"I like you," Jin repeated, he then lowered his head, "But even if we have mutual feelings, we still can't be lovers," He said.
Yumi's shoulder slowly dropped when she heard Jin's second word.
"Why would you let our life status become a hindrance?" Yumi asked in a faint voice.
Jin slowly lifted his head, and he looked at Yumi, "It's not just because of our life status, Yumi." He said.
"Then what?!" Yumi's voice raised!
"I can say that, we have the right love at the wrong time, Yumi," Jin replied.
"What are you saying!" Yumi is losing her patience!
Jin's expression slowly turned blank as he spoke.
"We are still too young to be in a serious relationship." He said.
"I'm afraid we can't handle it," He continued.
"We don't know what the future holds. A lot of things might happen, what if the day after tomorrow, we suddenly realized that we don't feel the same with each other anymore. I am afraid that our relationship might not end well." Jin said.
For someone who has witnessed his parent's broken marriage, he can't help but doubt himself too. The grown-ups were not able to handle that situation, how much more to him and Yumi who are still immature and naive?
He is afraid that they will just end up hating each other, just like his mother and father!
Yumi pursed her lips to suppress her tears, "You are just making an excuse," She said with her shaky voice. "You're just being coward," She added in disappointment.
Jin just stayed silent.
'Yes! He must be coward!'
He has a lot of fears in his heart and he has no courage to face it all!
" I should have not asked you to tell me about your feelings for me," Yumi lowered her head to hide her teary eyes, "It's only torturing me emotionally knowing that we have mutual feelings but you chose to be a coward!"
"I-I'm sorry," It's the only words that Jin was able to say.
Yumi did not say a word as she left the study room and headed upstairs.
Jin slowly took a deep breath, ' I'm sorry, ' He keeps on mumbling inside.
'I'm sorry if I am not strong enough to face my fears.'
------
Alicia just came out from the master's bedroom when she almost bumped into Yumi.
"Oh, I'm sorry---" Alicia froze when she saw Yumi's teary eyes!
"Yumi, what happened?"
Yumi did not answer, she just walks past Alicia, but Alicia tried to follow her.
"Yumi," Alicia grabbed Yumi's hand to stop her.
"Is there something wrong?" She asked in concern.
Yumi turned to her stepmother and she looked at her.
-----
Inside Yumi's bedroom.
Alicia silently stroked Yumi's back as Yumi continued wailing.
"Ssshhh..."
"It's alright, you can cry as much as you want. It will help you feel better inside," She said.
Yumi's shoulders shook as she continued to cry.
It took half an hour before Yumi calmed down. This time, her eyes are swollen due to crying and she is still sobbing.
"Do you feel better now?" Alicia asked in a faint voice.
Yumi shook her head lightly. " Not totally, but you can leave now," she said.
Alicia took a deep breath, " How can I leave you in this state?" She asked.
She then held Yumi's hand, "I can be someone you can talk to," She said.
Yumi turned her head to Alicia.
"Would you like to tell me what happened to you to cry like that?"
"He's such a jerk!" Yumi suddenly said as her tears started to fall again.
"He's a coward!" She added as her shoulders shook due to crying.
She just can't help it!
She wanted to vent out the pain and the frustration that she felt inside!
Alicia pursed her lips before she spoke again in a soft voice, " May I know who is this person we are talking about?"
"Jin!" Yumi replied.
"How could he say that he likes me but he doesn't want us to be more than friends!"
Alicia froze, Yumi cried because of a guy, and that guy is Jin!
'So, I was right, Yumi likes Jin,'
'But why did she date Troy if she likes someone else?'
"He breaks my heart repeatedly, I should have not asked him about it, I should have just left it there," Yumi continued to mumble.
Alicia looked at Yumi with sympathy.
"Yumi, heartbreaks is a part of growing up, don't lose hope. There's a lot of fish in the sea. You're still young there are still many people who will come to you. You still have a long way to go," Alicia tried to coax Yumi.
"And maybe this is not the right time for the both of you too," She added.
Yumi kept silent, 'She will try to forget her feelings for Jin, there's no use of chasing a coward like him!'
---------
Alicia is in deep thoughts while sitting on the couch in the master's bedroom.
'It seems like Ralph used his son to be near Yumi.'
*click!*
Alicia snapped back to her senses when she heard the doorknob clicked. She turned her head to the door, and she heaved a sigh of relief when she saw Dimitry.
Alicia got up from her seat and approaches Dimitry, "Hey, honey," She greeted him and kissed him.
"Hey," Dimitry replied in a tired voice.
"How was the meeting?" Alicia asked.
"It went well, but I have to go out of town and I'll be gone for a few days,"
Alicia froze, " Why?" She asked with her knitted brows.
"The couple who owns the beach that we are trying to acquire in El Vida Island doesn't want to negotiate. I want to go there personally to pursue them." Dimitry replied.
"Oh," Alicia blurted out."Are you leaving now?" She asked.
"I want to go there as soon as I can," Dimitry replied.
"Okay, I will just get ready for your things," Alicia said, and then she turned to get ready Dimitry's belongings.
-------
El Vida Island,
It took one hour to travel by plane and an hour by boat to reach the Island but Dimitry doesn't felt tired anymore as soon as he saw the breathtaking Island.
Dimitry took a deep breath when he got off the boat as the fresh air blows his face.
This place is like paradise, the stunning white sand beach, light to deep blue turquoise water, and the magnificent rock formations are breathtaking!
This place will become popular once it is developed, and they can expect more tourists to come to this Island.
"Where do they live?" Dimitry asked his secretary.
"This way, Mr. Alcantara," His secretary replied.
His secretary leads the way until they reached the two-story-house. It wasn't luxurious but it doesn't look cheap either. Just by looking at the house, Dimitry can tell that the people who live here belong to the upper-middle-class family.
Dimitry's secretary knocked on the door. They waited for a few seconds before the door opened, and the old woman who seemed to be in her early seventies came out of the door.
Dimitry froze for a few seconds, the old woman seems familiar to him, but he can't remember where he saw her!