Chapter 2

As my ears slowly cleared, I heard Chloe's loud declaration.

"Starting today, everyone, feel free to like my photos with Leo! If we get a thousand likes, I'm breaking up with Lucas and getting married to Leo!"

With that, she grabbed Leo's hand and walked out without looking back.

Before they left the room, Leo shot me a smug, defiant glance.

After they left, people in the room started filing out.

Some gloated,

"He shouldn't have made such a fuss without knowing if he could afford the consequences. Now he's gone too far, and he regrets it, doesn't he?"

Others kindly advised me, "Pride isn't important. Just apologize quickly, or Chloe will really marry Leo."

I knew this was Chloe's way of forcing me to apologize.

But this time, I just wouldn't back down. Not even if it killed me.

The once bustling room quickly emptied, leaving just me.

I picked up the remaining hard liquor and drained it.

The burning alcohol seared its way down my throat and into my stomach, making my eyes water.

A lifetime of shared history was truly over, and yet, it felt… strangely anticlimactic.

I just hoped she wouldn't bother me anymore once I moved to a city a thousand miles away.

But I found my face wet with tears again, though I didn't know why.

Back home, I started packing, ready to leave.

Chloe and I had grown up together; for more than half of our young lives, we'd been inseparable.

The impact was so profound that I had an overwhelming amount of things to sort through.

This little paper flower was the first prize Chloe won in kindergarten.

She waddled over on her short legs and gave it to me.

I vaguely remembered her saying then, "I'm going to give my best things to you, Lucas."

This photo was one I secretly took of her blushing face the first time she got her period.

She'd skipped health class and thought she had a terminal illness.

She ran to me, tears streaming down her face, telling me to take good care of myself in the future, to find a girlfriend but not one prettier than her.

I was completely baffled. Only after pressing her did I realize what was happening.

I rushed to the corner store to buy her pads and even looked up how to use them online with her.

I teased her for not paying attention in class, and she bit my arm fiercely, her face crimson.

But I didn't feel any pain; instead, a strange flutter bloomed in my chest.

Later, we became a couple, but different colleges forced us into a long-distance relationship.

Our memories became a stack of train tickets.

For four whole years, 193,700 kilometers was the distance we traveled to be with each other.

Back then, her world revolved around me. She never complained, no matter how long the journey.

My fingers brushed against a small, hard box containing the matching rings we’d made together.

For her, I moved back to this city right after college.

The day I returned, she dragged me to get these rings crafted.

I still remember her slipping the ring onto my finger and saying,

"Lucas, with this ring, you’re stuck with me for life. You'll never leave me."

We never imagined that in the end, it wouldn't be me letting go, but her.