So when Yuto—Saki’s ex—started texting Mika a month after the breakup, she should have seen it coming. "You're easier to talk to than Saki." "You actually listen." "You're not like her at all." Mika’s heart fluttered. She mistook comparison for compliment .
She thought: That poor girl. She doesn’t know the phrase yet. ano ko no kwari ni suki na dake
But someday, she might.
Yuto compared her to Saki constantly—but not in the early "you're better" way. Now it was: So when Yuto—Saki’s ex—started texting Mika a month
They met for coffee. Then dinner. Then late-night walks where Yuto held her hand a little too tightly, as if steadying himself. When he finally kissed her, he whispered something that should have stopped her cold: ano ko no kwari ni suki na dake