The next one week was a good week spent together. Sunny, who initially intended to leave with her father on Tuesday, extended her stay until next Sunday.

The remaining days of her stay in Shanghai was spent with Sungmin picking her up every night after working hour to have dinner together. Sungmin couldn't waste a chance. He wouldn't back off this time.

They would talk about many things now, having set aside their differences and initial prejudices towards each other. Well, more for Sunny anyway. The revelation of Sungmin's status of relationship with Jimin, which was non-existent, brought them closer.

On the last night Sunny was in Shanghai, Sungmin brought her for dinner on a simple diner, yet a comfortable one. It was Sungmin's style of diner actually. Not anything lavish, but relatively homey. Just like the one he brought Sunny to in Seoul.

"You've got to try this," suggested Sungmin while he spooned the dish onto Sunny's plate.

He did that not to gain her affection, she believed. Simply caring, as proven by his cool demeanor and his gusto while eating. She recalled how he ate in cafeteria when they were both students. Despite those cheeky glances towards her, she loved to see him eating. He made it look delicious.

Her memory made her smile a little, now realizing that she actually paid attention to him although he was a total freak at that time.

"What are you smiling at?" Asked Sungmin, curious.

Sunny quickly wiped the smile off her face. "Nothing."

"You blush again," noted Sungmin.

"I do not."

"You do."

"Perhaps it's the hot plate. The steam blows to my face," Sunny reasoned.

"Perhaps. Although it has boiled down some time ago."

Sunny looked up to find him grinning at her. Then she noticed that he intended to be the reason was sensible or nonsensical, whether she was really blushing or not blushing. She shook her head and continue eating.

"What if we go for a stroll after dinner?" Sungmin suggested as he put down his spoon and folded his arms in front of his chest and rested it on the dinner table.

"What time is it now?" Sunny stopped her munching and asked.

"A little before nine."

"It's quite late," commented Sunny.

"What's late? We're about to finish dinner soon enough. A short stroll won't take long. Beside, it's your last night here," he added, pouting all the while.

"Yah! Cut that face! So unsightly!" scolded Sunny as she was throwing a crumpled tissue at him.

"Oh, you dare to 'yah' me now? And what's with this attitude?" demanded Sungmin as he picked up the tissue and shook it in front of her face.

"Oh, you dare to challenge me now, I see," Sunny dared him back. "Let's see if I refuse to talk to you again."

"Yah!" Yelled Sungmin. "Don't..." he then added softly, pretense dropped, and Sunny smiled satisfactorily. She won.

Sungmin observed her for a while before saying, "I take it that you enjoy overpowering me."

"I do," admitted Sunny as she was taking another big gulp of beer to help her swallowed down the food.

"Hmm... I want to see in what other area that you enjoy doing it..." he winked at her while wondering.

Sunny was taken aback. In her mind, some vivid images of inappropriate scene flashed.

"Y-yah!! What do you mean?" She stuttered.

"Well, you know... Arm wrestling perhaps?" He said calmly. "Or... don't tell me that you are imagining something provocative?"

"I-I didn't."

"Ha! I know you did! There. You blush again!" Sungmin clapped his hands excitedly.

"I didn't!"

"You did!"

"Stop it! We look like kids bantering," Sunny tried to brush off his teasing and her embarrassment. She looked at her plate and finishing her meal solemnly.

Seeing how she acted, Sungmin felt a strong urge to reach out to her and mess her hair. Yet before his brain could process, his arm was faster in reacting. It was such a relief that Sunny didn't object. She didn't even slap off his hand, and merely letting him do so.

Gaining more courage, his hand trailed down to her cheek to it. Again, Sunny let him do so. only this time she commented in a mater-o-factly tone, "Finish your dinner quickly. Or it will be really late."

"So, we go for a stroll?" asked Sungmin like a super thrilled little kid with a cotton candy in his hand.

"Finish it now," answered Sunny. She reached for her refilled glass of beer once again and gulped the filling down.

"Assa!!" And he gobbled up the rest of his remaining meal.

The night was clear that night, yet they couldn't see any star. That was exactly the problem with living in the big city.

They decided to stroll along the riverside. Watching how man-made light twinkled on the water surface. The broadwalk was not people packed, so they could stroll easily.

At one point, Sunny threw her arms above her head, stretching up while walking over the railing. Breathed out, she placed her arms on the railing. She looked across the river and to the lighted buildings ahead.

Sungmin who was tailing her from behind soon caught her up and noticed the change in her mood.

"What is it?" Sungmin asked. He stood right beside her in the same manner. Their arms touching, sending warmth to the area that adjoined.

"Nothing," uttered Sunny. "I'm just glad being away from home. It's like my mind can finally think properly here."

"Yeah. That's the reason people travelling, right? To leave and forget their burdens and be free."

The tiny girl nodded. Her eyes were still cast across the river.

The guy, meanwhile, turned his body to face her. He breathed out the question carefully, "Hey, I know it's still early to raise this question, but I want to risk it. I need to know. I need to know if you'll be my girlfriend."

As if charmed, Sunny turned her head automatically to him. She looked at him, deep in thought. The tiny girl knew how anxious Sungmin was. She noticed how he fidgeted as he was trying to stand upright. How his face twitched as if he was about to vomit. Yet, Sunny turned her head away after some moment, leaving the question hanging. Leaving it unanswered.

Sunny kept silent, while Sungmin didn't want to push her. He let her have her time thinking. Silence fell in, and despite the question, it was not uncomfortable. In fact, he found it cozy.

After some moments, Sunny muttered, "Have you ever feel so rejected by the one you love?"

Sungmin was surprised at first, feeling ironic the second. Did she forget that she did that to me before? Or the fact that she kinds of doing it right now? Yet Sungmin didn't say it out loud. He just hummed, wondering where this conversation led to.

A middle-sized cruise ship passed by with the sound of engine humming and propelled water gurgling. The passengers inside was interacting with each other while enjoying the scenic beauty of Shanghai from the river.

Sunny and Sungmin watched the ship went by, until it was like a dot they couldn't recognize any longer.

"I'm someone with a broken heart," Sunny started. "Incapable to love, and I don't think I deserve to love in the mean time."

Sungmin was surprised to hear her say that. He turned his head to look at her. A gush of night breeze blew in, making strands of soft silky hair on Sunny's shoulders to fly backwards. She looked lonely and fragile that Sungmin wanted to hug her, to protect her, yet he felt her strong will, although he was not sure what her strong will was about.

"What do you mean?" Sungmin asked.

Sunny took a deep breath before talking. It was a very deep breath which shook her shoulders in process. "I gave my all to my first love, only to let him break my heart in the end."

"Well, one can't hope for rainbow in a relationship all the time," Sungmin stated carefully.

"That's true. And not only in relationship, one cannot have rainbow all the time in life," answered Sunny. "Yet it was so painful that I thought I would never heal. In fact, it is still an open wound even after all these time, and it was almost two years already since we went separate ways."

"Sorry to prod, but why did you broke up?" Sungmin asked.

Sunny took a time to provide him with an answer. The battle inside her was apparent to him. The battle of character, whether to stay strong or once again submit to her pain. Yet she chose the first.

"He cheated on me, with a friend of his he introduced me before," said Sunny finally after she turned her body away from the river to face the not so busy road.

Sungmin raised his eyebrow as he did the same gesture. He didn't quite understand why it was such a blow to her. People cheating on his or her partner was common, although it wasn't just. Not that he agree with the idea of being unfaithful. Yet, circumstances could appear, and as far as he knew and based on his own experience, human relationship was never stable. Even for those who already settled down.

They stood in silence once again, watching the car, people and some motorcycles passed by. The night got chillier, yet they didn't move even an inch from the place where they stood.

Just then a memory flew in. He remembered Taeyeon threatened him with unimaginable punishment should he play around with Sunny prior her helping him to get close with Sunny. He remembered her telling him that despite her strong front, she was sensitive inside. That she was a repressor and she often deceived people about her true feelings. She seemed simple from outside, yet complicated inside. But first and foremost, she never played around with her heart, lest with other's. And she expected the same from her partner. That she might forgive, but would never forget once hurt.

"All these time, you always hold it in, don't you?" Asked Sungmin. "You'd better let that out and let go. Talk to me. I'll be your ears."

Sunny snorted cynically. She kicked off a candy wrapper that the wind carried to her direction with her right foot. "I don't even know where to start."

"Hm... Don't you think cheating is normal? It just happens," asked Sungmin quickly. He observed her reaction. Yet she remained calm.

"You're right. Actually, I thought about it a lot. Sometimes I thought that perhaps I am too idealist about it. I don't say that it was a common norm in a relationship,"

"Neither do I," Sungmin quickly interjected.

"..but happens, right? And when that happens, nobody can do anything about it. I mean, in the end how could we control one's feeling?"

"Exactly," agreed Sungmin. "So, you had forgave them then?"

"I forgave them right from the start. I know how weak we are, humans. Weak to something that is related to feeling and emotion. Yet it's hard to forget. Especially he was my first. To be honest, I expected to have a beautiful ending with him, or if it was not possible, then I hoped for a nice separation. Without hurting each other like we did."

Sunny turned around, facing the river once again. Her arms found the railing. "Do you know a story about a boy whose father told him to reflect on his wrongdoings by nailing on a plank of wood?"

Sungmin once again copied her movement. He turned around to face the river too, then he nodded for he knew the story. That was a story his mom often recited since he was little.

"The plank of wood represents the father, and it represents me as well. I forgave them. But I can't forget. The scar is still there. In fact, it is still wounded until now."

"Is that why you said you don't deserve to love?"

The petite girl nodded her head timidly. "I can't give a wounded heart to someone else. It's just not fair."

"But what if that person wants to be your band-aid?" Sungmin asked, rather childishly.

The question got her and it made her laughed. The shrilly giggles was contagious that Sungmin started to laugh either.

"Are you talking about yourself as my band aid?" Confirmed Sunny, giggling still.

"I am," stated Sungmin bravely.

"Thank you, really. You're not as bad as I first thought, to be honest. But I can't. Yet. I still think that it's unfair for you," uttered Sunny.

Sungmin made a face. He then gestured Sunny towards the bench not far from where they were standing. They stood up for some moments now, and Sungmin felt tired already. Sunny tailed him and sat down beside him.

"You know what, they said when someone couldn't let go off the past, regret binds them down. Perhaps, that's the case with you too. Regrets bind you down," reasoned Sungmin.

Sunny snorted. "It's impossible for humans to live without regret, isn't it?"

Sungmin made a face again and nodded slowly, "You could say so."

Silent befell again, before Sunny started.

"Well, I don't know why I share this all with you, I haven't even shared this with Taeyeon. Is it because of the beer we drank?" Sunny smirked, and she continued, "But it's true when you said that I can't let go off the past because of my regrets. I know I'd been too lenient. I respected his privacy, so I never pried into his phone, not even once. I respected his right in choosing whom he could befriend, so I never told him whom he could befriend with. When I reflected on the past, I couldn't help but to think what if I had been a little more strict with him? Will he drift off still or will he stay?

"Then I remembered him telling me that our relationship was like ocean without storm. We rarely argued. So I started to think, what if I didn't hold back? What if we quarreled like any other couples? Will he drift off or will he stay? But it isn't in my bone to quarrel.

"I remembered crying a lot at that time. I fell asleep because I was so tired crying, and I woke up because I was unconsciously crying in my sleep. The betrayal felt like a sharp knife which was driven into my heart. I couldn't tell anybody at that time. I was afraid they would judge us, judge him. I thought I was strong enough to carry it alone. Yet, during that time, I was forced to be the rational one. I should've allowed to yell at him, to blame him for what he did, but I couldn't. I loved him too much that I was unable to do so, I loved him too much to just leave him drowning himself in the pool called guilty conscience. He was so unstable that I thought I should be the pole he could hold on to. All the while, forgetting the fact that maybe he got the same consolation from the other girl. I tried to see his situation from the brighter view. I tried so hard to help him gathering his sanity, all the while letting go of my own sanity unknowingly. I was put under stress because I felt that I shouldn't tell anybody about his unjust doing to me. So, all that I could do was crying and pitying myself. I hate the situation which made me vulnerable. I hate being weak.

"Then, the one thing I regretted the most..." she choked on her words. Her eyes and face felt hot. Even her body felt like burning. The warm liquid that she tried so hard to hold back now threatened to spill off her eyes. "The one thing I regretted the most was how I felt like a ."

The word came out with a hitch. A single tear rolled on her cheeks, but she wiped it quickly. Seeing her, Sungmin felt like holding her, yet there was something about her that made him not doing it. She felt untouchable, unreachable. Her rekindling with her past had created an invisible gap between her existence and the present time.

"After he confessed to me that he cheated on me, we decided to give our relationship another go. Not a wise move I must admit. I should've realized that it was a futile effort. He said he loved me still, yet he couldn't really afford to lose the other girl. He agreed not to have contact with her, but I knew how persistent the girl was, and how weak he was towards her. Yet he wouldn't let go off my hand. Taeng said it was a habit, both for him and for me. After more or less three years being together, we didn't used to not having each other. We both were afraid of the unknown, especially that we had let ourselves to be in the innermost circle of our characters.

"Yet his thought was still with her. To say that he completely cut his interaction with her was a total lie. I knew he still kept in touch with her, but what could I do? I should've realized the moment he told me he was liking another girl was the moment I lost him. But I was someone who went with the flow. If he said stay, then I stayed. I was too afraid to let him go. I was too, afraid to lose the habit of having him.

"It was a day within the thirty days of bitter effort, he visited my house. He was like a robot already at that time. Drown in what he called his guilt, he did his duty as a boyfriend mechanically. He was so close yet felt so far. I tried to talk to him. I tried to lighten his spirit, saying that everything was gonna be okay. I hugged him, yet he was indifferent. He didn't answer or respond. I tried holding onto him tighter, trying harder. I kissed him, but he just sat there, impassive. It was the first time I felt ... humiliated. Rejected. I practically threw myself at him, yet he remained still. I felt like a ... . A cheap girl, easily discarded when he didn't feel like it. I started to hate myself for being stupid, for trying so hard, for letting myself be in such situation. Even until now, I don't think I had forgiven myself for that. That is my deepest regret. I should've just let him go from the start."

Sungmin who was letting her to pour out everything she held back inside sighed. Beside him was the broken girl with shoulder slumped and head bent low. She was obviously letting out a silent tears, and he intended to let her cry for her past. Perhaps by doing so once more, she would really be ready to let go. He noticed how that once or twice she lifted her hand, so the back of her hand met her cheeks, and she could wipe the tears that rolled down without sound.

Seeing her crying, his heart hurt to be honest. He was sure that should Sunny came to him at that time and told him, he would get to her ex and beat him until that guy could not even stand up. He was feeling the urge to do so at the moment, in fact. Yet, he knew how late he was. Even flying back to Korea and looking for that guy to settle it down would resulted nothing. Sunny's heart wouldn't be whole as before.

Therefore, he did something he could do, being there for the compassionate pure girl yet complicated in her way. He reached out to held her one hand, letting her know that she could depend on him when the bad memory fought its way back.

When her shoulders stopped shaking, when her silent tears had subsided, when she had gathered herself in determination to be strong, he thought he needed to voice out his opinion.

"You know what, I think it was not your heart that was hurt ... . No, no, don't take me wrong. I mean, of course you were hurt at that time, but rather than your heart, it was more like your ego that was wounded. Your heart heals so fast actually, that is why you can forgive him. Yet, your ego forbids you to forget. You get what I mean, right?" Sungmin quickly added the explanation while the back of Sunny's hand. Again, this time she didn't pull away.

Looking up, she wiped the last trail of tears on her face. At first, he thought that she might get angry with him for not being considerate to console her enough, lest to challenge her opinion on her bitter memory. However she was proven to be not so simple and unpredictable girl. She favored rational over heart in the end. And she could feel his level of maturity in him pointing out the problem rather than dwelling in the details of the problem.

She nodded her head for his opinion, a sign that she was considering the truth of his words. He was right, she supposed. When one was deeply hurt, sometimes it was hard to discern if it was a result of pride and ego or emotional and sentimental heart.

She shrugged her shoulders. She slipped her hand off his gentle grip and stood up. "Your saying makes sense. But I guess I need some more time to reflect upon it. Meanwhile, let's go home. It's really late."

Sungmin stood up. "Alright! Let's tuck you in bed. It's sleeping time already for a kiddie. She shouldn't be outside at this hour," commenced Sungmin as he threw his arm over her shoulders, drawing her closer.

Yet Sunny quickly dropped his arm. "Yah! Don't you dare mocking me. You want some good kick on your ?!"

Sungmin laughed at her threat. He knew it wasn't just an empty one. That girl really could kick.

"Alright. Alright. No more teasing. Let's get you back to your hotel," said Sungmin. He sneakily grabbed her hand once more, and held it tight while they were walking. "Ah, so cold!"

Sunny turned her head to him, her eyebrow rose in suspicion. However, he didn't let go off his grasp, and she once again let him be. It wasn't uncomfortable though. Deep down, she liked it.

After some time walking - as they decided to since the hotel she stayed in was not that far away - Sungmin broke the comfortable silence.

"So, what about my proposition? Accepted or rejected?"

"Hm... Since I still need some more time to reflect on your words, I have to reject you," asnwered Sunny, half serious, half joking.

"Yah! How many times already that you reject me? Don't you think it wouldn't leave scar to my heart?" asked Sungmin, exaggerating.

Sunny could only laugh. "Don't steal my line! But no. Not now please. I'm not ready yet."

"Alright. But be sure to tell me when you are ready. I'm not letting any guy steal you," teased Sungmin. He then tightened his grip on her hand, "Just remember to leave the past behind, and step into the present and future courageously, alright. And remember that this maniac will always be there for you should you need him."

Sunny smiled to herself.

"Yah. I don't know what spirit possessed me that I was able to talk to you, a cheesy maniac, of things that I couldn't even talk to Taeng.

"I guess it's my charm," he joked.

"No, definitely not," Sunny quickly objected.

"It is."

"It is not."

"It is."

"Whatever."

Then the night continued.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Aloha!

It's about time to say good bye to Twister. It's only an epilogue left, and I intend it to be short.

Don't forget to give a penny of your thoughts.

See ya on the very last of Twister, guys!