〈Chapter 5〉

 

My Ex-Boyfriend Changes His Profile Picture

* * *

After the lecture ended, Yerin and I headed to a nearby pasta place.

Ding~

The interior of the restaurant was decked out in an Italian style. It wasa space that practically screamed elegance.

Seated on an antique sofa, I handed Yerin the menu.

“Pick whatever. I’m paying as thanks for letting me stay over.”

“Huh? You really don’t have to.”

“I’m doing this because I’m grateful, so don’t hold back.”

“Hehe… okay.”

With a shy smile, Yerin scanned the menu with an intense look in her eyes. Then, she spoke up in a bright voice.

“I’ll have the Sausage Oil Pasta, then.”

“That’s it? Just that one thing?”

“Yeah.”

There’s no way…

I couldn’t help but look at Yerin with a suspicious eye as she nodded.

And for good reason—she was actually a massive glutton.

I don’t know how it all fits into that slender, dainty body of hers, but Yerin is the kind of girl who used to boil five packets of ramen at a time just for a “snack.”

“That’s not going to be enough to fill you up.”

“Urgh…”

As expected,Yerin’s eyes darted around as she avoided my gaze.

I couldn’t figure out why she was suddenly self-conscious about her eating habits.

Feeling puzzled, I pointed at the menu again.

“You can order more. I stuffed my wallet full specifically so I could treat you.”

“…Fine, I’ll order just a little bit more then.”

The Sausage Oil Pasta was joined by a side of Gorgonzola pizza and a Chicken Doria.

Since Yerin insisted that was enough, I ordered a Spicy Cream Pasta for my own meal.

And then…

After the order was placed, I watched Yerin as she fidgeted restlessly while staring at the menu.

‘What’s gotten into her?’

Judging by her reaction, it looked like she wanted to order more, yet she kept waving it off, saying it was plenty.

‘Did she start a diet or something?’

To suddenly cut back on her portions like this… I wondered if something had happened during the time we weren’t hanging out.

Glug-glug.

In the end, since it was bothering me, I asked her as I poured water into her cup.

“Is something up? You’re eating less than usual, and it’s actually making me worried.”

Yerin’s body gave a slight tremor, then answered with a gloomy look.

“I realized something lately… a woman who eats a lot doesn’t exactly look great from a guy’s perspective, right? So, from now on, I’m going to try and cut back on how much I eat.”

Did she find some guy she likes while we were apart?

For a girl who used to act like eating was the greatest joy in life to be like this—it was nothing short of pitiful.

“You think so too, right? A woman who eats a lot is a total turn-off from a guy’s perspective.”

“I don’t think that at all. If anything, isn’t it better when someone eats well?”

Maybe my answer surprised her, because Yerin’s eyes widened.

“How come?”

“Seeing someone eat with such gusto—it makes the person watching feel good, too.”

 

“Do you really mean that…?”

“Yeah.”

“Really? Is that so…” Yerin muttered, as if trying to convince herself.

I added a few more words in a gentle tone.

“At least when you’re with me, eat as much as you want. If you start walking on eggshells for no reason, it’ll actually make me feel uncomfortable.”

Yerin beamed at me while nodding her head over and over.

“Then… I’ll order just a little bit more.”

“Go ahead.”

Having received the green light, Yerin proceeded to order five more bowls of pasta.

Despite the waiter’s concern that it would be too much, she simply nodded with a relaxed, composed expression.

‘…Maybe I shouldn’t have said anything?’

My wallet’s safety suddenly felt a bit precarious, but seeing Yerin’s beaming face made all those worries vanish instantly.

I guess all’s well that ends well.

“Hehe~”

Given that she was even humming a little tune, she seemed to be in an exceptionally good mood.

I was just about to start a conversation with her on a different topic when…

Ka-tok!

A message arrived.

Sohee: Si-hyeon, where are you right now?

Sohee: Chae-yeon and I are about to grab some food. Do you want to join us? My treat!

“Not this again…”

As I let out a heavy sigh, Yerin leaned her face in close and asked.

“Who’s it from?”

“Sohee. She texted me to come eat with them.”

Yerin’s brow furrowed intensely.

“What? She was like that in class earlier too… it’s not even like Im Chae-yeon asked to get back together, so why is she the one making such a fuss?”

While Yerin grumbled about not being able to understand the situation, I felt like I somewhat understood how Sohee was feeling.

It was guilt.

Since Sohee was the one who dragged Chae-yeon to that blind date spot, she was probably beating herself up, thinking it was her fault we broke up.

“Sigh…”

My head started to ache; the whole situation felt like it had been tangled into a bizarre knot.

I was about to send a half-hearted reply when the food we ordered arrived.

The sheer volume was so massive that there wasn’t enough room—we actually had to push another table against ours just to fit everything.

“Looks so good!”

Yerin, who had been fuming just a moment ago, brightened up the second the food appeared.

Swallowing her saliva, she took a quick photo with her phone and picked up her fork.

“Thanks for the meal!”

“Sure.”

Yerin twirled the pasta around her fork, then shoved the entire bundle into her mouth in one go.

“This place is legit. I’m pinning this—I’ve gotta come back and try the other menu items.”

“Glad to hear it. We have plenty of time until the next lecture, so take it slow.”

“Okay!”

Slurp!

I told her to take it slow, but her eating speed didn’t change one bit.

This was the same Yerin I’d been watching eat since we were kids.

No matter how much time passed, she still ate with the same hearty, satisfying appetite.

And she still occasionally got food on her lips, too.

“Here, you’ve got some sauce on you.”

“Where?”

I handed her a tissue and pointed out where the sauce was.

However, her hand kept missing the spot, wiping everywhere except where the sauce actually was.

“Ugh… just bring your face over here.”

In the end, like always, the task of wiping it off fell to me.

Once I wiped the sauce away, Yerin gave me a silly, bashful grin.

“Thanks.”

I nodded and finally started on my own meal.

Maybe it was because I started late, but by the time I was halfway through, Yerin—who had already polished off her entire portion—was staring at her smartphone.

About five minutes passed like that. Then, still staring intensely at her phone, she suddenly started making a huge fuss.

“Hey! You’re supposed to be ‘broken up,’ so why the hell haven’t you changed your profile picture yet?!”

“Ah.”

Maybe because things had been so hectic since the breakup, I’d forgotten the most important thing.

“Geez… if you leave it like this, it’s like you haven’t really broken up.”

“I’ll change it right now.”

I pulled out my phone and went into the profile settings.

There it was: a profile picture of me and Chae-yeon kissing against the backdrop of a setting sun.

‘Back then… things were really good.’

Just as I was unintentionally starting to get lost in nostalgia…

“Excuse me? What do you think you’re doing? I told you to delete it, pronto!”

Yerin’s sharp voice snapped me back to reality.

“Alright, alright. Just stop rushing me.”

“Do I look like I’m in a position to not rush you? Let’s be real—how pathetic must you look to Chae-yeon, saying you’re breaking up but keeping a kissing photo as your profile pic!”

Every single one of Yerin’s points was spot on.

I’m the one who called it quits, yet I left a photo of us kissing as my profile picture?

It was a comedy—nothing short of a total joke.

Point.

Yerin pointed her fork at me, issuing commands.

“Delete the profile pic entirely, and for the status message, just put a single period.”

“Okay.”

I followed her instructions, but as she checked her own phone to see the change, she furrowed her brow.

“It looks a bit boring without a profile picture… Is there anything else you can put up?”

“I’ll check.”

I scrolled through my gallery, only to find it was plastered with photos of Chae-yeon.

The only other photos were of stray cats or some dumb meme I’d received from friends.

None of them seemed appropriate for someone who’d just broken up.

“Do people even use profile pictures right after a breakup anyway?”

“Most leave it empty or post a photo of themselves alone.”

“Hmm…”

Since I didn’t have anything to fill it with, I decided to just leave it blank.

Meanwhile, Yerin, who had been staring intently at her own phone…

“Si-hyeon, while we’re at it, why don’t you and I…”

She cut herself off mid-sentence, shook her head, and took a gulp of cold water.

* * *

Me: Si-hyeon, where are you right now?

Me: Chae-yeon and I are about to grab some food. Do you want to join us? My treat!

‘Oh no… Si-hyeon must be really mad…’

He was the kind of guy who would jump out of bed and run over just at the mention of eating with Chae-yeon, but now, far from running here, he wasn’t even replying.

“Haaa…”

What on earth should I do?

Because of my own greed, I ended up making those two break up!

I absolutely loathed my past self for dragging Chae-yeon into that situation.

“Chae-yeon, I’m so sorry… No matter what it takes, I’ll make sure you two get back together.”

As I spoke while clutching her hand, Chae-yeon replied while staring out the window.

“…Forget it. He’ll come crawling back to apologize on his own if you just leave him be, so why bother?”

“But… like Si-hyeon is really angry this time. If you guys actually end up breaking up for good…”

“That’s not going to happen, so you don’t need to worry so much.”

Chae-yeon’s supreme confidence was both reassuring and unsettling.

It was true that every time they fought, Si-hyeon was always the first to apologize… but this time something felt different.

And for good reason—this was the first time Si-hyeon had actually agreed to the idea of breaking up.

‘Yeah…. I can’t just leave things like this.’

Maybe Si-hyeon would reach out to make amends like he usually did.

But what if he didn’t?

Just in case that “what if” became a reality, I had to hurry up and get them back together.

That was what I was busy while sipping my sports drink when…

Vrrr

Both Chae-yeon’s phone and mine vibrated at the same time.

‘Did someone post an announcement in the department group chat?’

We checked our phones almost simultaneously.

And the result was…

[Kim Si-hyeon has updated his profile picture.]

[Kim Si-hyeon has updated his status message.]

We saw Si-hyeon’s completely empty profile picture and his status message, which now consisted of nothing but a single period.

“Hic…!”

Maybe it was because I was so shocked, but I suddenly started hiccuping.

‘Si-hyeon’s profile picture was supposed to be the photo from his and Chae-yeon’s first kiss…’

He used to brag about it every single day, saying he’d finally succeeded in kissing her—he actually changed that photo?

This was it. This was an all-time crisis.

“Ch-Chae-yeon…”

Crushed by guilt, I could barely lift my head.

But after mustering every last bit of courage, I finally managed to look at Chae-yeon’s face.

Her eyes were wide, and her mouth was hanging slightly open.

She looked genuinely stunned for a moment, but then her expression shifted; her lips began to curl upward as if the whole thing was laughable.

“Ha.”

With a snort, Chae-yeon tossed her phone onto the table.

Thud.

My body flinched instinctively at the heavy sound.

‘Si-hyeon, please… just forgive me!’

After a lunch break that felt like sitting on a bed of needles, I spent every free moment I had searching for Si-hyeon.

‘By now, Si-hyeon’s lectures should definitely be over.’

If I was going to get them to make up, right now—while the fight was still fresh—was the best timing.

As I hurried along, I spotted Si-hyeon just in time, heading toward the department lounge.

“Si-hyeon!”

* * *