As The Wind Blows Your Scent To Me

The night outside the apartment was quiet, saved for the chatters that came from the houses nearby mixed with the electronic sounds of the TV and radios. The streets were illuminated by the orange light of the lamp poles, casting faint shadows on the surroundings.??

"Meow~"

A few meters away from the gate of the apartment, a man crouched in a corner, hiding in the shadows. With one hand pressing a phone to his ear, the other was gently tickling the chin of a neighborhood cat in front of him.

Suddenly, the sound of footsteps approached him.

The man raised up his eyes from the cat to the one who was walking toward him. The soft light in his eyes turned cold in an instant.

Yet, he still spoke gently to the phone.

"Then, I won't disturb you any longer. Have a proper sleep tonight, lest your fever won't go down. En, yes. I'll call you again tomorrow. Bye."

He put away the phone after ending the call. The man who was now standing before him cast him the same cold look he gave him.

"Why are you still here when she doesn't want to see you? Don't you think that your appearance would further aggravate her?"

Kazuya didn't act polite as he spoke harshly to the man who used to be Himari's lover. He rubbed the back of the stray cat's pointy ears, gently pushed him to one side then slowly rose to his feet.

"Meow~"

The cat meowed at him, rubbed against his leg before it turned around and left.??

"Why are you here? It's not like she needs you to be here," Jun answered in a hard tone.

"Unlike you, she doesn't feel suffocated even if she sees me," A smirk was drawn on Kazuya's face. He put both hands inside the pocket of his long pants, "If not for you letting her stand in the wind while her whole dress was drenched yesterday, forcing her to deal with you, she might not have a fever today."

It was just a possibility.??

Her fever might already be due to her swimming in the canal to save the boy, or maybe because of other reasons but Kazuya just wanted to say it to this man.

Kazuya drooped the corners of his lips, narrowing his eyes at the man before he continued in a chilling voice.

"Mister, I don't know you personally so I can't say anything about your feelings to Himari but, don't you find it audacious that you keep reappearing before her and demand her to get back together with you?"

Jun's face twisted once Kazuya finished his words.

"Since you don't know me, you don't have a say in what I do," He said through gritted teeth.

Jun thought his eyes were deceiving him when he saw Kazuya earlier. At that time, he was standing under a lamp pole, staring in the direction of Himari's apartment.

After she gave him a cold response about his appearance here, Jun didn't immediately give up by going home. He just stood there until he saw the man who was with Himari yesterday.

When he heard the man talking fondly on the phone to Himari, Jun almost snapped in fury.

How could he miss how tender this man was to her? Even though he couldn't hear what Himari said to every word this man spoke to her on the phone, Jun at least understood that she was happy to receive this man's call.

"Well, I admit that I don't have a say in your actions but, it's disdainful because you keep forcing your views on her," Kazuya answered in a ridiculing tone, "If you were in her shoes, wouldn't it annoy you if your ex-lover comes pestering at you after you've moved on?"

Jun clenched his jaw. He forced himself to not burst into a fury because of this man's scorn at him.

Hayashi Kazuya.

That was the man's name.

Together with the name, Jun got to know a little about the man's background.

The elder brother was in a coma, currently being hospitalized. Due to that, this man had to take care of his young niece and nephew. He also led the upstart company that was founded by his brother.

When Jun heard that the children were not this man's children, somehow, he felt relieved.??

"Mr. Hayashi, I'm not sure why you are doing this. If you think you can be here, why couldn't I? Well, don't you think you actually should go home to your nephew and niece?"

Kazuya burst into a peal of mocking laughter. He cast a lazy smile at Jun, "Oh, it seems like you have done a background check on me."

His words almost faltered the cold expression on Jun's face. Yet, he quickly masked it with a laugh.

"I won't stop what I'm doing because I can't give up on her. We have already shared good times together. I just need to persevere if I want to win her heart back and you..." Jun's voice turned to another degree colder, "Won't have a chance with her."

Kazuya only gave him an indifferent shrug, "I don't care about what you think of me but, if I was you, I won't lower myself in front of someone who no longer wants me."

Himari herself was the one who initiated the breakup. Although Kazuya didn't know the extent that made her decision turned into that aside from the reasons she told him, he wouldn't say something untoward at her.

Every two people's relationship couldn't be meddled by another person.??

The outsiders could give opinions but, the end decision should be done solely by the parties involved.

Uneasy with the truth lingered in the man's words, Jun swallowed down the bitterness. He asked back.

"What's wrong with me fighting for what I care for?"

Kazuya didn't immediately answer him. He quietly looked at the man who was younger than him by a few years.??

Even though he didn't really know about this man who Himari used to love, from how Kazuya saw him on the outside, this man still had good qualities.??

No wonder, Himari fell in love with him but, these weren't enough to bring her back to this man.

Although Kazuya said that Jun shouldn't disgrace himself, he also understood the feeling of wanting to be together again with the person he loved. Especially when his life had revolved around that person for long.

The deep yearning would constantly haunt your nights even after she had left. No matter how painful, how suffocating it was to breathe, she wouldn't come back.

He won't allow himself to be chained down by a person who would no longer look at him again.

Little by little, by his blood, sweat and tears, he dragged himself from being shackled by the old memories.

The beautiful ones had turned menacing.

The efforts to bring himself out of the nightmare weren't simple.??

Yet, here he was now.

As Jun thought the silence could strangle him, the man in front of him finally opened his mouth.

"Mister, I could only give you advice. Loving someone means respecting her wishes, no matter if it involves letting her go. Don't taint your beautiful memories of her with your obsession to return everything to how it was before. Slowly, the beautiful memories would become poison to you both."

Stunned, Jun froze on his spot.

His words...

Were almost the same as what Himari had told him.

Kazuya spoke again, his voice was so low in the quietness of the night. His eyes carried a hint of an indiscernible melancholy, unable to be seen by anyone.??

"Even though someday, the remains of your love finally disappear and you have loved another person, at least you should remember the good memories as a part of your life. If you turned them into the hateful ones, you're the one who would suffer."

A person had given you a chance to be loved by her, giving you the best of memories.

Why must you smear them with poisonous thoughts just because you two were no longer together?

Unless the reason for your separation was hideous.

Once he finished his words, Kazuya spun on his heels, wanting to return home.??

He could only see her for a brief moment when she opened the door to her friend earlier but, it was already enough. With her friend accompanying her, she wouldn't be too lonely.

"Wait!"

Jun abruptly yelled, making Kazuya stopped in his tracks but, he didn't turn around.

"I want to ask you," Jun stared at the back of the man. He couldn't restrain his anxiousness as he asked hurriedly, "You, everything that you have done for her, why? Do you love her? Do you have her in your heart? Is this your way to threaten me?"

This man so generously gave him advice but, Jun's mind almost burst with the thoughts that this man had done so on purpose.

He must want to get rid of him because Himari might recall the happy memories of them again thus leaving him with no choice!

Kazuya exhaled a quiet breath. He slowly turned his head, glancing over his shoulders.

A faint smile curved on his lips. His eyes glinted under the orange light.

"My advice came from my personal experience and, about me and she is only between us. I won't do such a cheap trick like this because my worth is far above that. I am not you."

I am not like you who couldn't accept reality.

Kazuya's final sentence blackened Jun's face due to his outrage but, he couldn't do anything as Kazuya kept on walking without stopping. Soon, the sound of a car engine drummed from a nearby area before the car gradually left the neighborhood.

Jun stood stiff on the ground, unable to move.

That man's hateful advice kept on blaring in his mind.