Chapter 2

If my dad, who worked as a driver for Daryl's mom, hadn't accidentally found out Daryl was being abused, Daryl would have suffered for much longer.

After that Daryl was sent to my house to live with me, and my mom took care of him.

Back then, Daryl barely spoke at all.

Just hearing a lighter click would make him shake uncontrollably.

I heard from my mom that Erica smoked all the time and would sometimes burn him with her cigarette.

That made my heart ache for Daryl even more.

Since he didn't like to talk, I'd ramble on next to him, telling him all about the plots in my favorite cartoons and sharing funny stuff that happened with my friends.

If I saw some guy smoking on the street, I'd walk right up to him and tell him about how terrible smoking is.

Day after day, thanks to all my efforts, Daryl started to talk again.

He learned to smile, and he even started hanging out with me and the other kids in our neighborhood.

And the Daryl who had returned to normal was really outstanding.

His grades were top-notch, and he crushed it in sports too.

The moment we started middle school, girls were lining up to give him love letters and chocolates.

Honestly, I always felt a little bittersweet in my chest whenever I saw that.

But Daryl could always tell how I was feeling right away. He'd mess with my hair and say, "Hey, getting jealous already? Don't worry, I won't date any of those girls. There's someone I like in my heart."

He never said who it was, but I knew it was me.

Because whenever Daryl looked at me, his eyes were so gentle and full of longing.

When we turned 18, Daryl confessed his love to me. Right after that, we snapped that iconic photo together in our school uniforms, looking every bit the couple.

Later, Daryl and I went to the same city for college.

We stuck together almost every day except for class time.

If I disappeared for even a few hours, Daryl would call me like crazy, asking where I was and what I was up to.

He was always terrified of losing me.

It made me believe he couldn't stand to be apart from me, even for a moment.

But everything changed after we graduated. I went off to grad school, and Daryl's dad forced him into an internship at the TV station, where he met Edith.

That was the first time I felt a sense of panic and fear.

Because it was the first time I had ever seen Daryl be so protective of another girl.

He was genuinely worried about Edith not having enough money for rent.

So he deliberately turned his own house into a rental property and let Edith live there for a very low rent.

He kept track of Edith's time of the month, her birthday, and even all the little things she liked.

But those things used to be exclusive to me.

So I got all jealous of Daryl.

Because of Edith, I'd end up giving Daryl the silent treatment now and then.

It wasn't until I went to see Daryl in his city again that reality really hit me.

I saw him and Edith acting like a couple, cooking and washing dishes together.

Edith could use his shampoo, casually wear his T-shirts without any sense of boundaries, and even sleep in his bed without any scruples.

I couldn't take it anymore.

I completely broke down. After a huge fight with Daryl, I stormed out into the pouring rain.

But to my surprise, Daryl, who had always been inseparable from me before and would always be the first to come and reconcile with me after every fight, didn't come out to look for me.

He only posted something on his social media at midnight.

It read, [Silly girl, running a fever and still cooking for my girlfriend.]

The picture attached was a photo of Edith lying in a hospital bed getting an IV drip.

At that moment, it felt like a thousand tiny aches were crawling all over my chest.

I had a strong premonition that my Daryl, the one who had been with me for half my life, was about to leave me.