After the Countdown

[Death countdown: 47 hours, 15 minutes, 8 seconds.]

My body had become so weak that even walking from the bedroom to the living room left me breathless. I was coughing up blood more and more often.

But I did not want to die with regrets.

That afternoon, I forced myself out despite my paper-white face and took a cab to Victoria's film set.

The moment I reached the edge of the set, I saw something that stabbed straight into my eyes.

They had just finished filming a rain scene.

Victoria did not even wipe the water from her own body. Instead, she rushed over with a dry towel and gently dried Noah's hair, her eyes full of tenderness.

Afraid he might catch a chill, she even took off her private custom shawl and wrapped it tightly around his shoulders.

"Thank you, Victoria. You're so good to me," Noah said, lifting his head with a bright smile.

The crew members around them whispered that the two of them looked like a perfect golden couple.

I stood frozen in place as the cold wind cut through my thin clothes.

Once upon a time, that kind of careful, all-consuming tenderness had belonged only to me.

Expressionless, I walked forward.

The moment Victoria turned and saw me, panic flashed across her eyes.

But in the next second, that panic turned into extreme impatience and coldness.

She grabbed my wrist with so much force it felt as if she might crush my bones. Then she dragged me into an empty corner of the prop room.

"What are you doing here? Are you trying to give the paparazzi even more to photograph?"

Her voice was low and full of accusation.

I looked at the faint kiss mark near her collar.

My heart hurt as if a needle had pierced it.

I did not argue with her the way I used to. I did not break down or shout.

I only looked at her calmly.

"Victoria, have dinner with me."

I looked at the face I had traded my luck points to heal.

"Just tonight. At the restaurant where we had our first date. After this meal... I won't bother you again."

Victoria froze, as if she had not expected me to be so calm.

She studied my bloodless face and frowned tightly.

Maybe she thought I was being sensible today. Or maybe she was afraid I would make a scene on set and affect her and Noah.

In the end, she nodded.

"Fine. I get it. Seven tonight. I'll go straight there."

"Now go home. Don't cause trouble for me here."

At seven that evening, I reserved the window seat at the upscale restaurant where we had gone on our first date. I ordered a table full of dishes Victoria had once loved most.

Soft violin music filled the restaurant. Outside the window, the city lights and traffic glittered through the night.

I sat there quietly, watching the red countdown in midair that only I could see, watching it keep slipping away.

[Death countdown: 41 hours, 30 minutes, 12 seconds.]

Seconds and minutes passed.

The food on the table slowly lost its warmth.

I lifted the glass of water beside me and looked at the faint transparent outline flickering once again around my fingertips.

Then I waited in silence for the final farewell to this relationship.