Patricia's head snapped up.
"Luther?"
"You know his name? Ah! Where did you see him? Why didn't you call me down?"
"Was he looking for me?"
"Naomi, hurry up and tell me!"
Seeing Patricia like this, Naomi truly understood how pathetic she herself had been.
She hadn't done anything wrong, yet she had always felt inferior in front of Zebulon.
A healthy, mutual attraction should be like this, like Patricia and Luther.
Zebulon had never shown any sign of liking her. It was time for her one-sided crush to end.
With this realization, everything suddenly became clear.
"Okay, okay, I'll tell you. Stop shaking me, you're making me dizzy."
Patricia immediately let go.
Naomi handed her the bag and recounted her encounter with Luther.
When Patricia heard that Luther was thinking of her and had even come by to drop off gifts, her shriek was loud enough to shake the entire dorm building.
"What's going on in the room next door?"
"Did they see a cockroach?"
"Ah! A cockroach? I'm scared of them too! What if it crawls over to our room?"
The neighboring dorm room descended into chaos.
Patricia clamped a hand over her mouth, shocked that her moment of excitement had caused such a stir.
She tiptoed back to her chair and sat down, her voice dropping to a whisper.
"Naomi, is what you said really true?"
Seeing Patricia's 'Am I dreaming?' expression, Naomi chuckled. "You can believe it's a dream if you want, but how do you explain all this? I certainly didn't buy it."
Patricia hugged the bag of gifts, kissing it over and over.
Naomi laughed heartily.
After a bit more playful banter, Patricia dutifully returned to her thesis.
The motivation to see Luther was a powerful one.
Naomi also opened her laptop. In the studio's group chat, everyone was celebrating that the game's major issues had been resolved. With just a few final touches, it would be ready to launch.
Naomi felt a surge of anticipation.
A buzz from her phone pulled her from her thoughts. A glance at the caller ID made her lose all interest in answering.
Unable to get through by phone, Zebulon resorted to texting.
A stream of apologies flooded Naomi's inbox. She simply silenced her phone.
She knew Zebulon's persistence wouldn't last long.
She knew his personality all too well.
Sure enough, after sending over a hundred messages with no response, his end went completely quiet.

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