After calming down, I took two steps further and walked slowly along the shopping district.

When I passed by a cafe, I was attracted by the strong coffee aroma. I went inside and sat down at a random table. I then ordered a cup of hot Americano coffee with half sugar.

Only Hendrix could drink black coffee without sugar.

After much contemplation, I dialed lan's number.

A few seconds later, I finally heard lan's familiar voice, "Arianna? How have you been?"

"I'm alright. You're still awake at this time?" I didn't expect the phone call to actually go through.

"I'm at war," lan said.

"What?" I was confused for a moment. I haven't heard anything about a military operation happening in Mesville recently.

"Haha, nothing. What about you? What can I do for you?" lan knew me very well.

What was a friend like? When we could meet up by just riding a taxi, we would always get into arguments. Now that we were in different time zones, he could still remember the little details about me.

I lowered my head and smiled. Without beating around the bush, I asked, "Didn't you study psychology? I wanted to ask you. What's the reason for a person to ignore someone, avoid her and not even talk to her despite obviously liking her?"

"Are you talking about Hendrix?" lan said, "Even the media in Mesville reported the affair between him and Andrea. That's just really messed up."

"It's quite a headache, but I'm not talking about him," I scratched my head and looked resigned, "It's a friend. I'm asking in his stead."

Having one's emotions played wasn't something to be proud of. lan was someone pure. I didn't want to expose him to these humiliating matters.

"I see... Your friend," lan repeated in

a dubious tone, "Well, you can tell your friend that this is a typical evasive mentality. The more he likes someone, the less he dares to

them. It's also possible that he feels

inferior and believes that he doet

deserve the other person. Or maybe, he's scared he'll end up losing the friendship after revealing his feelings. To be honest, your friend lacks a sense of security and self-esteem when it comes to matters of the heart."

Every time lan mentioned the word "friend", he deliberately emphasized the pronunciation, obviously hinting on an underlying meaning. As all good friends do, he was making fun of me. I ignored lan's teasing and muttered to myself, "Lacking a sense of security..."

Someone as frightening as Jordan seemed rather strong-willed to me. Did he really lack confidence?

Having thought this, I had an epiphany. Indeed, it was plausible. Everyone's a coward in front of the person they really like!

"Then what should I do..." I blurted

out. Halfway through my sentence, I realized that I misspoke. I quickly corrected myself and said, "I mean, what should my friend do to deepen the relationship?"

"Haha..." lan began laughing. After a long while, he cleared his throat and became serious again. He then whispered into the phone,

"Remember, Arianna, jealousy is like a catalyst in romance. It's up to you

on how to use it to get the results that you desire."

I nodded at the phone in agreement. After a moment of bewilderment, I said stubbornly, "I told you it's my friend, not me!"

"Don't be silly, Arianna. You don't have to explain yourself to me. It's enough as long as you're the one winning," lan's tone was half-joking but also gave off a mature impression.

I kept quiet and didn't clarify any further.

At this moment, Silvia's voice came from the other end of the line, "lan..."

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