Chapter 1

Exhausted, I set down the mug of ice-cold tea and hung the damp scarf on the coat rack.

Chloe crawled out from under the thick duvet and grabbed my hands. “You’re freezing!” She pulled my hands into her palms, rubbing them briskly to bring back the warmth. Then, she looked up at Valen with a soft, pouty frown. “Valen, I told you we should have waited a bit for Sera, but you were in such a rush.”

Valen held up his hands in defeat. “Alright, alright, princess. My bad.”

As he spoke, he gently guided Chloe back onto the bed, carefully tucking the blanket around her shoulders. “You’re in fragile health, and you’re terrified of the cold. Why are you trying to warm her hands when you can barely keep yourself warm?”

Then, he tossed a towel toward me. “If you’re cold, hurry up and take a hot shower. Don’t expect Chloe to wait on you.”

The towel landed squarely over my head. My frozen arms couldn’t react in time to catch it. I pulled it down slowly, then walked silently into the bathroom.

As the hot water poured over me, a faint sense of vitality finally returned to my body. Soon after, sharp, rhythmic waves of cramps hit my lower abdomen.

Valen and I had grown up together as childhood sweethearts in the same neighborhood compound. Chloe was my college roommate. They only became close because of me. Because of their shared passion for photography, they quickly developed a bond as close friends who talked about everything.

Though they were both usually quiet people, they always had endless topics to discuss whenever they were together. I had clumsily tried to join their conversations in the past. However, the questions I asked only ever made them exchange a knowing smile.

“How do you manage to know absolutely nothing about this?” they would say.

When I stepped out of the bathroom, the room had already gone dark. They were fast asleep.

I quietly made my way to the edge of the bed. The moment I lay down, Valen’s large, warm hand reached over and slid beneath my shirt. His palm settled perfectly over my lower abdomen.

“Your period started today, right? Let me warm it up for you.”

I instinctively tried to pull away, but I stopped. Instead, I greedily soaked in the heat radiating from his palm.

We had known each other for fifteen years. For as long as I could remember, I had always run right behind him. He had been different from the other kids since childhood—the undisputed leader of the neighborhood block, while I was simply his loyal little shadow.

Five years ago, I finally gathered the courage to confess my feelings to him. To my surprise, he agreed. Nobody thought we would last, yet he truly placed me at the center of his world back then.

He always remembered the exact cycle of my periods. He remembered that I couldn’t handle the cold, so his backpack always carried an extra jacket just for me.

But ever since Chloe entered our lives, that extra jacket never found its way onto my shoulders again.

The tears I had suppressed all evening finally slipped silently from my eyes.

Sensing my movement, Valen wrapped his arm around me and rolled over to face me. “What’s wrong? Are you jealous?”

“Chloe’s health is poor,” he murmured into the dark. “I’m only looking out for her more because you told me to take care of her. I just didn’t want you to worry.

“Alright, stop throwing a tantrum. Chloe gets up early. If we sleep in, she’ll end up waiting for us for ages.”

My throat felt as though it were choked with wet cotton. With great effort, I managed to whisper, “I know.”

Soon, his steady, even breathing filled the room. I kept my eyes wide open in the dark, unable to sleep.

Perhaps Valen had long forgotten the promise he made to me four years ago. He had promised that he would propose to me under the northern lights.

Now, the aurora borealis had finally appeared. But the person standing by his side to watch it was no longer me.