Back To His 18, I’m Not His Love

Chapter 2

Sylvia's POV:

I accepted his words without protest and nodded. "Sorry, sir..."

Over the past year, this kind of thing had happened more times than I could count. Whenever Bianca was in trouble, Adrian would shove me forward to take the blame.

After the teacher told Bianca to sit down, the lecture turned on me.

"Sylvia, the college entrance exam is next year, and you're still this unfocused. If you don't want to study, fine, but don't disturb your classmates. Go stand in the hallway!"

I kept my head down and obediently walked out to the corridor.

But the bell rang soon after.

When I returned to my seat, Adrian nudged me with his elbow. "Thanks for covering for me and Bianca all this time."

Before I could respond, he grabbed my collar and forced my head to turn toward him. He leaned in so close I could hear every breath he took.

"After evening study hall tonight, get Bianca to meet me at the field. I'm going to confess. Don't screw it up this time."

My heart sank a little, and I let out a quiet "okay."

Adrian grinned, snatched up his badminton racket, and called a few classmates to go play.

I stared at his retreating figure, lost in thought.

"Even a lapdog isn't as obedient as you," my deskmate said out of nowhere.

I didn't argue with the jab.

Even though I'd resented Adrian for treating me like a stand-in, every time I thought about the man he would become in my memories, that resentment dissolved.

In the future, I had a terrible temper. I'd chew him out over the smallest things until he was drenched in my fury, yet he never got angry. He was always the first to apologize, the first to soothe me.

I threw tantrums constantly, made unreasonable demands. In the dead of winter, late at night, I'd insist I wanted a savory breakfast crepe. He'd walk out into the snow without a word of complaint. When he came back, covered in white, his hands and feet ice-cold, the crepe was still steaming warm because he'd kept it pressed against his chest the entire way home.

He indulged me without limits. Those were the happiest days of my life.

I gazed at Adrian's desk, the bridge of my nose stinging with the threat of tears. My obedience now was simply repayment for the kindness he'd show me 20 years from now. Once I returned to my own time, I'd gradually forget him.

I endured until the final evening study session ended, slipped Bianca a note, then went home.

After a shower, I curled up on the couch with my journal. The habit had only started after I arrived in this timeline. Everything I wrote was about Adrian. Beyond that, I'd taken dozens of photos of the two of us together. They were my proof, evidence that I had existed in the younger years of his life, even if being around him wasn't as wonderful as I'd imagined.

A sudden banging on the door made me jump.

I got up to answer it, and Adrian burst in, out of breath, helping himself to a glass of water. Defeat was written all over his face.

Tensing, I asked, "Did you... confess?"

He grunted, looking deflated. "She said she won't be with me unless I get into a top university."

I froze, an indescribable mix of emotions rising in my chest. Adrian's grades were abysmal, so bad he'd rather die than study. I thought he'd give up, but instead, his expression hardened with resolve.

"So I have to get in. I signed up for a tutoring class. I'm going to get into a top university and be with Bianca. Come with me, Sylvia."

It hit me then. So that was why Adrian, who'd always been dead last in every ranking, eventually graduated from Southhaven University, one of the best schools in the country. For Bianca, he'd gone all in.

I'd urged him to study properly dozens of times myself. When I pushed too hard, he'd lash out with words sharp enough to cut. Yet all my painstaking advice couldn't match a single word of encouragement from Bianca.

I forced a bitter smile and said, "Sure, I believe you can do it. Who knows, maybe someday you'll be a top executive earning millions a year."

Adrian dropped onto the couch, felt something poking him, and yanked my journal out from underneath.

"What's this thing?"

Panic shot through me and I lunged for it. "Don't look at that. Give it back!"

He swept the journal behind his back, dodging me. "You're that desperate? Now I really have to see what's in here."

He was about to flip it open. In my frantic scramble, I grabbed fistfuls of his shirt, focused on nothing but getting the journal back.

"What are you doing, Sylvia!"

Adrian shoved me away on reflex, but my hands were still clenched in his shirt. For one frozen instant, our eyes locked, and the room fell into a silence so absolute it felt like death.

Before I could process what had happened, Adrian's face turned a violent shade of red. He pried my fingers loose and clutched his own chest.

"Of all things to grab, you had to grab my shirt!"

I realized what I'd done too, heat flooding my face. The sudden closeness left me flustered, but the look of pure disgust on his face, as if I were something foul stuck to his shoe, made me want to disappear.

"I..."

Adrian tossed my journal aside, stormed out without a backward glance, and slammed the door behind him.

I stood frozen in place. A long time passed before the chime of a messaging app notification pulled me back to reality.

It was a message from Adrian, sent to Bianca's account.

Adrian: Ahhh! Bianca, something just happened that might make you mad. I'm sorry!

Adrian: Bianca, I WILL get into a top university. Wait for me!

I pressed my lips together, swallowed the bitterness lodged in my throat, and typed a single word back: Okay.

I shut off the computer, opened my journal, and wrote:

I'll do everything I can to be good to you in this timeline. I want to keep both the young you and the man you'll become alive in my memory, so that when the moment comes to say goodbye, neither of us has any regrets.