Chapter 4

His friends around him were all jeering, wanting him to show his phone gallery.

Their spectating gazes swept back and forth between the three of us.

Ethan looked troubled. The person next to him spoke up, sounding rather bored: "Don't you guys know Ethan's getting married soon? His gallery must be full of his wife. What's there to see? Social media would be more exciting!"

Another person joked: "Why didn't you say that earlier? Next round, next round."

Ethan's face flushed from the teasing. His probing gaze quickly swept across Luna's face.

Then he took out his phone, preparing to unlock it.

Perhaps the lighting in the room was too dim — his face recognition failed several times.

Just as his phone was about to lock, he could only helplessly input the numeric password under everyone's gaze.

After entering six digits, Luna's eyes flickered.

Teasing laughter came from the side: "That looks a bit familiar. Whose birthday is that? Luna's?"

Ethan cleared his throat lightly. "Don't know. Got used to using it, forgot to change it."

His friend was impatient and snatched his phone away.

The next second, Ethan's gallery was displayed before everyone.

Disappointment flashed across everyone's faces in unison.

No photos of me, no work materials, no gossip they wanted.

Only countless moons.

Five years. Nineteen hundred photos.

Ethan and Luna's gazes met. The air filled with their unique understanding and romance.

His friends and I seemed isolated in a separate space from them.

My heart gradually sank to the bottom. I could almost hear my own heavy heartbeat in my ears.

Soon, his friend spoke disappointedly: "What's wrong with you? Why'd you take so many photos of the moon? Want to be a photographer?"

"Isn't this hobby way classier than gaming? I really appreciate it."

Luna's face lit up with a sweet smile, her eyes so tender they could melt.

As if among all these people in the room, only she understood Ethan.

The first round passed just like that.

But in the second round, Ethan lost again.

This time the condition was to choose an opposite-sex person present and kiss them.

The one who made this request was still Ethan's friend who kept trying to set them up.

There were only two women in the room — Luna and me.

The noisy jeering rose and fell.

Ethan gritted his teeth and glared at him for a long while.

Finally speaking slowly: "I'm drunk. I'm leaving."

After saying that, he tilted his head back and downed a bottle of alcohol, getting up to leave the room.

Seeing no show to watch, his friends also left one after another.

The three of us walked outside together to hail cabs.

A car suddenly sped past from the side.

Ethan's first instinct was to pull Luna into his arms.

I was knocked down by that car and fell to the ground. The spot on my palm where my nails had scratched earlier broke open.

Blood instantly seeped from the wound. I bit down hard on my jaw from the pain.

Tears of grievance squeezed from the corners of my eyes.

On the last night before leaving, I didn't want to show weakness in front of him.

Ethan's gaze fell on me, his eyes filled with apology.

He helped me up, just about to apologize, when I shook my head stubbornly: "I'm fine. Just didn't stand steady. Don't worry about me."

"Your classmate just got back. She's probably not too familiar with things here. You should take her home. I can manage on my own."