Chapter 5
Everyone was looking at me enviously, saying that Ethan bought them for me.
In PE class, the teacher made me run ten laps as punishment because I forgot to bring my basketball.
The day I had my period and looked really pale.
Ethan put his hand up and said, "Coach, I'll take her punishment."
Without stopping, he ran all ten laps, his face drenched in sweat.
Feeling guilty, I handed him a bottle of water. Suddenly, he put his hand on my head and rubbed it.
He smiled and said, "Little one, from now on, I've got your back."
"Ethan, are you trying to go after Nora?" the other students teased.
Ethan just smiled and said nothing.
My heart was pounding uncontrollably.
Everyone thought Ethan liked me.
But on a sunny day, he confessed to Chloe.
At that time, Chloe was even less noticeable than I was.
She wore black-rimmed glasses. And her bangs covered most of her face.
No one noticed her.
But Ethan absolutely liked her.
When Tyler Cole from the other class was messing with her, Ethan dragged him to the field and beat him up seriously.
He got sent home for three days to calm down and think about what he'd done.
He'd stuff gifts for Chloe into her desk secretly.
Then he'd make a big show of buying snacks for me, just to throw everyone off.
Ethan's heart belonged to Chloe from the very beginning.
Because Chloe didn't want any attention, Ethan made sure everyone thought that the person he liked was me.
When the truth was out, everyone was giving me those pitying looks.
Someone teased, "Ethan, you are going too far! You're so irresistible. What if Nora really likes you?"
Looking guilty, Ethan scratched his head and said, "Sorry, little one.
"With the way I am, you didn't fall in love with me, right?"
I forced a smile and waved it off, replying, "Nope."
I'd never told him, but from the moment he stood up for me in front of the whole class, that's when I started crushing on him.
But I never thought that I would have a crush on Ethan for seven years.
Ethan and Chloe were on and off many times over those seven years.
And every time, it was Chloe who wanted to break up for the most random reasons.
She had been in a bad mood recently, so she wanted to break up.
Her grades tanked, so she wanted to break up.
She didn't like the gift Ethan gave her, so she wanted to break up.
Everyone teased that Ethan was Chloe's simp.
Only I really felt sorry for him.
Once, I asked him, "Why do you like Chloe so much?"
He just shrugged and told me, "Liking someone is just a feeling. From the first moment I saw her, I knew I was hooked for life."
Ethan's love for her burned bright and fierce, and never changed.
After crushing on Ethan for seven years, I was ready to give up.
I started joining group hangouts to see if I could meet some new guys.
That was the year everything had changed.
Chloe broke up with Ethan because she was going abroad with her parents.
I remember the day they broke up like it was yesterday.
It snowed heavily that day.
Ethan spent the whole day standing outside Chloe's house.
Someone took a photo of him and posted it in our group chat. Snow was piled on Ethan, his face frozen red.
But Chloe never came out once.
When I saw the photo, I was having dinner with a guy I met at a mixer.
My heart clenched.
I forced myself to ignore until someone in the group chat said Ethan had fainted.
My mind went blank, and before I knew it, I was already at the hospital.
Ethan had acute pneumonia and was lying on the bed with an IV drip, his face pale as a sheet.
When he woke up, he still wanted to pull out his IV and go after Chloe, but I slapped him hard.
He was stunned and stared at me in surprise.
This was probably the first time I had lost my temper in all the years we had known each other.
My voice trembling with tears, I shouted, "Chloe doesn't want you anymore! Why do you keep throwing yourself at her like this?"
At that moment, all those feelings I'd been holding back for seven years exploded out of me.
I cried, "Ethan, can't you stop making me worry about you all the time?"
Maybe I cried so hard that Ethan just couldn't leave. He was looking at me with those gentle, guilty eyes and kept apologizing nonstop.
He said, "I'm sorry, Nora... It's all my fault... I put you through so much all these years..."
Ethan had planned to wait until morning to go see Chloe.
But before dawn, he got the news that Chloe had boarded the plane and left.
He'd wanted to tell her he could accompany her abroad, even make a life with her overseas.
But Chloe was ruthless, not even giving him a chance.
The aftermath of Ethan's heartbreak lasted a long time, and it hit him hard.
He drank heavily every day, just trying to numb his mind with booze.
Because of drinking, he ended up in the hospital more than once.
The doctors warned him that something bad would happen if he kept doing this.