Without waiting for the three men's answers, Jean walked past them. He arrived at the door and placed his hand on the doorknob.
"Jean, wait a minute." Chris turned around and called out to him, "Of course we came here to celebrate your birthday. Since you don't want to have a party, how about we celebrate by drinking together?"
"No need." Jean replied curtly without any hesitation.
Chris's expression froze when he heard Jean's merciless answer. Before Chris could speak again, Jean had opened the front door. The man walked in before slamming the door shut without looking back.
The three friends could only stand stunned, staring at the closed door. They knew that Jean could be cold, especially when he was upset. But they didn't expect that Jean would abandon them outside the house without hesitation like this. They were lucky that Jean didn't even lock the front door.
"The man was clearly trying to kick us out." Chris sighed and glanced at Alex, "What are we going to do now?" He asked.
Alex just shrugged before opening the front door as if nothing had happened, "Come in and enjoy what's been prepared, of course." Alex replied casually, "Hasn't the host herself invited us tonight?"
Chris exchanged glances with Tom for a moment, then the two of them laughed and followed Alex into the house. They wouldn't want to miss tonight's entertainment!
*****
As soon as Jean set foot into the house, he was greeted by the fragrant aroma of tea. The aroma of the tea was strong but somewhat light at the same time, with a hint of floral scent.
Jean automatically looked around the living room for the source of the scent. The lighting in the room was dim because Lilia had deliberately turned off all the lights. The only source of light in the room was the evening sun that seeped through the blinds.
Jean's gaze fell on a set of tea-making utensils on the table. Jean's favorite china cup, made of emerald green, caught the man's attention. The cup was filled with steaming dark green tea.
Next to the cup was a tea box. Jean immediately recognized the tea brand as a type of royal tea. This royal tea tended to have a dark color, sweet taste, and strong aroma. But the price was worth it for the amazing quality. Jean knew how hard it was to get a box of royal tea like this.
Jean walked over to the table and saw a message written on a heart-shaped post-it note. The message was taped on the tea box.
The message read, "Happy birthday, Jean!" Handwritten by Lilia. She also added a small heart in the corner of the note.
Jean traced the writing on the note with his finger. He acted so carefully, as if he were touching the most precious gem in the world. Without realizing it, a warm and happy smile crossed Jean's face.
Then he turned his attention to the teacup. Jean lifted the cup and took a sip of the tea. Jean's eyes suddenly widened in shock. The taste of royal tea was completely different from other teas. The consistency of the tea's ingredients felt right in his mouth as it slid down his throat smoothly. Jean's mouth and nose were filled with a fresh sweetness, as sweet as the feeling of his love for Lilia.
Jean put the cup back down before looking around one more time. He knew the layout of the furniture in the room had not changed since he first entered, but Jean felt as if something was different in the room.
As Jean's gaze swept across the counter in front of the wine rack, he realized what made the living room look different.
Jean also liked wine, although not as much as Lilia. He kept a wide variety of white and red wines that he liked. His wife often begged Jean to let her open one of the wines stored on the shelf, but the man always flatly refused. Jean didn't want the incident at karaoke to happen to Lilia again.
All the bottles of wine were usually neatly tucked away on the shelf, but this time there was a bottle standing alone on the counter.
Jean walked over to a counter designed to look like a bar and read the label on the bottle. Dijin 1937. On the back of the bottle was another post-it attached.
"Jean, I hope our marriage can last as long as this wine." Read the inscription in the note.
Jean immediately knew that this was another gift from Lilia. Jean's dark blue eyes flashed with emotion. His chest was full of happiness that cannot be described in words. Jean hadn't even gone upstairs yet, but these two gifts were enough to touch him.
The man ran his hand across the cold surface of the bottle as he tried to control his grinning face. Jean felt he fell in love with his wife again with every surprise he met. The man turned his head towards the stairs, but he didn't see any sign of Lilia's presence.
Jean took his hand away from the wine bottle and went upstairs. He ignored the silhouettes of the three men peeking out from the front door. The three of them exchanged glances and couldn't stop gawking. Since when did Jean's expression look that happy?! Why was his gaze so soft and melting like honey?!
Without saying a word, the three men both agreed not to follow Jean upstairs. Their hearts could not bear to see Jean's figure full of love and tenderness!
*****
When Jean reached the top of the stairs, he saw a photo album lying on the floor. He picked it up and flipped through the book without opening it. Since the incident 14 years ago, he had had his own hatred for photos. Yet this was something his beloved wife had painstakingly prepared for.
Jean slowly opened the first page of the album. The first photo he saw made Jean almost drop his album. His eyes were wide and his lips were pressed tightly together. The photo was high quality and very detailed, but Jean felt that it would have been better if the quality was not that great. Because this was a photo of him as a baby.
Jean thought that this photo had disappeared and was only buried in his memory. He didn't expect to see this photo again.
Then he noticed a line of tiny handwriting next to the baby's photo.
"8,665 days later since this photo was taken, you and I met for the first time."
Jean's hand trembled violently as he held the album. He didn't have to look through the entire album to know that Lilia had left similar comments on each photo. The woman did not know that such a simple act could touch Jean's heart and heal the wounds that he had hidden deep in his heart.
Jean suddenly felt that he missed Lilia a lot. He wanted to see her sweet smile and hug her soft body. He wanted to announce to the whole world that this amazing woman was his beloved wife!
Jean immediately snapped out of his thoughts and shook his head.. For the first time in Jean's life, he met a woman who was able to move his heart so deeply like this.
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