My Youth Began With Him

"why? i thought everything was going well."

"because something that happened last night left me very unhappy."

"isn't that normal for couples? you shouldn't move out, you guys need to talk about it," huo mian said patiently.

"no, that's not it, we're not actually dating anyways, so we can't talk about it like normal couples would." then, zeng rou placed a few shopping bags on huo mian's desk before she could respond.

"what is this?" huo mian frowned; these bags looked familiar.

"these were the shoes su yu had purchased for you. i don't know why he didn't give them to you, but he ended up giving them to me. they're not my size… i accepted them because su yu gave them to me. i knew the shoes were for you, but i still wanted to keep them. however… it seems like he and i won't work out. su yu's been great to me and took really good care of me. i wanted to give you these shoes, it's my last present to him."

after hearing zeng rou's speech, huo mian felt a complicated slur of emotions. she knew something was off about su yu that day when he came to see her with those shoes.

qin chu was here that day, and that was why su yu said the shoes for his mother. however, the shoes ended up with zeng rou, who then gave them back to huo mian. it was quite funny.

"zeng rou, if he gave them to you, they're yours."

"but they don't belong to me… su yu's a complicated man… he's straightforward but timid, why else would he refuse to give you those shoes? he knows you're happily married and are a mother to two beautiful children, so he doesn't want to mess up your life. he's loved you silently and has done everything he could for you. perhaps that's all he needs."

huo mian bit down on her lips but didn't say anything; she didn't want to seem contentious, nor could she ignore that uneasy feeling in her heart.

"zeng rou, su yu's a good man. you should've stayed with him." huo mian realized that zeng rou was a weird woman who talked a big talk. however, she had never done anything to hurt su yu nor interfere with her and su yu's friendship.

she was quite different from the women who had approached su yu in the past.

"i'll pass, i can't change su yu's mind, and i can't warm up his heart… i'm still young, i don't want to waste my time anymore." then, zeng rou stood up with a smile.

"dr. huo, i know you've doubted my intentions, since after all i barged into your lives so suddenly and moved into su yu's home. you probably all think that i wanted more… but you know about my family; we don't need the su family to survive, and su yu's not the only good looking man in this country… but why did i like him? you probably won't believe me, but i was once betrayed by a boyfriend, and found it hard to trust another man. when su yu's aunt first told me about su yu, i thought he was just another asshole. later, i heard about what happened between you guys, and realized that su yu was a man who valued relationships. i know you guys won't end up together, so i thought maybe one day his heart would float towards me… wouldn't that be great? that's why i came."

huo mian didn't respond, and continued to listen quietly.

"dr. huo, can i ask you one selfish favor?" zeng rou's eyes welled up with tears as she suddenly changed the subject.