I found you!

We were on a vacation. Well… I was. Or maybe I should say I ended up following my boyfriend here, though not exactly on purpose. I had some work near this place, and after finishing it, I thought it would be nice to return with him. The place he was staying looked like a traditional wooden Japanese-style house—quiet, warm, and a little mysterious.

I wished he had asked me to come along, but I convinced myself it was fine that I came anyway… even though it clearly wasn’t. He didn’t seem happy about it, and I could feel that. Instead of taking me to his room, he pointed toward a small hut nearby and softly told me to rest there.

I tried to pretend I wasn’t disappointed—but that wouldn’t be true, would it? I was really hurt that I couldn’t stay with him. Still, I didn’t want to make him uncomfortable in front of his friends, so I kept it to myself.

I stepped inside the room; it was incredibly small, furnished with nothing but a single bed. I couldn’t stop wondering why he hadn’t asked me to stay with him.

When night fell, a quiet fear settled in me. Everything outside my little room was swallowed in darkness. I opened the door and noticed a light switch just beside it. I stretched out to turn it on, silently hoping I wouldn’t be scolded in the morning for leaving the light on.

For two or three days, we stayed in the same place, yet you never came to check on me—not even once in that cramped room. My thoughts began to spiral. Nightmares crept back into my sleep, and still, I remained alone.

I tried speaking to you, but you felt distant. You didn’t introduce me to your friends; they even assumed I was your younger sister, and you didn’t correct them.

My heart dropped when I realized there were women in your group too. They were staying inside the same house… so why wasn’t I invited there? “Am I embarrassing?” I whispered to myself.

Disheartened, I returned to my tiny room. Clothes off (with inner), I went to bathe. When I opened the door, I was startled to see a man in black already sitting in the tub, the water rising to his waist while his upper body leaned back. The moment he noticed me, he said quietly, “It’s… crowded out there. I just need a moment to be here.”

For some reason, his soft, almost vulnerable words eased the tension in me. Without overthinking, I stepped into the tub beside him, feeling the warmth of the water surround us both. He didn’t glance at me—not even once—but I could sense the weight of his frustration.

We were silent for a few moments, and then he said softly, “No matter how much I try, I don’t feel right being there. It feels like this isn’t where I belong.” His words echoed in my mind. I could relate to him. No matter how much I tried to be with my man, it didn’t feel right—it didn’t feel normal. I was lost in thought when he suddenly asked, “You’re Nana’s girlfriend, aren’t you?” I nodded.

“You deserve better,” he said. At that moment, I genuinely believed him. Then he walked away, leaving me alone, still thinking about how I had been treated by my man. “Is this normal?” I whispered with a long sigh, staring at the ceiling. “I am done loving… now I want to be loved.”

Unbeknownst to me, that strange man was right outside my room. As he passed by, he heard me. He smiled faintly and quietly walked toward his room.

Again, I woke from a nightmare, my body slick with sweat, my chest tight, the room eerily silent. “How many days has it been? Why hasn’t he come to check on me?” I whispered to myself, feeling a mix of frustration and longing.

“Am I just a character in someone else’s story? It feels like I’m forcing him to be with me, even though I know he only keeps me close because he likes that I’m in love with him… Why am I even here?” The question burned in my chest.

Well, I am already here, maybe I will just get some new air from this place. I don’t need a man, do I? I am burned with a new energy. Hahh!! Just kidding, I will just roam around. This is going to be our last day together; I am just done with these emotional manipulations.

Well, I’m already here… maybe I should at least breathe in some fresh air from this place. I don’t need a man to feel alive, do I? For a moment, a strange burst of energy rose inside me—hah, just kidding. I’ll simply wander around for a while.

You don’t know, but this is going to be our last day together. I’m done with these quiet emotional manipulations. I know you’re not a bad guy, but even I have limits. You never try to understand me—how I feel, how lonely it gets. If you carried even a little of that understanding, you would have been here with me right now.

I was so lost in my thoughts that I didn’t realize morning had already arrived. A knock on my door pulled me back. I rushed over and opened it—only to feel a wave of disappointment wash over me. “Oh.”

It wasn’t Nana. It was that strange guy.

He immediately understood my reaction and let out a small laugh. “Expecting Nana? He went out with his friends.”

I sighed—again. He raised an eyebrow. “You sigh a lot. Almost as if I’ve seen you do it a hundred times.”

“As if you’ve seen me a hundred times,” I rolled my eyes.

“Yesterday wasn’t our first meeting!”

He laughed softly, and for the first time, I felt a spark of genuine curiosity toward him. There was something about the way he stood there… familiar in a way I couldn’t explain.

He was holding a thermos. Before I could ask anything, he walked right past me and grabbed his jacket from the corner. “I came for this,” he said simply.

Then he handed me the thermos. “This might help with your nightmares.”

My eyes widened. “Wait—how did you know about that?”

He glanced around the tiny room with a playful look. “If I were staying here, I’d have nightmares too.”

I couldn’t help but chuckle. He looked at me then—truly looked—and smiled. Something warm flickered in his expression, something that made my heart skip in a way I wasn’t ready for.

Is he… interested in me? No. That couldn’t be. That’s ridiculous. Then it hit me. I was literally standing there naked in front of him. I gasped, slapped a hand over my mouth, completely stunned for a few seconds, and then bolted outside with my face covered. Mortified. Absolutely mortified. Damn it. How did this not cross my mind? I spent the whole night overthinking—but not this.