‘Stop saying that you’re sorry. There’s nothing to be sorry about.’

Liyun stood and walked to the window, staring at the sky. When she didn’t seem to be moving from her spot, he got up and joined her. He stood behind her, peering over her shoulder. High-rise apartments stood in close proximity, not unlike in Tokyo.

‘What are you looking at?’ Shoji asked.

‘The train,’ Liyun said. ‘Can you see the tracks over there?’

He narrowed his eyes and traced her gaze into the distance. It wasn’t obvious at first, but he finally spotted an overhead track peeking through a tiny gap between two apartment buildings. A few seconds later, a train passed by.

‘The train reminds me of your apartment,’ she said. ‘Or rather, your apartment reminds me of my family home.’

‘Uh-huh.’

Liyun turned to Shoji. ‘You lived in another apartment before, didn’t you? With Jin.’

He nodded.

‘Why did you share an apartment with him, out of so many people?’

‘Why not? He’s easy-going, a friend of a friend.’ He recalled his first meeting with Liyun at the reunion, and what she had said at that time. ‘The sex parties, those were rumours. Jin brought girls back from time to time, but it wasn’t any different from other guys who bring their girlfriends to their apartments.’

She laughed. ‘Even if the rumours are true, I know you had nothing to do with it. You’re the kind of guy who gets flustered when you find out you’ve slept with someone while drunk.’

He looked away.

‘Sometimes, I think about that night. What if I’d never approached you? What if we hadn’t had a few drinks together, or if I had asked someone else to take you home instead? How different things would’ve been for us. I probably would never have fallen for you.’

‘Do you regret it?’

She shook her head. ‘You gave me some good memories.’

They were quiet for a moment before Shoji said, ‘I miss your cooking.’

‘Yeah. It’s been so long since I last cooked for you.’ Liyun rested her head on the wall. ‘Do you remember the day Eri came? You were late, so I spent some time with her. We talked. About you, mostly. At first, I thought she might be someone who was interested in you romantically, but once I got to know her, I realised I was so wrong. We barely knew each other, but somehow I felt like I could trust her.’

‘Uh-huh.’

‘Eri told me I should give up on you,’ she continued. ‘She told me I deserved someone better, someone who could love me wholeheartedly and not be stuck in the past. She said I should move out as soon as possible, for my own good.’

That sounded like Eri.