I blinked several times, I heard what he said but I just couldn't process it. 

"Lee, it's not even funny" I didn't think he was joking but my brain just refused to believe what he just said.

He laughed bitterly "Nope, not even close to funny"

"Why did you say that? What do you mean?"

He looked at me for a few seconds, before he took a deep breath and said "I know Amber all my life. Ever since she was born. There are pictures of us playing together, embarrassing pictures of us taking a bubble bath together as we were toddlers, we spent our holidays mostly together. I watched her grow up and somewhere along the way, I fell in love with her."

His eyes were looking at an indefinite point "Some find that weird though, they say I could get any girl I want, why Amber. Why a girl who doesn't even like to wear make up, who owns no skirt and refuses to wear girls' uniform to school. But she's beautiful like that for me. I wouldn't want her to change" The corner of his lips formed a small smile before he continued "She used to be a lot happier as a kid, she broke her arms and legs so many times from climbing trees. She was a bundle of joy and happiness. Everything changed after..."

He didn't continue. I looked at him and said "...after her mom left?"

He nodded "Her world turned upside down, everything fell apart, leaving a scared little girl inside who tried to keep the strong exterior. Everyone left."

"You stayed" I said to him

Lee smiled "Maybe because I am selfish, because I want her for me"

"No, it's because you love her"

As much as it hurts for me to say, I can feel that this guy is sincere towards Amber. Maybe even more than me.

"Anyways, she never contacted me first, I was the one who called her. Our calls never lasted longer than 5 minutes, she always said she had nothing to tell. Until that day. I can remember it like yesterday. She sounded... happy and excited about something. I asked her what happened. She told me at first she has now two puppies. I thought it was the reason and then she started to talk about you. The way she described you, how beautiful your eyes are, how your hair got messed up from the helmet, how you moved, how you talked, how you sometimes bit your lower lip. I thought at first it was because she finally found a friend but after sometimes I know it was more than that. She remembered every single thing about you, every single moves you made."

He let out a loud sigh "I still didn't want to believe it. That was actually my reason to come along to Korea. I needed to see if I was right, if I still have hope. The moment I saw how she looked at you, I know I have no chance. She only has eyes for you, her world revolves around you." He turned around to face me "Do you even know how much I envy you at that moment? How much I hope she would look at me like that?"

My throat went dry.

"That day at the basketball court, she saw that guy patted you on the head and she just lost it. Amber never even once started a fight, that was the first time she ever got violent. And the silly me, I tried to make her jealous, I wanted her to be jealous. Of course it didn't work"

Lee looked at me and slowly said "No matter how much I wished it were me, it's not. It's you. She loves you"

I gritted my teeth "No, if she loves me, why did she leave? Why is she with you?"

He said carefully "Amber has...circumstances. To this point, I am her only way out. I know she doesn't love me but I told her I don't care. Th