The only person accompanying Hamish now is Tobias, responsible for his daily needs and treatment. On the surface, everything seems normal, but in reality, his lungs are rotten. Sometimes, when he looks at the images of lungs on the film, he can’t help but question if human lungs can really become this ugly.
Tobias tried his best to hide the news of Elisa’s wedding, but Hamish still found out. That’s just the kind of person he is – always unable to resist prying into her life, despite claiming to have let go.
Luckily, Hamish didn’t show any reaction on the surface. He continued to eat and drink as if it didn’t bother him. Initially, Tobias thought he had truly moved on. But one time when Hamish fainted in pain, he kept murmuring Elisa’s name, sounding distressed and tearful. It was then that Tobias realized Hamish had never let go, not even for a moment.
“Elisa.” He called out her name in pain, with a voice full of injustice and sorrow. But when he woke up, it seemed as if he had forgotten about calling out for Elisa.
Tobias asked him, “Mr. Burns, have you truly let go?”
“What are you talking about? I have long let go,” Hamish replied with a faint smile.
After Tobias left, Hamish seemed to lose himself, staring blankly at the withered branches outside the window. What he couldn’t get would never be his, and what couldn’t come back would never return. Elisa taught him how to love and be loved, but she also made him understand a truth – not all unrequited love can be reciprocated. A broken mirror could never be made whole again, and not everything can be mended to its original state.
Tobias often asked him, “Do you feel any pain?”
The pain, not referring to his lungs, but to his heart. It surged through him, as if being stabbed from the inside out, as if being tightly entangled by ropes, causing his chest to convulse as if it was about to burst open. It felt as if he was being bitten by ants and falling into an endless abyss.
In addition to the torment of physical pain, he also suffered from the agony of insomnia, unable to sleep all night.
He couldn’t help but slap himself twice, the sound echoing loudly in the silent night. The force was so strong that not only did his palms feel numb, but for a moment, his face lost sensation as well. It took a while for the numbness to spread, and his ears were ringing.
“Slap -” Hamish slapped himself again, as if he couldn’t feel the pain while scolding himself.
“It’s your own fault! You’re the one who ruined her feelings!”
“Slap -”
“What right do you have to feel any pain?”
“Slap -”
“She doesn’t want you anymore. What’s the use of yearning for her so deeply? She already treated you well enough.”
“Slap -”
Late affection couldn’t even compare to maggots in the gutter.
“She’s married, she has someone else. She doesn’t want me anymore.” Hamish rubbed the layer of clothes on his left chest, feeling uncomfortable. He cried and retched, unable to stop sobbing, gasping for breath for the first time while crying.
When Elisa said they were getting their marriage certificate, he didn’t react like this. It was only when he saw her wedding that he realized he wasn’t happy at all.
…
Elisa’s wedding day arrived quickly, making headlines and being reported by various media outlets, afraid that no one would know.
As soon as Hamish opened his phone, he saw the push notification but his trembling fingers couldn’t bring themselves to open it. He wanted to go see her, but deep down, he knew he had no right. What was he to Elisa?
He was a familiar stranger, a person who had tangled with her for almost half his life. They had a distant yet close relationship, being ex-husband and ex-wife.
He knew very well how they got divorced. It was because he took Elisa to exchange for Lila’s safety. He knew how much Elisa had suffered and how much pain she had endured during the process, leading to the good outcome they had now.
He shouldn’t disturb her.
“Tobias, I want to drink,” Hamish said.
Tobias silently tidied up the things nearby, not speaking a word.
Hamish continued, “After all, today is her big day.”
“Mr. Burns, drinking now can be life-threatening for you, not to mention there’s no alcohol in the house.” Tobias had already anticipated this situation and had someone take away all the alcohol from their alcohol cabinet long ago. There was truly no alcohol in the house, not even a bottle of alcohol to be found.
The light from above shone on Hamish’s face, giving off a glimmer of light. His face already had a sickly appearance, but now it appeared even paler and terrifying.
Hamish’s current appearance couldn’t be considered good-looking anymore. With his bald head, he resembled a monk from a Buddhist temple. He was thin, with obvious eye sockets and deep-set eyes. There wasn’t a trace of extra flesh on his body. If he took off his clothes, you could clearly see his ribs. He was as thin as a skeleton.
“Living like this is meaningless,” he muttered, relying on medicine to prolong his life.
“But we have no choice but to keep living, don’t we?” Tobias replied.
Hamish smiled bitterly, “You can go out. I want to be alone for a while.”
Tobias understood what he was thinking, hesitated for a moment, and then left, giving him the space to be alone.
After Tobias left, Hamish took off the oxygen mask from his face and stumbled over to the computer. Even the short distance made him sway, and he had to catch his breath upon sitting down.
He turned on the computer and searched for Elisa’s name. As soon as he typed her name, the search results popped up with pictures of her and Louis’ wedding.
Someone had secretly recorded a video, and after searching through several links, he finally found a livestream of the recording. The footage was shaky and blurry, but he could immediately recognize Elisa.
Red truly suited Elisa. She was dressed in a red wedding gown, radiating a dazzling beauty.
As he looked at the sea of red in the wedding scene, he suddenly remembered what Elisa had said that day.
“Hamish, you’ve never tried to understand me.”
It turned out that Elisa had always liked this kind of wedding. The wedding dress lying next to the sofa seemed striking, appearing out of place. Perhaps Elisa didn’t dislike the wedding dress he had prepared, but rather, she didn’t like him as a person.
The video continued to play on the computer, with congratulatory comments scrolling at the bottom. Hamish’s sharp eyes caught one comment as it passed by.
“These two truly are a perfect couple.”
Unconsciously, a smile appeared on Hamish’s lips. It was a faint smile, filled with a hint of bitterness. People had praised him and Elisa as a perfect couple before.
Elisa, afraid of sudden noise, instinctively covered her ears when the fireworks went off. Louis, who was beside her, held her in his arms and covered her ears.
Under the witness of everyone, they exchanged vows, exchanged rings, drank from the same cup, called their parents, and received gifts. From that day onwards, Elisa was no longer alone. She had a real family that loved her, someone to comfort her when she was in pain, hold her when she was cold, and feed her candy when she was suffering. They would live a peaceful and happy life together.
The bright light from the computer screen shone on Hamish’s face. Hamish couldn’t watch the live broadcast of the wedding from start to finish. He stared at the screen, refusing to close his eyes even when they became dry and felt like there was a layer of gray clouding his vision. It wasn’t until Elisa’s face appeared on the screen that his eyes briefly sparkled.
After a while, he lowered his head and looked at the ring on his finger. The simple yet elegant ring glimmered softly under the light.
Tobias went downstairs to call the chef to prepare a meal, all with flavors suitable for a patient – light and mild.
Hamish, born in Chiwood, knew that people from Chiwood generally preferred mild flavors and emphasized the delicacy of the food.
The dishes the chef made were suitable for a patient’s diet and aligned with Hamish’s palate. However, he couldn’t bring himself to take more than a few bites. They seemed even more flavorless to him now.
Hamish looked at the food Tobias brought, and memories of the dishes Elisa used to make flooded his mind. She used to prepare a table full of dishes every evening, much better than these. Every day, she would cook a variety of different dishes with different flavors and presentation styles.
Even after all this time, after traveling to countless places and tasting thousands of flavors in various restaurants, he still couldn’t find any taste that could match the dishes Elisa used to make. Those were truly the happiest times.
When Elisa loved him, she gave up her favorite flavorful food and learned to cook mild dishes that suited the Chiwood palate.
Now, he was accustomed to mild flavors. Suddenly, he wanted to taste the dishes Elisa loved.
“I want something spicy. These flavors have no taste,” Hamish said, taking the fork handed to him by Tobias.
Tobias placed the dishes on the table, one by one, and silently handed the fork to Hamish. “I see you’re ready to die again.”
Hamish took the fork, picked up a vegetable dish, and took a few bites. After chewing for a moment, he said, “Tasteless. It’s bitter.”