I am a love interest in a harem novel!?

Dreams Come True(1)

1 year and 4 months later...

"Happy Birthday! Rui, how have you been? I've been calling you but it kept going to voicemail. Why? You should take a day off and enjoy the day! It's your birthday for Chrissakes! Anyway, I sent a package so look forward to it! Call me back when you're free. Bye~"

I smiled at Shirly's message as I heard a knock. It must be her package. I went to receive it and came right back in, wondering what was inside the box.

I shook it but I still couldn't guess the contents. I let it sit on the coffee table in my living room and reached for the cutter below. Just as I was about to cut through the tape, I heard a notification bell coming from my PC.

I groaned. I did take a day off but my boss is being unreasonable. She'd been sending me work through the email saying, I forgot to do this and that. In the first place, she didn't tell me there was a meeting next week and now she's asking me to finish making the presentation by Friday!? Exactly the day after tomorrow. She's too much! 

I put the cutter down and went to my desk, clicking on the new email. 

"I forgot some additional data. Add this to the presentation." 

I took a deep breath and counted from one to ten. If I wasn't making decent money working under her, I would have quit a long time ago. I grabbed the bottle of water from beside the mouse and gulped huge portions before editing my previous work. 

Ghad!

I would  choose Mrs. Dora over her anytime-..!

My fingers paused and hovered above the keyboard. What am I saying...? Didn't I promise myself not to think about any reminders of his existence? And yet... I couldn't continue as I sighed. I still can't help but wonder how all of them are doing... I frowned and shook my head, clearing my mind of any distractions and picking up from where I left my work.

It has been a year and a few months since and I had been trying to settle in the new environment... In a different country where not a single soul knows me. It was difficult. I had no one to rely on. I had to work multiple jobs in the first few months to pay for my living expenses after I paid my remaining debt but everything worked out well in the end. My hardships were all worth it. Half a year later, my living conditions improved. I was living my life. I was happy. I don't even have time to reminisce about the past because I was too busy with work but... once in a while, I would glance at the TV and the magazines and I would see his face. I would gingerly say in my mind how he looks good and well. Then I would look away and think it was just a random successful stranger in the business world. 

Nothing more. 

Time seemed to heal me well, too... It's just that I couldn't forget about last year's incident even though I should have already erased the memory... Along with all the memories of the year before the last. It was something that I didn't expect...

At that time, I was happily going back home with a co-worker. We had just aced a presentation with one of our biggest clients so we went out for a short celebration. By then, half a year had gone by and I had grown too relaxed with the peaceful atmosphere in the foreign country so nothing had prepared me for what happened next... I took the turn to the bus stop breezily, trying to shake myself out of the extreme fatigue and exhaustion of my work... And when I raised my eyes forward... I saw him emerge from one of the famous hotels' main egress that I happen to pass by. I froze. Just when I thought I could lower my guard...

The first thought that came to mind was a question of whether or not what I was seeing was real. He must've felt me staring then because he tilted his head to my direction and our eyes met. I wondered what he was doing here... I couldn't breathe. I got scared, thinking that nightmare would repeat again, but before I could even complete that thought, he had turned away and disappeared into the night... As if I had just imagined the entire thing.