Chapter 2

I submitted my application just as the dismissal bell rang.

The principal looked at me with some hesitation, but finally couldn't hold back.

"Miss Jennifer, you and Mr. Luke are having your wedding next month. Just two days ago you were still designing invitations. Now why..."

I knew the rest of her unspoken sentence.

The exchange program abroad required a minimum of three years before returning. How could newlyweds possibly endure such a long separation? Moreover, everyone at school knew that I had chased after Luke for four years, dated him for three more, and was finally about to walk down the aisle.

How could I bear to leave him?

But the prerequisite for reluctance to part is that both people like each other. Just now, I suddenly understood that the man who agreed to marry me perhaps didn't like me as much as I'd imagined.

I picked at the dried blood in the creases of my fingers—it had gotten on my hands when I was padding myself with thick wads of toilet paper. I said,

"He and I just aren't meant to be."

"Principal, I'm asking you for a favor. Please don't tell anyone about this, okay?"

She frowned, her eyes revealing a trace of pity.

"Alright, I'll keep this confidential for you."

"The earliest group leaving for the exchange program departs tomorrow. If you want, I can arrange for you to go with them."

I nodded and bowed gratefully before leaving the office.

My phone rang for the second time. I opened it and glanced—it was a message from Luke.

"What's taking so long? It's been ten minutes since dismissal and you're still not down."

Ever since Luke and I moved in together, I had to leave with him every day after work.

"Please, Luke, you already have me—it would be too pitiful for you to go home alone at night."

Even though he taught seniors while I taught freshmen, and Luke's dismissal time was a full two hours later than mine, requiring me to sit in the office for two extra hours, I never found it hard.

But today, after he'd only waited ten extra minutes for me, he was already getting impatient.

I pressed my lips together and carefully examined my feelings, but I didn't feel the suffocating pain I'd expected. That's when I knew I'd completely let go.

I sent back a message.

"Still have some things to do, you go ahead."

Then I turned off my phone and didn't look again.

I returned to the office to pack up my textbooks, organized the materials and class information that needed to be handed over, and an hour later, I finally stretched my aching shoulders and left the school gate.

I took out my phone to call a cab when a horn honked behind me, startling me. I turned around to see Luke's car stopped behind me.

I froze in place until he honked again and stuck his head out.

"Get in the car already. Why are you standing there like an idiot?"

I snapped back to reality and thought about the large bloodstain on the back of my pants that might dirty his car. I pulled open the passenger door, about to sit down.

Luke glanced at me and handed me a black plastic bag, suddenly speaking.

"Wait."

I took the bag, momentarily confused about what he meant.

"You know your period is coming and you still don't know to bring a pad? Jennifer, you're a 28-year-old adult. Can you have some basic self-care skills?"

"Walking around school all day with blood all over your ass—so many students asked me if you had a terminal illness. How embarrassing."

Embarrassing?

The smell of blood seemed to fill my nose again. Actually, I had remembered to bring pads, but one memo from Luke made me forget. I thought he'd finally learned to keep me in his heart.

In the end, the person he truly kept in his heart was someone else.