Chapter 110: A Movie for Two
The movie started soon after.
When the surroundings went dark, Vivian Lowell realized that she and Julian Faulkner were still the only two people in the theater.
Maybe it was because the air conditioning was a bit strong.
A chill ran through Vivian, and she couldn’t help but shrink back, asking Julian, "Julian. Don’t you think... it’s a little creepy watching a movie with just the two of us here?"
?
Julian, who had been focused intently on the movie screen, turned his head at that moment and gave Vivian a puzzled look.
He didn’t seem too pleased.
"..."
Vivian was silent for a moment.
She had a feeling Julian had misunderstood her.
"I didn’t mean it’s bad being here with you. It’s just that I’ve never had a private screening in a movie theater before! Maybe... the AC is on too high, and with only two of us, we’re not exhaling enough carbon dioxide, so it feels cold?"
Her words left Julian speechless as well.
He hadn’t expected Vivian to sound so... logical when she said that.
’Cold because of less exhaled carbon dioxide?’
Completely at a loss with Vivian, Julian took out his phone and sent a message to the theater manager, asking him to turn up the temperature.
"Wear this."
After sending the message, Julian took off his own jacket and draped it over Vivian.
Vivian was about to refuse.
But once the jacket was on her, its warmth—Julian’s warmth—spread through her, and she couldn’t bring herself to take it off.
Ahem.
She was no longer at an age where she would sacrifice warmth for style, refusing to wear long johns no matter how cold the winter got.
Between warmth and style, she now found warmth to be far more practical.
It was like how many people would choose "bread" over "love." You only realize the benefits of "warmth" and "bread" after you’ve truly been cold and hungry!
With the jacket draped over her, the movie began.
This romance film wasn’t like Titanic, telling a deeply moving love story. Instead, it was about the little frictions that couples encounter.
The film typically featured several couples of different ages, facing different problems, but... it basically ended the same way for all of them.
They broke up.
Vivian didn’t like overly sweet, unrealistic, or picture-perfect romance films. She found this type, which hewed closer to reality, much more interesting.
She liked stories that felt true to life.
In this film, a main couple had been together for five years. They had endured hardships, and just when things were finally starting to look up, other conflicts arose.
They broke up.
There was one scene where the male lead asked the female lead, "What would you do if you didn’t want me anymore?" The female lead replied, "Then I’ll eat mangoes until I die."
The female lead was allergic to mangoes. She couldn’t eat them.
But this time, when the male lead tried to win her back, the female lead ate so many mangoes she ended up in the hospital, and she still didn’t forgive him.
They were well and truly over.
On the day the female lead left, she quietly packed her bags, yet she repeatedly made noises and passed in front of the male lead.
The female lead felt that if the male lead had shown even the slightest sign of wanting her to stay, she wouldn’t have left.
But the male lead said nothing, did nothing, and didn’t even look at her, right up until she left with her suitcase and closed the door behind her.
Sometimes, a relationship ends just like that—quietly and without a sound.
No gut-wrenching pain, no heart-tearing screams, none of those scenes of being unable to let go. It just suddenly ended, without any dramatic fanfare.
The female lead’s heart had grown cold.
She didn’t want to make the same mistake again and chose to leave for good.
"..."
When the movie finished and the lights came up, Vivian was still staring at the screen, her expression complex.
She liked the story.
She felt that this was simply human nature in the world of relationships.
One person assumes the other won’t leave, while the other assumes they’ll be asked to stay. And so they part ways.
It seemed absurd, but in reality, both were nursing their own secret wounds.
"Julian."
Vivian leaned back against her seat and suddenly asked, "Do you think their breakup was dignified? If you... broke up with someone someday, what would it be like?"