Sakura's been missing in action for more than a month, but she's keeping in touch with Nako for some updates. It's funny because she promised her dad to go to Canada, but she shifted her flight to Japan. Luckily, her father don't have any idea where she is. After hearing that Yujin already remembered Minjoo, it made her genuinely happy. At last, the love of her life can be happy now.
She's at the café drinking her Americano and reading the business page of a Japanese news site.
"Miyawaki Gaming Corporation will dominate North America"
Sakura clicked her tongue as she read the highlights.
As she was sipping her coffee, she saw a familiar friend of hers, and her heart just stopped. It's Lee Chaeyeon.
However, she's still not in good terms with the other girl since the engagement issue thing. Sakura was still mad at the other girl for ruining her relationship with Minjoo.
As she remembered the past issue, Chaeyeon caught Sakura staring at her. The Japanese girl panicked and spilled her drink on the table. She saw the other girl chuckled which made her embarrassed. She quickly wiped the mess and continued reading from her IPad.
After a few minutes, a girl tapped Sakura's table,
"I know you're still mad at me for the thing I didn't do, but the café is full so can I share the table with you?"
"Oo-okay. I'll be leaving soon anyway."
Chaeyeon sat in front of Sakura and started taking photo of her yogurt ice cream.
Sakura can't help but to smile at the other girl. They used to be best friends.
"You still like yogurt ice cream huh?"
Chaeyeon was surprised that the other girl is talking to her.
"Of course. How are you, by the way?"
"Not so good. Everything is a mess right now. No one even knows I'm here in Japan."
"Ehh? Why is that? Does your dad bugging you again?"
"Sort of."
"Your dad is really an asshole, by the way." Chaeyeon said while eating.
Sakura laughed at the other girl. It's been a year or two since they last saw each other. It was not a fun memory though.
Flashback
After hearing the engagement news and confronting her father, Sakura went out to go to Chaeyeon. She felt betrayed that her bestfriend will be a part of this mess. She knew that Chaeyeon knows how much she loves Minjoo.
Sakura knocked at her bestfriend's house and Mrs. Lee was the one who opened the door.
"Good evening, Ms. Lee." Sakura sobbingly greeted.
"I--is Chaeyeon there?"
Mrs. Lee just nodded and opened the door for the young woman. Sakura quickly went to her best friend's room and saw Chaeyeon reading a book. The other girl was surprised to saw Sakura looking so devastated and angry.
"Are you part of this?" Sakura asked.
Chaeyeon was confused.
"Part of what?"
"DON'T.. PLEASE... DON'T ACT LIKE AN IDIOT CHAEYEON."
"What the heck are you talking about Kkura?"
"DON'T CALL ME THAT!! IS IT BECAUSE OF YOUR BUSINESS? DOES MY DAD GONNA SAVE YOUR INCOMPETENT FATHER?"
"Wait. Why are you talking about my father? Do you realize how rude you are right now?"
"WOW. YOU'RE NOW CALLING ME RUDE? TELL ME HOW MUCH MY FATHER PAID YOUR FAMILY FOR YOU TO BE MY FIANCEE?"
Chaeyeon was surprised with what Sakura stated.
"What do you mean by fiancée?"
"DON'T BE STUPID CHAEYEON. MI--MINJOO BROKE UP WITH ME BECAUSE MY FATHER TOLD HER I'M ENGAGED WITH YOU."
Sakura started to cry out loud.
"IT WAS ALL OVER THE NEWS. I TOLD MY DAD TO TELL MINJOO IT WAS A LIE, BUT HE DON'T WANT IT. NOW, I FEEL SO ANGRY BECAUSE YOU WERE PART OF THIS. I AM SO ANGRY."
Chaeyeon went to the other girl to hug her, but Sakura pushed her away.
"I hate you, Lee Chaeyeon. I'll make sure this engagement and marriage will not push through. You're not my friend anymore. The moment you agreed on this, you already turned your back at me."
"But, Sakura--"
Before Chaeyeon finished talking, Sakura already left.
"I did not know."
End of flashback
To be honest, Sakura can still feel the pain from what happened. However, she never heard Chaeyeon's side. She was too angry and too naïve.
Sakura packed her things and bid the other girl goodbye.
"If you need anything, call me." Chaeyeon said while giving her business card.
"Ms. Lee Chaeyeon, CEO of I-ZON Ent."
Sakura smiled. She knew how her bestfriend wants to manage her own talent agency.
"I'm so proud you made it." Sakura said.
Chaeyeon teared up because she made that agency for Sakura. She wants to make her proud despite of what happened between them.
"Thank you, Kkura." Chaeyeon answered back.
Sakura left the café and rode the subway on her way to her condo. As she was walking, she saw another familiar figure, it was Ahn Yujin and Jang Wonyoung.
Yujin saw and greeted her.
"Hello, Sakura-unnie!"
"O--ohh. Yujin, what are you doing here?"
"We're had our vacation/classes here. Wonyoung is for fashion design and mine's about music. We're going back tomorrow."
"That's great. Are you guys busy? We can talk in the condo. I can't be seen outside." the Japanese girl laughed.
"Yeah. Sure."
The two girls are in the living room while the Japanese girl is preparing coffee.
"Kkura-unnie, everyone is looking for you. Especially Minjoo. Should I tell everyone that you're in Japan?" Yujin asked.
"No. To be honest, nobody knows I'm here. Except the two of you." Sakura answered while placing the coffee in the table.
"But, why?" Wonyoung asked.
"My father is asking me to marry Minjoo and to stop doing unnecessary things."
Yujin felt uneasy hearing those. Minjoo and Sakura are not dating.
"But how about you Yujin? I heard you remembered Minjoo already. Have you settled things out?" Sakura asked.
Wonyoung was confused on what they are talking about.
"What do you mean remembered?"
Yujin sighed because she haven't told her bestfriend about the issue yet.
"Wonyoungie, remember during the sleepover at Yena-unnie's house when Minjoo said that she lost her memory about her first love?"
Wonyoung nodded.
"It was me."
"Ehhh? How? Why? You don't even remember her. We haven't even met her before? How can this be possible? I only know that your mom erased her memories."
Yujin expected a lot of questions.
"I just recently remembered her. She's my childhood friend together with Chaewon."
"Ki--kim Chaewon?? Wait. How can I not know this, Yujin? I am your best friend."
"I know. Let's just not fight here okay? Let's talk about it somewhere else."
"No, Yujin. I let you use me as your girlfriend, and now this is how you'll play? I shared to you almost everything. I told you how Ryujin is messing me up, and now this?"
Sakura was shocked.
"Wait. So, you guys are not dating?"
"You heard it right. Yujin is deeply in love with Minjoo, but she cares for her family more. That's why we play as couple."
"Minjoo and I aren't dating too." Sakura confessed.
"Yeah. We know." the girls said in unison.
"Well, how is it Yujin? Knowing that you're part of the experiment?" Sakura asked.
"Huh?" Yujin asked back.
"You didn't know? You're part of the experiment. That's why you also lost your memories." Sakura explained.
Tears fell out from Yujin's eyes.
Wonyoung was shocked with what she heard. It makes sense why Yujin doesn't remembered her childhood memories, including Minjoo.
She hugged the other girl.
Sakura, on the other hand, realized that Yujin doesn't know yet.
"I'm sorry, Yujin. I thought you already know the truth. I'm really really sorry."
Yujin wiped her tears and stood up.
"No, Sakura-unnie. Thank you for telling me this. I think my brother and Minjoo don't have the guts to tell this either. I believe I deserve to know the truth. We'll be leaving now."
Yujin and Wonyoung bowed to the older girl and left.
She quickly called Nako that she told Yujin about the experiment.
"Matthew haven't told her because Yujin loves her mom so much. This smells trouble, unnie."
"I know. I'm sorry."
"When are you coming back anyway? Minjoo just keeps on asking for you."
"I can't just come back, Nako. I need to figure all this out. My father won't hurt you if I stayed here."
Nako sighed.
"You really need to talk to Minjoo. She looks uneasy lately. She just need to tell you something."
"Okay. I'll call her now. Thank you, Nako. Tell Matthew, I'm sorry I screwed up."
"Yeah. I will. Take care."
Nako ended the call, and Sakura dialed Minjoo's number.
"Hello, Minjoo-ssi?"
"THANK GOD SAKURA YOU'RE ALIVE. WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?"
Sakura can hear Minjoo crying.
"Hey, why are you crying? Did something happen?"
"Yo--your da--dad."
"What about him?"
"He'll kill them if you don't come back in Korea. He said I should bring you to him within 1 month and I just can't reach you. I---I."
Minjoo continued to cry. It was painful for Sakura to hear this. It hurts hearing Minjoo like this.
"Hush now, I'll come back okay? Promise. I'll come back. Just give me a week to process things okay?"
"I only have 3 days left, Kkura. Come back now."
"I'll talk to Dad, okay? Don't cry now. I'll fix this. I promise."
Minjoo just cried even harder.
"Thank you, Kkura. Thank you."
"Please don't cry, Minjoo. Take a rest now, okay?"
The call ended and Sakura sent an email to her dad that she'll be coming back to Seoul after one week.
"Thank goodness you're alive. Make sure you'll come back, Sakura. I'll see you soon.
Love,
Dad"
Meanwhile, Wonyoung and Yujin went back to their hotel room without saying any word. Wonyoung know Yujin is upset with what she heard from Sakura.
"Are you alright?" Wonyoung asked.
"Uhm yeah. I'm okay." Yujin answered.
"We're going back to Korea tomorrow. You should rest now." Wonyoung said.
"I'm sorry I didn't tell you the truth. About me and Minjoo. As well as the investigation. I didn't realized how painful it is to be lied on until it happened to me. It must be painful for you to know that your bestfriend kept something from you."
"It's okay, Yujin. I'm sorry that you're hurting right now. Maybe they have their own reasons why they kept it from you. You should hear their side too."
"I just don't know who to trust. It's frustrating. I just."
"It's okay. I'm here for you."
Wonyoung patted Yujin's back. She realized that after all these years, it's the first time that she comforted her bestfriend. It's always the other way around. Everytime someone bullies her, Yujin always protects her.
She hugged Yujin even tighter.
"Thank you for being here, Wonyoungie."
Yujin separated from the hug and looked at Wonyoung.
"Let's not hurt each other. Let's end this fake dating thing. You deserve someone better. I'll explain everything to Mom once we come back to Seoul."
Yujin smiled weakly.
Wonyoung knew it's the right timing.
"No. I don't want anyone better, Yujin."
Yujin was puzzled.
"I only want you. I like you, Ahn Yujin. I like you so much that I would die everytime I see you. Your smile, your humor, and everything about you is so damn beautiful. I know you like Minjoo, and that's okay. I know I'll be just the second girl in your heart."
"Wonyoung.."
"I don't know if this will change our relationship, but I just want to let this all out before I fall even deeper for you. Even if there's someone in your heart right now, my feelings for you never changed."
Tears fell from Wonyoung's eyes.
"I like you, Yujin. I like you a lot. You're so stupid that you don't even see it."
Now, it's Yujin's turn to hug the other girl.
"I know what you feel towards me, Wonyoung. I really do. You're not the second girl, Wonyoung. You have your own place in my heart." Yujin chuckled.
"I don't need to hear your sweet words, Yujin. Just dump me if you want." Wonyoung said.
"Aigoo. This girl." Yujin said while patting the other girl's head.
It was a warm night. Wonyoung is happy that their friendship became closer than before. It didn't made their relationship awkward. However, both of them agreed to give space from each other so that Wonyoung can move on from Yujin.
The next day
Yujin and Wonyoung successfully arrived in Korea. Both are still awkward with what happened last night in Japan. Even though they agreed not to be awkward with one another, they just can't help it.
Mrs. Ahn personally met them in the arrival section of the airport and hugged both girls.
"Let's go?" Mrs. Ahn invited.
Everyone is silent inside the car when Yujin asked her mom a ticking time bomb.
"Am I really involved in the failed experiment 8 years ago?"
Wonyoung just stared at her bestfriend, and for the first time, she saw how angry the other girl is.