“I’m sorry for lashing out at you the other day. I was just… upset.” Jinah fiddled her bag’s strap nervously as she hung her head low in embarrassment. Sure, there were other ways to apologize to a clueless and innocent person, but his brain was not functioning properly. It was as if his brain had this reset button that automatically immobilizes him and refrains him from doing anything sane and right.

A soft chuckle was audibly heard as he sighed. “If that’s what is bothering you, then, you have nothing to be worried about. I… understand how you felt I think. I-I mean you’re right that I know nothing about you except for the aura you give and the façade that you always put on.” He tried his best not to stammer and not to sound as if he was making her feel guilty for not opening up to him.

‘I guess I’m not the only one getting affected by my own actions.’

“So, tell me. Tell me everything I need to know about you.”

She gave him a look and he took it as a sign of disapproval.

“Well, maybe not everything about you. Just important bits of your life then. I kind of feel really bad and lost all the time when I’m with you and your friends. You always exchange looks at a certain word and give out hints that I was never successful to decipher. I’m supposed to be your boyfriend here but how could I be when I clearly know nothing? I mean, I know we are only obliged to put a boyfriend and girlfriend act in public, but I feel like at least I should relate to you. I just need and want to know more about you.”

The sound of desperation in his voice lingered in Jinah’s ears. Maybe he was trying to hold back everything that he wanted to tell her, afraid that it would just hurt her or push her away from him. She never realised how passionate and how much he cared about the little things.

His plea of knocking down her walls had turned into something more. Not only did he want to come closer to her by heart and mind, but he also wanted her to dig down and open her past she had kept for so long. Although he meant no harm, she couldn’t help but feel a queasy feeling inside.

Although a part of her was unwilling to tell him more than what he knew, she had surrendered to the other part of her that was begging her to let somebody else know what she truly felt and what she truly was.

“I am not what you think I am,” she started and looked away, letting the wind sweep her hair messily. “There is so much that you don’t know about me. You may think that I am this innocent, loving and sweet girl but sadly, I am not.” Bitterness was obvious in her tone. “My past is something you don’t want to know. It’s ugly and dark. Unruly and unwanted.”

She sighed as he followed her to the bench and sat down. “That’s something you are not supposed to know yet. Maybe I will tell you soon. Since people think I’m just an orphan who thrived on my own, they don’t really get curious about my past so we can leave it as is for now.”

“Then why mention it in the first place?” he whispered childishly while making an unsatisfied