The next day arrived very quickly, just like people used to say that good times pass by really fast. Myungsoo was the first one to wake up in that morning, so he took his time to do some stretching and laze around in the bed. It didn’t take long before it came to his realization that he did not see Byunghun anywhere yesterday. He began to think that Byunghun really did not follow them to Japan, which was the best scenario that could have ever happened, although a part of him was feeling uneasy to his sudden absence. He shook off the latter thought, feeling grateful that Byunghun was not around to meddle with his quality time with his girl.

Nonetheless, his mind wandered back to when Ji Kyung didn’t look well yesterday night. He pondered on the possible reasons, was she falling sick? Or was it the time of the month again? He had not a single clue. He turned his body over the other side to face her, then stared at his sleeping beauty intently. Whatever the reason, he thought, he would ask her about it later. As he continued to lay his eyes on her, with his lips curled up satisfyingly, he noticed another second later that Ji Kyung had her eyebrows locked together. He grew worried and pressed his finger gently onto the area between her eyebrow, hoping to reduce any stress caused by her nightmare. After seeing her eyebrows no longer furrowed together, he pulled her into a warm embrace and her hair fondly.

However, something else happened a moment later.

“Byunghun-ah!!!” Her eyes flung open as she broke away from his arms and sat up immediately. She was panting hardly and cold sweat broke out from her forehead. Myungsoo was shocked by her reaction out of the blue, and he did not know how to react. His mind went blank for a minute, before he finally registered the name she had just called and was questioning himself if it was some kind of a mistake.

“B-byunghun?”

Before she could reply him, he found her burying herself into his chest and wept soundly. He sighed and decided to let the question pass for now as he cuddled her in his arms and assuring her that everything will be alright. She believed his words and took her time to calm herself down from the traumatic dream while being in his warm arms.

---

That afternoon, the two of them went shopping along the busy city street, the crowd of people seemed to all be at rush, while some were busy squeezing themselves through with a phone in their hands, speaking a string of fluent Japanese in a serious tone, the others were constantly switching their gazes from the screen to their surroundings as if navigating their way around with the help of their smartphones. The both only managed to leave the crowd after a 10-minutes’ walk, and by the time they reached an area with lesser people, they noticed a toy store to their right and decided to enter it for fun.

A series of flashbacks flashed before her eyes as she looked around the familiar surroundings, and she was determined to walk it out today. Just as she promised, she wanted to walk out from her past and appreciate the present, with Myungsoo by her side. Nevertheless, it wasn’t an easy task for her, because the moment she set eyes on every corner of the store, the memories came back to her and reminded her of all the emotions she had experienced before with Byunghun. This time, she remembered the ways they fooled around in the store, their naughty and cheeky hands pressing any button that they could see on any toy. She remembered holding her breath when some of the buttons resulted in a loud song or tune playing, and how she playfully hit Byunghun because of the embarrassment. And with all that, her lips tilted up unknowingly.

A few minutes later, the owner of the shop, a middle aged man, came out and greeted them politely, and he immediately had his gaze fixated onto her in curiosity. The man’s eyes showed that he still remembered her.

“Aren’t you the one with that boy who came and shopped all day? That boy even bought the bear and proposed to you!”

He asked in fluent Korean, his mouth agape from genuine surprise. When Ji Kyung nodded shyly to his statement, it was clear that there was another guy with his mouth opened wide in disbelief, it was Myungsoo.

“Propose?”

---

In his mind, he was enraged when Ji Kyung finished explaining her side of the story. He had to ask himself if everything he has heard was real, but seeing the guilty expression on her face, he knew that she did not lie. It was pointless to lie at this point anyway. Myungsoo paced back and forth in agitated steps, scratching his head in frustration and collecting the appropriate words to continue the conversation he was having with Ji Kyung.

“So, Lee Byunghun was your boyfriend who passed away more than a year ago?”

He frowned as he made that question. He had to restrain himself from shouting at her, but his volume was evidently raised, just a little lower than a thundering roar. He could feel his blood boil as he waited for her answer. She timidly looked at him for a second, before lowering her head and just nodded like a little girl getting scolded by her parent.

“…And you were using me all this while to forget him? So, this was why you suggested we come to Japan?”

He continued to walk around the hotel room angrily, still trying to fully comprehend all the facts into his mind. He stopped pacing when he saw her shaky nod, and before his anger continued to rise, she shook her head the next second.

“Now what?”

His tone and facial expression was getting too much for her to handle. They were almost murderous, at least to her eyes, and she couldn’t help quiver at him fearfully. He observed how weak she had become and how small she looked at the moment, but the anger was caught up in his mind and his rational side was no longer in conscious control. To him, he was now convinced that he just had his feelings played by Ji Kyung all this while, due to the fact that he was only seen as the replacement of Byunghun, and he felt utterly betrayed. At that moment, he seemed to have completely forgotten the very first objective he had in his mind when he decided to approach Ji Kyung. All that was occupied in his mind now was how raw and genuine his feelings were, to be so upset over such a thing when he didn’t really have to care about, and these feelings were subconsciously trying to tell him that he had already fallen for her truthfully since ages ago.

“I-I suggested to come... B-because I thought you weren’t feeling w-well...”

She stuttered, but was still able to finish her sentence. He scoffed as a reply instantly. The frustration in him grew when he heard her saying that the trip was to relieve his stress, and he had the urge to spit everything out to her face at that very moment, blaming her and her ex-boyfriend for all the stress he was experiencing. Words were gathered in his mind, but in the end, they were stuck in his throat and only a puff of air came out heavily.

Still infuriated, Myungsoo took his phone on the table beside the bed and stormed out of the hotel room, leaving her alone sobbing and sniffling on the ground. The girl didn’t chase after him, but continued to drown in regret and tears. She began to draw the worst scenario in her mind, thinking about how Myungsoo was going to call it ends with her anytime soon, and particularly about what she should do next.

---

A couple of hours went by, and Ji Kyung had already stopped tearing. She was lying on the bed lifelessly, her puffy eyes screaming of pain and exhaustion. In the midst of all that, she tried to close her eyes and take a good rest, then leave everything to tomorrow. One minute into her light sleep, the door flung open, revealing a drunk Myungsoo wobbling into the room. She sat up in an instant, then got out of the bed to put an arm around him.

“Oppa…” She called weakly.

Coldly, he pushed her away in great force, resulting in her losing balance and fall. Tears started filling her eyes again, when he shouted at her to get away and get lost with her dead boyfriend.

“M-Myung... I’m sorry... I just... I want to forget him...”

She climbed back up from the floor, attempting to cling onto him again, but he still refused to even look at her. This time, he pushed her away lightly.

“Nonsense! Everything’s a nonsense!” He yelled depressingly.

But soon enough, sleep took over his body as he dropped to the floor and went completely unconcious. She gasped in surprise, then helped to bring him to the bed, pulled the blanket over him and call it a night for now.

---

The sunshine streamed into the window, shining brightly onto Myungsoo’s face, irritating his eyes. The guy opened his eyes slowly, squinting at the bright sun rays when he tried to do so. His head felt extra heavy and dizzy, and then he remembered how he went drinking last night. The sober guy finally massaged his temples gently, trying to ease his headache. A low growl came from his mouth when he felt a pang of pain attacking him once in a while. As he sat up from the bed after some time, he saw Ji Kyung sleeping beside him, still sniffling in her sleep and holding onto the hem of his shirt.

He sighed heavily looking at the poor girl. As much as he said that he shouldn't care so much since he wasn't sincere himself, at first, the guy’s heart seemed to tell him otherwise now. Subconsciously, his heart carried an immense amount of guilt for letting his beloved to cry herself to sleep. However, the guilt was quickly replaced by bewilderment, from the fact that she had been using him to forget her ex. All of the things came crashing down onto him, and he was lost and confused. He didn’t know what to do, and when he looked at Ji Kyung, he didn’t even know how to reconcile with her anymore.

“She may be wrong, but she just wanted to forget him right?” The thought ran through his mind.

Nonetheless, he knew that it will be difficult to go back to what they were before after learning the ugly truth. They were put into a very awkward situation, and it will definitely take time before they can act normally around each other again.

---

A week had passed but the young couple was still giving each other the silent treatment. Myungsoo was still thinking of a suitable way to reconcile with her, while Ji Kyung on the other hand was too guilty to even lock eyes with him. She was just waiting for the word “breakup” to be brought up. Their vacation was cut short, and they spent days doing their daily routine without a word, allowing the tension to linger in the air between them.

I told you he’s fake.

Byunghun’s voice was heard in her ears. She felt a chill brushing through her body, but had quickly regained her composure when she recalled the first time she heard him. It has been a while, but there was something unsettling about this. Was she missing him so much that she was starting to hallucinate? She was unsure, but for now, this wasn’t the priority, her broken relationship with Myungsoo is.

---

As usual, the pair went to university together by bus. Along the way, Myungsoo still didn't bother to start a conversation with her, he wasn’t even looking at her the whole time. Meanwhile, Ji Kyung felt helpless to the situation so she just stayed quiet like him. As they got off the bus, Myungsoo didn’t wish her a good day ahead, but he paused for a few seconds when they reached the hallway where they would separate. The both exchanged nothing, no glances nor words, and Myungsoo headed to the opposite direction after that. She let out a light sigh, her heart tightened and she could feel something clotted in . She let her eyes closed for a while, taking in a deep breath before raising her head to meet Luna waving her hands excitedly at her as usual. Tears started to build up in her eyes when she saw her best friend walking over to her with her all-so-familiar grin.

Luna was startled by what she had just observed when she came over, and quickly without wasting another second, she wiped away Ji Kyung’s tears with her thumb and pulled the sad one into a warm hug. Ji Kyung bawled in her arms, and she just patted the girl’s back gently trying to comfort her. Minutes later, Ji Kyung finally pulled herself away from the hug, wiping her puffy face off the hot tears and stared at Luna pitifully.

“You guys argued?” The latter asked.

"Yeah... He finally learnt the truth to why I suggested the Japan trip."

"Now, that’s troublesome." She sighed, her hand naturally placed on Ji Kyung’s shoulder to give her a sympathetic squeeze.

“Yeah... But Myungsoo didn’t say anything about breaking up...”

“Really?”

Luna raised her eyebrows in question. was slightly parted but no words came out of her for a few seconds. She seemed hesitant about something. In Luna's mind, she was aware all along that something was going on, but she didn’t know how to break the news to the fragile Ji Kyung in the least hurtful way, so she had always kept the truth hidden in darkness.

Faced with an eerily silent Luna, Ji Kyung grew worried and asked, “What’s wrong?”

The petite one shook her head and the smile that Ji Kyung recognized immediately found its way back to her face.

“I’m sure he loves you a lot, too much to be suggesting a breakup. Be patient, he will forgive you soon!” She reassures the saddened girl, but it was a white lie. Or maybe not.

There was nothing Ji Kyung could do at the very moment, so she decided to believe her bestie’s words.

---

There was about 15 minutes to the next class. Ji Kyung excused herself and went to the library to print some notes. Luna, on the other side, texted Myungsoo to meet her outside the toilet. When the both saw each other, Luna hastily motioned Myungsoo to come with her, and the two walked towards the staircase, out from the views of many students. Myungsoo gave her a questioning look, but she just replied with a dissatisfied facial expression. Her arms were folded and she tried to present herself in a confident manner.

“Kim Myungsoo, we need to talk.”

“What now?” Myungsoo groaned in frustration. He could use one less trouble in his life at that moment.

“Please... Just stop everything... Stop hurting her anymore...”

Her confident figure broke away soon enough, replaced by softened eyes as she pleaded earnestly. He felt a pang of heartache hitting him when he knew exactly what she was referring to.