They Were the Stars, I Was Just in Their Orbit Chapter 07
A year later, I had just stepped off the plane when I saw my parents waving a huge welcome banner.
[Welcome home, Princess April!]
Beside me, Ryan Sawyer was laughing so hard he leaned against me and could barely stand straight.
I pretended to be annoyed and acted like I was going to kick him in the shin.
“My parents are watching. Didn’t you just say you were going to make a good impression?”
“As you wish, Princess.”
By the time we reached them, tears had already rushed to my eyes.
The three of us hugged and cried together.
Ryan helped wipe my tears away. I grabbed his hand and choked out, “Mom, Dad, this is my boyfriend, Ryan Sawyer.”
Neither of them looked surprised.
“We know. Didn’t we just video chat with Ryan yesterday?”
Ryan wrapped an arm around me with a bright smile.
“Mr. and Mrs. Reed, April just wanted to make my status official.”
“All thanks to our princess.”
After we went home and rested for a little while, Ryan and I rushed straight out to shop for renovation materials.
That was the first priority of this trip back.
During my year in Asheville, I had studied baking systematically with Ryan’s mother.
I wanted to open a dessert shop of my own there.
But I still had not found the tabletop material I really wanted.
Before we boarded the plane, I had asked Ryan, “Do you think this is too much trouble?”
“How could I? Picking materials is nothing. Wherever you go, I’m going with you.”
“Besides, you missed home too, didn’t you? Video calls aren’t the same as seeing people in person.”
We spent the whole afternoon shopping.
When I turned back, Ryan’s face looked a little pale.
My heart jumped into my throat.
“Is your heart hurting? Why didn’t you tell me you weren’t feeling well?”
He waved it off, but I still took him to the hospital.
“April?”
When I saw Ethan, I was not surprised. This was the best hospital in the city.
Something stirred in me, but it quickly settled again.
I smiled at him naturally and pulled Ryan forward from behind me.
“Are you busy right now? Could you take a look at my boyfriend?”
At that, the smile that had just lifted the corners of Ethan’s mouth froze instantly.
“I’m not busy.”
In my memory, Ethan had always been calm and composed at work.
But now,
he had only asked Ryan one question about his condition before his eyes turned red.
“Doctor, I’m fine. I’ve had heart surgery before, and April is just worried.”
Ryan toyed with my fingers.
Then he turned his phone toward me, showing me the message he had just sent.
Ryan: [Baby, only you would make your ex examine your current boyfriend.]
My expression cooled.
“Don’t mess around. Please check him anyway. Thank you, Dr. Brooks.”
But Ethan could not accept that form of address. His voice trembled as he said, “April, we don’t have to be so distant with each other.”
¡ shook my head.
“This is better.”
The checkup was finished quickly. Fortunately, nothing was seriously wrong.
Before we left, Ethan called out to me, his voice almost pleading.
“Can we talk? Just the two of us.’
I was about to refuse, but Ryan let go of my hand and stepped back a few
When he smiled, a little fang showed.
“Five minutes.”
Ethan and I sat in that stairwell once again.
paces.
“When did you come back? Back then, I went looking for you, but your parents refused to tell me where you had gone.”
“Yeah. I asked them to keep it secret.”
“Are you leaving again?”
“Yes. I’ll be settling there from now on.”
“April, you’ve changed a lot.”
Hearing that, I suddenly let out a soft laugh.
“Do I finally seem like a grown-up?”
His face went pale.
“That’s not what I meant.”
“What happened back then… I’m sorry.”
I stood up, ready to leave.
“It’s all in the past.”
“Actually, I should thank you.”
“If I hadn’t gone into medicine because of you, I might not have been able to pull my boyfriend beck from the edge of death a year ago.”
When I first met Ryan, he had a sudden heart attack. I performed first aid on him, and that was how we met.
Ethan opened his mouth, but he could not say a single word.