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Mrs. Choi stared at her shelf of snow globes.  Each year since Nia’s surgery, she’d received one on the anniversary of the surgery.  Mrs. Choi wasn’t entirely sure who they were from, but each time she received one, it ate her with guilt. 

Those globes reminded her of the one Taehyung had brought her when Nia had introduced them.  And she knew that to him, the day of Nia’s surgery had been her death date.  He hadn’t known about the surgery.  He hadn’t known she was still alive.

She knew he did now.  He’d invited them over for dinner many months ago.  Nia had clearly been clueless then, but Taehyung had known what he was doing.  He’d been looking for answers.

Ever since Nia had broken up with Hobi and disappeared, Mrs. Choi felt even worse.  Nia was gone, and her six-year relationship with Hobi had been pointless.

Mrs. Choi headed to her desk to find a pen and a piece of paper.  She had something she needed to do.

——————–

Sua took a sip of her milkshake. “Ok.  So, here’s what I’m thinking.  I was searching places in Jeju to have a wedding, and I found this gorgeous resort.”

“I’m sorry to interrupt you, but why are you drinking two milkshakes?” Hyuna asked quite bluntly.

“I’m taking the ‘eating for two’ thing quite seriously.” Sua took another sip of her shake. “And there were two flavors I wanted.” Another sip. “And I didn’t eat breakfast.”

“All valid points,” Moon commented as she picked at her chicken. “Maybe I should order a shake too.”

“You know, Hyuna, I don’t think you’ve ever mentioned having a boyfriend.  Do we need to set you up on a date?” Nia asked teasingly.

“Oh, no.  I’ve sworn off dating since the Joseon dynasty.”

“Why?”

“You don’t want to know.”

“I’m curious,” Moon muttered.

There was a pause.

“Well, if you must know….

“It was my third year of college.  One of the seniors had offered to tutor me because I was a bit behind in class.  He was one of the top students, so I accepted.

“He was one of the most popular guys on campus.  I always heard other girls talking about him when I walked down the halls.”

“Was he handsome?” Sua asked.

Hyuna laughed and nodded. “He was.  Smart, too.  I’m not entirely sure he knew that, though.  He was known for his looks.  No one cared that he had good grades.

“For the few weeks he tutored me, I saw many girls ask him out on a date.  He never accepted.  I thought it was odd.  Did he not have anyone he liked?

“But then one day, I found out why.  He asked me out to dinner.  I thought it was just to celebrate the end of my tutoring, but it turned out that he wanted it to be a date.”

Hyuna paused, looking around at the three girls sitting around her.

“Well?  And then what?” Nia asked.

“Well…we ended up dating.  For the rest of the year.  At the end of the year, he graduated.  And then he told me we had to break up.  He didn’t say why.  I could tell he didn’t want to break up with me, but I guess it just kind of left me with a bad taste in my mouth.  So, I haven’t dated anyone since.”

“You haven’t seen him since?” Moon asked.

Hyuna shook her head.

“What was his name?”

“Jin.”