Ryu Ga-in leaned against the counter of her favorite café, stirring her iced coffee with deliberate slowness. Across from her, Han Clara sat with her arms crossed, a disapproving frown etched on her face.
"You can't keep saying stuff like that, Ga-in," Clara said, her voice low but firm. "It's reckless."
Ga-in raised an eyebrow, her lips curling into a smirk. "Saying what? That bonding is a fairy tale? That it's just a convenient excuse for alphas to act possessive and omegas to act helpless?" She shrugged, taking a long sip of her drink. "If it's real, where's my mate? I'm twenty-six, Clara. Twenty. Six. Shouldn't I have found my 'other half' by now?"
Clara sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. "Ga-in, just because you haven't found your mate yet doesn't mean it doesn't exist. You're not helping yourself by acting the way you do."
Ga-in laughed, a sharp, bitter sound that echoed through the quiet café. "Acting the way I do? Please. Flirting with alphas is harmless fun. It's not my fault they're so easy to fool."
Clara gave her a pointed look. "You're playing with fire, and you know it. One of these days, you're going to cross paths with the wrong alpha, and all your 'harmless fun' is going to blow up in your face."
Ga-in rolled her eyes. "Relax. I know what I'm doing. It's not like I'm sleeping with any of them. Hooking up? Flirting? Sure. It's just a game, Clara. And I'm very good at it."
Clara shook her head, her expression softening. "Ga-in… I know you don't mean half the things you say. You're hurt, and I get it. But this isn't the way to cope. You can't keep pushing people away and pretending you don't care."
Ga-in's smirk faltered for a split second before she masked it with a laugh. "Oh, please. Don't start psychoanalyzing me. I'm perfectly fine, thank you very much."
Clara opened her mouth to argue but stopped herself. She knew better than to push Ga-in when she was like this. Instead, she leaned back in her chair, her gaze searching.
"You don't believe in bonding," Clara said softly, "but if it happens—if you do meet your mate—what then? What will you do?"
Ga-in froze, the question catching her off guard. For a moment, she felt a flicker of something she couldn't quite name—fear, maybe, or uncertainty. But she quickly shoved it aside, letting her practiced arrogance take over.
"Then I'll deal with it," she said, her tone dismissive. "But until then, I'll keep living my life the way I want to."
Clara didn't respond, her silence heavy with unspoken concern.
Ga-in finished her coffee and stood, grabbing her bag. "Anyway, I'm off. I have plans tonight. Don't wait up." She winked, her grin as mischievous as ever.
Clara watched her go, her heart sinking. She wanted to believe Ga-in would be okay, but deep down, she couldn't shake the feeling that her friend's walls wouldn't hold forever.
And when they came crashing down, Clara feared Ga-in wouldn't know how to pick up the pieces.
---