Seol Jihu continued to wander aimlessly on a certain street.

It wasn’t that he didn’t know what to do. He was just… hesitant. Hesitation gripped him tightly and prevented him from taking that last step.

For a while, he walked the same street over and over again. Eventually, his steps cautiously slowed to a stop as if he was standing on slippery ice. While standing still, he took a look inside a certain coffee shop through its front window.

His gaze was directed beyond the tables and chairs, to a young woman preparing coffee beyond the counter.

It was Yoo Seonhwa.

….She was truly beautiful.

Her clear eyes seemed to imply how honest she was; the light shining within those eyes was calm yet passionate; her slender hands cautiously handled the hot water; the soft and warm radiance whenever she smiled….

Was that guy confessing to her? A man receiving a mug of coffee from her hesitantly pushed his phone forward. Yoo Seonhwa's eyes opened up a little wider, but she still managed to shake her head softly enough for her neatly-tucked-in hair to gently brush her neck.

The man still tried to present her with his phone, but only after she bowed her waist did he withdraw his disappointed hand. Even though she seemed a bit troubled, never once did Yoo Seonhwa lose her charming smile.

The shop's door issued a ring, and the rejected man walked out.

Seeing that man's back trudge away, Seol Jihu felt a certain amount of unexplainable deja vu.

He took in several breaths and reached out towards the door handle, only to freeze on the spot again.

He would've reached the door if he let his hand inch forward just a little bit more. However, the distance between himself and the door to the shop suddenly felt so wide and impossible to close, and it grabbed hold of him tightly.

“….”

In the end, he withdrew his hand and placed it on his chest. That was when he felt it.

His pounding heart.

And his fear.

*

The tables would be filled with patrons right past the lunch hour. But, after four in the afternoon, the shop would usually become less crowded.

After the man who had been occupying a certain table for...