“Don’t say such unpleasant things, okay?
“We’re both adults now. That day… wasn’t it consensual? Are you still hung up on that night?”
I felt a bit embarrassed, but still stubbornly met his gaze:
“Ryan, if you like someone else, you can just say it clearly, I won’t shamelessly cling to you.
“But you clearly don’t like me, yet you watched me throw myself at you like a moth to a flame. Did that feel good?”
Even now he still didn’t understand.
People don’t say goodbye until they’ve exhausted all hope.
Having his true feelings exposed, Ryan’s face went from white to red. He almost lost his balance.
“What are you saying? Listen to yourself…you…”
He stammered, unable to continue
“Mia,
a, we’ve known each other since we were 3. We’re 18 now.
སཡིག་ཀ།
“Since you chose to betray this relationship, let’s not even be friends anymore in the future.”
In the end, he left only these words before fleeing the hotel.
15
From that day y until I left for college, I never saw Ryan again.
Lily sent me his social media post announcing his relationship. I deleted it without even opening it
I blocked all friends related to him too.
There was really no need to pay attention anymore in the future.
Only on the day I left for Florida did I unfortunately run into Ryan face–to–face at the airport. Claire was still by his side.
As we passed by, he just greeted my parents briefly before walking away angrily.
He didn’t look at me once the entire time.
We quickly dispersed. No one looked back
Before going through security, I suddenly turned my head and happened to see Ryan boarding his flight too.
He gave me one cold glance before disappearing into the gate without looking back.
The person who had been by my side since childhood was now truly saying goodbye.
We were finally no longer on the same path.
So from now on, I wish you well too.
I said silently in my heart.
16
Afterwards, for a very long time, we heard no news of each other.
I specifically told my parents not to mention anything about Ryan’s family in front of me.
In my new environment, I made many new friends, joined several clubs, and kept busy every day.
The unhappiness from before had long faded away.
It turns out that a life revolving around one person is really quite dull.
Thinking about this, I actually found myself starting to agree with Ryan’s view back then.
The world outside is so vast, life is still so long. Why tie yourself down to one person so early?
I was very glad I had chosen a school in a place without harsh winters,
Although the rainy season and typhoon season were quite troublesome, and there were indeed many cockroaches.
But I could see beautiful flowers all year round when I looked up. Soon I couldn’t even remember what winter looked like
During New Year’s, a high school classmate came to visit Florida. Lily and I took her out for dim sum..
She mentioned Ryan casually.
She said he had broken up with Claire long ago. With so many colleges along University Avenue, he dated girls from one school after another, going through several relationships
He acted like a carefree playboy every day.
“Ryan is completely different from that cold, academic type he was in class before. He’s like a whole new person.
I you saw him again, you probably wouldn’t even recognize him.”
if you saw
I didn’t say anything.
Lily kept giving her looks to change the subject, so the classmate didn’t bring it up again.
We celebrated New Year’s by the river. During the countdown, Lily told me to make a wish.
After making my wish, I realized it was the first time I had wished for something unrelated to him.
In my short life before, for six whole years, all my wishes had been about Ryan.
I was very happy that I had truly let go.
During the first winter break of college, I missed my parents terribly.
As
But
