The entire Edelweis High School wouldn't be surprised to see Alisa rushing towards the most popular guy at school. It had become a routine, especially for Alisa's classmates who had witnessed her relentless pursuit of Adhy for almost three years.
Just like today, Alisa approached Adhy enthusiastically, who was chatting with his friends. Seeing this, Adhy's friends immediately distanced themselves and awkwardly smiled at him.
"Adhyy..!" Alisa exclaimed shamelessly, grabbing Adhy's hand.
Adhy rolled his eyes lazily, having told Alisa numerous times not to touch him. But as it seemed, Alisa paid no heed and clung even closer.
"Don't you have anything else to do?" Adhy sneered, utterly fed up with Alisa's constant disturbance. Almost three years of his high school had been spent with annoyance due to Alisa's relentless pursuit.
"No-oo," Alisa replied, resting her cheek on Adhy's shoulder.
Annoyance flashed across Adhy's forehead, "let go!" he snapped, forcibly releasing his hand from Alisa's grip and briskly walking away to avoid her.
But instead of getting angry or disappointed, Alisa kept smiling, following Adhy from behind. Her obsession had reached a point where anything Adhy did would always be accepted by her. But... who knew how long Alisa could endure all of this.
|~|
kress' Adhy clenched the empty bottle of drink in frustration, gazing at the lunchbox Alisa had forcefully handed over.
To avoid Alisa during break time, Adhy had to go to the most secluded place in the entire school, behind the old warehouse that was now abandoned.
"Here's my advice, maybe you should date someone if you want to get rid of Alisa," suggested Gani, Adhy's friend from junior high.
"Date someone?" scoffed Adhy, picking up the lunchbox given by Alisa with disgust and tossing it into the nearby trash bin. "Who?" asked Adhy, turning around and sitting beside Gani.
"Hmm..." Gani pondered for a moment, "ah, how about Rania?"
"Rania? The School Beauty Queen?" queried Adhy.
"Yeah, isn't she suitable? I mean, she's beautiful, accomplished, and surely on par with you," explained Gani.
This time it was Adhy who pondered; Gani's suggestion wasn't bad, especially considering he also had a slight feeling for a girl equally as popular as him.
"Good idea, besides, our families are acquainted," Adhy disclosed.
"Well, that's even better," said Gani.
|~|
"Alisa, are you still looking for him?" asked Jihan, following Alisa who had been wandering around the school to find Adhy.
Alisa stopped her steps wearily, turned to face Jihan, and leaned on Jihan's chest.
"I just wanted to see if he ate the lunch I made for him or not," murmured Alisa, sadly playing with Jihan's tie.
Jihan just smiled, gently stroking Alisa's head as she leaned against his chest. In his heart, he hoped Alisa didn't hear the rumbling of jealousy within him. He knew well that Alisa was infatuated with Adhy and considered him nothing more than a friend. But at least he still remained a shoulder to lean on for Alisa, even though his ears sometimes heated up from hearing Alisa's complaints about Adhy.
"Have you eaten?" asked Jihan in a soft tone.
Alisa liked him, liked how Jihan was always gentle with her. Unfortunately, her eyes and heart weren't open wide enough to see that Jihan treated her better than the person she pursued. At least, good enough to deserve her love.
"Not yet, I don't have the appetite," Alisa replied languidly. Though her stomach was growling, begging to be filled because she hadn't had breakfast this morning, only to prepare a lunchbox for Adhy.
"What about a jumbo grilled sausage and a glass of ice cream?" offered Jihan, "my treat," he added.
Alisa immediately looked up at Jihan, "really?" she asked excitedly.
Jihan nodded slightly, at least even if his love was never expressed and might never be reciprocated, he was grateful to be the person who could make that pink-lipped smile form.
"Alright, let's go!!" exclaimed Alisa, hugging Jihan's arm and starting to walk side by side toward the canteen.
|~|
It didn't take long, just about a week after Gani gave the advice for Adhy to date Rania. That morning, Edelweis High School was shocked by Adhy's arrival with Rania, holding hands as they entered the school.
Alisa, who had entered the school with her usual enthusiasm, fell silent upon seeing them. Feeling indignant, Alisa confronted Adhy and Rania.
"Adhy, what does this mean?" asked Alisa.
"What?" sneered Adhy, "she's my girlfriend, so what?" said Adhy, embracing Rania and drawing her closer to him.
"What about me?" asked Alisa, pointing to herself.
"You? Who are you? You should realize that your presence has always been a nuisance to me. Don't dream too much, this isn't a fairy tale, Alisa. You and me? Heh! That's just a fantasy. I'm with someone who's worthy of me, and it's certainly not you. Know your place, Alisa," rebuked Adhy. Ah~ Adhy should have said all that from the start when Alisa started chasing him like a crazy person. Look at how the face that Adhy was sick of seeing looked so disappointed and hurt.
"We don't really have a problem, but seeing you chase after Adhy like that makes you look like a cheap woman," added Rania. Her tone was soft and not as harsh as Adhy's, but her words truly pierced Alisa.
With a mixed heart, Alisa moved aside from the new couple. Adhy roughly bumped into Alisa's shoulder until Alisa staggered and would have fallen if Jihan hadn't held her. Know that Adhy was too fed up to see Alisa, to the point where he didn't care about his principle not to act rudely to women.
"Alisa——"
Alisa gently released Jihan's hold on her shoulder, turned her head to Jihan, and gave a small smile. "I'm fine, sorry, I think I'm not feeling well, I'll go back home."
Without waiting for a response from Jihan, Alisa walked toward the school gate, bowing her head. Student whispers that witnessed the incident followed Alisa's footsteps. Her decision was right not to continue school if she didn't want more heartache with gossip that would surely spread throughout the school.
There, Jihan sadly watched Alisa starting to leave the school area. He wanted to follow Alisa, but he also knew that Alisa surely wanted some time alone right now. So Jihan reluctantly continued his way to his class.
|~|
"AAAAHHHH~"
The silent midnight on a suspension bridge was filled with a girl's frustrated screams.
"Ugh... damn it, ugh... DAMNNN!!"
A cat walking along the riverbank below the suspension bridge was startled and tumbled into the river.
Meoww~~
Alisa, the heartbroken girl, vented her pain by screaming on that suspension bridge. Feeling a bit calmer, she wiped away her tears and snot.
A chilly breeze swept past Alisa.
"Achoo~ ugh... cold," she complained, hugging herself against the increasingly piercing cold.
However, Alisa began walking across the suspension bridge. At least, the piercing cold of the night could somewhat replace the pain in her heart.
Walking aimlessly, Alisa traversed the deserted streets, accompanied by the chilly breeze passing by.
Creak-creak, an odd sound echoed above Alisa as she passed by a newly constructed building. Curious, Alisa looked up...
Creak—
—Crash-crash
Meanwhile, Jihan had just bought groceries due to his habit of being hungry during the night, and coincidentally, his kitchen was out of supplies. So, he had to leave the house and visit the 24-hour convenience store to satisfy his hunger.
But who would've thought, on the way back, Jihan would be faced with that terrifying sight. He saw Alisa, right in front of him, buried under a heap of metal that had fallen from a tower crane.
"Alisa!!" Leaving his groceries, Jihan rushed to Alisa.
"Alisa, can you hear me?" asked Jihan, with trembling hands trying to remove the metal pieces covering Alisa.
"Alisa!!"
Under the heap of metal, Alisa could hear her friend's voice. She wanted to respond, but her body was in too much pain; even taking a breath felt difficult.
|Alisa POV|
"Alisa, if you're still conscious and can hear me, please hold on!"
Hold on? I don't think I can... it feels so painful here.
"I... I've called 911, so you have to hold on until they arrive."
There's no time, Jihan. It hurts; my body feels crushed... maybe it's already shattered.
Ah~ how could I end up like this, I just wanted to calm down and suddenly got crushed by metal like this. Heartbroken and crushed by metal, what kind of dreadful fate is this for me?
Almost three years, all that effort just to be with someone I love. But it seems fate has a different plan, and everything I did ended up in vain.
Ha-ha... I don't mind dying today.
"Alisa!! Don't die yet! At least, hold on for the sake of your friend!"
Jihan? He's still trying to move these heavy metals alone? He'd better give up; why is he trying so hard to save his foolish friend like this...
"Please, Alisa... I like you, since the day you greeted me when I moved here. So, Alisa, please, hold on..."
W-what? Jihan likes me?
Slowly, the darkness I saw began to be illuminated by a glimmer of light. Now, I could see Jihan's face, struggling to remove every metal piece covering my body.
Now, even fate is playing with me—ah, no, this is all because of... me.
I was too crazy and oblivious to someone who was always beside me. How could I be so blind?!
I'm sorry, Jihan... I'm sorry... forgive this foolish me.
Ting'
[TARGET FOUND!!]
Huh, what's this?
[INITIATING SYNCHRONIZATION]
<100%>
[COMPLETE]
[PLEASE CHOOSE BETWEEN THESE TWO OPTIONS
1. RESTART YOUR LIFE AND HELP US SAVE THE EARTH
or
2. JUST DIE THERE AND CONTINUE YOUR REGRET IN THE AFTERLIFE]
[YOU HAVE 3 MINUTES BEFORE THE GOD OF DEATH FETCHES YOU]
<02:59>
What does this mean?
<02:55>
Am I already dead and seeing something strange?
<02:50>
Wait! Is this for real? Can I really choose between these two options?
<02:45>
Ah, in that case...
[OPTION HAS BEEN CHOSEN]