10
“Mindy, are you having a nightmare?”
Mindy shot up from her desk, looking shaken. Shaun Ashton placed a hand on her forehead. “No fever, but you look pale. Do you want to go home and rest?”
Mindy closed her eyes, trying to banish the images from her dream. “I’m fine.”
It had been two months since she returned to her world. This was the first time she had dreamed of Stefan. He had jumped from a bridge.
Mindy felt… nothing. The seven-year-long emotional ordeal hadn’t left her as heartbroken as she might have
expected.
Shaun closed a folder. “Our professor is out on assignment today. I’m making an executive decision and giving you the day off.”
In these two months, she had grown accustomed to working with Shaun. He was kind and patient, always offering just the right amount of support at work. Mindy wasn’t feeling her best, so she didn’t refuse.
“Thanks, Shaun. I’ll head out then.” She grabbed her bag, said goodbye, and walked out into the sunlight.
And then, she saw Stefan.
The dense shade of the trees couldn’t block out the intense sun. The light passed right through Stefan’s body. He cast no shadow.
The moment he looked at her, Mindy realized what was happening. She quickly looked away and turned to
leave.
Stefan’s voice came from behind her. “Mindy. You’re alive.”
Mindy walked faster.
Chapter 2
His voice was urgent. “Mindy, please look at me. Talk to me.”
00.05
It was as if he had struck a nerve. Mindy stopped abruptly, turned, and said stiffly, “Yes, I’m alive. I have my own life. Please stay away from me.”
It was the first time Mindy had ever spoken to Stefan in such a tone.
He stared at her, disbelieving. “Mindy, I know I was wrong. I-I avenged you. Raina is dead. Can you forgive me, please?”
Mindy had no desire to speak with him. She started muttering, almost incoherently, “System? System, are you there?”
The System, which had been dormant for a long time, woke up. [What is it-holy crap! What is he doing here?!]
“I don’t know. He was here when I came out. The mission is over. Why would he show up in my world?”
[Host, give me a minute. I need to talk to the programmers. This has to be a bug! This should never happen!]
Stefan heard her conversation with the System. “Mindy, who are you talking to? What mission? Mindy, what are you talking about?”
Mindy’s voice was flat. “You still don’t know? The only reason I was with you for seven years was because I accepted a mission. As long as you rejected me one hundred times, I could return to reality and receive a
large sum of money.”
Stefan’s head swam. “Impossible. You’re lying to me, right?”
The System returned. [Sorry, Host. It is a bug. The programmers say it will take three days for a full reset. You’ll have to put up with this guy for three days. But don’t worry, he can’t harm you.]
“Okay, thank you.”
Mindy didn’t seem to want to look at him for a second longer. She turned and opened her car door. Today was the day she took possession of her new apartment. The best location in the city center, with the best interior designer. She had chosen a bright, color-block style. Completely different from her life in Stefan’s
world.
Stefan was forced to remain by Mindy’s side. He saw a long-lost vitality in her face. He couldn’t describe the feeling in his chest.
By the time she finished with the designer, it was already dark. Mindy strolled to a nearby convenience store, bought two milk popsicles, and walked onto a bridge spanning the river.
The bridge was covered in neon lights that shifted through a rainbow of colors. She leaned against the raili- ng, a popsicle dangling from her lips, letting the wind whip through her long hair. Like a free bird.
Stefan stood a short distance away, his voice hoarse. “Mindy, did you ever love me? Or was it all just… part of the mission?”
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00:05
Chapter 2
Mindy turned her head to look at him and smiled. “Do you really think it was just a mission?”
Stefan was speechless.
The wind rustled Mindy’s crumpled windbreaker. She scrubbed a hand over her face and said with a laugh:
“In my third year in that world, you almost died saving my life. You nearly lost a leg. I was so moved I was a blubbering mess, ready to devote my life to you. You know, I don’t have any parents. At that moment, I was truly grateful for this mission, for letting me meet you.”
Stefan’s lips trembled, but he said nothing.
“And you saw,” Mindy gestured to the sea of lights across the river, “this world is nowhere near as glamorous as yours. In the first few years I knew you, there was a dessert shop downstairs from your office that was incredibly good. I’d go there every week when I came to see you. I even got a membership card. I got to know the owner, Mrs. Fang. She had a dog named Patches. The day I came back here, Patches was still waiting for me to bring him beef jerky.”
“Mindy-”
She ignored him. “And my colleague, Yara. I had dinner at her house a few times. Her husband makes the best braised beef, and Yara is an amazing cook. She asked me to be the godmother to her unborn child. I
had a gift ready, but I never got to give it to her.”
“Oh, and your housekeeper, Mrs. Wang. She’s retiring next month to help at her daughter’s orchard. She used to bring me these long, sweet mulberries that tasted like honey.”
“I… I really wanted to stay. But before I knew it, I had been rejected 99 times.”
Mindy’s smile was a knife in Stefan’s heart. He gripped the bridge’s railing, his chest aching with a sharp,
stabbing pain.
“I’m sorry…”
He couldn’t even ask the question that burned in his heart.
Mindy finished her popsicle and clapped her hands together. “It’s fine. Just stick around for three days. We
never really got to talk all those years, anyway.”
