Yoko had thought of many hypotheticals. What if the two had never known each other? What if Yoko had never liked Faye, never tried to pursue her? What if Yoko and Faye had always just been colleagues, normal co-stars? Would all those injustices and misfortunes not have happened to Faye?

Was it Yoko who had caused Faye to get caught up in this?

These gloomy and negative thoughts clung to Yoko, refusing to leave.

If it were a life without Yoko, Faye would still be Faye, beautiful, talented, and kind. Faye would still succeed, still develop, and be famous on the path she was on. That villain would still be a silent observer of Faye, instead of appearing and attacking everything that approached Faye.

Because I went beyond my limits, because I wanted to reach for something beyond my grasp, I affected you.

The feeling of helplessness and the thought of being utterly useless weighed down and tortured Yoko.

At this moment, apart from drowning in sorrow, Yoko didn't know how to express all these emotions. Yoko didn't know how to cope with everything. It was always Faye right by her side, protecting her, shielding her, telling her that Faye was there, telling her everything was okay, that she wouldn't go anywhere. But Faye was gone, taken away by the villain. It was like suddenly the person who always shielded you from rain and wind disappeared, and you immediately felt lost and adrift to the point of not knowing what to do. Yoko was exactly like that at this moment.

With her abilities, she hadn't been able to do anything.

She... hadn't been able to protect her.

She wasn't worthy of her at all.

Two weeks after Faye left, Yoko still couldn't accept the truth, locking herself indoors. Yoko cried so much that her tears dried up; her eyes were swollen, and no more tears could fall. The feeling of helplessness in everything weighed her down, making it hard to breathe. Yoko languished, trapped in an empty void. Torturing and gnawing at herself, thinking that if she just stayed there, if she never appeared again, if she just disappeared, Faye would be free.

At first, Yoko hated the person who took Faye away; she hated the one who had put them both in this terrible situation. But gradually, she even compromised: as long as Faye reappeared, as long as Faye walked through that door, smiled at her, and said Faye was okay, that was all Yoko needed. Then, whatever that villain wanted, she would agree.

Yoko truly wanted to compromise to the point of unconditional surrender. As long as Faye was safe, free, and could do everything Faye wanted, Yoko would say goodbye and leave.

Would that be enough?

Are you satisfied now?

It's because of me; it's because of my existence that you've faced all this. So, if I just disappear, it'll be fine.

A month had passed since Faye left. The news Yoko received was always headshakes from everyone, Thien's serious and angry face, Nam's eyes filled with silent worry. Even Doctor Tan appeared; she, too, was tired of everything. Everyone was searching for Faye by all means.

Throughout this month, no one lived peacefully.

Even Yoko herself didn't understand how she had survived.

Yoko couldn't eat anything. As soon as she closed her eyes to sleep, she would have nightmares, dreaming that something bad happened to Faye. That's why Yoko tried to stay up very late until she was exhausted and dreamless. Yoko languished, locked in her room, not wanting to see anyone. Sometimes when she opened her eyes, she thought it was daytime, but it was actually night. Without Faye, Yoko was no longer herself.

Not only that, Yoko no longer dared to go on social media. Faye's fandom, Yoko's fandom, and even FayeYoko's fandom—they were all heartbroken as well. Every day was flooded with fan posts mentioning Faye and Yoko. Images of them when they were together were everywhere. Faye's image... every time Yoko saw it, her heart ached so much it felt like it would stop beating.

Yoko didn't dare to face those things. Because every day, fans would ask Yoko where Faye was, forcing her to answer. But how was Yoko supposed to answer them? When she herself was lost, adrift, and didn't know where to go.

Yoko couldn't follow Faye, because she didn't know where Faye was.

Yoko couldn't live a normal life, when that life no longer had anyone by her side.

It was as if everything was a great storm, and she was drowning right in the eye of it. Yoko lost her direction, not knowing where to go.

And the lighthouse Yoko always relied on wasn't there.

Yoko didn't have the courage to face all the questions about Faye. Yoko couldn't tell them that Faye was gone. She didn't even have the courage to lie to the fans that Yoko herself was fine.

Yoko was melancholic for a whole month, and she pretended that nothing was wrong. It wasn't until Thien and Doctor Tan visited Yoko again that Tan noticed the signs. Yoko was indeed suffering from mild depression.

But even though a doctor told Yoko that and suggested she see a psychologist, Yoko disagreed. She didn't want to see anyone related to the two words "psychology" at this moment.

Faye was still missing, and the one who took Faye was also a psychologist.

Things started getting worse as the second month began. At this point, with no answers found, everyone was blaming Yoko. Fans called out to Yoko everywhere, questioning why Faye disappeared. Why was Faye in trouble while she was still safe? They blamed her with very hurtful words.

They were frustrated because they were sad. And they came to her to vent that frustration.

But the more heartbreaking thing was that she couldn't justify herself. She couldn't say that Faye was kidnapped, nor could she say that her silence all this time was because she was too heartbroken.

Among all ways to cope, Yoko chose to endure alone.

Once, unable to bear it anymore, Yoko drove for several hours to Faye's house, just to see and talk to Faye's adoptive mother.

Yoko wanted to do something related to Faye, or she would go crazy.

Faye's mother, though she hadn't seen her daughter for a long time, was still a good and kind woman. She wasn't angry or blaming but welcomed Yoko like family. Faye's mother let Yoko sleep in the room Faye usually slept in.

That night, Yoko cried all night.

The next day, upon returning to the city, Yoko plunged into a new level of despair.

This time, Doctor Tan couldn't stand by and watch anymore. Tan began visiting Yoko's house whenever he had free time.

Because Yoko didn't want to see a psychologist, didn't want to leave the house, Tan only had that way to approach Yoko. From two strangers, Tan appeared twice a week, with the sole purpose of talking to Yoko, to help her alleviate her sadness and open up more. Even Nam frequently called to check on Yoko; all of Faye's friends were worried about Yoko.

And among all the things Nam and Tan suggested Yoko do, returning to work was mentioned most often.

Suddenly, without Faye in her life, it was truly a fatal blow to Yoko. And without work, it was also a significant setback for her. It wasn't until one day, having gathered enough courage with Tan's enthusiastic encouragement, that Yoko dared to step out of the house and go to the company.

But as soon as she arrived, Yoko immediately ran to the restroom and vomited everything, then found an empty room and sat there for the rest of the day. Yoko had overestimated her endurance.

This company was flooded with images of Faye everywhere. From the rehearsal room they both used, the bench they both sat on, the dance studio where Yoko practiced dancing and Faye practiced guitar. Every corner reminded Yoko of how Faye had existed in her life and how Faye's absence left everything empty.

It wasn't until the fifth day, going back and forth to the company office many times, that Yoko felt a little better. But everyone understood that Yoko couldn't be normal.

There was no more joy, happiness, or sense of security in her eyes.

Even Thien's investigation information hit a dead end. Yoko hoped and then was disappointed so many times that only emptiness remained within her.

Yoko was like a soulless corpse, drifting through that period of time.

.....

The world around remained colorless, but Yoko had learned how to ignore it. She tried her best to complete her work every day. Sister Nam was right; Faye wasn't here anymore. If Yoko continued to torture herself like this, locking herself indoors, living in sadness, how could she hold out until Faye returned?

So Yoko tried to throw herself into work, suppressing the feeling of instability and brokenness deep within her heart. She even dared not mention Faye, or speak a complete sentence about her. Every time Yoko mentioned Faye, Yoko immediately felt suffocated, as if she could faint at any moment. Therefore, Yoko found every way to survive, to prevent herself from sinking deeper. Yoko avoided all questions related to Faye.

Two months had passed, but there was still no news from Faye. This was not only a fatal blow to Yoko but also caused extreme disappointment to Thien, Nam, and everyone else. Nam almost abandoned all his work, joining Thien to search for Faye. Even Yoko's safety worried Nam greatly. Nam feared that if something happened to Yoko, he wouldn't know how he could face Faye again. Thien almost turned the whole country upside down to find Faye. Even Doctor Tan regularly visited and checked Yoko's health.

Seeing everyone like that made Yoko understand that she couldn't collapse; she couldn't let her own heartbreak cause everyone to worry. But Yoko's very thought of concealing her emotions was like building a castle on sand. Even Tan noticed Yoko's suppressed, easily explosive emotions. These emotions were only hidden; if they shattered at some point, Yoko could truly do very negative things.

Among all the resources they could leverage to find Faye, there were two most powerful ones they dared not use. The first was the FayeYoko Fandom; no one dared to reveal what was truly happening to Faye. Because until Faye was found, Faye's image of voluntarily leaving was the best proof. If information about Faye being kidnapped or in danger spread naturally, it would cause a national-level media crisis.

Secondly, there was the resource of the Lertprasert family. Although Yoko's father had helped Nam and Thien a lot in searching for Faye, that was still not the entirety of a large family's resources. Yoko felt that her father was avoiding something, but she didn't understand why. On the surface, the Lertprasert family was completely standing by.

Today was a cosmetic promotion event, originally scheduled for both Faye and Yoko. But due to Faye's disappearance, the event was adjusted to only include Yoko. Although Yoko had faced a lot of injustice and misunderstanding from fans due to Faye's disappearance over the past two months, today's event still saw many fans appear.

Throughout the event, Yoko always tried to maintain the best possible mood to bring completeness to the event. And she did very well. It wasn't until after the event that Yoko changed into a more comfortable outfit and appeared to interact with fans; this was an activity scheduled in the program. Yoko sat on a platform to chat, surrounded by her fans.

At first, it was all gentle questions and conversations back and forth, because even though they couldn't understand Faye's disappearance or why the golden couple FayeYoko had almost vanished, anyone looking at Yoko felt her haggardness and breakdown, her eyes lacking light. Yoko had lost a lot of weight; her cheeks were no longer plump as before. If Faye saw Yoko at this moment, she would surely be heartbroken.

The atmosphere was warm, not exactly joyful, but everyone cherished this rare public appearance by Yoko Apasra.

Suddenly, from the crowd of fans, one fan raised her hand and stood up, timidly asking Yoko:

"Yoko, do you miss her?"

It was that simple; they didn't even need to mention a name. Everyone understood who she was asking about.

Yoko's heart ached. It always hurt and the wound had never healed.

Yoko's eyes changed, as if holding a thousand unspoken words, finally narrowing to a blink, her eyelashes trembling slightly, her voice soft, filled with emotion and remorse.

"I miss her very much."

Just a gust of wind makes me miss her. Just the faint scent of coffee in the air makes my heart clench. Just a familiar melody she used to listen to echoing somewhere makes me cry. I miss her, I miss her as a matter of course, it never changes.

"Is she okay?" Another fan hesitantly asked, everyone's eyes were red.

They all loved both Faye and Yoko. So all this time, not only Yoko was tortured, but even the young fans were equally heartbroken. They were truly here only because they loved FayeYoko. The feeling of not knowing why everything happened, why this suffering appeared, it tormented them, breaking those little fans day by day. No one gave them an answer, even Yoko couldn't say anything.

Yoko clenched her hands, a feeling of instability overwhelming her.

Assistant Nhan, standing nearby, immediately noticed Yoko's instability. Nhan used other assistants to immediately step forward to distract the fans. They quickly announced their goodbyes and wanted to take Yoko away.

"Yoko..." From somewhere, someone shouted: "...Why are you living well while Faye is going through such a difficult time?"

Living well? No, no. I haven't lived comfortably for a single day... I can't...

Yoko turned to answer, but she was surrounded by the arms of assistants and security, who quickly escorted her away from the scene. The last image fans saw was Yoko Apasra with red eyes, unable to utter a single word in response to their question.

The current difficult situation had made the assistant team instinctively know what to do and react very quickly. But as soon as they got into the car, what happened next surprised everyone to the point of being caught off guard.

A new notification appeared on the phone.

Faye Peraya is livestreaming.

Everyone in the car looked at Yoko simultaneously.

Yoko was very familiar with the feeling of being stared at like that; it usually meant something big was happening. Picking up her phone, Yoko also saw the notification.

For two months there had been no news, and now she had reactivated her personal account and was live streaming. A feeling of fear spread, her fingers cold, Yoko trembled.

"Stop the car!!" Yoko screamed.

The entire car was startled, quickly stopping as Yoko wished.

Without waiting for anyone to react, Yoko grabbed her handbag and a jacket and left the car.

"Yoko!" Nhan called out worriedly.

"Don't follow me!"

Yoko just threw back a sentence and left.

Quickly finding an empty corner in the park, Yoko put on her jacket and pulled up her hood to cover her head, trembling as she held her phone. Tapping on Faye's livestream notification, Yoko didn't dare to hope for anything.

Two months, for two whole months, she hadn't seen a picture of her.

The livestream screen appeared, showing a simple but rather spacious corner of a room. Faye sat on a single sofa, her long straight hair flowing loosely, wearing a white T-shirt and capri pants, revealing her endlessly long legs. Her skin was paler than usual, looking as if she hadn't been out in the sun for a very long time. Her face was partially obscured as Faye was focused on her guitar, so only her profile was visible. Simple as it was, it still couldn't hide Faye's beauty, even though that beauty was clearly haggard, and Faye's arm had become very slender.

Her eyes, which she thought had run dry and were sore from crying so much, immediately blurred as soon as she saw Faye's image. Yoko tightly gripped her phone, one hand covering her mouth as if afraid that if she made any sound, someone would take Faye away, Faye would no longer be able to broadcast and would disappear. She just wanted to look at her, just a little longer.

Faye said nothing, just sat leaning on the chair, slightly bending her legs and hugging her guitar, tuning it in silence. Then slowly, Faye began to play and sing.

She's so thin.

Didn't she get to eat anything good there?

She has to stay healthy, she has to try and come back to me.

It wasn't just Yoko's thoughts. The chat box was flooded with comments of encouragement, inquiries, and expressions of love from fans. Ten thousand, then twenty thousand, then thirty thousand... the number of viewers was increasing rapidly.

Lightly swiping the screen to the left to hide all comments immediately silenced the entire world, as if there were only Yoko Apasra and Faye Peraya, just the two of them. Yoko intently watched every detail of Faye's body, just to make sure Faye was okay, not injured anywhere, watching so carefully that Yoko reluctantly blinked, afraid of missing Faye.

Her longing had reached this point.

And Faye began to sing and play.

The melody and lyrics of the song "Safe and Sound" resonated. This was one of Faye's favorite songs; Faye often sang it, and Yoko had heard Faye sing this song before.

"...Just close your eyes

The sun is going down

You'll be alright

No one can hurt you now

Come morning light

You and I'll be safe and sound..."

The gentle strumming and the melodious, soft voice had never changed, only the feeling had become much deeper. As if having experienced a period of introspection, having gone through immense changes, all that remained was a pure and delicate beating heart.

It wasn't just this one song. As soon as it ended, Faye paused for a moment, still not looking at her phone, and began to play and sing the second song. And so, like a silent concert program, without interaction or conversation, Faye simply played and sang.

That alone was enough to make countless people sigh. And the one who was most heartbroken and tormented was definitely Yoko.

"If one day I'm sad, but you can't comfort me, what will you do?"

"Why make such a hypothesis? Why would you be sad?"

"I don't know, I'm just sad."

"I'll comfort you."

"But you won't be there..."

Someone who used to laugh happily at her girlfriend's naive questions, turned to look at her little girlfriend, who often worried too much, and gently stroked her head.

"I'll play and sing for you. Just that, simple as that, play and sing for you."

Faye was doing exactly what she said she would. She was playing and singing for Yoko.

A moment later, just as suddenly as it began, after playing and singing many of her favorite songs, Faye slowly stopped, her eyes wistfully caressing the guitar as if it were the most precious thing she had at that moment. Then Faye looked up, for the first time looking at the phone, facing all the people watching the live stream, facing Yoko.

Her eyes were so sad.

Yoko looked at Faye and cried.

"Goodbye and see you again."

That was all. The screen went dark, the live stream had ended.

Faye was gone again.