It did not take me that long enough to finally have myself dried and changed into more comfortable clothing for this cold weather. Soon after, I began to feel my stomach grumbling and eventually decided to try out that pub I've just been told about. The moment I walked out of the motel, with the umbrella I had borrowed from the receptionist guy, I stepped around the place to look for that place in the darkness of the area.

It’s still continued to rain down, but a little less heavy now from a while ago. And as I trod down the rocky path towards the dark wet road of Avian Hills, I soon saw a faint glow of blinking lights not too far from where I’ve just started to walk.

Nearing the place, I could almost hear some music playing from a distance. It seemed like there's some live band playing in there. I soon swayed at the rhythm and savored the play of strings blending with the noises of the rain around me. Making my way towards the entrance of the place, I can even hear the faded noises of people cheering inside as they began chanting some kind of a name.

"Nari! Nari! Nari!" They all shouted in chorus. I moved to take the stairs up to the bright entryway of the pub, hoping there's still a vacant table left for myself. Yet before I could even push through the doors, I immediately heard it.

"I used to love you…"

It's not the same song, but my heart rate instantly escalated at the sound.

"The way you love me…"

It's that voice…

I quickly lost all of my sense on a whim as I felt my feet moving on its own again--the way it just did ten years ago. And at the moment I pushed my way through the doors and walked in, I stopped on my tracks when I finally caught sight of her.

"I loved you but now I don't know…"

She was standing there on a mini-stage with the microphone against her lips, her hair a wild fiery redness framing that delicate face. She was singing a slow song, just a few meters away from me. I remained unmoved from where I just stood from a distance with her voice still echoing inside my head.

It's her. It’s not the same song anymore… but the voice was really her.

"I loved you but now I don't know…"

Instinctively, my body immediately advanced its way towards her figure, ignoring the entire motion surrounding me. My heart kept pounding on every step I took getting closer to her. And before I even realized it, tears had even started falling down my cheeks. She’s beginning to get even more real now as I continued my steps. And when I stopped just right in front of her, she paused and stared at me with an anxious frown. I heard subtle voices in the background but I was no longer in my rational state to even care about the rest of the world.

All I could ever think of, at this very minute, was how beautiful she truly looked standing in front of me. I was deeply entranced by her divine appearance, that I didn't even realize my mouth had already moved on its own…

“What did you say?” she asked me again and her face stretched into apparent shock and disbelief. I took another step closer and once again, foolishly repeated the words that have been constantly playing inside my head the instant I finally saw her face.

“I love you,” I said, and gasps reverberated around me. Yet I still dumbly repeated it again.

“I love you. I’m totally in love with you.”

I haven’t fully grasped everything yet--what I just did and said. And when I came back to my senses and found myself in the center of scrutiny and shocked faces of people inside the pub, I immediately had a constant recall. The moment I’ve finally realized what just happened, it was already too late. I’ve completely embarrassed myself enough to make a total fool out of me.

My mouth opened for a moment then closed as I forcefully tried to come up with anything to say to her. But before I could even have a chance to explain myself in a more logical sense, the woman in front of me was already making her way down the mini-stage to exit the place.

“N-no,” I tried to follow her out, “Wait.”

She ignored my words and went straight towards the back exit of the pub. She opened the heavy metal door as she led us to the cold foggy atmosphere outside. It’s still raining under the evening full moon, but it had already gone calmer now. And as soon as we both got away from the perceptive sight of the audience, she stopped and abruptly turned around, looking at me with a furious scowl drawn on her face.

“What the hell was that?” She angrily demanded to my face, referring to the blunt confession I just blurted out back inside the pub.

I couldn’t even give a decent reply to my impulsive action. I was at a complete loss of words after doing what I just did. Until now, I still couldn’t believe the stupidity I’ve somehow slipped out of my character in front of her. But as I dazedly stared back at those soft jade green eyes glaring back at me, I instantly forgot what I was even being stupid for.

“I love you,” I, for once again, dumbly told her.

For a short moment, we just kept staring at each other, not bothering to say anything at all. Then eventually, the rain that has ceaselessly soaked the grounds of Avian Hills, slowly disappeared into stillness under the dark cloudy sky of this misty evening, leaving only the two of us to fill in the inconvenient silence.

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