I had a crush on my childhood friend for years, but he fell in love with my roommate at first sight.

He said impatiently, "Alice, don't get in the way of me pursuing her."

After I started dating someone else, he humbled himself before me.

Trembling, he raised a finger and said, "Alice, I've returned for you. Please wait for me one last time, okay?"

...

James sent me a photo. It was a group picture from my Twitter.

He asked who the girl next to me was.

It's Eva, my roommate.

James hadn't reached out to me for a long time.

I should reply quickly. But I couldn't send the reply.

James and I were neighbors and grew up together. We were childhood friends.

I had liked James since we were kids. He knew it, I knew it, and our mutual friends knew it.

Likewise, James didn't like me. He knew it, I knew it, and our mutual friends knew it.

James seemed impatient and replied, "?"

I moved my finger slightly. "Why are you asking?"

"Tell me."

"My roommate."

He didn't reply. But two hours later, he showed up at my dorm building, having crossed half the city.

James had always been a man of action. I knew that he had fallen for Eva.

Love at first sight.

James was three years older than me. When I started college, he began a startup with some college friends.

By my junior year, his startup succeeded.

He was always very busy. I only dared to call him every three days. Even then, he often didn't pick up. Even though we were in the same city.

The reason was always that he was busy.

He always said, "Alice, I only see you as a sister."

His voice and eyes always carried a hint of impatience.

It was completely different from how he treated his real sister.

Once, I quietly defended myself, "I didn't say anything."

"But your eyes are always on me," James said flatly. "I'm not blind."

That day, James posted a picture on Twitter.

A man with a piece of gum stuck to his shoe that he couldn't shake off.

I slowly faded out of his life.

I didn't dare look at him, let alone appear in front of him.

But now he showed up on his own.

He said to me, "Call your roommate down. I'll take you both to dinner."

James asked Eva what she liked to eat.

Eva said she liked spaghetti.

James smiled and said, "What a coincidence, I like spaghetti too."

James didn't like spaghetti.

Once on my birthday, James was home for summer break from college.

I begged him over the phone countless times to come celebrate my birthday with me.

James came, stood at the door, and looked completely impatient. "I'm here, okay?"

Not a word more.

He didn't even want to step inside.

I chased after him and asked why he wouldn't come in.

He said, "The thing I hate most is spaghetti."

During dinner, I saw James smiling gently across the table.

His gaze was fixed on the person next to me, Eva.

His usual distant and impatient look was now focused and gentle.

So it turned out...

James didn't dislike spaghetti.

He just didn't like having a meal with me.

After just three days, Eva shyly told me, "James and I are now together."

"Congratulations."

"Do you think he's serious about me?"

I looked at Eva.

Eva was the department's beauty, gorgeous and elegant. She was the type James had casually mentioned he liked before.

Then I looked at myself in the mirror.

I was very fair-skinned, looking quite innocent. But nowhere near gorgeous and elegant.

"If he says he likes you, he must be serious."

James's principle was to never settle for less.

So for years, no matter how much his friends teased, he never considered trying things with me.

He remained single until Eva appeared out of nowhere, and he became passionate and focused.

James was indeed serious.

He was so busy, but now he seemed to have all the time.

Eva's laughter echoed in the dorm all day.

Eva sweetly complained to me, "You liar, you told me he was very busy. But he picks up my calls instantly. We talked until his phone died."

I had nothing to say.

Because I had just found out too.

His busyness was only towards me.

Eva was lively and generous.

She was open about her relationships, sharing her affection with others.

I was the matchmaker for her and James.

I became her main confidant.

Every time Eva came back from a date with James, she'd tell me about his tenderness.

She'd say James would carry her while hiking.

She'd say James would bend down to tie her shoes.

She'd say when she posted about wanting coffee from Eastside, James would drive from Westside to buy it for her.

I was dazed because this wasn't the James I remembered.

The James I remembered was aloof, proud, and noble. He was someone who seemed to never serve anyone.

Eva said, "I also told him I flaunt our love in front of you daily."

Eva suddenly leaned towards me. "James is so great. Why didn't you keep him for yourself and introduce him to me instead?"

Her gaze was scrutinizing.

For a moment, I panicked.

Last time, after James treated Eva and me to spaghetti, he left me alone.

"Don't let Eva realize you like me."

I was stunned. "Why?"

"I don't want you to be an obstacle in my pursuit of Eva."

I looked up at him. "Can you pursue someone else?"

My voice was humble and pleading.

I liked him. I had liked him for ten years.

I didn't know when it started. But I got used to following James, watching his back, following his steps.

He got into this city, so I followed and got into this city.

He studied computer science, so I studied computer science.

I knew he didn't like me and would eventually meet someone, date, get married, and have kids.

But could it be a bit later, or farther away?

It's not right in front of me.

James's tone was a bit impatient. "No."

I didn't speak. I just looked at him.

James seemed to sigh. He hesitated for a moment, then reached out and rubbed my head. His voice was low and pleasant. "I've never liked anyone this much. Please cooperate and don't be an obstacle between Eva and me."

The words 'please' sounded like a request, but I couldn't hear any pleading tone. It seemed he already knew I wouldn't refuse.

He always had the upper hand with me.

And he indeed always had the upper hand.

Because of James' plea, I went along with it.

Every day I smiled and listened to Eva talk about how good James was to her. It felt like my heart was being torn apart. My nails almost dug into my palms, but I still smiled and went along with it.

I didn't dare show my jealousy.

Even though I was sure that if Eva knew I liked James, she wouldn't care and would confidently say, "Sorry, but James likes me."

But still, I continued.

Because James would be unhappy.

Facing Eva's scrutiny, I put on my biggest smile. "I introduced him to you because I don't like him."

Eva said, "Really?"

"Really."

Eva affectionately pinched my nose and said meaningfully, "That's good. Otherwise, I'd feel like a bad person for showing off my love in front of you."

I smiled. "How could you be a bad person?"

"You're the one James likes. You're the luckiest person."

"Since you don't like him, we will bring you along on our dates. You wouldn't mind, right?"

I couldn't smile anymore and murmured, "I don't mind."

I went from just listening to her talk about her love with James to actually being involved and watching it firsthand.

James was just as gentle as Eva described.

No, even more so.

When eating, he would personally tie an apron around Eva.

When crossing the street, he would hold her hand and slow his pace to match hers.

Then he would take her to the flower shop and buy her favorite lilies.

Eva would smile happily and say, "How did you know lilies are my favorite?"

"Because I like lilies too. We have the same tastes."

I watched silently.

"No, that's not true.

James doesn't like lilies."

When I finished my college entrance exams at eighteen, I brought a bunch of lilies to see James.

I wanted to say, "I got into your university. I like you a lot. Can you give me a chance?"

James looked at the flowers I was holding and seemed to know what I wanted to say.

He knocked the flowers out of my hands and interrupted my confession.

He frowned and said, "Why buy those? They're delicate and hard to take care of."

After saying that, he turned away. He was stopping my confession in its tracks.

Until now, I haven't been able to say it.

That night, after James dropped Eva off at her dorm, he sent me a message. He told me to come downstairs and warned, "Stop following us on our dates."

I said, "It's not me following you. It's Eva who wants me to come along."

James got angry. "Can't you refuse?"

James wasn't the type to get angry. Over the years, he had been impatient and annoyed but never really angry at me.

This was the first time.

I thought about it and said, "Eva knows I like you."

This was the first time James got angry at me, and it was also the first time I told him I liked him.

I had imagined countless times how to say "I like you."

I thought it would be romantic. Even though James didn't care, I liked preparing little romantic gestures for him.

I flew a paper plane with a smiley face from his window to his desk.

On the day I planned to confess, I folded 520 little hearts day and night and secretly stuffed them into his bed.