Chapter 2
13:35
My mom agreed that was a reasonable approach and managed to convince my dad.
With their approval, I called Aurora, thanked her for clearing my name, and invited her and her family over for dinner the next day. I could have booked a fancy resta-
urant, but I wanted her family to see us as we were, with nothing to hide.
The next morning, Aurora arrived with her entire family, their arms laden with gifts. Her parents were warm and cheerful, far more enthusiastic than my own reserved
parents. There wasn’t a trace of snobbery about them.
But it was her younger brother who gave me the biggest shock.
It was Kai–the biggest rising star in the music industry.
I was so star–struck I could barely speak, but he just pulled me into a friendly hug.
“Hey, future brother–in–law. I’ve heard a lot about you.”
I managed a weak smile, assuming he was talking about the recent scandal. “You’ve seen the jokes, then.”
Kai burst out laughing. “Oh yeah, I’ve seen the jokes. All of them at my sister’s expense.”
“Huh?” Now I was truly lost. What did this have to do with Aurora?
“Kai,” Aurora warned, giving him a sharp look.
He pouted. “Fine, I won’t say anything.”
But what Kai didn’t say, his parents happily revealed over dinner.
“Our Aurora has had a crush on Leo for years!” her mom announced gleefully. “You should see her old room. It’s covered in his posters.”
know!” her dad added. “It shocked me. My daughter never had a celebrity crush her whole life, and then suddenly, in her twenties, she’s acting like a fangirl.”
Kai couldn’t hold back any longer. He slapped the table, howling with laughter. “Uncle, Auntie, you don’t understand! My sister is completely tone–deaf. She never sang a note in her life. The first and only time she ever tried was to sing Leo’s song Twilight Wind.‘ It became the legendary black mark on her personal history.” “Hahaha! If it weren’t for this lucky coincidence, I’m pretty sure my sister was destined to be single forever.”
Aurora threw a chopstick at him. “Shut up.”
It was too much information to process. I suddenly remembered how she had eagerly dragged me to the courthouse.
It all made sense now.
When everyone was leaving, Aurora asked her family to go on ahead. We took a short walk together.
She told me it wasn’t just a simple celebrity crush.
Years ago, when she first took over her family’s corporation, she was under immense pressure with no one to talk to. She turned to a very old–fashioned method of venting: sending out a message in a bottle.
Somehow, I was the one who found it. After reading her words, I was so moved that I wrote the song “Twilight Wind” to encourage her.
She heard it for the first time late one night, sitting alone in her car, when it came on the radio. Just before the song played, the DJ had read my dedication: “This song is for the friend who sent the message in a bottle. I hope you know that the twilight wind brings not just darkness, but also warmth and hope.”
As she spoke, the memory came flooding back to me. “Twilight Wind“… the song that had launched my career.
To think that our story had started so long ago.
We looked at each other and smiled, just as a gentle evening breeze swept by.
