Mirai was hurrying her steps to cross the road, walking toward the address written on her phone screen. She was going to do another session of photoshoot for Yuri and Umika. This time they would have an indoor date setting. For that, Yuri had texted her to go to a certain address. He said it was one of his condominiums.

Different from her expectation which projected that she would see a grandeur of Chinen’s apartment, she met with an average looking building. It was well cared, but far from luxurious image. She checked on the address Yuri had sent her, and made sure that it was the correct address. It was right, indeed. Shaking off her doubt, she entered the building. The security on guard stopped her though. After telling him that she had a promise with Chinen Yuri and mentioned her name was Shida Mirai, the guard eventually let her in. She was grateful that Yuri’s apartment located only in second floor. If it was higher, she would be dead tired walking up the stairs since she could not use the lift because of her claustrophobia.

Finding the apartment number eight as Yuri told her in his text, she found herself at lost when the door was opened and she came face to face with Yamada Ryosuke instead.

He frowned deeply, asking indirectly, “Don’t tell me Chinen asked you to come here.”

Subsconsciously tightening her grip on her shoulder bag, she answered, “Apartment number eight, right? That’s where Chinen-kun wanted to do today’s photoshoot.”

“Wait a minute,” he did not let her in, but rushed back inside. A few seconds later he returned with a cellphone on his ear.

She sent him questioning stare, and he noticed it but gestured her to wait. So there she was, standing before the door while Ryosuke leaning on the door sill making a phone call.

“Yes, it’s me,” he started talking to someone through his phone. “Chinen Yuri-san, care to explain why does your photographer come to my apartment?” He spoke calmly, but the venom in it was obvious.

She widened her eyes when she realized what she just heard. His apartment? Yamada Ryosuke’s apartment?

“You only told me you and Umika would come. You never mentioned anything about doing photoshoot in my house!” He stated.

She could only heard electrical noise from the device in his hold.

“What will I get in return?” Ryosuke taunted and listened to Yuri’s reply before smirking to the phone, “Oh no. Business doesn’t work like that, buddy. You better have a good price for trespassing on my privacy,” Ryosuke spoke with annoyed face.

“No. Make it a month, and then we have a deal,” his tone was final.

“Fine,” he said at last, ending the call.

She wasn’t sure it was a good choice to stay while clearly the host was not welcoming her presence. “Perhaps I need to make a phone call to Chinen-kun, too. Excuse me.”

She was about to rush away, but he grabbed the strap of her bag, almost causing her to stumble backward.

“What?” she was annoyed at his treatment of her.

He did not react upon her glare. Instead, he opened the door, inviting, “Come in. They will arrive in a few minutes.”

She hesitated, “Erm... who else is inside?”

He arched a brow, “No one. Whom did you expect?”

“Eh?”Fear started creeping up inside her.

It seemed that he caught her uneasiness that he said, “I’m not in the mood to argue nor persuade you. Just wait them outside if you’re worried about going in alone.”

He waited for a few moment before sighing and closing the door behind him, stepping out of his apartment completely.She took several steps backward as he was too close.

Leaning on the door, he asked with arms folded on his chest, “Are you really going to wait outside?”

“I guess...?” she always ended her sentence with questioning tone when she wasn’t sure about her answer.

He gave her a friendly smirk, “You would have a trouble negotiating with your clients if you keep that habbit.”

“What habbit?” she tilted her head slightly in confusion.

“The habbit of showing your hesitation clearly to anyone. It’s not good for business.”

She smiled hearing that. Walking a few step away, she chose to sit on the floor, opposite of where Ryosuke standing.

“I get that a lot,” she replied, taking out her camera from the safety pack. “Some said I’m too simple, some others called me too naive. Perhaps I just don’t want to overthink about how I should behave,” she shrugged her shoulder, offering him a small smile, but he didn’t return the gesture.

He didn’t say anything after that, so she the camera, checking on the battery first then testing whether the functional buttons worked properly. Truthfully, she had already made sure all her devices were ready and in best condition before going to work, butshe repeated it just to have a reason to not look at Ryosuke.

As the silence unnerved her, she searched for something to talk, and eventually found one. She dared herself to look up and saw Ryosuke leaning on the door with his eyes closed.

“You don’t need to accompany me,” she remarked in reflex, forgetting her initial topic. “I’m okay waiting here alone.”

He opened his eyes, directing his gaze at her, “If the security saw you sitting alone outside my door, it might cause a misunderstanding.”

“Oh,” she responded, then hesitantly brought up the thing she wanted to know, “If I may ask, Chinen-kun said this is one of his condominiums—“

“It’s indeed his,” he cut her off. “I merely rent one of the apartments in this building, but Chinen own the entire building.”

His explanation confused her. He rent an apartment?She thoughtYamada family had their own property...

He smiled, bitterly in her opinion, speaking as though he could read her mind, “You had been away for too long, Shida. Things have changed.”

She was about to ask him to elaborate, but suddenly they heard running steps coming closer. Worrying that she might be in the way, she packed the camera and carefully put it back into its bag.It was like a blur when suddenly a shadow flashed passed her, and when she regained a clear view of her surrounding, she gasped in shock. Umika was hugging Ryosuke tightly, sobbing in his arms.Ryosuke looked like he was just as surprised as she.

“I want... to stop,” Umika’s muffled voice could be heard from her spot.

She saw Ryosuke gently patted Umika’s back, “Did something happen?”

Umika shook her head without releasing her hold, “I... just... I can’t marry Yuri-kun... because it won’t be fair for you nor him.”

Ryosuke’s head snapped toward her direction. He searched for her eyes as though wanting to make sure whether or not she heard what Umika said.

“Calm down, Umika,” he muttered after averting his gaze from her. “We should talk about it inside.”

She saw Umika nodded, and he pulled away slightly before redirecting her gaze to her. She stared back at them, not knowing how she should react.

“Shida.”

She blinked and shook her head when his voice reached her ear.

He looked at her with solemn gaze, “Sorry, but it’s better you go back. I’ll tell Chinen to cancel the photoshoot today.”

“But... is she okay?” she tried to take a peek at Umika who was still protected in his arms. “Is there something I can help?” Despite the shock and confusion, she was still worried watching Umika sobbing like that.

“It has nothing to do with you. So, please pretend you didn’t see it, and just go.”

She was rather taken aback with his choice of words, but he didn’t notice it. He held Umika and led her to enter his apartment, leaving her all alone in the corridor.

*****

Mirai was sitting before her computer,choosing the pictures of Yuri and Umika’s date in amusement park to be presented if ever Yuri asked her to. She was randomly switching from one picture to another when suddenly her screen displayed Yamada Ryosuke’s face. It was the candid shot she took when they ate the strawberry shortcake.

“You had been away for too long, Shida. Things have changed.”

His bitter tone when he said that last week still haunted her. As she stared at Ryosuke’s picture, she wondered: what had been changed while she was away?No, it was not the right question. It should be: Which change he referred to when saying that line?

She had browsed through internet and found out that Yamada’s company had suffered bankcruptcy three years ago that eventually it was acquired by Chinen company.Yamada Corp had only become one of business units of Chinen’s company.So, even though Yamada Corporation still existed, now it was owned by Chinen family, not Yamada family.

She heaved a sigh. Thinking about political struggle in business made her dizzy.At least, that fact helped a bit to explain why Ryosuke stayed at that rented apartment.

She chose to think about another matter.

After the incident in Ryosuke’s apartment, Yuri had postponed their schedule for indefinite time. He also had transferred half of her fee as an apology. She had been busying herself with other jobs this past week that the matter with Yuri, Umika, and Ryosuke got pushed aside. Only in this weekend that she touched their files again. But aside from Yuri, she did not hear anything from Ryosuke nor Umika. They did not keep in touch outside work, yet still she was hoping a miracle that he or Umika would explain what she saw back then.

Now that she was sure Ryosuke and Umika were really close, she could not shake off the uncomfortable feeling. Dared she called it jealousy?It was like what she felt during high school when she saw those girls surrounding him while she only watched them with envy. Back then, she did not approach him not because she was scared of his fans nor his popularity. She never had problem with self esteem that her being a nerd never once bothered her. She just had some problems which was way more serious to think of and she did not want to have another problem in the school.

At that flashback, she lifted her right arm before her face. There was a two-inches-long scar marred the pale skin of her forearm. She got it right after her graduation, and had become the reason why she never wore short-sleeve clothes ever since.

She shook her head to get rid off her bad memories. Those had passed. She had had a new life, and she wanted to live it to the fullest.

A day later she eventually got a call from Yuri, asking her to resume her job. She was rather surprised because Yuri talked as though nothing happened. After what Umika cried about in front of Ryosuke’s apartment, she had thought that their engagement would be called off, but it was not.Somehow she felt relieved, just she wasn’t sure why.

Yuri asked her to go to the same adress: Ryosuke’s apartment.The thump of her heart got a little faster as the distance to the place got closer with every step she took. She had expected the same encounter with Ryosuke as previously when the door opened, but she had to bit her lower lip in disappointment. It was not Ryosuke who opened the door, but Umika. Ryosuke was no where to be seen. Yuri had not arrived yet, and as Umika made a drink for her in the kitchen, she chose the chance to observe her surroundings.

The apartment had a minimalist style. The wall and the ceiling was all white while the floor was dark brown parquet. There was a set of wooden shoes rack and a coat hanger in the foyer. In the living room she was currently sitting in, there was an abstract painting hang on the wall with a pot of cactus placed in the corner.The couch was black, and the carpet was red with big floral pattern. On the furthest side of the room there was a black cabinet, and on top of that there were several unique vases and pictures displayed.

When she took a closer look at the pictures, she could recognize one of them were the class picture taken before their high school graduation. In the picture, Ryosuke with some boys squatted down in the front row, making them look like soccer player formation, while she stood in the second row with the other girls and was—to her surprise—right behind him. She looked carefully at the picture. Ryosuke’s arms slumped overhis friends’ shoulders, his smile was wide that the rare dimple appeared on his left cheek and a few crinkles formed about his eyes’ corner. She herself had a nervous smile and her hair was cut short to her shoulder, her old camera secured in her hold.

She straightened her back, inhaling a breath.

She had forgot all those details. It had been so long.

She heard the front door was opened and in came Yuri. He greeted her warmly and apologized for being late again. Umika returned with a tray of drink and refreshment. Yuri immediately assisted her, and she noticed a shade of pink appeared on Umika’s cheeks. It would be a lovely sight if only she did not remember how Umika desperately clung onto Ryosuke a couple weeks back.  She suppressed the ill thought crept up in her mind. She did not want to make a prejudice over Umika.

“Oh, Shida-chan, before we start, I want to ask you something,” Yuri suddenly spoke to her.

“What is it?”

“Do you know where I can order fresh strawberry in a large amount during summer?”

“Eh?” she did not know that Yuri was fond of that fruit. “I don’t think I know.”

“Oh, alright. I’ll just ask my secretary to order it for me then,” Yuri shrugged.

“You like strawberry, too?” Umika curiously asked.

Yuri laughed shortly, embarrassed, then admitted, “No. It is for Ryosuke as a return for lending his apartment to us. He demanded to be supplied with a full month stock of fresh strawberry when he return here in the summer.”

“When… he returns?” she did not realize wording her wonder loud enough.

“Oh, you may haven’t heard,” Yuri explained. “A few days ago Ryosuke has left Japan. He has been staying abroad for these last two years. He only returned here because of some business. He will come back here in the summer for our wedding, though.”

“Oh,” was her only response.

She caught on how Umika looked at her with observant eyes. She felt like Umika was studying her, and it made her uncomfortable. Fortunately Yuri immediately released her from that situation by asking to start the photoshoot.The first shoot was about cooking together, then eating home made lunch, and last was the bonding time by recreating how both Umika and Yuri talked while playing card.

There were a lot of questions swirling in her head while she captured their moments, but she deliberately ignored them.

“Ne, Umika-chan, let’s be honest,” Yuri suddenly turned the light talk with another topic.

“Okay,” Umika answer softly.

“I haven’t loved you yet,” Yuri stated nonchalantly, and she noticed the hurt in Umika’s eyes despite she nodded.

“I know,” Umika said.

“But I will,” Yuri added, earning a small smile from Umika.

Despite never missing the chances to capture all those exchange with her lense, she still could not believe that Yuri and Umika were talking about such privacy in front of her.

“How about you?” Yuri asked back.

Umika blushed before timidly confessed, “I like you.”

“But you haven’t loved me yet,” Yuri added for Umika.

“But I will,” Umika mimicked Yuri’s statement, gaze firm, making Yuri laughed in amusement.

“Someday, you will love me more than you love Ryosuke, right?” suddenly the question was asked.

Just as Umika, her eyes widened.

Umika recovered sooner, replying, “Yuri-kun… I can’t promise you that…”

Yuri gave Umika an understanding smile, “At least, love me just as much you love him.”

Umika smiled, nodding, “Okay.”

“Excus