The Truth Of You And I, By Rin

My name is Rin Miya.

I’m a third-year student at Febai College, studying sports medicine. I also captain our women’s soccer team, and we represent the entire country at the national level too.

At first, my encounter with Kai Darak was odd and humiliating…

But mostly for him.

Back when I was still dating Elias, there was this one fall afternoon where we stopped by Muller’s Blend, an upstart coffee shop next to Febai Park, to try their lattes. Elias proposed this date - but instead of him taking me on a ride in his family blimp, all I wanted was to sit down for a nice chat with a delicious drink.

I remember it was a rainy day, like most days during the autumn. I had been dating Elias for a month by that point, and I honestly was so pulled into his charm that I completely forgot my own values and dignity.

As we sat and drank our lattes that day, I let Elias boast away in his usual blabber: about how rich his family was, how big his house was, and how the previous women he dated weren’t as pretty as me.

You could say I knew the guy was an arrogant douchebag, but like many, I was simply too infatuated by his looks and prestige.

That day, before the two of us sipped our coffees, Kai introduced himself in the most head-spinning way possible: by knocking down our drinks, spilling them all over the floor and our clothing. I made sure to give him a piece of my mind - I had never slapped a man before in my life, so in retrospect, him being the first is quite funny and even poetic.

When he then apologized and explained the situation, I honestly wanted to roll on the ground and laugh. Just who accidentally lets a cat take a shit in a coffee bean bag and then proceeds to use those same beans to make drinks for their customers? As much as I was upset that day, a part of me couldn’t stop giggling. Kai then promised to make it up by treating us to a meal the next time we swung by.

Later that week, I encountered a newspaper which was left on the desk of my lecture hall at Febai College, presumably by the previous student. On the front cover was a color photo of none other than Kai - working away in his barista outfit without noticing his picture being taken. What drew my eyes closer, however, was the title:

“Son of Corrupt Millionaire Working as a Barista.”

The story was as astonishing to me as it was hilarious. I remembered reading the story and looking into it more online the entire time, rather than paying attention to the lecturer that morning. As much as the newspaper and the press wrote him off as some spoiled millionaire son who got what he deserved after his father’s arrest… to me, he looked nothing more than a kind and clumsy man who simply lived to see smiles on others’ faces every day.

And thus, for the first time in a while, I was intrigued - there was just something about him that I wanted to learn more about.

A few weeks later, I returned to that café, reminding Kai about the promise he made. I couldn’t help but sit there at the table in surprise when he actually delivered on his promise, and even offered to sit and chat with me.

I can’t say that what happened afterward was great - Elias bringing in a new woman named Lily and having Kai watch us fight - just thinking back to this moment made my stomach turn, even to this day. Nonetheless, as the days flew by, the image of Kai began sticking in my mind more often, and I occasionally found the urge to see him.

Soon, I opened up more about my troubles, particularly the events that happened last year with my soccer team imploding. I couldn’t believe what Kai did for me after: he rallied my former coach and teammates to hold one more match at our stadium, all while managing to keep it a secret until the event. Was there a more significant meaning behind what he did? Who knows… all he said was it would “cheer me up.”

But that wasn’t when I truly fell in love with him; that was simply what cemented the feelings which were already there in the first place. When we became a couple, I was ecstatic, and whistled in happiness everywhere I went. I was busy until Christmas, so all we could do was text each other until the holiday finally crept up. That’s when things took a bad turn.

During our Christmas Market date, Elias returned and pulled a tough situation on us – and yes – I regretfully broke up with Kai that same night.

Mila and I met in our first year of university; even though I was always busy with soccer, we bonded over taking the same sports medicine classes, and soon enough, we became study buddies, which soon transitioned to close friends. I take some blame for not telling her about my relationship with Kai earlier, since our schedules got so busy. Looking back, I’m just glad I got to patch things up with her before she passed away, but we’ll get to that.

For the next 10 months after that Christmas break-up, I tried to forget about Kai. Part of me already regretted leaving him without listening to his explanation, but part of me also thought that perhaps falling for him would only leave me with more trouble.

As the new year started, I continued the soccer season with my team, as well as my courses. Before when I joined practice, people would comment on how I always bore a frown across my face, or barely a smile if I tried. But ever since the new year, I was told that I seemed to be enjoying practice a lot more.

I couldn’t believe the lasting effect Kai had on my love for soccer and life in general.

However, kicking a ball around wasn’t the only thing which reminded me of him; everywhere I went, I either thought of him or my mind produced a mirage of him. It wasn’t hard for me to realize I still had lingering feelings for the man.

I held most of these feelings in until the next following September, and, out of guilt for running away, I couldn’t handle coming to terms with him face-to-face.

That’s when I began sending letters instead thanks to the deal I had with Eleanor; it was my way of planning a rendezvous so I could finally confront my own feelings and guilt.

Every letter was the same - it featured a white postcard wrapped in an envelope of the same color, and I would ship it out in my delivery outpost box.

Every night for those few weeks, I would stop by the Febai College tower at 10 PM, hoping he would show up after reading my letter. Even after the first time he didn’t arrive, I continued coming back every night. As every day flew by, I became more and more reluctant to go, knowing he probably wouldn’t show up.

On one Friday morning before heading to school, I decided to check his mailbox to ensure my letters were in fact being delivered to his apartment - and that’s when I found out:

He wasn’t even receiving them.

Eleanor, the girl which I heard through rumors on wanting to marry him, was preventing those letters I sent from arriving in Kai's mailbox. I found out in the most direct way:

“So now you’ve come in person,” she greeted me in front of Kai’s door while the guy himself was already out at work. I knew I was caught red-handed, but I confronted her.

“So, you’re the one who’s been stopping my letters?!”

“Well, of course,” she replied with a casual tone that made me shiver. “Now, may I ask you to stop all contact with him permanently? Otherwise, our family will have to intervene, and your family’s jobs will be at risk.”

After that initial greeting, I struck the deal with her on somehow getting a letter sent to him and made my way back down to the street. That’s when Eleanor’s phone rang, and instead of continuing my leave, I flung around the corner, disappearing from her view to listen in on her phone conversation:

“Yeah, I’ve been trying to look for that letter he wrote to Mila for months! If only I had it… Kai would for sure accept my marriage proposal if I gave that stupid letter to him in return.”

Making sure I wouldn’t get caught, I ran away right after she spoke that line. I can’t way I wasn’t dejected by the time I got back home that night. Instead of changing, showering, and heading straight to my desk, I flopped onto my bed, deep in thought about my next move.

“Rin!” yelled my mom from downstairs. “That red scarf you brought home last Christmas... can you move it somewhere else instead of the storage room?”

“Fine, coming.”

I hopped off and sauntered out of my room and to the closet door my mom was directing me to go. Once I opened it -

Slam! Boink!

A flock of boxes came pouring down on me, squishing me onto the ground.

“Ugh…”

After re-organizing the boxes and dusting myself off, I reached for the red scarf on one of the shelves. There wasn’t only one person I knew who would wear it.

“Jeez, what happened earlier?” My mom asked as she entered the room from behind.

“Nothing.”

“And where did you find this scarf anyways? It’s so old… shouldn’t we just throw it out?” She leaned in to peek, and I quickly squished it against my chest, hiding it away.

“S-Stop looking! And no, we’re not throwing this away. Anyways, I’ll just keep it in my room, okay?”

Kai and I weren’t a thing anymore, but keeping his red scarf safe was a necessity. He had told me the history behind that scarf: about how someone close gave it to him as a present for Valentine’s day, and since then, he’s lost them, but keeps the scarf as a treasure. Now, I was starting to think: that person had to be Mila!

“It was so random of you to bring it home too… was it a Christmas gift from someone special?” She asked while standing up. “And also, what’s that?”

She pointed down at an envelope which fell from the top shelf when all the boxes fell. I picked it up from the ground, dropping my jaw as my eyes caught the words written on the front.

To Mila, From Kai? I thought and gasped once I saw the address written on top.

Wait… Mila’s family used to live in this house a few years back!

Kai must’ve sent Mila a letter, not knowing that she had moved out and I moved in. I burst out of the storage room, startling my mom in the process. There was no way I wasn’t reading its contents; sorry, Kai.

“Hey, where are you going, young lady?!”

“Don’t worry about it!”

I ran back into my room, slamming the door shut behind me in the process. Instead of ripping the envelope open, I carefully slid my fingernails into the seal, which was glued to the rest of the paper. Slowly but surely, my nail removed the seal, and I managed to open the envelope without tearing anything apart.

“Amazing…” I whispered, and took the old, folded paper out. The paper itself was ripped from a notebook, as one of the edges was repeatedly jagged. Finally, I began reading the letter itself, which featured Kai’s handwriting in ink which covered almost the entire paper:

Dear Mila,

I’ll start by saying you won’t see me ever again, I promise.

I’ve reflected a lot on what I did to you, and while I know it’s not enough, I’m sorry.

I’ll work to become a better person, and one day, a better partner, if I deserve a partner at all. I can’t even begin to imagine the pain you’re going through because of me. I had been brainwashed because of our family’s wealth and power, and I became arrogant. If I don’t stop now, I’ll be left with no friends by the time we graduate.

If it’s alright, I’ll be donating some money to the charity which your family runs in secret – it’s the charity for kidney disease research, correct? Unless I’m in millions of dollars in debt one day, I’ll still donate, because I know it holds significant meaning to you, and it means you can potentially live a longer life, right? I’ll also find some volunteer position that’s able to teach me how to become a better human, by helping others in need. Maybe even a real job, too.

Thanks again for being there for me when we were together. I promise I’ll work to become a better human going forward.

-Kai

Well, let’s just say that it was long and emotional. By the end, I was covering my mouth with my hand, holding in tears. I then yanked a tissue from a nearby tissue box and blew my nose.

Kai, don’t worry… I’ll make sure Eleanor reads this!

It was then when an idea lit up in my head:

I can try to sneak this envelope into Eleanor’s mansion, and make her think she’s hit the jackpot for having Kai’s old letter to Mila! She’ll probably use it as a bargaining chip for making Kai marry her!

Well, you could say that the plan was a success, and the rest was history.

When Mila passed away, I cried all day and night. It was the day that I helped Kai when a flock of customers barged into his café, and he was severely understaffed. After we found out about Mila, I ran away from his shop, as I was too shocked by the news. What upset me the most was how Mila lied to both Kai and I that she had a kidney donor. Perhaps she just didn’t want us worrying about her; she was always like that ever since we met.

While Mila and I patched things up together before she died, I recalled a suggestion she gave me when I visited her at Febai Hospital:

“Rin, don’t worry about me. I’ve made up with Kai, and he even wrote me a lost letter 5 years ago which was supposed to include an apology for everything he did. You should go make up with him! You still love him, don’t you?”

I’m glad I followed her words. In fact, I could’ve avoided this situation with him altogether, had I just listened and given him a chance.

For the next few weeks from late-November to Christmas, I continued showing up at Febai Tower next to the Stadium, hoping he would eventually find the letter and meet me at the top. Because I didn’t know when he’d be able to read it, I intentionally didn’t specify a date. All I could do was write down a time, and show up every day. As the days went by, I’ll admit it got tough. Occasionally, all I would do was poke my head into the room on the top floor, grasping for that pinch of hope.

On Christmas, which probably would’ve been the last day I visited the tower before giving up, Kai came, and it brought me tears of happiness. I just couldn’t describe the influx of dopamine I felt that day: it was like my wish, which I patiently waited for, had finally been granted.

Yet now…

[Present Day, New Year’s Eve]

“What?!” Kai dropped both his arms to his torso after having ripped the marriage proposal to shreds in front of Eleanor and her bodyguard.

“Well, it’s just the nature of business,” Eleanor replied, and glared at the both of us menacingly despite keeping a smile. I can tell she was bad news.

“But that’ll run this café to the ground!” Kai protested while clenching his fists.

“Kai,” Eleanor held her hands together in front as if faking politeness. “I explained it to you last year already, correct? That our family owns the entire coffee supply chain industry within the country. We run all the factories that build the espresso machines and help import all the beans.”

“But you can’t just target one café and stop giving us supplies and ingredients like that!”

“Oh, but I can.”

After Eleanor and her guard had left, both Kai and I looked at each other in worry. He had just lost an employee not too long ago, and now the woman whom he refused to marry was about to stop supporting his café altogether.

“Don’t worry,” he held my hand, and kissed my forehead. “I’ll figure this out somehow. She’s not stopping us.”

I looked back at him while struggling to smile back; does he know he blushes so much that his entire face turns red?

“B-But…”

This wasn’t the time to be all lovey-dovey with each other. I don’t know if I could live knowing I was putting such a burden on him and his coffee shop.

“No buts! I’ll think of something.”

You’re too carefree… but that’s also another reason why I love you.

“No,” I whispered and kissed his cheek, which only worsened its redness. “We’ll think of something together.”