Chapter 1

Seven Years Was Enough: I'm Done Chasing Her.

After seven years of being a pathetic admirer to the campus queen, I finally decided I was done chasing.

I blocked her number, left her city, and made up some lame excuse to break up with her.

“Eleanor Vance, you only eat medium-rare steak, I like well-done.

We’re just not compatible, so let’s break up.”

Seven years of chasing, I was so damn tired.

Later, I heard the most sought-after girl at Harvard had a complete change of heart.

She started eating only well-done steak.

Training finished.

I put away my racket, sat on the locker room bench, and held my phone, praying with my eyes closed for three seconds.

Good. Eleanor still hadn’t replied to my messages.

“Eleanor, breakfast’s warm in the kitchen, don’t forget to eat. I’m heading out.”

“Eleanor, I won first place in the league this morning. Want to celebrate tonight?”

“Eleanor, what time are you off work today? The forecast says rain, did you bring an umbrella?”

My chat log was just a long stream of my messages, not a single reply.

I took a deep breath and put down my phone.

I told myself she must be too busy to have seen them.

But they say in psychology: if someone truly cares about you, they'll find a minute to reply, no matter how busy they are, because they know you're thinking of them.

I showered and changed.

Then I headed to Eleanor Vance’s office building to wait for her.

Afraid she’d mind, I deliberately stood a little far from the entrance.

I remembered one time I picked her up and called her name loudly in the lobby in front of her colleagues. She got angry.

So I learned my lesson. I’d just wait at the street corner until she appeared.

As the lights in the building flickered on one by one, I finally spotted her.

Her radiant beauty made her stand out, even in the biggest crowd.

Beside her was a man in a suit, eagerly opening doors and holding an umbrella for her.

It looked like Derek Miller, her boss, who’d been relentlessly pursuing her for a while.

Eleanor Vance never lacked men around her, and always the high-quality kind.

“Eleanor.”

I jogged over, unceremoniously brushing past him, stepping in between them.

I held up my umbrella.

“We have an umbrella, thanks, Mr. Miller.”

Derek looked a bit awkward, his hand tightening around the umbrella handle.

Eleanor’s gaze fell on me, her eyebrows slightly furrowed.

“What are you doing here?”

Her tone was sharp, almost accusatory.

I felt like I’d annoyed her again.

A hundred questions were swirling in my head.

Why didn’t she reply to my messages?

Why couldn't she keep other men at a distance?

Why had she forgotten our plans again?

But what came out instead was:

“You’ve been working all day, Eleanor, are you hungry?”

Her eyes were indifferent. After a long moment, she spoke softly:

“Let’s go.”

I smiled, extending the umbrella towards Eleanor. Rain chilled my shoulder, but I didn’t feel it.

Everyone has that one person they fall for the moment they see them.

Eleanor Vance was that person for me.

At the high school sports day, I was a tennis player, and Eleanor was the cheerleading captain.

“Here, have some water.”

She smiled sweetly, handing me a bottle of water.

Her eyes were clear, impossibly beautiful.

She just smiled at me like that, and my heart did a little flip.

She probably had no idea then that a single bottle of water would be enough for me to get so completely wrapped around her finger.

Eleanor eventually agreed to celebrate my league victory with me.

But the restaurant was packed, with a line stretching out the door and every waiting spot taken.

I knew how impatient she could get, so before she could even say anything, I grabbed her hand, ready to leave.

“It’s too crowded. Let’s go somewhere else.”

But to my surprise, Eleanor was unusually patient.

“Haven’t you been wanting to try this place for ages? It’s fine, we can wait.”

So she *did* know.

Just one small gesture of kindness from her, and I'd be ecstatic.

She had dark hair, a simple dress.

I watched her, she watched her phone. For me, that was enough. The world felt perfect.

But I'd celebrated too soon.

I just stepped away to the restroom, and when I came back, she was gone.