I pretended I heard nothing, said sorry then continued to walk quickly away.  I almost reached the valet when someone suddenly grabbed my arm.  I yanked it back but the grip was too strong, I had no choice but to stop and face him.

"Why are your running away Chiseki?  You look like you saw a ghost.  Don't you think that should have been my reaction?  You did a good job of disappearing.  Why bother showing up now?"

Ahhh. This man.  I miss him so much that I could only mutely gaze at him.  I'm back to my old habits. Dumbstruck, dumbfounded, just plain dumb.  "It's good to see you."  I said quietly.

"If you don't want to make a scene, come with me. He let go of my arm and took my hand.  We went to his penthouse suite and he sat me down.  Poured himself a brandy and sat across me.  He looked at me for a long time and I was content to look at him too.

"Why now Chiseki? Ten long years, I've looked for you.  I couldn't find any trace. Neither Kyouko Lee nor Chiseki Moon do not exist.  A name isn't a good enough answer for me this time.  Who are you?!"

"Why did you bother looking for me?  We just ate and studied together.  We were friends.  And friends grow apart all the time."  I answered tonelessly.

Fury crossed his face and he closed the distance between us.   He leaned and kissed me full on the lips.  Coaxing and punishing.  I wasn't by any chance immune to his charms.  Had neither the strength nor the will to fight back.  I simply surrendered to the onslaught.  He took it as assent and deepened the kiss.  Fire followed where his hands explored from the back of my neck going excruciatingly south.  He slowly pushed me on my back. I was helplessly pliable.  At the back of my mind, it was barely registering that we were going way too fast.  I didn't care.  A decade of longing was taking over, consuming me entirely. He paused for a while and the hussy that I didn't know resided in me, impatiently pulled him back for another mind blowing kiss.  Frustration rumbled in his chest as he abruptly stood up muttering the words sorry and a minute.  He walked towards the door which by now sounded like a battering ram was about to break it down. I closed my eyes expecting him to deal with it while I was slowly regaining some semblance of reality.

"Chiseki! Chiseki!!!"  I straightened up as if doused with water.  I am confused why Yato is here. As Young Do opened the door he walked past him checking the room until he found me. When he did, he took in my dishelved appearance and promptly punched Young Do in the face who was caught unaware.  The surprise attack stunned Young Do but he quickly returned the favor in kind.

"What did you do? You bastard!" Yato spat out as he staggered backwards.  And walked towards Young Do with murderous intent.

"And who are you?",  asked Young Do while touching his split lip.

I shouted, "Stop the both of you. Please!" Predictably, both of them ignored me and said in unison "Stay out of it.  I'll deal with you later."

"You leave me no choice then."  I proceeded with immobilizing them with the chi-blocking technique onii-chan taught me.  It's funny how their eyes bulged incredulously with my little trick.  I said, "Don't worry, it has no after effects.  I'll release you both if you promise to stop fighting.  Blink twice if you agree." Yato immediately blinked but it took a little longer with Young Do. It's not hard to guess that he's mad at being immobilized like this.  When I finally freed them, both turned warily towards me.

"Young Do, this is Yato Honda our classmate from high school. Remember him? Maybe not.  He also left after I left school."  Then I turned to Yato. "Yato, this is Young Do but you already know who he is, right?"  Yato nodded in response.

Young Do replied hotly, "I don't care who he is. Why have you kept in contact with him and not with me?  What is the nature of your relationship?"

"Friends."  I immediately said.

"Lovers...soon to be engaged."  Yato corrected.

"What are you talking about?  And why are you here?  How did you know I was here?"  I shouted at Yato. I turned to Young Do, pleaded "It's not true!"  Young Do's eyes was full of anger and distrust.

Yato interrupted saying, "I already asked mother and father for your hand in marriage and they have agreed."

"Get out!" said Young Do not looking at me.  I grabbed his arm and said "It's not true.  Don't misunderstand.  We are just friends."

"Like we are friends?" he bitterly asked.

"Not like us."

"I don't know anything about you but he's already gotten your parents' approval."

"I don't know why he's acting crazy, but I assure you were not lovers and he definitely won't be my fiancé."  To Yato, I said "Stop joking.  Tell him we're just friends!"  But he remained silent.  Young Do refused to look at me.  It was like this last time.  He is too stubborn.

I was at a loss what to do. Yato gently led me away from the room.  I was numb, thinking over and over.  He doesn't believe me.  How can I make him see the truth?  I was in deep thought when suddenly Yato stepped on the brakes. Young Do intercepted the car and immediately went inside before Yato had time to lock the doors.  Several cars behind honked at us and Yato had no choice but to move forward.  Yato stopped where there was no traffic. "Get out of the car." He said to Young Do.

"You are sending Chiseki home right? I'm going with you.  I have to see for myself who among the two of you is telling the truth."

"That may not be possible, Young Do.  Let me talk to dad first."

"Why the hell not?  I'll talk to him man to man."

"He isn't just any man.  And what are you going to tell him?  Let the two of us sort out first whatever it is we need to sort out."

"NO!!!"  Both shouted at me again at the same time.

"I don't trust this bozo alone with you, Chiseki," said Yato.  While Young Do said, "I don't trust you Chiseki that I'll be able to see you again."

Uh huh. 27 years old and my two best friends profess to having little to absolutely no faith in me.  Clearly, I have not been living my life correctly.

"Fine, we're going home and you both talk to dad."  I sulked and everyone remained silent on the way home.  It felt like we were all high school again.