Chapter 6

Julian looked into my eyes, suddenly unable to utter a single word.

Right—wasn't this exactly what he had always wanted?

He wanted me to be sensible, to be understanding, to stop making a scene out of insecure paranoia.

Now I was doing all of it, so why was he hurting so much inside?

I stood up. "I'm not feeling well. I'm going to bed."

A sudden, intense surge of unease and panic flared in Julian's chest.

Just as I turned around, he grabbed my wrist tightly. "Wendy, you're not going to leave me, are you?"

My long eyelashes fluttered slightly. I hadn't expected him to be perceptive enough to pick up on that.

I thought that since he had guessed it, I might as well come clean so we could part ways peacefully.

Yet Julian's gaze remained fiercely locked on mine. "We've been together for four years. We're both used to having each other around. You wouldn't leave me, right?"

So his panic about me leaving was merely because he had grown accustomed to my presence.

It suddenly dawned on me that in all the years we had been together, competent boyfriend though he was, he had never once said the word "love" to me.

Looking back now, perhaps he never said "love" because the person he truly loved was someone else entirely.

As for me, I was just a habit.

The corner of my mouth lifted in a faint smile. "You're right."

I had indeed grown used to his presence too.

It was just a habit I could break.

Perhaps my recent abnormality made Julian exceptionally uneasy, because he took a few days off work just to stay home with me.

He cooked the dishes I liked, took me out to movies, went shopping with me—everything seemed just as it used to be.

Yet everything was different.

A couple of days later, a call came from Chloe.

When the custom ringtone echoed through the living room, I was watering plants on the balcony.

I heard Julian pick up, his tone unknowingly tender. "Chloe?"

My hands paused for a second as water trickled out from the spout.

Julian hung up and walked over. "Chloe said a friend of hers is hosting an art exhibition here. The opening is tomorrow. She managed to get two extra tickets and wanted to invite us along."

Before he even finished speaking, I knew he had already agreed.

"Sure," I said, setting the watering can down. "It's been a while since I've been to an art gallery anyway."

The next day, when Julian and I arrived at the venue, an elaborately dressed Chloe was already waiting by the entrance.

"Julian! You guys made it!"

She hurried over, naturally reaching out to slip her arm through Julian's.

Julian's frame stiffened slightly, his eyes darting toward me.

I acted as if I hadn't seen a thing, taking the lead and walking inside.

Behind me came Chloe's soft, gentle voice. "This exhibition is organized by a friend of mine who just returned from France. A lot of the pieces are really fascinating..."

The gallery was softly lit, with few visitors around.

"Julian, look at this one." Chloe pointed to an oil painting of a sunset over the sea. "Doesn't it look like that bay we went to sketch at during college?"

Julian followed her finger, memories stirring, his expression growing somewhat dazed.

"Yeah, it does look a bit like it."

Chloe's face filled with nostalgia. "Thinking back, those times were truly wonderful. We did so many things together, visited so many interesting places..."

I had no desire to listen to their walk down memory lane, and my attention was soon captured by a few pieces that blended ecological photography with oil painting, causing me to slow my pace.

"Watch out—!"

The moment the terrified scream tore through the air, the sharp, screeching snap of a steel cable rang out above us.

I looked up, only to see a massive suspended installation lose its balance, tilting and crashing down toward where we stood.

Everything happened far too fast.

Without a moment's hesitation, Julian lunged toward Chloe, wrapping her tightly in his arms as the two of them rolled toward a safe area nearby.

I only had time to raise my arms to shield my face.

Shattered crystal rained down like a storm, the razor-sharp shards slicing into my left shoulder with a jolt of searing pain.

I stumbled backward, my foot catching on something, and tumbled straight back—

The back of my head slammed violently against the metal edge of a display stand. Agony crashed over me, accompanied by an instant plunge into darkness, as warm liquid gushed from both my shoulder and the back of my head.

I lay on the icy floor, my ears buzzing, my vision beginning to blur.

With the last of my strength, I tilted my head.

Through the blood-blurred haze, Julian was helping Chloe up.

Blood was seeping through his own back, yet the first thing he did was look down to check on Chloe, his voice trembling with a panic I had never heard before. "How are you? Are you hurt? Did you get hit anywhere?"

Chloe leaned against his chest, her face pale, shaking her head faintly.

So, he really did love Chloe.

He loved her so much that in an emergency, his instinct would always be to save her first. He loved her so much that he didn't care about his own injuries, and loved her so much that he forgot about the girlfriend who had been by his side for four years, completely blind to how severely hurt I was.

The corner of my mouth tugged into a faint, bitter smile before my consciousness slipped away, swallowed whole by the dark.