It was Jun’s day off.

One of his supervisors decided to take a day off the young man’s week due to over-exhaustion. In reality, a staff member had caught Jun in another one of his episodes and decided to report him out of concern. Jun wasn’t sure if he should see the circumstance as a good thing, knowing that Wendy might not be pleased with him missing a day, or to be relieved that he didn’t have to work another day at the dreaded hospital.

Either way, he didn’t want to dwell on the thought too much and so he decided to distract himself by going to the mall.

It was a weekday morning and so there wasn’t much people filling up the halls of the building. It was exactly what Jun needed and the reason why he went through so much effort into waking both himself and Chewy up, knowing how the latter can be so stubborn in the wee hours.

Chewy herself wasn’t used to venturing into places like that, the countless decorations and fancy items being displayed around the area was something that seemed otherworldly to her. But perhaps, out of all the peculiar objects that greeted her every step of the way, the one thing that she couldn’t bear the most was the cold. She was used to living in the scorching heat and would often get sick at quick temperature changes, sometimes leading Jun to turn down the air-conditioning at the house.

The young woman tugged on the sleeve of her companion, gaining his attention quicker than a Ferrari engine.

“What are we doing here?” she timidly asked.

“We’re going to get you some new clothes” Jun quickly replied, causing the young woman to look down at her own body.

She was decked out in a dark blue hoodie that Jun let her borrow as she did not have a presentable top, along with the same pair of shorts that she wore when the two first met, now freshly washed.

The pair entered a clothing store that, based on the shop design, was a popular brand among the locals as the store sported three floors and offered everything from outdoor getups to underwear.

The two arrived at some urban wear first and Jun immediately told Chewy to look around and pick anything that she liked while he would look around the men’s area. Instead of shopping for clothes however, Jun simply found a seat situated a few meters away from the ladies’ section and watched the young woman get lost in the sea of clothing as if it was a dense forest.

Jun’s peep show was eventually interrupted by the ringing of his phone. He took it out and wasn’t sure how to react when he read the caller ID.

‘Wendy’

Jun took a sigh before bringing the phone to his ear.

“Hello?”

“Where are you?” the woman on the found sounded upset, causing to Jun to stiffen up in his seat.

“I’m taking a day off” he tried his best to sound calm and collected.

“I don’t remember approving a leave”

“Well one of my supervisors told me to do so”

“And you didn’t even tell me?” Wendy’s whiny tone caused Jun to ponder as to why she was so upset about him not being around.

“I’m sorry. I should’ve-”

“Anyway” the woman cut him off.

“Where are you now? It’s lunch time. Was wondering if you wanted to grab some grub” Jun was caught off-guard by Wendy’s sudden change of mood. Rather than telling her the truth, Jun took a glance at Chewy who was now picking up clothes from the racks.

“I can’t right now I’m… visiting my grandma” Jun gulped and hoped that the phone wouldn’t pick it up. In reality, Jun never met his grandmother, the young man wasn’t even sure if she was still alive.

“Oh, then can I come over later? I have something I wanna discuss with you” Jun was surprised at her persistence. Since the day he first met Wendy, the petite woman already gave off a strong presence and working for her only made him realize how headstrong his boss was. Once she set her mind on something, nothing was going to stop her from getting it.

But it’s not like he minded being around her anyway. While normally strong minded, she wasn’t afraid to show her childish side to him. This would sometimes make Jun forget that the short woman was his boss all along, but he always tried his best to stay decent around her out of fear of losing his job.

“Good, see you later” Wendy hung up with a cheerful tone, leaving Jun as confused as ever.

Before he could put his phone back into his pocket, he was greeted by a pile of clothes obscuring his vision. As he stood up to regain his sight, he noticed a familiar face peeping out of the pile.

“Oh, you’re done!” Jun smiled as he watched Chewy struggle to prevent the clothes from dropping to the ground.

“Have you tried them on yet?” he asked to which Chewy shook her head to.

“Try them on. I’ll be right here” Jun said and sat back down on the fur coated seat, expecting to have some peace and quiet but was surprised to see Chewy stripping off her hoodie in the same spot.

“Wait! What are you doing?” he said as he pulled the hem of her hoodie back down. He took a quick glance around the store to see if anyone had noticed. Fortunately, there was barely anyone around the store at that hour.

“Jun…” Chewy called, causing the young man to look back at her.

“Why is your face red?” she innocently asked. Jun cupped his cheek with his left hand and realized that his face was burning. He didn’t expect to react that way after seeing Chewy’s exposed abdomen for a few seconds. Having been with several women in the past, Jun thought that he would be used to seeing those kinds of things at that point in his life. But there was something about Chewy that caused his once sturdy walls to crumble once her presence was felt.

Was it because she was a little too innocent for her age?

Was it because of her fragile nature?

Or was it because he found her just slightly more beautiful than any of the girls that he had been with in the past.

Wanting to shake the thought off as quickly as possible, Jun directed Chewy towards the fitting room, carrying the pile of clothes behind her as they made their way through the store.

“Hm, I think the jeans go better with the white shirt” Jun instructed as he sat in the waiting bay of the store’s gigantic fitting room. Chewy was standing inside one of the stalls in a blue, frilly dress that she pared up with light blue jeans. Jun chuckled at her non-existent sense of style and tirelessly guided her through a couple of unappealing combinations such as a denim jacket paired with a black skirt, a rainbow shirt with matching pants and a onesie he didn’t even know was provided by the clothing brand.

Jun also had to constantly close the curtain as the young woman as she would often forget to do so attracting a couple of unwanted attention from the males that would pass by.

As Jun stared at the neat pile of clothes that he folded up after each fitting, he casually waited for the last outfit that needed to be checked before they could move on with the day.

As the curtain rippled, Jun snapped his head towards it in anticipation. The sheets slowly shifted towards the left to reveal the figure standing beneath them.

Chewy was standing in a white, sleeveless long dress that flowed down her slim figure and ended just below her knees. The sight of the young woman was enough to bring any normal man’s fantasies to reality. But to Jun, he felt like he was in a thriller flick.

The dress looked all too familiar to him, the way it hugged Chewy’s tiny waist, the way it glowed whenever like struck its very surface. If a normal person would associate the color white to something pure and would find it pleasant to feast their eyes on said color, Jun felt his breathing begin to irregulate. Even though the dress suited Chewy very well, he didn’t want to stare at it much longer.

“Okay, that’s great. Take it off so we can start paying” he said, the tone in his voice changing to a more displeased one. Chewy simply nodded and closed the curtain behind her.

As Jun anxiously waited for Chewy to come out, he wondered what was taking the young woman so long. He wondered if she was too entranced by the dress to take it off, or perhaps she simply found the confines of the room so cozy that she never wanted to leave it.

“You done yet?” Jun called out. He was starting to get impatient at how long it took for Chewy to get out of the changing stall.

After a few more minutes of waiting, Jun took the initiative to check on the young woman. He knew that it was a bit indecent, but he was starting to get seriously worried. To make matters worse, a line of customers waiting to use the changing area had begun to form.

Jun approached the curtain of the changing room and gave it a soft yank. He was a little anxious to see what was behind them and he hoped that he wouldn’t receive an earful of screaming or a slap to the face once the curtains were fully open.

But he knew Chewy was not like that. He knew the innocent girl who nearly revealed herself in a public area was not the type to react aggressively to matters like that, even when she needed to.

Instead, he found Chewy still stuck inside her soft, white dress. Her arm was hooked towards her back, trying desperately to pull down the zipper that kept the dress together.

Jun sighed before stepping into the stall and closing the curtains behind him, hoping no one would see them and accuse him of public indecency.

“Why didn’t you tell me you needed help?” Jun impatiently said.

“I-I’m sorry” Chewy sighed in defeat as she slumped her arms down to her sides. Beads of sweat had already formed across her forehead from the amount of times she attempted to undress herself.

“Let me” Jun sighed once more before reaching for the zipper on Chewy’s back.

Jun hesitated for a bit, was he really going to undress Chewy when he didn’t really have to? He thought that it was probably best not to think too much about it.

The young man took a deep breath before softly yanking the zipper downwards, slowly revealing Chewy’s delicate, brown skin as the dress slowly unraveled itself.

What he did not expect though, was that the dress was a lot more lose than he thought it was. Despite hugging the slim girl’s figure perfectly, the soft fabric caused the dress to easily glide down Chewy’s body. The dress dropped down to the young woman’s ankles, leaving her in nothing but her black underwear.

Jun’s eyes widened at the sight in front of him. He had seen Chewy’s body before, but only when he had his back flat on the ground and she was lying on his chest. This was the first time that he was seeing her body it’s in its entirety.

As much as he didn’t want to admit, he found her figure to be extremely attractive. Chewy had broad shoulders, slender arms, a very small waist, long, slender legs, and supple buttocks and . But the thing that captivated him the most was her skin. Unlike most women that lived in the city, Chewy had luscious, brown skin that reminded him of certain delicacies that he was so fond of after meals. Not a single blemish could be found across her skin, save for a tiny mole that peeked out of her left bra strap.

Jun felt like the walls of the already cramped up room were closing in on the both of them. The temperature also seemed to have risen in an instant and he felt trickles of sweat running down his back. When his black sweatpants began to feel like they were two times smaller, Jun worriedly swallowed a portion of his spit and let out an exasperated groan to break the silence.

“Uhm, I-I’ll wait for you outside” he cringed at how his voice stuttered and quickly turned around. But before he could yank the curtain open, he felt a hand grip his wrist tightly.

Turning around, he saw Chewy looking at him with needy eyes. He had never seen the young woman emit such neediness before and he wasn’t sure how to take the situation.

It wasn’t until Chewy finally spoke that Jun’s mind began to take on any semblance of direction.

With a simple “Please don’t leave me”, Chewy tugged at Jun’s arm softly, leading the young man closer to her.

And it was for the countless instant that Jun felt himself getting lost in Chewy’s eyes once again. The singular light bulb that shone above the pair wasn’t enough to convince Jun that they were inside a changing room of a public mall. Instead, he felt like he was floating through space, the mahogany walls that confined him turned dark and soon, he felt like it was just the two them in existence.

Jun unconsciously found himself decreasing the space between him and the gorgeous young woman in front of him. Soon, he felt her slim figure pressed up against his and their faces barely inches apart that their noses were grazing each other.

With all the bravery in the world, Jun cupped the right side of Chewy’s face and closed the remaining space that separated the two, making sure that his lips landed fully on hers.

And it felt like ecstasy for no more than 5 seconds, the softness of Chewy’s thin lips providing him a comfort that he hadn’t experienced in his 21 years of living. He felt like a kid and a man at the same time. He felt like he could take on anything that the world could throw at him, but at the same time he wished that he could just stay that way with her for the rest of life.

It wasn’t long before Jun’s blissful trip began to turn into a nightmare.

Jun felt the confines of his temple caving in, causing a searing pain that spread through his entire scalp like wildfire.

He tried his best to keep his composure, but the pain was nearly unbearable for him to remain conscious. His mopey eyes slowly closed themselves, the last thing he saw was Chewy still standing there in her bare state.

He didn’t expect it to come at such a pleasant hour, but a fragment of one of his mental attacks revealed itself in front of him. The one where he witnessed Chewy standing in the deck of the dreaded cruise ship. Only this time, a few words played out in his mind.

“Why are you here? Can’t you see I’m about to get married?” Jun was shocked to hear his own voice ring inside his head.

“I can’t live without you Jun. I’m willing to go anywhere you are, no matter what the circumstances are. I love you too much” a female voice replied, it sounded like…

“Tzuyu, you know I love you with all my heart. But we can’t be together, the world will never let us”

“No, don’t leave me!”

“I’m sorry”

“Don’t do that!”

The sound of a gunshot woke Jun up back to his reality, back into the wooden confines of the changing room, back into the embrace of Chewy who was trying her best to keep him upright.

It was there, that Jun uttered a name he didn’t know remained in the back of his mind.

“Chou Tzuyu?”

Whoaa Chewy's name finally revealed? (Though ya'll know that already)

Is Jun finally getting his memories back?