Other People

Living with my aunt and her family was meant to be a temporary, quiet arrangement just helping out and keeping to myself. On the first day of the new year, while everyone else was out celebrating, I stayed home, enjoying the rare silence and catching up on sleep. But when we ran out of water, I reluctantly stepped outside to fetch some, and that’s when I saw him. He stood by the gate of the house next door, effortlessly commanding attention with just a glance. A smirk played on his lips, and a flicker of amusement danced in his eyes behind his blue-ray glasses. At that moment, he was impossible to ignore. Meanwhile, I felt disheveled and barely awake, my hair was a mess and still shaking off sleep. But he didn’t seem to mind. There was something about him an air of mystery that made me wonder who he was and why he was there. Before I could look away, he spoke, “Hi.” Caught off guard, I managed a quick, “Hi,” while trying to pull myself together. “Can I know your name?” he asked. I hesitated but replied, “I’m Clara,” and kept walking. “Can I have your number?” he called after me. “Just as friends.” I almost refused but reluctantly agreed, entering my number into his phone. “There,” I said, handing it back. “I’ll call you,” he promised with a smile, as I turned to leave. What began as a chance encounter soon became an inexplicable connection. He had secrets, but there was something about him that saw through me, understanding things no one else did. The man I met next door wasn’t just a fleeting stranger,he became the reason I started questioning everything I thought I wanted.

The day my sister, Megan Slade, was taken back by her wealthy birth family, she begged her parents with tears in her eyes. "Colin Carter's my brother. I'm all he has left. If he can't come with me, then I won't go back," she said. In the end, her parents had no choice but to bring me back home with her. When we first came to the Slade family, the fake heir, Joel Slade, who had lived as their son for over ten years was spoiled rotten and constantly targeted both me and Megan. At first, Megan was annoyed by him. Whenever her parents asked her to be more patient with Joel since he was her brother, she would always say without hesitation, "Colin's my only brother." But later, she never said those words again. Sometimes, she would even compare me to him. "I wish you were more cheerful like Joel. You're always so quiet." That day, she forgot my birthday again. I didn't make a fuss. I quietly made myself a cake. But the moment I finished it, she picked it up and casually brought it to Joel. "The cake Joel ordered got ruined on the way, and he's been upset about it," she said, "just give this one to him." I was so hurt that I didn't say a word all night. Seeing that, she looked at me with impatience evident in her eyes. "You're giving me an attitude over a cake? If you didn't want to share, why didn't you just say so?" Megan snapped at me. Joel made a face. "I told you before that your brother was petty, but you wouldn't believe me. I really don't understand why you brought that dead weight back with you." This time, Megan didn't argue back. So it turned out that even she saw me as a burden now.

During the long holiday, to accommodate the travel plans of my hospital director wife, I—someone who hadn't taken a single day off all year—begged and groveled, burning through every last bit of goodwill in my department just to scrape together seven days of comp time so I could go with her. But I waited at the airport from morning until night. After a hundred ignored calls, she finally rang me back, her voice totally casual. "The signal's a nightmare out at the scenic area. I forgot to mention—Julian booked the tickets a day early by accident, so we're already at Tamoe Mount! Since you missed your flight anyway, just go back to the hospital and cover some shifts. It's the hospital's busiest time. Didn't you say everyone in your department was upset about you taking time off? Go make it up to them." On the other end of the line, the wind was howling. Her young colleague, laughing brightly, jumped in. "Hey, Rita, I had no problem switching my shifts. I guess he just slacks off too much—no wonder nobody likes him." Not only did she not stand up for me, she actually agreed. "You hear that, Kevin? Learn to play nicer with your coworkers. Stop obsessing over fun all the time. Then later, it'll be easier for me to push through your raise and promotion." I didn't argue or make a scene. I just said "Got it," hung up, and walked straight to the hospital run by her biggest competitor. "Are you still looking for a vice director? I work hard, I don't need weekends off, and as long as I get normal comp time, I'm good."

All three of our families gathered for Thanksgiving. During dinner, the topic of Samuel Stanton and Tina Hayford's childhood engagement once again became the center of attention. "Plenty of people get married while they're in graduate school. Have you two thought about it?" "Exactly. You two are so close. Why not get engaged this summer? It'll put both families at ease!" As the relatives on both sides teased them, I looked up and met Samuel's eyes across the table. However, the moment our eyes met, he looked away. Lowering his head, he casually placed some roasted turkey on Tina's plate. "We'll see. It's still too early." My heart sank instantly. This was already the fourth year of our secret relationship. It had been four years, and Samuel still refused to tell anyone that I was his girlfriend. He still used matching mugs with Tina, wore matching outfits with her, and merely smiled whenever their childhood engagement was brought up. He never once denied it. He always said he didn't want to disappoint either family and that he needed to wait for the right moment before telling the truth. This time, I didn't want to wait with him anymore. "Mom, didn't you once say I also had a childhood engagement?" I put down my fork and asked Mom, who was watching Samuel and Tina with an envious smile. "W-Who could that be?" nt our eyes met, he looked away. Lowering his head, he casually placed some roasted turkey on Tina's plate. "We'll see. It's still too early." My heart sank instantly. This was already the fourth year of our secret relationship. It had been four years, and Samuel still refused to tell anyone that I was his girlfriend. He still used matching mugs with Tina, wore matching outfits with her, and merely smiled whenever their childhood engagement was brought up. He never once denied it. He always said he didn't want to disappoint either family and that he needed to wait for the right moment before telling the truth. This time, I didn't want to wait with him anymore. "Mom, didn't you once say I also had a childhood engagement?" I put down my fork and asked Mom, who was watching Samuel and Tina with an envious smile. "W-Who could that be?"

The day my wife gave birth to my foster brother's child, my entire family waited tensely outside the delivery room. They were not concerned about whether Sheila Rogers would make it through labor safely. They were worried I might turn up and make a scene. My mother kept glancing at the elevator. "He won't try to come up the stairs, will he?" My father was on the phone with hospital security again and again. "Yes, about six foot three. Have you seen him?" My brother stayed coiled and ready, fists clenched. "If my brother causes trouble, I'll lay down my life to protect Sheila and my son." However, from the start of labor to the moment Sheila delivered safely and both mother and child were declared healthy, I never showed up. Reclining on the hospital bed, Sheila took out her phone and asked my mother to call me. "Tell Hank not to cause any trouble," she said calmly. "If he's willing to be the child's godfather, we can still live our lives together." She felt absolutely no guilt toward me. From her perspective, she had merely granted my parents their long-standing wish for a grandchild. What fault could there possibly be in that? What no one knew was that I had never planned to go to the hospital. At that very moment, I was training beneath the scorching sun. All for a single reason: in one month, I would deploy with my unit to Safrana on a peacekeeping mission. Once I left, there would be little chance of ever coming back.

It was my birthday. I thought he would take me to see the fireworks by the sea, but he showed up with another woman and her child. “Vera has a kid with her, and it’s inconvenient for them. Be a little understanding. She doesn’t know her way around here, and she has a lot of luggage. I’ll just drop them at the hotel.” He said it so casually, as if he were just explaining some trivial, everyday chore. It was that very gentleness of his that made me feel like I was so unreasonable getting angry over it. He helped them into the car. He leaned down to buckle the seatbelt on the child. Then, he turned to me with a smile. “I’ll be right back. Don’t overthink things.” I stood by the roadside and watched them drive away like a picture-perfect little family. As night fell, the sea breeze turned sharp and biting. Still, I waited until a notification of Vera Cannon’s social feed update lit up my screen. He was holding her daughter in his arms. They were watching the fireworks by the beach. It was a surprise I had planned for my own birthday. The comments poured in. [What a perfect match. What a beautiful little family!] Someone asked him why he was not picking me up. He just smiled and said, “Indy is very patient. She won’t be mad.” At that moment, my birthday cake melted into a puddle of frosting. I finally realized that he had not done that to be cruel to me. He was certain that I would always wait for him. However, even the warmest heart grew cold when neglected too many times. The waves crashed against the shore, over and over. With each crash, another shred of my hope washed away. This time, I was not going to wait for him to come back.