Love Began with the First Meeting

The cold which Maggie had contracted resulted in bouts of fever and she ended up lying in bed for three days. Benjamin and Monica couldn't understand why she was so sick. Usually, Maggie was as strong and vigorous as a bull, and equally hard headed. When she caught a cold, she wouldn't even need any medicine, and was in any case too stubborn to take any. Normally she recovered swiftly from illnesses and didn't need any recovery time. This time, however, she was severely sick. There was no sign of color in her pallid face, and she quickly looked gaunt and worn out.

Benjamin was peeling an apple using an army knife. If Maggie had still had some energy, she would surely have teased him about that. It was an unacceptable thing to peel an apple using an army knife. If their professor came to know about this, they would surely have been "educated" by him about what was the right thing to do.

As usual, the apple was split into three parts. Everyone got one third. However, even though her friends kindly served her with the peeled apple, Maggie still had no appetite. It was not only because of the sickness, but also her dispirited mood.

When one was physically ill, more often than not, he or she would become emotionally fragile as well. Maggie, however, had been feeling quite low and dejected even before she had become sick, so for her it was so much worse. It was as if she didn't want to recover. When the solace which the patient hoped for never appeared, the patient would begin thinking about all kinds of unfavorable things and soon be buried in wild thoughts. This all only served to drain the patient's vitality.

Maggie was now in such a mental state. No matter how she had persisted, Edgar had never replied, not even one message, nor even a single word. Maggie turned to look out the window. The sunshine was gentle, but to her, even the gentle sunlight was painfully piercing to her eyes. A tinge of bitterness secretly narrowed her lips into an acrid line which pinched her face.

Monica exchanged worried glances with Benjamin and then asked, "Maggie, what has happened to you?" She had a strange feeling that Maggie had been carrying a huge secret since she returned from her military attachment. This secret couldn't be revealed to them. It wasn't because Maggie didn't want to confide in them, but rather because the secret couldn't be made known.

Maggie stopped looking out, but she didn't reply to Monica's question. Instead, she asked wanly, "Did it snow?" The fever had lasted for several days. Due to the excessive heat which had raged through her fevered body, there were small sores at the corners of her blistered lips. Her voice also sounded hoarse coming from her burnt throat. She really looked quite miserable.

"Yeah. It snowed yesterday," Benjamin answered. "It was a heavy snow. This morning the school asked us to clear the snow. It took us a couple of hours to finish that."

"That's good..." Maggie said in voice barely above a whisper, while she blinked her watery eyes. Her eye lids had become so heavy that it was even hard for her to keep her eyes open.

If Maggie were not sick, Benjamin would probably have picked a fight with her for what she had just said. He spent the whole morning clearing the snow out there, while Maggie was in here, "resting" and enjoying the snow.

Maggie didn't really take any notice of the helplessness in Benjamin's expression. The bitterness which twisted her lips seemed to have spread to all over her body. It was also snowing on the day that she had confessed her feelings to Edgar.

"Maggie, why are you crying?" Monica was shocked to see Maggie's tears. In a hurry, she fumbled for some tissue and handed it to her. Sorrowfully, she said, "What has happened to you? Do you feel unwell? Are you in pain? Or are you sad? Please tell me!" Benjamin was stunned as well. Never before had he seen Maggie cry. She was always a rock, a brave and stubborn rock. Weeping was so completely out of character for her! To him, Maggie was perhaps the last woman in the world that would cry. In school, she was more manly than a man. Whether in training or in studying, she was on top in both. Countless male students in the school wanted to overtake her, but she always managed to keep her first place.

Cry? Impossible! That was not something Maggie would ever do. Nothing would ever be able to bring her to tears. At least, not that they could remember. Benjamin remembered one incident then. A male student, one year senior to them, had been bullying a student in their class. Maggie led the entire class to the other class. In the end, she had a fight with the bully. Though the man punched and kicked her multiple times, she didn't even groan. In the end, he still lost the battle. After that, Maggie's own class and the other classes were all in awe of her queen-like aura.

Back in the reality of the moment, Benjamin joined Monica in consoling Maggie, but unexpectedly she wailed louder and louder. Her tears seemed like a river in flood that would never be dried out.

"Maggie, stop crying... Aw..." Monica felt like crying as well. In a tearful tone, she mumbled, "If you're feeling sad, you can talk to us. When you cry, I also feel so sad."

Benjamin rolled his eyes. "Monica, what are you doing?" Winking to Monica, he added, "Maggie isn't sad. She just hasn't cried for so many years. Now she is just trying to get all of the stock-piled bacteria out of her eyes."

Sniffling, Monica gave Benjamin a withering glare, then she cast a glance at Maggie, who had turned from wailing to sobbing in silence. "Right," Monica said. "I was clearly thinking too much. Maggie is obviously just flushing some bacteria from her eyes." Still, Maggie didn't respond, and just quietly looked out through the window.

At this moment, Maggie's phone rang. However, she didn't even look at the vibrating device. Benjamin took a look at the caller ID and passed the phone to her. "Maggie, it's your mother."

She mindlessly took the phone and tapped on the 'answer' button. "Mom," she answered listlessly.

Before Hana said anything, she heard Maggie call her "mom", which shocked her. After a few seconds, she asked, "Maggie, Maggie? Maggie. What has happened?" It was rare for Maggie to address Hana as "mom". The only time that she would call her "mom' was when she felt wronged or sad. Whichever the case was, that was something that Hana didn't want to see. 00000000000