Chapter 3

I stumbled when Liam dragged me with him.

Aspen immediately said, “He can’t see! Be careful.”

Liam said coyly, “Of course, you only care about your boyfriend! What a good girlfriend you are!”

“I mean, he’s my boyfriend after all.”

I sneered inwardly. ‘Boyfriend?’ I thought.

It was so ironic.

Who in the world would kiss their boyfriend’s best friend right in front of him?

I did not know how Aspen was this calm after everything.

After I changed into my gear, we stood in front of the 20-foot-tall bouldering wall.

Liam grabbed Aspen’s hand and said softly, “I haven’t climbed in such a long time. You must guide me later.”

“Alright.”

They were immersed in their own little world.

For them, I had ceased to exist.

After a while, Aspen looked at me. “Ted, can you manage it on your own?”

I felt like I had no choice at all.

She slowly grabbed my hand and placed it on a climbing hold. Then, she said, “I’ll guide you in the right direction. You can feel your way around.

“Alright. Lift your leg now.”

I could already see clearly by then. But I still followed her directions and slowly climbed upward.

I did not know why I was faking it. Maybe I wanted to see just how much she loved Liam.

A few minutes later, her attention shifted to Liam.

She began taking better care of him instead.

“Aspen, I feel my legs are getting weak. Which one should I step on?”

“The one on the right. Shift your weight down and stabilize yourself.”

After climbing for more than ten feet, the clip on my waist suddenly loosened.

I swung wildly, suddenly dangling in midair. I instinctively grabbed onto the climbing hold.

My breath hitched as I instinctively called out for help, “Ah! Aspen!”

Aspen impatiently looked over at me.

She seemed shocked when she saw my state. The next second, Liam gasped.

He missed a step and fell.

Aspen immediately turned around and grabbed Liam’s hand to stabilize him.

Liam leaned against her and cried, “Aspen, I’m very scared.

“I feel my legs are weak now. Can we go down first?”

“Alright.”

Aspen did not spare me another glance. I was still dangling midair, but she ignored me completely.

She slowly helped Liam down the wall.

I did not dare to look down.

At that height, a single glance would have been enough to make me pass out.

I tried to reach for the climbing hold underneath my foot.

After a while, my arms grew tired. Thankfully, a staff member came over to help me.

They managed to help me down to the floor in ten minutes.

I collapsed onto the floor in fear and panted. My eyes welled up with tears.

I hastily wiped my tears away.

They comforted me before I could finally muster the strength to stand up. I was just about to leave the climbing gym when I saw their car in front of the entrance. Liam leaned against Aspen’s embrace in the car.

She was comforting him as her hand softly patted his back.

She was extremely gentle.

When she saw me, she pushed Liam away. Then, she seemed to recall that I could not see, so she threw all caution to the wind.

She wiped Liam’s tears away before she got out of the car to get to me.

“Why were you so slow in coming out? If it wasn’t for Liam, who insisted that I wait for you, I would’ve driven him to the hospital by now.

“You’re always holding us back.

“Ted, when are you going to start pulling your weight?”

Liam walked closer to me and said gently, “Ted, there are coaches inside. You were fine. We were waiting for you here for so long.”