Chapter 2

As soon as Dean spoke upon waking, Hailey tilted her head in curiosity.  

But even if Dean didn’t say anything, she could tell at least one thing.  

He had come here as if running away from some kind of trouble.  

“Are you jealous?”  

Hailey giggled.  

“I’ll be generous and share it with you—the power to make anything seem like no big deal. Hi-yah!”  

It was just a joke.  

She knew well that Dean wouldn’t listen no matter how much she nagged. So, when dealing with Dean, it was easier to joke than to be sincere. He wasn’t the type to open up just because she asked.  

For a moment, Dean imagined kissing Hailey.  

[Hailey, would you mind becoming the secret friend of the kid next door starting today?]

From the moment he overheard Hailey’s grandmother speaking, he had decided that no matter what she did, he would dislike her.  

But seeing her today, he realized he might have been wrong.  

Just like that, the dark clouds in his heart vanished.  

“When you’re feeling down, you can always come back. Say whatever you want. I’m good at listening, aren’t I?”  

Suddenly, he remembered their childhood, climbing onto the roof and gazing at the night sky together.  

And he recalled something from class—how sailors, even when shipwrecked and lost, would look to the North Star to find their way…  

Even in those times filled with nothing but miserable memories, there had been at least one happy moment.  

And that memory was her.  

Someone who would stay by his side even if he lost his way…  

Before Dean could answer, there was a noisy sound at the front gate outside.  

[Well, you should go in now. You must be tired.]  

[You’ve worked hard.]  

It was Hailey’s grandmother’s voice. And with her was Grandma Martha from next door. The front door burst open, and Hailey’s grandmother called out in surprise.  

“Dean?”  

At her words, Grandma Martha hurried in.  

“Dean, you say?”  

Grandma Martha didn’t ask anything and just hugged Dean tightly.  

“Oh, my dear child!”  

She was the grandmother he had missed so much. But Dean’s eyes were still fixed on Hailey.

* * *

[I’ll never come to this miserable town again! I’ll never meet worthless people like you ever again!]  

He had declared it confidently.  

The kid who used to live next door had ridden off in a carriage sent by the man he called his father, spewing spiteful words at the neighborhood kids. If it weren’t for that pretty face of his, even Hailey would have ignored him long ago.

And now she was seeing that same kid barefoot, soaked to the bone, slumped against a wall.

Pfft!  

Hailey almost burst out laughing at how satisfying it was. But as soon as she met the boy’s hollow eyes, she quickly put on a worried expression, afraid he might seek revenge.  

“Dean? Is that really you?”  

Surely he hadn’t noticed her laughing. He wasn’t crying because she’d laughed, was he? He was such a tough kid—he wouldn’t cry over something like this, would he?  

“Stop meddling and go away!”  

He shouted.  

Ah…  

For a moment, Hailey stopped breathing and just stared at him.  

His face was always as radiant and beautiful as a polished glass bead, but now, soaked in rain and miserable, he exuded a tragic beauty that seemed almost otherworldly. His slightly sunken cheekbones, hands and feet reddened by the cold, and the white breath escaping his lips…  

He was so beautiful it made her feel dizzy.  

Hailey took a few quick breaths, trying hard to calm herself.  

Really, in terms of looks, no one could compare to him.  

Yes… she’d let him off because he was pretty.  

Honestly, it was unfair. No matter how much trouble he caused, she could forgive him because of his looks. If that was a talent, it was one he was born with, and Hailey wanted to enjoy looking at him even more.  

“I’m not trying to meddle, but your grandma might not come home today. She went with my grandma to help her friend’s granddaughter who’s having a baby.”  

She was just politely sharing what she knew, but before she knew it, he was sitting on her sofa.  

It was so awkward she could die.  

She’d brought him in herself, but Hailey couldn’t sit still, feeling so awkward. She told him to wash up, and he obediently did. After his bath, his cheeks were rosy like peaches, so cute she wanted to pinch them.  

Hmm, hmm.  

Surely he hadn’t noticed her constantly stealing glances at him.  

Hailey remembered how he’d always considered his perfect looks a complex and would explode on his own. She didn’t know when he’d blow up again, but for now, he was quiet, and that made her feel good.  

“When are you going to give me something to drink!”  

When he complained, she hurriedly made cocoa and brought it to him, only to find him asleep against the sofa back. She hesitated for a long time about whether to touch his smooth, pale forehead, nervously wiping her palm on her clothes before gently touching his brow.  

“Ouch, hot!”  

He was burning with fever.  

“What do I do?”  

Hailey looked around frantically, then remembered the fever syrup in the cupboard.  

“Just drink this. Don’t fall asleep!”  

She barely managed to wake him and give him the medicine before he lost consciousness again.  

“I need to lower his fever quickly.”  

Hailey had no choice but to put a cold towel on his head.  

“Is this how you do it?”  

She wiped his arms and legs with the wet towel to help cool him down, and whether it was the medicine finally working or her care, his fever slowly dropped.  

“Whew. Thank goodness.”  

She had been so tense she hadn’t realized how much time had passed. As she relaxed, her body grew drowsy.  

“So this is why artists want to use him as a model.”  

Leaning into the single-seat sofa, Hailey rubbed her sleepy eyes.  

All her tension melted away. Opportunities to look at Dean as much as she wanted were rare. His personality was rough, and she never knew when he’d pick a fight if she stared too long.  

“Still, it’s amazing.”  

If any other kid was this ill-tempered, she’d never want to see them again, but somehow he didn’t seem hateful—if that was a talent, it was his.  

How could someone be so pretty?  

No matter how much she looked, she never got tired of it.  

“I should ask why you came back to this miserable town.”  

She’d treated him so well, but he never showed gratitude, always throwing tantrums at her.  

She wanted to see him flustered and embarrassed.  

He was the worst personality she knew, but despite that, he wasn’t hateful, and she worried about how he was doing. If he was gone, she missed him; if he was around, she wanted to punch him. Seeing him collapsed and pitiful made her feel relieved, as if she’d taken some medicine for indigestion.  

Still, it was a relief. When he woke up, he’d go back to being lively and troublesome, and her days, which had been too quiet, would become interesting again—she felt a strange sense of anticipation.  

Neither Hailey nor Dean knew what to call this kind of relationship at the time.