My First Love, Seifer

In the courtyard.

Lake, holding a glass of bourbon, sat in a chair, watching the snowflakes fall from the sky.

This is how it should be.

Christmas, Christmas, there are no more Santa Clauses, and if there’s no snow, what’s the point?

Skye, wearing a white down jacket and a snow-flocked hat, pushed open the door and walked out.

Lake turned his head.

"Hi."

"Hi."

Skye sat in the chair next to him, looking at Lake, seemingly lost in thought. After a moment, she said, "You never mentioned you were adopted too."

Lake frowned and looked at Skye. "Did I not?"

I should have.

Lake remembered asking Skye why she didn’t go to a foster family when they were at the hospital, and it seemed like he had mentioned it, that he and Skye had a connection.

Skye shook her head. "No, you didn’t."

Lake shrugged. "Well, now you know. So what?"

"…So what about what?"

"Don’t you feel lucky to have met me?"

"If by lucky you mean that the first time I met you, you had appendicitis, and the second time you needed brain surgery, then yes, I am indeed very lucky."

"…"

Lake laughed and shook his head.

This was probably the most memorable experience for both of them. After all, meeting once was an accident, but meeting twice in a row and ending up in a hospital bed – wow, that couldn’t be described as just an accident.

Skye clapped her hands and looked at Lake. "So, can you tell me your story?"

Lake looked at Skye. "My story is the same as yours, at most, I was just a tiny bit luckier than you."

There wasn’t much of a story to tell.

But since Skye was willing to listen, Lake felt it wouldn’t hurt to talk about it. His story wasn’t like a movie, there were no exciting points, not even a single ripple.

The story was simple.

Lake had awakened his memories when he was three years old. At the time, he was at a certain rescue center in Washington D.C. Perhaps because he was too slow-witted before awakening his memories, no foster families were willing to adopt him.

Then, Lake stayed at the rescue center until he was five. One day, Karen and Thaddeus came, hoping to adopt a child from that rescue center.

The social atmosphere at the time was different from the current ostentatious trend. Simply put, the Federation was in its golden age, unlike many lower-class trash white people who liked to adopt children to swindle welfare funds.

At that time, foster families were undoubtedly heaven for the children in the rescue centers.

So…

The children at the rescue center where Lake was staying at the time all ran to the conference room, giggling, watching Karen and Thaddeus inside, hoping to be chosen like picking numbers.

Lake didn’t go at that time.

He had pre-existing wisdom. It felt strange to arbitrarily acknowledge someone as his parents, so when everyone else ran to the conference room, Lake went to the library to continue learning ABCDE.

Skye blinked her eyes upon hearing this. "Then how did you…"

Lake shrugged. "Karen was looking for the restroom and found the library."

When Lake was looking at a picture-and-text word recognition book in the library, Karen appeared behind him at some point.

When Lake came to his senses, he pointed at himself and said that he was not for sale, and that those who could be sold were waiting at the conference room door for them to choose.

Thinking back on it.

Lake felt that it was probably because of this sentence that Karen ended up taking him home.

But at the time, Karen was merely stunned by the sentence for a moment, then told Lake that she was looking for the restroom. Lake said "oh" and led Karen to the restroom.

Three days later.

The Children’s Services informed Lake to pack his things and prepare to go to his new home.

Lake turned his head to look at Skye. "And that’s how I came to Karen’s home."

Skye blinked her eyes. "I think it must have been the ‘not for sale’ sentence that moved Karen."

Lake smiled. "You’re not for sale either, are you?"

A smile appeared on Skye’s face.

Lake rubbed his chin. "But… speaking of this, actually, Thaddeus wanted to adopt one of my friends at the time."

Skye was stunned.

Lake recalled the memory, then shook his head. "But I looked for her at the time. If that had really happened, I definitely wouldn’t have left. Even if I had to leave, I would have taken her with me. But she denied it at the time."

"And then?"

"There’s nothing more."

Lake snapped back to attention. "Around the tenth day, I convinced Karen to go back to the center, but by then, she had already been adopted."

"Her?"

"Yes."

Lake smiled, looking at Skye, the corners of his mouth turning up. "Speaking of which, she and I shared our first kiss."

Skye made a disgusted face. "Hey, hey, hey, I’m only thirteen."

Lost her first kiss at five.

Did I walk into a den of wolves?

Skye’s mind suddenly conjured an image: she was a little white rabbit peacefully munching grass, then the scene shifted, and she had fallen into a wolf den.

He’s not planning something creepy, is he?

That’s a crime.

Skye looked at Lake with a flash of terror in her eyes.

"Bang!"

"Ouch!"

Skye clutched her head. "It hurts. Is this corporal punishment?"

Lake took the badge from his waist and dangled it. "Go ahead and call the police."

"…"

Skye rubbed her head indignantly and changed the subject. "So, the girl from the center was your first love?"

Lake nodded. "Yeah, don’t tell Karen."

Skye grinned slyly and looked at Lake. "Then tell me, do you remember her name?"

Lake looked up at the heavy snow falling in his eyes.

He remembered. The girl’s name was related to snow. After all, their first kiss had happened on a snowy day when they were four. Lake had even written a poem back then.

Now I recall, a snowy night, snowflakes flying.

"Seifer!"

"What?"

Lake looked at Skye, thinking as the memory in his eyes became clearer and clearer, and said with a smile, "Her name is Seifer!"

Skye repeated the name a couple of times, then looked up at Lake. "No last name?"

As she spoke.

Skye seemed to realize something and made an apologetic gesture towards Lake.

A group of orphans, what last names could they have? Although many orphans knew their birth mother’s surname, some didn’t know their birth parents’ names.

Like Skye.

Skye figured that Seifer was probably the same.

"Didn’t you ever think about looking for her?"

"I did."

Lake said in a flat tone, "I looked for three years, and when I couldn’t find her, I stopped."

Skye tilted her head. "She was adopted. Maybe she changed her name and surname."

Lake shook his head. "Maybe, but she probably wouldn’t change her name."

"Why?"

"We made a promise."

Lake took a sip of Bourbon. "When we were at the center, we said that even if we were separated later, I would still be called Lake. Maybe we’d get a surname, but our names would never change."

Skye’s mind raced, and she looked at Lake cautiously. "So…"

She died?

Lake shook his head. "Maybe. Later, when I couldn’t find a match in the system, I went back to the center, but it had already been converted into something else. Most of the records there were paper-based, but her information wasn’t in the system at all. There are only two possibilities."

Either she died.

Or she became a foreigner.

However…

The second possibility was very low. When Lake and Karen went to the center back then, they heard from the staff member who handled adoptions that Seifer was adopted by an ordinary family.

So.

She most likely died.

Skye stuck out her little tongue and said to Lake, "Sorry, I didn’t mean to."

Lake waved his hand. "I’ve come to terms with it, but I’m not telling this story to tell myself anything, rather to tell you something."

Skye pointed to herself and blinked. "Me?"

Lake nodded, pushing himself up from his chair, and looked at Skye with a smile. "Do you have any friends you’ve made promises with? Perhaps you can help me make up for my regrets through you."

Skye was stunned for a moment, then let out two dry laughs. "Thanks, but unfortunately, I don’t."

After saying that.

Skye got up and walked inside.

Is that true or not?

Dating at three years old, and having regrets? Do you think I’m you? My first kiss is still safely preserved.

Lake watched Skye, who was disappearing from his sight with her ponytail swinging, and let out a laugh. He also got up and walked inside, preparing to pour himself another drink.

Inside.

Betty and Skye, who had just come in, were decorating the Christmas tree that Lake had bought that afternoon by the fireplace.

Ross had originally promised to bring one back from Quantico.

Unfortunately.

With a minor present in the house this year, Betty was very excited and directly told Lake to go buy one. Karen remained silent beside them.

However, her silence meant she wasn’t taking sides.

Clearly.

Lake couldn’t refuse Betty, so he called Ross and told him not to bring a tree home. He had gone to town and bought this one.

Ever since Betty turned eighteen, Betty had been in charge of decorating the Christmas tree, and she kept all the ornaments. In previous years, Betty had gotten bored after the initial excitement, but today, with a little girl around, Betty’s excitement seemed to have returned.

At this moment.

Betty was teaching Skye firsthand, showing her how to hang extreme decorations on the Christmas tree without making it sag, and how to draw a circle around the tree. This way, Santa Claus, who would come down the chimney at night, would know where to place his gifts, saving Santa some time.

"Have Skye’s gifts been prepared?"

"They have been."

Lake, standing at the wine cabinet bar, heard Karen’s quiet question and smiled as he replied. The gifts were in the storage space and would be taken out and placed later that night.

"Ring ring!"

Lake took out his old-fashioned phone, looked at the incoming number, and answered.

"Hello!"

"…Long time no see, Lake!"

"…"

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