공유

Chapter 3

작가: Local Universe
By the time I left the bar, it was already 3:00 am. The streets were almost empty, with just an occasional gust of biting wind pulling me back into my memories.

I met Zayne two years ago during my part-time job. He told me he'd never met someone as pure as me, and he wanted me to have a relationship with him that would never end.

I laughed it off and rejected him over and over. It wasn't until that year's New Year's Eve when my stepfather secretly pried open my bedroom door.

Terrified, I called Zayne.

On that snowy night, he took me by the hand, helped me escape from hell, and promised to give me a home.

That was all I wanted—a home.

We had been together for two years, and Zayne had coaxed me into countless nights of passion and promised me over and over that he would marry me. But it had been six months since we got engaged, and I was just now realizing that I'd never even met his family.

All I had was this simple, cheap silver ring. What a load of crap—engagement, love, all of it…

Tears blurred my vision as I ripped the engagement ring off and tossed it into a nearby trash can. "I don't want to marry you anymore, Zayne," I said to myself.

The next morning, I woke up early and started packing my bags.

Zayne, who hadn't returned home all night, walked in and froze before grabbing my hand. "Where are you going?"

Without looking up, I answered, "My finals are coming up, so I'm moving back to campus."

His expression softened, and he slipped his arms around my waist from behind. "How long will you be gone? You know I can't survive without you," he said.

I used to enjoy moments like this—the sweetness, the intimacy. But now, for some reason, it just made me feel sick to my stomach. I pulled away from his embrace and continued packing my things.

Zayne casually glanced over and immediately noticed my finger. His gaze darkened as he asked, "Where's your ring? Why aren't you wearing it?"

The rapid-fire questions caught me off guard. "It got dirty, so I took it off."

I wasn't sure if it was just my imagination, but it seemed like he let out a sigh of relief. He smiled and casually said, "Since it's dirty, you should just get rid of it. It wasn't worth much anyway. I'll buy you a better one tomorrow."

Right. It wasn't worth much.

Two years ago, when Zayne proposed to me, we were in a hotel room. After passion, I looked up at him with teary eyes and asked, "Will you marry me, Zayne?"

He froze for a second before pulling out a plain silver ring from his pocket and sliding it onto my finger. There were no flowers, no applause, and definitely no getting on one knee. Yet, I still foolishly believed he would make me the happiest woman on earth.

Upon looking back now, I couldn't help but laugh at my own naivety.

I zipped up my suitcase and went to the bathroom to wash my hands. All of a sudden, my phone buzzed with a notification—Yasmin had uploaded a proposal video on her social media.

In the shaky footage, Zayne had gotten down on one knee in front of everyone and carefully slid a massive diamond ring onto her finger. Meanwhile, the crowd was cheering.

The large diamond sparkled under the lights and almost blinded me.

I tried to watch it again, but the video had already disappeared. All that was left was an apology from Yasmin.

"Please don't be upset, Emilia. It was just a joke. I don't know how I accidentally tagged you.

"We'd all agreed not to tell you. You're not mad, are you, Emilia?" Her taunting words kept coming, one after another.

Just then, Zayne knocked on the door. "What kind of ring do you like, Em? I'll take you shopping tomorrow, okay?"

The brutal disconnect between his words and reality clawed at my already-shattered heart. I sniffled and exulted, "Okay!"
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  • He Likes Them Pure   Chapter 10

    Very few people knew about my past. The reporters swarming around me saw it as a major scoop, and their cameras flashed nonstop. I sighed and decided to calm Zayne down for now. "Let's talk after the conference."…We agreed to meet at a nearby café. The rich aroma of coffee filled the air. It was a warm, comforting scent I hadn't savored in ages, lost as I was in the world of work and research. The moment Zayne sat down, he started rambling about how much he missed me. "Emilia, after you left, I realized just how foolish and selfish I was. The one I loved has always been you, and only you! Can we—"The words I had longed to hear finally reached my ears. "We can't," I cut him off before he could finish. "Look, I don't blame you for the past. I wasn't perfect either. I was extremely grateful when you saved me from my stepfather. I desperately wanted someone to rely on, so I mistook those feelings for love. "Over the last five years, I've done a lot of thinking, and I've realize

  • He Likes Them Pure   Chapter 9

    By the time I found out about all of this, it was long, long after it had happened. I thought I would never cross paths with Zayne again. After all, before I left, I had signed a confidentiality agreement with the school and the research team. Logically speaking, even with all his connections, Zayne shouldn't have been able to find me—and he didn't.Once I walked away and threw myself into my research, I realized that there were far more beautiful, purer things in this world than love. Everything about Zayne—everything he taught me, every trick I learned to please a man in bed—faded into nothing. Even the memory of him blurred.Mr. Levine brought news of Zayne when he came back from overseas for an academic conference. "After you left, Zayne turned the school upside down. Did you not tell him you were leaving?"I smiled and shook my head. "I make my own decisions."He sighed and looked at me. "I heard he was devastated after you left. It looks like your departure hit him real h

  • He Likes Them Pure   Chapter 8

    On his way home, Zayne bombarded me with messages—some were desperate pleas, while others were demanding and forceful. I was swamped with work and school, so most of his messages went unnoticed, and the few that did reach me went largely ignored.Zayne went through his days in a daze, gradually growing distant from Yasmin. Worried that he might abandon her, Yasmin spent each day trying to find ways to get his attention.One evening, Zayne had just gotten home when he received a call from her. Her soft sobs on the other end prickled his nerves. "Zayne, help me…"His hand trembled as he answered the phone, saying, "What's wrong, Yasmin? What happened?"There was a pause, and then her voice came back, tinged with fear. "I'm at the alley behind my school. A drunk guy is blocking my way. I-I'm so scared…"Zayne grabbed his coat and dashed out the door, running every red light on the way to where she said she was. However, he found Yasmin under the streetlight. Her clothes were pe

  • He Likes Them Pure   Chapter 7

    I wasn't completely blind to everything that had happened. I just didn't want to believe it. I didn't want to believe that the man who had saved me from hell could turn out to be such a horrible person. I didn't want to believe that his feelings for me were never about love, just physical desire.Deep down, I had known for a long time that Zayne had confessed to me because his friends had dared him to. Back in freshman year, I was already known as both the top student and the beauty in my department. However, because of my personality and family background, I kept a low profile and focused mainly on my studies, caring little about anything else.Zayne and his group of friends were curious about what kind of man could tame a famous ice queen like me. They were also eager to see what I'd become after Zayne had his way with me, as I was a blank slate then.He said he liked Yasmin because she was like a blank canvas, but he forgot that I, too, was once pure and untouched before I go

  • He Likes Them Pure   Chapter 6

    Zayne was flooding my phone with insults when the businessman in question suddenly walked back into the gala. Without a word, Zayne marched up to him and punched him square in the jaw. He grabbed the middle-aged man by the collar and demanded, "Where is she? Where the hell did you take her? "I swear, if anything happens to Emilia, I'll drag you and your entire company down with me! So, you'd better tell me where she is right now!"The security at the venue rushed in and restrained the frantic Zayne.The wealthy businessman wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth. He looked at Zayne, who was pretending to be all emotional and angry, and burst out laughing. "Young man, whether in business or in love, making threats like that won't get you anywhere. "You've got to show some sincerity, but I don't see an ounce of that in you today."Consumed by anger and regret, Zayne was too far gone. He was so desperate to find me that he didn't pick up on the underlying message in the midd

  • He Likes Them Pure   Chapter 5

    Before boarding, I sent Zayne one last message. "I don't love you anymore, Zayne."At the next second, the chat box, which had been silent for so long, erupted with a flurry of messages.…When Zayne received my message, he was still at the hospital, taking care of Yasmin. She had simply been pretending to be unconscious. We'd rarely fought in the two years we were together. Most of the time, Zayne was the one who was upset, and I would try to appease him, whether with words or with my body. Even when we did argue, I'd never raised my voice or threatened to leave.Zayne was surprised, but he assumed that I was just upset because he had abruptly left me with the wealthy businessman to care for Yasmin. He figured he could fix things the way he always did—get me a gift, say a few sweet words, and I'd forgive him. That was how it had always worked.But when his calls kept going straight to voicemail, he started to realize that things might be different this time, and he started to

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