"Sis, why are you still here? Don't you have to go to work tomorrow?" Julian asked his sister when Luna arrived, bringing some packed dinner and snacks for him and their mother.
"It's alright, Julian. Our boss gave us extended days-off as a reward for the previous task we finished. How's your college application going?" Luna asked back.
Julian gave her a big smile.
"Great. I received several scholarships, but I haven't figured out what degree I'm going to take …"
The words between the two siblings flowed smoothly as they tried to catch up to what's happening with each other. Their mother, Elaine, silently observed the two. She was really grateful for having such good children. Her husband might have forgotten about her and his promises, but both Luna and Julian stayed beside her through thick and thin.
It was already late at night when Luna decided it was time for her to go home. By the time Luna finished her talk with her younger brother, Elaine had already fallen asleep. Julian stayed with their mother for the night while Luna took a cab home.
Arriving back at her rented apartment, she was greeted by her excited dog. He sat patiently in front of the doorway, his tail wagging as he watched Luna remove her shoes.
"Hi, Fluffy. Did you wait for me for too long? Are you hungry?" She patted his head and sauntered to the kitchen to prepare his dinner. She then took a shower and changed into a nightgown. It was a normal tiring day, and yet Luna felt her energy seeped out from her body faster, making her feel more exhausted than ever.
She took out her phone and messaged Corinne Mao. Luna forgot to give her a call the other day when her friend last talked to her.
"I'm home, Corinne. How are you?"
Corinne replied almost instantly. "I'm okay. I just finished my household chores, and my back hurts terribly."
"Don't force yourself too hard. Your daughter will get mad at you."
Luna remembered how her Mia, Corinne's daughter, gave her friend a piece of her mind when the latter passed out from overworking.
"I know. So how are you? Did Jasper message you or give you a call?"
"No. I don't expect that he will talk to me again after leaving with Aiko."
"Luna, I told you not to associate yourself with Aiko. See what happened now? I bet she purposely didn't tell you about their departure so you and Jasper would have a misunderstanding."
But Luna knew better than that. She knew Jasper well and could say that his silence meant something was going on, and he was hiding something from her. Too bad, Luna didn't have the courage to talk to him as she knew she didn't have a face or guts to tell him what happened that night.
"Let's forget about it. If he wants to talk to me, Jasper knows how to contact me. As for Aiko, I knew she has her own reasons why she did that."
"You're too forgiving, Luna."
Luna nibbled her lip nervously. Should she tell Corinne what happened to her that night? Would she understand? She decided not to reveal it. She wasn't prepared to hear and see what Corinne's reaction would be.
"Go to bed soon. We have a busy day ahead tomorrow. Good night!"
Just as she was about to leave her phone on her nightstand, she received a phone call. It was an unfamiliar number that wasn't registered in her phone. Who could it possibly be? The number shared the same location code as hers so it was impossible that Jasper was calling her from abroad.
Luna clicked the end call, turned her phone off, and went to bed. She got a habit of not answering unregistered calls unless they introduced themselves via messages. Turning to her right side, she called Fluffy to join her on the bed; but instead, her dog decided to sleep at the foot of her bed, leaving Luna alone to sleep.
On the other side of the line, Hero raised a brow while looking down at his phone. That woman sure got some guts to ignore his calls. The second time he dialed her number, her phone was already turned off.
He shook his head. Luna Jiang could pretend all she wanted that he didn't exist even how much she tried to ignore him.