Chapter 9

In the evening, the three of us sat together for dinner.

I kept my head down.

“Why did you leave the group chat?” my mom asked suspiciously.

“Huh? Did I leave? Let me check.” My acting was as steady as ever.

My dad finished eating and went to take a shower, then came back with a pair of underwear, questioning my mom, “When did you buy this for me? Don’t you know my size?”

Me: !

My mom looked at my dad, then at me, pinching the fabric, “This isn’t yours. I never bought anything this expensive.”

Then, in perfect sync, they both turned to look at me.

I swallowed nervously, struggling for half a minute, “Could it have fallen from upstairs?”

They paused for a few seconds, then agreed.

I finally breathed a sigh of relief and volunteered to return the underwear upstairs.

I wasn’t really going to return it; I wandered around the garden downstairs for half an hour, thinking about Liam Evans gave me a headache.

This was his underwear. I had washed it and hung it in my room, but somehow my mom had found it and washed it again. Keeping his clothes in my wardrobe was ultimately unsafe, and I was going crazy.

I dawdled until the sun set before heading back home. As soon as I entered, I saw that face and instinctively stepped back out to check the house number.

Once I confirmed I hadn’t gone to the wrong place, I reluctantly stepped back in.

The person sitting properly on the sofa playing with his phone–who else could it be but Liam Evans?