Thus, after graduating from vocational school, Nina gritted her teeth and took a job at a hairdressing chain for her internship. To maintain the household expenses, she hardly dared to take a break. But after three months of such grueling days, she eventually fell ill!
At this time, Luka was nearing the joint entrance exam and had taken a long leave from school to study at home. He felt deeply grateful to Nina, so during the time she was feverish, it was the first time in his life that he treated someone with such seriousness. The longer they spent together, the more Luka struggled internally; he knew he had harbored inexplicable feelings for Nina since childhood. However, Lanky had always treated him like a younger brother, which made Luka choose to bury his budding crush deep within his heart.
Now that Lanky was far away in Uptown serving in the military, the world of the three of them had been reduced to two lonely souls. Perhaps because Nina lacked love, she couldn’t bear the thought of Lanky only being able to visit her once every six months, and even their phone calls had become increasingly rare due to misunderstandings. Nina tried to numb herself with work, and in fact, their little family did need her to earn money to sustain it.
Until Nina fell ill, drifting in and out of consciousness with a high fever, she had no choice but to take a leave of absence… the more she slept, the colder her heart felt, as if she had returned to that night… the night when Abby smiled and found relief…
Nina was sure he was smiling; she had dreamed of it before… Abby smiled and told her, “It’s great, I don’t have to try anymore! After all, I wasn’t brought into this world with anyone’s expectations.”
Just when Nina felt too exhausted to keep trying, Luka appeared in her line of sight; the boy she had always seen as a younger brother was now acting like a man. He was trying hard to show her, “Don’t worry! I’m still here!”
Gradually, an ambiguous atmosphere developed between them, filled with sweet secret joys and the heartache of sleepless nights.
That day, Nina had just finished work. With a day off tomorrow, she planned to buy some fruit to visit Luka’s grandparents, while Luka had just completed his entrance exams and was ready to relax.
He had also been suffering during these days, and now that they both had some free time, he wanted to ask Nina for an answer. Luka bought a few bottles of beer, hoping to muster the courage with the help of alcohol; he thought that even if he got rejected, he could use the excuse of being drunk, and when they woke up, it wouldn’t be awkward between them!
Luka rode his bike to the hair salon’s entrance, where Nina came out wearing a black tank top and denim shorts. She waved her hand vigorously, smiling at Luka with a radiant smile.
The boy was momentarily dazzled, shyly lowering his head and grinning foolishly.
“Hey~ I’m calling you! Why are you ignoring me? Why are you so nice today, coming to pick me up?” Nina had her hands on her waist, swaying left and right, looking adorably like a sprite.
Luka shook his head, “No! I finally finished the exams, and you have a day off tomorrow. I ordered some salt and pepper chicken and bought beer; you love chicken b**t, so I got two skewers!”
Nina grinned, tugging at the boy’s ear, “Oh really! Spending money behind my back, and I still need to buy fruit to visit my grandparents tomorrow.”
