Tori continued crying on the park bench; the elderly couple left quietly under the pretext of bringing her some water, but they had no intention of returning. At the first opportunity, they turned onto another path in the park.
“ I keep seeing strange things in this park..."
“ Poor girl, she's heartbroken... Should we go back and help her, dear?"
“ If you go back, I'll leave you outside the house, as if I didn't know you just want to keep staring at her legs... Come on, walk towards the house!... Move, it's getting late!"
Tori hugged herself, burying her head between her legs. The idea of growing old with her beloved Yukio faded from her mind. A strange contradiction was growing inside her”on one hand, the desire to return to his arms, and on the other hand, the sense of freedom she had experienced hours before made her feel liberated.
A hand landed on her
Present Time."And that’s how I finished my high school years, with a pair of gorillas watching every one of my movements as if I were a celebrity, because my overprotective cousin had the crazy idea of keeping me safe that way. Iwa’s joke got out of control, and I was receiving strange proposals from all kinds of stalkers.""If it hadn’t been that way, things would have gotten worse." The woman smiled. "You were lucky your cousin protected you.""Since then, I’ve hated homosexuals. Just imagining all that filth makes me nauseous." He ran his hand through his hair and looked at the woman, who remained calm while listening. "Sotomayor told me the other day that my head is full of prejudice about the subject.""It’s a taboo topic," she replied as if she had all the answers. "Did you have any other homosexual or unpleasant experiences that may have directly influenced your prejudice?"The question made him shudder. He remained silent for a few seconds that felt like an eternity while he
"Let’s go back to your homo-phobia. Do you remember when you discovered you felt repulsion toward homo-sexu4l people?""That one’s easy." He opened his eyes, staring at the bluish ceiling. "That happened when I was in high school…"Twelve years earlier…"Tanarro Sempai." A blushing girl with her hair tied with a yellow ribbon stood before him, slightly bowed, eyes closed, holding out a gift. "Sempai, I want to tell you that…""You like me?" a brown-haired boy replied arrogantly. "Is that what you came to say? What’s your name?""Sa… Sa… Sayu… Sayuri." She stammered as her body trembled."Ah, Sayuri… Answer me. Do you like me and want to go out with me?" He looked at her with disdain.Blushing, the girl nodded slightly, keeping her eyes shut and holding out her hands, waiting for him to accept her gift."Who do you think you are?... My family is one of the wealthiest and most powerful in this country. I’m Tanarro Yukio, and you are Sayuri X… You’re nobody." He spoke as if mocking her.
Flashback 4: The Day Before…"Michael! Michael! Dear Michael!" The gray-eyed one hugged the old man’s back playfully."What do you want, miss?" asked the butler discreetly."Today I don’t want Japanese food… Make me kimchi, please! Please!""But you tell me when I’ve already prepared steamed octopus," the old man protested."Let Yukio eat that!" she replied, glancing at the brown-haired man who was rummaging through the refrigerator for a beer. "He’s always hungry and eats everything he finds!""Mr. Tanarro doesn’t eat steamed octopus…" the butler answered, disappointed. "I’ll make your kimchi the way you like it, miss.""Thank you!" she smiled and jumped with joy. "I’ll have kimchi for dinner! I’ll have kimchi for dinner!""Brat!" said the brown-haired man. "How can you ask for kimchi at this hour?""Look who’s talking… Miss ‘I won’t eat steamed octopus.’""Everyone has something they don’t like… Miss, I don’t eat fish even if my life depends on it.""What are you saying?... Let me r
The Italian glanced at him sideways and shook his head."It's not the right time. If I go into the bathroom with you, we might not come out for the rest of the day...""Fine, your loss..." she said, disappearing behind the bathroom door.She reappeared in the living room holding Giulian’s hand, who proudly hugged and kissed her cheeks while defiantly staring at Thomas Won.The man looked at the Italian with envy. He merely gave a grim smile and occasionally glanced at the Japanese man, who remained seated in the room, now drinking another beer. He seemed calm and indifferent to the Italian's provocations."It’s just a façade. Tanarro is more than just Sotomayor’s cousin— I can tell by the way they look at each other."He didn’t say much. Sotomayor sat on the large couch, and beside her, the Italian kept pampering her and treating her affectionately, making it quite clear what kind of relationship they had. Yukio couldn’t stand the tension between the men, who kept glaring at each othe
Another beautiful morning begins.The first thing she did was open the first page of that notebook where she was supposed to write the list. She had been thinking about it the night before, but in the end, she didn’t manage to write anything because her mind was occupied solely by the image of the gray-eyed girl who was comfortably asleep on the sofa.She opened the small window of the bedroom and leaned her head out to enjoy the beautiful view a little more. The summer breeze tousled her chestnut hair, which hadn’t been cut in more than three months and now moved rebelliously across her face.From the window, she observed her street and recognized Kentzuque, who was wearing his gym uniform and walking casually beside his friends. She immediately knew that teenager would skip class again and smiled."One of these days, you're going to get into serious trouble for skipping school… When you're an adult, you’ll wish you could go back to your school days and then you’ll regret wasting tim
Two hours later…She laughed in a joyful and sensual manner, holding a margarita in her right hand. He spoke to her slowly; their glances said everything. The flirtatious exchange between drinks had heightened the mood."And why not?" asked the woman with black hair and brown eyes."Aren’t good girls supposed to be home before midnight?""That’s the problem—I’m not a good girl," she replied, looking at him flirtatiously and then leaning in to whisper in his ear. "So I'm in no rush to go home…"They held hands and walked toward the exit. He scanned the room for his best friend, who was still dancing with another woman. He gave him a brief wave goodbye and left with the woman.Normally, he would have shown off his beautiful Mercedes, taken her to the most luxurious hotel in the city to impress her with his gold card, ordered the finest bottle of wine or champagne depending on her taste, and after satisfying his lust and thirst for intimacy, he would’ve left her there with a, “Don’t worr