I frowned. “Reserved by whom?”
“Miss Zamora and Sir Ross, Ma’am.”
I froze where I stood.
Moments later, laughter came from not far away, cutting through the air.
“Oh, Ross, this place is so beautiful!” Zamora exclaimed, her voice bright and light.
Ross’s voice followed.
“This is where we used to come, remember? We promised to be together forever.”
His tone was so gentle it was almost unbelievable.
So this was his version of being “busy”—reliving old memories.
I kept a cold face as I handed over my family’s black card. The staff called and promptly moved aside, greeting me respectfully.
Soft lights glowed over the resort; mist rose from the hot springs.
I saw Ross holding Zamora’s hand as they walked to the hilltop.
They stopped in front of a weathered blue heart-shaped lock.
Zamora touched it and smiled. “Ross, you remember this, right? We locked it here back then.”
“Of course, I remember,” he replied, gentle and patient. “I come here every year to tighten it. Zamora, I’ve been waiting for you to come back.”
He lowered his head and kissed her softly.
Zamora playfully pushed him away. “But didn’t you bring other women here every year?”
He chuckled, eyes full of affection.
“Don’t mind them. They’re just stand-ins. I just missed you so much that I needed a shadow.”
My feet froze. My whole body stiffened.
Eight years ago, Ross had brought me here to confess.
I had looked at that same blue lock with envy. “They must be happy. Maybe they even grow old together,” I said.
He wiped the sweat from my forehead and locked our silver lock beneath the blue one.
“Don’t be jealous of them. We’ll grow old together, too.”
Apparently, that blue lock… was never a stranger’s.
It was his past with Zamora.
All these years, we had come back here countless times and walked past both locks countless times.
I never once thought that the lock I’d envied for years held their memories.
Ross… during all those times you were with me, who were you thinking of?
When you pretended to be clueless, were you mocking my naivety?
Did you think an orphan wouldn’t have the courage to leave you, even knowing the truth?
Only now did I truly understand what the eighteenth hospital call had meant when they said “stand-in.”
I didn’t step forward.
I just turned around and walked away.
My chest felt hollow, as if something had been carved out of it. Even anger felt too expensive to afford.
The love lock didn’t need to be taken down anymore.