The Ultimate Doctor V’s Revenge

3. Poor leech

Vincent Li left the classroom quietly after the first class ended.

He went to the old science block where students rarely went to, to wait for Leena.

That was their usual spot.

Vincent sat on a rusted bench beneath a ginkgo tree, exhaling slowly while he waited for her.

He checked the time.

Why was she taking time to come?

As he waited, his thoughts drifted to the first day they had met. He had been sitting alone then too, reading a borrowed textbook. Leena had approached him with a small smile, asking if the seat beside him was taken. When he told her it wasn’t taken, she sat, and they began talking.

Later, he learned her surname was Zhou.

Her family owned Zhou Finance. It wasn’t among the city’s absolute elite, but they were comfortable and respected.

She was, by the school’s standards, out of Vincent’s league.

And yet she had never treated him that way.

She listened when he spoke. She noticed when he was tired. She slipped him snacks without making it feel like charity.

Vincent glanced up again, searching the pathway.

She still hadn’t come.

He checked his phone.

No new messages.

Maybe she was delayed. Maybe a teacher had held her back. He told himself not to overthink it, even as he felt a little uneasy. He typed a short message.

I’m at our spot. Are you still coming?

He stared at the screen, waiting for her reply but there was nothing.

Minutes passed and the bell rang in the distance, signaling the next class. Vincent shifted on the bench, his fingers curling around the edge.

He typed again, more carefully this time.

I waited. I have class soon. We can talk later.

He hesitated, then added—

I’ll see you.

Still, there was no reply from her.

He swallowed.

She’s busy, he told himself. Don’t be clingy. Don’t make things harder.

Then he stood, slinging his bag over his shoulder. As he walked away from the ginkgo tree, he glanced back once, irrationally hoping to see her running toward him, breathless and apologizing for keeping him waiting.

But nothing happened.

The rest of the day passed in a blur. Lectures droned on, and by the time the final bell rang, he felt sad.

He went to look for Leena and found her near the main building, standing with two girls from her class.

He approached carefully.

“Leena,” he called and she turned.

Her eyes flicked over him—not warmly, not coldly either. Just briefly.

“Yes?” she asked indifferently.

“I waited for you earlier,” Vincent said softly. “At the back.”

She blinked, then shrugged. “I was busy.”

She said the words so carelessly, like something already forgotten.

“Oh,” he said. “I texted—”

“I know,” she cut in, checking her phone. “I saw.”

Something in her tone made his throat tighten.

“I didn’t mean to bother you,” he said quickly. “I just thought—”

“It’s fine,” she said, already turning back to her friends. “I just didn’t have time.”

Vincent nodded, even though she wasn’t looking anymore. He swallowed whatever else he had wanted to say.