Chapter 2

Gabriel and I had indeed been entangled for a lifetime.

By the time I was ten, I was already the little girl who followed Gabriel around everywhere.

Although we weren't in the same elementary school, every holiday I would shamelessly go to Gabriel's house to do homework together.

Perhaps it was because my resentment was too strong, but after death my soul began to drift through various scenes of my interactions with Gabriel.

Although I could only watch helplessly as everything unfolded, fortunately I could now hear Gabriel's inner thoughts.

Before my eyes was a little girl chewing on her pen and staring blankly at a difficult problem. She looked to be about 10 years old. Across from her sat a boy diligently working on his own problems.

This was 10-year-old me and 11-year-old Gabriel.

"Gabriel, how do you do this one? Can you teach me?" "I" finally gave up on the difficult problem and looked at the boy across from me with pleading eyes.

He didn't say anything. The air fell into a brief silence, but at that moment I heard his inner voice:

"So annoying. She still can't do two-digit addition and subtraction at this age. Why is she pretending?"

Hearing those words, I froze in place.

In my memories, the young Gabriel had been like a gentle older brother. Those harsh words would never have come out of his mouth.

I had grown up without a father's love, so I was more likely to show my vulnerable side to a boy my age.

Seeing the boy hadn't responded, the girl continued speaking. She pushed her workbook in front of him with a pitiful expression.

"I really don't know how to do it. I'm not lying."

"Just do your homework quietly," the boy still didn't look up at the girl.

"So annoying. I wish she would leave already."

At the same time, I heard his inner voice speaking again.

The scene ended with the girl leaving with red-rimmed eyes, her backpack slung over her shoulder. What had seemed like a heart-warming moment ended with such an abrupt and careless conclusion.

The "stage" was now empty, with both the male and female leads gone. But as an audience member, I still couldn't process what I had seen.

Because I clearly remembered that I really had been stuck on those two-digit addition and subtraction problems back then.

I never imagined Gabriel had been so annoyed with me even then. So why did he agree to my requests?