Chapter 5

After dinner, it was time for us to go our separate ways and continue our journeys.

They wanted to add me on social media, but I just laughed and said, "If we're meant to meet again, we will."

Since I wasn't going to be around much longer, there was really no point in adding them as friends.

Besides, getting attached only means risking heartbreak.

Back in the car, Charles, who'd barely spoken all night, suddenly turned to me and asked:

"Didn't you used to love making friends on the road? Why didn't you add them?"

I said offhand, "After what happened before, I'm not so quick to share my contact info on the road anymore."

Charles's face fell, and he stayed silent for a long time, but didn't lose his temper.

He shot me a resigned glance and said:

"Can't we just have a normal conversation for once? With strangers on the road, you're all smiles and can't stop talking, but with me, it's just cold sarcasm and attitude."

I thought he was the unreasonable one.

Strangers are just strangers. At least they never did me any harm.

But he, the one who's supposed to be closest to me, is the one who left me in pieces, hurting so bad I wished I was dead more than once.

I shot back, "Back when I actually wanted to talk to you, didn't you just say I was making a fuss?"

When he loved me, even if I caused a ruckus, he thought I was lively and cute.

But when he stopped loving me, my being straightforward and outspoken just became more reasons for him to say I wasn't mature.

I used to doubt myself, and even thought about really talking things through and going back to how we used to be.

But it was pointless. Whenever I acted like myself, he'd just complain about me.

When I tried to be gentle, he just thought I was imitating Sophia.

After he stopped loving me, nothing I did was ever right.

Charles stayed silent for a long time. It wasn't until the scenery outside shifted that he finally spoke in a low voice, "From now on, I won't talk to you like that anymore."

I didn't say anything.

He seemed to forget: There's no "from now on" left for us.

As dusk fell, we reached the Coralmere Overlook.

Against the backdrop of a stunning sunset, the colorful prayer flags on the mountain fluttered wildly in the wind.

I'd heard that the locals believed the fluttering prayer flags could carry people's wishes to the heavens and move the divine.

Back then, with my heart racing for Charles alone, I stood beside the fluttering prayer flags at Coralmere Overlook, sending my wish out toward the distant Coralmere.

'I want a love with Charles that burns bright and fierce, a romance so intense it leaves the world breathless.'

At that moment, I composed myself and smiled at Charles. "Let's take a photo together."

The wind whipped my hair into a mess, and for a second, he seemed a little lost.

He nodded and asked a guy nearby, who was also on a road trip, to help us take the picture.

When it was time for the photo, the guy called out with a grin, "Three, two, one, cheese!"

Charles naturally put his arm around my shoulders and pulled me close.

And in my heart, I silently wished, 'Charles, may we drift apart in this vast sea of people, never to see each other again, not in this life or the next.'

After the photo was taken, the guy grinned and said, "You two look so sweet together."

This time, I didn't say anything, but Charles just smiled and nodded.

I sat on a rock nearby, watching him laugh and chat with others, and it felt like something inside me just caved in.

There was a time when I even thought about finding someone to hypnotize me, just to erase him from my memory.

But right then, it hit me.

He was the one I loved with everything I had. It seemed like only death could ever really put a stop to it for good.

Just as Charles was finishing up his chat with the guy and getting ready to head back, my phone buzzed with a message.

It was from Sophia Lane: [Cousin, do you really think a nostalgic road trip is enough to win Charles back? Don't you get it? If I called him right now, he'd ditch you in a heartbeat and come running back to me.]

Maybe coming back here opened up my mind a bit. The kind of provocation that used to drive me absolutely crazy now just seemed pathetically childish.

No wonder, whenever I showed Charles her messages in the past, all I got was a rhetorical shrug.

"She's just a kid who binges too many TV dramas. Why let her get under your skin?"

Even then, there was still a trace of fondness in Charles's voice.