1.1 | The Yakuza Bride

Chapter 25

A/N: Welcome to Chapter 25!

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'What's wrong?' Haruki asked from across the table.

This time they were meeting at a cafe close to where Haruki lived. They sat across of each other in the red booths, a plate of untouched sandwiches and fries between them. Hana couldn't raise her head to meet her friend's inquisitive gaze; her neck bowed with the weight of the thoughts in her mind.

Her friend slurped at her chocolate milkshake, her dark eyes still on her.

'We just met yesterday,' she went on when Hana's silence bade her to speak once more.

Hana stared at her strawberry milkshake, then gave it a few vicious stabs with her straw. With the ice broken down, she gave it a sip, then winced at the blast of cold in her mouth. She had asked her friend to meet so hurriedly, she wondered if it was even the right choice when she'd barely had her own thoughts organised.

But Haruki was a close friend of hers, and she knew her straightforward manner with words would help steer her out of her predicament.

'I'm confused,' she mumbled finally, her eyes going down to the white table that reflected a yellow circle of light from the lamp above.

'About?' her friend asked with one brow raised.

'Leon,' she muttered, her straw still in her mouth.

'Do you like him?'

'What?' she hissed, her head jerking up. But her flustered features betrayed what she truly felt beneath. A heavy sigh left her as she shrugged her shoulders.

'I don't know,' Hana admitted. 'I don't know what I feel anymore.'

Homesickness and grief had torn her apart, leaving her confused as to her reactions to him. She was comfortable around him, she enjoyed conversations with him, and she loved when they shared a bout of laughter together. She knew what he felt for her, knew how he sometimes looked at her, knew the pattering of her heart when he kissed her.

'I went into this marriage knowing I wanted a divorce,' she muttered. 'Music has always come first. I know I want to study Music. I've even started filming my audition tapes! I know what school I want to attend! But now this is making me confused.'

'He likes you?' Haruki asked carefully.

'I think so,' she mumbled with a small voice. 'I asked him.'

'What did he say?'

She deflated with another sigh, recalling the eyes that had faced her at breakfast that morning. Pain tugged at her when she remembered how he'd left the table with words unsaid on his lips, barely able to withhold his emotions on his face.

'Nothing. I said we were supposed to get a divorce, and then he looked upset, and I don't know what to do now!' she cried out. 'I was hoping it wouldn't come to that. I wanted to finish the twelve months and then leave.'

'Seems like he likes you,' her friend said coolly.

'That's not helping,' she grumbled, giving her drink another stab.

Why indeed did feelings have to be so complicated?

'But you don't want to try?' Haruki prodded, leaning forward with her brows raised.

'I'm just – afraid about how it'll turn out. I mean, I know what I want to do with my life. I don't want to treat our relationship as something casual. But what if it clashes with what I want to do?' she murmured, her features crumpled as she twiddled the straw between her fingers.