MasukLong ago, Esther’s mother once told her a theory. That human life is made up of events that seem random at first. But over time, those random moments are actually connected. And when seen from a wider angle, the whole chain suddenly makes sense.Action. Reaction. Consequence.When someone does something, whatever it is, it will always trigger a reaction. But it never stops there. After the reaction comes the consequence. Yes, her mother had always been the philosophical type.After the festival with Gaara, Esther found herself replaying that theory over and over in her head. It was almost ironic. When her emotions were completely drained, what surfaced instead was her mother’s voice.Esther, you already won your bet.She did not feel like she had won anything. Not even close. There was no joy in her chest, not even a trace. The happiness had existed elsewhere. It had lived in moments with Gaara. In walking beside him. In leaning against his shoulder on the train. In seeing him standin
She was beautiful.She was so beautiful beneath the falling rain. She was so beautiful standing by her locker in the morning, as if she were waiting for him with quiet hope. She was so beautiful when she slept beside him. She was so beautiful when she smiled shyly during their first dance. She was so beautiful beneath the glittering city lights on the night they walked together. She was so beautiful when she appeared between her father and cousin as Gaara came to pick her up under the moonlight. She was so beautiful when she told Gaara about the list of festival street foods she recommended he try once they arrived.“I’ve never been to any festival before,” was Gaara’s response when Esther asked which food interested him the most after she enthusiastically explained everything to him. “You should just pick for me.”Her eyes lit up right away, and she was so beautiful as she linked her arm with his and pulled him into the crowd already enjoying the festival.She was so beautiful in her
Even if Nara had still been sitting across the street, he would’ve seen the way Nelsy’s expression shifted a full one-eighty. She tried to hide it with a smile, but Gaara clearly spotted the anxiety written all over her face. That was the curse of being expressive. She was like an open book anyone could read.“They hate each other. You know that, right?” Nelsy said, pretending to touch a sunflower within reach.“Nelsy…” Gaara’s voice sharpened into a warning.“What? I—I don’t know anything, Gaara. You should ask Vinson. He’s your friend.”“I already went to his place, but he wasn’t there. You’ve been closest to him since you were kids, and lately you’ve been close to Esther too.” Nara rolled his eyes at that line. “That’s why I came here.”“I don’t know anything, Gaara. Look, I wanna get lunch, I’m starving. You wanna come with me? We can talk about it slowly over food…”Nara swore silently under his breath. He’d come here to invite Nelsy to lunch, yet somehow Gaara ended up getting t
When Esther finished wiping her tears, Vinson finally spoke. “Thing is… I don’t actually remember much.” His voice made Esther turn to him.“The clearest memory I have from back then is you being hurt, almost dying,” he continued. “And Elson telling me that you… hated me. Really hated me.”Esther stared at him, and it made Vinson shift uncomfortably. “Can you not look at me like that?”Esther nodded and tried to keep her face neutral.Vinson let out a long breath. “I guess I got used to hating all of you from that point on. Everything I did to you just felt like the natural thing to do.”Esther understood. When someone is hated for so long, every little thing they do looks wrong, and hurting them starts to feel justified. Even though Vinson’s words sounded cold, Esther knew exactly what he meant. She even agreed.“But that doesn’t mean I was right,” he added.Esther’s eyes widened. She couldn’t believe what she just heard. Vinson might be too proud, too stubborn to apologize outright,
Not wanting to draw attention from the people around them, Vinson realized the best thing to do was let Esther go for now and catch up to her again once the situation was calmer.Once outside, Esther stopped and glanced back. She flinched when she saw Vinson still following her. “Why are you still chasing me?” she snapped, her voice sharp with emotion.Vinson didn’t appreciate her tone, so he snapped right back. “Why the hell did you run?”Esther frowned. “Why were you running after me in the first place?” she shot back.Vinson let out a frustrated sigh and ran a hand through his hair. “Try looking at yourself and think about the situation,” he said, planting his hands on his hips. “You came here alone, on your own terms, looking for my brother. Then when I asked why, you freaked out and bolted. How do you expect me to just let you go when I saw you holding something in your hand? For all I knew, you were planning to blow the place up and end everything in one go to get revenge on me.
Esther was stuck in heavy traffic on her way to the giant entertainment complex in the city center. According to the plan she had carefully put together, she intended to bring her family face to face with the brothers who had once suffered so much. Esther wanted her father and Elson especially to sit at the same table and apologize for what had happened in the past, even if their regret would never be enough to make up for everything that had been done. Although she had spent years hating Vinson, once she learned the truth behind his actions, Esther realized she could no longer stand by and watch the feud between their families continue.Since Esther had a fairly good relationship with Felix, her father trusted her to reach out to the man. So earlier that morning, she finally gathered the courage to send Felix a short message asking if he had time to meet her.Luckily, he didn’t make her wait. He replied almost immediately and even invited her to have lunch at a restaurant inside the







