Ficorpio
Chapter 1
Three days after giving up on my childhood friend, Ethan Sterling and I saw the future together.
On a snow-covered mountain, he kept cutting open his wrist to draw a distress signal for me. In the end, he lost too much blood.
[At last! The heroine finally realizes the male lead has loved her all along!]
[That’s just how our male lead is: terrible with words, but obsessively devoted in his own gloomy way!]
[One spoiler: the male lead is rescued in the end. The heroine bursts into tears and confesses her love to him on the spot.]
[Finally! These two have spent their entire youth yearning and missing each other. They end up together at last. Wishing them ninety-nine years of happiness!]
[Too bad the heroine is still the one who proposes… But married life is even sweeter. Three years, two kids.]
[The male lead is just too stubborn. A blockhead like him needs a sunshine heroine!]
The vision faded.
I looked up and secretly glanced at Ethan, who was still eighteen years old.
His face remained expressionless, but the tips of his ears had turned red. He closed his eyes for a moment, as if he could finally breathe again.
After that, Ethan really did give only my stepsister an eighteenth-birthday gift.
To me, he offered nothing more than a cool, detached, “Happy birthday.”
The older relatives started teasing us. Since Ethan and Olivia clearly liked each other, they said, why not arrange their future engagement now?
Ethan merely lowered his head and said nothing. He did not spare me even a sidelong glance.
It was Olivia who waved her hands, her cheeks flushed, and shyly said that her studies had to come first for now. But as for the future…
This time, I saw only a single line of text:
[The worst kind are the ones who get all twisted up.]
[They’d rather miss their chance than say a word.]
[Is it really okay to never take the initiative or fight for what you want?]
[What if you accidentally lose the person you love? Would that really be okay?]
As my gaze dropped, it happened to meet Ethan’s.
At eighteen, Ethan looked like a length of bamboo bent beneath a heavy fall of snow.
His black hair fell over his brow, setting off a pair of dark, bottomless eyes.
Cool. Silent. So handsome it made my chest ache.
Without thinking, I smiled at him.
Ethan immediately looked away, so quickly it felt like another form of rejection.
But when Olivia picked up her gift and asked him cautiously, “Ethan, can I open it now?”
The tension around his eyes finally eased.
“…Yeah.”
Inside the dark red velvet wrapping lay a smooth, deep-black jade pendant, shaped like a natural piece of stone.
Ethan’s mother laughed teasingly. “Our Ethan chose that himself. There’s even an ‘L’ he carved inside the gold clasp. He may be a man of few words, but he’s more thoughtful than anyone.”
Olivia’s cheeks turned even redder.
L. Olivia.
Just then, my stepmother called my name. “Chloe.”
Chapter 2
She looked at me apologetically. “Today was supposed to be your birthday, but Olivia’s birthday next month falls right when the new term begins. That’s why I thought we could celebrate a little early and hold one big coming-of-age party for both sisters… You really don’t mind, do you?”
Only then did I come back to myself. I smiled at her.
“It’s fine, Aunt Laura. The school already held a coming-of-age ceremony for us anyway. The whole grade celebrated together—over a hundred students. No one was more special than anyone else, but it was still meaningful. Besides, I made plans with my friends tonight. That’s the celebration that really counts as my birthday.”
At the word “Aunt,” the expression on my stepmother’s face stiffened. She covered it quickly.
“I see. Chloe, Olivia’s timid, unlike you. You have so many friends, and Ethan is in your class too. So when you go out tonight, could you… bring your sister along?”
I curved my eyes into a brilliant smile.
“No.”
My stepmother froze.
Then she nodded awkwardly and straightened in her chair.
I lifted my head and looked across the table.
Whenever Ethan was with Olivia, he had the patient air of an older brother.
He looked her in the eyes when he spoke. When he handed her something, his fingers brushed hers.
But with me, Ethan kept his distance as if I were something unclean.
Cold. Withdrawn. Uncomfortably guarded.
Along with what had happened three days ago… it had finally made me decide to give up.
To end this ridiculous one-sided love.
Of course, chanting a slogan was one thing. Being pulled around by the feelings I’d carried for three whole years was another.
The instant I watched Ethan hand the gift to Olivia, I could barely stop myself from blurting out:
That was supposed to be mine, wasn’t it?
Once, during a casual conversation between classes, we talked about our hobbies. I said I liked collecting stones and crystals.
Ethan had been sitting in the back row at the time. I distinctly remembered his pen pausing.
So why had he changed his mind at the last minute and pretended the gift was for Olivia?
Why couldn’t he look me in the eye and simply wish me a happy birthday?
Even if he didn’t like me, wasn’t I the one who had come first? Hadn’t we become friends before either of them?
The ache swelled rapidly behind my nose, while my heart clenched painfully against my will.
And that was when I saw our future.
The comments had even spoiled that Ethan had fallen for me at first sight—that our love had always been mutual, even if neither of us had said so.
Ethan had loved me too?
In that instant, all the bitterness filling my chest suddenly evaporated.
Nothing remained but a confusion I couldn’t put into words.
If the way someone loved you only made you miserable, how was that any different from hatred?
At the same time, my phone vibrated.
Julian Hart, deskmate: Guessing game. Name the five things you think are most important in life.
I was already in a foul mood, so I replied without thinking.
Chapter 3
—My heart, liver, spleen, lungs, and kidneys.
Julian Hart, deskmate: That’s only four. What’s the fifth?
—What? It’s obviously five. How did you get four?
Julian Hart, deskmate: Me, your spleen, your lungs, and your kidneys. Isn’t that exactly four?
Me: “…”
Julian Hart, deskmate: You haven’t replied to me for a whole second. Are you mad?
Julian Hart, deskmate: I’m sorry, my favorite deskmate. Don’t be mad at me. (><)
Julian Hart, deskmate: To make it up to you, I’ve prepared three huge birthday presents.
Julian Hart, deskmate: But you have to come early. Miss your chance now—
Julian Hart, deskmate: and you’ll have to catch me at the next stop.
I stared at the screen, the corner of my mouth twitching.
Then I rose, excused myself to the older relatives, and walked straight away from the table.
When I passed Ethan’s seat, he finally looked up. His brows drew sharply together.
“…Where are you going?”
I stopped and turned to face him.
I smiled.
“To see my heart.”
I knew walking out like that was rude.
But I also knew my dad wouldn’t stop me. Ever since he’d remarried Laura, he’d been afraid I blamed him for it.
After all, Laura had been his first love—the one he had never truly gotten over. His marriage to my mother had been more about a match arranged by their families than love.
Then my mother passed away, and Laura happened to get divorced and become a single mother. That was when she and my dad crossed paths again.
A year later, our new family was complete, and Olivia and I became stepsisters.
For now, I took a cab to the amusement park where I’d arranged to meet everyone.
The moment I stepped out, another taxi pulled up behind me.
Ethan got out first, then walked around to open the other door.
Olivia climbed out, her gaze darting nervously toward me.
“Chloe…”
I couldn’t help frowning.
Ethan must have noticed my displeasure. For once, he took the initiative and explained.
“Laura asked me to bring her. She’s your sister, after all.”
“So?” I said. “Tonight is my birthday celebration with my friends. You brought her here without asking. Were you trying to make things awkward?”
Ethan stared at me, clearly stunned.
The Chloe he knew had never spoken to him in that tone.
He lowered his eyes, his lips pressing into a tight line. After a moment, he said, “She can stay with me. You don’t need to worry about her.”
Then, after a pause, he added stiffly, “…You can just go have fun with your favorite person.”
There was an unmistakable, awkward note of wounded bitterness in his voice.
“Fine.”
I nodded and turned toward the amusement park entrance.
“There she is! The birthday girl!”
Julian’s eyes lit up the moment he saw me.
I could almost imagine that if he’d had a tail, it would have been wagging itself senseless.
He shoved a huge, brilliantly bright bouquet of sunflowers and a gift box into my arms.
“As promised—one-third of your first birthday present!”