Ficorpio
Chapter 1
A video on TikTok asked, “How devastating can an unforgettable first love be?”
I saw my girlfriend’s comment:
“My current partner has a terminal diagnosis, and all I can think is—thank God he only looks like her, instead of actually being her.”
He. Her. My girlfriend’s unforgettable first love was a woman.
And I was a straight man.
A replacement partner.
Clutching my Terminal Diagnosis, I somehow laughed.
The first thing I did after leaving the Hospital was pack my Suitcase.
Vivian Sterling noticed me gathering my things before she noticed my reddened eyes.
Her beautiful brows drew together. “Why are you packing?”
I looked up and flashed her a wide, toothy grin. “I’m packing so I can go die.”
Vivian didn’t smile. She only frowned harder.
I knew she liked me best when I smiled with my lips pressed together. She liked me gentle and quiet.
But I was dying now. I only wanted to do whatever made me happy.
Just then, Vivian’s Phone rang.
The hospital room was so quiet that I could clearly hear her best friend’s excited shriek through the speaker.
“Vivian! Zoe’s back in the country! Are you coming to pick her up at the Airport?”
Vivian’s fingers tightened around her phone. She answered with a quick, breathless “Yeah,” then hung up.
Perhaps because she felt guilty, I could sense her displeasure vanish.
In its place came guilt disguised as sweetness.
“Baby, a friend of mine just got back from—”
“Sure,” I interrupted. “Go take care of whatever you need to. You don’t have to worry about me.”
Vivian was in such a hurry that she didn’t even notice I had finished packing.
She hurriedly rose onto her toes, kissed my cheek, then swept her long hair over her shoulder and left.
The moment Vivian was gone, I picked up the Scissors.
Then I cut through the Hair Tie she had given me, the one I had worn around my wrist.
Snip.
Five years ended with a single cut.
Vivian Sterling had barely arrived at the airport when she reunited with the love she had never forgotten.
A moment later, I arrived too, dragging my suitcase behind me.
After all, a kind teacher at the Children’s Home had once told me, “When you eat, make sure your food is hot.
And if someone’s cheating on you, catch them in the act.”
I wore my sunglasses as I studied the woman standing beside Vivian.
Then I glanced at my own reflection in the glass a short distance away.
Our genders were different, but the resemblance in our eyes, brows, and overall presence was uncanny enough to make me want to order a parentage DNA test.
The moment Vivian saw me, her brows drew together so sharply they could have crushed a fly.
“Ethan Bennett?” she asked in a lowered voice. “What are you doing here?”
See? In front of the woman she had always loved, she was calling me by my full name.
I took off my sunglasses and walked over calmly. “What a coincidence.”
Chapter 2
The woman beside Vivian was beautiful. She stared at me for a moment, just as stunned.
Even so, she soon pressed her lips into an elegant smile and turned an inquiring gaze toward Vivian.
Vivian’s displeasure eased at once beneath that smile.
She gave us a brief introduction. “This is Evelyn Bennett, my childhood friend. And this is Ethan Bennett, my…”
She paused.
“My friend.”
She said the last two words so quickly and lightly that it hardly seemed to matter whether she put the word “male” in front of them.
Vivian. Vivian.
A name that sounded almost like a sudden realization.
And Evelyn—like the lights burning at the far end of a road, the person waiting there when someone finally turned around.
Evelyn.
I extended my hand without a flicker of emotion. “Hello.”
“Hello.” Evelyn returned the handshake.
Every small movement, every crease of her smile carried the effortless confidence of someone who had always been cherished.
Vivian shifted uneasily. Then she spoke gently to the other woman. “Evelyn, you’re still adjusting to the time difference. I’ll drive you home first. Ethan, you can—”
She didn’t get to finish.
I interrupted her with another smile. “Go ahead if you’re busy. Don’t worry about me.”
That was when Vivian finally noticed something was wrong.
Her eyes dropped to my bare wrist, then to the suitcase beside me, as though she had only just realized they were there.
Her voice suddenly turned uneasy. “Ethan, where’s the Hair Tie I gave you? And where are you going with a suitcase?”
I laughed. “Vivian, you’re hilarious. I came to the airport with a suitcase. Where else would I be going besides on a trip?”
Her beautiful eyes widened. “You’re leaving me?”
“Ah, my flight’s almost boarding.”
I glanced at my Wristwatch, then waved at both women.
“Ms. Bennett, I’m leaving my ‘friend’ in your hands. I’m sure we’ll meet again if we’re meant to.”
With that, I turned to leave.
Vivian grabbed my wrist.
“Where do you think you’re going?” she shouted. “Ethan, what the hell is wrong with you?”
I turned back calmly.
“You’re right, Vivian. Something is wrong with me.” I looked at her. “I’m sick.”
Vivian went completely still.
She stared at me, dazed, her pupils shrinking.
And between us, Evelyn stood in silence.
She looked so healthy, so beautiful. Even the sunlight seemed to favor her.
“Vivian,” I said.
“I wonder if you’re thinking right now…”
“Thank God it was me who got sick.”
“Not her.”
I insisted on boarding the plane. Vivian Sterling insisted I wasn’t going anywhere.
In the end, we caused such a scene at the airport that even Evelyn Bennett was taken to the police station for questioning.
After the mediation and statements were finished, I was still mourning the money I’d wasted on the plane ticket.
Vivian grabbed my hand and tried to drag me home.
I shook her off. “That isn’t my home.”
Chapter 3
“Ethan Bennett, are you done making a scene yet?”
Vivian had finally run out of patience. Her voice turned cold. “Our engagement celebration is next month. I’ve already sent out the invitations. Who exactly are you trying to embarrass by acting like this now?”
“Oh. So you do remember that we’re engaged.”
I looked at Evelyn standing nearby. I didn’t need to say anything. The sarcasm practically spilled from my expression.
The moment Evelyn heard the words engagement celebration, she turned to Vivian.
“You’re getting married?”
Her voice trembled. When she lowered her eyes, a trace of loneliness passed over her face.
“Con… congratulations.”
The instant Vivian met Evelyn’s gaze, her expression looked utterly heartbroken.
They say that when an ex cries, the current partner always loses.
In my case, my ex hadn’t even shed a tear, and I’d still lost completely.
Enough. I was done playing this ridiculous game of tangled sexual orientations.
I raised a hand and hailed a taxi. Without bothering to collect my suitcase, I climbed into the car and told the driver to go.
Vivian instinctively ran after it for a few steps. Her beautiful, celebrity-like face had gone deathly pale.
But in the end, she turned back toward Evelyn.
My suitcase was left abandoned by the roadside.
Unwanted by everyone.
I closed my eyes and took several deep breaths, trying to ease the ache in my chest.
“Young man, have you been fighting with your girlfriend?” The driver glanced at me in the rearview mirror, unable to resist the gossip. “She’s beautiful, and her friend is pretty too. Just apologize and spoil her a little. You’ll be fine.”
I opened my eyes. “That woman is my girlfriend. The woman beside her isn’t her friend. She’s her girlfriend too. Are you planning to join our little family before you give me any more advice?”
The driver fell silent.
At last, the car was quiet.
We drove aimlessly around the city for several laps before I got out downtown.
I tipped my head back and breathed in the air of the bustling city center. I decided to indulge in some reckless shopping.
But the moment I entered the mall, I lost interest. I simply sat on a bench and stared into space.
Then, without warning, I came back to myself and found Vivian’s dark eyes fixed on me.
Of course, she hadn’t come looking for me.
She was accompanying Evelyn on a shopping trip.
And Evelyn wasn’t alone. A middle-aged couple walked beside her.
The four of them chatted and laughed as they moved through the mall, like a picture-perfect family in an advertisement.
It was a kind of warmth I had never known in my entire life.
Vivian noticed me too. Her face immediately filled with the accusation that I was impossible to get rid of.
Before she could say anything, however, the woman beside Evelyn suddenly became agitated.
“Lantern… Little Lantern?”
The woman stared at me, her eyes widening.
Then tears burst from them. She rushed toward me, trembling.
“Is it you, Lantern? My Lantern! My precious boy!”