Shane walked toward me step by step, and he was getting closer and closer...

There was a shadow over my head. Then he stopped when he was right next to me.

The sofa next to me sank. He sat next to me with the distance of a fist and didn't look at me again.

"Don't mind me. Continue."

As if he had finally noticed the atmosphere around him, he half-opened his eyes and said indifferently.

"OK! Let's continue. Enjoy my singing!"

Craig was quick to smooth things over, and the private room once more became lively.

Except for the corner where Shane and I were.

After saying that, Shane did not speak again. He sat in situ silently, but no one could ignore his existence.

After an unknown period of time, I felt bored as I had no one to talk to, and my throat was a little dry. I went to fetch some water.

That was what had happened just now.

The more I drank, the thirstier I felt. It was not until I felt a burning pain in my throat that I realized that I had taken the wrong glass.

I choked and coughed a few times. I took a glass of water from someone and poured it into my mouth.

The ice-cold water ran down my throat, and I finally felt comfortable.

When I looked out of the corner of my eye, I found that he was gone.

I was relieved. After a while, I took my bag and planned to leave early.

I had accidentally drunk some wine and didn't know how strong it was.

I couldn't hold my liquor well. I had to go home before the alcohol effects kicked in.

As I walked from the private room to the front door of the karaoke bar, the alcohol had already kicked in, and I had a headache.

I leaned against a pillar and waited for the designated driver.

A few minutes later, a dark green car stopped in front of me.

Cars with a dark green color were very rare, and the car shape was very similar to that of mine.

Feeling dizzy, I opened the door and got in the car.

My world was spinning. I leaned against the window and closed my eyes to rest without talking to the driver.

He said nothing either, and it was very quiet in the car.

Soon, my phone rang, which broke the silence. I put it on speaker and answered the call.

"Ms. Austin, this is the designated driver. I'm here at Paradise Karaoke Bar. Where are you?"

"I..."

My drowsy head suddenly cleared up for a moment. I looked up at once and met the familiar yet strange eyes in the rearview mirror.

I was in the wrong car!

I looked away in a panic. Through the car window, I saw someone holding up a phone and looking around at the door of Paradise Karaoke Bar.

I wanted to get out of the car, but in the next second, the door was locked, and I couldn't open it.

He doesn't want me to get out?

I tilted my head and looked at him with dissatisfaction.

"Wait."

After saying that, Shane got out of the car.

I didn't know what he said to the designated driver through the car window. He glanced in my direction and paid the driver with his phone. Then the driver left happily.

The car door slammed shut, and Shane was back in the car. I felt the chilly and desolate autumn breeze.

"Why won't you let me out? Why did you get rid of my designated driver?"

I asked discontentedly.

Shane tilted his head to look at me. For some reason, the corners of his eyes turned red.

What he said was very harsh.

"Don't you know how much you can drink? Do you want the designated driver to take you home while holding you in his arms when you're drunk?"

I choked on his words and didn't know what to say.

When I was with him, I pulled out a lot of tricks just to be more intimate with him.

For example, when I was a bit tipsy, I pretended to faint in his arms when he gave me a lift home and pestered him to carry me upstairs.

I pouted and turned to look out the window.

The neon lights lit up the night scene. Not long after, he started the engine, and the scenery began to change. I didn't know where we were headed at all.

In the past five years, the city had changed a lot, and most of the shops had become unfamiliar.

"You still live in Glory Garden?"

Shane looked ahead, and there was a hint of expectation in his tone that I had not noticed.

It was as if nothing had happened between us. He was simply kindly taking his drunk college classmate home.

I nodded, and then neither of us said anything again.

My favorite peppermint scent filled the air as he drove smoothly. The wine kicked off again, and I closed my eyes.

I had no idea how long it passed, and it seemed that I had a dream.

In the dream, the car suddenly heaved and wobbled.

Shane chuckled beside me, and the security guard was asking how I was doing. But I couldn't hear their voices clearly.

"Girlfriend..."

"For now..."

I opened my eyes in a daze and happened to see the side of Shane's face. He was smiling, which made him deadly attractive.

After admiring his face for a while, I came to realize that I was in his arms. The surroundings seemed familiar.

We had arrived at Glory Garden.

I struggled in his warm embrace, trying to get down.

It's been five years since we broke up. It's not proper for him to hold me in his arms. This time, it's not me who pesters him for a hug.

His hands on my waist and legs were very strong, and I was still in his arms.

"I wanna walk on my own!" I was a bit fierce.

Shane lowered his head to look at me. There was a doting look in his eyes, which was rare and made me feel very uneasy.

"Can you walk on your own?"

"Of course!"

He put me down. Wanting to prove I was right, I strode forward. However, I overestimated myself. My legs went weak, and I fell forward out of inertia.

A pair of hands supported me in time. I didn't know if he was intentional or not, anyway, I fell into his arms. My right ear was pressed against his warm chest which was trembling slightly.

He was obviously making fun of me!

I glared at him.

However, he didn't care. He held me in his arms again and said in a gentle voice.

"Be good. The autumn wind is freezing. You'll catch a cold now that you're drunk."

Choosing between catching a cold and being held in his arms while going back home? Of course, I'll choose the latter. He has held me in his arms plenty of times.

I snorted and stopped struggling.

It was not until Shane skillfully entered the password, went inside, and put me on the big soft bed that I blushed.

The password was the day I started going out with him. I forgot to change it!

I tugged at the hem of his shirt and explained.

"I... I just came back and forgot to change the password. Don't think too much."

"I know."

He said it so casually that it made me sound a bit too intentional.

"Thanks for taking me back. You're such a nice friend. Guess I won't see you off then."

"A nice friend?"

Shane repeated those words slowly and stared at me without blinking.

Being stared at, I panicked and covered myself with the quilt. I didn't want to look at him anymore.

"I'm going to sleep!"

I refused to face him and tried to get him out, yet it seemed he had no intention of doing so at all.

"Give me the contact information of the doctor who removed your tattoo."

"What?"

I was confused and slowly popped half of my head out.

"He did a neat job. I'll go to him sometime."

Shane's tone was very calm. He wanted to tell me that he had yet to remove his tattoo simply because he hadn't found a doctor who was skilled enough.

"OK."

I suppressed the bitterness in my heart, friended him on WhatsApp, and forwarded him the doctor's account.

Surprisingly, Shane had never changed his WhatsApp profile picture at all. He was still using the one matching with mine. I picked those profile pictures for us back then.

He probably didn't bother to change it. After all, he had always used a pure-black profile picture before we met.

"It's been five years. You still wanna block and delete me?"

I was choked on his words. How did he know what I was thinking?

I coughed, refusing to admit that he was right.

"I'm not that childish, OK?"

"Alright."

Did I hear him wrong? Seemed he chuckled a bit.

When I looked up, he was already gone.

The first time we met was during the military training. He was particularly outstanding among the boys.

His face was fair under the brim of his hat. He was tall and had long legs. Dressing in camouflage clothes, he stood straight and seriously.

The breeze was dry and hot, and my heart seemed to be restless.

I elbowed Tess Holmes, the girl who had taken leave with me to watch the military training, and my eyes were still glued to Shane.

"Tess, I had a crush on someone."

She looked up from her Kindle and followed my line of sight. Then she looked at me sympathetically.

"A piece of advice? Stop."

"Why?"

Tess said that she was Shane's classmate in high school, and given his excellent appearance and grades, he won the hearts of countless girls.

But every one of them ended up crying while leaving after they confessed their love to him, and he tossed every gift he received away.

Because of that, none of the girls dared to confess to him again. Some quickly got over it, yet some were obsessed and could only suffer from their affection. They barely got to talk to him though it was three years.

Tess wept for them.

"I see.

"Tess, I wanna woo him!"

"I'm glad you've decided to give up... What?"

I had always been stubborn. Once I had made up my mind, I would not easily give up.

Seeing that I insisted, Tess had no choice but to tell me everything she knew about Shane and then wish me good luck.

I searched online, and the first step to pursuing a man was to get familiar with him.

The summer in Boston was extremely hot. I almost felt I was burning.

Although the drill master was kind enough to let the students train in the shade, they were still sweating profusely.

I was rich and ordered juicy and sweet iced watermelons and cold drinks. I talked to the drill master and was ready to share them with every classmate during the break.

"Attention! Halt!

"Alma bought you iced watermelons and cold drinks."

After a burst of cheers, the drill master cleared his throat and said, "Let's thank her. Three! Two! One!"

"Thank you, Alma!"

The boys and girls spoke in unison, loud and formal. Those in the other teams next to us looked in my direction because of the noise.

I didn't get shy easily, but what the drill master did still made me embarrassed. I blushed in an instant, and I stammered.

"You... You're welcome. Enjoy."

The drill master said everyone could take five, and my classmates all walked toward me. He distributed the watermelons and cold drinks to them.

I took a piece of watermelon and a cold drink and limped to Shane, who was resting in the shade, and handed them to him.

A few drops of sweat flowed down his fair cheeks, sliding down to the collar of his camouflage uniform, and his collarbones could be vaguely seen.

I couldn't help but lick my lips. Then I smiled as sweet as I could and sweetened my voice.