three
Yujin stood there, rooted to the spot, her mind racing but still unable to catch up with the reality of what had just happened. Wonyoung’s words echoed in her head like a slow, painful drumbeat, but they didn’t make sense. Break up? She couldn't understand. It felt so sudden, so unreal.
She watched Wonyoung walk away, her back to her now, her steps brisk and determined. But Yujin couldn’t move. She was paralyzed by a mixture of shock and disbelief. Wonyoung wasn’t serious, right? She always overthought things, right? This wasn’t anything Yujin couldn’t fix.
"Wait, Wonyoung!" she finally called, taking a step forward, but the sound of her voice seemed so small, so weak compared to the noise in her head. Wonyoung didn’t stop, didn’t even flinch. She just kept walking, like she was already gone.
It couldn’t be over.
Yujin shook her head. She had too much going on. It was the stress of school, all those extracurriculars, the pressure from her friends. She had barely had time to think about her relationship, but it was just a phase. Wonyoung was upset right now, but it would blow over, wouldn’t it?
Yujin took out her phone, her hands trembling slightly as she typed out a message.
yudaeng 💙
wonnie, let’s talk later okay?
yudaeng 💙
don’t be mad
She sent it, but the message didn’t feel right. There was a knot in her stomach, but she tried to ignore it, forcing herself to believe everything would be fine. Wonyoung would reply. She always did, even when she was upset. She just needed a little space.
A few minutes passed. No response. Yujin frowned and sent another message, then another. Still nothing. Her fingers hovered over her screen, typing and deleting words she couldn’t quite make sense of. What was she even supposed to say?
The thought of Wonyoung actually going through with this, leaving her—forever—it didn’t feel real. She couldn't imagine her life without her, couldn’t fathom waking up and not having Wonyoung there. The idea of never hearing her voice again made her stomach churn.
But Wonyoung will come back.
She always does.
—
She'll come back.
Yujin tried to convince herself of that. She had to. After all, Wonyoung was always the one to fix things when they fought. She would be upset for a little while, but then she would call, or send a message, or come over. It was always like that. This was just another one of those moments. She was just upset. It would pass.
But after a few days of nothing—no calls, no texts, no late-night check-ins—Yujin couldn’t shake the gnawing feeling in her stomach. Every time she looked at her phone, she felt her pulse quicken, hoping for a notification from Wonyoung. But it never came. Wonyoung wasn’t reaching out. And that was unlike her.
The silence was suffocating.
Yujin had tried everything. She’d sent texts, more than she wanted to admit. At first, they were simple: “Hey, can we talk?” or “I’m sorry. Please answer.” Then, when nothing came back, the desperation started to seep in. “Wonyoung, please. I need you to talk to me.”
But still, nothing.
Yujin began to panic. What if she was serious this time? What if this wasn’t a phase? What if Wonyoung had really had enough? The thought was unbearable, but it was there, lurking in the back of her mind, growing louder and louder with each passing hour.
She tried calling once, but the phone rang until it went to voicemail. Her hands shook as she hung up, staring at the screen, hoping for a call back. But it never came.
The longer the silence stretched, the more Yujin’s anxiety grew. She couldn’t sit still. She couldn’t focus on anything. Her mind kept replaying every moment she’d taken for granted, every time she’d pushed Wonyoung aside, every time she had been too distracted, too busy with her own life to see how much Wonyoung had been hurting.
And she hated herself for it.
The worst part was, Yujin didn’t know what to do. She didn’t know how to fix it because she didn’t even know where to start. She had never felt more lost.
She knew she couldn’t keep waiting around. Wonyoung had been clear, hadn’t she? She’d tried to tell her, tried to show her, but Yujin had been too careless, too selfish to see it.
Yujin stood up from her desk, pacing back and forth. She thought of how Wonyoung had walked away from her that day, how she had said the words that made Yujin’s heart drop. It felt like a nightmare that she was still trapped in.
She couldn't lose Wonyoung. Not like this. Not because she had been too distracted, too focused on everything but the one person who had always been there for her. The one person who mattered.
“I’m breaking up with you.”
The words echoed in her mind, and every time she heard them, it felt like a blow to her chest, like the air was knocked out of her. She closed her eyes, her hands trembling.
The silence. The emptiness that followed. That’s what she was left with now.
Yujin ran a hand through her hair, trying to force herself to focus. She couldn’t just keep replaying that moment over and over. She had to understand—had to understand what she had missed. What had led to this?
And so, she let her mind wander back, back to their moments together.
She remembered the way Wonyoung used to smile when they met, how her eyes would light up when Yujin was nearby. She remembered the way Wonyoung would text her every morning, even when she was busy, even when Yujin had been too distracted to respond right away. How Wonyoung always made time for her, always gave her the attention she needed, even when Yujin had made her feel like an afterthought.
Wonyoung was patient, always waiting for her to notice, always hoping that Yujin would show up for her. Yujin could picture it clearly now—the times Wonyoung would send her a message, waiting for Yujin’s response, only for Yujin to get caught up with something else. She thought of all the times Wonyoung had been the one to make plans, the one to remind Yujin of things, only to be left standing there, alone, waiting.
Wonyoung had always been there.
Yujin felt the weight of it pressing down on her. She hadn’t seen it before, not like this. All the times Wonyoung had given so much of herself, while Yujin had been too busy with her own life to even notice how little she had returned.
How many times had Wonyoung tried to reach out, only to be pushed aside?
Yujin had taken Wonyoung for granted. The signs had been there. Wonyoung wasn’t one to beg, one to make a scene. She was patient, gentle even when she was hurting. But Yujin had been too blind to see it, too wrapped up in her own world to realize that Wonyoung’s silence was not indifference, but a quiet plea for her to pay attention, to care.
How many times had Wonyoung stood by her, waiting for her to show up, only to be left with empty promises and hollow excuses?
Yujin’s chest tightened. She had been so selfish, so wrapped up in her own ambitions and distractions. She had pushed Wonyoung to the edge, and now, she was paying the price.
She had failed her.
Her stomach churned with guilt. How could she have been so thoughtless? How could she have allowed this to happen, knowing how much Wonyoung loved her? Wonyoung had never asked for much. She just wanted to be seen. She just wanted to be prioritized. But Yujin had taken that for granted.
Yujin’s eyes welled up as she sat back down at her desk, her hands pressed against her face. How had she not seen it?
She loved Wonyoung. She knew that. She had known that all along. But love wasn’t enough, was it? Not if you didn’t show it, not if you didn’t prove it with actions. She hadn’t been there for her.
She reached for her phone once again, trembling as she unlocked it. She scrolled through their messages, all of Wonyoung’s texts, seeing the familiar bubble of her name. Yujin’s heart twisted with every word Wonyoung had sent her, each message a reminder of how she had failed to respond in the way she should’ve, in the way she needed to.
Her thumb hesitated as it hovered over the last message Wonyoung had sent. Yujin clicked on it, and as the conversation opened, she stared at the screen, a weight sinking into her chest.
The last message Wonyoung had sent, full of hope, full of excitement. But Yujin had missed it, brushed it off. The very message she had ignored.
The date: their third anniversary. The words stung with the full realization of what she had done. Wonyoung had reached out. Wonyoung had waited, patiently. And Yujin—Yujin had brushed her off with a careless excuse.
Yujin felt her stomach drop. Holy shit.
The weight of the moment hit her harder than any fight, any argument they’d ever had. This wasn’t just about missing an anniversary or forgetting a date—it was about everything. Everything she had overlooked. The things Wonyoung had quietly endured. And Yujin? She hadn’t been there, had she? She hadn’t been present.
She had spent their anniversary with her friends, completely oblivious to the fact that the person she should’ve been celebrating with was waiting for her, hoping for her to show up.
Yujin buried her face in her hands, her heart aching. She dug herself a big fucking hole. She had done this to herself.
The guilt was suffocating. How could she have been so careless? How could she have been so blind to Wonyoung’s patience, to her quiet love? It felt like a punch to the gut.
Her thumb scrolled down to the messages she had sent after that. The responses she had given to Wonyoung’s gentle attempts to reach out.
yudaeng 💙
sorry, i was hanging out with my friends
How many times had she said that? Sorry. But it wasn’t enough, was it? Saying sorry wasn’t going to fix it. Saying sorry wasn’t going to bring Wonyoung back.
Yujin closed her eyes, taking in a shaky breath. She had done this to herself. She had allowed this to happen. And now, the realization of her mistakes was so clear it hurt.
She let out a long breath, feeling her chest tighten. She needed to do something. But what could she do? She had lost Wonyoung, and she didn’t know how to get her back.
She had already said so many meaningless things, words that didn’t hold the weight of what she truly felt now.
The thought of losing Wonyoung for good squeezed her heart. She couldn’t let it end like this.
Yujin’s gaze drifted to the calendar on her phone. The third anniversary—the day she had ruined. Her stomach churned. She couldn’t believe she had been so careless, so distracted. And now Wonyoung wasn’t there, and no apology could change the hurt she had caused.
But she couldn’t just sit back and let Wonyoung walk away. She couldn’t. Not when she realized how deeply she had taken her for granted.
A part of her wanted to send a message, flood her phone with apologies, call her, beg her to listen. But she knew that wouldn’t work. Not anymore. Not after everything.
She stood up, trying to gather her thoughts, trying to figure out what to do. What if Wonyoung didn’t want to hear from her? What if this was the end?
Yujin knew she couldn’t let it end like this. She had to make it right. She had to try.
She grabbed her keys, her coat, and without another thought, she left her apartment. She didn’t know where Wonyoung was or what she was doing, but she couldn’t wait anymore. The time for waiting and hoping was over.
Yujin’s footsteps echoed in the hallway as she made her way down the stairs, her heart pounding. She needed to talk to Wonyoung. Face to face.
There was no more running away from this. No more excuses.
Yujin had hurt her, but she loved her—more than she had ever realized. And this time, she was going to prove it.