Only you in my love

Leon wasn't sure if Michelle went to pick up Van and Don just to see him, even though he was sure he wanted to see her. When he had heard someone comment that they looked like they were a family of four, he allowed himself to imagine such a scenario. In fact, the Shi family had someone pick up Van and Don from school. However, Leon volunteered to do so.

The corridor was so quiet that they could hear each other's heartbeat. Their bodies were close enough for them to feel each other's presence but not enough for their skins to touch. It didn't help that both of them were wearing thick layers of clothes. And yet in that small space they shared, they could feel the warmth of each other's affection.

Michelle's heart was racing.

If things went on as they did, it would only be a matter of time before her secret affection towards Leon would unravel. She turned around and tried to run away, but Leon didn't give her a chance to escape. He put his hands on her shoulders and leaned his forehead against hers.

Her heart jumped to her throat, and her eyes widened as she covered her mouth and muffled her gasp.

At that moment, her heart no longer belonged to her.

She could no longer control herself.

The very sight of Leon, from top to bottom, made the butterflies in her stomach flutter.

He knew why she was covering her mouth. He couldn't help but smile as he continued to breathe on her blushing face.

"Michelle, your heart is racing. Do you have a crush on me?"

Just like that, she felt her secret unravel before his very eyes. It took her three years to hide this secret, and now, it was finally being exposed. Her panicked eyes caught his seductive gaze as she felt further drawn to his amber eyes.

If his eyes were an ocean, she was drowning in it.

She remembered people saying that only those who could swim might be drowned, while those who couldn't would stay away from water. This was how she understood what falling in love meant. She, who had never been in love, didn't have the courage to indulge herself in such a feeling.

She tried her best to push him away and run back to her room. She twisted her doorknob twice before pushing the door open and closing it without looking back.

On the other side of the door, Leon couldn't wipe the smile off his face.

Now, he was sure of two things. First was that Michelle wasn't against the idea of them being physically close. In the instance that they were, her face turned red and her heart pounded against her chest, begging to be let out.

The second was Michelle must like him even just a little bit.

All things considering, he realized things between them were not bad at all. In his current position, he could slowly increase her affection towards him.

Meanwhile, Michelle was lying in her bed, her face buried underneath her quilt.

She finally figured out what exactly changed with Leon. Even though he was still as gentle as before, what changed was that he was already willing to push her boundaries.

He already had the guts to ask her if she liked him.

And she did. She liked Leon so much, her affection spanning more than three years. Neither distance nor time could ever stop her from liking him.

And yet, when he asked her if she liked him, she didn't know what to say.

'Why did he even ask me that?

Does he also like me?'

The thought kept swirling in her head that she couldn't keep still. Finally, she sat up and said to herself, "I need to talk to someone. I should go ask Debra. She has a lot of experience when it comes to this." She jumped out of her bed and took her phone. Since she wasn't able to charge it ever since coming home, she had to wait a while for the phone to turn on.

While waiting, she stood in front of the vase and solemnly stared at the champagne roses about to wither. "Thank you," she whispered to them. "I'll continue to take good care of you, so please continue blessing me." When two petals fell, Michelle grabbed a cloth and covered them. Then, slowly, she unfolded the cloth.

"You're not going anywhere. Wait while I change the water for you."

She was using a big glass vase to hold the running water. According to what Mrs. Li had taught her, she had to let the running water warm to room temperature first before placing it in the vase containing the champagne roses. Once she was done changing the water, Michelle clasped her hands together and bowed reverently before the roses. After that, she turned around and took her phone.

As soon her phone opened, her WeChat automatically logged in. One after another, message notifications popped up. She received more than 30 missed calls, all coming from the same number.

Since she had just changed her phone, the number calling her wasn't saved in her contacts yet.

But even if she didn't save it, she already knew to whom that number belonged.

This was Leon's phone number.

Even though she thought it was unnecessary, she decided to save his number just in case others might think it was a prank call.

In the text box that said "Name," she typed in "My Brother."

Meanwhile, her WeChat message notifications continued to pop up. She clicked on it and saw that Colby had sent her a couple of messages. "Michelle, are you available? I have something to tell you," his text read.

"Michelle.

I really like you. Can you be my girlfriend?

I've had a crush on you ever since college.

I like you so much. If you become my girlfriend, I'll give you whatever you want."

"Can you be my girlfriend, Michelle? I'll be waiting for your response."

As she read Colby's messages, Michelle suddenly felt confused. 'Why is he confessing to me out of nowhere?'

"Are you drunk or crazy?"

Before pressing send, she sent a screenshot of his messages to Debra first. It didn't take long for Debra to call Michelle.

As soon as she answered her phone, the first thing she heard from Debra was a sigh. "Ignore Colby. He just broke up with his girlfriend."

Michelle still had no idea what was going on. "Why did he confess his love to me right after breaking up with his girlfriend?"

"That's just who he is! He's in a hurry to enter his next romantic relationship so that he could forget the pain of his previous one." Debra clicked her tongue. "His girlfriend dumped him after dating for a year. Maybe he deserves it.

He had a history of being unfaithful. Before, he was always the one dumping his girlfriends. But, now, it's his turn to get dumped. For more than half a month now, he has been depressed. Then all of a sudden, it looked as though he got back to his old self. Maybe even worse. He's become more playful to the point it's starting to feel creepy.

If before, he was picky with the girls he dated. But now, as long as a girl looks cute and has a good figure, he'll spend a lot of money just to date her. Also, he never thought of dating his friends before. But now, he's very open to the idea.

I think if Aron and I weren't together, he would've probably made a move on me too." Debra couldn't hold back her anger as she spoke. After a while, she began to calm down and let out a heavy sigh. "I can't even talk sense to Colby since his heart was crushed by his ex- girlfriend."

Then, she realized that she was the only one speaking the entire time, and Michelle hadn't spoken a word. "Hello, Michelle? Are you listening?"

The entire time, Michelle's head was in a daze. It was only until she heard Debra call her name that she snapped out of it. "Yes, yes. I'm here. I'm listening," she answered.

"I've said so much just to let you ignore him. Reject him straightaway. If you do, he won't feel sad or harass you. He'll just go to the next girl and say everything that he said to you."

"Okay." Michelle nodded, oblivious to what was going on. Before Debra could hang up, she stopped her. "Debra, don't hang up yet. I have something to ask you." "What is it? Just tell me."

After thinking for a while, Michelle decided not to ask the question she intended. Instead, she asked, "Will everyone become as flirtatious as Colby after they break up with someone they love deeply?" "Not exactly. It depends," Debra answered. "Why? What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Michelle denied. After a short pause, she added, "I have a friend. He recently got back together with his ex-girlfriend, but they broke up again. Their relationship lasted for approximately seven years."

"Seven years?" Debra was shocked. She thought Michelle was talking about a friend who was their age. "So you're saying that they've been together since college? Then they broke up, got back together, and then broke up again. Did I get that correctly?" "Yes," Michelle replied in a dejected tone.

Thinking more about it made her even sadder.

"And now he's the same as Colby?" Debra wanted to clarify.

"No. He's not that serious." She pursed her lips for a second, then continued speaking. "His attitude towards me has changed. Earlier, he was flirting with me and even asked me if I liked him."

"Hmm...be careful," Debra advised, her voice sounding sterner than usual. "I can't imagine how deep their relationship was considering they were together for seven years. I guess your friend's in the same situation as Colby. He's flirting with other girls to mask what he's really feeling deep inside.

Michelle, why do you always attract bad men? First, there was Leon. And now, this friend you're talking about." She began to sound more worried. "I should really take some time to look for a nice man and introduce him to you."

If life was a series of ups and downs, Michelle's mood at that moment was at its lowest. "Okay," she replied weakly to Debra.

After that, Michelle ended the call.

Then, she jumped back to her bed without a second thought as the two petals in her pocket fell out.