Chapter 5

Caleb immediately wrapped himself around me, arms and legs everywhere, like an octopus.

"What are you doing?"

He said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, "Sleeping with my wife, of course!"

Enveloped by his warm body, I felt a strange awkwardness. It had been so long since we'd had this kind of intimate skin-to-skin contact.

30-year-old Caleb only cared about work.

18-year-old Caleb only cared about me, and... talking endlessly.

"Hazel, this is amazing."

"Yesterday, I had my first kiss with you on the school track, and today I get to sleep with you!"

"Do you remember that time?"

Caleb looked at me expectantly, his eyes full of starlight.

That slightly awkward first kiss was still vivid in my memory.

Caleb was the kind of golden boy every parent wished they had, a campus heartthrob from the moment he stepped into school.

Excellent grades, handsome, athletic—he was the dream guy for countless girls.

And I was one of those girls who had a huge crush on him back then.

He'd slam-dunked on the basketball court, leading his team to victory again and again, achieving brilliant results.

An opposing player, annoyed by the loss, angrily threw the ball into the stands after the game. It was headed straight for me, an innocent bystander...

Caleb sprinted over, dashing right in front of me to block it!

Completely unaware of the rivalry between the two teams, I quickly pulled him toward the school clinic for a check-up.

"Tilt your head back a little, you're bleeding from your nose."

"Does your head hurt badly?"

"Come on, the school clinic is right there."

I thought I'd take a shortcut through a tree-lined path, but Caleb suddenly pulled me to a stop.

Despite the blood dripping from his nose, he looked incredibly handsome in the dappled light beneath the trees.

"Hazel, I like you."

"Hazel, will you be my girlfriend?"

I stared blankly at the boy in front of me.

To love and be loved simultaneously—could anything be more beautiful?

Caleb lowered his head and kissed me, in that naive, budding summer, in that forest laden with memories.

I still remember that first kiss, tinged with the metallic scent of blood, and how hard I had to stand on my tiptoes to reach him.

Love swept in with the breeze, and even after it died down, the lingering feelings refused to settle.

Caleb saw me lost in tender memories and carefully leaned in to kiss me.

A soft, fleeting kiss.

I was a little lost in thought, this unfamiliar yet familiar intimacy.

Caleb's husky voice whispered in my ear.

"Hazel, I think... I can still be saved!"

Caleb was visibly excited.

"No, you're not, you haven't, go to sleep!"

"I..."

"Shut up and sleep!"

"Okay..."

This naughty boy, did he have to look so wronged?