“I know the reason why you broke up with me. You were guilty because your father betrayed my father, weren’t you?”
There were a lot of people around, but weirdly, Mikhail felt that there were only him and Agatha in the noisy place. Many passed by their sides, each with a different business, not giving a glance to their side.
“Sorry,” Agatha said. “For hating you and for not knowing anything, I am so sorry.”
Mikhail’s hands flinched. His throat hurt as he suppressed the tears from coming out of his unblinking eyes.
“I hated you so much for abandoning me,” Agatha said. “I even swore to God to punish you until death. But now that I learned the truth, I was embarrassed and guilty.”
Who told Agatha the truth?
Was it Sebastian?
Mikhail would never expect Sebastian to tell everything to Agatha.
‘I really thought hiding this would make everything right. But I was wrong. I was happy Agatha found it out.’
Mikhail bowed his head and clenched the keychain around his palm.
“I am sorry too, Agatha,” he uttered. “I purposely hurt you and said mean things to you. I didn’t know I would regret it so much. I should have told you the truth. But I was scared.”
“No, you did the right thing,” Agatha said. “Imagine how hard it would be to continue dating you after I found out what your dad did to my dad. I will suffer if that happens. How can I date a man while I am despising his family? I believe this is the main reason why you broke up with me using your ridiculous lie.”
Hearing the bitter truth from her own lips, Mikhail found himself in the pit of loneliness. It seemed so easy for Agatha to give up on their relationship as if she had moved on already. And it saddened him that he was the only one clinging to the past.
After a few seconds of silence, Mikhail’s voice returned.
"If ever things went back to normal, do you think it is possible for us to be together again?" from the bottom of his heart, he asked.
Agatha smiled at him.
"I don't think so, Mikhail. That was the reason why I gave you that keychain. I want you to spend your life happy and without guilt. You didn’t do anything wrong. It was your father’s fault.”
His soul was shattered, and his heart throbbed in immense pain. He could not think of anything or utter anything that could hide his pain. Mikhail just keeps on saying to himself to hold back his tears behind his tingling eyes.
‘Don’t cry. Don’t cry,’ he chanted like a spell.
“It is impossible for us to be friends,” Agatha said before she firmly bit her lips. “But with this good ending between us, we can be strangers without feeling guilt. Shall we?”
She walked towards him and then offered her hand for a handshake.
Mikhail looked at the hand which was held by him countless times; that hand he kissed, that hand which ruffled his hair, and that hand which cupped his cheek as if he is the only man in her life.
‘Do I really have to hold it for our final goodbye?’ Mikhail asked himself.
He looked at her and said, “I am sorry. I don’t think I can.”
Flustered at his answer, Agatha asked, “Why?”
Mikhail put down Agatha’s hand and replied, “Because I still love you.”
**
The second day of the field trip finished. It was still early in the afternoon, and so Sebastian and Agatha didn’t go to the campsite yet and visited the nearest convenience store.
“Mikhail’s father betrayed your father?!” Sebastian gasped. His ice cream almost fell from his hand.
Sitting next to him, Agatha looked above. “Yes. It was the case. I felt sorry for hating Mikhail without knowing the real story.”
Sebastian scowled as he looked away. ‘How did Agatha know about this?’
There was someone who tipped Agatha about this. But he had no idea who.
“H-How did you know that? Did Mikhail explain it to you?” Sebastian asked.
“No,” Agatha answered. “I learned it somewhere. It is not important where, the point is I finally moved on from Mikhail. It was so refreshing to know that I wasn’t abandoned at all.”
Sebastian was worried that if Agatha finds this out, she will go back to Mikhail and date her. He was relieved that Agatha wasn’t thinking of getting back to Mikhail.
‘If it turns out that Mikhail’s father was the culprit in Agatha’s father’s murder case, it will make things harder for both of them,’ Sebastian thought.
“Is that why you asked Mikhail to be your partner?” Sebastian inquired.
“Yup. Why? Did you get sulky?” Agatha asked, laughing at Sebastian.
Sebastian pouted his lips and murmured, “You don’t know how much I suffered hanging out with the other girls. They were so tiring.”
“Lol. I can imagine how tired you were. You did a good job, bro.” She patted his back, just like what she used to do before.
Sebastian looked deeply into her eyes. Then he added, “I was also worried that you were avoiding me on purpose because of what happened last night.”
When he brought that up, Agatha remembered last night’s incident and she blushed.
“H-Hey! C-Can we just forget about that? I forgave you already. Geez.”
His eyes brightened, “Really? You don’t mind that all?”
“J-Just like what you said, it’s normal for men,” Agatha said, avoiding his eyes.
“Then, if the same things happen again, are you going to forgive me?” Sebastian asked.
“What?”
“I mean if something like that happens between us again, will you tolerate it?”
Agatha felt so embarrassed at Sebastian’s question. She didn’t know the underlying meaning behind his question if he was aware of his intention, and if he was completely dumb.
She was really curious about what the hell was going on inside her best friend’s INNOCENT mind. So, she intended to ask for an explanation.
“Sebastian, why are y…”
But their conversation was put to a halt because someone appeared.
“Excuse me. Can I ask something?”
Agatha turned her head. When she saw the person who approached them, all past thoughts left her!
“I came here to meet Mr. Lawrence Lozeno. Are you one of his students?” Brett asked Agatha and Sebastian.