As graduation approached, the rich heiress in my dorm room cried about how much she'd miss me. I joked, "If you're that capable, why don't you just marry me?" She nodded solemnly, lunging forward as if to kiss me. "Okay, wifey. I'll marry you." I dodged quickly. "Don't be ridiculous. We're both girls." She didn't say a word. That night, I heard her on the phone: "Bro, do me a favor." "Help me marry a wife." 1 Second semester of senior year. Finishing my thesis defense felt like being released from prison. I partied hard. Late nights, endless hangouts. And then I partied a little too hard and got into trouble. Riding my electric scooter home at midnight, I forgot about my night blindness. One wrong turn and—crunch—I slammed straight into a pitch-black luxury car. The cop shook his head while writing the report. "Look at you. You dodged all the beat-up sedans just to pick the most expensive car on the block to hit." The car was brand new. No insurance yet. I was fully liable. The owner didn't say much. He just kept emailing me the repair bills. Those strings of numbers made me dizzy. I felt that specific kind of helplessness where you want to die but can't afford a grave. I hadn't officially graduated yet, so I didn't have a real job. But I needed to pay him back fast. During my gap period, I looked for any gig I could find. My mom called to say the cherry harvest was huge this year. She asked if I wanted to come pick cherries for a hundred bucks a day. Heck yes. Desperate times call for desperate measures. I could pick a cherry orchard bare with my bare hands right now. I immediately bought a ticket home for that night. I wanted to tell Chloe. But she was still out traveling. So, on the way to the station, I sent her a voice message: "Chloe, I'm heading home first..." Screech. Before I could finish, the Uber driver slammed on the brakes. I lurched forward, my finger slipped, and the voice message sent. Chloe didn't reply immediately. When I got to the station, she voice-called me. Her voice was eerily calm. "Jo, you left something very important behind." I thought hard. "What? I'm pretty sure I packed everything." Her voice suddenly turned frantic. "It's extremely important! Come back right now!" I was confused. I was so broke I had even packed the toothpaste tube I had to roll up to squeeze. How could I leave anything important? "I really didn't leave anything important at school," I replied. "I say you did, so you did! You did, you did, you did! Come back!" Chloe’s family is loaded. She's the typical pampered heiress. Usually a bit willful and spoiled. When she gets anxious, she throws a tantrum. But she's never unreasonable. Plus, she's sweet and smells nice. Once you get used to it, it's actually kind of cute. Before I could say anything else, she hung up. I ignored her and got ready to scan my ID to enter the station. The next second, my phone chimed with the beautiful sound of a deposit. A transfer of $50,000. From Chloe. See? She really is cute. The note on the transfer was simple and brutal: "Take the money. Refund the ticket. Come back." Okay then. I remembered. I remembered everything. I definitely left something very important behind. 2 I obediently returned to the apartment I shared with Chloe off-campus. The moment I walked in, she rushed over and hugged me. Her eyes were red, like she'd been crying. "Jo, you can't leave!" I didn't have time for her melodrama. I needed to go earn my hundred bucks. I finally peeled her off me. "What important thing did I leave behind?" Chloe’s eyes darted away for a second, then she put on her usual haughty expression. Hands on her hips, head tilted, she pointed at herself with righteous confidence. "Me." Me: "..." "Hey, why aren't you saying anything? Am I not important to you?" "I gave you the best four years of my youth living with you. How many four years do we get in life?" "Jo, say something! What am I to you?!" Excuse me? Princess, why do you sound like I'm a scumbag ex-boyfriend who abandoned you? Sometimes I really want to call the police. But I took her fifty grand, so I could only force a smile. "Of course... you are the most important thing in my heart." I almost ground my molars to dust. Chloe kept rambling. "I came back and didn't see you. You scared me to death! Jo, how could you be so cruel? Leaving me all alone!" "Four years together, morning and night, and you just leave after graduation? I don't agree!" I raised my hand to rub my temple, but Chloe shoved her head under my hand. She wanted me to pet her. Resigned, I gently stroked her silky hair. I felt bad, but I had to say it. "But Chloe, we have to part ways eventually." "Even though that day is coming soon, I'm just graduating and going home. I'm not dying." "If you want to see me, I can come visit, or you can come find me." Chloe is a local here in the city. I'm not. I don't have the means to stay and build a career here. If we hadn't gotten into the same college, I probably never would have met someone like her. Becoming friends with Chloe was purely accidental. Freshman year, four years ago. I didn't get along with my roommates. I was ostracized. My request to switch dorms was denied. I wanted to move out. But our campus is in the city center. Rent is astronomical. A student like me couldn't afford it. Screw this school. I quietly climbed up to the campus roof. No hidden agenda, I just wanted to invite the school board to enjoy the breeze with me. I sat there for ages, and no one noticed me. I was bored out of my mind. So I started scrolling on my phone. That's when I saw Chloe’s post on the campus confession wall looking for a roommate. Her parents bought her the apartment, but it was too big. She was lonely and a little scared living alone. She wanted someone to keep her company. Rent-free. My eyes lit up. I DM'd her immediately. I thought the competition would be fierce, so I padded my resume with enough fluff to fill a pillow. Turns out, Chloe had either offended someone or was just the victim of rumors. There was a thread on the campus forum with over a thousand comments about her bad temper and princess syndrome. She never defended herself. So I was overthinking it. No one was fighting me for the spot. I ran down from the roof and sprinted to the interview. When we met, she asked me to cook a meal to test my skills. I actually couldn't cook. Plus, I was nervous. After tinkering for ages, I produced a plate of egg fried rice that was half mush, half burnt. I can't imagine how bad it tasted. But Chloe ate it all without a word, eyes teary. I've seen likable heiresses, but never a people-pleaser like this... At first, I was anxious living with her, afraid she wouldn't like me either. But I discovered Chloe was actually really sweet. When she posted a nine-photo grid of expensive gourmet meals on Instagram, she'd put my fried rice right in the center. She'd hang the ragdoll I hand-sewed on her designer handbag worth thousands. She'd send me money or gifts for the tiniest reasons—like if I just smiled at her. ... I wondered countless times, who said she had a bad temper??? She's literally an angel! Honestly, I was going to miss her too. But I knew that after graduation, even if we met up, it wouldn't be the same. 3 Chloe shook her head violently. "Who says we have to separate after graduation? I don't agree!" "If you leave, who's going to make me fried rice, sew dolls, peel crawfish, and cut watermelon? Waaah, I don't want you to go." "Your housekeeper can do those things." "It's not the same! You're my bestie. My bestie doing it makes it special!" "She must genuinely like me to do these things for me. Forget it, you don't have a bestie as good as Jo, you wouldn't understand." Me: "..." I felt a pang of guilt and looked away. She treats me like a bestie. I treat her like an ATM. Chloe kept outputting, listing everything I'd done for her over the years. "Everyone else disliked me, said I had a bad temper. Only you stood by me. I know you were the one who hacked the school forum and took down that thread. You looked so cool doing it." "When I was sick, you skipped your exam to take care of me. You prepared for that exam for so long. You said you didn't study and didn't want to take it, but I saw your textbook was worn out." "When I had anorexia and weighed like ninety pounds, you didn't know how to cook but learned just for me. You cut your fingers so many times, got oil burns all over your arms. I'm healthy now because you fed me mouthful by mouthful. Like a mom..." As she spoke, she started crying. I panicked. I didn't know what to do. The atmosphere got heavy. I couldn't handle the sentimental vibe, so I joked to lighten the mood. "If you miss me that much, why don't you just marry me and take me home?" Chloe stopped crying instantly. Her pouting face turned serious. She looked like she was genuinely considering it. After a moment, she sniffled and nodded solemnly. "Okay. I'll marry you." I know her. That expression meant she wasn't joking. She meant it. I quickly pushed against her head as she buried it in my chest and dodged. "Hey, hey, hey! Stop! Don't be crazy! We're both girls! I was kidding!" I was really afraid she'd take it seriously. Recently, I heard her family was arranging a marriage for her. If her parents found out I led their daughter astray... They'd drown both of us in a vat of herbal medicine to purify us. Chloe didn't get mad that I dodged her. She started counting on her fingers, analyzing calmly. "We've lived together for years. Our lifestyles and personalities mesh perfectly. We know everything about each other. We've met the parents. We like each other. It's a waste not to get married." Makes sense, but not really. I explained earnestly, "If one of us were a man, maybe it would work. But we're both girls. Being best friends is great too." Chloe didn't speak. She stared at me for a long time, then gritted her teeth. "Fine. You want a man, right?" "Don't run off. I have a plan. I won't let you go!" I nodded, leaning back on the sofa with my hands behind my head. I didn't think she could come up with any plan. Let her ponder life for a bit. She'll figure it out eventually. After playing with the cat on the sofa for a while, I needed to use the bathroom. It had been a while. Chloe should be done pondering life. I walked to the bathroom. Just as I was about to knock, I heard Chloe's voice from inside: "Bro, do me a favor." "What is it?" Chloe had him on speaker. A deep, magnetic male voice with a lazy, just-woken-up drawl floated out. I knew Chloe had a brother doing his PhD in Germany, but I didn't know he sounded this good. "It's simple. Promise me first." "Chloe, if it were simple, you wouldn't say that. Spit it out." "Really, really. Brother, my good brother. If you knew what I wanted you to do, you'd thank me." "Isn't your car broken? If you help me, I'll lend you my car." He scoffed on the other end. "I have more than one car. Hurry up. What do you want?" "Help me marry a wife." ... Me: ? This is her "plan"? The other end of the line fell silent too. 4 I assume her brother was shocked too. He didn't speak for a long time. Chloe kept rambling, trying to persuade him. I tuned out. By the time she opened the bathroom door, I was still standing there like an idiot. Seeing me, Chloe guessed I had overheard. She waved her phone with a proud look. "Jo, you rejected me because I'm a girl. But I have a brother. He's a man. Tall, handsome, smart, and has some money. You can't reject that, right?" Me: "..." Do I dare reject that? But I felt it was wrong. Plus, her brother was overseas. Dragging someone into this from across the ocean seemed unethical. Seeing my hesitation, Chloe added, "He's my biological brother! Same last name! I vouch for his character... Please, please? Can you stay?" My first instinct was still to refuse. He's a PhD student, so he must be at least 28. Men over 26 are basically elderly. I just graduated. I'm 23. Women over 23 are forever 18. An age-gap romance like this would get roasted online forever. No way. Doing a PhD in Germany? He's probably balding and mentally unstable. And he hadn't said a word, so he definitely wasn't into it. Thinking this, I said to Chloe, "No. Unless your brother is Hayden Lin, there's no deal." I froze as soon as I said the name. That's the name of the luxury car owner I hit. I've been receiving his repair bills lately. Every time I open one, I see his name. Every morning I wake up owing Mr. Hayden Lin another few grand. Life is full of hope. Until it isn't. So when Chloe mentioned the last name "Lin," that name popped into my head instantly. Owing him hundreds of thousands at my most helpless age made him more unforgettable than a first love. I didn't plan to explain. Chloe wouldn't know him anyway. But knowing him or not was secondary. As long as she understood that her brother and I were impossible. "Stop!" "Who did you say? Lin what? What what what! What's his name?!" Chloe’s voice jumped an octave, weirdly excited. Startled, I answered weakly, "Hayden... Hayden Lin." "AAAAH Jo! How did you know my brother is Hayden Lin?!!"
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