Chapter 13
I started treating Brain Warrick even better.
No matter how busy I was with school, I always made time for him.
Every day, I sent him messages to check on him and warm his heart.
I learned to bake and brought him treats at work.
Even when I caught a cold, I traveled far to see him during his business trip.
the end, I overexerted myself and fell ill.
Brain was a little upset. After listening to my explanation that I was simply “repaying his kindness,” he pinched my face with a helpless smile and said,
“What you need to focus on now is getting better. I have my own plans for collecting on that debt.”
The last time Mack Washington came to see me was just before Christmas.
I had just left a welcome–back dinner for a friend returning from abroad when I saw him standing outside a storefront decorated with bell–shaped lights.
I didn’t know how long he’d been there. He looked thinner, his hair cut short, wearing a black coat. As he walked toward me, his voice was low:
“So, during those two years…. did you really like me?”
He laughed bitterly before I could answer, as though afraid of what I might say.
“Never mind, I almost forgot. You don’t remember anymore.”
“…You don’t remember how much you liked me back then.”
Large snowflakes began to fall from the sky.
“If I hadn’t suggested breaking up when we woke up in the hospital,” he said, “would we have stayed together?”
“Even if we forgot, it wouldn’t matter. We would’ve fallen for each
other all over
gain. I-”
“No,” I interrupted him, reaching out to catch a snowflake as I spoke with certainty.
“Mack, I won’t fall in love with you.”
Whether I had lost my memory or not, it wouldn’t happen.
The snowflake melted quickly in my palm as I walked past him.
Under a streetlight not far away, Brain Warrick was waiting for me.
That night, I told Brain about what had happened.
His eyes widened in surprise, but his focus took an unexpected turn:
“So, you liked me that early on?”
Before I could say another word, he tackled me into a hug.
The helancholy atmosphere vanished instantly.
When things started to spiral out of control and I tried to struggle free, he firmly grabbed my waist, leaning close to whisper in my ear:
“Hey, why are you running? Isn’t this… repayment for saving your life?”
“Ms. Lenna.”
18:44
Chapter 13
“Shouldn’t you let me collect on that debt properly?”
