Chapter 4

It was early the next morning, and I went to Bryan's house to retrieve the wooden photo frame I had made for him when I was 18 years old. It held our first photo together, and on the back of it, I had written, "Julian and Bryan, brothers for life."

Bryan held the photo frame for a long time back then. "If anyone ever messes with you, I'll deal with them myself, Julian."

I used the backup code to unlock the door, only to find Bryan coming out of the bedroom. He was wearing a shirt that I recognized immediately. It was the limited-edition matching piece I had gone to several stores to find for Naomi's birthday the year before.

I had originally planned for us to wear them as matching couple shirts, but she later told me that the cut was too structured and stiff for her. She claimed it wasn't her style, but it turned out that it suited Bryan perfectly.

Bryan caught sight of me, looking visibly startled. He recovered quickly with a smile. "What brings you here, Julian?"

He ran a hand through his hair, sounding groggy as he continued, "Marshmallow kept throwing up last night. Naomi wouldn't stop worrying about it, so she insisted on coming over. We didn't finish dealing with it until 3:00 am. We were both so exhausted."

I stared at his open collar, slowly clenching my hands into fists.

Bryan looked at me and flashed a suggestive smirk. "Naomi is surprisingly attentive. She threw a blanket over me when I passed out on the couch last night. She was worried that I'd catch a cold."

I suddenly felt cold all over and looked up at the half-closed bedroom door. "Did you two sleep together?"

Bryan chuckled nonchalantly. "It's not like it's the first time. I mean, in the past, when Marshmallow fell sick overnight, we'd always just doze off together while looking after it."

He patted my shoulder reassuringly and continued, "You can rest assured that I've already checked her out for you, Julian. She slept in my arms all night and didn't do anything to me. You just need to get her to stop staying up so late. She's got some serious dark circles."

Naomi leaned against the doorway and chuckled softly. "Who was the one who kept saying they couldn't sleep last night and that I was too skinny to hold comfortably?"

Bryan turned around to face her. "Why are you calling me out like that, Naomi?"

They were laughing and fooling around with each other again.

Bryan moved too fast, almost crashing right into Naomi. Naomi's laugh cut short. She looked like she meant to back off, but she'd already stumbled into Bryan's chest. Bryan seemed to realize it too, but he didn't pull away right then.

They stood there together in that charged silence, acting as if they had completely forgotten I was still standing at the door.

I squeezed the wooden photo frame tightly, then suddenly laughed out loud. "Do you know what this makes you, Bryan? You're being the sidepiece. You knew Naomi was taken, yet you still went after her."

In that instant, the laughter came to a sudden halt.

Bryan's face drained of color. He quickly lowered his head, acting deeply hurt. "How can you say that about me, Julian? Naomi is just like a friend to me."

I flashed him a sarcastic smile. "Do friends usually come out of each other's bedrooms wearing couple shirts?"

Naomi's expression instantly hardened. "That's enough, Julian."

I looked at her coldly. "You think I'm overreacting here? You spent the night in the same room with him, and you expect me to act like nothing happened between you two, huh?"

Naomi scowled. "Did you really have to say it like that? Bryan really does understand me better, speaks to me better, and is more entertaining than you. You're probably just jealous, right? Do you really need to paint us in such a disgusting light?"

I felt my hands trembling as I heard what she said. I accidentally dropped the wooden photo frame, causing the glass to shatter all over the floor. The photo popped out and landed right among the broken shards.

I instinctively knelt to grab it, and Bryan rushed to reach for it too. I gasped in pain as the broken glass cut our hands at the same time.

Naomi, however, checked on Bryan first. She rushed over, grabbed his hand, and asked, "How could you be so careless? Is the cut deep?"

Bryan shook his head. "I'm fine. Julian got hurt, too, Naomi."

Naomi finally spared me a glance. She looked at the blood on my palm and immediately looked away. "Julian can take care of himself. What if your hand ends up scarred, Bryan?"

I knelt among the broken glass, barely feeling the pain anymore.

Naomi walked out with Bryan, and as she passed by me, she said coldly, "You should get your emotions in check first. You can apologize to Bryan after that, Julian."

They then slammed the door shut right in my face.

I tossed the photo in the trash can once I reached home. I packed my personal documents, bank cards, and a few pieces of clothing into my suitcase one by one.

I suddenly received a message from Naomi then. "I'll take you to your favorite restaurant tonight. You can apologize to Bryan then, and we'll move past this, Julian."

I stared at the message before quietly switching off my phone. I closed the suitcase with a soft click, knowing very well that I would never return to this place.