Till There Was You

Till There Was You [ 3 ]

© 2017 Ji Hye. All Rights Reserved.

| T H R E E |

All Claire does is smile.

Contrary to what most would believe, the love I have for my best friend is in no way a recent discovery. I've felt this way for years—five, almost six, years, now that I think about it. I was actually planning on telling her about it back then too, but alas, I wasn't the only one intent on doing so. Someone else, someone better, had eyes for her too.

I still remember the day it happened: the beginning of the end.

I was in the middle of figuring out the perfect way to confess to Claire when my friend, Xavier, shared what had to be the worst news to hit me since Aishwarya Rai got married: he was interested in Claire too.

And when I say that, I mean he was pretty much head over heels for her.

I don't hate him for feeling that way. I mean, after spending so much time around someone like Claire, it's hard not to fall for her. My best friend is quite the catch if I do say so myself, and only a complete imbecile would dare to say otherwise.

Xavier was the ideal guy for her too. They were so perfect for each other, it was almost as if their story was a straight-up fairy tale. A genuinely great guy and a stark contrast to the sleazebag I was back in high school, Xavier was on an entirely different level from most guys our age. Especially when it came down to romancing the opposite sex. Xavier, unlike my fellow Casanovas-in-training and I, had the utmost respect for women. I'm not saying that guys like me didn't give a damn about women back then.

Because we did.

But while we were only doing it for hedonistic and infamous reasons, Xavier wasn't. In fact, when in the pursuit of someone, he was the kind of guy who was totally sincere about it. He wasn't doing it for his personal amusement, the thrill of the chase, or a one night fuck. No. When he set his sights on someone, he was all in. The epitome of chivalry, Xavier was without a doubt the Prince Charming and Knight-in-shining-armor everyone fawned over. And with him possessing such an honorable characteristic, it was clear that I didn't stand a chance. Not when the great and noble Xavier Baek was also in the running.

Don't get me wrong, when he first told me how he felt about my best friend, there was nothing more I wanted than to be greedy and keep Claire to myself. But—

BUT

—in spite of that initial feeling, I also knew better than to commit such a selfish act.

I didn't have it in me to do it.

Not when Claire was involved.

She was one of the most important people in my life and, because of that, she deserved nothing shy of perfect. And besides, the way I saw it back then, I owed it to her. Big time. Especially after all the things she'd done for me. So alas, in the end, when push came to shove, I did what I felt was right: I backed off.

But . . .

But just because I did so, didn't mean I gave up entirely. Nope. Not at all.

In fact, in all the years that followed, I pushed aside my personal interests and watched from the sidelines as Claire and Xavier fell in love with one another.

Straight up, it sucked. I ain't even gonna downplay it 'cause it did. It really did.

But regardless of the pain it caused, my love for her never once faded. Not even 'til this day.