The Way, Way Back

3.

I had heard of Tiffany abroad not had never expected us to look so alike.

I looked away in embarrassment and stuffed Victor into the car.

"I didn't expect Jonah to be dating Tiffany."

The band members were still talking about Tiffany, so I couldn't help curiously asking, "Do you know her?"

Guitarist John introduced Tiffany's background to me, saying, "Cindy, you have been abroad for years, so you probably don't know her. She is the most popular singer in our country. After coming back from Bomsville, she signed a contract with a domestic brokerage company named One On and then made her debut. Now every talent show is inviting her to be a mentor!"

Jason said, "Yeah! And her agency is the best star-maker now. They made both her and Jonah popular."

Even though the truth was clear, I still could not believe it. So, I asked, "When did she make her debut?"

"Five years ago. But she wasn't very popular back then." Jason's answer extinguished the only spark left in my heart like a downpour.

I showed a self-deprecating smile and said, "I see."

It explained the matter.

The so-called falling in love at first sight was nothing but a transference of Jonah’s feelings for her.

He had treated me so well that people around us had all firmly believed we would get married. He had been willing to endure my bad temper and let me do whatever I liked.

.

I liked spicy food, but he did not. However, he had still stood in line for more than an hour to buy it for me without complaint. He had accompanied me to my class when having no class. When I had skipped classes during my menstrual periods, he had helped me take notes.

.

...

There used to be many other such things. When they popped up into my mind from time to time, they reopened my healed wounds and repeatedly hurt me.

I remembered the tears in his eyes when he had seen me for the first time. After we had begun to date, I had asked him why he had wanted to cry back then. And he had answered it was because of the dust in his eyes.

.

Thinking about it now, I found it ridiculous. There had never been dust. He had been looking at another person through me.

When my tears flowed down, I felt a warm touch. Looking up, I found it was Victor.

.

"Don't cry. I've avenged you." He was so drunk that he could only open his eyes into two slits, trying his best to resist sleepiness.

I nodded, "Don't worry, I will never shed a tear for him anymore."

After fastening the seat belt for him, I turned around and let the other members get in the car, saying, "You've all drunk wine. I'll send you home."

John touched his head and said, "Thank you!"

When he was about to open the door, Jason and Shepard pulled him back and said, "We can go back by taxi. Safe drive!"

Then, they carried John away and scolded him, saying, "You don't know how to read the room at all! Don’t you know Cindy will take care of Victor?"

I shook my head with a helpless smile and then sent Victor home.

4.

When we arrived, Victor was so drunk that he was unconscious.

I put him on the sofa, went to the bathroom, and fetched a towel to wipe his face.

When I came out of the bathroom, his cell phone suddenly rang. And the call was from an unknown number. I thought it was a scam call, so I rejected it. But the person soon called again. So, I could only answer the call.

.

Then, a familiar voice irritated my eardrums, making me feel the "farce" tonight endless.

"I want to speak to Cindy."

Jonah had drunk so much that his articulation was a little unclear.

I did not respond, so he raised his voice and said, "I want to speak to Cindy!"

"This is Cindy speaking," I calmly replied, feeling emotionless.

He remained silent for a while and stumbled, "Cindy, I'm sorry. I didn't know after I left, you..."

"It's fine that you did not know. We broke up anyway. There is no need for you to know," I interrupted, trying to get out of the awkward position.

He humbly said, "But we’ve never said we will break up, right? We..."

Hearing him messily breathing, I said, "You blocked me! Doesn’t it mean you wanted to completely erase me from your life? Jonah, if you feel guilty now, please be firm in your choice! Don't contact me anymore!"

I hung up the phone before he could reply, so everything was quiet again.

I breathed a sigh of relief and intended to continue to wipe Victor’s face. When I lowered my head, I met his eyes. He was intently staring at me, although he still looked a bit tipsy.

.

I put the wet towel on his forehead, carefully wiped it, and said, "How much did you drink tonight? Aren’t you afraid I will tell your parents and let them immediately fly back from Estein to discipline you?"

I preemptively changed the topic to prevent him from bringing up Jonah again.

Victor held my hand with a smile and said, "They can't discipline me. Otherwise, they wouldn't have anxiously urged us to get engaged. They think you are two years older than me, so you can restrain me. Why don't we get married tomorrow? Let’s see whether their idea is plausible."

.

"Shut up!" I withdrew my hand and continued, "Go to sleep. I'll go out to see if I can buy something to dispel the effects of alcohol."

Victor obediently blinked. But when I was about to go out, he stopped me and said, "Don't hurt yourself for him anymore. Otherwise, I would feel heartbroken."

Hearing this, I felt weak in my legs and almost sprained my ankle. "OK, I promise," I replied in a faint voice as if talking to myself.

5.

When I opened Twitter as usual early in the morning, I found #Jonah has gastrorrhagia after drinking late at night# become a trending topic.

I was not interested, so I swiped down. Sure enough, #Bot Party’s lead singer Victor's fiancée# was also a trending topic.

I believed the Internet would forget about me in a few hours, so I didn't care. After I put aside the phone, I went to cook porridge.

As soon as I turned off the oven, my phone rang. And it was my college roommate Linda calling me.

"Cindy, terrible! Have you seen the trending topic?" Her excited voice almost pierced my eardrums.

I rubbed my ears and said, "I know. People know I am Victor's fiancée now."

"Why are you so calm?" Linda asked in surprise.

"Is there anything I should be excited about? Victor and I are engaged because our families want to be united by marriage. The information on the Internet is not acute," I explained.

"No! You did not look carefully at that trending topic! There is also a trending topic about Jonah! Hurry up and have a look! I'm very angry because I'm arguing with his stupid fans now!"

Linda's words made my heart skip a beat. I quickly put her on speakerphone and clicked on the trending topic.

A media posted an article, saying,

.

This tweet had a lot of comments, and most people were feeling sorry for Jonah and trying to speak out for him against the “injustice”.

"Although he is a shining star, he still recognized her in the crowd at a glance. But she is in love with another man now."

"D*mn it! A regretful plot in novels happened in reality! The lyrics he asked her to sing last night are his real thoughts!"

"Why did he fall in love with such a woman? She must be gaslighting him!"

"I heard she went abroad as soon as graduating from university. Maybe she has never loved him."

...

I found the blames in the comment section ridiculous.

Just a few words had easily changed his identity from the perpetrator to the victim. And he had even built up a public persona as an affectionate man.

"Cindy, I'll contact our college friends and ask them to help you clarify it," Linda aggrievedly said.

"No need." I tried to persuade her out of it and said, "Linda, thank you. But there is no need."

"Cindy..." Linda's voice became a little weaker when she said, "I feel sorry for you. He left you without saying a word back then. You have done so many things to hurt yourself. But now, you are suffering from cyber violence because of him!"

"I understand your kindness." I looked down and saw the slender scar crawling at my wrist like a worm. It was reminding me of how stupid I used to be all the time. Then, I continued, "But I'm engaged now. If I clarify it online, our past relationship will be exposed to the public. And it will hurt my and my fiancé’s feelings again, right? What's more, if we tell them everything, they may not be convinced. Maybe we will irritate Jonah's fans more and even affect the follow-up work of Bot Party. Linda, I'm tired. I don't want to be entangled with the past."

After finishing the last word, I felt as if all my strength had been drained out.

"Fine! I respect your decision." Linda sighed, "However, you must call me if you feel depressed. Don't keep negative emotions bottled up! You’re not alone."

"I know," I replied.

"By the way, why didn't you tell me you’re engaged? Are we still friends? Are you not going to invite me to the wedding either?" Linda sensed my depression, so she changed the subject, saying, "You have returned. When will you bring your fiancé to have a meal with your old friends? By the way, I want two tickets to Bot Party's concert. My crush likes the band!"

Before I could answer, a male voice replied, "Okay, I'll ask Cindy to give the tickets to you."

I blankly stared at Victor. I did not know how long he had been listening, so I was at a loss for how to respond.

Linda on the other end of the phone was as embarrassed as me, so she ended the call in a hurry.

Soon, she send me a message to condemn me, asking, "Cindy, how could you put me on speakerphone without telling me?"

Only then did I realize that when I had opened Twitter just now, I had put her on speakerphone.

"How much have you heard?"

Victor raised his eyebrows and wickedly smiled, "Don't worry, I heard nothing but the word fiancé."

He had deliberately accented the word, making me even more embarrassed.

I rolled my eyes at him and pushed him out of the kitchen, saying, "Hurry up and wash up! The porridge is ready."