Tom clasped his mouth tight with a stubborn expression. After being silent for a while, he opened his mouth again to reply to Alex's words, "Sasha is not that kind of woman. I know her and I trust her. Why do you always side with Lilia and criticize Sasha?" Tom debated.
Alex took the umpteenth long sigh, "Listen carefully Tom, you ..."
"We're both saying this for your own good, you know!" Chris said in a high voice. His patience in facing his friend who was blinded by this love had run out, "I've seen what that woman did! I'm sure you already know what kind of woman Sasha is, so open your eyes wide, idiot!"
"Huh?! What did you say?!" Tom started to get up from the sofa with his fists clenched and his face flushed red.
"Are your ears as damaged as your brain?! Do I need to repeat my words again?!" Chris replied fiercely as he stood up as well.
The two men looked ready to beat each other up if no one interceded for them. Fortunately, there was still one person with common sense there.
"Stop!" Alex stood between the two of them and took turns glaring at the two of them, "Please don't forget that we're at Jean's house! I don't want to imagine what he's going to do if you guys make a fuss!"
Hearing the mention of Jean's name, the two men's anger immediately vanished. Both of them sat back down with stiff faces. Alex secretly breathed a sigh of relief as he returned to his sofa. Since they were little, Jean had always been able to stop the bickering between them just by making a sharp glare. It could be said that they had all been trained to fear that man!
Tom and Chris stared at each other for a few moments. Then they both looked away at the same time. Chris went back to smoking his cigarette while Tom drank his cold tea. But the two of them couldn't hide their annoyed expressions.
After a while, Chris finally let out a heavy sigh, "There is an easy way if you don't want Sasha to be excluded from events like tonight. You just have to make Sasha forget about Jean! If you really like Sasha, you can just go ahead and express your feelings like a man. So why don't you do that?"
Tom pursed his lips together and lowered his head like a child being admonished by his parents. He also wanted to express his feelings for Sasha! But Tom was afraid that once those words got out, their relationship would change forever. He would no longer be able to stand beside Sasha as a friend.
No matter how humble Sasha was in front of Jean, that woman was still the daughter of a rich family and had a high ego. She wouldn't give Tom a second chance to win her over. Or worse, Sasha would actually use Tom's feelings for her own benefit.
The atmosphere in the living room became uncomfortable as the three friends exchanged glances without saying a word. Even the strongest male friendships faltered easily when hit by storms of problems involving the opposite sex. Their friendship which had been harmonious had begun to crack because Tom fell in love with Sasha.
Heavy atmosphere clung to the living room as silence engulfed the three men. The atmosphere between Lilia and Jean upstairs, however, was completely the opposite!
*****
Lilia and Jean were standing side by side in front of hundreds of portraits pasted on the wall. The man's arms were wrapped around his wife's waist in an intimate gesture. They were busy discussing the photos stuck on the wall.
"You see, this photo is when I first entered elementary school." Lilia was clearly enthusiastic, "Then this is the time when..."
Jean listened to his wife chattering excitedly. If only Lilia knew that right now she looked so cute to Jean's eyes! The man couldn't hold back anymore and kissed Lilia, interrupting her words. Jean poured all his love into that intense kiss. This time, the kiss lasted much longer than the previous one since there were no one else around them.
When Jean finally ended their kiss, Lilia was gasping out of breath. She glared angrily at Jean for simply cutting off her explanation. Nonetheless, Lilia's heart was filled with pure joy. Seeing Jean's meaningful smile made Lilia feel embarrassed, so she turned her attention back to the photos.
Lilia remembered something and turned back to the man, "Jean, when you lived abroad, were you never photographed at all?" She asked.
While she was compiling these photos, she found something odd. All of Jean's pictures that Chris gave her, from the time when he was still a baby until he reached the age of 12 years old and when he was 22 years were complete. But there was a ten year gap during which the man didn't have a single photo of himself. Jean seemed to have disappeared from the face of the earth when he hit 13 up to 21 years old.
Lilia found it strange that she couldn't find a single photo of Jean, even after searching the internet. She even became suspicious that the man had purposely erased all traces of himself. But why did Jean go that far?
Lilia stretched out her hand and ran her hand over the photos. The surface of the photo was cold and smooth against her skin. She secretly wished she could turn back the clock and make the edited photo a reality.
Suddenly, Lilia heard Jean answer, "When I was living abroad, no one could take my pictures."
Lilia was silent for a moment, trying to find the right words to reply to Jean's words.
"...Then, we just need to take as many photos as possible." Lilia turned her head and stared at Jean's dark blue eyes. She smiled faintly and continued, "Let's take as many pictures as possible. That way, I won't have to edit our photos if I make a portrait wall like this again."
Lilia returned her gaze to the portrait on the wall. It was as if she could imagine that their future photos would contain the figures of Lilia and Jean standing side by side. The man's hands would embrace her body and they both smiled broadly at the camera.
Jean also stared at the portrait wall with a gentle smile, as if he could imagine the same pictures of their family as Lilia. The man put his hand on Lilia's head and stroked her silky hair.
"Okay." Jean said softly.
They continued to explore every photo Lilia had attached until Jean saw a photo of 10-year-old Lilia. The man pointed at the photo and asked, "Where did you take this photo?"
Lilia studied the photo closely, then started tapping her temples as if trying to dig back into her memory, "Ah, if I'm not mistaken, this photo was taken when I went camping in the summer, during school's holiday. I remember someone taking my picture when I got off the bus." Lilia explained after a long pause.
"Where did you go at that time?" Jean asked dryly, but he couldn't hide his impatience.
"Hmm ..." Lilia frowned while thinking hard, "If I'm not mistaken ... to Sarangan. I had some kind of school's camping there."
Lilia vaguely remembered that the area was filled with forests, lakes and mountains. The camp program promised a variety of unique experiences such as farming, fishing, and so on.
Suddenly, Lilia felt a sharp pain in her waist.
"Ow!" Lilia frowned and ducked automatically to find the source of the pain. She realized that Jean unconsciously tightened his grip on Lilia's waist.
"Ah, sorry." Jean hurriedly loosened his grip. The man lowered his head, his blonde hair covering his expression from Lilia.
"What's wrong?" Instead of getting angry, Lilia felt worried. She bent down to check the man's expression, "Jean?"
But the man closed his eyes with a flat expression, so Lilia couldn't read anything from his face.
Lilia straightened up with a confused expression, then she decided to change the atmosphere. She grabbed Jean's sleeve and teased him, "Did you get sad because I went camping in the summer, when I had to bath under the heat while learning to plant rice?"
Jean suppressed his emotions with difficulty before finally opening his eyes. Seeing Lilia smiling cheerfully to hide her worries made Jean smile too, "You're right, I feel sad hearing my wife was forced to suffer like that."
Lilia laughed and hugged Jean's arm, "I am just kidding! In fact, I didn't even have time to see the fields, let alone try to grow crops. My body was really weak at that time, so I got sick easily. I ended up having to be sent to the hospital for the rest of the vacation!" Lilia told her story.
Jean didn't say anything. He just looked at Lilia with a gentle expression. That woman was usually always cheerful and full of spirit, so Lilia made everyone panic when she fell ill.
'She doesn't remember.'
Jean felt a little disappointed when he heard Lilia's story. But he didn't mind if their meeting was forgotten from her memory.. As long as Lilia was still the same girl he met that day, Jean felt that he could forgive everything.
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