Chapter Text
Lita adjusted the strap of her designer handbag as she stepped onto the polished stone walkway of her university.
Six months.
It had been six months since she walked away from the engagement, from Thyme, from Bangkok.
Six months since she tried to pretend that none of it mattered.
The crisp autumn air was different from the heat back home. It should have been refreshing, liberating even, but all it did was remind her that she was somewhere else.
Somewhere she had chosen to be.
Somewhere she was supposed to be moving on.
And she was, wasn’t she?
Lita had rebuilt herself here, she wasn’t Thyme’s ex-fiancée or the girl who had tried and failed to fit into a world that was never truly hers.
She was the It Girl of one of the most prestigious international universities in Taiwan. People admired her, envied her, wanted to be her. Here, no one whispered behind her back about her past and failed engagement with Thyme. No disapproving glances, no murmured gossip behind the clinking of glasses at high-society events.
She also didn’t have the pressures and expectations as the heiress of MPC Group. Here, she could exist outside of the suffocating mold that had been crafted for her since birth.
If anything, the only issue she had was her own inability to fully let go. Because late at night, when she found herself scrolling through her phone, she couldn’t help but check how her friends were doing.
She didn’t mean to, of course. It started as a habit, a mindless flick through social media, until suddenly she was looking at them.
The F4. Thyme, Ren, MJ, and Kavin. Then their whole friend group—the life she had left.
Especially her.
Gorya.
The familiar sharp pain twisted in her chest before she could stop it. She used to think it was just jealousy, just frustration over losing Thyme. But now, staring at another photo of the girl smiling among their circle, she wondered if that was really it.
Because when she closed her eyes, it wasn’t the memory of Thyme’s hand slipping from hers that haunted her.
It was the memory of sitting in Gorya’s bed, staring at the only person who had ever looked at her like she was worth being seen.
Someone who had seen past her status. Someone who took the time to really get to know her.
Gorya, who had been her first real friend.
Gorya, who had seen past the polished mask and reached for the girl underneath.
Gorya, who had never been hers to begin with.
Lita swallowed hard, shaking the thought away. There was no point in thinking about it now. She had already left. She had already cut her ties with them as much as fate allowed it.
Also, what the hell was she supposed to do with that realization? That all of a sudden, she was into girls? She had never really thought about it. She had already engraved in her mind, at a young age, that she would have no choice but agree to a fixed marriage that would suit the needs of MPC Group.
Also, how could a girl like her possibly love another girl? It’s not like she was against it, but she just couldn’t imagine herself being with a woman.
So Lita calmed herself down. She blamed it on her emotions. No way she felt like that for a girl.
She was in a new school now. For six months, she hadn’t been that girl anymore—the one who cared too much, the one who let loneliness turn into something worse.
The one who may have had a crush on her first friend causing her to act out .
Wait—no scratch that.
She was Lalita Empicca. The heiress of MPC Group. She was untouchable.
And whatever this feeling inside her was, whatever was wrong with her—she would fix it . She had to. Especially now that her new engagement had been announced already five months prior.
Yes, she was engaged already, to the son of Wongravee Corp, the top insurance company in Taiwan.
She will not allow herself to mess this up, again.
Not when Sky was an actual gentleman compared to Thyme. Not when Sky was able to put up with her quirkiness and is overall just a genuine person.
Unlike Thyme, Sky wasn’t unpredictable, wasn’t reckless—he was stable, reliable, exactly the kind of partner her family would approve of.
The kind of man who made sense.
Brushing the invisible dust off her sleeve, she straightened her shoulders and walked through the campus gates.
This was her second chance to a perfect life.
There was no looking back. She loved the trajectory of her life here.
Nothing could ever ruin this.
Nothing.
Not until—she saw someone approaching Sky.
Who is that girl?
She immediately strode towards them as the shorter woman closed in on Sky, leaning in—Lita yanked Sky back with practiced elegance, stepping into his place like she was claiming her territory.
“Yes, how can we help yo—”
Her words died in her throat.
Because suddenly—someone’s lips crashed into hers. Soft. Warm. A little hesitant.
Definitely attached to the person in front of her. A person who was kissing her—someone with dark auburn hair.
A woman .
It’s so soft and warm. Why is my heart beating so fast?
It was all too fast.
Her brain was malfunctioning. Surely, she should be pushing this person away. Making a scene. Screaming, even.
Minutes earlier she had just told herself that she would not do anything to ruin her reputation.
That Sky was heaven sent.
But now, Lita found herself frozen in the middle of campus being kissed by a woman.
What the hell?! Why am I not stopping this?
She just stood there, eyes wide, arms stiff holding onto the woman in front of her like a broken mannequin. Sky, bless him , made a choked noise beside her but didn’t intervene.
When the shorter girl pulled back, horror flashed across her face. She blinked up at Lita, cheeks rapidly turning a shade of pink that Lita would have found cute if she wasn’t currently rebooting her entire existence.
“Uhm…” the girl mumbled, clearly at a loss. Her eyes darted between Lita and Sky, realization hitting her like a truck.
Oh god, she’s so pretty.
NO, brain. We are NOT doing this right now!
Silence hung thick in the air—until one brave, and clearly nosy, student decided to seize the moment.
“Love is Love!” they screamed.
Oh no.
And then the crowd went wild.
Applause, cheers, and even some wolf-whistles erupted around them. Someone whistled the wedding march. Another person shouted,
“Lita’s got a girlfriend?!”
“I thought she was engaged to Sky?”
This cannot be happening.
Lita was seconds away from having an existential crisis in the middle of campus when a new voice cut through the chaos.
“Gorya! Let’s go!”
Lita’s entire body locked up.
Gorya?! Wait, WHAT?! Her name is Gorya?
Her eyes snapped to the retreating figure of the girl who had just kissed her. Sure enough, the girl turned one last time, flustered beyond belief, before rushing off after her friend.
Lita stood frozen as students continued chattering and laughing around her.
Is this the universe giving me a sign? Haunting me? Mocking me?
She turned slowly to Sky, who was rubbing his temple like he had just aged ten years.
“Uh,” he started, glancing between her and the disappearing girl. “Do I… congratulate you?”
Lita let out a slow, deep breath, closed her eyes for a second, and then opened them with the most dignified response she could muster.
“I am going to scream.”