When we returned to the room, the teasing was louder than before.
Someone banged the table. “Arthur, Chloe, why don’t you just make it official tonight? We’ll all witness it.”
Chloe lowered her head with a blush that looked practiced and perfect. “Stop it, you guys.”
Another classmate called out to me, smiling in that careless way people smiled when they thought they were harmless.
“Zoe, you’re both Arthur’s neighbor and Chloe’s same-name counterpart. Why don’t you be the official representative of the people and tell us whether they match?”
All eyes turned to me.
I picked up my chopsticks and calmly took another bite of food.
“Yes,” I said. “They match perfectly. A handsome genius and a beautiful girl. Heaven-made pair. If they get married, make sure to invite me. As the neighbor, I’ll definitely bring a gift.”
Arthur set his chopsticks down.
The sound wasn’t loud, but the whole room went quiet.
He looked at the table and said flatly, “I have a girlfriend.”
Confusion rippled across the room.
Chloe’s smile froze.
Arthur’s eyes flicked to me before he added, “We just broke up. She got upset and wanted to make a scene, so I didn’t indulge her.”
The room exploded again.
“Wait, what? Arthur had a secret girlfriend?”
“Who is she? Which goddess got Arthur Sterling and still wasn’t satisfied?”
Chloe recovered quickly and laughed too. “Some girls really don’t know how to appreciate what they have. I can’t understand it either.”
Then she turned toward Arthur, chin lifted like she was about to unveil a private game between them.
“Oh, right. The problem I gave you. Did you solve it?”
The room whistled.
Arthur glanced at me, then looked back at her.
“Of course. The answer is 1314521.”
Everyone started hooting.
Chloe clapped her hands like a delighted child. “Amazing. Then I’ll tell you my secret. I got guaranteed admission to your grad school. We’re going to be classmates again.”
More cheering. More teasing.
She smiled brightly. “But I still want a welcome gift. Arthur, you’re so good at portraits. Will you paint me one?”
My chopsticks paused.
For three years, I had asked Arthur more times than I could count to paint me. Just once. Just one portrait.
He always refused.
“You can’t sit still.”
“You fidget too much.”
“My time is valuable.”
“I’m not wasting it playing boyfriend with you.”
I had once asked him, stubborn and hopeful, “How do you know I can’t do it if you don’t even try?”
He had looked at me with chilly impatience and said, “So now my valuable time is supposed to be spent entertaining you?”
That sentence had stayed with me longer than it should have.
And now, in front of everyone, Arthur said lightly, “Sure.”
Just one word.
Sure.
That was all it took.
The thing I had begged for over three years had turned out to be that weightless.
My stomach turned.
Beside me, Ryan slid a fresh glass of yogurt over without saying a word.
Then, like he sensed I was on the edge of either crying or smashing something, he quietly held out his phone.
“Want to see something stupid?”
On the screen was a video of him on a beach in Sanya during Lunar New Year, wearing sunglasses, flailing a toy staff around while heroic Monkey King music blasted in the background.
I stared at it for one second.
Then I laughed.
I laughed so hard my eyes watered.
“You are so ridiculous,” I gasped. “Why would you even film that?”
He scratched his nose. “Saw people online doing it. Thought it looked fun.”
“Do you have more?”
“I do.”
Coldly, from another table, Arthur’s voice cut across.
“Zoe.”
I looked up.
His face was dark.
“The class president is calling you. Didn’t you hear?”
I followed his gaze.
Chloe smiled sweetly. “It’s like this. Everyone still says they can’t always tell us apart. Since we’re both here, why don’t we come up with a better way to distinguish us?”
Someone blurted out, “Easy. We’ll call you Little Gold, and Zoe can be Little Wood.”
The entire table roared with laughter.
Maybe because gold sounded precious and wood sounded dull and plain.
Maybe because humiliation felt funniest when it happened to someone who never fought back.
I set down my chopsticks and stood up.
The laughter faded.
“There’s no need for any distinction,” I said. “I’m not close enough to any of you for that to matter. We’ve seen each other once in three years. The next time we meet, call me Zoe. If you can’t manage basic respect, then let’s stay strangers.”
Someone frowned. “Come on. Everyone’s just having fun. Isn’t that a little much?”
Ryan stood up beside me.
“If you think being rude is fun, maybe reflect on yourselves first,” he said. “Why do people who group up and laugh at others always think they’re superior?”
One of the guys from the center table stood too. “Oh, so now you two aren’t grouping up?”
Ryan smiled.
“No. I’m just pursuing the girl I like.”
The room went silent.
He didn’t look away.
“If she’s right, I support her. If she’s wrong, I’ll still take her side. It’s that simple.”
My face heated instantly.
No one had ever defended me like that in public.
Not once.
Not in all the years I had known Arthur.
Ryan turned to me more gently. “Let’s go.”
From the moment I stood up to the moment I walked out of that room, Arthur didn’t say another word.
But I could feel his eyes on me the entire time.
Like something had finally slipped out of his control, and he didn’t know what to do with it.