Only you in my love

'It's not because Michelle's afraid Leon doesn't like a cheap necktie. What's the reason then?'

Lydia grew even more confused. "Why don't you want to give him the tie? Debra said that a girl will give the boy she loves a tie as a gift. Leon has asked you to give him a tie. I really think he likes you." "No," Michelle denied. "Leon only likes me as a sister. He's not in love with me. He doesn't know what it means to receive a tie from a girl. If he did, he would've told me to give him a tie as an apology gift." "How do you know?" Lydia asked.

"Leon watched my interview," Michelle answered.

Lydia still couldn't understand how Michelle was thinking. "So?"

"So he doesn't know what it means if a girl gives him a tie." Michelle blew out a long dejected sigh.

Despite Michelle's attempt to explain, Lydia still didn't get it. Both she and Debra watched Michelle's interview. "If Leon watched your interview, how's that related to whether or not he knows the meaning of receiving a tie?"

Under the warm light, Michelle's eyes darkened. She looked down in shame and covered her head with her quilt. "Leon has watched my interview, so he knows that I like him. But he doesn't like me back. He's in love with someone else. The only reason he wants me to give him a tie is that he needs one. Nothing more than that."

Lydia frowned and rubbed her temple.

Michelle continued talking. "The girl he loves is going to give him a tie. If I gave him one too, the girl would misunderstand us."

As she spoke, her eyes turned and her voice started to crack a little bit. "Leon has been in love with her for many years. Even though they broke up, he had been looking for her for four years. That's the reason why he came here to Lexingport City. And he's found her." The words Valerie had painted into Michelle's mind haunted her like a curse. That scene conjured such pain in Michelle's heart that the thought of it was enough to make her cry.

And now that she reminisced the memory once more, a deep sadness flooded her heart as tears started to overflow in her eyes.

Michelle hugged her knees, tightly clutching the quilt as she sobbed quietly.

"Lydia, I'm such a klutz when it comes to love. Look at me: I'm crying over someone who's not even my boyfriend. It's annoying," Michelle said while crying. She had never felt this upset before.

Lydia thought this would happen to her first. She thought Michelle would be with Austin, and she would find a quiet place to cry and mend her broken heart. Looking at Michelle now made Lydia feel sad.

'Is this how I would look like if I continue to harbor secret feelings for Austin?' she thought to herself.

"There, there. Cry to your heart's content. Did you meet them this morning?" Lydia placed her hand on Michelle's back and gently patted it as though Michelle was a child.

Michelle had been crying for such a long time already, biting the quilt in the hopes of stopping.

Right now, all she could hear was the sound of her own sniffling tears. She didn't even hear Lydia when she got up.

Then, she felt someone patting her back. Amidst the sounds of her own sobbing, Lydia's concerned voice gently floated into her ears.

"Here, dab your eyes with this warm towel."

Her eyes started to feel bitter and painful from crying for so long.

Michelle slowly lowered her quilt. Her hair was so messy, and her face was glistening with tears. Her eyes looked bloodshot, and her eyelashes were wet. Even the tip of her nose still looked very red. Tears continued to fall down her face. Just looking at her was enough to invoke a deep sense of pity towards her.

"Your eyes are swollen again. Close them," Lydia ordered.

Michelle followed what Lydia said, yet tears still fell.

Lydia dabbed the warm towel to Michelle's eyelids, which helped alleviate the stinging pain. After that, she started to slowly calm down.

Out of the blue, Lydia asked, "Will we celebrate his birthday tomorrow?"

Upon hearing this, Michelle froze.

'That's right. His birthday party is tomorrow.

Maybe we should cancel.'

She remembered that Valerie told her that they were going to the Hot Spring Resort to celebrate his birthday.

After a long silence, Michelle shook her head and dropped the wet towel. She reached out to pick it up.

Lydia took the wet towel from Michelle's hand. "It's already cold. I'll soak it again in hot water."

"Okay." Even with her eyes closed, Michelle still managed to smile. "Thank you, Lydia."

Watching her smile through the pain made Lydia feel uncomfortable, so she quickly changed the subject to ease her discomfort. "Make me breakfast tomorrow morning. We've been eating take-out food for the past two days." "Okay." Michelle pressed her lips and flashed a weak smile.

Lydia went to the bathroom, filled a basin with hot water, and threw the towel in it. Then, she took her phone and sent a message to Debra. "Leon's birthday party tomorrow is cancelled."

Upon reading her text, Debra was so shocked that she called Lydia to get more details. However, Lydia didn't answer the phone since she was afraid that Michelle might hear it.

So instead, Debra replied to her text. "But the venue's ready. Why is it cancelled?"

"Leon will celebrate his birthday tomorrow with someone else," Lydia replied.

"Does it mean we have to postpone it until the day after his birthday?" "Maybe."

After sending her last reply, Lydia went out with towel for Michelle's swollen eyes.

The next morning, Lydia woke as she always had at six twenty in the morning. However, when she turned around, there was no one beside her.

To her surprise, Michelle got up earlier than her.

In the past, Michelle would get up early to bring breakfast to Leon. But now, that wasn't the case.

'Did she wake up early or did she not sleep at all last night?'

Lydia put on her clothes and went downstairs. As she descended the stairway, she smelled a savory aroma coming from the kitchen. When she arrived at the living room, she heard the sound of pot and spoon clanking against each other. When she walked to the kitchen door, she saw Michelle.

Michelle was wearing a lovely apron, with a turner in her right hand and a plastic glove on her left. She grabbed a handful of chopped coriander and threw it into the pot.

Michelle was cooking beef.

There were already several dishes on the table, including fried eggs with tomatoes, steamed fish, sweet and sour spareribs, fried shrimps, and some vegetables.

Lydia didn't know what to make out of it.

'Is this breakfast?'

When Michelle turned around to get the plate, she saw Lydia standing at the door. "Oh, Lydia. You're awake. Take out the dishes first. I'll be done here really soon. That last dish is almost ready."

Michelle's face was bright and full of smiles, as though she didn't spend the entirety of yesterday crying.

If it weren't for these ingredients before her, Lydia would've thought that everything that happened yesterday was only a dream.

"How did you get these?" Lydia asked as she picked up two dishes. "I remember there were only eggs and tomatoes in your fridge. Maybe there were some shrimps, but definitely no fish, no spareribs, and no beef."

"I bought them from the market." Michelle stretched her hands and pushed her away. "All right, all right. Prepare the table first. It's very oily and full of smoke over here."

"The market? So that's why. They're the only ones who open so early. Supermarkets don't open that early." Before she went out of the kitchen, she glanced at Michelle, who was very engrossed in her cooking.

'Looks like she didn't sleep at all last night.'

It took Michelle a whole night to figure it out.

Liking Leon was her own business. He had nothing to do with that.

After all, Leon was free to like others. She couldn't force Leon to like her just because she did.

She would like him in secret.

All she wanted was for him to be happy.

'That's fine.'

Michelle kept telling herself as though she was being hypnotized.

In the morning, the flowers she had ordered arrived. With a smile, she happily received the bouquets and paid the money. She climbed up to the rooftop while carrying the bouquets in both hands. One by one, she started to place flowers in each vase. All this time, Lydia had been carefully observing her. She was worried and wanted to know what was running on Michelle's mind.

Michelle held Lydia's arm and rubbed her head against it. "Since Leon has found the girl he loves, I can only bless them." Lydia nodded slightly. "Well...if you like someone, you don't necessarily have to be together. But..."

She sympathized with how Michelle was feeling. She knew what it was like to see the person she loved be with someone else. She knew how heartbreaking it felt.

Slowly, she just got used to the feeling.

"But what?" Michelle looked into Lydia's eyes, looking for an answer.

"Just try to keep some distance away from him. It'll be good for both you and Leon," Lydia replied, trying her best to soften the blow.

Michelle's fingertips became stiff. "I know. I don't want to celebrate his birthday with him anymore. I just want to give him two gifts. You can go with me to choose gifts later."

"Then why are you still decorating this place?"

"Because it's so beautiful," Michelle lied.

The decoration of the birthday party symbolized how much she loved Leon. She wanted to preserve it as long as she could.0000000☐☐☐☐