Delayed Passion: Miss Lynch's Unrequited Love-Chapter 24: Why Is It You?

"Is Aaron coming back next month?"

"What day is it? If I have time, I can go to the airport to pick him up."

"Speaking of which, I met Aaron once when I was abroad before."

"..."

When Thea talked about Aaron, it was like she became a different person. From being indifferent while chatting with him earlier, she turned into a chatterbox, even if he didn’t respond, she talked a lot to herself.

It was clear that she was genuinely happy.

Realizing this, Ian clicked his tongue, feeling a bit sour.

Among the few people, the one with the best relationship with Thea was the Zimmerman’s second child. Thea’s relationship with Aaron was even closer than with her own brother, Aaron Lynch. Whenever Thea was reprimanded, she’d like to find comfort in Aaron.

When she was younger, she loved sticking to Aaron every day. When Aaron went to school, she’d cry wanting to go with him. Her favoritism towards Aaron seems unchanged over the years, with her whole heart and eyes full of him.

The elders even jokingly said they’d make her the Zimmerman’s daughter-in-law when she grew up.

Ian still remembers, when they were kids, she never had a pleasant expression towards him and was unwilling to say even one more word when they were together.

She was spoiled growing up and had a bit of a princess temper back then. Usually, when others called her, she’d reluctantly stand there waiting for them to walk over.

But when she met Aaron, she didn’t need him to approach; she’d run over eagerly on her own.

She was famously dual-standard back then, recognizing only two types of people — Aaron and everyone else — treating them unmistakably differently.

Because of this, her own brother, Aaron, had his share of jealousy, even forbidding Thea from meeting Aaron for a time.

"You met abroad too?" Ian didn’t even realize there was an undeniable hint of jealousy in his tone.

"Yes. At the time, he said he was on a business trip nearby and came to the school to find me." Thea was still immersed in the joy of seeing Aaron, unaware of the slight changes in his expression, she answered whatever he asked.

"So, you kept in touch all this time?"

Thinking about this, Ian gripped the steering wheel tightly, his knuckles turning white.

Thea shook her head, slowly speaking before jealousy consumed him: "Not really."

"We just met once, exchanged a few words, and he didn’t stay long before leaving."

Aaron has always been like that, knowing when to advance and retreat, respecting all her decisions. She changed her contact details and made it clear she didn’t want to connect with anyone back home, so Aaron didn’t bring it up. Upon leaving, he just told her to take care of her health.

She asked Aaron about his specific return date.

Ian said he didn’t know.

"Huh?" Thea looked at him suspiciously.

The next second, the man unhappily tossed his phone into her lap, "Ask in the group yourself."

"Is it appropriate?"

She was actually asking if it was suitable for her to log into his WeChat.

Someone replied sinisterly, "Why didn’t you ask like this before?"

"..." Thea awkwardly touched the tip of her nose, pretending to be clueless.

Whenever the two were together, if something happened in any group, it was her responding using Ian’s WeChat. Eventually, when Ian spoke in the group, everyone instinctively asked if it was her or if the two of them were together again.

At their closest, when he was busy with documents and had no free hand, she’d even help reply to his work messages without him having any worry about leaking secrets.

Unlocking his phone, Ian’s WeChat was as clear as before.

There weren’t many conversation windows since he had a bit of OCD, always deleting each conversation once finished. 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

But there were two exceptions, always pinned at the top.

One was their group chat.

The other was a very familiar avatar, it was... her?

It was the account she used many years ago.

After returning home, she only gave him her new number, and they hadn’t added each other on WeChat yet.

From an outsider’s view, the latest message on this chat window was from last year, with small floating text saying, "Happy New Year, wishing you well."

She had long abandoned that WeChat account, and hadn’t logged in for years, this message was clearly sent by Ian to her.

Her fingers moved uncontrollably, wanting to click in and see what he had sent before.

The chat window in front of her instantly turned into Pandora’s box.

Her palm felt hot, as if enchanted, completely drawn in, her index finger irresistibly lowering.

"Did he reply?"

A sudden male voice, seemingly calm and like usual. However, Thea felt guilty, as if the voice whispered right in her ear.

Waves rose on the ocean, continuously lapping against the shore, her voice a bit shaky:

"Not—not yet."

She opened the group chat and mentioned Aaron, "Aaron, when exactly are you coming back? Roughly what day?"

Since Ian was a few months younger, after reaching adulthood, he never called him that, always directly using his name.

So Thea’s message sent out wasn’t long before the others in the group sensed something odd.

"Silas, your tone doesn’t seem right." Of all, Silas was the most idle, the first to jump out.

The fifth one: "Doesn’t seem like Silas."

"Is it Thea?" Following quickly, Aaron sent a voice message, speaking with conviction this time: "It’s Thea, isn’t it? Unless anything unexpected happens, I’m tentatively returning on the twelfth."

After Aaron’s message was sent, the group chat fell silent for a moment.

Thea didn’t care, continuing to chat with Aaron.

It was quite a while before Silas and the fifth chimed in a couple of words.

After confirming the date with them, Thea clicked the emoji tab, habitually replying with a meme.

After sending, quite some time passed, staring at the cute image on the screen, unable to snap out of it. She clicked back, carefully reviewing the saved memes.

Ian wouldn’t save these sorts of things, let alone send them. When he replied, typing more words was almost considered a "charity."

These were her "masterpieces," yet Ian still kept them? Did he perhaps not delete them after all? Musings like this led Thea to help clean up his phone a bit before finally handing the phone back.

——

Tuesday morning, Stratus R&D department.

Thea and others were seated, deliberating on what to have for lunch.

"The cafeteria seems to have new dishes today, why not go there together?" Seeing the group was indecisive for long, Thea suggested.

Someone uttered a sound, somewhat disdainfully: "Did the cafeteria change chefs yet? Last time their innovative dishes almost killed me. Are they treating us like pigs out there?"

"Anyway, I haven’t been back to the cafeteria since that meal."

The few people were having a heated discussion, undecided when they heard a knock at the door.

The HR brought in a newcomer and introduced them as Foreman Lynch’s newly recruited assistant.

Hearing this, Thea lifted her head from a pile of documents.

Upon seeing her face, the newcomer’s eyes widened, exclaimed: "Why is it you?"