Love Across Mountains and Seas

At the class reunion, my girlfriend of six years, under the influence of alcohol and spurred on by the crowd, kissed her ex. It was a brief touch, but the atmosphere at the scene grew tense, and everyone's eyes were on me. Against everyone's expectations, I showed no reaction and instead started clapping and cheering, "Another one!"

I still remember the shocked and angry look in my girlfriend Emily Smith's eyes, as if she couldn't believe what she heard, followed by a sobering fear.

"Bill Brown and I are just friends!" she hurriedly explained before I even asked.

A male classmate who had been on good terms with me whispered, "Emily, isn't that going too far? After all, Lucas White is still here!"

Bill, too drunk, was provoking me with his gaze.

The mood was oppressive, and the chattering classmates fell silent, waiting for my response.

I laughed, "The mood is set. Do you guys want to go get a room tonight?"

——

The sarcasm in my tone was clear to everyone.

Emily got angry.

"Lucas, it's just a joke. There is no need to be so sensitive, right?"

"And I've told you many times. Bill and I broke up years ago. He's only got me as a friend here. If anything was going to happen, it would have happened long ago. Can't you be more magnanimous?"

Bill also laughed, "Don't worry. Lucas isn't that petty. Right, Lucas?"

Everyone looked at Emily with complex expressions, annoyed by her lecturing me in public.

Everyone could know that she was upset by my unexpected reaction and my irrational behavior.

Even in her eyes, I saw that she was braced for an argument about this incident once we got home.

In the past, I would have confronted Emily right there, in front of everyone.

She was used to it too, responding to my nearly hysterical arguments with a very cold attitude.

A few sweet words afterwards would give me an excuse to forgive and forget.

I can't remember how many times we've fought over her relationship with her ex-boyfriend Bill.

During our worst fight, I even overturned a table at home, scattering fruits and items all over the floor.

After each argument, a long period of cold war followed.

I almost had a shadow over it. During these cold wars, it always ended with my concession. In this marathon of love, I loved too deeply, from a position too low.

From the beginning, our relationship was unequal.

Emily was too beautiful. She was the class beauty at our school, and never lacked suitors.

In our freshman year, a rather immature classmate even copied a video from the internet, arranging a huge heart made of candles below her dormitory.

He stood below her dorm, holding flowers and declaring his love through a loudspeaker, even startling the headmaster.

But such a charming woman, the goddess of my heart, ended up being the girlfriend of a nobody like me.

My friends envied me countless times behind my back, even joking that during our passionate moments, I should have Emily call out their names.

No help for it.

Emily was too popular.

This made me anxious while being with her, fearing that she might be taken away by someone else, so I tried my best to treat her well, sharing every bit of my daily life with her.

A cute stray cat, a beautifully made ice cream, exotic fruits and every interesting thing in life, I couldn't wait to tell her, but all I got in return was always just one word—"boring."

Before, I was passionate, pressing my warm face against her cold demeanor. I thought that by giving everything, humbling myself to the dust, I could touch her with that little bit of romance left.

We had gotten used to this.

"Lucas?"

After a brief silence, Emily tentatively called out my name. She might have realized that she had gone too far.

I let out an "ah" with a calm and indifferent demeanor that surprised even myself, looking at this once goddess of my heart, my lover, whom I had desperately wanted to spend my life with.

"I'll explain it to you when we get home!" Emily said.

In her eyes, this was a trivial matter.

I could hardly use it as an excuse to be angry.