The beginning of my intersection with Jared was in a similar situation.

I was not good at sports since I was young, and running was my weakness.

When I just entered the first year of high school, I was always nervous during physical education class, afraid of embarrassing myself in front of everyone.

However, no matter how careful I was, I still couldn't avoid this.

The day I fell.

The sky was cloudless, and the sun was shining on me, causing sweat to pour down.

I fell to the ground, whimpering in pain.

As expected, laughter came from the surroundings.

It was Jared, the sports committee member, who stood up and stopped them.

He carefully helped me up and scolded them angrily, saying, "What are you laughing at? Haven't you ever fallen down before?"

He scolded them, reported to the teacher, and took me to rest nearby.

"Wait here, I'll go buy some band-aids."

After saying that, he didn't wait for my response and ran off.

That day was the first time we had any interaction since the start of the school year.

But it left a strong impression in my heart.

After that, he took good care of me.

During physical education class, he would intentionally walk beside me and watch my steps.

When I struggled to finish the whole course, he would smile and praise me, saying, "Great job, Ilisa."

I thought the spirited young man in the novel was just like him.

But why?

In just two years, the boy in my memory had changed a lot.

They all knew that I liked him, and he knew too.

But he indulged them deliberately playing with me.

Was my liking really as cheap as he said?

Or was it that in his eyes, I was just a pastime toy?

"Are you waiting for someone to come and laugh at you?"

A familiar voice came from above, instantly pulling me back to my thoughts.

I looked up in a daze, Ervin was smiling, and he squatted down and reached out to me, "Don't stand there stupidly, get up quickly, it's embarrassing."

I realized and stood up with his help.

Fortunately, the corridor was carpeted, so I didn't get hurt when I fell heavily.

But it left a large bruise.

He glanced at my knees in a short skirt, then looked at my face, his eyebrows suddenly furrowed, "Are you crying?"

I smiled and shook my head with difficulty, "No, you misunderstood."

He was my neighbor, and we grew up together since we were young. We were considered childhood sweethearts in their eyes.

But he was always focused on studying, so we didn't have much interaction after high school.

We just occasionally greet each other when we meet.

Anyway, it was really embarrassing to be seen by him in such a miserable state.

I dare not look into his eyes and deliberately avoid them, "Your party hasn't ended yet, so I won't disturb you. I'll go back first."

I limped away, but he reached out and grabbed my arm.

"There's nothing interesting here. Let's go together."

We were all silent on the way back.

I thought this silence would last until we got home.

I didn't expect that as soon as we got out of the taxi, I heard him say, "Ilisa, which university do you want to choose?"

Hearing this, I was stunned.

I originally planned to follow Jared to apply to the same university, wherever he went, I would go.

However, now I had changed my mind.

I looked up at the star-studded sky and said with relief, "I have never seen the sea before, so I should choose a coastal city."

This way, I could fulfill his wish and stay away from him.

Unexpected.

Woke up the next day.

Just two hours ago, Jared sent me a message.

"Didn't you say you would give me a gift after graduation? Give you a chance to bring it to me."

He talked and directly sent me an address.

Recalling the embarrassment of last night, I didn't reply to his message.

However, in a place I didn't know.

Jared stared at his phone waiting for my reply.

"Jared, don't worry. After being your loyal follower for three years, she won't easily let go. She will definitely come to find you."

Jared put down his phone and sneered, "Who cares if she comes? She's just a dog who comes running at a beckoning hand, who cares!"

He occasionally glanced at his phone while saying that.

But he couldn't get a response from me.

He became increasingly irritable and kicked the coffee table.

Not long after, I received another message from him.

He said, "Ilisa, you think you're something, not replying to my messages, huh? Then don't ever message me again!"

When I saw this message, I happened to be filling out my college application.

I quickly glanced at it and focused my attention on more important matters.

When I finished filling out the application and picked up my phone to send him a message to mutually delete our chat history, I noticed a red exclamation mark next to the message I sent.

He was playing this game again.

As long as things didn't go his way.

He would casually delete me.

Waiting for me to beg him.

He added back with a proud attitude.

Every time, it was always me who lowered my head.

But now I lowered my head and looked at the bruises on my knees.

The scenes from last night flashed through my mind again.

It was like reminding me that my unhidden crush should end.

This time, I didn't beg him to add me back like before.

Instead, I deleted everything about him.

After doing these things, I looked at Instagram.

Just saw a fresh video from the people who were making a fuss in the private room yesterday.

The background was the private room. They were cheering and making noise in the video.

Meanwhile, I stood opposite Jared, looking at him affectionately.

The video captured all of my embarrassment.

The person who posted the video, George, even mentioned me specifically and said, "One failure doesn't count. Come again next time, and if there's something funny like this, remember to let us know in advance."

My heart ached.

I had calmed down, watching the video again, Jared's gaze towards me was filled with annoyance.

He made it so obvious.

Why couldn't I see through it?

My confession.

For Jared, it may be considered an insult.

And for those who were watching the show, I was a clown bringing a funny performance.

I took a deep breath and tried my best to restrain my surging heart, and replied to him, "It's impossible."

There was no possibility between me and Jared anymore.

We were originally two straight parallel lines, and it was impossible to force it.

My mom was shocked for a moment after knowing the university I applied for.

She asked in confusion, "Did you make an appointment with Ervin?"

What does it mean?

I looked at her curiously and asked, "What do you mean?"

"You both chose the same university, and he performed exceptionally well this time. I thought he would choose a better school."

My mom was muttering something, and I couldn't hear it clearly.

All I knew was that in this unfamiliar city, I had someone relatively familiar.

Since the beginning of the school year, I hadn't seen Jared again.

Three years have passed, and I was about to completely forget about this person.

I received the engagement news from my friend Gina.

We made a promise to witness each other's happiest moments.

So I came back when I had no classes.

But I didn't expect that my friend's fiance was Jared's friend.

I smiled and said hello.

Jared tightly held the wine glass in his hand, his burning gaze fixed on my face without blinking.

Upon hearing my words, emotions surged in his eyes, and he gritted his teeth, saying, "You dare to come back."

Why can't I come back?

This is not his home.

I was speechless.

But considering today was a joyous day for my friend.

I didn't want to argue with him.

I nodded lightly and ignored him.

Seeing this, Gina pulled me aside and asked softly, "Ilisa, do you know Jared?"

I calmly shook my head, "Not very well."

"But he looked at you strangely."

I was not surprised by Gina's words.

Holding my phone and sending a message, I casually said, "Who knows."

Gina was the center of attention. She couldn't be with me all the time.

I simply found a seat and sat down.

I didn't expect Jared to walk towards me.

He sat next to me without saying a word.

I also ignored him and focused on chatting with the person on my phone.

After a while, he suddenly spoke, "It's been so long, why are you still angry?"

Hearing this, I raised my eyebrows in confusion, "Who told you I was angry?"

I was in a pretty good mood.

Did something go wrong with his eyes?

Jared showed impatience.

"Ilisa, when did you learn to act dumb?"

In the face of his accusations, I rolled my eyes silently and said, "Are you crazy?"

He was still so narcissistic.

What did I do to make him so confident?

He clenched his fists tightly, as if restraining something, gritting his teeth and saying, "Ilisa, my patience has its limits. You better speak properly when I'm not angry."

I sneered, "Why should I speak properly to you?"

Just then, George showed up unexpectedly.

He saw me appear and widened his eyes in shock.

Soon he regained his composure and smiled, saying, "You think today's engagement is for Jared, deliberately coming back to steal the bride, do you?"

Upon hearing this, even Jared's face turned dark.

I suddenly felt like laughing.

I asked in return, "Why would I want to steal the bride?"

He froze, glanced at Jared, and smirked, "Who doesn't know that you like Jared? Stop pretending. If you apologize to Jared, maybe he'll forgive you for leaving without saying goodbye."

Jared pursed his lips and seemed to agree with him.

He looked at me arrogantly and said, "Apologize to me now, and I'll consider forgiving you."

I felt speechless and looked at him coldly.

"Are you crazy? I already have a boyfriend."

As soon as these words were spoken, I felt that the atmosphere around me dropped to freezing point.

There was a surge of waves in Jared's eyes, and his voice became cold, "Say it again?"

"You can ask me to say it many times, but I already have a boyfriend, so please don't go crazy in front of me, thank you."

I was already impatient when I said this.

But there were always some people who didn't have any sense.

George stood up for him, "If you have a boyfriend, why don't you bring him out to show us?"