He Has Physical Attraction for My Best Friend

On the day of my prenatal checkup, I stumbled upon my husband's secret on social media.

My husband, Ethan, was perfect in every way except for one thinghe wasn't romantic at all.

He said holding hands made his palms sweaty and gross, so he never held mine.

He said kissing was unhygienic, turning away every time I leaned in for a kiss.

Whenever he saw the disappointment on my face, he would just look at me calmly.

"I come home on time every night, and I hand over my paycheck to you. Isn't that the best proof of love?"

So, I stopped asking for romance.

Until today. While waiting in line for my ultrasound, I was scrolling through Snapchat and saw a viral thread.

What does physical attraction actually feel like?

I froze when I saw the top-voted comment. It was from Ethan's account:

"When she talks to me, I stare at her lips. It makes my throat go dry. I don't even hear what she's sayingI just want to kiss her."

Right beneath his comment, my best friend, Hailey, had replied:

"So... does that mean what you feel for me is pure physical attraction?"

"Patient 104, Chloe." The nurse called my name.

I stood frozen for a second. Then, I walked up to the desk and spoke, my voice trembling. "Excuse me, how do I schedule an abortion?"

1

The clinic doctor looked at me over her glasses.

"Have you discussed this with your partner?"

I looked down at my Snapchat chat history with Ethan.

The last message was from three days ago. I had texted him:

"My period is late this month. Why do you think that is? I'm going to the doctor."

I had just found out I was pregnant. I wanted him to guess the surprise.

His reply was short:

"If you're not feeling well, just get some rest."

Before that, the chat was filled with jokes I shared, my complaints about work, and places I wanted to visit with him.

Every single one was met with a dry, automated-like response.

The opposite of physical attraction is visceral repulsion, right?

I looked at the doctor and forced a smile.

"There is no partner. No need to discuss."

The surgery was scheduled for five days later.

By the time I got home, it was already late afternoon.

Hailey had recently quit her job and had been staying at our place for almost a month.

The moment I opened the door, I saw Hailey and Ethan standing close together at the kitchen island.

Hailey used her own fork to feed Ethan a bite of medium-rare steak.

He ate it, smiling, and muttered, "Delicious."

I stood there, feeling dizzy. I remembered when I was making soup once, I instinctively wanted Ethan to taste a spoonful.

His reaction had been violent.

"Do couples not need hygiene anymore? That's disgusting, Chloe."

He had pushed my hand away so hard that the hot soup spilled all over my wrist. It was swollen and red for two weeks.

I was so blind.

They were acting like this right in front of me, and I had never suspected a thing.

After all, one was my partner of five years, and the other was my best friend of twenty.

The sound of the door closing caught their attention.

Hailey walked out of the kitchen holding a plate of garlic butter shrimp.

"Chloe! You're back just in time. I just made this, try some!"

She gave me an innocent, sweet smile.

I just wanted to run to my room. I was afraid that if I spoke, my tears would betray me.

"I'm not hungry."

Ethan's brows furrowed slightly.

"Hailey made this specifically for you. Don't waste her effort."

I looked at him, suddenly wanting to laugh.

I am severely allergic to seafood.

Once, when Ethan and I went out to eat, I accidentally ate something with shrimp paste. I threw up and almost went into anaphylactic shock.

Ethan was the one who rushed me to the ER.

And Hailey, my best friend of twenty years, knew about my allergy better than anyone.

Seeing me stay still, Ethan's frown deepened.

"Is this how you treat a guest?"

Hailey quickly intervened, waving her hands. "Maybe she's just not feeling well. It's fine, really."

I locked myself in my room, finally letting the tears fall.

I couldn't understand.

If Ethan felt a visceral repulsion toward me, why did he stay with me for five years?

And Hailey... we had known each other since we were kids. Her father was an abusive alcoholic who never cared for her.

I was the one who shared my lunch with her, bought her clothes, walked her to school... Why did she have to steal my man?

At eleven in the evening, Ethan came into the bedroom. I had already wiped my tears.

But right after he showered, Hailey knocked on our door.

"Ethan! I just saw this hilarious TikTok. You have to come out and see this!"

Ethan, who had just lain down, immediately got up to leave.

I grabbed his arm.

"It's late, Ethan. Doesn't she have any boundaries?"

"Don't you think listening to random jokes is a waste of time?"

He didn't look at me as he brushed my hand off.

"We can't ignore a guest."

"Besides, we click. It's never a waste of time."

As the door clicked shut, Hailey's giggling echoed from the living room.

"I'm telling you, this creator is so funny..."

I covered my eyes.

I had shown Ethan that exact same TikTok creator three times.

Every time, his response was:

"Wasting my time with mindless trash. Don't you think you're being incredibly selfish?"

To teach me a lesson, he had even blocked me on Snapchat for a whole month.

Their laughter outside lasted until past midnight.

I picked up my phone and opened my WhatsApp chat with my boss.

"Hi boss, about the relocation to the Seattle office... I'd like to take the offer."

My boss called me immediately.

"Chloe? Didn't you say you were pregnant and couldn't go?"

"I'm not having the baby anymore."

Silence on the other end.

"Okay. There's one spot left. The flight is in six days. Can you make it?"

"Yes."

2

By sunrise, Ethan and Hailey were not home.

I walked out to the balcony and looked down.

Ethan and Hailey were walking back together, holding a fresh bouquet of gardeniasHailey's favorite.

They had gone to the local Farmers' Market again.

Last year, I made a "Relationship Bucket List."

The very first item was to visit the Farmers' Market together on a Saturday morning.

I begged Ethan a dozen times. I told him how romantic it would be to wake up early, buy fresh flowers and groceries, and cook breakfast together.

He didn't even look up from his research paper.

"I need to run data simulations on Saturday mornings. You can sleep in until nine. Why ruin our schedules and torture each other?"

He was a man of strict principles.

But since Hailey moved in a month ago, he could wake up early every single day to walk her to the market just to buy her fresh gardenias.

I used to think it was because I asked Ethan to help me take care of Hailey while she was job hunting.

I thought he was doing it for me.

I was so incredibly stupid.

Down below, they were talking about something when Hailey suddenly grabbed Ethan's hand and playfully bit the fleshy part of his thumb.

Ethan's eyes crinkled with laughter, letting her do whatever she wanted.

After she let go, she even leaned down and kissed the spot she had just bitten.

My stomach turned, and I dry-heaved over the railing.

Five years. Ethan had never kissed me like that.

Once, before sleeping, I stole a quick peck on his lips.

He practically ran to the bathroom, washing his face with antibacterial soap multiple times.

When he came back, he demanded we sleep in separate rooms.

"Saliva is full of bacteria, Chloe. Your childish ideas of romance are highly disturbing."

"If you are going to indulge in these low-class, primal habits, we should sleep separately."

I clenched my fists so hard my nails dug into my skin. I pulled out my phone and texted Ethan:

"So, have you suddenly developed a taste for those 'low-class habits'?"

My phone buzzed instantly.

"It's fine. Why do you ask?"

I looked down. Ethan's hands were empty. He hadn't even touched his phone.

Then who replied to me?

A chilling thought crossed my mind. I walked into his home office.

His laptop was unlocked, with WhatsApp Web active.

Hailey's chat was pinned to the top.

And my chat? It was muted.

I stared at the screen, sensing something was off.

I sent him another text: "My stomach hurts really bad today."

Almost instantly, a reply popped up on his laptop screen:

"Drink some warm water."

My face went pale. I searched his desktop and found an automated script he had set up.

He had categorized all my possible messages and set up auto-replies for them.

If I shared something:

"I'm busy. No need to spam me with useless things."

If I expressed emotions:

"Don't overthink" or "Go to sleep early."

If I was sick:

"Drink some warm water."

I knew he was cold, but I never realized even his coldness was automated.

He couldn't even be bothered to write a few different words for his AI script.

The front door opened. They were back. Hailey walked straight into our bathroom.

"Ethan, I'm using your towel! Mine is too thin."

Ethan replied casually, "Throw yours away if it's no good. Just use mine."

All his "boundaries" and "germaphobia" seemed to disappear when it came to her.

Last year, I got caught in a downpour and came home soaking wet. I accidentally used his towel to dry my hair.

He snatched it out of my hand and threw it straight into the trash can.

"Sharing towels can transmit skin infections. Do you have no common sense?"

I bit my lip so hard it bled. As I walked out of the office, Hailey ran into me.

"Oh, Chloe, were you using the laptop? I need to borrow it to check some listings."

Ethan, hearing this, slammed his coffee mug on the table.

"Don't touch my laptop, Chloe!"

"How many times do I have to tell you? Even in a relationship, people need privacy. Is that so hard to understand?"

Hailey sighed dramatically.

"Oh come on, Ethan. I was the one who asked to use it, and she was just opening it for me. Don't be so mean to Chloe!"

Ethan's expression instantly softened.

"Fine. Only because Hailey asked."

Hailey didn't even ask for the password. She unlocked the laptop I had just closed with ease.

She opened the browser, using Ethan's saved profile and bookmarks.

Ethan had passwords on everything.

He kept all his "privacy" locked away from me, but Hailey knew every single password.

I felt like I was suffocating.

I grabbed my bag and bolted out the door.

At the clinic, before the final procedure, the doctor checked with me one last time.

"Are you sure about this, Chloe? This is your last chance to change your mind."

"I'm sure," I said.

"I won't regret it. I'll see you the day after tomorrow."

3

When I returned home, there were several pairs of shoes at the entrance.

The living room was crowded, and the coffee table was covered with beer cans and snacks.

Hailey stood up to greet me, acting like the hostess of the house.

"Chloe! You're back. These are Ethan's colleagues from the lab."

She leaned in and whispered in my ear:

"Since I'm still looking for a job, Ethan invited them over to help me network and get a referral. Isn't he sweet?"

How generous of him.

Three years ago, my department had a joint project with Ethan's lab.

Once, I bumped into him on campus and tried to say hi, but he walked right past me like I was a stranger.

When we got home, he lectured me:

"I don't want people at work knowing about us. I don't want them thinking I'm using my position to favor my girlfriend!"

But apparently, "professional boundaries" only applied to me.

I sat at the very edge of the couch. Ethan was actively sharing embarrassing stories from his childhood.

Hailey's eyes went wide. "No way! You actually did that when you were ten?"

Ethan laughed. "Seriously. My parents banned me from the kitchen for a month."

Hailey laughed hysterically.

I had never heard that story in the five years we were together.

Ethan hated me asking about his past.

But now, just to make Hailey feel comfortable, he was laying his life bare for everyone to see.

A guy wearing glasses chuckled.

"Man, Hailey and Ethan get along so well. Chloe, you should learn a thing or two from Hailey."

"You two have been together for five years, but you still act like strangers."

Everyone laughed.

I smiled too.

They weren't wrong. My five years with Ethan had been nothing but a one-woman show.

After a few rounds of drinks, the beer ran out.

Hailey stood up to go get some more.

Several colleagues immediately stopped her. "No, no, Hailey, you sit. Let Chloe go."

"Yeah, Chloe, can you run to the store?"

Ethan nodded in agreement.

"Go ahead, Chloe. Hailey is having a good time. Don't ruin the mood."

I stood up instantly and walked out.

I didn't want to buy beer. I just needed to breathe.

I walked around the block for an hour before returning.

By then, the guests had left.

The living room was a complete messempty cans, spilled chips, half-eaten pizza slices everywhere.

Ethan looked up at me lazily.

"Clean up the living room, will you? Hailey's back hurts, she can't bend over."

I stared at him.

"My back hurts too."

Hailey quickly stood up. "It's fine, really! I'll clean it. My back is just a little stiff, no big deal."

Ethan pulled her back onto the couch, then turned to me, his voice cold.

"Since when does your back hurt?"

I looked at him.

My back had a chronic injury.

Three years ago, when we decided to move in together, Ethan said that even in love, I needed to be independent.

So, during the move, I tried to carry a heavy wooden drawer myself. I slipped and rammed my lower back into a metal shelf.

I had a lumbar contusion and was bedridden for two weeks.

Suddenly, I grabbed a glass bottle from the counter and slammed it onto the floor. It shattered into pieces.

Hailey screamed.

"I said I would do it, Chloe! Why are you throwing a temper tantrum?"

I looked at Hailey's face, my voice deadly calm.

"Hailey, in all these years, have I ever done anything wrong to you?"

As a friend, I had done everything for her.

When we were kids in the middle of winter, she got acute gastroenteritis at midnight. No cabs were running, so I carried her on my back to the clinic, scraping my knees so badly they bled.

When we graduated and her toxic father showed up at school demanding cash, I gave her all my savingstwo thousand dollars I had saved from working part-time.

Hailey's face turned pale.

"What are you talking about? If you want me to leave, just say it!"

She slammed her bedroom door.

Ethan stood in the center of the room, his face darkening.

I could see it in his eyeshe wanted to lecture me for making Hailey uncomfortable.

I didn't give him the chance.

"I'm tired. We'll talk tomorrow."

Seeing the sheer exhaustion on my face, he swallowed his words.

"Fine."

"Keep tomorrow free. We need to have a serious talk."

4

I thought, since he was technically the father, he had the right to know.

But the next morning, Ethan woke up earlynot for me, but because Hailey was packing her bags after yesterday's fight.

The moment I woke up, I heard Ethan on the phone with a real estate agent.

"Is that apartment close to the subway? ... How's the neighborhood security? ... Send me a video tour."

He asked so many detailed questions. The gate security, the elevator brand, the background of the neighbors.

He asked if there was any chemical smell in the freshly painted walls, which direction the windows faced, and if the heating worked well.

I remembered when we first moved in together.

He was busy, so I was the one house-hunting.

I was so excited about our first home that I took videos of every detail and sent them to him to discuss.

He replied: "Just pick one. It's not that important."

I watched him quietly until he hung up.

"Do you have time to talk now?"

He put on his coat and glanced at his watch.

"Not right now. The apartment Hailey likes is high-demand. If we're late, someone else will sign the lease. We'll talk tonight."

As the door shut, the apartment fell into a heavy silence.

I sat on the couch for a long time.

Then, I packed my bags. I left the things I wanted to return to him on the entryway table.

Right before I was wheeled into the operating room.

Maybe out of a final, foolish hope, I sent Ethan a text.

"If I told you I was pregnant, what would you do?"

The reply came instantly.

"I'm busy. No need to spam me with useless things."

The automated script.

I burst out laughing.

I was laughing at my own stupidity, but at the same time, I felt a strange sense of relief.

Then, a message from Hailey popped up.

"Chloe, I'm so lucky to have a friend like you."

"Ethan is seriously the best. He even bought coffee and gifts for my new neighbors so they would look out for me."

"He said he's going to stay over at my new place tonight to make sure the security is fine. But don't worry, there are two bedrooms."

I stared at the message for a long time.

The nurse came to wheel me in.

"Is there anyone here to accompany you?"

I shook my head.

"No."

I signed the consent form myself.

When they took the tissue out of my body, it hurt.

But the deepest pain had already been carved into my heart long ago.

An abortion is a minor procedure.

By the next morning, I was discharged. It hurt to walk, but I managed.

I went straight to the airport.

Five years of self-delusion had finally come to an end.

While checking in, I turned on my phone. A notification from our home security camera popped up.

Ethan was finally home.

He called my name a few times. No reply.

Then, he saw the envelope I left on the table.

Inside was the debit card containing his salary, and my abortion discharge papers.

The moment he opened it, he froze like a statue.