Outside the gym, Ethan was sitting on a bench.
Before long, Vanessa ca over from the other direction, holding two cans of soda. She handed one of them, a Coke, to Ethan.
“Thanks.”
Ethan smiled as he thanked her, then cracked open the can and took a big gulp.
Vanessa couldn’t help but glance over, a bit surprised by how enthusiastically he drank. She thought Lila’s drinking style was a bit… bold.
Clearly, she didn’t understand that half the joy of drinking Coke is in that first sip.
The reason they were outside the gym in the first place was that Vanessa had recently told Ethan she wanted to repay him for a favor.
She asked if there was anything she could do for him.
Ethan, being the helpful guy he was—and also genuinely thirsty—said she could just buy him a drink.
But Vanessa didn’t think that was enough. She sat down next to him and turned to ask, “What else? Is there anything else I can do?”
At first, Ethan didn’t quite get what she ant and shook his head. “Nah, this Coke is more than enough.”
But Vanessa wasn’t having it. “No, it’s not enough. Not even close.”
“Huh?”
Ethan turned to her, confused.
Vanessa looked at him with a determined expression. “I know the saying, ‘A drop of water should be repaid with a spring,’ and this was more than just a small favor—you saved my life.”
Her pride wouldn’t let her repay him so easily. If she didn’t do more, it would weigh on her forever.
Hearing this, Ethan frowned, surprised. “Vanessa, are you seriously making a big deal out of this?”
But Vanessa ignored his teasing and said seriously, “Anything. Whatever you need, as long as I can do it.”
“But I don’t need anything from you,” Ethan said, exasperated.
“That’s fine. I can wait,” Vanessa insisted.
Wait, when did Vanessa beco so intense? Ethan thought to himself.
He could feel how serious she was, and it was starting to drive him a little crazy.
Who goes around chasing people to repay them? And what about my opinion in all this?
Ethan thought Vanessa’s whole approach was a bit off. He’d already said a Coke was enough, but she clearly didn’t think so.
Feeling even more frustrated, Ethan scratched his head and figured he might as well ask her what she had in mind.
“Alright, Vanessa. What do you think I should ask you to do?”
Vanessa looked a little lost at that. What kind of question is that? she thought.
Seeing her struggle to answer, Ethan realized that if he didn’t give her sothing to do, she’d never let this go.
So, he decided to use the “open-the-window” tactic: ask for sothing so outrageous that she’d have no choice but to back down, and then he could lower the bar.
With a serious tone, he said, “Well, since you’re so insistent, I won’t hold back.”
“I need you to get into Harvard, graduate, make a ton of money, and then support for the rest of my life. Can you do that?”
As expected, Vanessa was stunned. She fell silent, clearly taken aback.
Which made sense—what high schooler could possibly agree to sothing so ridiculous?
Ethan was about to lower the demand when, to his shock, Vanessa suddenly spoke up.
“Lila, you want to support you for life? I’ll do it.”
What the hell? Ethan was floored. He stared at her in disbelief. Vanessa, what kind of ga are you playing?
He quickly tried to talk her out of it. “You know that’s for life, right? Not a day, not a month, not a year—a lifeti. That ans even when we’re 90, you’ll still be supporting .”
“I’ve already made up my mind. I’ll carry the weight of your life,” Vanessa said, completely unfazed.
Ethan was even more confused now.
As a fan, getting to et Vanessa should’ve been a pretty exciting thing, right? So how did things suddenly get so heavy?
Was she planning to stick with him for life?
But Ethan quickly snapped out of it.
Wait a second—this is Lila’s account.
Oh, well, that’s fine then.
Still, being a responsible stand-in, Ethan didn’t want to cause any trouble for Lila.
He let out a sigh and said, “Alright, the whole ‘support for life’ thing was just a joke. Please, Vanessa, forget about it.”
At this point, he was completely worn down by Vanessa’s persistence and didn’t dare make any more wild requests.
Seeing that Vanessa seed like she still wanted to say sothing, Ethan cut her off. “Vanessa, if you really want to do sothing for , then just be my friend.”
Friend?
Vanessa was taken aback. She hadn’t expected him to ask for sothing like that.
Then she watched as Lila stood up from the bench, stretched, and turned to her, saying, “As you can see, I’ve never really had any friends. But now, I think it’s ti for to take that step forward. So, can I ask you to be my first friend?”
Vanessa could tell from the look on her face that she was serious.
And when Lila talked about “taking a step forward,” was she only referring to herself?
Hadn’t Vanessa also reached a point where she needed to move forward?
With that thought, Vanessa quickly made up her mind. She stood up and said, “Lila, if you don’t mind having soone like , I’d be happy to be your friend.”
“Looking forward to it, Lila.”
As she spoke, she extended her hand.
Ethan smiled and reached out to shake it. “Looking forward to it, Vanessa.”
As their hands clasped, Ethan felt a little emotional.
I’m such a good stand-in, right? Lila, you’ve got a friend now!
Ethan was even thinking about sending Lila a ssage to share the good news when Vanessa spoke up again. “So, as your friend, is there anything you need to do?”
Ethan nearly spat out the sip of Coke he’d just taken. He stared at her, wide-eyed.
Vanessa, are you serious right now?!
But then Vanessa saw his expression and burst out laughing.
It was only then that Ethan realized she was joking.
And, by the way, Vanessa’s smile was really beautiful.
But ssing with him like that? Oh, she was asking for it!
Ethan wasn’t about to let her off the hook. He opened his mouth to fire back, “Vanessa, you—”
But before he could finish, she interrupted him.
“Nessa. Call Nessa.”
“…”
Ethan was speechless.
He looked at Vanessa’s soft, gentle expression.
Is this what they call the ‘white moonlight’ look?
By the ti Ethan snapped out of it, he had already blurted out her na.
And just like that, his heart skipped a beat.
Oh no, I’ve t a temptress.
“Uh… then I’ll call you Lil Bunny, okay?” Vanessa was now trying to settle on nicknas between friends.
But Ethan quickly shot that down, looking at her seriously. “Call Lila!”
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