Love Behind Dangerous Avalanche

Part 1

On our eighth anniversary, Frederick signed me up to climb a snowy mountain.

On the way up, I encountered an avalanche. I was crushed and on the verge of death. But Frederick, with his childhood friend, boarded the helicopter, leaving me alone to struggle in the snow.

When I woke up again, I saw his Childhood Friend had posted on her Instagram:

“Thank you, my great hero! You will always step on the seven-colored clouds to save me!”

It was accompanied by a picture of Frederick peeling an apple for her.

Our mutual friends were watching, waiting to see how I would respond.

Without hesitation, I commented, “Take it away! Good luck with the lockup. Don’t come out and cause trouble on others again!”

I woke up a week after the avalanche, during which time even the nurses complained about why none of my relatives had visited me.

I just smiled and said, "It's such a bother. I'll be sure to send you a banner when I get out of the hospital!"

***

Luckily, I hadn’t lost my memory. I still remembered Frederick’s back as he hugged Lucia and left with determination, just before I nearly died. Thinking of him, my eyes darkened.

I looked for my phone, but after searching for half a day, I realized it was probably buried in the snow. I had to ask my junior, who came to visit, to help me buy a new one and get a new card.

When I opened my new phone, Frederick’s call came in. His questioning voice filled the line.

"Sophie, are you serious? I made dozens of calls and sent hundreds of texts and you didn’t reply. What are you throwing a tantrum about now? Didn’t I tell you at the time Lucia had an asthma attack. If she wasn’t taken to the hospital in time, she would have died! You weren’t in any real danger—what was wrong with waiting for the helicopter?"

I calmly let him finish, feeling no emotion inside.

"Well, I know. I didn’t say anything. If you're fine, I'm hanging up."

He rushed to stop me. "Wait, where are you?"

I mumbled, "I’m at the hospital ER and …"

Before I could finish, he interrupted and shouted, "Sophie, can you stop with being dramatic? Is this fun for you? Can you be more like Lucia? Understand a little! I told you I treat her like a sister. You pull this every time and I'm really tired. Let’s both cool down for a bit."

In the background, I heard Lucia coughing. Then, the call ended. I tried calling back, but his phone was already turned off.

I smiled to myself. I wasn’t going to starve my body over this dog scum again.

For the next ten days, I lived on leftover. Frederick didn’t call once. In the past, I would’ve reflected on what I had done wrong—what had made him unhappy. I would’ve immediately gone to apologize. People around me used to say I was a "licking dog," and I admit it—I liked Frederick too much. For him, I threw away my self-respect and pride.

But after that life-and-death experience, I no longer cared. The old Sophie had died. I was now a reborn Sophie.

On the day I was discharged from the hospital, Frederick called and said he wanted to pick me up. "Where are you?"

Coincidentally, I had also been thinking of breaking up with him face-to-face, so I agreed.

"I’m in front of the hospital," I replied.

His tone stiffened, maybe recalling the last time he yelled at me. He asked again, "You’re really at the hospital?"

I remained calm. "Yes, the main entrance of the Army Hospital."

His voice softened. "I’ll be right there. Wait for me for twenty minutes and we’ll go to dinner."

I canceled my ride and waited for him in front of the hospital.

I waited from the afternoon until evening, but he never showed up. Taking it as par for the course, I hailed a ride home.

As soon as I got home, he called again.

"Sophie, where are you? You lied to me again! You said you were at the hospital!"

He even sent me a picture of himself in front of the hospital.

I finished changing my shoes and laid down on the sofa.

"Mr. Frederick, could you kindly check the time? I waited for you for six hours. Even a turtle would’ve made it home by now."

I hung up the phone.

Scrolling through my Instagram, I saw another post from Lucia: "The rice made by Brother Frederick is still so delicious!"

There was a picture of Frederick wearing a pink apron and holding a spatula, drawing a flood of comments.

Looking at that, I suddenly felt relieved. After chasing Frederick for eight years, I realized I could let go of this relationship. There was nothing to regret.

I clicked ‘like’ and exited the app.

Before blocking Frederick, I sent him one last message:

“Frederick, let’s break up.”