Back to the Love We Left Behind

Chapter 8

Without a second thought, Maren crouched down and began gathering the shattered pieces one by one, trying to piece them back together. But her vision swam with tears, and she couldn't see anything.

Plop.

A tear plopped onto the shards, freezing her hands mid-motion. It was as if the whole world had slammed into pause.

Callum stared down at her frail, lonely silhouette, and an inexplicable irritation boiled up in his chest. He seized her wrist and yanked her to her feet, but the instant his eyes met her tear-streaked face, he recoiled as if burned and shoved her away.

After that whirlwind of movement, Maren's vacant eyes slowly sharpened into focus. Meeting his glacial gaze, she let out a bitter, self-mocking smile, yet her voice came out steady. "Callum, I won't cling to you anymore."

At those words, Callum's breath hitched for a split second.

She didn't look at him again, just pointed at the mess on the floor. "I'll clean this up. I won't be a nuisance."

Callum's fingers curled slightly, as if he wanted to say something. In the end, he only tossed out, "You'd better," before shutting the door.

The empty corridor swallowed her whole, leaving Maren completely alone. The voice-activated light flickered off right then, plunging everything into darkness. She stood there, still and silent, for a long moment before finally fetching a broom and sweeping the wreckage away.

She had barely stepped back into her room when the director's voice boomed over the speakers.

"Callum and Nadia have successfully exchanged gifts!"

Maren froze, but she wasn't surprised. Still, a suffocating pressure clamped down on her chest due to all her emotions bottled up, with nowhere to go and no way to fade.

The screen of her phone on the bed kept flickering on and off. She walked over, picked it up, and saw a message from Felix.

Felix: How's it going with Callum? You've been back all this time, why haven't you done anything?

What more was there to do? She'd explained everything she could, and Callum had said, "It doesn't matter." She'd seized every chance she could, and he'd said, "I don't want to date you."

After a long, heavy silence, Maren typed back.

Maren: I've decided to give up.

A fruitless pursuit was a mistake to keep dragging out. Callum's attitude was crystal clear. She didn't want to go on like this.

Once she closed the chat, she noticed a string of unread messages from her advisor, all urging her to return to the research institute right away. She clutched her phone, torn. Yes, she'd decided to let go, but leaving the dating show meant she'd probably never see Callum again. Then again... he probably didn't want to see her anyway.

A bitter smile tugged at her lips. She glanced down at the doll fragments in the trash can, and finally replied to her advisor.

Maren: Okay.

Then she opened the door and headed downstairs. The live broadcast had long since ended, and the guests had all retreated to their rooms. But just as she reached the bottom of the stairs, she spotted someone sitting on the sofa in the lobby.

The hall lay shrouded in darkness, and with a stretch of distance between them, Maren couldn't make out who it was. All she could see was a tiny, flickering flame dancing between the stranger's fingers, a lone ember pulsing in the black.

It wasn't until she drew closer that her heart jolted. It was actually Callum.

He sat there, cloaked in darkness, his features lost in the murk.

What she felt instead was the sheer weight of his presence, a suffocating pressure that rolled off him in waves. Maren never in a million years expected him to be here at this hour. She snapped her gaze away and quickened her pace, desperate to slip through the hall without being noticed.

But then a low, slightly hoarse voice sliced through the silence. "What are you up to now?"

'He thinks I came here to pester him again?'

She froze mid-step, a cocktail of bitterness and helplessness swirling in her chest. "Callum, I told you I wouldn't chase after you anymore. I meant every word." She didn't turn around, didn't catch the look on his face.

It was only when the sound of retreating footsteps echoed behind her that she couldn't help but steal a glance over her shoulder.

Callum was climbing the stairs, his back drenched in frustration and impatience.

'Did I annoy him again?' she thought. 'But then... this was the last time.'

She pressed her lips into a thin line, stepped out of the main hall, and strode straight into the director's tent.

She cut right to the chase. "I'm quitting the show."