Chapter 1

I sat in front of my computer, staring at the words on the screen until the application deadline passed and the portal officially closed. Only then did I finally relax.

I had once willingly given up the chance to attend a better university for Noah, but this time, no one would be able to change my decision.

In one month, Noah and I would go our separate ways for good.

The next second, my phone screen lit up with a message from him.

“Claire, we’ll be starting college together soon! You must be just as excited as I am!”

I stared at his message and felt a pang of bitterness.

Noah had been my neighbor since the day I was born, and he was also the only child around who was close to my age. We had grown up together, and ever since I was little, I had followed him everywhere, always wanting him to be the first person I shared anything good with.

Once, when I secretly slipped another fortune cookie into his hand, Noah stared at me with wide eyes and promised with complete seriousness, “Claire, you’re my best friend. We’re going to stay together forever!”

For years, we kept that promise. From kindergarten through high school, Noah and I were never apart, and everyone around us knew that we were childhood best friends who had always been exceptionally close.

In high school, Noah and I agreed to attend the local state university together. I was thrilled.

What I never told him was that, because of that promise, I had given up the chance to pursue the medical program I had always dreamed of at Stanford and chosen to stay by his side instead. At the time, Noah mattered more to me than anything else.

That began to change after Isabella Black transferred into our class.

She drew the attention of the entire school on her very first day, and Noah was no exception. From then on, there always seemed to be another person between us.

Our weekend outings gradually turned into plans for three. When we studied at the library, the seat beside Noah that used to belong to me was taken by Isabella. Even on the walk home after school, the movies we had always loved talking about were slowly replaced by stories about her.

I began to feel uncomfortable and tried to talk to Noah about it, but he always brushed it off with an easy laugh, as though I were making something out of nothing.

“You’re overthinking it. I’m just worried Isabella won’t have any friends after transferring to a new school. You know you’re still the most important friend I have.”

I pressed my lips together and didn’t ask any more questions.

For years, I had kept my feelings for Noah hidden and told everyone that we were simply best friends. Until he kissed me that night when he was drunk, I had never expected him to feel the same way. By the next morning, he had forgotten all about it.

Yet the Noah I saw in that video seemed so different from the person I had known all my life that I could hardly recognize him.

Notifications from the mysterious sender continued appearing on my phone.

“Claire, I’m you from seven years in the future.”

“You may not want to believe me, but Noah has been lying to you all along. He wanted to be with Isabella without you getting in the way, so he secretly logged into your account and changed the school on your application. Afterward, you tried everything you could to fix what happened, but you were never able to change the outcome and ultimately lost your chance to pursue the field you had always dreamed of.”

At first, I didn’t believe any of it and assumed someone was playing a cruel prank on me.

Only when I saw the application history with my own eyes did a cold sweat break out across my skin.

I quickly calmed down and saved screenshots of all the application changes and login IP records as evidence.

Then I looked again at the message Noah had sent me. If I were still completely in the dark, I probably would have taken his words as nothing more than genuine concern and excitement about our future together.

Fortunately, I had been warned in time.

“Claire? Did you see my message?”

Another message from Noah appeared on the screen.

I thought for a moment before typing a reply.

“Yeah. I’m looking forward to it too.”

What I was looking forward to, however, wasn’t being with him. It was the future that would finally belong to me one month from now.