Chapter 5
Chapter 5
My Ex-Boyfriend Changes His Profile Picture
After class ended, Yerin and I headed to a nearby pasta restaurant.
Jingle~
The inside of the restaurant was decorated in an Italian style.
The atmosphere practically screamed elegance.
Sitting down on the antique sofa, I handed the menu to Yerin.
“Pick whatever you want. I’ll treat you as thanks for letting me stay over.”
“Huh? You really don’t have to.”
“I want to. So don’t hold back.”
“Hehe… okay.”
Smiling shyly, Yerin carefully scanned the menu with serious eyes.
Then she spoke brightly.
“Then I’ll have the sausage oil pasta.”
“That’s all you’re ordering?”
“Yeah.”
There was no way.
I couldn’t help giving her a suspicious look as she nodded innocently.
After all, she was actually a huge eater.
No one knew how that much food fit into her slim body, but Yerin was the kind of girl who casually cooked five packs of ramen as a snack.
“That won’t even fill you up.”
“Ugh…”
Just as expected.
Yerin awkwardly shifted her eyes away from my gaze.
Why was she suddenly so self-conscious about eating?
Confused, I pointed back at the menu.
“You can order more. I stuffed my wallet full specifically to treat you.”
“…Then I’ll order just a little more.”
She added gorgonzola pizza and chicken doria as side dishes alongside the sausage oil pasta.
After Yerin insisted that was enough, I ordered spicy cream pasta for myself.
And then…
After ordering, I watched Yerin nervously stare at the menu.
“What’s up with her?”
From her reaction, it looked like she still wanted to order more, yet she kept insisting she was fine.
“Did she start dieting or something?”
For her to suddenly cut back on food like this… had something happened while we weren’t spending time together?
Pour—
In the end, unable to ignore it, I poured water into Yerin’s cup and asked,
“Did something happen? You’re eating less than usual, so it’s making me worried for no reason.”
Yerin trembled slightly and answered with a gloomy expression.
“I realized recently… girls who eat a lot don’t look good from a guy’s perspective, right? So from now on, I’m trying to eat less.”
Did she meet a guy she liked while we were apart?
Seeing someone who treated eating as one of life’s greatest joys acting like this was honestly depressing.
“You think that too, right? A girl who eats a lot is totally unattractive to guys.”
“I don’t think that at all. Isn’t it actually a good thing if someone eats well?”
My answer must’ve surprised her, because Yerin’s eyes widened dramatically.
“Why?”
“Watching someone enjoy food makes the people around them feel good too.”
“You really mean that…?”
“Yeah.”
Yerin muttered to herself quietly.
“Really? So that’s how it is…”
I spoke to her gently.
“At least when you’re around me, just eat however much you want. If you keep worrying about what I think, it’ll only make me uncomfortable instead.”
At that, Yerin immediately broke into a bright smile and nodded repeatedly.
“Then I’ll order just a little more.”
“Go ahead.”
After getting my permission, Yerin added five more plates of pasta.
Even when the waiter warned her it might be too much, she confidently nodded.
“…Maybe I shouldn’t have said anything.”
For a moment, I became worried about my wallet.
But seeing Yerin smiling so brightly made all those worries disappear.
If she was happy, then that was enough.
“Hmm~”
She was even humming now, clearly in a much better mood.
Just as I was about to change the subject—
Kka-tok!
A message arrived.
—
Sohee: Sihyeon, where are you right now?
Sohee: I’m about to eat with Chaeyeon. Wanna join us? I’ll pay!
—
“She’s doing this again…”
As I let out a deep sigh, Yerin leaned closer and asked,
“Who’s it from?”
“Sohee. She asked if I want to eat with them.”
Yerin’s brows furrowed sharply.
“What? Back in class too… Chaeyeon didn’t even ask to get back together, so why is Sohee making such a fuss on her own?”
Unlike Yerin, who clearly didn’t understand, I could more or less figure out how Sohee felt.
Guilt.
After all, she was the one who dragged Chaeyeon to the blind date. She was probably blaming herself for the breakup.
“Ha…”
The whole situation was getting more tangled by the second, making my head hurt.
Just as I was about to send a rough reply, our food arrived.
There was so much of it that they had to pull another table over to fit everything.
“Looks delicious.”
Yerin, who’d been angry just moments ago, immediately brightened up when the food arrived.
After swallowing hard, she took pictures with her phone before grabbing her fork.
“Thanks for the meal.”
“Sure.”
Yerin twirled the pasta around her fork and stuffed the entire bundle into her mouth.
Not long after, she started bouncing her feet excitedly while exclaiming,
“This place is good. I’m saving it so we can come back and try the other menu items too.”
“Glad you like it. We’ve got plenty of time before the next class, so eat slowly.”
“Okay!”
Slurp—
Even though I told her to slow down, her eating speed never changed.
Watching Yerin eat was something I’d seen since childhood.
No matter when I looked, she still ate with the same joyful enthusiasm.
And she still occasionally got food around her mouth too.
“You’ve got sauce here.”
“Where?”
I handed her a tissue and pointed out the spot.
But her hand kept missing it.
“Seriously… just hold still.”
In the end, like always, I was the one wiping it off for her.
After I cleaned the sauce away, Yerin smiled softly.
“Thanks.”
I nodded and resumed eating my own food.
Maybe because I started later, but by the time I was halfway done, Yerin had already finished everything and was staring at her phone.
About five minutes later, she suddenly shouted dramatically while looking at the screen.
“Hey! You broke up, but you still haven’t changed your profile picture?”
“Ah.”
Maybe because everything after the breakup had been so chaotic, I’d forgotten the most important thing.
“Seriously… if you leave it like this, it’s like you never even broke up.”
“I’ll change it now.”
I took out my phone and opened my profile settings.
The profile picture showed Chaeyeon and me embracing in front of a sunset.
“…Things were really nice back then.”
Just as I unknowingly got lost in nostalgia—
“Excuse me? What are you doing right now? Hurry up and delete it.”
Yerin’s sharp voice snapped me back to reality.
“I heard you already. Stop rushing me.”
“How can I not rush you? Honestly, if you break up and still leave your couple picture as your profile, how ridiculous do you think Chaeyeon’s gonna think you are?”
Every single thing Yerin said was right.
Breaking up yet still leaving a hugging photo as my profile picture?
It was pathetic.
Pointing her fork at me, Yerin ordered,
“Delete the profile picture and just leave a period as your status message.”
“Okay.”
After I did exactly as she said, Yerin frowned while staring at her own phone.
“Without a profile picture, it feels kinda empty… isn’t there anything else you can use?”
“I’ll look.”
After searching through my gallery, I realized it was completely filled with pictures of Chaeyeon.
Other than that, there were only photos of stray cats or dumb memes my friends sent me.
None of it felt appropriate for someone who’d just broken up.
“Do people who break up even use profile pictures?”
“Most people either leave it blank or use solo pictures.”
“Hm…”
Since I didn’t have anything worth uploading, I decided to leave it empty.
Meanwhile, Yerin, who’d been staring intently at her phone, suddenly muttered,
“Sihyeon, while we’re at it, why don’t we…”
Then she stopped mid-sentence, shook her head, and drank cold water instead.
—
Me: Sihyeon, where are you right now?
Me: I’m about to eat with Chaeyeon. Wanna join us? I’ll pay!
—
“What do I do… Sihyeon must be really angry…”
Normally, the second I mentioned eating with Chaeyeon, he’d come running no matter what he was doing.
But now, he wasn’t even replying.
“Haaah…”
Seriously, what should I do?
Because of my selfishness, those two ended up breaking up!
I hated my past self for dragging Chaeyeon into that blind date.
“Chaeyeon, I’m really sorry… No matter what, I’ll definitely get you two back together.”
When I grabbed her hand and said that, Chaeyeon simply looked out the window and replied,
“…Forget it. If I leave him alone, he’ll come apologize on his own anyway.”
“But… Sihyeon seems seriously angry this time. What if you two actually break up for real…”
“That won’t happen, so stop worrying so much.”
Chaeyeon’s confidence was reassuring, yet unsettling.
Sure, every time they fought before, Sihyeon was always the one who apologized first.
But this time felt different.
After all, this was the first time Sihyeon had accepted the breakup.
“No. I can’t leave things like this.”
Maybe Sihyeon would reach out to reconcile like always.
But what if he didn’t?
Even for that possibility, I had to hurry and get them back together somehow.
Just as I thought that while drinking my sports drink—
Bzzz—
Both Chaeyeon’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 then—
—
[Kim Sihyeon’s profile picture has been changed.]
[Kim Sihyeon’s status message has been changed.]
—
Sihyeon’s now-empty profile picture.
And the single period left as his status message.
“Hic—”
Maybe I was too shocked, because hiccups suddenly started coming out.
“His profile picture used to be him hugging Chaeyeon…”
He used to brag about how nicely that picture turned out every single day.
And now he changed it?
This really was the biggest crisis yet.
“Ch-Chaeyeon…”
The guilt weighed so heavily on me that I could barely raise my head.
But after forcing myself, I finally looked at Chaeyeon’s face.
Her eyes were wide open, lips slightly parted.
She looked genuinely shocked at first.
But slowly, the corners of her lips curled upward mockingly.
“Hah.”
With a scoff, Chaeyeon tossed her phone onto the table.
Thunk.
The heavy sound alone made my body shrink instinctively.
“Sihyeon… please forgive me…!”
After enduring a lunch break that felt like sitting on needles, I spent every free moment searching for Sihyeon.
“He should be done with class by now.”
If I wanted to reconcile them, now—before too much time passed after the fight—was the best chance.
As I hurried over, I spotted Sihyeon walking toward the department room.
“Sihyeon!”