Luna saw the label titled "THE PRETTIEST LUNA." It turned out the picture was taken when she was in college. Why had she never noticed Leo was there all this time? And how did Leo know about her college? Was it through Adam? Luna looked at another picture. There was also a picture of her working at the cafe.
"So he came to the cafe and noticed me from the beginning?" Luna muttered to herself. Her eyes caught sight of Leo's diary in her hands. Surely, this diary held all the answers, right?
Luna sat down on the sofa. She opened the first page of Leo's diary. Judging by the date, Leo started writing this diary when he was seventeen. Luna began reading without skipping a single sentence.
"Don't do anything and stay still if you don't want to end up like Adam. Don't embarrass me again, Leo."
Dad's words played in my mind. Embarrass him? What did I do to embarrass him? I punched the tree trunk to release my pent-up anger. Is it wrong for me to want to be a national football player? Why has Dad never supported me even once? Why does he always see Adam? Am I not his child, too? I looked up at the sky. Today, the weather is so bright, but my heart is shattered. I leaned against the tree. I knew I was jealous of Adam. His exam results were excellent, and mine were pathetic. I had tried my best, but luck was never on my side. All my life, I was only good at playing football. I hated reading books like Adam. I sighed heavily. While deep in thought, I heard the sound of a cat meowing in the middle of the road. From a distance, I saw a car speeding towards the kitten. Just as I was about to save it, a girl suddenly ran past me and saved the kitten.
"Little one, why are you sitting in the middle of the road? Don't you know it's dangerous?" The girl said as she stroked the kitten by the roadside. She smiled broadly at the kitten. That smile made my heart skip a beat, and for a moment, I just watched her tenderly petting the kitten.
"She's so beautiful…" My heart whispered unconsciously. The girl was so engrossed in petting the kitten that she didn't notice my presence just a few meters away.
"Come with me. I'll take care of you until you get better."
I heard the girl say. Without waiting long, I followed her slowly. I had no intention of being a stalker. For some reason, my heart felt at peace just watching her. From a distance, I saw her meet Adam, who was waiting in front of her house, and I realized that she was the best friend Adam had told me about before.
And I also knew that Adam had feelings for the girl. Knowing I couldn't bring myself to steal Adam's happiness and risk our relationship for a girl. The next day, I waited not far from her house and silently accompanied her to school. Just seeing her made me happy. I often secretly took her pictures. I wasn't a stalker or a peeper. I just wanted to see her.
Since then, it has become my routine to secretly take her pictures, accompany her to school, and walk her home. It was the only way I could always see her and smile.
"You haven't hung out with us in a while," John said when I came to the back of the school that afternoon.
"I've been busy," I replied curtly.
"Busy? Do you think we're blind? Do you have something going on with that girl, Luna? I've noticed you always watching her and following her around. Don't tell me you like her?" Tyler chimed in. I sighed.
"I'm not," I denied. It's not that I didn't know John's behavior. I was worried he might involve Luna. John and I were only classmates in boxing. I often sparred with him until he finally invited me to join his group. My mistake was not investigating from the start. I never knew John turned out to be a school bully who liked to extort money from other students. If it weren't for wanting to gather evidence and expose him to the teachers, I wouldn't hang out with them.
"Are you sure you have no feelings for her?"
"Yeah. I've never liked her."
"Good. Would you do it if I asked you to mess with her?" John laughed softly. I clenched my fists. I nearly lost my temper when suddenly Luna's name came out of his lips.
"What are you doing here, Luna?"
I turned to see Luna. My eyes widened when I saw her there. Her face clearly showed fear of seeing John. I looked around to see if any other boys had brought her here, but there was no one.
"Why is she here?" I murmured softly.
"I... I want to see Leo…" Luna stammered.
I furrowed my brows. See me? Why? Did she already know I'd been stalking her? Or did she notice I had seen her picture? If so, what should I say?
"Why do you want to see Leo? Is he your boyfriend?" John asked.
"Hey! What are you doing?" a teacher yelled, causing John and me to freeze.
"Everyone here, follow me to the discipline office now!"
I widened my eyes at Mr. Hale and shook my head slowly. After meeting with the teacher in the discipline office, John and his gang were given detention. I tried to explain to the teacher that Luna was not involved, but the other discipline teachers didn't believe me. I finally asked Mr. Hale to include me in detention so I could protect Luna if anything happened, and my hunch was entirely correct.
"Hey, what were you doing there earlier? You're the one who reported us to the teacher, weren't you?" I heard John say. I pretended to be asleep.
"It... it wasn't me. If I had reported you, I wouldn't be here," Luna replied. I hid a smile. Luna was brave. As I thought she wasn't a weak girl who could be bullied. She knew how to stand up for herself and wasn't afraid to fight back.
"Oh, you're brave enough to answer back, huh? If you didn't report us, what were you doing there?"
"Why don't you answer, huh, girl?" Tyler snapped. I clenched my fists. My heart burned with anger.
"I... I didn't mean to cause any trouble for anyone. This is all a misunderstanding. Really. I'm not lying. I wasn't the one who reported to the teacher. I swear!"
"This girl is really getting on my nerves." John's voice changed.
"You really need to be taught a lesson, girl..." Tyler said with a big laugh.
"Why? Are you scared, girl? You weren't scared when you reported us, were you?" they taunted.
"I already said it wasn't me!" Luna screamed, panicking.
"Come here. Don't think you'll get out of this class alive. Who would come to help you at a time like this? The teachers? Do you think they have the time to wait around for us?" John said, followed by the laughter of his friends.
"Hey, why are you making so much noise? Can't you see I'm trying to sleep?" I stretched lazily.
"Sleep? Fine. Go back to sleep. We're going to teach this girl a lesson in the next classroom. If you want to join, come on." They invited me. Teach her a lesson in the next classroom? They must be out of their minds. I burst out laughing suddenly.
"You're laughing?"
"Isn't it funny? Well, what are you planning to do to this girl? She looks really scared. Just let her go," I said. Luna looked at me with teary eyes, clearly terrified. It made my heart burn even more.
"What? You're telling me to let this girl go? Do you know she's the reason we all got caught? If it weren't for her..."
"You're wrong. She didn't report you," I said. I could choose to fight John and his gang, but I really hated doing exhausting things.
"What? If it wasn't her, then who? Who betrayed us?"
"Isn't it obvious? Who else but me?" I admitted calmly while picking up my ear.
"You what?!"
Before they could attack, I quickly grabbed Luna's hand and pulled her out of the classroom. I held her hand tightly and laughed softly. I led her into a small, dark alley. Panting, I laughed as I remembered their faces.
"Wow, that was so fun." I laughed and glanced at my hand, still holding Luna's. I quickly let go and felt my face heat up.
"Sorry. Did I pull your hand too hard?"
Luna shook her head. I scratched my head, feeling awkward but also happy. This was the first time I got to talk to her, and my heart was blooming with joy.
"Err, sorry for getting you involved. I didn't know the teacher would catch you too. Well, where's your house? Let me walk you home. It's already late. Your parents might be worried."
Luna nodded, and I never expected her to agree so quickly. Walking with her for the first time after secretly following her for so long, it was hard to explain how happy I felt that night. I knew I wouldn't be able to sleep thinking about it.
"Why did you do that? Aren't you one of them?" Luna broke the silence.
"I'm not. For your information, I'm not one of them. I was just pretending. To report them, I needed to gather information and important evidence first. But wait, you've never seen me before? I'm the captain of our school's football team. You've never watched my matches?"
"No," Luna replied.
"Well, you should watch next time. Who knows, one day, I might become a national football player. Who knows." I tried to pique her interest. Maybe she'd want to watch my match because I really wanted to see her cheer for me.
"You want to be a national football player?"
"Yup. That's my dream. I'm working towards that dream now. So, you better watch my matches," I said proudly. I wanted to see her in one of the audience, which was one of my dreams.
"Luna."
Luna lifted her head, and it turned out Mark had returned without her noticing. He glanced at the black leather diary in Luna's hand, now halfway read.
"So, you've seen that room?"
Luna nodded weakly. She was deeply moved after reading Leo's diary. She hadn't expected Leo to have waited for her all this time.
"So, you know about the diary and that room too?"
Mark nodded.
"Luna, Leo, and I have been friends for a long time, since school. After he got injured, he transferred to my school. He was the one who helped me when I was being bullied, and since then, I've been loyal to him up until now. I always followed him wherever he went, and he would go to a girl's house every holiday. He would just watch her from afar and follow her around all day. That's what he did every school break. When I asked, he said the girl was his first love, the only one who could bring him peace. After that, every time he fought with his father or felt stressed about his leg, he would just stand from afar near the girl's house all day. This continued until you entered college, Luna. He would just watch you from afar, take your pictures a few times, and after seeing you, he would smile all day."
Tears streamed down Luna's face.
"Leo always blamed himself for not taking care of his leg properly. As you know, that injury made him stop playing football. Leo shined because of only two things: football and... you, Luna. After he lost football, you were his whole world."
"Why... why did he never express his feelings to me?"
"He and Adam are brothers, you know that. He also knew Adam's feelings for you. I remember, before we went abroad, he managed to confess his feelings to you. He was so happy, telling me that you liked him too. Unfortunately, after we came back, everything changed in an instant. You suddenly became cold to him, and he returned to just watching you from afar."
Luna wiped the tears that kept falling.
"It turns out his life was harder than I ever imagined, and now, even though we're together, why is his life still difficult? Why, out of everyone, does he have to suffer from that illness?" Luna cried.
Mark was silent.
"This is just temporary. I'm sure after this, you and Leo will live happily. Like you said, he's been through so much. I believe he will recover."
"Mark, I want to see Leo. Let's go back to the hospital. I need to see him quickly."
Mark nodded. Suddenly, his phone rang. Mark answered the call without waiting long, and what he heard changed his expression.
"Mark... Why?"
"He's gone. Leo... Leo is gone."
"What?"