With his hand still holding onto the handle of the door Jiro turned to see Ella walking toward him. Did she come from work?

“What are you doing here?” Jiro questioned.

Ella glanced at the Day Care then returned her look to him.

“I’m not here to bother Selina,” Ella told.

Jiro’s hard eyes did not leave her face for one second.

“You can’t fall for her if she likes Chun,” Ella said.

Jiro felt like he’d just been stabbed. His eyes wavered a bit over her then he gulped.

“Selina’s a smart girl,” Jiro stated. “She knows clearly what she wants…”

“I don’t want her near Chun,” Ella told without turning away even if she was tempted to.

Jiro became speechless for a moment then snorted, “You think Chun is still yours? You’ve already stepped out of his life don’t think you can claim Deshi back because Chun will never let that happen.”

Ella bit her lip, “I don’t want Selina to end up like me.”

“But she’ll never leave her child behind,” Jiro pointed out. “Even if I don’t know her well she has a conscience.”

Ella stared back at Jiro pointlessly.

“I heard you’re getting engaged soon,” Jiro told, “congrats and don’t leave him hanging behind you like you did Chun.”

With that Jiro got in his car and speeded off. Why should Ella warn him about things he knew clearly of? Ella shouldn’t try to make everything a bigger problem than it is. Just leaving things the way they were would maintain peace.

+++

Ella got into her car seat and leaned back in her chair in order to relax a little. Would Chun tell her the truth? Or would Jiro? Would Selina despise her? If Selina ended up near Chun she would just end up hurt. If Ella couldn’t get him Selina shouldn’t either. They would all end up hurt. Yet Selina would be the most injured and Ella knew clearly what love does to Selina. She’d never had luck with it all her life.  

+++

Selina found herself relaxing next to Chun that evening while Deshi took his nap. She had reminded herself over and over to ask Chun about being her date to Ella’s engagement ceremony, but something had made her hesitant. As the show turned into a commercial Selina sighed again and again.

“What?” Chun asked.

“What, what?” Selina asked turning to look at him.

“You’ve been doing this for the past hour,” Chun said imitating Selina’s sighs.

Selina gave a small fake laugh and turned back to stare at the TV screen. She was silent for a bit then turned to him.

“If I ask something would you say yes?” Selina asked.

“Why would I say yes?” asked Chun.

Selina made a face, “Come on you have to say yes.”

“What are you going to ask?” Chun questioned.

“Well I was going to ask Jiro but…” Selina started.

Chun raised an eyebrow, “If you really liked that date with Jiro I can set one up again.”

“No, no!” Selina shouted.

Chun chuckled then rested his head on his head.

“What?” he asked.

“Well…my friend is getting engaged next week and she wanted us to bring dates,” Selina started.

“You just wanted me to be your date?” Chun asked then laughed. “Why don’t you just say so? Who’s this friend of yours?”

“You know…my friend…Ella,” Selina told.

Chun’s laugh vanished from his face. His face became dark and expressionless as if there had been no trace of happiness at all. Selina wondered if she did something wrong.

“I’m sorry I’ll have to say no,” Chun replied turning his face away from her.

“Chun…” Selina started.

“Just leave me alone will you?” Chun boasted loudly in a mean way.

Selina bit her lip wondering what had gotten into him.

He felt like he was being crushed by a block of cold ice. Ella was already moving on. Had she forgotten about him and Deshi already? She should win the gold medal for forgetting so quickly Chun thought sarcastically. He felt his heart burn up with unspeakable pain. Ella was getting engaged. Who was that lucky guy? Chun wanted to see him to see what he had that Chun lacked. What would make Ella choose him? Chun knew it was stupid of him to even be thinking of his feelings for Ella especially when Selina was sitting right in front of him. He was an idiot. Was he just using Selina? Was she just an object he was using to forget about Ella? Without realizing Chun had already gotten up from the couch and shut the door behind him as he entered his room.

Selina stared at the closed door feeling bewildered. She never could see in her mind Chun closing the door on her. Then she knew why she could never see him doing that. It was because she didn’t even know him well enough, but still Selina wondered what she had said that was so wrong. She’d done nothing wrong so why was he angry? It was just Ella’s engagement.

The next morning Selina had insisted on going on her own to the Day Care, but Chun refused to let her go alone. Selina wanted to ask him about what exactly was wrong, but held onto her patience. Maybe he would come to her when he wanted to. Chun glanced at the apartment building. That was the first time he’d met Ella after a year. Was he doing wrong by choosing Selina now? He watched Selina climb out of the car quietly and glanced back a little. As their eyes met for a split second Selina quickly turned away and headed for the door to the building. Did he scare Selina? Was he already hurting her without knowing? The one thought finally came to him then. The thought that if Selina ever found out about him and Ella how hurt she’d be.   

+++

Selina stopped in the middle of the apartment and wondered what she was doing there. She forgot what she’d come there to do. Selina shook her head. Something was bothering her and she knew that for certain. She’d had that feeling before. She’d had that feeling when she’d already seen Alan, her ex, with another girl and he told her it was just a cousin. Selina had believed the whole story at first then found out later that Alan and that girl had already slept together and were seeing each other before he’d met her. Someone was hiding something. Was it Chun? She didn’t want it to be him. That picture she’d seen. Ella…could it be?

“Stupid!” Selina screamed at herself. “I’m not going the wrong way. I know I’m not.”

Selina looked around the room frantically. Remembering she’d suffered greatly from depression after her breakup with Alan. The doctor had put her on pills for a year after graduation.

+++

Chun heard his cell phone ring startling him out of his thoughts.

“Selina?” Chun asked as he answered the phone.

“Go ahead without me,” Selina told.

“I’ll wait,” Chun told.

“Just go ahead. It’ll be a while before I come,” Selina tried then lied, “there’s an urgent phone call from my parents I have to take.”

“Oh…alright then. I’ll see you over there, but no matter how long it is I’ll wait for you over there.” Chun said.

“Ok,” was all Selina replied.

+++

Selina heard the tone that meant Chun had already hung up. Just hearing his voice had assured her enough that he wasn’t hiding anything. She wanted to believe in his goodness. Chun wouldn’t intentionally lie to her. Ella wouldn’t either. They were classmates. Getting off the ground Selina headed toward her bedroom and slammed the door after her.

As Chun promised when she got to the Day Care an hour and a half later Chun was still waiting for her.

“Are you ok?” Chun asked. “What did your parents say?”

“My parents?” Selina asked then recalling her lie she smiled. “It’s nothing big.”

Chun watched as Deshi crawled over to her. Selina rubbed his cheek and laughed.

“What took you so long?” asked Chun.

“You waited long?” Selina questioned.

“It doesn’t matter,” Chun replied, “I’ll go now.”

Chun waited for Selina to give him a farewell, but he did not receive one. Reluctantly he left the Day Care.

“What is wrong with me?” Selina questioned herself.

As Jiro watched Selina sit silently seeming aloof Jiro figured something was wrong. The Selina he knew was never like that. Leaving Deshi with some toys Jiro made his way over to Selina.

“What’s Deshi’s caretaker zoning out for?” asked Jiro nudging Selina.

“He’s only a little kid not someone old,” Selina pouted turning to Jiro.

“Nice to see you still have that attitude,” Jiro complimented sarcastically.

“If I tell you something will you tell Chun?” Selina questioned.

“Like what?” Jiro asked.

Selina pressed her lips nervously, “Promise not to tell him?”

Jiro eyed Selina closely and could see that she meant what she was saying. Did something happen? Or did she find out about something?

“I promise,” Jiro told.

Wetting her lips Selina continued, “I was cleaning up the other day and I thought it’d be ok to go into Chun’s room to tidy up a bit even if it seems tidy already. I don’t know…I searched around and I looked in his drawer. I found a photo album and saw some pictures. I know Ella already told me they were just classmates, but…they look so close in those pictures. I didn’t think much of it at first, but I’m getting this feeling that someone is hiding something from me. I know it’s only been two days or so that I’ve been with Chun, but something’s amiss.”

“It’s just a picture,” Jiro tried.

“I know but haven’t you heard pictures can reveal things we’re hiding?” Selina questioned.

“What do you mean?” Jiro questioned.

Selina bit her bottom lip.

“Never mind,” Selina said.

Maybe she shouldn’t talk to Jiro, but keep this to herself? Besides talking about finding those pictures already made her feel better. She didn’t want Jiro to know she was thinking that maybe Ella and Chun had once been together. If it wasn’t true she’d be a fool and if it is then…it’s another story to talk about. Selina smiled and shook her head.

“Don’t talk about it if you don’t want to,” Jiro said. “But I know something is still bothering you.”

“Jiro,” Selina turned back to Jiro after a while. “I have a bad history of bad depression.”

“Everyone faces that once in a lifetime,” Jiro told.

“No,” Selina shook her head, “I’m saying I could be idiotic enough to kill myself.”

Jiro’s face suddenly became serious causing Selina to laugh.

“Only if I’m idiotic enough,” Selina remarked, “but here’s my other story.”

Selina then explained about her meeting with her ex boyfriend and how she had gone into deep depression that caused her to take pills in order to stabilize herself.

“How long ago was that?” Jiro questioned.

“Two years,” Selina replied.

Jiro smiled and put his hand on the back of her hand comfortingly.

“Chun won’t hurt you. He won’t do things unintentionally,” Jiro told. “I know him.”

Jiro then promised he wouldn’t let Chun do anything that would hurt Selina. As long as he was there he wouldn’t let Selina fall. He felt surprised that he’d become dedicated to one person in such a short amount of time.

“Ella’s getting engaged next week and wants us to bring dates, if Chun doesn’t go will you go with me?” Selina asked.

Jiro stared at Selina lost with her question. There were dozens of possibilities, but of one Selina wanted to bring a date to Ella’s engagement?

“You…have you asked Chun?” asked Jiro.

Selina nodded her head yes and Jiro felt himself gulp. Jiro realized that Chun must have been upset by the news. Chun was still hurt and Ella was happily enjoying herself.

“I’ll go with you so tell Chun not to go,” Jiro told.

Selina stared at him silently then without asking answered, “Ok.”

After Deshi started crying again Selina hurried off to see what was wrong leaving Jiro in the same spot. Should he find time to talk to Chun? But shouldn’t he give Chun and Selina more time to spend together? Jiro shook his head coming to the conclusion that leaving Chun to be alone with Selina would only make him think of Ella, yet there wasn’t really anything for him to do except sit. If Selina was hurt she’d had to deal with it because she brought herself into their misery. Jiro felt bad for thinking that way, but there was no helping it. Deshi’s body had their blood flowing through him and that was a fact they couldn’t deny. Everything was already starting to get worse and Jiro didn’t want to make things worse by bringing himself into the picture.