Chapter 2

"Seriously? You're into a cheap whore like her?" Zayn drawled. Hans chuckled. "Well, I haven't had a chance to taste her." Zayn answered indifferently, "Suit yourself." Outside the door, Julie overheard their disgusting conversation. A painful pressure began building up in her chest, like a sponge that was slowly soaking up her sorrow. Clutching her chest, she staggered away, eventually collapsing by a trash can where she began retching her guts out. Soon, she was drenched in sweat, with her hair clinging to her damp face. She looked utterly disheveled. "Are you okay?" A warm, gentle voice came from behind her. Julie turned her head, trying to make out who it was. The blinding light above made it hard to see, but the person's voice felt oddly familiar. She tried to respond but lost consciousness after mumbling a few words. … When Julie woke up, it was already the middle of the night. She was confused when she noticed she was on a hospital bed. Just then, a nurse walked in to give her her medicine. She smiled when she saw Julie awake. "Oh, you're up." Julie nodded weakly and rasped, "Who brought me here?" "Your boyfriend, I think. A pretty handsome lad," the nurse replied while changing her bandage. Julie was puzzled. Could the nurse be referring to Zayn? However, she dismissed the thought as quickly as it came. His friends were right—she was the only one invested in this one-sided love. … Julie first met Zayn three years ago when she was standing on the edge of a harbor bridge, ready to end her life. He appeared out of the blue and saved her. Later, she found out he was her senior at the university and was practically a campus legend. From then on, she began gluing herself to his side, content to just watch him from a distance without talking. Still, her persistence annoyed him. "Can you stop following me around, Julie Somers?" he barked. She only stood there, staring dazedly at his handsome face. "God, you're insane," he spat before storming off. The first turning point in their relationship came when Zayn was shoved to the ground during a basketball game. Julie rushed over like a madwoman, gently cradling his face as she checked for injuries. Her mind went blank when she saw the scratch on his cheek, and she burst into tears. Zayn laughed heartily at her reaction. "Do you really like me that much?" She didn't answer his question. Instead, she gently caressed his scraped cheek. Her voice trembled as she asked, "Does it hurt?" "It's nothing," he replied arrogantly, brushing her hand away. "It's just a scratch." "Will it leave a scar?" Zayn frowned. "Why would I care about a tiny scar?" Instead of responding, Julie ran off to buy him all sorts of creams and bandages. Under her care, the scratch soon healed without a trace. When he saw how much she cared about him, he teased her. "Hey, wanna do it?" Julie stared at his face without blinking. His cocky smile was completely different from the person in her memories, yet they seemed to share the same eyes. Unable to refuse the temptation his face brought, she softly hummed in agreement. It took two days before she heard from him again. … After being discharged from the hospital, Julie pulled out her phone to check the bus schedule as she wanted to head back to the university when she noticed a new message in the group chat. Zayn had texted, "Let's meet up. I want to introduce my girlfriend to all of you." He even attached a photo. The group chat was silent, with no one replying to his message. So, Zayn tagged everyone in the group, including her. "Well? Isn't she pretty? Don't leave me hanging here." Messages started flooding in, and by the time Julie opened the chat, there were over 99 messages. She directly tapped on the message she was tagged in and froze when she saw his text. She tapped on the photo and was greeted by a familiar face. It was Megan Hart, a first-year dance major who went viral on campus because of a dance routine. She was even voted as this year's prettiest freshman. Julie didn't expect Megan to be the one to finally take Zayn down. More messages popped up. Julie was going to ignore them until she saw her name being mentioned. "Wait, isn't Julie in this group? Will she still go after Zayn?" Some began chiming in, betting she'd show up since it had been two days since Julie and Zayn talked. Others betted that she wouldn't be shameless enough to try to be a third wheel in the relationship. Julie smiled when she saw the texts. She calmly typed a reply, "Relax. I'm not interested in sleeping with someone else's boyfriend." The chat immediately went dead silent. After a moment, Zayn tagged her in another text. "Since you're here, let me make this clear. This woman is different from the others. I really like her, and I don't want her to misunderstand our relationship. To be honest, you've been pestering me for years. It's actually really annoying." Julie stared at his text. Annoying? Truthfully, she was just as annoyed at herself as he was. Yet she couldn't stop herself. She just couldn't help the emptiness that engulfed her every time she thought of how she was the only one left in this world. It had been three years, and she thought she would've found solace by now, but she hadn't. Instead, she felt just as empty as she did back then. She replied, "I'm sorry for everything. I won't do it anymore. And congrats. I hope your wish comes true." With that, she exited the group chat. … That evening, Zayn sat on the couch at the nightclub, staring at Julie's text. Her words rattled in his mind. What did she mean when she said she hoped his wish would come true? Irritated, he tossed his phone onto the table with a harsh clank. Hans walked in just in time to see it. "What's with the temper, Zayn?" It was evident he hadn't seen Julie's messages in the group chat. Zayn leaned back but didn't respond. Glancing around, Hans asked, "Where's your girlfriend? I thought you wanted to introduce her to us?" "She's still at dance practice. I'm picking her up later," Zayn grumbled. Hans hesitated and took a guess. "Don't tell me you're angry because she's late." "No." "Then, what is it?" Hans pressed. Zayn huffed and snapped, "Didn't you read our texts?" Hans was confused. He had driven straight over without checking the group chat. He pulled out his phone and paused when he read Julie's final messages. "What does Julie mean by this, Zayn?"