One week later, my exhibition came to a smooth close.
Thanks to the publicity from my former homeroom teacher on Facebook, I ran into several old friends during the show.
On the final day, someone messaged me:
“Mint, now that the exhibition’s over, are you heading back abroad?”
“Yeah, my flight’s the day after tomorrow.”
“Will you be back again?”
“Depends, I guess.”
“Then let’s have dinner tomorrow. Who knows when we’ll get another chance to see you again?”
That last message carried an unexpected note of sadness.
After thinking it over, I agreed.
After sending my flight details to Ethan, I went to the dinner the next day.
But inside the private dining room, I saw not only some familiar old friends, but also Elise Simmons.
The moment I saw her, I instinctively frowned.
The friend who organized the gathering noticed my reaction
and immediately came over to greet me.
“Mint, you haven’t changed at all after all these years.”
They made small talk, using my exhibition as the perfect icebreaker.
Out of courtesy and old friendship, I answered selectively and did my best to ignore the presence of Elise Simmons.
But before long, I noticed that they kept steering the conversation toward Noah.
Something felt off. So I interrupted.
“If there’s something you want to say, just say it.”
The room fell quiet. Then someone finally spoke.
“Mint… could you go visit Noah?”
Noah?
What had happened now?
After listening to their explanation, I finally understood.
Chapter 23
23.47%
儒監(日本版)
Apparently, after Noah left my exhibition that day, he had become completely listless. He stopped working on his research, barely left his apartment, and seemed to have spiraled right back into the state he was in after I left for school
abroad.
“We know you’re still upset about what happened back then.”
“But we’ve all been friends since we were kids. You and Noah were so close. Seeing things between you two like this… it’s
hard for us too.”
One of them spoke with deep emotion. He was the same friend who had once asked me to visit Noah in the hospital.
But this time…after all the pleading and insistence, I just felt tired of it.
I wasn’t angry. No one stays mad at someone for seven years.
The truth was, I simply felt nothing for Noah anymore.
“You’re asking the wrong person. I’m not anyone to Noah. Please don’t talk to me about him again.”
I stood up to leave.
But suddenly, the quiet Elise Simmons snapped.
“Mint! Must you really be so heartless?!”
“You’ve already punished him for seven years–isn’t that enough? Do you want him dead so that you could be satisfied?!”
I was startled by her outburst. I looked around the room.
No one spoke. No one tried to stop her.
In that moment, something clicked.
I had come to this dinner out of some lingering sentiment from our youth. But these people, they had already taken sides.
And they had chosen to stand with Elise Simmons and Noah for a long time ago.
Chapter 23
營銷(日本吹替版)
