"MIKHA, CARTER LIKES ME!" Cheska told her friend excitedly while they were talking over Skype. It was eight in the morning then, they just finished breakfast, when her friend contacted her to say hello. “We felt the same way towards each other. If only you had seen it. It was so romantic. We are at the Magical Forest in Jeju Glass Art Museum.”
She could hardly sleep last night, especially since they just couldn’t stop talking about their childhood. But they never talked about Doc Darryl again. That was a topic she didn’t dare touch. And she also thought Carter was avoiding talking about him as well because she only feels sad whenever she think about it.
Mikha’s eyebrow rose. “Hmmm… so, you are suddenly a couple now?”
She shook her head. “No. We’re not rushing it. We didn’t even say that we’re in love with each other. We are taking our time. No commitment. He said he just wanted me to know that he likes me. He wanted us to know more about each other until the time we feel like we’re ready to commit to a relationship.”
Her friend looked surprised. "Sounds like a very sensible man."
She clapped because Mikha didn’t object. “See? I knew you will like Carter. I feel like I’m about to really fall in love with him. I am almost there. Just a little bit more.”
“But your vacation will be over. You will return here to Manila and he will be left there in Korea. How will you remedy that?”
Cheska clasped her hands. “I am considering applying for a job in Korea. I want to be with him. Even now, I miss him already when he was just in the other room. I want this to work. I hope you won’t disagree, Mikha. I need your support right now. I want to be happy,” he pleaded.
Her friend’s slap of reality was good in lowering her morale. But at this moment, she wanted her friend to just support her. She needed that friend who would be happy because she was happy.”
Mkha smiled. "Well, surprisingly, I like Carter more than I like Doc Darryl."
Her eyes twinkled. "Really?"
“Because you’ve been with him. It’s only been a few days but I think you’ve been with him at the times when you needed him and you’ve seen him during the hard times he’d been through. I admire him. Plus the fact that he didn’t take advantage of your weakness.”
“Yes. He did not take advantage of me even when I asked him to kiss me. ”
Mikha’s eyes almost popped out in shock. "You’re the one who asked him?” 
“He didn’t want to. I do. And I'm already twenty-five. I'm not in high school anymore. I don't have time to be overly conservative about it.”
Her friend gave her a mischievous smile. "Is he a good kisser?"
"It was lousy actually," she said, her lips pouting.
"What?"
"Too lousy, I want to give up v-card already."
Mikha burst out laughing. “I'm not too worried anymore. I know that Carter will take care of you.” But her smile slowly faded. "Have you visited Doc Darryl's grave yet?"
“You know, that is what’s weird. We could not find his grave at the Yangji Cemetary. The admin people there said he has no record there. Nothing. There’s no one with the name of Kang Jung Rin nor Darryl Kang was buried there. No cremation record either. Not even a record of his parents who were buried there.”
Mikha touched her chin. “Yes. That is weird.”
“So Carter and I will go to the Halla Hospital where he used to work hoping to find one of his colleagues who were still there. I’m also waiting for Jaimee’s reply for confirmation.”
"Did Carter already know he looks like Doc Darryl?” 
She slowly shook her head. “N-not yet. I'll tell him when I finally visit Doc Darry’s grave.”
“Don't wait too long. If he finds out about it from other people, it may not look good on him. It's better to clear it out sooner.”
“Yes. I will definitely do that. ” If she wanted an honest relationship with him, he needed to know the truth.
She was adjusting the hem of her turtle neck blouse and was getting ready to leave her room when Carter knocked on the door. 
“Can you wait for a little more? I'm almost done,” she said when she opened the door.
“Eun Young called me. She said your cellphone is fixed now and omma has picked it up for you from the shop,” he said.
She immediately took her coat and put it on. “Good. I just hope the payment for the repair was enough.”
“No. It is just enough,” Carter said softly. He gave out a deep sigh. “Eun Young opened your phone to test if the unit is okay now. If you don’t mind me asking, Cheska, why do you have my picture on your cellphone?”
The smile disappeared from her lips and she looked back at him. "Excuse me?"
He pulled out his cellphone and showed her the message Eun Young had sent to him. “This picture. It was not Eun Young intention to pry, but she was blabbering about how destined we are together. But I find this creepy. Didn't your cellphone break when we met on the train? How did you get this?”
Cheska shuddered slightly. This was what Mikha was talking about earlier. She should have told him about his likeness to Doc Darryl before he learned about it from someone else. But it was here now. She just braced herself for this confrontation.
“That’s not you, Carter. That's Doc Darryl,” she said in a calm voice. "You just happened to slightly look like each other.”
“We are not ‘slightly’ look like each other. These are my pictures!” he said, the tone of his voice being slightly higher now. “These are my pictures that were posted on my Facebook account that was hacked. And I'm so sure we haven't talked then. I only have personal friends and family relatives in there.”