Bittersweet Candy Bowl

A few months ago....And he ‘communicated with you’? Maybe you should have communicated and communicated this with your boyfriend!

Oh sweetie, don’t go down the self-blame rabbit hole. It’s so hard to crawl out of!

Someone get him off that ride asap

Oof her talking about working through problems together with Francis while Mike was left in the dark about everything - problems, accomplishments - really does sting

Hum... Sandy, sweetie... Is francis like... An adult ? Don't. Please don't

Omg it didn't even register to consider how old Francis might be....

In Model girlfriend she said he was an intern/apprentice, but that's can be a range

That’s what I’m hoping too, Fiver—maybe he’s about her age as well since he’s still not established in his career? It would be a pretty bad situation otherwise, oof 😬

When Sandy said 'why don't you just grow up?' In Model Girlfriend has a little more context now

I am glad Sandy didn't actually cheat on him but OOF Mike, don't you dare go down that path.

She kind of did emotionally. There’s different kinds of cheating to just physical.

I'm going to rephrase: I am glad Sandy turned down the person she had feelings for because she is already in a relationship with Mike rather than accepting them and having a full blown relationship

Knew it was coming but I kinda feel bad for Mike. :/

This guy is everything Mike wanted to be to Sandy. Ouch

And now his heart is broken.

Mike: I want to see to Francis!

Butler: Francis is busy.

Mike: Busy doing WHAT?!

Butler: He's having his bath.

Mike: Oh, REALLY? WHERE ARE THEY HOSING HIM DOWN?!!

Ow, okay I was expecting it but it HURT

Oh noooo. Mike it's not your fault at all. It's just what happens sometimes 😥

*roblox voice* OOF

Mike blaming himself really hurts to see :( He's been so dedicated to her for so long, it's not his fault Sandy didn't communicate with him enough..

Have honestly seen this coming in some shape or form for a while now. Mike's had her up on this pedestal where she could do no wrong and their relationship was basically him idolizing her and her affectionately humoring him. It's sad, but I'm glad it's over.

OOF that hurts 😭

She could just break up with him. But no, let's dump all the details on Mike. It doesn't matter how he feels, but she will reduce her guilt and speak out. Bravo

Yeah. I feel like she's doing it to explain to herself and make herself feel justified, but Mike is just going to hear that he wasn't good enough

I think this will be both a painful and relieving experience for Mike. Hopefully he is able to reflect on how he has been acting and will now know what he wants out of a relationship in a healthier way... still sucks that all the time, energy, and devotion that he poured into Sandy wasn't really reciprocated.

wow!! this is just an enormous bummer huh

Oh man sandy he was there for you? Maybe if you TALKED TO MIKE he wouldve been there too, you idiot!

Francis was physically there though- something that Mike just can’t do right now.

Mike always placed Sandy on a pedestal and she is part of a hectic adult-centered world he just has no idea about. Of course, she should have gone to her boyfriend, but seeing that Francis does her hair, I'm sure they just naturally spend a lot of time chatting. It probably just started out as venting to her stylist while she was sitting in a chair for an hour or so; but since he's physically there and knows all the people she's working/ dealing with, so solving problems with Francis makes sense. The issue is... she started catching feelings.

The fact that she never mentioned asking her out and we havent heard like anything from her makes me think its not just physical distance, here. She emotionally closed herself to mike and didnt talk to him. Its dreadfully ironic that she mentions his help when she doesnt say anything to mike.

someone smarter than me has almost certainly pointed this out before but I can't imagine his whole complex about liking two people at once derived from when he liked both Sandy and Lucy is meshing well with this

Big ouchie. :( This was absolutely inevitable though. Sandy and Mike have absolutely nothing in common any longer, and frankly? If I was Sandy, I’d probably want to move on to someone who not only was physically close to me, but someone who actually shared my life, my interests, my career. It’s not Mike’s fault, but I can’t even blame her.

(As a side note I’m really hoping Francis is only like, 18-19 age wise...not ideal to date a 17 year old at that age either but not super creepy either, especially considering they’re coworkers and don’t seem to have any imbalance of power over each other.)

Sandy being 17 in the story and being pushed in an industry full of adults seems weird that she romantically bonded with an adult who’s been in the industry for a while, seems like it started as a mentor bond before feelings started. And if she’s gonna be an adult soon she’s gonna think she wants this way too soon.

Man amazing how one page made me lose so much respect for sandy. For someone who chided mike abt growing up, she sure hasnt handled any of this like an adult. I actually think i dont care how she feels much anymore.

She's still a child too, though. They're both imperfect, they're kids.

Long distance relationships, and how infrequent they are in actually lasting. It is rather assenine to assume that either side would be able to keep "faithful" under the common guise of social norms that dictate that you can love only one person at a time. Physicality (or lack thereof) does in fact affect a relationship, and they are no exception.

Mike's moodiness was also a dead giveaway that things were close to an end. You know something's missing and it's eating at you, but when your partner is around it you speak to them on the phone it's everything you've been wanting, so that can't be the reason you're feeling bad, right? So you lash out to everyone else for not understanding, or worse, you start a path of self-destruction. Mike's done both it seems.

More absolutely stunning pacing and visual impact hhh

It's kinda mikes fault for not growing his mindset at all since 3rd grade. Also.. Her hairdresser?? How old is he....

I believe it's mentioned that he's an intern... so I'm hoping he's like 18/19 and not something super creepy like 20+

Now im just ready for Monday im on the edge of my seat with anticipation i kinda wish we could see how sandy is holding up on the other side of the phone maybe we will get a chapter that follows sandy in her day to day life and everything that happened with francis i want that soooo bad!!

Uh oh! Mike really ain’t to blame, but them’s the breaks

you know I'm wondering if the reason Sandy cried after kissing Mike in Model Girlfriend was because she realized that she didn't have any feelings for Mike anymore (it is also after that date that the ghosting gets really bad if I'm remembering correctly)

I think she has feelings for him still. I think her crying was more because she did like them both at that time, and she was realizing just how far apart her and Mike had grown from one another. I think she was feeling a combination of guilt for having feelings for someone else, and also remorse over how this person she's loved for so long just doesn't really fit with her anymore. He's able to act childishly and have fun while she's in a role that forces her to act mature for her age. He has the freedom to have hobbies and play video games while her whole life is meticulously scheduled. I think she still wants Mike, but she realized there's no longer really any room for him in the life she has, and she's mourning that.

She's realizing what they have isn't sustainable, and she's been in denial about it. Hence why she seems to be confused by her feelings for Francis. It's like she wants to hold onto her relationship with Mike because she genuinely loves him, but Francis is more accessible, understands her work-related issues, and can better help her work through them. Mike is as supportive as he can be, but he's outside of this world Sandy lives in, while Francis is inside.

She has handled it horribly, though. If she's been talking to Francis about her problems for "months," it means she hasn't been even trying to communicate them to Mike anymore. I get she's conflicted, but to be giving that little back into the relationship she's got to be playing an active, intentional role in it.

Man, sympathetic pains make the blood run cold. But still, this was going to happen sooner or later.

Mike... not your fault! You can't be the perfect guy for her forever. Most people can't. Don't blame yourself.....

well she handled this really badly, how awful. No one deserves this, but it needed to end.

I think a lot of people are quick to jump on either Sandy or Mike about what's going on here, but to me, this situation seems to be more of an unfortunate consequence of two people who started out having strong feelings for each other growing apart as they're growing up, the difficulties of which have been exacerbated by physical distance.

Both of them seem to hold some ideals about relationships (and beliefs about the way feelings work) that haven't been conducive to maintaining a sustainable relationship. It's true that both could have handled this situation better, but that doesn't have to mean we need to point fingers and assign fault.

Personally, I'd say both behaved shite repeatedly. They both screwed it up differently. Hopefully they'll learn from it but Mike doesn't give me great confidence for a happy ending to his story

That's fair, they definitely both handled different things poorly, and things probably would be smoother now if they had handled them differently.

It may not have been a situation that /had/ a way for it to end up well, though. It may just not have been a sustainable relationship. It's difficult for me to assign fault to either of them for the unravelling of their relationship because of the number of factors that were just beyond their control. Factors that may have made them increasingly incompatible, for which no one is at fault for. There's too many what-ifs.

@Sen I'm at the age where I've seen previously healthy relationships grow apart. I think them growing apart and both unable to be honest about that fact is where the biggest problems for them were. I think they were both kids on two radically different paths and this was going to happen even if they did everything correctly. (But, yes, they of course made many mistakes)

Keeping that they're still teenagers in mind and it's their first relationship, I'd say as horribly it's been handled the fact that she at least admitted it is mature. Most would have projected or turned it around saying it's the others fault.

She's still painfully oblivious to how much her words are twisting the knife in Mike's heart though. Her hairdresser was "available"? Mike's just standing there going "I cancelled all my friends for you"

Hopefully Mike learns that this obsession wasn't healthy and that a broken relationship isn't worth it losing friends over. Especially not in such a dramatic fashion.

I bet this is going to end with her calling him "Michael" instead of "Maishul" and that's going to be the exact moment his heart breaks

You legit Fucked up Micheal. your Reaping what you've Sown.

how childish do you need to be to think anyone deserves this? what did he do to her other than want a functioning relationship? Micheal didn't do shit that would make her stringing him along justified.

@Bee, not saying you're completely wrong on the 1st part of your reply, but I think Anthony ment that Karma has caught up to Mike because of how he has acted towards Lucy & the rest of his friends, not how he has acted towards Sandy

'A few months ago' and she never said a word about it to her boyfriend. In fact, she purposefully continued to distance herself further and further from Mike. I don't blame her for having feelings for someone else, that happens and that's life. BUT for it to happen *months* ago and for her to not say a word and just continue to torture herself and Mike... She will never even realize how much suffering she has caused, not just to herself, but also to Mike and the people around him who had to deal with him falling deeper and deeper into despair for being left in the dark and essentially purposefully mislead. Mike is certainly no saint and screwed a lot of stuff up, but damn Sandy.

God, now I want to see this in webtoons comic format cause it's so perfect for this scene...

I don't personally think she was obligated to tell Mike anything about her feelings for another person, but I think the nature of their romantic relationship entailed that she probably owed Mike a genuine conversation about her feelings involving him (Mike) and their relationship.

So yeah. Damn, Sandy.

Wait, “the guy who does my hair” like an adult? And she’s like 16-17 right? Well that’s very very yikes

In Model Girlfriend, Sandy said that Francis is still an apprentice. That probably means he is somewhere between 16-25. Still kinda yikes

Okay, that’s a little better, however yes still kind of yikes

Some of this may be just Teenaged naiveite... But if you think about this, even with her conflicted feelings, she wasn't communicating this for months at this point.

So, in theory, if he hadn't moved to confront her about this and needing more communication, she would have probably been happy leaving the status quo. I mean, Maybe a text when coming to town, stay there for an hour every 4-5 months, maybe a handful of texts over that time, and gets to keep her #1 fan going. I mean kids can be stupid, but that can become incredibly toxic and at least blew up like this, before becoming a huge anger fest really.

Overall, I think when he confronted, she finally confronted her feelings. Maybe that finally told her "This won't work out like this" and now had to confront that she really liked someone that is closer to her, and she gets to see regularly. Someone that fills in the gaps that she cannot gain in a long distance relationship. Though the talking part *could* have been worked out, but it almost seemed like it was easier to just not even bother? Thinking of it, *how* often had she taken the initiative to message him rather than the other way around? I mean there was the messages from Halloween after Paulo left a message... so that doesn't really count... When she is coming to town for a show... To give some of the "Not for the magazine" photos that were not quite proof.... So the only ones I can think of in the recent arcs literally had been more about her?

Of course... hopefully her hairdresser is fairly close in age rather than someone that is much older... who apparently was also hitting on her there. Otherwise the creep detector needle will be flashing red.

Okay. So going back to when Paulo accused her of cheating and sleeping around. Anyone get the feeling that she cringed 😬 because of that she had feelings for someone else this whole time and he hit the nail on the head.

Hey, how old is this Francis dude? 'Cause Sandy's like 16. And while I'm not fond of her as a person doesn't mean I'm not extremely leery about a potentially older dude showing romantic interest in a literal teenager.

I went back and reread "Model Girlfriend." She mentions he's still an apprentice stylist, so I would imagine college age, or just graduated. Not totally out there considering Sandy's 17.

Mike, you were wrong in pushing away your friends before, you were wrong, idolizing your distant, ghosting girlfriend, don't be wrong in seeing blame with yourself man. As much as I'm as annoyed by Mike as Paulo is, I hate to see how similar his coping mechanisms in ending long term relationship are to my own.

Don't do this man. This hole is way too deep to crawl out of.

I mean, not saying it's only Sandy's fault they're breaking up, I'm just saying exclusively blaming himself for "not bring enough" is just ouchie. People drift apart, it's nobody's fault, don't do this to yourself man.

I’ve gone through what Mike currently is, it’s EXTREMELY difficult to not balme yourself, he will hopefully find support somewhere but idk who will be there for him but hopefully someone

I've also gone through what Mike is going through right now. It is extremely difficult not to blame yourself. I do feel sorry for him but he has also handled himself rather poorly in regards to his friends. I hope he's able to learn from this and start mending what he has destroyed.

So this relationship is clearly ending, but I'm dying to know what kind of public response Mike is going to have. Is he going to stop wearing his scarf - indicating to everyone what happened? is he going to keep the breakup to himself and pretend everything is great? (which seems like his inclination) Is he going to go crying to Paulo (in which case there's a multitude of outcomes there).

I'm not super invested in what happens with Sandy at this point, but I'm DYING to see how this is going to affect his social life.

I had the feeling something like this would happen. When she visited him and kissed him and then cried about it and told him he was a nice guy. I've been waiting for this for so long!