apter 16
That was how I saw it. But Noah didn’t.
The moment I stepped closer and spoke, his calm, dark eyes lit up noticeably.
“Mint…”
He called my name–then, as if suddenly remembering the others in the room, said,
“You guys, give us a moment.”
Everyone got up to leave–everyone except Elise.
Noah looked at her and added,
“You too.”
She hesitated. After glancing at him, she looked back at me.
I saw her press her lips tightly together, a trace of unwillingness flashing in her eyes.
The room fell quiet.
This was the first time in seven years that Noah and I had been alone together.
Once, we’d been able to talk about anything. Now, we found ourselves silent, with nothing to say.
Noah gestured for me to sit. I didn’t.
Instead, I stood about a meter away from his bed and looked at him.
“Noah, don’t get the wrong idea. I really just came to check on you. Now that I see you’re okay, I’ll leave.”
I turned to go.
“Mint!”
He suddenly called out behind me.
I turned back and saw his pale, thin face.
“You’re still mad at me, aren’t you? What I said that day… I lied. You’re not cold. I just… missed you too much.”
His voice was hoarse.
His eyes were red again.
“These seven years… I’ve thought about you constantly. You have no idea how happy I was when I heard you were back.”
He had stared at that photo someone posted in the alumni group chat–the one taken at the boarding gate–over and over
again.
Chapter 16
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感醬(日本舖吹替版)
He zoomed in and out, his hands trembling even though he knew it was me.
Until we finally met in person–only then did his heart, which had been suspended in midair, finally settle.
He said there was so much he wanted to tell me.
That’s why he waited outside my hotel every night, just to confirm, over and over,
that I had really come back.
That I was really here. That I had really spoken to him.
In the past, I was always the one talking nonstop to Noah. This was the first time the roles had reversed–Noah was the
one talking endlessly.
If I had still been the seventeen–year–old me, I would have been thrilled.
But now, after hearing him say “I missed you” again and again, I felt… nothing.
“Noah, staying up all night outside someone’s hotel isn’t ‘waiting.‘ It’s harassment.”
“Also, I don’t miss you.”
“I’m doing well now. I came back this time because of work.”
“Running into you was purely coincidence.”
If I could help it, I truly wouldn’t have wanted to see him again.
My voice was deliberately cold and blunt.
Noah’s face, which had just lit up with joy, instantly turned ashen and stiff.
He stared at me, as if trying to find some trace of a lie in my expression.
But unfortunately for him, I was completely composed.
“It’s getting late. I’ll be going now. Oh–about the rumors in the alumni group. I hope you’ll take the time to clear them up.”
With that, I turned and walked away.
Suddenly, his voice rang out behind me again.
“I don’t believe you. Mint! I don’t believe you!”
“If you really didn’t care about me at all, you wouldn’t have come back!”
Noah liked to think he knew me better than anyone.
But this time, all I felt was that he had completely lost the plot.
Chapter 16
