If Love is Fruitless, Why Long for It?

"Joy, if you have a problem with me, just come at me directly! Why did you have to take it out on poor Lily?" asked Lizbeth.

Meanwhile, the cat that was cradled in Lizbeth's arms, let out a pitiful whimper, as if it had been terribly wronged.

Without any pause, Tom and Jeff immediately scolded me, "Joy! We know that you're allergic to cat fur, but it doesn't give you any right to take it to Lily and Lizbeth!"

As he said that, Tom dumped an entire blister pack of allergy medicine into my hands.

"Maybe you should reflect on why you’re the only one who is so sensitive to cats. I don’t believe you’ll still have an allergy if you take this whole pack!"

Did he actually expect me to swallow all those pills? I wondered.

I quickly grabbed just one and forced it down. I told them, "One is enough."

Hearing my words, made Tom and Jeff became even more displeased.

"Lizbeth is right. How can you be severely allergic to cat fur? Looks like your whole hospital stay was just an act!"

His words made the bitterness of the dissolving medicine linger in my throat.

There was a time when if a stray cat wandered within five meters of me, they would be on high alert and treat it like a dire threat. Yet, now, my allergy had become my original sin.

First, they let that cat roam freely in my room, causing me to go into anaphylactic shock. Later, they accused me of faking my symptoms just to get hospitalized.

Now, after the cat almost attacked me, I was the one being labeled as fragile by them.

Lizbeth was crying her heart out beside us, looking at a loss.

"I don’t know what I did wrong, but if I made you upset, it’s my fault. I’m sorry! Will you please stay and celebrate my birthday with me, please …." she pleaded.

As she said that, her tears were flowing nonstop with practice precision.

Tom was so heartbroken seeing her like this that he immediately went to wipe her tears, while Jeff couldn't help but drag me aside to reprimand me, "You’ve taken the allergy medicine, right? So even if you kiss the cat, it won’t kill you!"

With that, he rushed back to join Tom and comforted Lizbeth, "Don't cry, Lizbeth. Let me apologize on Joy's behalf. She has been spoiled rotten since she was a child. So, don’t take her seriously."

In their effort to appease Lizbeth, they eagerly listed every flaws that I had.

Right on cue, Lizbeth’s tears turned into a smile. Then when she glanced at me, her eyes were full of smugness and challenge.

At that time, I realized how little I mattered to them.

As the music started, the two of them rushed to ask Lizbeth's hand to dance.

She chose Tom and left Jeff sulking there. Then Jeff turned toward me in frustration and extended his hand to me to ask me to dance.

I rubbed the itchy rash that was spreading across my skin and shook my head.

It seemed my refusal did not make Jeff upset. Instead, he sat beside me while downing drink after drink as his eyes glued to the couple swaying together on the dance floor.

"Joy, do you think Lizbeth likes Tom?" he asked. There was disappointment and jealousy that I could clearly hear in his tone.

It was obvious to everyone that Lizbeth preferred Tom over him.

My silence pushed Jeff to rise to his feet.

As soon as the song ended, he stormed back onto the dance floor to pull Lizbeth away. I didn’t feel like watching the drama of two men fighting over one woman, so I took my leave.

Suddenly, amid the crowd’s gasps, Lizbeth found me and forcibly dragged me back to the dance floor.

"Joy, please talk to Tom and Jeff! They’re fighting over me again and I just can’t stop them!" Although she pleaded me, it could not conceal the bragging in her voice.

I refused her outright, "If you can’t stop them, why do you think I will be able to do it?"

However, the crowd gasped again. This time, Tom had taken a punch and blood was streaming from his nose.

This finally snapped Lizbeth from her acting and made her panic. She yanked me with all her strength, nearly dragging me to the middle of their brawl.

The reason for their fighting was that Lizbeth's neighborhood was not the safest, so they were arguing about whose house she should stay in.

Jeff believed that since Tom had already gotten the first dance, it was his turn to have her stay over at his house.

I had no desire to break up their fight and it was a pathetic sight to watch. Yet, surprisingly, their heated argument turned toward me.