Chapter 4

Chapter 4

“I can explain,” he said. “The medicine fell into a gutter on my way to buy the cake, and my phone broke, so I couldn’t receive any messages.”

Silence filled the air.

I looked straight at him.

Song Yuan’s brow was furrowed tightly. He raised a hand and roughly yanked open a button on his shirt before pulling out a cigarette and lighting it.

I had urged him to quit smoking many times before, but he never listened.

Then again, why would he care about anything I said?

It wasn’t until the smell of menthol smoke began to drift away that I heard Song Yuan’s voice, raspy and strained. “I’m sorry.”

“If you’re apologizing for abandoning me to go find her, I don’t accept it,” I said softly.

Song Yuan looked somewhat dazed. It was the first time I had ever read a sense of defeat in his expression. “She is, after all, my… college classmate.”

“Just a college classmate?” I tried my best to steady my emotions, asking him in as calm a tone as possible.

Song Yuan remained silent for a long while before saying, “Her parents called me a few days ago. They said she bought a plane ticket and came here alone. If anything happened to her, I wouldn’t know how to face her family.”

“Minmin, I never thought about getting back together with her. You-”

Before he could finish, I showed him the harassing text and photo Shen Bing had just sent me.

He froze slightly.

“You went to find her. Why are your clothes and hair wet? What happened between you two?”

“Since you never thought about getting back together with her, why did you feel the need to prove your loyalty by telling her you’ve never touched me?”

I tried my hardest to hold it in, but my voice still carried a raspy, tearful edge.

“Song Yuan, what exactly do you take me for?”

Looking at his pale, silent face-one that seemed to have no way to refute me-I suddenly felt like laughing.

In an instant, many details I had previously ignored on purpose became clear.

Song Yuan was the one who pursued me first.

He had been transferred to the headquarters for two years, and we had worked on several projects together. We were surprisingly compatible when it came to work.

We often stayed up late working overtime together, and the relationship between us had long since undergone a subtle shift.

So, when he took the initiative to ask me out, I didn’t think about it for long and quickly agreed.

During our year together, Song Yuan was indeed very good to me, aside from being a bit cold by nature. He never intentionally hid his past from me either.

I knew he had an ex-girlfriend he had dated for five years. They were each other’s first loves and had broken up a year after graduating from college.

It was impossible to say I didn’t mind, but if I did, it felt like I was just making things hard for myself.

I had also asked him the reason for their breakup. The reason Song Yuan gave was simple, and he spoke of it very calmly: “She and I weren’t a good fit.”

At the time, he said, “Tang Min, I think the two of us are a very good fit.”

To be fair, he sounded very sincere.

But my heart sank almost instantly.

Clearly, the word “fit” should be a bonus for people in love, yet an inexplicable sense of irritation rose in my heart.

Did he pursue me because he liked me, or because he felt I was a “good fit”?

Perhaps sensing my emotional fluctuations, Song Yuan didn’t say much more then. He only let out a low sigh, pressed his lips against mine, and said with a hint of helplessness, “Minmin, don’t overthink it.”

Back then, as our breathing grew heavier, I naturally hooked my arms around his neck.

But Song Yuan suddenly pushed me away, lowering his gaze, his thoughts unknown.

After a long silence, he reached out somewhat stiffly and rubbed my hair. “Minmin, we have a long time ahead of us.”

I didn’t think much of it at the time.

I thought he was doing it out of respect for me, wanting to save the best part of our relationship for after our engagement.

Until Shen Bing appeared.

Clearly, the signs had been there all along. It was just that I loved him too much. Love filtered these things out for me, making me mistakenly believe that he liked me too.

Or perhaps it wasn’t even “liking”; it was just that I was simply a “good fit.”

The moment I realized this, I felt as exposed and embarrassed as if my clothes had been stripped off.

This humiliation was delivered by Song Yuan’s ex-girlfriend, but it was Song Yuan who had proactively handed her the knife in an attempt to please her.

I couldn’t even imagine what kind of person Song Yuan was when he was with Shen Bing.

Was he also cold and reserved with her?

It must… have been different.