Hearing Your Secret Love Script

After I was forced to drop out of school, I took a job at a late-night boba shop called The Steep.

It was ten minutes to closing when she walked in. She was stunningthe kind of girl who looked like she belonged in a high-end editorial, not a sticky-floored shop in a fading part of town.

She didn't look at the menu. She just looked at me and ordered twenty large iced matches with extra sea-salt foam.

As I opened my mouth to tell her we were nearly out of supplies, a voicesharp, clear, and definitely not hersechoed in my brain:

[The Lucky Break System says the Hero of this story is the guy working at the boba shop tonight.]

[Heh. So this is my future husband, huh?]

[God, help me. How is he even handsome when hes just breathing?]

My fingers froze on the touch screen. My heart sank, hitting a cold, hollow depth.

The person supposed to be working tonight wasn't me. It was my co-worker who had begged me to cover his shift.

She had found the right place, but she was looking at the wrong man.

I pretended I couldnt hear the frantic, adoring monologue running through her head.

"We don't have enough foam for twenty drinks," I said, my voice flat.

More importantly, it takes three minutes to pull a decent drink. Twenty drinks meant sixty minutes. I was alone, the prep kitchen was a mess, and I was exactly ten minutes away from catching the last bus home. For a guy working for minimum wage, a twenty-drink order at 10:50 PM is a special kind of hell.

The girl blinked, looking slightly dazed. "Oh. Then just one?"

I nodded. "Five-fifty. Tap whenever you're ready."

Externally, she was the picture of cool composure. Internally, she was screaming.

[You blew it, Susie. First impression? Total disaster. Youre annoying your future husband.]

[System, if youre listening, Im going to delete you. I swear.]

Susie.

So that was her name. It suited herbright and out of reach.

I gripped the cocktail shaker, my pulse thrumming in my wrists. I felt a sudden, sharp spike of anxiety. The guy who should have been behind this counter was Bennet. Ten minutes before my shift ended, Bennet had offered me fifty bucks to stay an extra half hour so he could sneak out to a party. Id said yes because fifty bucks was three days of groceries.

I didn't say a word. I just started making her drink.

Three minutes is usually nothing. Tonight, it felt like an eternity. Susie didn't look at her phone. She watched me with an intensity that made my skin prickle.

She looked like a frozen ice queen, but the commentary was relentless.

[He looks so tired. His arms must ache from shaking those drinks all day.]

[I want to help but Id probably just break something. Im useless.]

[System, say something! You told me to save him, to be his 'salvation.' How am I supposed to do that if I can't even get him to look at me?]

[Great. The System is ghosting me again.]

I sealed the cup and slid it across the counter. "Here you go."

Susie stood up instantly. "Thank you."

When she took the bag, her fingers brushed mine. She jolted as if shed been shocked.

[His hands are freezing. I need to bring him a heater. Or a coat. Or just hold them.]

[Wait, 'next time'? Is there even going to be a next time?]

I looked at her. In the harsh fluorescent light of the shop, her features were sharp and perfect. She was beautiful, but there was a certain vacuousness to her expressionthe look of a rich girl who had never had to solve a problem more complex than a broken nail.

"Are you working tomorrow?" she asked, her voice trembling slightly.

Her mind was a riot: [Please say yes please say yes please say yes!]

I hesitated for two seconds. Then, I looked her in the eye.

"Yeah," I said. I forced a small, gentle smilethe kind I knew people found disarming. "See you tomorrow, Susie."

She froze. She hadn't told me her name. She stumbled toward the door, nodding like a broken doll, her limbs moving in a clumsy, uncoordinated rhythm.

As the door clicked shut, her final thought drifted back to me like a radio signal fading out:

[Oh my god, he has a dimple. Hes so cute I might actually die.]

[Waitdid he just call me Susie? How did he]

[Whatever! He said see you tomorrow! He doesn't hate me!]

[Husband is the best!]

I narrowed my eyes and ran out the door after her.

"Hey!" I shouted at her retreating back. "Do you want to exchange numbers? In case you know, we run out of matcha again."

Susie turned around, her eyes igniting with a sudden, brilliant light.

"Yes!"

It was nearly midnight by the time I got back to the house.

I saw a text from my father and felt the familiar weight of dread settle in my stomach. I climbed out of the basement and trudged up to the third floor. The keypad code had been changedagain.

I knocked.

My father opened the door, his face obscured by the shadows of the hallway. "Youve been working for a month now. How is it?"

"Exhausting," I said shortly.

He let out a derisive snort. "Now you know how hard your mother and I have it. Its time you grew up."

I didn't answer. I was staring past him into the hallway. My old bedroom door was open. It had been repainted a soft, pastel blue. It was a nursery now for the baby my stepmother had given him.

Since I wasn't talking, my father got to the point.

"Your brother is starting his intensive prep for the Art Institute. Those portfolios and tutors are expensive, Cole. Youre making your own money now. Its time you started contributing to the family."

"How much?" I interrupted. I was too tired for the lecture.

He blinked, surprised by how quickly Id folded. "Five hundred a week."

I felt the blood drain from my face. I made about seven hundred a week at the shop. He wanted nearly all of it.

"You live here for free," he snapped, sensing my resistance. "You eat our food. What else do you need money for?"

Free? I lived in a damp, unfinished basement next to the furnace. And the 'food' was whatever leftovers my stepmother didn't throw away.

But I didn't argue. I didn't have the energy. "Fine."

He softened, a patronizing smirk touching his lips. "Your brother has real talent, Cole. Hes going places. You well, you were never great at school anyway. Dropping out was the best thing for everyone. No point in having resentment about it."

I bit my tongue until I tasted copper. I retreated down the stairs to the basement. It was dark, cold, and smelled of mildew. But it had a twin mattress and a salvaged desk. For now, it was enough.

The next day, Bennet was already in his apron when I arrived. He gave me a lopsided grin.

"Thanks for yesterday, Cole. I really needed that break."

"No problem."

"Anything happen? Any crazy customers?"

I paused, my hand hovering over my locker. "Nothing."

My phone buzzed. A message from Susie: When can I come see you?

I glanced at the schedule. Bennet was off at 9:00 PM.

I texted her back: 10:00 PM.

At ten sharp, Susie appeared. She looked like a million dollars in a silk trench coat.

[He looked at me! He looked at me!]

[Is this outfit too much? I should have worn the blue dress.]

[Wait, hes not smiling. Is he mad? System! Answer me! What do I do?!]

I finished my closing tasks and walked out from behind the counter. Susie followed me like a shy shadow.

"You want me to walk you to your car?" I asked, playing the part.

She tried to sound casual. "Sure. It's a little sketchy around here at night. Safety first, right?"

Her inner voice was doing backflips: [Nice one, Susie. High-five. He offered! This is basically a date!]

I kept my face perfectly still. "Right."

For the next six weeks, Susie was there every night at ten.

Cool face. Burning heart.

[New shirt. He looks incredible in navy.]

[He smiled at me. Hes so sweet. I cant breathe.]

[Wait, is he playing hard to get? Is he ghosting me emotionally?]

[Whatever. Id let him ghost me any day. My husband can do no wrong!]

I had to suppress a laugh every time I handed her a drink. She ordered something different every nightlychee black tea, taro slush, lemon zest.

Her thoughts explained why: [I have to try the whole menu so when he asks me what I like, I can say 'everything you make.' I am a literal genius.]

[Oh god. I think I love him more than I did yesterday.]

I nearly spilled the milk foam. Who was this girl? She sounded like shed stepped straight out of a cheesy romance novel.

But then I looked into her eyes. They were bright, focused, and utterly devoted. For a moment, my heart actually skipped. It felt good. To be someones entire world, even if it was based on a lie.

But what happens when she finds out Im not her "Hero"?

I gripped the counter until my knuckles turned white. Susie noticed my tension. Her ears turned pink.

"It's late," she said softly. "Are you hungry? Want to grab a bite?"

I shook my head. "I'm exhausted. I just want to go home."

She nodded, her disappointment palpable.

I looked at the clock. It was time. I needed to see if she was the "salvation" the System promised.

As we walked toward the parking lot, Susie suddenly stopped. "Actually my power is out. Some transformer blew in my neighborhood. I don't want to sit in the dark alone. Can I can I stay at your place tonight?"

She looked perfectly calm. Inside, she was screaming:

[AAAAAAH I SAID IT!]

[If he says yes, were moving at light speed! Im going to see his bedroom!]

[Wait, no, he looks so tired. Im a monster. I shouldnt bother him]

I fought back a smile. "Sure," I said. "If you don't mind a basement."

The walk to the basement was long and dark. Susie walked close to me, her shoulder occasionally brushing mine. She talked about her school, her friends, her life.

She was a senior in high school. If my father hadn't pulled me out, I would have been in the same grade. I felt a sharp pang of envy, but I buried it deep.

She went quiet as we reached the rusted iron door of the cellar entrance.

"Were here," I said.

Susie froze. She looked at the rusted door, then at the overgrown weeds, then back at me. Her throat moved as she swallowed.

[A basement? He lives in a literal dungeon?]

[How can anyone live here? Its damp, its dark is this where he sleeps every night?]

[No wonder his hands are always cold.]

[Dammit.]

I didn't say anything. I just waited. I opened the door to reveal the peeling wallpaper, the single twin bed, and the flickering lightbulb.

I poured her a glass of tap water. "You asked why I'm not in school. I'll tell you."

I told her everythingbut I framed it. I told her about the stepmother, the brother who took everything, the father who saw me as a paycheck. I let a single, perfect tear fall at the exact right moment. I played the part of the tragic, resilient hero perfectly.

She was silent for a long time.

But her thoughts were a storm of fury:

[I want to put his stepbrother in the hospital.]

[System, give me God Mode. Just for ten minutes. Ill burn that house down.]

I kept my head down, my shoulders shaking slightly.

[Hes crying. What do I do? Should I hug him? Is that too much? But hes so sad!]

[System, you useless piece of trash! Tell me how to comfort a boy!]

Finally, she whispered, "Cole do you want to go back to school?"

I looked up and gave her a truly genuine smile. Not the fake one. A real one.

"More than anything."

I learned young that the only way to get what you want is to take it. People called it selfish. I called it survival.

I knew from day one that Susie was loaded. The car that dropped her off was a quarter-million-dollar Mercedes. Her necklace cost more than my fathers house.

So I played her. I kept her at arm's length to keep her hooked. I hid the fact that Bennet was the one she was supposed to "save."

I was a thief. I was stealing someone else's destiny.

I felt a flicker of guilt, so I tried to be "good" to Bennet. I covered his shifts, I bought him lunch. Bennet told me I was his best friend.

I told him we weren't. Bonds are fragile things. If you don't let people in, it doesn't hurt as much when they leave.

Susies "System" might have been a glitch, but her money was very real.

Two weeks later, I was enrolled in a prestigious private academy. My tuition was fully covered. I knew she had pulled strings I didn't even know existed.

Now, we saw each other at school instead of the boba shop. She was a junior; I was a senior. Every afternoon, shed find me in the library, claiming she needed to "study." In reality, she just sat there staring at me.

[He looks so handsome when hes focused.]

[Hes sitting so close today. I can smell his laundry detergent. Its intoxicating.]

[Focus, Susie! Youre going to fail trig.]

[Whatever. Its worth it.]

I tried to focus on my prep books, but the air between us felt thick.

She asked me to move out of the basement. I told her nonot yet. If I left, my father would hunt me down. I needed to finish the year first.

I lived on borrowed time, praying the lie would last just a little longer.

But a week later, the signal went dead.

I couldn't hear Susies thoughts anymore. Instead, a strange, translucent scrolling text appeared in the air before my eyeslike a live chat on a video stream:

[WTF? This guy is such a snake.]

[Im done. This random NPC is literally gaslighting the female lead into thinking hes the hero. Has he no shame?]

[Hes a thief. Plain and simple.]

[Thank God the System update is finished. All bugs are patched.]

[Finally! Now the real Hero can hear her thoughts, and this loser can go back to the gutter where he belongs.]

I stared at the floating words, paralyzed.

That was why Susie hadn't come to find me all day. The "glitch" was fixed. The destiny had been recalibrated.

I wanted to scream at the floating text. I wanted to tell them they were wrong.

But they weren't. I was a thief.

Except for one thing. The "NPC" comment. I wasn't just some background character. I had a life. I had a story.

I had been happy once.

I remember being ten.

My parents moved us to the city to give me a better education. We lived in a tiny apartment, but it was full of light. On hot summer nights, my mom and dad would sit on either side of my bed, fanning me with cardboard signs until I fell asleep.

Then, things got "better." My dad got a promotion. My mom got a raise. They bought a house. I got into a top-tier middle school.

Then came the bullying.

In eighth grade, a group of boys targeted me. I went to my father. He stood up for me at first. He went to the school.

But the mother of the lead bully cried. She was a single mother. She begged my father not to report her son, saying it would ruin his life.

My father looked at her, and he softened. He dropped the charges.

"We have to be compassionate, Cole," he told me as we walked out. "Shes had a hard life. We can't be selfish."

What about me? I had cigarette burns on my collarbone that would never go away. Was I not worth "ruining" someone for?

I stayed quiet to keep the peace. But then my father started coming home late. He and my mom fought constantly.

Then came the truth: my father was having an affair with that woman. The bullys mother.

My mom found out. She left the house in a rage. My father chased after her.

The next morning, the police found her in the river.

My mom was dead. My father remarried within the year. The bully became my "brother." The "single mother" became my stepmother. They didn't join our family; they erased mine.

My grandfather tried to take me away, but he died in a tractor accident on the way to get me. My grandmother took me in for two years until she was diagnosed with terminal cancer.

To save me from the burden of her death, she gave me her life savings and chased me away.

"Go, Cole," she whispered, her hand trembling in mine. "Go to school. Become someone. Don't rely on anyone but yourself."

She drank pesticides the day after I left. She died at the graves of my mother and grandfather.

After school that day, I didn't wait for Susie. I walked home alone.

The basement felt smaller than usual. Darker.

My father sent a text demanding his five hundred dollars. I turned off my phone.

I studied until my eyes burned. I tried to forget the floating text, forget the girl, forget the stolen light.

But then, a soft knock came at the cellar door.

My father didn't knock softly. He kicked. He pounded.

It was Susie.

I opened the door. She stood in the shadows, her expression unreadable.

"Cole," she said. Her voice was cold. "Youre hiding from me."

Hearing Your Secret Love Script

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