Chapter 5

SUSHI HOUSE

Misaki had a plate of California rolls and a cold glass of pinacolada in front of her, but Ukraine on the other hand had an ice-cold coke. They really went to have dinner together after the pretense excuse. He had never done something that embarrassing in his life, and that made him mute all along the way to the restaurant.

"It's okay. We all do crazy things, so, just cheer up", said Misaki, clearing the tense atmosphere at the table,

"I'll never put you in that awkward position ever again, and thank you for being so cool about this",

"Anytime, Ukraine",

Ukraine was surprised to hear her saying his name. That easily put a smile on his face

"You still remember me",

"Of course, I do. You remembered me too", she chuckled, "But I thought we all applied to work in the marketing team. Why were you with the president?", she asked, wanting to cure her curiosity,

"Oh, that. I'm her temporary assistant now, just for a month, then I'll join the marketing team after that",

"Whoa! This is your first day, right?",

"Right", he nodded,

"And you're already avoiding her? Is she really that scary?",

The drink nearly chocked him, he quickly patted his chest. He didn't know how obvious he was being.

"I'm not avoiding her", he said, trying to defend himself,

"C'mon Uk! We're here together after you obviously said no to her invitation. Do you perhaps want to talk about it?",

"Let's just say I'm keeping it strictly formal", he sighed, "And please do me a favor, whenever you see us standing together when it's not working time, come and save me, please",

"You know, ladies hate men who beat around the bush, if you don't feel like hanging out with her just say no",

"How can I say no when she's looking at me like that?",

"Like what?",

"Like _ like she's seeing right through me, or something",

Misaki couldn't help but laugh when she heard him say that. She picked up her glass and raised it,

"A toast, to the most dramatic first day at work. Cheers",

Ukraine picked up his glass and toasted with hers. At least she was the opposite of his boss, giving him a chance to breathe a little.

...

FAR-BRIDGE

Kro wore her black night robe and walked out of her room. Her doorbell had been ringing for almost 2 minutes now. Walking down the stairs never seemed prettier. She was graceful and her house complimented more on that. She looked as natural as it sounds, and serious too. She hated disturbance at night.

"Who is it?", she asked as she walked towards the door, but the person ringing the bell said nothing,

She had no other choice than to open the door and see for herself. She found Leo, in his hands holding two kaki bags, which released savory smells. He was wearing the biggest smile, knowing very well that he surprised her, and she was pissed,

"You?", Kro was a bit disappointed.

"Hi there, walking dead! Did you miss me?", he chuckled,

"No",

She let go of the doorknob and walked back inside. Leo got inside too, pushing the door closed with his leg. He was the crazy friend, the total opposite of Kro,

"I thought you'd be here next month", Kro said as she threw herself on her favorite sofa,

"Something came up and I had to come early",

"What's that?",

"We need to prepare your new identity for the next 10 years and I honestly ran out of ideas", he placed the bags on the table and sat next to her, "You've been a doctor, a pilot, a cook, a lawyer, an architect _ I mean you've done everything for the past 5 centuries. What do you want to be now?", he asked,

That was the topic Kro never looked forward to. She had to sit up straight first before starting to think about it.

"Honestly, I love what I'm doing now. I don't think I want to change fields anymore", she said,

"How about you change your name then? You've been using your name everywhere. I know my family and I have been erasing all your records through the years, but we can't erase people's memories. Once they hear the name Kro, it will risk your identity",

Kro had to take a deep breath. It was the most stressful time for her, making her wish to die even that second.

"Okay Leo. Let me think about it, I'll inform you",

"Sure. Oh, I almost forgot. I went to the headquarters today and saw this new recruit, her name's Misaki",

"Misaki Akeshi? What happened?",

"I feel like the 2 of us know each other, deeply",

"Maybe you dated once, how would I know?", she scoffed,

"You've known me since I was a child, you know all my friends and girlfriends. Have you ever seen me with her before? Whether nursery school, college, or middle school, anywhere?",

"No Leo, I haven't!",

"See! It really confuses me!",

"Just try to ignore it and if you find it hard, become friends then, and let everything flow naturally",

"I'll try!", he sighed,

Kro moved closer to the table and opened one of the bags. There's sushi inside,

"Thank you, I'll eat them later", said Kro,

"Make sure you do, they are the best", said Leo,

"I really hope so",

.....

1981

NATIONAL UNIVERSITY

Being the best student 3 years in a row was no joke, but that seemed very easy for Song who owned all those awards. He was the pride of Mr. Lee, his history lecturer. He always understood the assignments. He was the most punctual, disciplined, but most importantly confident student in class.

It was Song's Day for presentation. He stood at the stage and started arranging all his notes. The whole class totaling 30 students plus Mr. Lee sat in front of him, eagerly waiting for him to begin.

He cleared his throat,

"Good morning everyone. I'm Song, as you all know, and I'll be presenting to you about the history of Knnew Republic from the time it was called Azaradan",

Everyone cheered and that made him more confident.

As he waited for everyone to calm down, he saw the door from the back of the class opening and Kro walking in. He had never seen her before. She was the cutest girl he'd ever seen all through his 4 years of college. He kept staring at her until she took a seat way behind everyone.

When she looked up front, she caught him staring,

"What?", she mouthed,

Song quickly shook his head and shifted his gaze back to his notes. He'd been completely distracted. He cleared his throat,

"The first king of the Azaradan kingdom was called Buk. He mana_",

He couldn't finish his sentence when he saw Kro mouthing something, and when he paid more attention, he understood what she was saying,

"Not Buk, Bukka", Kro mouthed,

"Not Buk, it's Bukka, sorry about that, everyone", Song quickly corrected his sentence from her help.

He kept presenting as he looked at her every second. The way she nodded and gave him thumbs up motivated him. The whole class could just see him smiling, but not knowing the reason why.

When the class was over, Song quickly carried his things and approached Kro. She was now reading her book. Song knocked on her table once,

"Hi, I wa_",

"Pretend you didn't see me", she simply stopped him, her gaze still locked at the page of the book,

"I just want_",

"Kro!", called Mr. Lee as soon as he saw her and Song having a conversation,

Kro collected herself and walked past Song. She walked straight to the lecturer without even tilting her head to look back at him. Surprisingly, that didn't discourage Song, instead it made him more interested to know about the girl whose name he luckily heard, Kro.

.....

PRESENT

Song stood at the balcony, holding a glass of whisky. He kept staring at the moon, the sound of clicking ice cubes relaxing his nerves. In his other hand, he was holding the photo of Kro from 1981, the photo he took the same day he saw her, right as she was leaving the history building.

He sharply exhaled,

"After 30 years, I'm finally close enough to hold you I don't think you'll remember me, but I hope I look young enough for you to look twice and think of me even once. This time I won't let you walk past me, Kro",

...

FAR-BRIDGE

Kro took the sushi plate out of the fridge and ate one. As she chewed, the flavor unfortunately couldn't hit the spot. She ate a second one and still, it was very neutral. She couldn't stand eating dull food.

She angrily took her phone and texted the number on the top of the screen, angry enough to even misread the name.

….

Ukraine was woken up by a text message popping on his screen. He lazily stretched his hand beside the lamp and took his phone. He started reading the text first without even checking who texted it,

Worst sushi I've ever had. Next time go somewhere else.

He directly assumed it was Misaki who texted him because they'd had dinner together earlier that night, but the moment his eyes looked on top of the screen, his heart stopped for a second. He quickly sat up straight and shook his sleep off.

He read the text and name again and it was really from his worst nightmare. The name 'Miss Kro' was very clear. All his sleep evaporated into thin air.

"How the hell did she know I had Sushi with Misaki? Was she tailing us? Did she find out who I really was?", he asked himself, his hand now rested on his chest,

His fear was now working harder than the devil.

*****