30 minutes and 30 years

2009

It's been 5 years.

Yuta is going to visit Japan, the first time Sana is going to see him in 5 years. Sana asked Jungwoo to look after her mom, since she was going to meet Yuta at the airport.

She wore her best clothes, wore her a vanilla scent perfume, and put a little makeup on.

5 years of talking on the phone and not seeing each others' faces. A lot has happened in the last 5 years.

For Yuta, everything was going well, he started to become known in the soccer industry. His teams won because of him and people are starting to take notice of him. He was currently very happy in the state he was in.

As for Sana, she's trying her best, at least. Her mother started to succumb to cancer and it was rapidly spreading in her body. She was making money, but it wasn't enough. Only a few people purchased her art, and the money she was making from her part-time jobs weren't enough. So out of pity, her friends started helping her. She felt embarrassed but she had no choice. Someone had to cut their arm for her and her mother.

She stood there, with a flower, waiting for him. As soon as passengers started to come out, she looked for Yuta.

After minutes of searching, there he was, his hair was now black, and it was longer. The last time she saw him on TV, his hair was ginger and shorter. She stood there, mesmerized.

After all these years, he was still her definition of perfection.

It was like time went on for everybody else but it froze for her. He still looked like the Yuta she knew way before, although he has longer hair now, and he exudes much more confidence. He looks happy. She wondered what it felt like.

She noticed he was looking for her, so she ran towards him with a big smile, holding the flower in her right hand.

"Yuta!!!"

Yuta looked at where the sound of his name was coming from, and as soon as he saw who called him, his confused face beamed into a smile.

He walked towards her slowly as she was getting closer. He dropped his bags and developed her into a hug. He lifted her up with a wide smile on his face.

He put her down, but he did not let go of the hug. They smiled at each other and stayed like that for seconds.

"I missed you."

"I missed you, too, Sana."

He let go.

"I can't believe I'm meeting a superstar!" Sana laughed while still holding her flower. "You look good, Yuta! What has the air of Liverpool done to you?"

Yuta laughed and looked at her, "I'm still the Nakamoto Yuta who failed Mr. Fujimoto's class."

She laughed. She noticed someone was beside Yuta.

She looked at the person and looked back at Yuta with curious eyes.

Yuta smiled. "This is Joy."

Joy proceeds to stretch her hand to Sana and shakes it.

"Hi Joy! Are you his manager?" Sana greeted with a smile.

They both laugh, "No, silly." Yuta said.

Yuta looks at Joy with lovey eyes and wraps his arm around her.

"She's my girlfriend." He looks at Sana.

At that moment, Sana felt like her heart was crushed into pieces. Her knees were getting weak. He never told her. Disappointment and hurt was evident in her face. But Yuta failed to notice it. Love makes you blind, they say.

"Oh." She came back to her senses. "Why didn't you tell me? I should've prepared something for you guys! Congratulations to the both of you, you look good together!!! I thought I was going to get a boyfriend before Yuta but sadly it didn't happen." She pretended to laugh and the two laughed at her remark.

They proceeded to go outside and hang out. Yuta drove his car, which Sana used to go to the airport.

Yuta and Joy talked about so many things in the front seat, it seemed like she wasn't there at the moment. She was there, but her mind was elsewhere, and they were there with her, but it was almost like they had their own world and she was some alien who landed in their world because her UFO broke down.

"Sana?" Yuta looked at her through the rear view mirror.

She shook her head and hummed in response.

"We're going to the mall to buy something and then we're going to the cinema."

"Wait, I thought we were going to the park, then to the convenience store, then visit my mom."

Joy chuckled. "The convenience store? What are you guys going to do there? There's nothing fun to do in the convenience store. And why are you guys going to visit your mom?" She looked back at Sana.

To Sana's surprise, he laughed. "Yeah, she loves that convenience store. I don't know why. And Sana, I'm sorry but I have to visit next time. This is Joy's first time in Osaka. I wanted to do something fun for her."

Sana knew she had to get off the car and go back to her mom. The sight of them together hurt her, she knew she was wasting time here.

"I don't think I should come with you. I think I'm just going to bo---"

Yuta cut her off, "What? But we'll have a great time. And no one's going to take a picture of us."

"I don't have that much time. Let's just hang out again next time."

Sana got out of the car and stood at the park for a while, the flower still in her hand. A lot of things were going on in her mind.

"Joy seems like an established woman, she's way above my level. She's rich, pretty and kind. She probably gives him butterflies" Sana started thinking. She wanted to cry but there were no tears coming out of her eyes. "At least he looks happier."

She sat down and looked at her phone.

Jungwoo: Hi Sana. Have you eaten already? I already fed Obasan. She started looking for you but I told her you were with Yuta-san. She started looking for Yuta-san too. ^_^
Sana: Hi Jungwoo, thank you for looking after mom. I'm on my way. And yes, I've eaten already :-)

She hadn't yet.

Jungwoo: That was quick.
Sana: Yeah. I had to hurry, you know.
Jungwoo: Did Yuta-san sign my cap?
Sana: Oh shit.

Sana facepalmed.

Sana: I totally forgot about it. I'm so sorry Jungwoo. I promised I'll have it signed.

Weird. Jungwoo hasn't replied to me yet. He was the type to reply right away, and he wasn't the type to get angry if you didn't do what he wanted you to do. It's been 10 minutes since she last sent her message. 10 minutes that seemed like forever.

Her phone was ringing. Jungwoo was calling.

Before Sana could say something,

"Sana, where are you? You have to come here quickly."

Something was wrong.