"Ugh…!"

Lucy clutched her chest, feeling the intense pain that surged within as she watched Lin and Rabin embracing amidst the fireworks. They were beautiful together, a pair that seemed perfectly matched even in her eyes.

Watching them sent a wave of anguish through her chest. She reached out toward Lin, but there was no way he would look back from that distant hill. Despair settled over Lucy as she grasped how unreachable he was.

“Ah…”

Arsil, too, quietly swallowed her tears, pressing a hand against her chest. She had to endure, to hold back, to bear it. But she couldn’t keep watching them. Seeing Rabin, radiant as a blossoming flower from Lin’s gentle kiss on her forehead, was too much for her. She hated herself for feeling such dirty, festering jealousy toward the last of her childhood friends.

“Lin…”

Rabin softly wrapped her arm around the back of Lin’s neck, pulling him close, pressing herself entirely against him as their eyes locked. Their gazes drew each other in, dark eyes capturing the blue, and blue eyes ensnaring the dark. Slowly, their faces inched closer until their breaths mingled, and Rabin closed her eyes.