A Story of Three People

Chapter 1

Derek

“I like Alethea, and I told her, but…”

That was the message I received from Amory.

Alethea, Amory, and I had been classmates throughout all three years of high school. I was fairly close to Alethea, and Alethea was close to Amory. As for Amory and me, we were nothing more than casual acquaintances—the kind of classmates who would nod and say hello if we happened to run into each other somewhere.

But how foolish I was.

Or perhaps I had simply been mistaken. Maybe I had tried so hard to hide it from myself that I refused to see the truth.

But the truth was still the truth…

I liked Amory.

I had known Amory since middle school, when we attended the same school. He had a gentle yet mature-looking face and a pair of rather sad eyes. Perhaps that was why I liked him—those eyes. Once, he had told me that he had inherited them from his mother.

I didn't know why, and I couldn't remember when it had started, but I often found myself paying attention to Amory, quietly watching his face whenever I had the chance.

It was simple, really.

Whenever I did, the girl who was usually so full of personality and stubbornness—me—felt strangely at peace.

But once we entered high school, even though we were in the same class, Amory and I weren't much different from before. We were still only casual acquaintances. The only difference was that we could now add classmates to the list.

Besides, throughout those three years of high school, I barely made friends. I poured all my energy into preparing for the university entrance exam, determined to give it everything I had.

And now, after all those years of hard work, I had finally become a first-year university student.

The months following the entrance exam had been filled with all kinds of worries—enrollment, finding a place to live, adjusting to a completely new life. But now that most of those things had finally settled down, I decided to visit Alethea.

Nothing complicated.

I simply wanted to see an old friend.

I sent Alethea a message. I don't even remember how our conversation wandered from one subject to another, but somehow, in the end, I received a message that left me staring at the screen:

“Amory and I aren't friends anymore.”

And somehow, I don't know why, perhaps because hearing Amory's name stirred something inside my heart, I found myself texting him to ask what had happened.

Even now, I don't understand why I did it. Maybe I simply wanted to know. Or perhaps… there was another reason, one I wasn't ready to admit to myself.

I already knew what came after that but.

I was sad.

I didn't know why, but something inside me suddenly felt hollow, as though something had broken without making a sound. Perhaps I had been wrong all along. I had always thought that what I felt for Amory back in high school was nothing more than a fleeting crush, a brief moment of youthful infatuation that would eventually fade away.

I thought I had forgotten him when I went to university.

But apparently… I hadn't.

I still remember that night. A cold northeast monsoon had swept in, and I curled myself tightly beneath the blankets, listening to the wind outside while salty tears slowly slipped down my throat.

For the first time in my life, a girl as strong-willed and spirited as me was crying over something she couldn't even understand.

And was it fate playing some kind of cruel joke on me?

Perhaps that sounds like I'm making too much of it. But after that message, Amory and I somehow grew close—truly close, the kind of friends who could tell each other almost anything.