After Falling in Love with Him, Life Becomes Interesting

My mom took me to her friend’s house for New Year’s greetings.

I forgot my glasses, so from ten meters away, I couldn’t tell who was who. I mistook the dog lying on the sofa watching TV for the friend’s son and greeted “him” warmly.

"This must be Robert. It's been a few years since we last met, but you've lost so much weight."

Robert, who had just come out of the kitchen with a bowl of cherry, tilted his head in confusion.

Our mothers laughed so hard that they collapsed on the sofa. They patted their thighs and blushed from laughing.

Seeing that I was a little embarrassed, the innocent puppy that I mistook for Robert leaned over and licked my palm in a friendly manner.

I had known Robert since I was a child, but I was three years older than him. Later, we moved, and I hadn't seen him for several years.

I never expected that our reunion would involve me mistaking a dog for him.

I was so embarrassed that I almost dug my toes into the floor.

However, Robert looked quite unaffected and didn't take it to heart.

"Does it look a lot like me?"

Robert sat next to me and pushed the bowl of cherries toward me.

I picked up the puppy. “I can’t help it. It’s wearing our clothes.”

At a glance, Robert and the dog were wearing matching colors, so they did look somewhat similar.

"It’s my mother's bad humor."

Robert chuckled and then looked down, speaking softly with a hint of sadness, "I thought you were mad and didn't want to talk to me anymore."

My ears were always sharp, so I immediately caught that remark. My mouth jumped ahead of my brain, and I asked, "Why would I be angry?"

"...Because I stole your homework." Robert’s expression grew increasingly aggrieved, the 6-foot man towering over me like a big, sad puppy. “You said you never wanted to talk to me again.”

OMG. When five-year-old Robert said those words sweetly, it was charming, but hearing twenty-one-year-old Robert use the same tone was absolutely irresistible.

The stealing of my homework should have happened in junior high school. My family hadn't moved yet, and I had just graduated from primary school. My mother signed me up for a few tutoring classes after school, and I had loads of homework to do. Every weekend, I was either attending tutoring classes or trying to finish my homework.

Back then, Robert was in fifth grade and kept coming over to play. He’d visit me several times a day, and I told him I could only join him once I finished my homework.

When I still had two more sets of homework to do, I took out my school bag and found it empty.

Robert, being his single-minded self, stole my exam papers, thinking that this would make me available to play with him.

After losing the homework, I was so anxious that I rummaged through the house but couldn't find it.

Just as I managed to get a photo of the homework to make a photocopy, Robert showed up, eager to take credit.

"Hey, I throw that homework away, so you don’t have to work on them anymore."

He held a basketball in one hand, and his face was covered with dust. He smiled proudly.

Robert was a troublemaker at school, frequently skipping classes and avoiding homework. He was the type who didn’t care about consequences.

On the other hand, I was a diligent and earnest student who never missed an assignment. I was also quite sensitive and feared criticism.

I was furious and immediately kicked Robert out, leaving him with a parting shot. "Don’t come looking for me again. I won’t talk to you anymore."

To help me focus on my studies, my mom soon arranged for me to board at school. After we moved, I lost touch with Robert.

It was said that Robert visited me several times after that, but we kept missing each other. It wasn’t until my mom’s spontaneous New Year’s visit that we finally bumped into each other again.