The next day, morning, the sun was bright.
To the crisp chirping of birds, Su Hao awoke from a sweet dream.
"Peilin, what time is it?" Rubbing his eyes, Su Hao murmured as if in a dream.
Unfortunately, no one beside him responded.
"Peilin?" Su Hao reached out to feel beside him, but did not find Peilin's delicate body.
Only then did he open his eyes and see the empty space beside him.
On Peilin's pillow, there was a book and a letter.
The envelope was antique and very much in the style of Zhonghua (China), appearing out of place in this 'stick country' (Korea).
Su Hao's heart skipped a beat, realizing something was wrong. He quickly sat up, tore open the letter, and saw Peilin's farewell letter to him.
Dear Brother Su Hao:
By the time you read this letter, I will already be on my way to the airport.
Please forgive my unannounced departure, as I truly don't know how to face you, and my mother.
I cannot tolerate my mother, who raised me, doing such an illicit thing with you, whom I love most.
Please do not argue, for I trust my judgment. Although I am naive, I am not foolish.
Brother Su Hao, do you know? I truly love you. I fell in love with you years ago when you first came to my house.
At that time, I thought you were clumsy and silly, and were even bullied by my sister, so I wanted to protect you.
Now that I think about it, it turns out I was the most foolish one. Even such a dignified and virtuous mother could be charmed by you and do such an unacceptable thing with you. How could you have been bullied by my sister?
Perhaps, even my sister has fallen victim to you? Our family is truly miserable, to attract a wolf like you to covet us.
But coincidentally, we were all willing, perhaps that is your extraordinary quality.
Brother Su Hao, these past few years, these past few days with you, have been the happiest days of my life.
Even if you lied to me, I still love you, whether in the past, present, or future, I deeply love you.
But what about you? Honestly, do you truly love me? In your heart, perhaps I am just a tool.
A tool to release pressure, a tool to increase your and Mom's excitement.
Otherwise, why would you have done such a thing last night?
Brother Su Hao, in the past, I didn't understand what love was. You made me understand that love can be to disregard everything for someone, and it can also be to give up everything for someone.
So, I choose to leave.
I can see that you prefer my mother, so please protect her well.
I will silently watch over you both from afar.
— Your loving Peilin.
Peilin left? After reading the letter, Su Hao felt a sense of loss. He couldn't believe that such a well-behaved and lovely Peilin would so resolutely run away from home.
She truly loves me, what a foolish girl.
Caressing the tear stains on the letter, Su Hao sighed, silently cursing himself for being an animal.
Because this letter was actually written in Chinese.
From the handwriting, it was clear that Peilin had practiced for a long time, even knowing the format of a letter.
Rubbing the corners of his eyes, Su Hao put down the letter and picked up the book beside it.
This was a thick dictionary. Opening a random page, he could see Peilin's annotations.
Su Hao flipped through dozens of pages, finding that every page had notes, and Peilin was diligently studying even many obscure characters that Su Hao himself didn't recognize.
Occasionally, he could also see her complaints, seeing her grumble about the difference between "of," "have to," and "land," and seeing her fret about why it was "two" (two of something) and not "Two" (the number two).
As he read, Su Hao's eyes became a little moist. For the first time in his two lives, he was moved by a girl's love.
Taking a deep breath, Su Hao closed the dictionary; he couldn't bear to read on.
Because Peilin's love was too heavy, he was a scumbag, and he couldn't bear it.
"Knock knock knock! Xiao Hao, are you awake?" Rhythmic knocking sounded, and Aunt Meijing's voice came from outside the door.
"I'm awake, the door isn't closed, Auntie, come in." Rubbing his eyes, Su Hao put the dictionary and envelope under the quilt.
"Just woke up?" Gently opening the door and seeing Su Hao sitting on the bed shirtless, Aunt Meijing immediately smiled: "Hurry up and wash up, then come eat."
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"Okay, I'll go right away." Su Hao nodded, hesitated for a moment, then added, "Auntie, have you seen Peilin?"
"I knew you'd ask that. Peilin had something at her company today, so she left early. Unlike you, waking up so late." Aunt Meijing grumbled at Su Hao, but her eyes were full of affection for him.
"Oh, I see." Su Hao nodded dejectedly and reached for the clothes nearby.
"What's wrong? You look down in the dumps." Aunt Meijing noticed Su Hao's unusual behavior and asked worriedly.
"It's nothing, I just have a bit of morning grumpiness." Su Hao forced a smile, not mentioning Peilin's matter.
He didn't want Aunt Meijing to worry.
"It's normal to have morning grumpiness, just go wash your face and you'll be fine." Aunt Meijing said softly.
"Hmm, I'm going now. Auntie, why don't you join me? Morning is the perfect time for exercise." To avoid Aunt Meijing noticing anything amiss, Su Hao deliberately showed his usual playful smile.
"Dream on!" Seeing Su Hao back to his usual self, Aunt Meijing smiled, glared at him, waved her hand, and turned to leave.
Watching his aunt walk away, Su Hao dropped his smile, threw back the covers, and stared at the dictionary and letter.
He seemed to see Peilin's struggle and reluctance when she left, but in the end, she still went.
He reached out and gently stroked the dictionary, preparing to carefully put it away, but as he picked it up, he saw a line of delicate small script on the last page of the dictionary:
One day, I will return to Su Hao Ge's hometown with him and live a happy life. Peilin, you can do it!
A happy life? Peilin, for you, what is happiness?
Staring at the small script, Su Hao's gaze slowly became firm.
Because he remembered that he was a scumbag, and a scumbag would not let go of any beauty.
"Auntie, I have something to take care of, so I won't be eating breakfast!"
After deciding to find Peilin, Su Hao quickly washed up and left after saying goodbye to Aunt Meijing.
"Honestly, what's gotten into everyone today?" Aunt Meijing sighed helplessly, watching Su Hao leave like a gust of wind.
"Teleportation array, activate!" After rushing out of the house, Su Hao's figure instantly disappeared.
A guy riding a bicycle by the roadside saw this scene and rubbed his eyes as if he had seen a ghost.
In the familiar alley, Su Hao's figure slowly emerged.
Seeing the surroundings, he was stunned. Didn't Peilin say she was going to the airport? Why would she be here?
Walking out of the alley, Su Hao saw a familiar restaurant, the one where he had saved Peilin from the manager last time.
Across from the restaurant was a hotel, where Su Hao had spent a wonderful night with Peilin.
Could Peilin not have left? Su Hao stared at the hotel and hurried over.