Chapter 13

When I woke up the next day, the warm sunlight was streaming through the cracks in the curtains, casting a glow on the bedsheets, like a dream that hadn’t ended yet.

I rolled over, expecting him to be gone.

But when I opened my eyes, I saw him standing by the bed with a breakfast tray, a smug and punchable grin on his face.

“Breakfast in bed, my esteemed client. I’ll be handling the service today,” he said with a seriousness that made it sound like he was competing for a gold medal in service.

I squinted at him. “You made this? I’m a little worried you might poison me.”

He leaned down and kissed my forehead. “Don’t worry, if I were to poison anyone, it would only be you.”

…I almost choked on my egg, stubbornly turning my face away, but my ears were burning.

A few weeks later, he took me to look at houses, saying he wanted to “start a new life.”

But when we passed by the back gate of our old university, I suddenly froze.

The wall was still the same mottled old wall, the gate was still the same peeling iron gate, and the familiar plane tree was still there.

I asked him softly, “Do you still remember this place?”

He squeezed my hand. “How could I forget? The first time I kissed you was behind that tree.”

My cheeks flushed, and I gave him a little shove. “I almost forgot until you brought it up.”

But he suddenly leaned in with a smile. “Then do you want to… kiss again now?”

I complained, but I didn’t stop walking, pulling him forward.

The wind blew, and the leaves rustled, just like that summer years ago.

Only this time, we were holding hands, and we didn’t let go.

As we were walking, he suddenly stopped and said in a low voice, “You always thought I cheated on you.”

My heart skipped a beat, and I stopped in my tracks.

His voice was hoarse. “But from the beginning to the end… I never chose anyone else.”

I stared at him, and he continued, “That year, my dad found out we were together. He immediately froze all my assets and threatened to cut off your scholarship.”

“I could drop out, but you couldn’t. I didn’t dare to tell you. You were too proud. If you knew you were relying on me for your tuition, you would have refused.”

My throat tightened, and I held back tears until my throat ached. “So you staged a cheating scene? And you paid my tuition?”

“I was planning to hold out until you graduated and then tell you… but you blocked me first.”

I gritted my teeth and turned away, not wanting him to see the sourness in my eyes.

He took a step closer, his voice as soft as the wind. “After that, I looked for you like a madman. I couldn’t find you, so I could only wait. Wait for you to reappear.”

“Song Yu,” he said, “I spent three years buying the place where you worked, just to see you once. And your debt, I paid it off a long time ago, I just didn’t tell you.”

My heart trembled, as if a string had been violently plucked, and I could barely stand.

“Hate me if you want,” he said softly. “But don’t ever say again… that I never cared about you.”

He reached out and hugged me. “I would give my life for you.”

At that moment, my vision blurred, and all my emotions rushed in like a flood.

I finally understood that some people don’t show their pain, not because they don’t feel it, but because they don’t know how to express it.

It’s not that they don’t care, but that they hide all their thoughts and feelings in their actions.

(The End)