Ficorpio
Chapter 1
After I got into A University, I confessed to the woman I’d been secretly in love with.
“Evelyn, I love you. Be my girlfriend!”
Evelyn panicked, completely at a loss. “But we’re both women. We can’t!”
Later, we ended up together anyway.
After that, she spent every day practically scrambling away from me.
“No! Stay back. We can’t—”
My name is Claire Bennett, and I’m nineteen years old.
After I was accepted into A University, I confessed my feelings to Evelyn Hart, the older woman I’d been secretly in love with.
At first, she refused to accept me. I brought her flowers and a cake. I invited her out for karaoke, movies, and drinks—the whole romantic lineup—but she still wouldn’t say yes.
So I tried to kill myself.
It terrified her. Only then did she throw her arms around me and babble frantically, “Yes, okay, yes! We’ll date!”
But once we were together, it didn’t take long for a problem to emerge.
Evelyn’s yes was the kind that really meant no.
Within a week of officially getting together, I rented a two-bedroom apartment near Evelyn’s office and asked her to move in with me.
“No.” Evelyn shut me down with an immediate hard pass. “We’re not living together.”
I clasped both her hands and begged. I swore up and down that we’d sleep in separate rooms and that I wouldn’t lay a finger on her.
It took a month of wearing her down before Evelyn finally moved in, helpless to resist me.
Because I knew Evelyn was frugal by nature. Growing up poor had taught her never to waste anything.
Leaving an empty apartment sitting there unused would have felt wasteful to her.
After moving in, I kept my word. I didn’t bother Evelyn at all, and she settled comfortably into the spare bedroom.
By the second month, though, I began my campaign.
“Evelyn, my sheets are still wet from the wash. Can I sleep with you tonight?”
“No!” She immediately went on alert. “I have a spare set right here.”
In the third month, I tried again. “Evelyn, this orange is so good. Here—ahh.”
“No…” Evelyn leaned away, covering her mouth. “I’ll eat it myself. Put it down!”
By the fourth month, New Year’s Eve was approaching.
“We’re going home for the holidays soon. Since neither of us is going home this year, how about we spend New Year’s Eve together?”
This time, Evelyn agreed. We watched the New Year’s Eve Gala and stayed awake together until midnight.
But when I suggested that we sleep together afterward, she turned red and refused again.
“No. Why are you always up to something? I knew it—you want to do that… No!”
No, no, no.
Not allowed, not allowed, not allowed.
Evelyn was always saying no. I was starting to go numb. After hearing it so many times, I really did feel like I was throwing myself at a brick wall.
Little by little, I became absorbed in my games and stopped pestering her.
In the end, I even started thinking that our current arrangement wasn’t so bad: Evelyn spent her days busy with work, I went to class, and at night I came home and played games.
Chapter 2
A perfectly platonic life together.
A full year passed.
One day during my sophomore year, I came across a video about a young woman battling cancer.
The girl in the video had leukemia. Chemotherapy had taken all her hair, but she smiled into the camera and said, “I want to leave behind some memories—to prove that I was here.”
The video went viral. Hundreds of thousands of viewers sent her platform tips, and one of her younger schoolmates from middle school even reached out to accompany her through the fight.
In the end, a bone-marrow transplant cured the girl’s leukemia, and she and her former schoolmate fell in love.
What a beautiful story. Tears filled my eyes.
For the first time, I realized how much of my life I had wasted. On impulse, I decided to go out and find myself a job.
I needed to work hard for my future, too.
I didn’t discuss it with Evelyn.
I knew she would say, “Hard pass.” I was used to it by then. No matter what I said, her answer always seemed to be no.
I was studying art at A University, so it didn’t take long for me to submit my résumé and find a job at an animation studio. They said I could eventually work from home, but during the initial period, I had to learn from the artists in the office.
That suited me perfectly.
That very day, I cheerfully abandoned the games I’d spent most of the past year playing.
After that, I started leaving early and coming home late. I attended classes during the day, studied animation in the evenings, and worked overtime at the studio on weekends.
Little by little, Evelyn and I saw less and less of each other.
Until the end of the year.
The animation was about to premiere, and I decided to spend the winter break living at the studio dormitory so I could work overtime. While I was packing, Evelyn suddenly asked, “Where are you going?”
I froze for a moment. Only then did I remember that I hadn’t told her.
So I explained. Evelyn hesitated, then came over to help me pack.
“How long will you be gone?”
“Until the semester starts again.”
She murmured an acknowledgment and personally drove me to the studio dormitory.
Three other girls were already living there. Evelyn didn’t say anything about that. She only told me she’d come visit whenever she had time.
“Okay,” I said, before throwing myself straight into the animation project.
The days passed one after another.
Evelyn came to see me several times. Each time, I hurried through a meal with her before rushing back to finish my work.
At last, the animation premiered at the end of the year. Not only did it premiere—it became a huge hit. I was barely more than a foot soldier on the project, but I still went onstage with everyone else to accept the Studio Award.
I was bursting with pride.
Down in the audience, Evelyn kept taking pictures of me.
That evening, we held a celebration dinner. The Studio Director even told everyone they could bring their families, so I brought Evelyn along.
Chapter 3
At the table, someone joked, “Is this your older sister?”
I paused before answering, “No. She’s my older cousin. Heh. We just don’t look much alike.”
Evelyn nodded as well.
After all, people still weren’t very supportive of girls like us. She would never come out publicly.
When the celebration ended, someone suggested going out for karaoke, but the Studio Director waved the idea away.
“Everyone’s exhausted. Go home and get some proper rest.”
So we all went our separate ways.
It was too late to return to the dorm, so I drove Evelyn back to our rental.
I hadn’t slept in my room for more than ten days, but Evelyn had kept it surprisingly clean.
After showering, I climbed into bed and started scrolling through comments about an animated series on my phone. Then Evelyn suddenly knocked on the door and stepped inside.
“You’re still awake?”
“Yeah. You haven’t gone to sleep either?”
She looked a little embarrassed. “I can’t seem to fall asleep. How about I sleep here tonight?”
I stared at her. “Huh?”
Strange. Wasn’t Evelyn always so resistant to getting close to me? Wasn’t she afraid I’d get carried away?
Still, after a year, I’d more or less grown used to her coldness.
After a brief hesitation, I moved over and made room. “Come on.”
She was already here, after all.
Evelyn climbed into bed. The moment she settled down, she pressed herself close and wrapped an arm around my waist.
I didn’t know what to do. She seemed unusually affectionate tonight.
Almost clingy.
But I didn’t think too much of it. Evelyn was always like this, drawing close one moment and pulling away the next. She liked keeping me guessing.
I scrolled through my phone for a while longer. When midnight drew near, I yawned.
“Evelyn, should we go to sleep?”
She hummed in response.
Feeling awkward, I finally set my phone aside, switched off the little orange night-light, changed out of my thick pajamas, and lay down.
The air conditioner was noisy. In winter, I usually turned it off once the room had warmed up.
But after the lights went out, the room became unnaturally quiet. I suddenly remembered the electric blanket I’d bought for Evelyn last winter. She’d scolded me for wasting money, then left it on my bed anyway.
Could she have come to use it because the weather was too cold?
I was still lost in thought when something completely unexpected happened.
Evelyn suddenly took my right arm and rested her head on it. At the same time, she wrapped one arm tightly around my waist and pulled me against her.
My entire body went rigid.
“Evelyn?”
I called her name in confusion. She was practically lying in my arms. What was she doing?
“What is it?” she asked.
I felt intensely awkward. We were pressed so close together that her body heat seemed to radiate against me. Her warm breath kept brushing my neck.
It was too close. I could hardly stand it.
Swallowing my discomfort, I said, “Evelyn, you’re too close. This is making me uncomfortable.”
She made a soft sound but didn’t let go.
“Then bear with it.”