Until I found you

1: FAKE LOVE

"Caleb..."

A woman's breathless, strained whisper shattered the silence.

"Slow down..."

I gently pushed the door to the broadcasting room open. It was barely six in the morning, so I couldn't help wondering why someone was already inside the club room Caleb usually occupied.

My heart nearly leapt out of my chest when I heard the desk creaking over and over, accompanied by low, muffled moans.

"Don't you usually like it faster?" the man asked.

My trembling gaze slipped through the narrow crack in the door toward the source of the noise. The first thing I recognized was the familiar back of a man. His body moved in an unbroken rhythm as he held the woman firmly by the waist. The hem of her short skirt had ridden up, and she braced herself against the desk with both arms to keep her balance.

It felt as though a bucket of ice-cold water had been poured over me the moment I realized the man was Caleb.

His hair was hopelessly disheveled, and without even pausing, he impatiently brushed the loose strands away from his eyes.

"Ah... C-Caleb..."

He pulled her skirt up even higher.

For a brief moment, he leaned down toward her, wrapping an arm around her waist as if whispering something into her ear. The moment he did, their movements became even more frantic. The desk groaned louder, its creaks growing sharper as their rhythm quickened.

"You're so warm, Cassandra."

"Caleb... I-I can't take it anymore..."

I stood frozen in shock.

With every passing second, as the truth that Caleb was with another woman sank deeper into my heart, it shattered a little more.

"More... don't stop, Caleb!"

"Is this what you want? Hm, Cassandra?"

When Caleb gently brushed the woman's hair aside, my world finally crumbled.

The instant her familiar face came into view, it felt as though a knife had been driven straight through my heart.

I clamped a hand over my mouth, desperate to keep even the smallest sound from escaping. Her eyes were shut tight, completely lost in every sensation Caleb brought her—the man who was supposed to be mine.

My boyfriend.

"Caleb... p-please... faster..."

"You smell amazing... You always drive me crazy."

Caleb lowered his lips to her neck, leaving a rough bite that drew another breathless cry from Cassandra.

"W-What if... what if she finds out about this?" Cassandra asked between ragged breaths.

Caleb let out a quiet laugh.

"Don't worry. She'll never notice. Just keep your eyes on me. Don't think about anyone else."

He pulled her close once more, and Cassandra cried out again. The force of their frantic movements made the papers scattered across the desk crumple as pens, folders, and other supplies were swept onto the floor.

My vision blurred as tears threatened to spill.

It hurt.

It was disgusting.

Here I was, forced to watch Caleb and Cassandra—the very friend he had defended over and over again. The one he had insisted was "just a classmate," accusing me of reading too much into their relationship.

A loud clang shattered the sounds coming from the room.

Without realizing it, I had let go of the lunch box in my hands.

Only then did they stop.

Both of them turned toward the doorway, shock washing over their faces as they realized I had been standing there the entire time.

"f**k!" Caleb cursed under his breath as he abruptly stepped away from Cassandra. "Damn it. We didn't even get to finish."

Not a trace of shame crossed his face as he pulled up his pants and straightened his wrinkled uniform. Beside the desk, Cassandra hurriedly fixed her posture, smoothing down her rumpled skirt before discreetly elbowing Caleb and shooting him a warning glare, silently reminding him of the mess they had just created.

Caleb let out a long sigh.

"Andrea... let me explain."

My entire body went numb.

No words would come.

My knees trembled beneath me as I stared directly into Caleb's eyes—eyes that had once looked at me with love, but now seemed stained by betrayal.

"Y-You're both... disgusting."

The words scraped painfully out of my throat before I staggered backward, away from them.

I couldn't believe what I had just witnessed.

Today of all days.

On our anniversary, I caught him with another woman.

And as if that wasn't enough, they chose to do it here—at school.

Everything suddenly made sense.

So that was why he always rushed to the broadcasting room first thing every morning.

This must have been their routine, their little pastime before the campus came to life.

"Andrea!"

I heard Caleb calling after me from somewhere behind.

But I didn't stop.

I just kept running.

I didn't know where my feet were taking me anymore, and I could barely see through the tears flooding my eyes.

No.

I wouldn't cry in front of them.

I refused to let them see me looking pitiful.

Then, without warning, I slammed into someone.

The impact spun me around before I crashed hard onto the cold concrete. A backpack tumbled to the ground beside me, its contents scattering across the floor.

At that moment, I wished the earth would simply swallow me whole—especially when I could still hear Caleb's voice drawing closer with every passing second.

"Are you blind?" the man in front of me snapped. "Next time, try using your eyes instead of wearing them as decorations."

I could only force a bitter smile as I stared at the concrete floor.

He was right.

Why hadn't I seen any of it?

Why had I trusted every word my boyfriend said?

What good were my eyes if he had been deceiving me right in front of them, yet I had remained completely blind?

Panicking, I hurriedly gathered the things that had spilled onto the floor. I tried stuffing them back into his backpack, but froze when he abruptly snatched it out of my hands.

I slowly looked up at him.

His brows drew together even more as he stared back at me.

"I-I'm so sorry... I didn't mean to..."

"Get lost."

His voice was cold, stripped of any emotion.

I was about to stand when someone suddenly gripped my shoulders and pulled me to my feet.

Just my luck.

Caleb had caught up with me.

"Andrea, are you okay? Are you hurt?" he asked, his voice dripping with concern that now sounded painfully fake.

Before I could even cry out, the weight crushing my chest, Caleb turned to face the man in front of us, his eyes blazing with challenge.

"Could you not," the stranger cut in, completely unfazed by Caleb's hostility, "turn the hallway into your personal parking lot? You're blocking everyone's way."

"What did you just say?" Caleb snapped, eager to pick a fight—as if starting one could somehow distract everyone from the betrayal he'd committed only moments ago.

If I hadn't witnessed his infidelity with my own eyes, I probably would have been touched that he was defending me now.

Whenever I saw him worrying about me, it used to feel as though every burden I carried became a little lighter.

In a world consumed by deadlines, pressure, and people who constantly leave me to shoulder every responsibility alone...

There had always been a Caleb.

Someone who was always there to catch me whenever I stumbled.

But now, I feel sick.

The man who had once been my refuge had become the very reason my heart was breaking.

I violently shrugged Caleb's hands off my shoulders.

Leaving the two of them behind, I hurried down the corridor without looking back.

Maybe my friends had been right all along.

It wasn't that I hadn't seen the truth.

It was that I had refused to.

I had been blinded by how deeply I loved him.

An hour before everything fell apart, my friends had found me in the library.

"What time did you leave the dorm?" Iyang asked as she set her coffee on the table before taking the seat beside me. "I didn't even hear you go out."

"How could she?" Janeah teased. "Your snoring is louder than an alarm clock."

"Excuse me, Janeah!" Iyang shot back. "I'm a very light sleeper, okay? There's no way I snore!"

"When we got back to the dorm last night, you were buried in your thesis. Then you slipped out before dawn without either of us noticing. And now that we've found you here in the library..." Iyang frowned as she sipped her iced coffee. "...you're still working on your thesis."

She narrowed her eyes at me.

"Tell me something. Are you the only member of your group? Where are the rest of your teammates?"

"You've practically drowned yourself in work," Janeah added. "Meanwhile, I saw some of your groupmates heading to the banchetto to hang out."

She rested her chin on her hand.

"Honestly, it looks like you're the only one writing that thesis."

I let out a long, weary sigh.

"If I leave all this paperwork to them," I replied, exhausted, "do you honestly think we'll finish anything?"

"What kind of nonsense is this?" Iyang exclaimed.

Without warning, she snatched the tablet from my hands. She quickly scrolled through the document, and her eyes widened.

"Hold on." She looked up at me in disbelief. "Don't tell me you still included all their names."

"Let me see."

Janeah leaned closer to peek at the screen.

"...Wow."

She slowly shook her head.

"I had no idea your thesis was a charity project."

Iyang let out a humorless laugh.

"Seriously, what exactly have they contributed? I bet even the instant noodles they ate while you were working were more useful."

"No," Janeah corrected. "The noodles were definitely more useful. At least they gave them energy."

"What a pathetic contribution." Iyang handed the tablet back to me. "What did they contribute? A future urinary tract infection?"

For a moment, the two of them fell silent.

Even without looking up, I could feel their eyes on me as they slowly sipped their coffee.

"I'm not trying to be the villain here, Andrea," Iyang said more gently this time, "but you're only enabling your group mates' laziness."

"Don't you two have class?" I asked without taking my eyes off the document. "Why are you ganging up on me?"

"We do," Janeah answered. "But not until eight. We just came early to grab coffee..." She flashed a mischievous grin. "...and admire the handsome guys walking around campus."

I immediately heard Iyang let out a quiet scoff.

"What?" Janeah protested. "You're the one who suggested it. Did you really have to tell her that?"

Iyang only shook her head before turning back to me.

"Where's your boyfriend, anyway? Why isn't he helping you?" she asked. "Isn't he part of your thesis group too?"

She paused before adding,

"Can't he manage his time when you're involved? Just last week, I saw him in the cafeteria with Cassandra and Rafael."

"Maybe they were just working on something," Janeah interjected. "You're always so quick to assume the worst."

"I'm not assuming the worst."

Iyang shrugged.

"I'm observant."

"Same difference."

Now, as I walked away from the corridor, I couldn't help letting out a bitter laugh.

My friends had seen every red flag.

Everyone had... except me.

I kept making excuses for Caleb's "busy" schedule.

Only now did I finally understand.

They had used me.

All the money they contributed toward the thesis—the very thesis I had written almost entirely on my own—had never been an act of fairness. It was simply the price they paid to buy themselves free time...

Free time to flirt behind my back.

Before I realized it, I had already walked out of the campus gates.

Only then did I notice the strange looks of the students arriving for class.

Some stared at me with pity, slowly shaking their heads. Others huddled together, trying—and failing—to suppress their laughter as they glanced between me and the screens of their phones.

Heat rushed to my face.

At that exact moment, my knees suddenly felt weak.

My phone vibrated in my hand.

It was a call from Iyang.

I drew in a deep breath, forcing down the lump rising in my throat before finally pressing Accept button.

"Girl! What the f**k is going on?!" Iyang shouted the moment I answered the call. "The whole campus heard what happened in the broadcasting room! Those idiots left the mic on!"

"It doesn't surprise me. She's just another girl Caleb added to his collection."

"I feel so bad for her. She was completely head over heels for him."

"Isn't she the Mass Comm student?"

Every whispered remark around me felt like a hammer striking my chest.

Sweat made my grip on my phone so slippery that I nearly dropped it.

Only then did everything finally sink in.

The entire campus knew.

Everyone knew how foolish I had looked.

So that was why people had been staring at me with pity... why others had pointed, laughed, and whispered as I walked by.

"Andrea! Wait! Please, let's talk!"

Caleb's voice echoed from somewhere behind me once again.

I instinctively quickened my pace.

Even after being caught red-handed, he still refused to leave me alone.

I glanced back over my shoulder as he continued closing the distance between us.

A single thought echoed relentlessly through my mind.

What had I done to deserve any of this?