As soon as Sayuri stepped back into the cabin, something felt wrong. Fear slowly crept into her chest. Had Jun really known everything this whole time and still stayed silent while she suffered?
She took a deep breath and slowly climbed the stairs, almost as if she were trying to avoid the moment.
"You're back? Where did you guys go?"
Sayuri lowered her head.
"I'll tell you later, Yume. Do you know if Jun's in his room?"
"He's not."
Sayuri immediately looked at her.
"He's not? Where is he? I need to talk to him."
"Why?"
"Yume, please…"
Seeing how serious she was, Yume sighed and shook her head.
"I don't know exactly. I just saw him grab his guitar and head toward the forest."
Without another word, Sayuri hurried back down the stairs and ran toward the direction Yume had pointed out.
As she stepped onto the stone path between the trees, she began hearing the soft sound of a guitar. Gentle notes floated through the cold air, followed by Jun's smooth, comforting voice quietly singing.
Her eyes instantly filled with tears.
She walked closer.
There he was, sitting on a fallen log.
"Jun…" she whispered.
She slowly sat beside him, and he smiled softly at her without stopping the song.
"It's beautiful…" she murmured, her voice trembling.
When he leaned in to kiss her cheek, she turned her face away and stared ahead.
His expression changed immediately.
"What's wrong?" he asked, setting the guitar aside.
Sayuri didn't know how to begin. Maybe because she had been trying so hard to avoid the truth.
"Jun…"
"Hey…" He gently lifted her chin. "Did the conversation go badly? What did he say?"
Finally, she looked into his eyes. A tear slid down her cheek.
"You knew… this whole thing was a game?"
Jun frowned in confusion.
"A game? What are you talking about, love?"
She looked toward the horizon and took a shaky breath.
"You knew all along… that Kenji was playing with me?"
Jun's eyes widened.
"What?? No, love, playing with you?? He said that??"
"You really didn't know, Jun? That all of this started as some childish plan to push us together? That according to him, this whole thing was helping us fall in love?"
She looked at him with disappointment written all over her face.
"Answer me, Jun…"
Jun knew exactly what she was referring to, but he was confused because all of that was in the past. Kenji had already given up on that stupid game long ago.
"No, that wasn't his plan anymore… he had stopped—"
She cut him off, tears gathering in her eyes.
"Oh my God… so it's true. You knew. You knew everything…"
"Love… let me explain," he said, trying to hold her hand.
"No, Jun! I can't believe that while I was suffering, hiding my feelings because I thought Kenji liked me, you already knew everything and said nothing—"
"Sayuri!" he snapped firmly. "Listen to me."
Silence hung heavily between them.
"That's not true."
"How is it not?" she laughed bitterly. "You just confirmed it."
Jun swallowed hard.
"I didn't know he was pretending. I only knew he wanted to try to win you over. I thought it was just another one of his stupid provocations, but later he told me he had fallen for you for real… that he wasn't playing anymore and wanted to take you seriously."
"Then why did he say, word for word, that he doesn't even like me?"
"I don't know, love." Jun ran a frustrated hand through his hair. "He never told me he'd been pretending because honestly… it didn't look fake."
He exhaled deeply and looked away for a second before meeting her eyes again.
"But none of my explanations matter now, right? You're not going to believe me anyway."
"It's complicated now… I don't know who's telling the truth anymore."
Jun picked up the guitar beside him.
"In the end…" he said quietly, "you believed him before you believed me."
"Jun…"
A humorless laugh escaped him.
"Funny… it feels like the thing that hurt you the most was finding out he doesn't love you."
"That's not fair, Jun. Don't try to make me the villain here."
"Of course…" he muttered bitterly. "I'm the bad guy. I'm always the villain."
Without looking back, Jun started walking toward the cabin. The second he stepped inside, he threw the guitar against the wall with all his strength.
CRASH.
Yume jumped in shock from the couch.
"What the hell was that?!"
Kenji came downstairs immediately after hearing the noise.
"What's going on—"
Before he could finish, Jun punched him hard across the face.
"You…" Jun breathed heavily, tears burning in his eyes. "I hope you're satisfied."
Then he stormed upstairs and slammed his bedroom door shut. Yume stood frozen in complete shock as blood slowly dripped from the corner of Kenji's mouth onto the wooden floor.