As soon as Sayuri stepped back into the cabin, she felt strange. Fear grew inside her. Had Jun really known everything and still said nothing while watching her suffer?
She took a deep breath and slowly started climbing the stairs, almost like she was avoiding the moment.
"You're back already? Where did you guys go?"
Sayuri lowered her head.
"I'll tell you later, Yume… do you know if Jun is in his room?"
"He's not."
Sayuri immediately looked at Yume.
"He's not? Where is he? I need to talk to him."
"Why?"
"Please, Yume..."
Seeing that it was something serious, Yume said she didn't know exactly where he was, only that she had seen him grab his guitar and head toward the forest.
Sayuri hurried down the stairs without another word and ran in the direction Yume had pointed out.
As she stepped onto the stone path between the trees, she began hearing the sound of the guitar. Soft notes… and soon his voice, gentle and captivating, humming quietly. Her eyes started filling with tears.
She got closer, and there he was, sitting on a fallen log. She stopped.
"Jun..." she whispered.
She slowly walked over and sat beside him, and he smiled at her while continuing to sing.
"That's beautiful..." she murmured, her voice trembling.
When he leaned in to kiss her cheek, she turned away and stared ahead instead.
"What's wrong?" he asked, setting the guitar aside.
Sayuri didn't know how to begin. Maybe because she was trying to avoid the truth.
"Jun..."
"Hey..." he said, lifting her chin. "Did the conversation go badly? What did he say?"
She finally looked into his eyes, and with a tear rolling down her cheek, she said:
"You knew... that all of this was a game?"
Jun looked confused.
"A game? What are you talking about, baby?"
She stared at the horizon and took a deep breath.
"You... knew the whole time... that Kenji was playing with me?"
Jun was shocked to hear that.
"What?? No, baby, playing with you?? He said that??"
"You really didn't know, Jun, that all of this was a childish plan to bring us closer? That, according to him, this would help us stay together?"
She looked at him with disappointment in her eyes.
"Answer me, Jun..."
Jun knew exactly what she was talking about, but he was confused because that was in the past, and Kenji himself had given up on that stupid game.
"No, that wasn't his plan anymore... he had already given it up..."
She interrupted him, tears in her eyes.
"Oh my God, so it's true. You knew... you knew everything..."
"Baby... let me explain," he said, trying to hold her hand.
"No, Jun. I can't believe that, knowing everything, while we were hiding our relationship because of him, you let me suffer and..."
"Sayuri!" he said firmly. "Listen to me."
A pause.
"That's not true."
"How is it not? You just confirmed it," she said with a nervous laugh.
Jun cleared his throat.
"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 and didn't want to play anymore, that he had given up and was going to take you seriously."
"Then why did he clearly say he doesn't like me?"
"I don't know, baby..." Jun ran a frustrated hand through his hair. "He never told me he was only pretending, because it didn't seem fake."
Jun sighed and looked at her.
"But there's no point in me explaining myself… you're not going to believe me."
"It's complicated now. I don't know who's telling the truth..."
Jun grabbed the guitar.
"In the end… you believed him before you believed me."
"Jun..."
"Funny..." he laughed bitterly. "Seems like the thing that hurt you most was finding out he doesn't like you."
"That's not fair, Jun. Don't try to make me the villain in this story..."
"Of course," he laughed humorlessly. "I'm the one who's wrong. I'm the villain..."
Jun started walking back to the cabin without looking back.
When he got there, he threw the guitar against the wall with force, startling Yume, who was sitting on the couch.
"What was that?!"
Kenji came downstairs to see what the noise was.
"What's going on here?" he asked, looking at the shattered guitar on the floor.
Without thinking, consumed by anger, Jun punched him.
"You..." he breathed out, eyes filled with tears. "I hope you're satisfied."
He stormed upstairs and slammed the bedroom door shut, leaving Yume completely shocked as blood trickled from the corner of Kenji's mouth, dripping slowly onto the wooden floor.