Chapter 1

A group of thugs had Sienna Coleman cornered in an alley. Despairing and desperate, she called her boyfriend, Lance Xenakis, 33 times. Yet, he was busy administering a "mouth-to-mouth treatment" to a transfer student, Ashley Quinton, who suffered from skin hunger. He kissed her passionately and forgot about everything while his phone vibrated on the couch until it died upon running out of battery. Sienna struggled with all her might to break free and managed to run away, but she ended up being hit by a car. When she woke up, her whole body was wrapped in bandages. Her phone automatically played a video of Lance and Ashley kissing, as if nothing in the world mattered. The video lasted three hours and 27 minutes, and the social post's caption read, "Thanks, campus heartthrob, for helping me treat my illness. I'll sleep well tonight!" Everyone knew that Ashley's skin hunger could only be cured by Lance. She had to hug, touch, or cling to him while doing homework. Even when she left bite marks on his collarbone, he merely sighed and said indulgently, "Be gentle. I have a basketball game tomorrow." By then, everyone had forgotten that Sienna was Lance's official girlfriend. He had pursued her for three years and confessed to her in front of the whole school. He had once climbed over the school gates and skipped class just to buy her ibuprofen for her period cramps. He had even stayed up later for three nights to make a galaxy projector for her birthday. When the Colemans planned to immigrate, he said to her with reddened eyes, "If you leave, Enna, I'll jump off the school building." So, Sienna tore up her plane ticket and filled out the same college application as him. She chose to stay in the country for his sake. Sienna calmly pulled out the IV tube and sent a text message to her mom, Fiona Mandel. "Mom, help me make arrangements to enroll in the college in Linton." Lance's patient needed him, after all. Since that was the case, Sienna decided that she no longer needed him in her future. … Three days later, Sienna was discharged from the hospital and returned home. The villa was empty because her parents, Bobby Coleman and Fiona, had been busy making arrangements since she was now coming overseas with them. Sienna quietly went back to her room and began packing her luggage. When she was halfway through, there came the sound of the fingerprint lock on the front door opening. At this time, her parents should not be back yet. The only other person who could open the door was Lance. As he came over often, Bobby and Fiona had long accepted their relationship. They even had his fingerprint registered for the digital lock. Sienna had once imagined that they would naturally progress to putting on wedding outfits from their school uniforms. At the thought of that, she felt a harrowing ache in her heart, like it was pricked by countless tiny needles. Sure enough, Lance walked in when the door opened. He wore a simple T-shirt with a black windbreaker casually unzipped over it. His gray sweatpants accentuated his long legs, and his slightly messy hair did nothing to diminish his handsomeness. If anything, it added a hint of unruly charm. He froze for a second when he saw Sienna packing. Then, he smiled and walked over to hug her from behind. "Why are you packing so early, Babe? There's still quite some time left before college starts," Lance said. However, Sienna instinctively stepped aside to avoid his touch, so Lance ended up hugging the air. His smile stiffened slightly, but he quickly recovered. He said dotingly, "Alright. There's no harm in packing earlier. That way, you won't be scrambling and flustered later on." As if just remembering something, Lance paused for a bit and added, "By the way, you called me so many times a few days ago. What was the matter?" Sienna kept folding her clothes without stopping. Her voice was calm and even as she replied, "It's been three days. Isn't it a bit too late to ask now?" Lance leaned closer, his voice low and coaxing. "Are you angry? I'm sorry. A few days ago, Ashley's skin hunger flared up. It was very serious, and I couldn't step away. Later, she still wasn't feeling well. I was busy taking care of her, so I forgot to call you back. "Don't be mad, okay? You know that Ashley once did me a great favor. It's only right that I help her." Sienna lifted her head to look at the handsome face before her. She suddenly felt as if she were staring at a complete stranger. When high school started, Sienna quickly became known as the campus belle. She knew of the popular boy named Lance in the next class. However, they lived parallel lives while in school. They finally met each other at a debate competition. Sienna went on stage as the fourth debater for the opposition. The usually eloquent and logical Lance froze the moment he saw her, and his side ultimately lost the match. After the match, others curiously asked him what happened. He had said candidly, "I couldn't help it. I got lost in the moment, staring at Sienna." From then on, the whole school knew that the campus heartthrob, Lance, had a crush on the campus belle, Sienna. He treated her with the utmost care and expressed his feelings for her through high-profile gestures until she finally agreed to be his girlfriend under his relentless pursuit. After that, they were inseparable. They even made a promise to attend the same college together. When the Colemans made plans to immigrate, he found out about it and cornered Sienna behind the school block. He had held her tight with reddened eyes as he said, "Enna, don't go. If you leave, I'll die…" Because of those words, Sienna gave in. She tore up her plane ticket and had a huge fight with her parents after making up her mind to stay for Lance's sake. All was well until Ashley, the transfer student, appeared. She claimed to suffer from a rare condition called skin hunger, which only Lance could relieve. At first, Lance was extremely annoyed by her closeness and firmly told her to stay away. But then came the school fire. Everyone panicked and ran outside, but Ashley rushed into the classroom against the crowd. Everyone thought she was crazy until she came back covered in soot and holding an iron box, which she handed straight to Lance. It was the only keepsake left by his grandmother. At that moment, the way Lance looked at Ashley completely changed. He began to allow her to tug at his sleeve and hold his arm. He explained to Sienna, "Enna, Ashley risked her life to retrieve all that was left of my grandma. This is a huge favor. She's sick now, and only I can help her. Please bear with it, okay? When she gets better, we'll go back to how we were." At first, Sienna believed him and endured it. But then, the extent of their skin contact got more and more out of hand. The three-hour-long video served as a brutal wake-up call to Sienna. She looked down and said, "I'm not mad. I understand." Relief washed over Lance, and a smile broke across his face. "You're the most understanding girlfriend, Enna. By the way, didn't you say you were dying to attend your idol's concert? I got two front-row tickets, so let's go tonight, okay?" Sienna intended to refuse, but Lance didn't give her a chance to do so. He continued coaxing her gently to convince her while leading her out the door. At the concert, the front-row seats offered the perfect view. But as soon as they sat down, a familiar figure bounded happily toward them. It was Ashley. "Lance, Sienna! You finally came!" Ashley beamed brightly, holding three cups of soda. "I've been waiting for you! Here, I bought drinks!" Sienna immediately turned to look at Lance, whose expression grew slightly unnatural as he explained, "Ashley likes this singer, too. So, I bought one more ticket since I was buying ours, anyway." Sienna said nothing and silently took her seat. As the concert began, Lance seemed eager to make amends. He leaned close to chat with Sienna by constantly asking if she was thirsty or tired. Beside them, Ashley occasionally tugged at his sleeve or pretended to be pushed by the people around them so she could lean against him. After she did that a few times, Lance got a little impatient with her and gently pushed her away. "Shouldn't you be watching the performance? Stop moving around so much." Ashley pouted sullenly but finally quieted down for a while. Just then, all the lights in the venue suddenly went out and plunged everything into darkness. The audience stirred in alarm. An announcement came on, saying there was a power failure and the concert had to be stopped. The organizers asked everyone to remain calm and exit in an orderly manner. And so, people began to make their way out. Sienna moved slowly with the crowd, but someone suddenly shoved her hard from behind. She let out a startled cry. Losing her balance, she fell heavily to the ground. In the chaos, the people exiting the venue could not see ahead of them or the ground they were stepping on. Countless feet stomped on her arm, back, and legs. Sharp pain shot through Sienna, and tears welled up as she tried desperately to get up, but to no avail. Lance quickly noticed her absence and turned anxiously to fight his way back toward her. When he was less than three feet away, Ashley suddenly let out a pained whimper and collapsed softly against him. "Lance, I feel terrible. My skin hunger is flaring up… Hurry, kiss me!" Lance was stunned for a moment and tried to push her away. "Endure it for a while! I need to find Enna first!" "No, I can't take it. Please! Just one kiss…" Ashley begged with a sob in her voice. Under the dim light, Sienna lay in agony on the ground. She watched as Lance hesitated for only a few seconds before grabbing Ashley and quickly retreating to a relatively less crowded corner. The next moment, the emergency lights in the venue lit up. Though it wasn't very bright, it was enough for Sienna to clearly see Lance and Ashley tightly embracing and kissing each other passionately in the corner. Ashley's hand even slipped inside his windbreaker.