I silently listened to her poor excuse.
Maisie, Eugene’s sister, was a friend of Zelda.
At the time, Zelda was at a critical stage in starting her business and encountered difficulties.
Maisie was bringing her flash drive, but she got into a traffic accident on the way.
Not long after being taken to the hospital, she passed away.
Before she died, she asked Zelda to take care of her young brother Eugene.
Zelda kept her promise and took great care of him.
At first, she kept her distance, restrained and formal. But over time, she even started involving herself in the small details of his daily life.
I let out a soft sigh, thinking about how I’d be leaving in just a few days.
Might as well lay everything out in the open and save us both some time.
“We never really figured things out between us… but honestly, if you and Eugene got married, that wouldn’t be such a bad—”
Before I could finish my sentence, Zelda looked up and slapped me across the face. A stinging sound rang through the air.
“What the hell is wrong with you? Luigi only sees me as a sister! Do you think he’s as careless as you?”
The side of my face burned with pain.
Yeah. Eugene wasn’t like me. He wasn’t careless.
I had always tolerated everything Zelda did, letting go of past grudges like they never existed.
My eyes burned. My fists clenched tight.
She must’ve noticed my reaction because her expression shifted. A flicker of panic crossed her face before she softened her tone.
“I didn’t mean it like that… I’m sorry, okay?”
For a second, I almost found the courage to tell her everything.
“Zelda, in a few days, I’m actually getting—”
But I was cut off by her phone ringing.
Zelda answered the call.
The voice on the other end echoed through the quiet bedroom.
“Zee, I had a nightmare… I dreamed that my sister got into a car accident… I woke up, and suddenly, I just really wanted to see you. Can you come over?”
“Don’t worry. I’ll be right there,” Zelda answered urgently.
She threw on a random coat and was about to leave when she suddenly seemed to remember something.
“What were you about to say?”
But I had already buried my emotions.
“Nothing. We’ll talk when you get back.”
But the next morning, the other side of the bed was untouched.
Since I’d be leaving soon, I simply quit my job.
I had packed up a lot of things last night—most of them were for donation.
When I stepped outside to hand the packages to the courier, I noticed a commotion at the apartment across from mine.
Workers were moving in brand-new furniture.
Even with all the people around, my eyes landed on Zelda in an instant.
She was leaning against Eugene’s chest, directing the workers as they arranged the furniture.
Zelda had always cared about these details.
Back when we first moved in, she did the same—took time off just to oversee everything.
She once said, “If you don’t put effort into setting up a home, it’s just a rental.”
But now, my home hardly had any trace of her left.
“Sir? Sir? Your shipping code?” The courier’s voice snapped me out of my thoughts.
The people inside the next apartment had clearly heard as well.
Just as the courier left, Eugene walked over with a bright smile.
“Dude, Zee said I keep having nightmares, so she bought this place. From now on, we’re neighbors!”
He stepped closer and then patted my shoulder, looking all cheerful and friendly.
This guy took my place—there was no way I’d ever like him, so I ignored him and turned to go back inside.
But suddenly, that lunatic punched himself in the face and stumbled backward—right into a worker carrying a cabinet.
His lower back slammed against the sharp edge of the cabinet.
“Ah!” he cried out in pain.
Hearing the commotion, Zelda rushed out.
She lifted him, her eyes overflowing with concern.
She gently blew on his injured face.
Then, she turned to me, looking completely stunned.
“The heck, Wallace? Are you some kind of psycho? You just go around hitting people?”
