Ficorpio
Chapter 1
I’m clingy by nature.
Ever since I started dating my online girlfriend, I’d pester her every day, acting spoiled and shamelessly demanding her attention.
Does not clinging to my sister anymore count as growing up?
She replied:
If you’re not going to cling to me, who are you going to cling to?
I’d always thought she liked having me constantly attached to her.
Until my sister’s birthday party.
I kept sending messages to my online girlfriend.
Across the table, my sister’s aloof roommate’s phone wouldn’t stop ringing.
My sister glanced at her roommate and teased, “Your phone hasn’t stopped buzzing since you sat down.”
“Someone’s awfully clingy. Doesn’t it get annoying?”
She answered flatly, “Annoying.”
You haven’t replied to me in four whole minutes.
Pay attention to me already!!!
So love can disappear after all, right?
Are you getting tired of me, sweetheart?
Sob… You don’t love me anymore.
…
At my sister’s birthday dinner, I kept messaging my online girlfriend, S, trying to get her attention.
Across from my sister, Evelyn Sterling’s phone kept ringing.
My fingers froze over the screen. I looked up at her.
Evelyn was my sister’s roommate. My sister had shown me a group photo of their apartment once, and I’d been captivated the moment I saw her.
Broad shoulders, a narrow waist, long legs, and a face so perfect she looked like she’d been designed by a computer.
Today was the first time I’d seen her in person.
She was even more beautiful than in the photo.
I tentatively sent another message.
Sure enough, Evelyn’s phone rang again.
No way this was a coincidence, was it?
My sister sighed dramatically. “I can’t believe there’s actually someone clingier than my little sister.”
I shot her a glare.
She ignored me and turned back to Evelyn.
“Your phone hasn’t stopped ringing since you sat down.”
“Someone’s this clingy, and you don’t find it annoying?”
Evelyn picked up her phone and started replying to the messages. Without looking up, she said calmly, “Annoying.”
I went still for a moment.
The next second, a reply from S appeared on my screen.
I’m out right now. It’s my roommate’s birthday party.
I’ll keep you company when I get back.
I only knew that S’s last name was Sterling. I had no idea what her full name was.
Sweetheart, what’s your full name?
Evelyn Sterling.
Evelyn’s single word—annoying—wouldn’t stop echoing in my ears.
“What’s wrong? Are you feeling sick?”
“Why do you look so pale?”
Grace kept asking.
“I’m fine.”
I didn’t want to stay here any longer.
“I still have a group project to finish.”
“I’m going back to campus.”
Grace nodded and called me a car.
“Let me know when you get back to your dorm.”
Chapter 2
Once I returned, I collapsed onto my bed.
My chest felt heavy, as if something were lodged inside it. The discomfort was almost unbearable.
And yet, my thoughts drifted helplessly back to several months earlier.
Evelyn and I had met while playing an online game.
I’d been getting chased across the map at the time, so I put on my sweetest voice and opened the mic.
“Miss, help me!”
It didn’t take long for her to wipe out the players on the other team.
After that, I started clinging to her, calling her “Miss” every other sentence.
“Miss, you’re incredible!”
“Miss, will you carry me?”
“Miss, can I add you on social media?”
“Miss, why aren’t you saying anything?”
A few seconds later, she finally spoke.
“Which question do you want me to answer first?”
…
After I pestered her relentlessly, I managed to get her contact information.
She really was ice-cold and sparing with words.
But she answered every message I sent her—even the pointless, shameless nonsense I sometimes wrote.
Half a month later, we made our relationship official.
I completely unleashed my clingy side.
I sent her eight hundred messages a day.
She never once acted annoyed.
I’d always believed she liked having me constantly at her side.
Until I heard her say that one word:
“Annoying.”
【I’m home.】 【Want to talk?】
Evelyn Sterling had sent me a message.
Before, I would have called her right away.
I would have clung to her until well past midnight, refusing to hang up.
But not tonight.
I replied dejectedly.
【I don’t feel like it.】
I took a shower.
By the time I got back into bed, she had sent me a string of messages.
【Are you in a bad mood?】 【Is it because I didn’t reply to you right away while I was out today?】 【Transfer: $7,800.】 【Transfer: $1,314.】 【Don’t be mad anymore.】
Then she called me.
I hated how my voice sounded, so I used a real-time voice changer every time we talked. She had never recognized my voice.
I thought about it for a moment before answering.
Evelyn’s deep, rich voice came through the phone.
“Next time, I’ll make sure to reply right away.”
My voice was muffled and sullen.
“Whatever.”
Her tone remained gentle, coaxing me like she was trying to soothe a child.
“Can you stop being mad at me?”
I said nothing.
“You don’t want to talk to me tonight?”
I stayed silent.
After a moment, she let out a soft sigh.
“All right. It’s getting late, anyway.”
“Get some rest.”
“Good night.”
I ended the call.
A short while later, my sister called.
“Are you back at the dorm? Why didn’t you call and let me know?”
Only then did I realize I’d forgotten to check in with Grace after returning to campus.
“I’m back. I forgot.”
A tremendous slam of a door suddenly sounded on her end of the line.
Chapter 3
A moment later, Grace said gleefully, “Oh, look at that. Who got our Evelyn all upset?”
A while ago, Grace had complained that the dorm was too cramped and rented an apartment off campus with Evelyn.
She teased her now. “Don’t tell me you had a fight with that clingy girlfriend of yours?”
Evelyn’s voice turned to ice.
“Get lost.”
That single word—“annoying”—hit me like a slap and brought me back to reality.
It reminded me that Evelyn didn’t like me clinging to her every second of every day. She hated having to respond to me constantly. My neediness annoyed her.
…
I made up my mind. I wasn’t going to cling to Evelyn anymore.
I told Mia about it.
She gave me a look of complete disbelief. “I bet you won’t last a week before you’re hanging all over her again.”
“You said the same thing last time, remember? You swore you wouldn’t cling to her anymore. And what happened?”
What happened…
I hadn’t even made it half a day.
Last time, Evelyn had gone most of the day without replying to my messages. I’d been furious and sworn that I was done chasing after her.
But by the end of the morning, I couldn’t stand it anymore.
So I deliberately posted something on social media.
[Does not clinging to my big sister count as growing up?]
My sister was the first to message me privately.
[You are pretty annoying when you get clingy, but I never said you couldn’t cling to me, did I?]
[What was that post about? Are you out of money?]
Oh no. I’d forgotten to block Grace from seeing it.
[None of your business.]
[I was just joking around.]
After sending that reply, I blocked Grace.
Then I went back to waiting for a message from Evelyn.
It didn’t take long.
[If you’re not going to cling to me, who are you planning to cling to?]
[I’ve had too much going on lately. It’s my fault for not replying to you sooner.]
[You can keep clinging to me.]
…
But this time, I was serious.
I absolutely was not going to cling to her anymore!
The first thing I did after waking up was reach for my phone to wish Evelyn a good morning.
My thumb hovered over the Send button.
Then I came to my senses.
I couldn’t keep clinging to Evelyn like this.
I quickly tossed my phone aside.
I held out until the afternoon, when Mom messaged me and asked me to pick up a package. She was worried I wasn’t eating properly at school, so she’d sent me a box of spiced duck snacks.
There was far too much for me to finish on my own.
So I packed up some of it and took it to my sister.
Our schools weren’t far apart—about a forty-minute drive. Carrying the bag of snacks, I followed the address Grace had sent me and arrived at an apartment building.
I knocked.
The person who opened the door wasn’t Grace.
It was Evelyn.
I avoided her eyes and said quietly, “I’m here to see my sister.”
She glanced at me, her expression cool and distant. “She went to campus to take care of something.”
“Come in and wait.”
I followed her inside.
Only then did I notice a girl sitting on the living-room sofa.