Her eyes landed on the things piled in the passenger seat, and Naomi's face changed slightly.
"Don't read too much into it. Sebastian isn't well, so naturally I packed a few extra things, just in case."
I nodded. "Sure. I'm not reading into it."
Naomi opened her mouth, like she wanted to explain something more.
Then she saw the calm, unbothered look in my eyes, and her face went cold.
"Get in or don't. Your choice."
With that, the car shot off.
That night, I spiked a fever.
It was probably from the rain earlier.
The truth was, I was just like Sebastian. The moment I caught a chill, I'd come down with a fever.
Naomi had just forgotten that.
Or maybe she remembered and simply didn't care.
Naomi pressed her palm to my forehead.
"You're burning up. There's no fever medicine left in the house. Hang on, I'll run down to the pharmacy and get you something."
By then my head was already going hazy.
I gave a vague nod.
The door banged shut, and I sank into a heavy sleep.
By the time the sky brightened, the fever had eased a little.
My head slowly cleared.
I was dying of thirst.
I called out for a long time. No one answered.
That was when I realized the person who'd gone out to buy my medicine had been gone two full hours and still hadn't come back.
I dragged myself up and went to the kitchen for water.
There was a sound at the door. Naomi came in empty-handed.
"You're awake? Feeling any better?"
She reached out to touch my forehead. I dodged it.
Naomi froze, her brows drawing together.
I didn't answer her question. I just held out my hand to her.
"Where's my medicine?"
Her expression stalled, her eyes darting twice before she spoke.
"That, um. Just as I got to the pharmacy door, Sebastian called, and he—"
"He said he was craving the gourmet takeout from that fancy bistro, so you drove halfway across the city to get him his late-night snack, and my medicine was long out of your mind."
I finished the sentence she'd left hanging, my face blank.
Naomi's head snapped up, her eyes going wide.
"How did you know?"
The words were barely out before she noticed the phone still glowing in my hand.
The screen was open to a post Sebastian had put up a few minutes earlier.
【Thank you to my angel sis for the feeding!】
【Want it, get it!】
【So happy!】
The photo was a steaming order of those soup dumplings.
Knowing she was in the wrong, Naomi walked over.
"You know Sebastian's stomach is bad. He can't go hungry."
"If he gets too hungry, he ends up in the hospital."
I asked her, "And me?"
Naomi frowned.
"You're different. You're strong. Whether the fever runs a little longer or a little shorter, it doesn't really matter. Worst case, you sleep it off."
"Come on, be the bigger person. Don't hold things against a sick man."
Gripping the cup, I suddenly wanted to laugh at the bitterness of it.
I'd burned up until I couldn't think straight, and to Naomi that was nothing.
But Sebastian just got a little hungry, and it was treated like a full-blown crisis.
The double standard was really something.
Naomi wrapped herself coaxingly around my arm.
"See, I wasn't wrong, was I? You're fine, aren't you? I told you you were strong."
"Tell me what you want to eat. I'll make it for you."
I shook my head. "No need. I've got no appetite."
Naomi watched me without blinking for a long moment, as if checking whether I was still angry.
Seeing my face stay calm, she let out a breath.
"All right then. Get some good rest. Tell me when you feel like eating."
I nodded and went back to the room.
In the afternoon, I took the day off work and took an Uber to the bank.
Pulled a number, filled out the forms, reported the card lost, closed the account, applied for a new one.
The whole process took barely half an hour.
I tucked the freshly issued paycheck card carefully into my pocket.
In that moment, even my steps felt lighter.
Out the front doors of the bank, I looked up and immediately saw Naomi and Sebastian walking out arm in arm from the mall across the street.
Naomi had shopping bags hanging from both hands.
The logos on them were all luxury labels I never dared so much as glance at.
Sebastian was dressed head to toe in designer clothing, even his hair styled to perfection.
He looked every bit the rich young heir.
And the keys he was toying with in his hand caught a cold metallic glint in the sunlight.
Sebastian's fingers pressed a button, and a white BMW parked at the curb gave two short chirps.
It was the exact model I'd picked out before, the one Naomi had refused to let me buy.
"Raymond? What are you doing here?"
The instant she spotted me, Naomi's hand froze on the car door, panic flashing across her face.
I didn't answer. I just looked the brand-new car over casually.
"Nice car."
Naomi's face shifted.
"Let me explain."
I shook my head, like it didn't matter.
"No need to explain. Let's break up."
Just then, there came a chime.
Naomi had received a text from the bank confirming the paycheck card had been canceled.
