Today, Clara Quinn had her hair tied up in her usual neat bun, with two soft strands falling gently along her face. Even without makeup, her features glowed with a quiet charm, her face fresh and luminous—like spring blossoms.
It was as if she could feel Tony's gaze on her, because her cheeks flushed bright pink, the color creeping all the way to her ears.
Tony hadn't looked at her like this in a long time—certainly not since those early days in the library three months ago. But this time was different. He wasn't just glancing. He was seeing her.
She's really beautiful… Tony thought. I swear, I'll protect this girl for the rest of my life.
Clara had already changed into her winter clothes—a soft fleece-lined wool coat bundled tightly around her. Under Tony's open and unrestrained gaze, she could only shyly duck her chin and huddle deeper into her coat, wishing she could disappear inside it.
This is my future wife, Tony thought, heart warming. How lucky am I?
A fleeting image surfaced in his mind—of a girl from a past simulation who had once pursued him, but whom he had ignored because he didn't find her attractive.
I wonder who she really was… The thought passed as quickly as it came. That timeline was gone. That life had already been rewritten.
Half an hour passed. When the library finally closed, the cold wind greeted them as they stepped outside, brushing against their faces. The biting chill cooled Clara's flushed cheeks, though her heart still beat a little too fast.
Normally, they would chat endlessly on their walk back, but today neither of them said a word.
It was Clara who finally broke the silence.
"Tony… I—" she paused, barely above a whisper, "I like you too. But… I don't want to start dating yet. Not until after the grad school entrance exams next year. Is that okay?"
Her voice was soft—shy, barely audible. Like she feared that saying it too loudly might change everything.
Tony looked at her, stunned. He hadn't expected it. All he'd done was look at her—intently, admittedly—for a bit longer than usual, and somehow that had led to this subtle confession.
She likes me too…
"That's fine," Tony said gently. "Focus on your exams. We can take our time. I'll wait for you, however long it takes."
He reached out and lightly patted her head. Clara nodded quickly, then turned and hurried toward the girls' dormitory.
Watching her walk away, Tony couldn't stop the grin spreading across his face. He practically skipped back to his dorm, floating on air.
Back at the dorm, his roommates were all buried in textbooks, cramming to avoid failing their finals.
When they saw Tony walk in glowing with joy, every one of them paused.
Zach Leighton was the first to pounce.
"So… things with Clara finally progressed?"
"Kinda," Tony said, not bothering to hide his smile.
"Kinda?!" Zach leaned in. "You two were just study buddies before. What does 'kinda' even mean? Did you confess? Did she?"
"Alright, alright. Enough with the questions. Go study like a good little boy," Tony said, laughing as he pushed Zach back.
"Excuse me?" Zach puffed up. "I'm older than you! And if you won't tell me, I'll just go ask Ryan!"
With that, he spun around and hopped over to Ryan Park's bed.
"Yo, Ryan. Did Clara and Tony make it official tonight?"
Ryan didn't even glance up. "Why would I know that? It's not my relationship. If you're that curious, maybe you should try dating someone."
"Clara's your girlfriend's roommate, right? You'd definitely be the first to know anything."
"And you're the first to gossip," Ryan shot back, casually sticking his foot out to block Zach from climbing onto his bed.
Meanwhile, Leo Chang had walked over to Tony, not to gossip, but with a notebook in hand.
Ever since he'd started preparing for grad school, Leo had come to rely on Tony for help. Every time Tony came back from the library, Leo would have a set of problems ready to ask.
Tony took the notebook and flipped to the marked questions, then calmly walked Leo through the solutions, step by step.
A few minutes later, after clearing up the doubts, Tony washed up and went to bed, still smiling to himself.
One week later, the final exams were over. Tony's roommates were all packing up and heading home for the holidays.
Tony, too, had one last thing to do—see Clara off at the train station.
Over the months they'd spent together, Tony had pieced together parts of Clara's background. Not through her directly—she rarely talked about her family—but through Ryan's girlfriend, who happened to be Clara's roommate.
Clara had grown up in a small, remote village tucked deep in the hills of a rural Appalachian county. The kind of place with barely functioning roads and poor access to the outside world.
When she'd taken her college entrance exams, she'd outscored nearly everyone in her district. Despite her stellar performance, she chose to attend Haverford University of Technology, a lesser-known school hundreds of miles from her hometown.
Why? Because of the "Freshman Scholar Award"—a first-place admission scholarship worth $15,000. But it wasn't an easy award to win. Out-of-state students had to score far above the first-tier cutoff line.
It was easy to imagine: Who else with such an incredible score would choose a school like Haverford, unless they absolutely needed the scholarship?
Clara had been raised by her grandmother, and nearly every dollar of financial aid she received was sent back home.
That was all Tony knew. The rest, Clara kept to herself.
As for Tony, he also came from a rural county—just not from Clara's state. His home was in neighboring Belmont County, in a town just as overlooked.
After watching Clara disappear through the security gate, Tony felt a soft sense of longing, but also relief.
Then he made his way back to campus, packed his bags, and headed to the apartment his parents had rented for him in Haverford.
Tony's transformation this semester hadn't gone unnoticed. Though few people outside his major knew what he was up to, his classmates had definitely taken note.
His surge in the midterm rankings—jumping from the bottom to near the top—had turned heads. People began to pay attention: to his focus in class, to the way he haunted the library every day.
But Tony's parents had no idea.
Their relationship had grown distant over the years, a gap created by years of separation. Tony didn't feel the same eagerness to reunite with them as he had when he was a child.
Back in elementary school, he'd live for the winter and summer holidays. He didn't care about the break itself—what thrilled him was finally getting to see his parents again.
Back then, his parents would take him to live with them for a few weeks during the summer, or return home for the New Year.
But now that he was in college, Tony could visit them anytime. And yet, he didn't want to. He preferred going back to the village to see his grandparents instead.
Since entering university, his grades had been mediocre. His parents would scold him endlessly, comparing him to others, complaining about the tuition, and accusing him of wasting their efforts.
It wore him down.
Their constant criticism only made him want to be anywhere but home. It was why he hadn't told them anything about his academic comeback.
Let them find out on their own—through his results, through his future.
Tony had already decided: this time, he was going to prove it, not explain it.