Episode 16: Unspoken Things

The cafe was quieter than usual.

Outside, the world is blurred with rain—thin, silver threads tracing down the windowpane, casting shadows on Eunji’s sketchbook. The scent of cinnamon from her latte mingled with the soft notes of acoustic guitar drifting through the speakers. Across from her, Seojin sat with his fingers curled around his mug, steam rising and fogging the lenses of his glasses slightly.

Neither of them spoke at first.

There was no need to.

Being there, just the two of them, felt like stepping out of time. For the first time in days, Eunji felt herself breathe—really breathe. The kind that filled your lungs and settled deep into your bones.

“You ever think about how some moments feel like they already know they’ll become memories?” Seojin asked, his voice soft, his gaze fixed on the rain.

Eunji looked up from her sketchbook, surprised. “That’s… poetic.”

He gave a quiet laugh. “I guess hanging out with you is rubbing off on me.”

She tilted her head. “What do you mean by that?”

Seojin hesitated, then met her eyes. “This. Sitting here. You, with your sketches. Me, pretending I’m not terrible at reading people.” He smiled faintly. “I feel like I’ll remember this day for a long time.”

There was a pause.

Eunji wasn’t sure what she was supposed to say. She felt it too—that strange heaviness beneath the calm. Like the present was already echoing into the past.

So instead, she said nothing.

She turned her sketchbook slowly toward him. The drawing she’d been working on showed a cafe table by a rainy window. One cup. One empty seat. Her pencil strokes were light but thoughtful.

“It’s not done yet,” she said.

Seojin studied the image. “It’s quiet. Kind of lonely.”

“Yeah,” Eunji murmured. “But I think that’s what makes it honest.”

He looked at her for a moment, and in that look, something shifted. It wasn’t quite longing. Not quite sadness. Maybe just understanding.

“You think people can change?” he asked after a while.

Eunji blinked. “What do you mean?”

“I don’t know,” he said, eyes drifting back to the drawing. “I think about who I was before I met you. Before this semester. And I wonder if I’ve become someone different, or if I’ve just started noticing things I never did before.”

She thought about it. “Maybe change isn’t something we notice while it’s happening. Maybe it’s like... drawing. One line at a time. It doesn’t look like much until you step back.”

Seojin smiled at that. “That sounds like something you’d put on a poster in the art building.”

Eunji laughed softly. “You’re not wrong.”

They stayed there until the rain slowed to a drizzle. The world outside looked washed clean—buildings glistening, puddles reflecting the soft glow of street lamps. Eunji packed away her sketchbook, and Seojin stood to hold the door for her.

As they stepped into the damp evening air, she hesitated.

“Thank you,” she said.

“For what?”

“For... showing up,” she said. “Not just today. But in general. You’ve been a constant when everything else feels like it’s moving too fast.”

He didn’t answer right away. Instead, he reached out and gently tucked a damp strand of hair behind her ear. The gesture was so unexpected, so intimate, that Eunji forgot how to breathe for a second.

“I’m glad I met you,” he said.

And then, without another word, they started walking—no umbrella, no rush, just the soft pattern of rain around them.

Unspoken things hung in the air between them.

But maybe, for now, silence was enough.

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