Chapter 23

Idiot

Mr. Miyawaki was sitting in the living room later that evening, flipping over the TV channels. Minju's parents already went back to their house an hour ago. Sakura was watching her father as she was washing a few dirty glasses from the kitchen. It was still hard for her to believe that her father was with her in the house, in Seoul. She wiped dry one last cup and put it on the shelf. She took a deep breath and walked slowly towards the living room.

Her father saw her approaching and he flashed her a smile.

Sakura gulped.

He's smiling at me?

Even though it was awkward, Sakura smiled back at her father. She sat on the couch, beside her father. They both sat there, staring at the TV screen without saying anything.

"Korean variety shows are really interesting," Mr. Miyawaki said.

Sakura just noticed that they're watching Running Man on SBS.

"Oh, yes. They’re fun to watch," she replied, short.

Awkwardness filled the air again.

"I'm so happy for you, Sakura," he suddenly said.

Sakura turned to look at her father.

"Kenta is a really nice guy," he added.

Sakura smiled weakly even though she felt like vomiting. Kenta and nice don’t go well in the same sentence.

"Umm, father. How's your health? Do you still have the chest pains?" Sakura asked, trying to avoid the topic.

The man smiled, "I'm all good. This heart just needs happy news, and I’ll be fine."

Sakura kept mum.

He continued, "Seeing you married to a great guy, and seeing you happy, these things are the best medicine for me."



**

 

Sakura goes to work the next day in hope of meeting Eunbi. She had been trying to reach her since last night but the latter had turned off her phone. She was purposely ignoring her and it was making her frustrated. She just wanted to explain.

But when she entered the office that morning, she was disappointed. Eunbi wasn’t in. Her office was empty. Sakura tried to act fine, but the whole office knows she's anything but okay.

Hyewon sighed as she saw Sakura busies herself in front of her computer and continue to edit the article that was unfinished from the day before. Deep inside she was cursing Eunbi for leaving Sakura alone in this situation. She walked over to her desk and squeezed her shoulder.

“Saku-chan.”

“Oh, Hyewon.”

“That article isn’t due until next week. It can wait. Maybe you should take a rest or something. You don’t look so good,” she suggested.

Sakura sighed, “I’m okay.”

Hyewon shook her head, “No, you’re not.”

Yena walked over to her table with her cheery self.

"Kkura unnie, would you like anything? I'm going to the vending machine. Maybe you need some coffee boost or sweet chocolate milk?” she asked.

Sakura smiled, "I don’t need anything. But thanks Yena."

"Are you sure?" Yena gently patted Sakura's shoulder.

Sakura nodded.

Yena frowned, “Okay.”

She turned around.

"Wait," Sakura called.

"Yes?"

"Can you buy me some… milk?"



**



Takada Kenta was sitting in the makeup chair that evening.

He was on the set of a photoshoot for a magazine. They had an outdoor shoot at one of the street in outskirt of Seoul. The theme was dusk. The makeup artist was fixing his makeup as he leaned back on his chair with his eyes closed. He was in a good mood for some reason. He kept smiling and even hummed.

"Your fiancé is here to see you," one of the staff said.

Kenta’s eyes opened immediately, and he turned his head around to look. Sakura was standing there, staring at him.

He smiled. He stood up from his chair and walked to the distraught looking girl.

“We need to talk,” Sakura said in Japanese. Her tone firm.

Kenta nodded, “Sure.”

They walked away from the set, towards the street where it was empty and a bit secluded from onlookers.

"Hey, Saku-chan. Missed me?" Kenta asked with a smirk.

"What the hell do you think you’re doing?! Announcing a fake engagement?! Telling my family about this?!" Sakura asked, pissed.

Kenta sighed, "This is how it supposed to be, Saku-chan. We’ve planned to get married before. Even our families are aware of it. I’m just putting it into action while you’re… being distracted."

Sakura grunted, "Just cancel this stupid engagement right now!"

Kenta shrugged, "Why should I? Everyone is happy with this news. Your dad especially, he was ecstatic."

Sakura gritted her teeth, "Stop using my father against me like this. That’s low."

Kenta scoffed, "We’ve planned to marry each other, Saku-chan. This is how it supposed to happen, but then you suddenly swerve lane and became infatuated with your female boss! I’m just putting things back on track.”

“If you hate this so much, then why don't you try to cancel this yourself?" he asked.

He looked at Sakura with a smirk.

"If you can," he added.

Sakura bit her lip, trying not to spill the tears in her eyes.

"H-How could you? You know well that my father is sick, you know that he hates me-

Kenta sighed, "You should be thankful to me. Because of me, he’s talking to you again."

Sakura stared at him in disbelief, "I-I don’t understand why you’re doing this. Why do you still want to marry me, even though you know that I don't love you anymore?"

He cocked his head, "I don't care. As long as you're mine."

"But my heart belongs to Eunbi."

He scoffed, "So what? At least I got your body."

Sakura gasped, "Y-You're crazy!"

Kenta shook his head, "It's not crazy, baby. It's love."

Sakura realized that it was pointless to try talking with him. He was indeed insane. She shook her head in disgust and walked away from him.

Kenta watched Sakura as she walked away. She was wiping her eyes as she hurried away from the alley. She cried.

He knows what he did was crazy. But he didn’t want to let her go.

And he’ll do anything for it.



**

 

Yujin was sitting at a table with three of her closest friends inside the school library that afternoon. They have agreed to gather for a study group twice a week.

“Does anyone knows how to solve question number 7?” asked Jang Wonyoung.

Wonyoung is Yujin’s childhood friend, and she was a year younger than her. Their families are close to each other, as long time business partners.

“You don’t even know to solve that? Aigoo Won