Chapter 1: The Comments That Changed Everything

My heart skipped.

I looked away, suddenly unable to meet Elias Carter's eyes.

Under the man's sharp gaze, I quietly clenched the bedsheet in my hands and answered in a small voice, "I'm sleepy."

Elias stared at me in silence for two seconds.

He probably did not notice anything strange in my expression. A moment later, he turned over and said in a flat tone, "Go to sleep."

I looked at the man's cold back, and a bitter feeling washed through my chest.

I got up and turned off the light.

When I lay back down, I remembered the comments I had seen earlier. I shifted closer to the edge of the bed and tried to stay as far from Elias as possible.

For once, I stopped shamelessly clinging to him.

I told myself that this way he might hate me a little less.

In the darkness, while I listened to the steady sound of his breathing behind me, my thoughts drifted.

Deep down, I had always known Elias did not really like me.

Ever since we started dating, he had treated me with a lukewarm distance. He even resisted physical affection from me.

I was hopeless when it came to love. I wanted to be around Elias every second of every day. Even though he never said it out loud, the slight frown on his face and the tension in his expression always gave him away.

He did not want it. I had never realized it before.

To get closer to him, I lied and said I was scared of living alone. I forced my way into moving into his apartment.

Later, I pushed things further and started sleeping in his bedroom.

Every night, I wrapped myself around him like an octopus, arms and legs tangled around him.

Elias had allowed it.

Thinking back, his first reaction had always been rejection.

I wanted to stay beside him so badly that I ignored all those small signs. That meant the comments I saw earlier were probably true.

My chest felt heavy.

The more I thought about it, the worse I felt. I did not fall asleep until the middle of the night.

When I woke again, I was lying in Elias's arms, and my right arm was tightly wrapped around his waist.

His chest rose and fell in a slow, steady rhythm.

After a brief moment of blank surprise, regret hit me hard. I had gotten too used to sleeping while holding him during those past few months. I must have wrapped myself around him in my sleep.

If Elias woke up and saw this, he would definitely be upset.

I slowly and carefully pulled my arm back. I tried to put some distance between us without him noticing.

I was about to succeed.

Then someone grabbed my wrist. Startled, I looked up into Elias's dark eyes.

He seemed like he had only just woken up too.

His voice was slightly hoarse. "What are you doing?"

I panicked and yanked my hand back. I pressed both palms against his chest and pushed him away. "S-Sorry. It's getting late. We should get ready for work."

Elias said nothing. He only stared at me without any expression.

Even without meeting his eyes directly, I felt the icy pressure that came from him.

[The male lead's definitely annoyed because the side character hugged him again while sleeping.]

[Seriously, who even likes being hugged while they sleep? It's so uncomfortable.]

[Exactly. They're adults already. Can the side character please learn some boundaries?]

[Forget the male lead. I wouldn't be able to stand someone this clingy either.]

I lowered my eyes, and my lashes trembled slightly.

The comments made me feel painfully embarrassed.

I started to panic when Elias's deep voice sounded above my head again. His tone was low and steady, and I could not read him at all.

"About that goodnight kiss from yesterday," he said slowly. "Want to make up for it now?"