she knew she was running late, and the anxiety that was eating away at her stomach only made the situation worse. okay, so maybe she shouldn’t have left her dorm later than usual; and maybe, she shouldn’t have been trying to limit her time with levi, of all people, in the first place. but things have been weird between them lately and its grown to the point where no matter how hard either of them try to fix it, it only made things worse. especially when almost every conversation between them always ends up with them arguing over one person in particular: her ex-boyfriend, hyunwoo.
levi never showed interest in whoever callie was seeing before. sure, he made his remarks – but they were always offhanded jokes about how callie could do better or how they better treat her right. he has never shown disdain towards any of her relationships outside of theirs until hyunwoo was mentioned. that was when the under-handed comments began.
‘do you have to dress up for him in front of me?’
’you know he’s just going to hurt you in the end.’
’why does it have to be you? he has other people he can see.’
and honestly? she knew he was right. but it didn’t help the agitation that was seeping into their already tense relationship. callie thought some distance would help improve things; but obviously, she had never been so wrong.
she was ten minutes late when she finally reached the store front, slightly out of breath with her face flushed. she had been running to try and make it on time for their monthly get together, a tradition they kept since the first day they met. she was already feeling apologetic that she was late. after all, callie was never late when it came to levi. however, after seeing him sitting alone in their usual booth waiting on her, it was more than enough for the guilt already inside her to multiply tenfold.
taking a deep breath, she approaches the other carefully, her hands clenching onto the strap of her bag. she offered levi a small, rueful smile hoping that he wasn’t too upset. maybe if she can crack some sort of joke, the tension would ease a little. however, before she could even get a single word in, levi had already beat her to the punch.
if words could knock the wind out of a person, callie should have been ko’d right then and there. and in a sense, she was. her expression changed and if she looks anything like how she felt, she knew she had to leave. immediately.
she couldn’t do this anymore.
she couldn’t talk to levi knowing he’s going to be like this the entire time.
she couldn’t fight with him again, especially when it was supposed to be their day.
so without a word, she turned and walked right back out from the bakery with every intention of leaving levi behind. she could feel her face burning, but whether it was from the anger or the unfairness from the situation that was bubbling inside of her, she couldn’t exactly tell. all she knew was that if she had stayed, she would have probably said something she would end up regretting.
and she would never forgive herself if she did.
the realization he shouldn’t have opened his damn mouth had been there before he’d even said anything — but it didn’t truly hit levi until he saw the abrupt change of her demeanor right in front of him. his throat immediately goes dry, closing up on him. his lips are parted as if to say something, but nothing’s coming out and he’s just staring at her. before he can even think of an apology of some kind, she’s turned on her heels and fled the bakery even quicker than she’d arrived, and that’s when the panic starts to rise up.
had he ruined it— had he just ruined them? all because of his own pettiness?
shit. shit. shit. “callie— callie, wait.” but she’s already left and he’s so fucking stupid. “i’m sorry!” he abandons the booth and leaves his drink behind, hurries after her. “could you just— shit, sorry— callie?” he’d straight up knocked someone onto the ground when they tried to come into the shop just as he ran out, giving them a quick apology but not bothering to help them up because he’s too frantic. too bothered by the fact his best friend, his— his callie won’t even look back at him or give him any kind of response.
he shouldn’t have said that. he’d already been aware of this and yet. part of him had wanted to be an asshole, for his words to hit her like a slap to the face, to make her feel as confused and irritated like he’d been the past few days. weeks. he doesn’t even know when this started anymore. but he’d never seen that expression on her face before and that’s what throws him off most. not knowing how to place what she’s feeling. it scares him because he doesn’t know that means.
and that, in turn, angers him. he’s so confused it pisses him off, because this isn’t them. he doesn’t snark at her like this, she doesn’t ignore him. it’s not about hyunwoo. or— or maybe it is, but not about him specifically. it could’ve been anyone, if they’d threatened levi’s presence in callie’s life enough. because that’s what this boils down to, doesn’t it? she’s so close to someone who’s not him, as if she’s trying to replace him.
‘i do want you, so be with me.’ isn’t that what she’d told him, back in that classroom? she’s not supposed to want anyone else—
his head’s reeling. he raises his voice.
“lee kahee!” the streets are mostly abandoned, but they could’ve been crowded and levi still wouldn’t have cared about anyone else around them at this point. “stop. talk to me.”
