These days, I often saw Valentine's phone with messages from his biological parents. [It's getting cold, remember to add some layers.]
[Do you want to come home for dinner? Mom made fried chicken.] [Don't overwork yourself. Your health is more important than the company.]
[Valentine, come home when you have time.]
Now, he was truly loved by others as well.
I could no longer be the stumbling block between him and this world.
Only if I completely leave could he step out of the "love" that had become an obsession and begin to feel the warmth of this world.
"If, ten years from now, you haven't come, I'll still be happy."
"This would mean you've found a new purpose in life, you have other things you can't give up, and you can live well without me."
"Even if you don't come looking for me, I will be happy for you." I said to him seriously:
"Valentine, love is not possession."
"I love you, so I want you to be happy."
---
"You're not by my side, how could I be happy?" He hugged me sullenly, still refusing.
I pinched his ear:
"Don't be so pessimistic. Who knows? Maybe not long from now, you'll figure out a way to travel through time and space and bring me back."
"Then, I can move between the two worlds, work in that world during the day, and come to sleep with you at night."
Valentine: [....]
"You really are optimistic."
He pulled me into his lap, burying his head in my neck, closing his eyes, and saying nothing more. It didn't matter.
If he wouldn't speak, I would.
"I have so many places I want to visit—seeing the snow in North, wolves in prairie, penguins in South Pole, and the tropical rainforest..."
"Valentine, let's pick ten places, one every year. How about it?"
"That way, even if we're in different worlds, standing on the same land will be like we're reuniting."
"I'll write to you every year, storing all my happy, joyful, and even frustrated thoughts in letters for you."
"Love doesn't require huge sacrifices."
I couldn't give up my parents for love, just as I didn't want Valentine to give up his life for a moment of impulse.
Life is already a gamble.
I was the mad gambler in this game.
I'd placed a bet on my life that will last for ten years.
---
The conclusion of this story was clear.
The decision I made was one I would never reverse.
Valentine knew this, and that's why he was so deeply disheartened:
"You've abandoned me again."
He said:
"Compared to last time, this is just a longer waiting period, giving me a little hope."
I smiled and pushed the cake I brought in front of him: "Try it, is it delicious?"
He took a piece and nodded: "Delicious."
"Your mother made it."
I said, "She came to see me, asking me to take good care of you and saying you've suffered so much."
"Valentine, your biological parents love you deeply. You should try to feel their love, instead of focusing so much on 'me.'"
He fell silent.
With his head lowered, he grasped my hand helplessly, as if not knowing what to do. I stroked his head:
"Your research is going quite fast, isn't it?"
I said with a smile: "Maybe in a year, or even sooner, we can meet again."
"Valentine, I hope that when we reunite, I'll see you happy."
"I love you, so I want you to be happy." I said this to him again.
In response, he gave me a tight hug.
---
When will we meet again?
Maybe in a year, three years, ten years... or maybe only in a few months. None of that matters.
No matter how long, as long as we can reunite, it means I've won the gamble.
At least in that moment of reunion, I will believe that true, everlasting love really exists in this world.
When the system sent me home, it asked me:
"Are you sure you won't get married within the next ten years?"
I smiled faintly, speaking coldly: "In this lifetime, aside from him, I won't marry anyone else." Marriage isn't that important to me.
With modern technology, a person can live well on their own. I just want to develop a close relationship with someone who has love. If I can't, I'd rather live alone.
The system sighed: "Why bother?"
I pulled the corner of my lips into a slight smile.
It wanted me to stay. I knew that.
From the very beginning, in his eyes, the best outcome between me and Valentine was that I stayed, not this absurd gamble.
Perhaps in its view, the will of an NPC didn't matter. Or perhaps he thought, because I was female, I was naturally meant to sacrifice my independent personality for a man.
But I stubbornly held on to my bottom line.
"Could you pass on a message for me?"
I asked it.
It nodded: "What is it?"
"Could you please tell your boss, the one who came up with the 'max out the affection score and then leave' plan?"
"It's really a one-in-a-million fool!"
