Chapter 2

I shot to my feet and stepped back a couple of steps.

The words followed me, always hovering right in the center of my vision no matter where I looked.

I swiped at them, but my hand went right through.

Ellis jumped at my sudden movement, struggling to lift his head to look at me. "What's wrong?"

His voice drowned out the comments for a split second.

I looked down at him. His face was pale as a sheet, his lips turning blue, and there was that tired look in his eyes, his brows drooping with exhaustion. He looked so wiped out, like he could barely keep going.

Suddenly, I remembered that comment from earlier. [If she keeps this up, the male lead is seriously gonna get drained dry.]

Drained?

I looked at the thermometer on the wall. 77 degrees. It used to always be kept at 78 degrees.

Ever since the freezing apocalypse hit, tons of people got their powers, but I got nothing.

Good thing my boyfriend Ellis was a fire wielder. He could use his ability to keep the safehouse at the right temperature.

At first, he said, "Baby, I can only keep it at about 70 degrees. You should put on some extra layers."

What did I say back then?

I said, "70 degrees? That's barely any better than outside. I want it at 78. Can't you push yourself a bit more?"

He looked at me for a moment, then said, "Okay."

Ever since then, this tiny storage room had always stayed at around 78 degrees.

I never asked if he was exhausted, or even how he managed it.

I'd only grill him whenever the temperature dropped, like today, demanding to know why he couldn't keep it at 78.

[Remember now, brainless side character? Remember how Ellis has been surviving these past ten days?]

[He only gets three hours of sleep a day, spends the rest of his time keeping the place warm. He's probably lost track of how many times he's burned himself out.]

[Only one degree? That one degree could be half of Ellis's life, you moron.]

[Enough, my heart aches for you, Ellis. Get out of there. Stop wasting your kindness on that ingrate.]

[Heroine, when are you finally coming? Please, hurry up.]

I took another step back and bumped into the edge of the bed behind me.

Ellis braced himself against the wall, trying to stand, but he staggered unsteadily.

Instinctively, I reached out to help him, but my hand froze halfway and I stopped myself.

If those bullet screens were right, then I was a side character destined to crash and burn.

I'd keep making a scene until I drained Ellis dry, and then that wood wielder heroine everyone's waiting for would show up, kick me out, and I'd end up freezing to death out there.

[Hey, why are you standing there? Keep it up, drama queen. Let's see what happens when you crash and burn.]

[Is the side character having an existential crisis right now? LOL.]

[Go on, keep acting out. We're here to watch the circus.]

[The male lead's face got paler. It hurts to see that.]

I looked at Ellis.

He was trembling.

It wasn't some big, obvious shake. It was a tiny, almost invisible tremor.

He stood there with his hand braced against the wall, his whole body stretched tight like a wire about to snap.

I stared at the side of his face and saw sweat on his forehead.

Outside, it was a brutal minus fifty, and in this storage room barely holding at 77 degrees, Ellis was sweating.

He was pushing himself way past his limits.

My mind suddenly went completely blank.

The comments kept scrolling, but I couldn't focus on them anymore.

All I could see was Ellis, his hands trembling more and more, his jaw clenched as he forced himself not to collapse.

He didn't have to end up like this. If I hadn't kept acting out, he could've saved his powers and lived his life.

I was not dumb.

Even if those comments are trash talk, Ellis's condition is right in front of me.

But why didn't I see it these past ten days?

Because 78 degrees felt so perfect.

Because I'd gotten used to him always spoiling me, giving me everything I asked for.

Because I thought he'd never collapse.