Here’s a scene capturing that tension and emotional push-pull:

---

Ji-hye leaned against the wall of the café, scrolling through her phone but barely seeing the screen. Her minion’s words from earlier replayed in her head: “Oh yeah. Baek-jin wanted me to tell you this: I miss you.” She’d rolled her eyes, muttering under her breath, “Figures.”

Her phone rang. She glanced at the screen. Baek-jin.

She ignored it.

“Seriously?” he muttered into the phone from the other end, disbelief thick in his voice. “She actually hung up on me?”

She shook her head, biting her lip. She didn’t have time for this. Not now. Not when she had control. Not when her heart still hurt.

By the time she got home, she couldn’t hold back. She dialed his number, her fingers trembling slightly.

“Baek-jin,” she said when he answered. “If you really miss me… then say it to my face.”

There was silence on the line, then a low, determined tone. “Fine. I will.”

The rain pelted against the windshield as his car skidded down the streets toward her house. Headlights cutting through the dark, he gripped the wheel, heart hammering—not just from the drive, but from the vulnerability he had almost never allowed himself.

He parked outside her house. The rain dripped down the car roof, but he didn’t care. Tonight, he was going to say it. Face to face.

He walked up the steps trying to stay composed but his heart wouldn't cooperate. His knock was frantic, the door opened so abrupt. "Who the hell is the-? Oh."

"I miss you," is all he said. His words were frantic and fast.