Remember Me, Baby.
First Meeting

The tiny, ripe lips were as crisp as a blossoming cherry blossom. Andrew could not focus on hearing what the girl was saying, but he was quite fluent in Japanese. He just kept glued and watched the tiny lips move, busy talking on his phone. All of those moves revolve like slow motion in romantic movies in Andrew's vision, hypnotizing and obscuring his senses. In such a vast world, he thought he would never find the girl.

Andrew blinked once. The girl was still in front of him. Twice. The girl waved her hand in front of her face. Three times. She was done calling, now staring at him with those cute round eyes.

“You are fine, Sir?” Keiko was a little anxious to see the man before her staring silently. He waved once more to attract the attention of the man, but he remained motionless.

“You can speak English? Or Japanese?“ he asked again when Andrew did not respond to his question at all.

The melodious and gentle voice came back, making Andrew almost lose his consciousness. They had never met before, but the longing that had clumped in his chest had been growing bigger, pressing in all directions until perhaps his heart would soon burst. The happiness he had never felt before exploded like embers splashing in all directions. An overwhelming sense of warmth and relief flowed in his heart.

Oh, dearGod. He spoke. Really talk. He lives, doesn't disappear, doesn't go back into the painting. He's real ... there really is …. I'm not crazy. I ….

“Kinara Lee?” andrew whispered in a voice resembling the whirring of the autumn wind. “At last I found you.”

“A-what? What do you mean?” Keiko looked at the man before her with a frown.

“You can speak Japanese?” he asked again, quite surprised because the man before him was completely fluent in Japanese. His pronunciation is also perfect.

Andrew did not answer that question. His brain was busy thinking of something else. He seemed to lose control over his body, his hands stretched out just like that, wanting to touch the girl standing in front of him with that slightly confused look.

“Yes, Lord ... We finally meet,” Andrew said as he continued to move forward, eroding the distance between them.

“H-stop ...” Keiko stuttered to see Andrew's fingers that almost touched her face.

“Baby?”

Andrew cupped his soft mochi-like cheeks expectantly. The warmth that spread through his palm further convinced him that he was not fantasizing, that the girl was really real. The urge to hug the girl was very strong. He knew the girl for the rest of his life. He could feel that the girl was indeed his soul mate. All the pain and despair that had been curbing his soul and tormenting him every day finally disappeared. All the burden seemed to be released and ….

Plaque!

“Br*sec!”

The sounds of the slap and the mockery were heard almost simultaneously, pulling Andrew from his imaginary world and throwing him to the floor, in the truest sense. The man rubbed his cheek which felt hot and sore. The same pain hit his buttocks that landed quite hard onto the marble floor. He looked up and looked at the little girl in a daze. His mind was now filled with questions, how could the girl throw him on the floor without any difficulty at all?

“Basic pervert! How dare you!” jolt Keiko with a reddened face. Could he lose his vigilance so embraced by a foreign man he had just met? Absolutely outrageous!

Just as the girl finished speaking, two burly men with long, well-punched hair were already standing behind her. They looked at Andrew with an intimidating look, then dragged him to his feet.

“Nona, are you okay?” asked one of the men without daring to look at Keiko's face.

“Ya,” Keiko replied as she stared intently at Andrew.

Bizarrely. The man did not look scared in the slightest, Keiko thought.

Andrew's face did look very calm and was not at all disturbed by the presence of two men who he suspected were the girl's bodyguards.

Shit, maki Andrew in heart.

Bugh!

“Ugh!”

Andrew groaned and bowed as a sizable fist landed on his stomach very hard. He leaned over and took a few steps back. He did not want to fight because he knew he was being disrespectful. Even though he felt that he had known the girl, not necessarily the girl felt the same way. Stupid and careless as he had never thought of this before. He thought ... when they met then they would immediately recognize each other. However, actually …

Dugh!

Buk up!

A flurry of kicks and punches landed on his legs and back, but Andrew did not want to retaliate at all. He just continued to cross both hands in front of his face with his head slightly lowered.

“Enough!” keiko shouted when she realized the man who was beaten by Hiro's men did not give any resistance at all. And, for some reason he felt a little unwilling to see the man grin in pain.

“Let him go. It seems he was just the wrong person,” he said again when he saw one of the bodyguards preparing to throw another kick.

Andrew staggered and tried to stand up straight. The pain stung his hips and temples, but did not hold back his intention to look back at the little girl who was about five steps away from him. Come to think of it, his actions earlier were completely disrespectful, unreasonable, and extremely careless.

“I'm sorry, Miss. I guess you are the person I am looking for,” Andrew said as he bowed deeply, “Allow me to introduce myself, I am—“

“Nona Keiko, Young Master Kobayashi is waiting for you in the car,” interrupted one of the bodyguards without looking at Andrew.

Hearing that, Andrew immediately saw the ring finger of the girl who had just been called Keiko. A fairly large diamond ring coiled elegantly and gracefully there.

Bums.

Bums.

Bums.

No. gabe. Not likely. This must be a joke.

Andrew stared at Keiko's face and the ring on his ring finger alternately. There was a kind of disbelief and unwillingness, creeping and squeezing his heart into pain. The stifling pain.

Keiko noticed the change in the look on the man's face before her. He looked down and realized the direction of the man's gaze. Ring on his ring finger. Reflex he immediately covered the thing with his bag. For some reason he was sad to see the seething glare that emanated from the dark bead before him. There was something strange creeping through the air, giving him a sense that he himself did not understand.

“Let's go,” Keiko said after returning Andrew's gaze for a few seconds.

The girl turned around and walked away, escorted by two burly men who looked extremely dangerous.

After the three men had left, Andrew took out a pair of glasses from his suit pocket and pressed the button on. He sure did not hear wrong when one of the bodyguards called the girl's name.

He has to confirm something. And, he was very hopeful for this time alone .. he misheard the name.

***