I turned around to continue walking again. I saw a person less than ten steps ahead who had a small smile on his face.He was wearing dark-colored attire, standing tall and upright. His bright eyes twinkled like stars, and the smile on his lips was faint yet charming.Having not seen him for several days, with no phone calls or replies to my messages, I thought our paths had diverged for good. Yet, here he was, suddenly appearing before me. As our eyes met, we had lost the frankness and tacit understanding that had existed before due to my grievances and doubts and his scrutiny and probing. We had become worlds apart.The person who had occupied my thoughts for days suddenly stood before me, bringing more heaviness than surprise. I was overwhelmed with emotions.What had caused such a distance between Colin and me?It had only been a few days.He had brought me the tastiest candies just three days ago!Just three days had passed, but my feelings had shifted dramatically.I st
Colin's steady footsteps drew closer, but I dared not turn around.The desire to know the answer to that question intensified once again."Colin, is that woman my future sister-in-law? She's quite pretty. Congratulations. I really have something to attend to, so I'll take my leave first."As I spoke, I didn't even realize that my voice was choked with tears.It wasn't until I had walked quite a distance away that I felt a cool sensation on my face. Upon wiping it with my hand, I realized I had been crying.Had Colin's absence affected me so much to the point of crying?Finally stumbling back to the apartment building, my head was pounding even more.Lilac was standing at the entrance like a doorkeeper. As soon as she saw me, flames of anger seemed to surge in her eyes. It was as if she wanted to tear me apart and devour me alive.I sighed helplessly.It seemed like trouble followed wherever I went.I wasn't afraid because I felt guilty but because I was tired of unnecessary a
My rage overwhelmed my rationality. So, without much thought, I approached Lilac and gave her a slap."Lilac, I'm warning you, I'll tear you apart if you dare to falsely accuse me again. I never did any of the things you think I did, so I don't have to take any responsibility. If you don't want to lose your dignity, you'd better apologize to me!"Although I wasn't thinking straight at the time, that slap was delivered with full force, making my palm numb.After 22 years, the obedient Luna who was usually gentle and kind finally resorted to violence.But it was Lilac who pushed me too far. Otherwise, I would never have done such a thing.I had to admit, though, taking matters into your own hands was incredibly satisfying.Lilac probably didn't expect my retaliation to be so fierce and decisive. She was covering the side of her face with tears flowing down her cheeks as she stared at me with a mix of shock and anger.I hid the hand that struck her behind my back, trying to maintai
"Don't change the subject. You were the one who stood me up first, and now you're falsely accusing me of liking someone else. "Everyone from the Whites thinks I'm easy to bully, huh? You come to bully me as you please. I can let it slide when you broke your promise, but now you're turning the tables on me."If you have a girlfriend, just admit it boldly. It's not like I'd do anything to you. Is there a need to lie to me? You have the courage to act but don't dare to take the responsibility, hmph."As I yelled angrily, my eyes had turned red.Colin had always appeared dignified and gentlemanly, while I would always embarrass myself in front of him. It was so humiliating.And what did I just say? Even someone as emotionally clueless as me could detect the jealousy behind my words. How could he not notice?Just as I was considering whether to run away again, Colin reached out and firmly grasped my shoulder with his right hand. His thick, dark eyebrows were slightly furrowed as he a
I still felt uneasy after returning to my room and washing up. In order to quickly calm myself down, I started painting.I was someone who became completely absorbed in whatever I was doing. Just a few minutes after picking up the paintbrush, I was completely in the zone.When I finally put down the brush, I was exhausted and realized that it was almost one in the morning.I had painted for the last three hours without paying attention to anything outside or even going to the bathroom.Indeed, when people were doing something, time flew by quickly. Pains like heartache were also relieved.Climbing onto the bed with my tired body, I instinctively picked up my phone and opened WhatsApp. The person whose chat box was at the top had written a short message more than three hours ago, just after I rushed into the apartment.The message wasn't too long, and the content was simple. "If you're concerned about the Instagram post, I can explain."It turned out that the young woman was Uncl
My mood suddenly became very bright. Even the stars outside the window looked exceptionally beautiful, and the wind carried a sweet scent.Instead of replying, I placed my phone on my chest and drifted off to sleep peacefully.My extremely accurate biological clock woke me up at 6:00 am sharp.The sky was already bright, with the corners of the window slightly fogged up. The sky was clear, indicating that it had just rained lightly.Colin's message came at 7:00 am, "Come down. I'll take you out for breakfast."I grabbed the large bag containing my materials and headed downstairs. When I reached the entrance of the apartment, I hesitated to take a step further. I saw Colin's handsome figure through the transparent glass door.Colin taking me out for meals was a regular occurrence back at Lincoln University. It was almost like a fixed scenery. All the women in school knew that the person they admired had a sister-like friend whom he cherished a lot and whom he doted on every day.
After several years of companionship, Colin knew my ostrich-like tendencies all too well. He must have devised his own unique set of strategies to deal with them.This direct action of pulling me out of my nest was one of the simplest yet most effective among them."Yes, I like them." I took the flowers and buried my face in them. I took a deep inhale of the delicate natural fragrance as I felt my face flush.I was being pursued. There was nothing to be ashamed of, so why was I acting like this?It seemed that I was indeed that helpless.When Colin was distant, I felt a profound sadness.When he was near, I dared not face him.I knew I was totally screwed.Colin cheerfully suggested with his eyes twinkling like stars, "Let's go to your favorite ravioli shop."Ignoring my struggles and oblivious to the onlookers, he firmly took my hand. He led me to the passenger seat of his car, and I got in. I kept my head down all the while, too embarrassed to look at the onlookers or at h
My mood was inexplicably affected, and even the delicious ravioli lost their original taste.Colin had always been wise and sensitive. He quickly noticed my discomfort and asked me what was wrong.I didn't want to ask, but learning from the adverse consequences of my previous baseless speculations, I decided to tell him the truth.Unexpectedly, he didn't say anything after hearing my words.With a sparkle in his deep eyes, he joyfully grabbed my hand and took a close-up shot with his phone. Then, he found a rose background frame and added the freshly taken photo. Colin then showed me his phone. He suggested I take a look with raised eyebrows. With just one glance, my face turned red again.The two photos were almost identical. It turned out that those were actually Colin's and my hands. That meant I had been competing with myself all along.I couldn't even recognize my own hand, which was truly embarrassing."Why would you post such a misleading photo?" I grumbled a bit.Even