Part 1The Unfocused Gaze

My boyfriend's sister posted a photo in her friend circle, joining the trend of sharing post-coital selfies.

Her caption read: [A veteran of the game, but I've never experienced the feeling of my pupils losing focus.]

I thought it was hilarious and shared the gossip with my boyfriend, Liam.

But Liam stared at the phone, his eyes turning red.

That night, Liam left home using overtime as an excuse.

A few hours later, his sister updated her post-coital selfie again.

[First time experiencing pupil defocus, complete!]

The man in this photo had a distinct red mole on his collarbone.

Just like my boyfriend, Liam.

* * *

I used to be the kind of person who would sulk silently, so I called Liam immediately.

But after a few rings, the call was disconnected.

I tried a few more times, refusing to give up, but each time it was instantly declined.

I sent Liam a message on WeChat, demanding he contact me immediately to explain.

But the next moment, I refreshed and saw two new updates from his sister, Tara.

[So annoying, do some spoiled wives have any self-awareness? Don't call and disturb people's dreams!!]

[Called over a dozen times, really scared me. Is the spoiled wife going to kneel downstairs at the apartment begging her husband to come home later? (Covering mouth laughing)]

These two posts were obviously directed at me. At this point, I didn't need to seek confirmation from Liam anymore.

So I announced the breakup directly in my friend circle.

[Called my boyfriend, accidentally woke up his bed partner. I felt really bad, so I had to turn my boyfriend into an ex-boyfriend to help his bed partner cool off.]

Then I sent a private message to Liam: [Unilateral breakup, take care of yourself.]

Although I sent the breakup text, I still hoped deep down that Liam could give me a reasonable explanation.

We've known each other for over twenty years, childhood sweethearts. I didn't want this relationship to end so unclearly.

A minute after the message was sent, Liam called me back.

"Xia, sorry, the boss was dragging us into a meeting just now, so I could only keep declining your calls."

"Do you know you scared me with that breakup message? Did you misunderstand something?"

I didn't answer, instead, I listened carefully to the background noise on Liam's end.

There was the sound of typing on keyboards, and I could vaguely hear a male voice pumping up subordinates.

"Xia, listen if you don't believe me. Colleagues are all working overtime now. If I call you back, they'll think I'm slacking off."

Seeing I didn't reply, Liam immediately held the phone to the side.

The sound of typing coming from the phone became clearer, mixed with a few complaints from working drones.

Could it be that I really misunderstood?

But Tara's posts were too coincidental.

Liam softly pleaded a few more times on the other end, sounding like he was indeed being urged by colleagues with killer looks.

After thinking about it, I decided to wait for Liam to come back and clarify things.