Just as Wang Cheng was beginning to worry, he finally caught sight of those familiar faces through the glass of a restaurant.
The girl had fair skin and delicate features. Her former braided hair had become long, wavy locks, and her shabby clothes had been replaced by fashionable attire.
Yet at that moment, she was nestled in a boy's arms, chatting and laughing with him in intimate happiness.
"Xiaojie?"
Wang Cheng's eyes widened. The bouquet in his hands slipped free and hit the floor with a plop, scattering petals everywhere.
The girl inside noticed his gaze and turned to look as well.
For a moment,
their eyes met.
At the sight before him, a nameless rage surged from the bottom of Wang Cheng's heart. He took the steps two at a time, shoved through the door, and strode up to the girl.
"Gu Xiaojie, what is going on?"
"Wang Cheng? What are you doing here?"
The girl looked equally surprised to see him.
"I bought an Inner City pass. I was going to surprise you, but instead you..." Wang Cheng said through gritted teeth.
Having been discovered, the girl did not seem to care much at all.
"You shouldn't have come so suddenly. It's not good for any of the three of us."
"..."
The veins on Wang Cheng's forehead throbbed.
The young man beside her asked,
"Xiaojie, who is this?"
"Oh, my ex-boyfriend from the Outer City. I told you about him before. I'd wanted to cut ties with him for a long time."
The girl said it casually.
Her words stabbed Wang Cheng's heart like needles. His chest tightened, and a powerful sense of suffocation washed over him.
"I worked in the Outer City to earn money and scrimped every day just to pay your tuition, and this