Chapter 471

• That time he stopped me to borrow a pen wasn't a coincidence. He was excited to reconnect with me, but I was very cold. While from a social standpoint things only got better for him, for me it was the opposite. An accumulation of frustrations made me even more distant from people, to the point that I couldn't see the intentions of the only person who tried to befriend me. I bit my lower lip, regretting having closed myself off to the world. Maybe he wasn't the only one; maybe others had given me signs that I couldn't see.
• "Because you didn't recognize me, I lost the courage to show how I felt. Still, I kept watching you, waiting for an opportunity. You were a distant child, and during recess, you always sat in the most isolated corner of the playground with a notebook and pen in your hand. Behind your indifferent attitude, I noticed a lonely and sad girl. When you changed schools and I learned you had gone to Genius School, I did everything I could to get a scholarship there, but my plan didn't work out very well because my mother fell ill shortly after. When her condition worsened, I was forced to leave school to stay at the hospital and take care of her. In that hospital room, I continued to study for my dream, and before she died, my mother made me promise to finish my studies and have a better future. That's why I insisted on Genius School, even though I didn't get the scholarship. You don't know how frustrated I felt that we only studied together for a year and a half. Soon after, you moved away, and I really thought I would never see you again. When I realized you were really Lisa, I was relieved to know you had found someone special."
• I was completely lost in his words, trying to interpret his statement correctly. He cared about me so much that he changed schools twice. I understood that the delay in his studies was due to his mother's illness, but spending the insurance money he received to study at Genius School seemed excessive to me. If he was really in love, he would have approached me instead of just watching me from a distance, especially considering that he was a sociable and popular person. If that wasn't it, then what did he really feel?