It’s an early Friday morning, the fifth day of Sunny’s stay in Japan.  Immediately after taking a bath, she prepared toasts for him and Sungmin.  She was sipping her coffee when Kerry barked beside her—wagging her tail and tongue poking out.

“You must be hungry, right?”  She touched the dog’s head.  “But I do not know where your food is.”

Kerry isn’t an ordinary breed of canine.  Sungmin might have stored her snack somewhere in this big house.  And looking for it would take her hours.  Yet all of a sudden, Kerry woofed and was like telling her that she knows where it is. 

Smart dog.

Half-confused she was; a light feeling spread on her chest.  It was amusement or gratefulness perhaps because Sungmin’s pet trusted her.

She opened the only closet and found the dog’s food.  Pouring some of it on a bowl, she watched her eat happily until she decided to give her milk also.

This is the scene which welcomed Sungmin.  Sunny was Kerry’s back with a smile on her face.  Not wanting to disturb them, he returned to his room quietly to get his Polaroid camera.

When he came back, he snapped some photos of them.  The sound of film rolling out of the camera made Sunny turn to his direction.

“Why did you do that?”

His lips curved upwards.  “I’ve been meaning to ask you a question ever since we’ve arrived here.  But I’ll answer yours first.  These are for keepsakes—a remembrance of you staying here.”

“Oh—”

“My turn to ask,” he said eagerly.

She chuckled and matched his grin.  “Fire it away.”

He took out a glossy sheet of paper from his pocket.  “Why do you have this?”

Shock slowly registered on her widened eyes.  She was frozen on her spot—as well as her brain that couldn’t function properly to create an alibi.  Her cheeks were already a light shade of pink.

“I found this on the magazine you lent me on the plane.”

“I—uhm—” she gulped.  “Sica gave it to me.”  That was true.

“For what?” he asked calmly, not wanting to scare her. Yet she felt like shrinking herself on the ground.

“To save me from—protect myself from guys?”  No.  He can’t find out the truth.  “She told me to show it to guys who’ll talk to me and say that the man on the picture is my…b-boyfriend?”

He broke into laughter.  “That girl didn’t fail to amuse me.  Her ideas at times but she’s really clever to make them up.”

But it was me who made it up.  She pursed her lips into a pout.  She was starting to become disappointed.  Jessica’s name always comes out of his mouth whenever they talked.  An unsettling feeling would build up in her chest during those times—jealousy.

She is her friend.  As much as possible, she doesn’t want to be envious of her.  However, just thinking of how special Jessica is to Sungmin makes her crazy.  When will she be able to earn a spot in his heart too?