His Relentless Possession

[82]

"Need an umbrella?" he asked.

Looking down at his hand, I saw that he was offering me an umbrella. It was raining hard, and I was in a hurry, but...

"What about you?" I asked.

With this rain and wind, there's no way the two of us could share an umbrella and stay decently dry. If that was the case, I'd rather decline his offer and wait it out here.

"I'm not in a hurry...but I guess you are..." the man said with a pleasant smile.

"I..." I whispered, not quite knowing how to respond.

"You're a freshman, aren't you? Isn't the ceremony starting soon?" he asked, although he probably already knew the answer.

"Yes...it is..." I replied in a small voice.

"Then what are you waiting for?" he said with a small laugh.

Before I could reply, I was softly pushed into the rain. With one step, I was out in the rain; however, I didn't feel any raindrops falling on me. I looked up and saw his umbrella blocking the rain from falling onto me.

"I don't think I should..." I began protesting, feeling quite guilty about imposing on him.

"When someone offers you help, what should you say?" he asked. Suddenly, he sounded much older and more mature.

"...Thank you..." I murmured softly.

He grabbed my hand, and while I was too stunned by his sudden movement to react, he placed my hand on the umbrella and made me hold it.

"You should go now," he whispered close to my face.

"Wait..." I quickly said before it was too late.

"What is it?" he asked, sounding slightly curious.

"My name is Ivelle. What's yours?" I asked.

"Ethan," he replied.

"Ethan...umm...I'll make sure to return this umbrella to you..." I said, avoiding his beautiful green eyes and looking away.

"You don't have to," Ethan said without a care.

He waved his hand at me, signaling that I should go. He was right—if I hurried now, I could probably still make it in time.

"Thank you, Ethan," I thanked him wholeheartedly.

Ethan just smiled and waved his hand slightly at me. If I had any worries back then that I wouldn't see him again, I didn't need to worry at all. By some twist of fate, I ran into Ethan when I joined the art club the week after. He didn't seem into art at all, but his artwork was more than decent, and he was there daily.

Things moved very fast between us. Within a few days of meeting again, he asked me out. A week later, we had sex late at night in the clubroom and then again at his place. The week after that, I moved out of my dorm to live with him in his apartment. Things stayed pretty much that way until he broke up with me a few years later when he graduated.

While living with him, I realized that Ethan was sometimes very busy working on something that didn't seem related to university. When I asked about it, he told me that he was actually doing real work and that he already had a job, working to support his parents with their family business.

That was when I found out that he was actually quite a bit older than I had thought and that the university degree he was studying for was his second one.

Back then, I thought it must be very tough on him to study while working to support his parents and their family business as well. I truly admired him and how hard he worked. It really inspired me to work hard, too.