Unbelievable

"Sorry, I got held at work," she apologized when she got to him.

The cold glint in her eyes did not miss his attention as she sat down. It seemed like he loved a good challenge. It could either be with himself or a third party. His lips curved slightly as they sat down and the menu was brought.

"I . . ."

"I . . ."

Waiting for their meal to be served, they each must have thought it was the perfect moment to speak so each began a sentence of their own causing them to pause without saying anything.

Haruki decided to yield as he said, "Go on."

"I can't keep eating with you like this," Miyoko told him as clearly as she could hoping she wouldn't have to be any more blunt than she already was as the man seemed to be even more dangerous than the last time they met.

"Then what do you want to do? What do you think about visiting a craft shop, I heard it is really popular these days," he gave her a suggestion he found on the internet.

"What I meant is that I can't be with you. I am in love with someone else," she told him.

He noticed she was getting anxious so he leaned backward hoping it gave her the space she needed.

"You don't even love me, you just want a marriage of convenience and there are many women who would love to play the role."

Looking at her, he felt a strong urge to hold onto her so he said, "What if I fell in love with you?"

"I . . ."

"I want to pursue you. We could date for a while until you are persuaded enough to be my fiancée."

"I am already in a relationship," she blurted out.

"I don't believe it. You would have said that the last time we met."

"It has been weeks since we last met, I must have made progress with the person I liked," she replied firmly.

Haruki furrowed his brows slightly. Yeah, being busy with work and family matters must have made his days go by too fast to realize. It has been two months since he last saw the doctor and he was already with Miyoko? It felt too laughable to be real.

However, he knew the doctor ate most of his meals with this woman so were they already in a relationship? His heart skipped a beat.

"How about I meet with your boyfriend? I think that would give me some closure," he replied calmly.

Miyoko was taken aback by his request. She knew the doctor and Haruki had a very important business relationship and remembering what happened at the party that night, she wondered if getting the doctor to act as her boyfriend would put him in a difficult position with his boss.

"How about tomorrow?"

"I will be busy tomorrow," she blurted out when she remembered Hiroshi told her his brother was leaving the country but her response had agreed with his suggestion. "Next weekend. I will let you know when."

Haruki quietly ate thinking of Aki who had sent him a message that he was leaving the country the next day. Aki had overstayed and he had thought Aki had returned several weeks ago.

They parted quietly. Haruki feeling at the loss of a potential fiancée from the right family, with a perfect personality and intelligence decided to return to his penthouse in the city since Aki had invited him to see him off at the airport the next morning.

The thought of seeing the doctor the next morning made his heart race even more as he approached his bed to sleep. The thought of losing a lover before he was willing to let go left a sour taste in his mouth. Without letting go of his lover, he would not let the person be with someone else.

***

The next morning, he woke up from his night's rest which turned out to be a short nap due to an unexpected insomnia thanks to his thoughts crowded mind.

When they drove to the airport, he made up his mind not to think about anything that was not work-related. He focused his attention on the screen of his tablet.

He used to hate when things didn't go smoothly at work but without any issues at work to ponder about, he almost wished he had something serious at work to properly captivate his attention.

Aki had told him to simply bid him farewell at the airport. Since it was a pretty simple request he did not hesitate although he was certain there was no one he would be willing to go out of his way aside from Aki.

They got to the airport just in time for Aki to arrive with his fiancée, dad, and brother. He smiled and waved at Aki who hurried forward to him leaving his luggage in the car of his brother and their chauffeur.

"I thought you wouldn't respond to my unreasonable request," Aki laughed after pulling Haruki in for a hug just like they used to in the past.

"I wouldn't call it unreasonable. No one knows when you return once you leave now," Haruki did not hesitate to correct him warmly.

"I will try to visit more. My father is getting older these days." They separated from the hug but Aki's hand rested on Haruki's shoulder as he led the way into the building.

"Yes, I think your brother must be getting ready to let him retire soon. It would have been cool if you studied medicine too." Haruki found it very easy to continue the conversation with Aki. It was as though their years of separation were nothing but all these interactions only came when Aki was about to leave.

"It was just too hard. I know I was smart when we were in high school but I knew I could not handle studying medicine. I would have dropped out halfway through."

"You are doing well now. That is all that matters."

Aki nodded and removed his hand from Haruki's shoulder and said, "You are right." "You are doing well too," Aki added before glancing back at his brother whom Haruki had not spared a glance at since they arrived at the airport.

"I will send a good wedding gift to you. It might be too much for you to ship back home so I decided to handle all the processes for you."

Aki paused astonished before asking, "What is it?"

"You'll know when it arrives," Haruki responded without hesitation.

"Ah . . . now you have me in suspense."

"That was the plan." Haruki smiled slightly pleased with the gift he chose. He knew Aki would remember the gift as what he said would be his ideal wedding gift.

When they stopped and Aki went to handle some things, Haruki finally got the chance to look at the doctor whose gaze seemed pinned on him. The loneliness mixed with longing in the man's brown eyes was too evident to be an illusion.

Haruki looked away coldly concluding with a mental sigh of relief that there was no way the man was in a relationship with Miyoko.