It was already night, and my part-time shift here at BlackCoffee Cafe was almost over. We didn’t have any customers left, and I started to cleaning up because Jinhee told me the store had to be cleaned before we go.

While I was mopping the floor, Jinhee called out to me. “Jia! Come here for a moment,” She was at the counter right now fixing something there that I didn’t even know what it was.

I immediately stopped mopping the floor and approached her. “What is it?” I asked the moment I was in front of her. I smiled at her, even with my eyes.

“Can you take out the trash outside?”

I nodded right away at what she said and went to the trash bin to prepare it, but before I could walk a few meters away from her, I asked, “Oh, by the way, where do I throw this trash, Jinhee?!”

Jinhee instantly looked at me and stopped whatever she was doing at the counter. “It’s just nearby, beside KOSMOS Studio. There’s a trash disposal area there.” She smiled at me and quickly turned her attention back to the counter.

“Okay!” I said shortly.

I went straight to the trash to gather and fix it. As I was about to head out to throw it away, Jinhee called me again.

“Jia!”

I was holding the glass door handle when I looked back and raised my eyebrows at her. “Yeah?” I smiled.

“Can you take a little longer when throwing it away?” She smiled at me with a meaning I couldn’t quite grasp before returning her eyes to the counter.

“O-okay…” I replied awkwardly. But why? Why do I need to do that? I was a bit confused by what Jinhee said. Like I said earlier, it really felt like she was hiding something from me.

I just scratched my head while dragging the trash bin outside, but my attention shifted when I passed by KOSMOS. I stopped dragging the bin and stared at the huge building.

Is he in there?

Jinhee’s POV

I was at the cafe counter fixing the monitor where we manage orders on the computer—I was working on an Excel sheet to see what we earned today. And since I was busy doing that, I couldn’t take out the trash, so I called Jia to do it instead.

While teachnically that was really just a way to get Jia out of the store, because just earlier, Manager Han texted me saying we had to talk over a call. I didn’t know why, but the manager explained to me that Jia couldn’t be present because we would be conducting an evaluation.

Anyway, I stopped my work on the counter. When I was sure Jia was already far from the store, I instantly called Manager Han to inform him that we could proceed to evaluate Jia.

“Hello, Manager Han?!” I said right away when my call was accepted.

“Oh hello! How’s that part-timer you brought into the cafe?” he asked casually.

I quickly answered his question. “I already sent her out to throw the trash so she’s not in the store.”

“Ah, that’s good. Good thing you thought of a way to keep her from hearing our conversation.” He said. “Anyway, we’ll conduct this evaluation because the boss wants to make Jia a regular employee at the cafe.”

“Huh?! That’s so fast.” I was shocked, because even I had to work here for three months before becoming a regular worker, and Jia only worked one day.

“We had the same reaction, Jinhee. Even I was shocked.” He said, laughing on the other line.

Jia’s POV

“I wonder how he’s doing? Well… I guess he has a good life already.” I said while staring at the whole building, and up top was a billboard of their faces.

“It still hurts, Hae-joon! I hoped too much…” I murmured those words—words that felt like a sharp knife stabbing me in the back. I tried to hold back my tears but I couldn’t—I couldn’t because I was too weak for this.
I took my eyes off the KOSMOS building, but the tears falling from my eyes were like a downpour of rain in a sorrowful past.

I placed my hands back on the trash bin I was supposed to throw out a while ago, but my attention had been pulled toward KOSMOS. I smiled with pain on my lips and continued walking.

It didn’t take me less than a minute to reach the designated garbage area. Jinhee was right—it was really close to KOSMOS. I didn’t waste any time. I opened the trash bin and started throwing everything in.

While I was tossing the garbage, I noticed a small poster.

It was a solo poster of Hae-joon with the quote on top: “I’m always here for you.” I sneered at the quote because of how bullshit it was. 

“A liar will always be a liar.”

I came close and squatted to reach the poster and held it in my hand.

“The wound you caused in my heart, Hae-joon, I think it will never heal again.” I mumbled while holding his poster.

I laughed at myself because it had been so long since that night, yet no matter what I did, I felt like I was haunted by that moment every single day.

Seconds later, after being sad, I threw the poster into the trash again—because that’s where it belongs.
When I tossed it, I was about to stand up from my crouch when a shadow appeared behind me.

I thought it was just someone else throwing trash, but that assumption vanished the moment I heard the voice.

I was stopped in place, my body frozen like a glacier while squatting, facing the trash. That voice—that voice I hadn’t heard in ten years.

“Hi Jia, it’s been 10 years…”