really feel

like we've broken up."




Julien said as he came back from ordering and sat down.





In truth,

the time I'd spent with him didn't feel very real either.





To break this awkward silence,
 
I had to say something.





"Oh, right... did your parents go back to Korea?"






"Yes. They were very disappointed they couldn't see you then.

I couldn't tell them right after we broke up.

Actually... they still don't know."





I couldn't hide my embarrassment at his words.





"What? Then they still think we're together?"





"At first, I missed the chance to tell them.

But as time went on...

I started to not want to tell them we broke up.

I still couldn't let you go."





I didn't know what to say.

I could only look at him in silence.





"More than I thought...

I think I liked you a lot more than I realized.

I had a really hard time for months...

and only just worked up the courage to come here."





"Julien... "





"At first, I was angry and hated you for

sprinting straight back to Korea and forgetting all about me...

but you were honest with me from the beginning.

You said you couldn't forget your boyfriend.

If I look at it another way...

maybe I was angry at myself, not at you.

Because I couldn't become someone good enough

for you to forget your ex-boyfriend."

"No. Julien.





That wasn't Julien's fault.

You were more than good enough to me,

and you were a good person.

Please don't blame yourself

and think we broke up because of Julien."

"Then...





can you give me another chance?"
 
For a moment, it felt like I couldn't breathe.




"...What?"





"You're telling me to stay like this?"