Chapter 158

I stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, watching the torrential rain lash against the city's neon lights. The screen of my phone lit up in the dark, and Lin Xu's name appeared in my message list for the very last time: "Xu Zhiyi and I are getting engaged next week. You don't need to come." The glass reflected my pale face, and the small silver whale pendant on my earlobe swayed slightly. That summer night seven years ago suddenly flooded my mind; the cicadas were deafening, and Lin Xu was leaning against the basketball hoop in a white shirt, spinning a mineral water bottle between his fingertips while the sunlight shattered into gold foil on his eyelashes. "Hey, could you help me pass that towel?" He smiled at me, showing the tips of his canine teeth. Clutching the sweat-drenched towel, I felt my heart about to leap out of my throat. It was then I learned that falling for someone is an illness that deprives you of oxygen. And I had contracted an incurable disease.