The Intact Memory Lane

June quickly covered the painting with the clothes and shut the closet upon hearing footsteps. He rushed towards the door, but before he could open it, Sushi swung it open, accidentally hitting his nose.

"Ouch!" June exclaimed, instinctively holding his nose.

"June, I'm so sorry! Are you okay?" Sushi rushed to him, concern evident on her face as she checked his nose.

Despite feeling embarrassed, June tried to appear strong. "Yeah, yeah, I'm fine," he assured her, removing his hand from his face.

But Sushi noticed blood. "June, you're bleeding!" She quickly closed his nostrils and guided him to the bed, tilting his head upward.

"Don't tilt your head down. Just keep looking up," she instructed, before rushing to the bedside cabinet to grab tissues and clean the blood.

"It's okay, I'll take care of it," June insisted, feeling embarrassed about the situation as Sushi tended to his nosebleed.

"Why does it have to be like this?" June wondered silently as Sushi cleaned his nose. Each time he started to lower his head, Sushi gently lifted it back up. "Stay like this for a few minutes. I'll be right back," she assured him before hurrying off.

"Be careful, don't run. You might fall," June called out, regardless of his own discomfort.

"Why isn't she back yet? How much longer do I have to stay like this?" June was about to return to his normal position when he heard footsteps, prompting him to lift his head again.

Sushi returned with an ice pack and placed it on the bridge of his nose.

"What are you doing? I'm fine, take it off," June attempted to remove it, but Sushi restrained his hand.

"It'll help stop the bleeding. Just two minutes, stay like this," she insisted.

"Sushi, my head is starting to hurt. Can you remove it now? It's been more than 2 minutes. I think I'm okay," June pleaded.

Reluctantly, Sushi removed the ice pack, and June slowly lowered his head. Her hands remained on his cheeks, her face close to his as she checked for any signs of continued bleeding.

As their eyes met, they both remembered the intense kiss from earlier that morning and instinctively moved away from each other.

"It looks like you're okay. Come downstairs. Everyone's waiting for you," Sushi said with a slightly shaky voice before quickly making her way downstairs. June followed behind her.

"Are you okay, June? Sushi said you got hurt," her mother-in-law inquired.

"I'm fine, Mother," June assured her as he pulled the chair next to Sushi and sat down for breakfast.

"Your nose is red," Chloe pointed out, laughing heartily.

"Even if you're mad at June, hitting him where everyone can see isn't fair," Chloe teased, taking advantage of the situation.

"That's enough, Chloe," Sushi interjected, stopping her from embarrassing June further.

"By the way, I've arranged everything for you two. It's all set. Your flight is tomorrow morning. Vin will pick you up after you land. You can enjoy yourselves, but make sure you come back home with some good news," Chloe signaled, teasing June again.

June blushed but didn't respond.

After their meal, the elders bid them farewell, and June and Sushi headed back to the car.

********

"Why this guy keep on going back and forth to Sushi cabin", Nivi thought after few glances at Huan.

Nivi couldn't shake the thought of Huan's frequent visits to Sushi's cabin. After a few glances in his direction, she decided to follow him to the pantry as he went to get some coffee.

Standing beside him, she casually remarked, "Could you make some coffee for me?"

However, Huan seemed indifferent to her presence. He quietly filled his cup and settled at a table in the corner beside the window, gazing outside as he sipped his coffee.

"Is he ignoring me now?" Nivi wondered, feeling a pang of frustration. She approached his table and sat down in front of him, but Huan remained absorbed in his phone, scrolling through it without so much as a glance in her direction.

"Are you ignoring me?" Nivi asked loudly, but there was no response from the other side.

"Are you blind? Can't you see me?" she waved her hand in front of his eyes.

"Oh, you've decided not to talk, huh? I know how to make you talk," she declared, yet Huan remained silent.

"Sushi won't be coming to the office today," Nivi announced.

Huan glanced up at Nivi, wanting to ask "Why?" but held back.

"So what? Why are you telling me?" Huan responded sharply.

"You don't care if she's coming today or not. What if I told you she won't be coming for a month?" Nivi anticipated some reaction from Huan this time.

Though Huan wanted to ask why, he simply said, "So?"

"Oh, this doesn't faze you either? Okay. What if I told you June also won't be coming for a month?" Nivi leaned in, observing Huan carefully.

"What's going on? Is there something happening that I'm unaware of?" Huan wondered silently.

"They're going on their honeymoon," Nivi whispered this time.

The shocked Huan exclaimed, "What? When?" setting his cup down on the table.

"Oh, now you see me. It seems you're not blind and I'm not invisible. Good to know," Nivi remarked, attempting to leave.

"To where?" Huan stood up, questioning.

"Aren't you two close? Hasn't she told you yet?" Nivi turned back to answer.

Huan felt offended and retorted, "Our relationship is none of your business," before storming off with an angry expression, leaving her alone.

"Why is he taking it out on me? Am I the one sending them on their honeymoon? This guy has a lot of issues. I need to find a way to handle him. I should make some progress before June returns" Nivi pondered to herself.

****

"Do you want to go home or outside?" June asked as he drove.

"Let's go to the office," Sushi replied.

"Why the office though? I already told Nivi to take care of everything. We can skip today," June suggested.

Before she could say anything else, he asked, "Is there anywhere you want to go? I heard you haven't traveled much around here. I can take you somewhere if you'd like."

"Not really," Sushi answered.

"Do you mind if I take you somewhere?" June inquired.

"Sure," Sushi replied, wondering, "What's gotten into him? Where is he taking me?"

After some time, they arrived at a location and got out of the car.

It was a lively neighborhood, with numerous trees and a small shop in front of them. It was the same place where June had bought ice cream for Sushi before.

Seeing it, Sushi became excited and ran toward the store, exclaiming,

"June, how come this place hasn't changed a bit even after all these years?"