18 Premenstrual Syndrome

Gemma's POV

On the weekend, Charlotte asks me to go shopping.

With the change of seasons, Charlotte wants to buy some winter clothes.

The mall is huge. We're on the third floor in the women's section, but I'm leaning against the glass railing, my eyes unconsciously fixed on the men's department on the second floor.

Charlotte comes out of the fitting room. "What's up? Thinking of buying a gift for your boyfriend?"

I'm a bit embarrassed to admit it but nod anyway.

"I knew it." She shrugs.

"Luke's birthday is coming up," I say.

"Alright, after I buy this outfit, we'll go down and take a look."

I'm a bit shocked. "Haven't you always been against me dating Luke?"

"Miss, please wrap this up for me. I'll pay by card," Charlotte waves to the store clerk.

Then she turns to me. "Let me ask you one thing: are you happy being with Luke?"

I nod.

"Since you're happy, that's all that matters." Charlotte shrugs. "Nothing's perfect in this world. Couples always have friction; as long as you resolve it, it's fine."

I nod.

Then I widen my eyes. "Are you still Charlotte? You're like a completely different person compared to last time when you advised me to break up."

The clerk hands her the wrapped clothes.

"Really?" Charlotte checks the receipt, smiles and nods at the clerk, then turns to me. "Maybe it's because I just broke up; I don't want my good friend to break up too. If both of us are heartbroken at the same time, that would be too miserable."

I'm utterly shocked. "When did you break up?"

"Yesterday."

"Why?"

"I met him in person." Charlotte sighs, running her fingers through her hair. "You know, he's like those product photos that seriously don't match the real thing. I didn't even recognize him at first."

I gape in shock. "But when you usually voice chat and video call—"

"He used beauty filters." Charlotte takes a deep breath. "Not only that, he lied about his height. Yesterday I was wearing flat shoes, and he was still half a head shorter than me."

I'm too stunned to speak.

"So at least your Luke is good-looking." Charlotte ends the conversation with a shallow yet profound remark.

Luke's birthday is on December 1st; I saw it on the company's internal website.

We wander around the men's section but can't find a suitable gift. Maybe giving clothes is too common; parents can give that, friends too. I want to give him something that makes him happy and unforgettable, so I decide to go home and feel him out.

"Is there any wish you've had since childhood that hasn't been fulfilled?" I ask while resting on Luke's lap.

"Landing on the moon," Luke replies without blinking as he reads.

"...Anything else?"

"Raising an elephant."

"...Anything else?"

"Seeing the application of land-air amphibious cars in my lifetime."

I sit up and fall completely silent.

After Luke finishes speaking, he gets up, goes to the dining room, opens a bottle of red wine, and pours it into a goblet.

"Do you want a glass?" he asks.

"No, thanks," I say.

Luke holds his wine glass and sits down at the dining table.

Forget it; I think I might need to be more direct.

"Your birthday is coming up soon. Is there any wish within my ability that I can help you fulfill?"

Luke says nothing and pours himself more wine. The red liquid flows into the crystal-clear glass, swirling.

"Thanks, but I might be on a business trip on my birthday, so we can skip it."

I stare at him blankly. "You didn't tell me."

"Just a last-minute assignment."

I pick up my phone to check the date. "But that's a Sunday."

"Yes, I work overtime on Sundays too."

I look at him, dumbfounded. "You're lying to me."

"Alright," Luke pours another half glass of wine, his voice turning a bit cold. "Actually, I don't really like celebrating birthdays."

"Why?" I tilt my head and look at him.

"A birthday is just an ordinary, long day in an ordinary, long life. I don't think it's meaningful to commemorate, so I don't want to celebrate it." Luke gazes at the wine glass, the red liquid reflecting on his face.

"Then you should just say so; why lie to me?" I raise my voice.

"Explaining is troublesome, like right now." The red liquid also reflects in his eyes, turning into a boundless deep brown. "I have a headache; I'm going to rest early."

Is this... a dismissal?

I snap back to reality and walk out the door.

Luke keeps staring at his wine glass.

I return home, stand in the living room for a few minutes in a daze, then turn around and head back to Luke's place.

"Sorry, I forgot to slam the door."

After saying that, I slam the door with a heavy "thud."

Now, Luke and I don't talk anymore.

Even though I was the one who pursued him first, I still have my pride.

As his girlfriend, I don't even have the right to spend his birthday with him. What kind of girlfriend does that make me?

This time, I absolutely won't be the one to give in first.

But Luke is the same. Our communication is now limited to work at the car dealership, and after hours, he deliberately avoids me. Even though we're neighbors, we haven't run into each other once.

While we are in this cold war, Dmitri shows up.

He comes to the dealership to find me, dressed in a suit, tall and strong, naturally standing out in the crowd.

There are a lot of people at the dealership, and Dmitri, being so striking, naturally attracts the attention of many women.

I can only drag him as quickly as possible to the café next to the dealership.

"What do you want?" I ask after ordering a random coffee, not in the mood for small talk.

"What if I just wanted to see you?" Dmitri smiles.

"Sorry, I'm very busy." I try to keep my tone emotionless.

"Are you really busy, or just avoiding me? When I came to buy a car, you even handed my case over to someone else." Dmitri adds sugar to my coffee.

"I realized I came on too strong, so I gave you space to process things and didn't bother you for a while."

I scoff, "Then that while was still too short. Not enough."

Dmitri looks up. "How long do you need?"

"A lifetime."

I down my coffee in one gulp and stand to leave.

"That man is pursuing you, isn't he?" Dmitri's voice is calm as he points to Jacob, who's wiping tables in the distance.

I turn my head and quietly look at Dmitri.

Somewhere deep inside, I kind of want Dmitri to mistake Jacob for my boyfriend. On one hand, it could cover for Luke, and on the other, it might help me get back at Jacob for not returning the money he owes me.

While I talk to Dmitri, Jacob throws the rag onto the table, glaring at me in annoyance.

"You two seem to have a special connection," Dmitri continues.

I'm a bit pleased, hoping Dmitri lets his imagination run wild and assumes something romantic between me and Jacob.

But then Dmitri says something that disappoints me: "But from what I see, he's not the one."

"The one," of course, refers to my actual boyfriend.

"I should get back to work," I say.

"I'm not giving up on you," Dmitri's voice is soft, with a gentle rasp.

I smile.

"Do you really like me, or can you just not accept that a woman would dump you and treat your money like dirt?" I look out at the traffic outside the window. "Just because I don't shout, don't complain, don't seek revenge, doesn't mean I'll stand here, willing to make up with you."

"But before Sophia appeared," Dmitri looks at me, his tone tender, "we were always fine."

"Fine?" I smile again. "If everything is built on lies."

I say that, then turn to leave.

But just as I take a step, Dmitri grabs my arm, his voice cold and commanding: "Break up with him. Then... come back."

"You think that's possible?" I frown slightly.

"I won't let you go." Dmitri says it as if making a vow.

I use some subtle force to free my arm from Dmitri's grip. Then I take three steps forward, putting some distance between us.

I turn around, smile at him, and say, "You'll see just how happy we are."

I walk out of the café and return to the dealership, and this time, Dmitri doesn't stop me.

Time moves forward, and Luke and I are still in a cold war.

I just don't get it—I'm the one who should be angry, but Luke is acting like he's the one who's been wronged.

Is there no justice in the world?

"You two have broken up by now, right?" Charlotte says as we go out for lunch over the weekend. "Luke is probably with that woman he sent flowers to last time."

I'm eating steak, imagining the meat as Luke, and biting down hard.

"Well, it looks like I'm single, and now you're single too. A bad year for both of us."

I keep shoveling food into my mouth.

After eating, I head to the restroom to touch up my makeup.

When I come back out, Charlotte is sitting by the window, looking outside.

"I just saw Luke shopping with a beautiful woman," she says, like she's reporting gossip.

I nearly jump out of my seat. "Really?!"

Charlotte calmly responds, "Nope, just kidding."

I'm speechless.

After lunch, I drive home. When I park in the underground garage, I grab my phone and notice the date on the screen: December 1st.

Luke's birthday.

The more I think about it, the angrier I get. I take the elevator up to his apartment, determined to give him a piece of my mind.

The elevator doors open, and I march straight to his door, pounding on it with my fists.

Two minutes later, the door opens.

I stand there with my hands on my hips, shouting at Luke, "Luke Shaw, you need to explain to me—what makes me so unworthy of you? I'm good-looking, emotionally intelligent, great at my job, and I have a kind heart. Sure, I'm not the best cook, but compared to someone like you who almost set the kitchen on fire, I'm doing way better! What exactly is wrong with me? You act cold all the time! I just asked about your birthday, and you got mad! Do you have PMS or something? You—"

I had a thousand more things lined up to yell at him, but none of them come out.

Because Luke shuts me up by kissing me.

I widen my eyes, staring at his handsome face so close to mine, and finally realize my guess was right.

He does have PMS.（Premenstrual Syndrome）