Chapter 1

Fabian's POV

I had just reached the entrance when I noticed that Wendy Sherman, my girlfriend, and Sawyer Young, my friend, were already looking around the apartment.

Wendy looked at me and asked impatiently, "What took you so long, Fabian? Sawyer and I are almost done looking around. If you'd taken any longer, the real estate agent would've called it a day."

Sawyer stuck his head out of the kitchen, then quickly went over to Wendy and patted her on the shoulder. "Oh, stop being so hard on Fabian, Wendy. He's always been a slow walker, so you should be a bit more patient with him."

I lowered my head and glanced at the mud stains on my pants. "You guys walk too fast."

Sawyer laughed it off and pointed toward the balcony outside. "You've made it anyway, so it's no big deal. Do you see that balcony out there? It'd be perfect for growing lisianthus. It'd look great in photos."

Wendy looked in the direction he was pointing and chuckled. "It's not easy keeping lisianthus alive, and with your short attention span, they wouldn't last a week. It'd be better to plant mint—at least we can use it to make cocktails."

"Who says I can't keep them alive? I'm definitely planting those lisianthus!"

"You can do whatever you want—just don't expect me to replant them for you when they wither."

Wendy and Sawyer started bickering back and forth. Their tone held a familiar closeness, much like a young couple picking out things for a new home.

I was clearly the one renting the apartment and paying for the rent, yet they had already gone over my head, deciding what the balcony would become and even making plans to live here.

I stared at the bare concrete space and suddenly lost the desire to plant anything there. I merely felt a bitter sense of neglect surging through my entire being.

I remembered once telling Wendy that I could never join in whenever they were talking.

Wendy was staring at her phone at that moment, not even bothering to look up. "You're the one who stays quiet and refuses to talk. How is anyone supposed to know what's going on with you, Fabian?"

I suddenly took a deep breath and stepped forward. "I think cacti are pretty nice too…"

I tried to sound more upbeat, asking, "Do you know why the cactus broke up with its girlfriend?"

I paused briefly before continuing, "It's because the relationship was getting too prickly…"

I told them a dad joke I had found in an old magazine yesterday, yet the moment I finished, the chatter around me disappeared, leaving only silence. I thought maybe I was too slow to keep up, so even my jokes were out of date.

Sawyer was the first to respond after five seconds. He suddenly snorted, breaking the silence. "Your joke just gave me the chills, Fabian—the cringey kind."

He then turned to Wendy and said, "It feels even chillier than the time you fell into that snowbank while we were skiing in Islavia, Wendy."

Upon hearing that, Wendy's eyes lit up again. "You were the one who dragged me off-piste in the first place. I was the one who eventually had to dig you out of the snow back then!"

"Your whole head was covered in so much snow that you looked a decade older back then! You'd better not expect me to marry you if you end up single and old, Wendy!"

They laughed completely unabashedly.

Wendy had promised me that we'd go see the auroras in Islavia after graduation. She then said we should wait until she had settled into her job before telling me that we should do it when she had some time off.

I kept waiting for her, only for her to end up going with Sawyer. "When did you two go to Islavia?"

Their laughter came to a sudden halt.

Wendy's expression became subdued as she replied indifferently, "Sawyer and I went last winter. You were away on a shoot at the time."

I couldn't help but wonder if I just happened to be away on a shoot or if they had deliberately chosen to go while I was gone.

Sawyer waved his hand to brush it off. "It's all in the past now, so let's just get back to looking at the apartment."

They both tacitly agreed to drop the topic.

I couldn't bear to stand there any longer as my mud-soaked pants clung against my skin. "I'm not feeling so well. I'm going to head home first, so we'll discuss the apartment another time."

I had just walked out when I heard Wendy's hushed voice coming from behind me. "What's with the attitude now? He's really spoiled rotten."