The group then continued their trip back to the warehouse. Sophie kept asking Talon trivial questions about random topics while Talon answered briefly before going completely silent. He didn't seem that enthusiastic about talking to Sophie even though the two of them hadn't met in ages.
Hyun-Jae easily noticed that and could only wonder why. She knew that Talon was very talkative, especially to people he was familiar with. Granted, this was his ex-girlfriend, but, even then, the two of them were childhood friends so he should at least be excited to catch up with her after all these years.
'Now that I think about it, how did these two break up?' Hyun-Jae asked herself. 'He never really talked about her before. Did she do something?'
However, Hyun-Jae immediately threw that idea away. From what she could see, Sophie was very fond of Talon and it was all over her face. That was why Hyun-Jae was frustrated in the first place.
'Is she trying to get him back?' She thought to herself as she pursed her lips secretly. Just that question made her heart ache greatly. Seeing Talon get taken again was the last thing she wanted. It didn't matter to her what this feeling was, she just didn't want to experience it.
'I cannot let that happen. I won't allow it.'
With that determination, Hyun-Jae's eyes focused on the path again, only to realize that they were already back at the warehouse.
"Oh! This place is huge!" Sophie exclaimed as she looked around her. "It's like an entire city inside one warehouse."
"We're going to spread across the area soon since the number of people increased. But thank you." Talon replied as he walked next to her.
"Oh! Yeah, I didn't expect the number of people to be in the hundreds."
Walking around the place, Talon showed Sophie all the sections of the warehouse they had. He kept some information hidden just in case and told her all the things that were general knowledge.
At the same time, he made sure to introduce her around to the other students. It didn't take Sophie long to get many people to open up to her. Her friendly aura, stunning looks, and approachable attitude made her an instant good person in their eyes. Especially when Talon was the one who brought her there.
Standing on the side as a huge group of students tried to talk to her, Talon shook his head. Hyun-Jae approached him silently.
"Is she always like that?" She asked.
"Hm? Yeah, she was always good at making new friends. That was basically our everyday life back in high school... A never-ending quest to try and find time to be together." He shrugged.
"Is that so...?" Hyun-Jae murmured quietly. "Why do you seem under the weather?"
Talon raised an eyebrow as he turned around. "Why do you think that? I'm normal."
"I don't need to think of it, I can feel it. You're not acting as usual." She replied.
"..."
Talon was completely speechless by Hyun-Jae's gaze. She seemed like she could easily see through his eyes. He realized that she wasn't simply asking out of curiosity but mainly out of worry.
'Her senses are so sharp... Or maybe I'm just too obvious for her.' Sighing in his head, he gave up resisting.
"It's nothing to worry about. I just remembered something unpleasant."
"Oh... Does it have to do with that girl?" Hyun-Jae asked.
Talon didn't turn around and simply replied. "It's nice to do it every now and then. Helps to clear my mind."
"Do you mind if I join you?"
"Go ahead," Talon replied.
With that, Sophie stepped forward till she stood next to him. Her eyes stared into the distance just like he did.
"You have built such a nice place. Everyone here seems really happy."
"I didn't do much. I had great people around me that did most of the work." He replied.
"Hehe, I doubt that's what they think. From what I have seen, everyone respects you and looks up to you. You've really become a good leader."
"..."
"I knew you had the knack for it but I never thought a day would come when I would see you in such a position. I'm really glad I did though."
"Sophie..." Talon spoke her name with a complicated tone but quickly stopped when he realized that this entire time, Sophie had been looking at him.
"Hm? Were you about to ask something? Why did you stop? Ask way." She spoke with a mysterious tone. "Or, were you expecting me to ask you a question?"
"... I..." Talon was completely speechless.
"A question like 'Why did you break up with me that day?'? But, wouldn't that be too sad of a question to ask? It would certainly sour our awaited reunion."
"Sophie, hear me out for a second..."
"Are you finally going to explain to me why? Or are you going to avoid it like you did that time? Ignoring my calls, messages, and every single other way I tried to contact you even after I had to leave South Korea?"
As she spoke, Sophie's voice started wavering as all of her emotions that were hidden for so long came out in one fell swipe. Her heart raced as she stared at Talon, her eyes were filled with confusion, frustration, and sadness.
"Come on, I'm listening... Please, just give me an excuse I can use. Anything that would make me feel a little bit better about the past 5 years. Anything, speak to me, Talon, please."
"I know better, ok!" At that moment, Talon exclaimed as he stared up with a dark look on his face. "I had known better."
Sophie was completely stunned by his reply. "You... Knew better?"
"I had no other choice. If I tried to selfishly keep you, it would've ruined your life and ruined mine along with it. I couldn't bring myself to do it and then face the consequences just because I hated the idea of seeing you leave like that."
"..."
"You can call me selfish, dumb, or anything else. But, if I was brought back to that moment, I would've done the same thing because there was no other way to preserve your life and mine to begin with!"
A//N: Don't forget to support the book if you enjoyed reading ????