8
When Alexander’s figure had completely disappeared, I beckoned to Noah.
“Come down, stop acting. It’s dangerous.”
Noah’s youthful face turned bright red, with a hint of awkwardness. He nimbly climbed back over the railing.
Olivia’s eyes widened: “You saw through it so early?”
I laughed: “Not that early. From when he started reciting his lines.”
Olivia glared at her brother, puzzled, “Then why did you still play along with us?”
I glanced at Noah: “If I didn’t agree, how were you going to end this? Were you really going to jump?”
Olivia coughed, choking a bit.
I put my arm around her shoulders, coaxing: “I know you mean well. I’ve got it all figured out. This time, I really, absolutely won’t get back together with him.”
Her face was full of discomfort, “As long as you know.”
I was about to go down from the rooftop with Olivia when Noah suddenly said from behind: “It wasn’t all an act.”
Olivia looked at us and quickly made her escape.
I paused, then turned to him with a forced smile, playing dumb, “What?”
He looked down at me: “The crush. It’s real.”
It wasn’t that I couldn’t hear the sincerity hidden in his awkward jokes and playacting.
But I had just ended such a long relationship and only felt tired now.
I was about to keep playing dumb and brush it off when Noah took a step forward.
The rising sun was behind him, his shadow completely covering me.
It made me marvel again at how tall the once–little boy had grown.
He said seriously: “I’m only two years younger than you, I have no ex–girlfriends, I got into the same university as you, and you know my education and major. This year I started working at a research institute, my annual salary is a bit lower than Alexander’s, but I’m still young, I’ll catch up to him next year.”
“Most importantly, the person I’ve chosen will always have priority, and will never be wronged.”
He was so earnest that it seemed rude of me not to take his feelings seriously.
Just as I was looking for a reason to refuse, he bent down.
4:21 PM ·
<
He said, “Do you want me to cry too?”
At that moment, my heart was pounding like drums in a festival.
I must have lost my mind.
Otherwise, why did it take me seven years of dating Alexander before I agreed to marry him, insisting on having the ceremony before getting the marriage license?
It was because I had seen too many couples who broke up after a wedding ceremony due to conflicting views.
As it turned out, my decision wasn’t wrong.
But Noah just showed me his slightly pitiful puppy eyes, and I softened and gave in.
He said I had promised to get a marriage license with him.
So now, we’ve come out of the civil affairs bureau.
Looking at the bright sunlight in front of me, and the warm marriage certificate in my hand, I felt a sense of unreality.
But it’s okay.
I’m a person who knows how to cut losses in time.
If this marriage doesn’t give me positive feedback and instead drains me,
I will definitely rationally withdraw.
Although Noah might not give me that chance.
I looked at his upturned lips that he couldn’t hide, and found myself infected by his smile.
Now the headache is how to tell this news to my parents and Noah’s parents, as well as… Olivia.
