Chapter 5

Going to this restaurant was Yuna's idea, she texted the group on thursday saying Juno needed food and company and that she was making a reservation at Oleander for saturday and nobody was cancelling. Tae replied with three thumbs up emojis and that was that.

It was actually a good afternoon.

The food was good, the table was by the window and for the first time since tuesday Juno felt like himself again. He laughed at something Tae said about his coworker, he ordered for a second glass of water and let the week feel smaller than it had been.

Then he looked up and saw him.

He was sitting at a table in the corner, in a clean sleek suit, two other men sat across him with documents spread on the table between them. He looked exactly the way he looked that night at the bar, composed like the noise in the room had nothing to do with him. His hand was wrapped around a glass of water and he was looking at whatever the man across him was saying with an expression that gave absolutely nothing away.

Juno looked back at his food.

"So I told him," Tae was saying, "i said if you schedule another 7am meeting, i will actually quit and I meant it and he knows I meant it because…" he stopped, "Juno."

"I'm listening."

"You're not."

"7am meeting," Juno said, "you threatened to quit."

Tae pointed at him, "see..that's the surface level listening, your eyes went somewhere."

Yuna looked at him over her glass, she didn't say anything yet but she had that look, the one that meant she was noticing things .

"I'm fine," Juno said, "keep going."

Tae kept talking, Juno kept listening properly this time and the conversation moved on. The food was served and things were fine, he didn't look across the restaurant again. He was very intent about not looking across the restaurant again.

"Okay," Yuna said, setting her fork down. "We need to talk about the message you dropped in our group chat."

Juno picked up his wine.

"You sent that message," she said, "about Nate cheating on you and then nothing. Your phone was off for the whole night and most of the next morning."

"I told you I needed some time."

"You needed some time," Tae repeated slowly. "After finding out your boyfriend of nine months was cheating on you, you needed some time alone?"

"Yes."

Yuna and Tae looked at each other.

"Juno," Yuna said, "where did you go that night."

"I went out."

"Out where?"

"Just out. I got a drink, I cleared my head and I came home."

"You came home the next morning," Tae said, "that's not clearing your head, that's an entire activity."

Juno said nothing and took a sip of his wine then looked at the table as he could feel both of them looking at him the way they always looked at him when they knew he was holding something back and were deciding how hard to push.

His face felt warm.

Yuna noticed, she always noticed.

"Something happened," she said, not a question.

"I'm fine Yuna."

"I didn't ask if you were fine, I said something happened." She tilted her head slightly, "you don't have to tell us everything but something happened that night and whatever it was, it's showing on your face right now."

Juno looked at her, then at Tae who was watching him with his chin in his hand looking genuinely invested.

"I met someone," Juno said.

The table became quiet for few seconds.

"At the bar," he added quickly, "it was one night, it didn't mean anything. I just needed the distraction and it happened."

"One night," Tae said.

"One night."

"And?"

"And nothing. That's it, just one night."

Yuna picked up her glass and looked at him over the tip in a way that made it very clear she didn't believe the 'and nothing' part at all but was choosing not to say so right now. Tae looked like he had about fourteen follow up questions but was physically restraining himself.

"Okay," Yuna said simply.

"Okay," Juno said.

The conversation moved on, Tae started talking about something else and the lunch continued. Juno laughed at the right moments and contributed at the right time, he was completely present.

Except for the one moment he quietly looked at that corner and saw that the two men at that table had gathered their documents and were shaking hands, the meeting was probably wrapping up.

He looked back at Yuna, she was already looking at him.

He smiled, she raised an eyebrow, he shook his head slightly and she let it go and turned back to Tae.

Ten minutes later, Juno excused himself from the table.

He walked toward the back of the restaurant where the restrooms were and kept his pace very easy and normal. He didn't look at the corner table as he passed it even though he was very aware of who sat there.

He pushed the restroom door open and went to the sink. He ran cold water over his hands and looked at himself in the mirror then thought about absolutely nothing for a moment.

The door opened behind him.

He didn't need to look up to know but he looked up anyway.

The man from the bar was standing just inside the bathroom letting the door close behind him. Same face, same jaw, same composure except that his eyes were doing that thing they did at the bar, taking Juno in with an openess that was very hard to look away from.

They looked at each other in the mirror for a moment.

Juno turned around and leaned back against the sink and smiled.

"I didn't think I'd run into you again," he said.

The man said nothing.

"Small city," Juno said.

"It's not a small city," the man said.

"No," Juno agreed, "it's really not." He looked at him for a moment, that same easy aura he had at the bar, completely unshaken. "You're still not smiling."

"I don't smile."

"You should, I already told you what it would do for that face." Juno bent his head slightly, "and yet here you are, sitting at a restaurant looking all serious and expensive, making it very difficult for people to focus on their lunch."

The man looked at him, "you noticed me?"

"It's hard not to," Juno said it simply, "you noticed me too."

The man's jaw tightened slightly.

"Your friends," he said, "they were probably asking you questions."

"They were."

"About that night?"

"Among other things," Juno crossed his arms loosely. "Don't worry, I didn't have much to tell them, I don't even know your name."

Juno's expression changed briefly then it was gone quickly.

The restroom was quiet, Juno stood against the sink looking at this man who occupied the doorway and apparently, a significant amount of space in Juno's head for the past week without even trying. He felt his chest feel warm in a way that he wasn't going to think about right now.

"It's really good to see you," Juno said quietly, "I never thought I would see you again."