Chapter 4

Cố Châu would go home, surely?

We were adults.

Not children...

That was what I told myself.

But a great weight pressed on my chest, and a dull ache spread through my heart.

He didn't owe me anything.

I only needed time to calm down.

In the middle of the night, I suddenly woke.

I got out of bed for water.

Then I heard the downpour outside.

The sky was dark, the air chilly.

I stepped onto the balcony and looked down.

My mind went blank.

Cố Châu...

Hadn't left.

He was still in the same spot.

The streetlights had long since gone out.

Everything was dark.

Yet I could clearly make out that familiar figure, standing alone in the rain.

How long had he been there?

I sent him a message.

He took out his phone, looked at it, and put it back in his pocket.

Then kept standing there.

Stubborn as a schoolboy being made to stand outside.

I understood immediately.

He was doing it on purpose.

Deliberately making my heart ache.

In the end, I couldn't help myself.

I grabbed an umbrella, hurried downstairs, and ran into the rain.

He seemed to hear me.

His lashes stirred, and he looked up through the darkness and drizzle.

When he recognized me, the corners of his deathly pale lips lifted.

Angry and helpless, I rushed into his arms.

The damp chill of his body made me shiver.

Then I felt him push me away.

I looked up.

His voice was hoarse, slightly choked.

“Don't come close. I'm cold.”

I couldn't stop myself asking, “I thought you didn't have feelings. What are you standing here for?”

“But I don't want you to be sad.”

“I don't need emotions.”

“But I need you...”

“Don't leave me...”

He looked like a wounded animal.

His eyes were wet.

Utterly pitiful.

For a long time, I said nothing.

Finally, I sighed helplessly.

Fine.

I'd meant to spend a few more days calming down.

“Can you still take me?”

“...?”

“Take me home.”

“But you...”

“I'll explain to my roommates tomorrow.”

His lips curved.

Carefully, he took my little finger.

“All right.”

“Let's go home.”

The university had a curfew.

He was different.

He could cross time and space and take me home.

Truthfully, I wasn't that angry.

I'd just backed myself into a corner in my own mind.

I'd thought that if he had no feelings or desires, everything he'd said before must have been a lie.

But I'd forgotten what kind of person he was.

Cố Châu lacked nothing.

If he truly wanted something from me, someone without emotions could simply have taken it.

He hadn't.

I'd trapped myself in that line of thought.

Back home, I let him keep hold of my little finger.

His fingertips were icy.

I urged him to shower.

He stayed where he was, staring at me.

“Chiêu Chiêu, I don't want to.”

“Why?”

“Because...”

He lowered his eyes.

“I'm afraid you'll leave.”

“Afraid I'll turn around and you'll disappear.”

“I came home with you. I'm not going anywhere.”

“My substitute teaching finishes in a few days.”

“Can we go back to the way we were?”

“Yes.”

Only when I promised to wait right outside the bathroom did he finally go in.

Even then, he called my name from time to time.

Nothing like his usual self.

When he emerged, things were worse.

His eyes were docile and unfocused, almost childlike.

An unnatural flush colored his cheeks.

I hurriedly felt his forehead.

Burning.

He had a fever.

I hadn't known an octopus could get one.

I immediately made him lie down, tucked him in, sponged him cool, and got him to take medicine and drink hot water.

Just as I was about to sleep in the next room, he caught my wrist.

“Chiêu Chiêu, I don't love you because I want to recover my emotions through you. Or find an antidote.”

“It's because when I can't see you, I feel as though I really will die.”

“I can live without emotions.”

“But I can't live without you.”

I couldn't help laughing.

“How can it be love if you don't experience feelings?”

I bent and lightly kissed the corner of his mouth.

“Feel anything?”

“My heart's beating very fast.”

“I think all three of my hearts love you.”

“My tentacles want to come out and touch you.”

I knew.

Blue-ringed octopuses really did have three hearts.

He was still feverish.

Right now, he seemed almost drunk.

He answered every question.

“Is it true you need to find an antidote and recover your emotions before you can return to your people?”

“Yes.”

“I'm the only person immune. Do you need me to develop the antidote?”

What he'd used to save that girl wasn't an antidote.

It was a suppressant, stopping the toxin from spreading.

Cố Châu admitted it openly.

“But I never intended to go back.”

Only then did he tell me.

He'd regained consciousness not long after I brought him home.

Once he'd recovered a little, he'd planned to leave.

But then, one day...

After discovering I was immune to his toxin, I'd become terribly curious.

I'd even wanted to know whether he was male or female.

So I'd taken him out and examined him from top to bottom.

I hadn't worked it out.

But Cố Châu said he'd been genuinely furious.

And thought:

She'd seen his body. She had to take responsibility.

So he'd shamelessly stayed.

Even after he'd healed.

Even when his people came to collect him.

He'd refused.

And remained beside me.

Until now.

Two years.

I'd never known any of it.

Cố Châu said, “I love you.”

“All three of my hearts do.”

“I don't understand love.”

“But I'm willing to learn.”

“I've already learned quite a bit.”

“Will you give me a little more time?”

He was normally so clearheaded and controlled.

He didn't need to lie to deceive me.

Looking at that pitiful expression he didn't even realize he wore, my heart softened.

“All right.”

“I believe you.”

His eyes immediately lit up.

Then I added:

“But I haven't completely calmed down. No tentacles for now.”

For him, that was genuine torture.

Ever since we'd got together, he'd let them out every day.

But if I asked...

He obediently agreed.

His whole demeanor wilted.

“All right. I promise.”

I smiled.

My ears warmed as I lightly bit my lip.

“But...”

“If I want to pet them, you have to let them out for me. Okay?”

“Whatever you say.”

And that was how we made up.

The only one left hurting was Tô Hàn.

He'd failed to find me beneath the dormitory.

Then he'd seen Cố Châu and me together.

His eyes had nearly popped out.

Afterward, he deliberately walked close on my other side, drawing countless curious looks.

I covered my face and fled.

After that fever, Cố Châu accidentally discovered I had a particular weakness for sick people.

He became much better at pretending.

For example, after class one day, I received a message asking me to come to his office.

I went.

As soon as I entered, a hand shut the door behind me.

The scene was identical to another moment.

I briefly lost focus.

His kiss fell.

I was about to push him away when he said:

“Chiêu Chiêu, I'm still not completely better.”

“I feel awful...”

“Will you kiss me?”

Helplessly, I agreed.

He smiled.

Then he removed his gold-rimmed glasses, revealing black eyes with a glimmer of blue.

While we were close, I suddenly heard something outside.

I turned.

A familiar back flashed past.

Cố Châu lifted my face.

“Be good.”

“Pay attention.”

After that, I really didn't see Tô Hàn again.

Until one day, while kissing Cố Châu, I remembered that retreating figure at university.

It dawned on me.

Tô Hàn.

He'd seen us...

Still, if it persuaded him to go home, that was the best outcome.

I'd always thought he was too innocent for the human world.

Something else was strange.

By now, my mother should have called to monitor my life.

She hadn't.

Not one call.

I felt uneasy.

The last time she'd stayed quiet this long, it was because she'd accepted someone's betrothal gifts.

She'd wanted to sell me into marriage.

I called home myself.

The moment she answered, I almost thought someone had replaced her.

Her voice was gentle.

She was pleasant and smiling.

“I returned the betrothal money.”

“I was wrong before.”