미래를 운명의선 앞에 선택소녀.

As Ziggy turned around and began to leave, he murmured to his ring, "Coccinelle, come back."

However, several attempts to recall Coccinelle failed.

Ziggy was not sure what had happened.

So, he took his phone out and stared blankly at the immobile camera view.

The place it was showing did not seem to be in the ballroom.

Ziggy swiped across the phone screen quickly, and a location map replaced the camera screen. The red dot on the map was Coccinelle's current location.

He looked stoic as he walked along the long corridor.

Decisively, he entered the lift and pressed the button for the highest floor. As the door of the lift narrowed slowly, Ziggy's eyes mimicked that motion.

'How would anyone be on the top floor of a hotel?'

'Furthermore, how did they get Coccinelle up there in such a short time?'

When the lift stopped at the top floor of the hotel, Ziggy walked out of the lift without any doubts or second guesses.

The wind was blowing comfortably on the rooftop lounge of the hotel. Tables and chairs were arranged neatly on the clean floor among the curated selection of greenery.

Beside a wall, a tiny figure with an expensive suit stood on the terrace as the wind whooshed past his short hair.

Ziggy stopped behind the boy and asked coldly, "You took my Coccinelle, didn't you?"

The figure turned around. He had a black kid-sized mask on his face, so Ziggy could not see his face.

The boy handed Coccinelle over to Ziggy, confused. "You mean this beetle?"

Ziggy snatched Coccinelle from the boy and scoffed coldly, "It's not a beetle, its name is Coccinelle!"

After that, Ziggy immediately turned around and prepared to leave.

Seeing Ziggy's action, the boy spoke up, "I'm sorry I took your Coccinelle with a magnet fishing rod."

Ziggy stopped and turned back. He looked straight at the boy. "You didn’t do it on purpose, it's alright."

The boy clasped his fingers together. "So... is the ball fun?"

Ziggy did not know how to react. "Aren't you here for the ball? Why are you asking me this?"

The boy sighed. "I am here for the ball, but my parents made me wait here and forbade me from joining the actual ball itself."

Hearing the boy's story, Ziggy shrugged. "It's nothing fun. It's mostly some old women, and the food isn’t that great. The people inside are old enough to live through the disco era, it's not our thing."

The boy laughed explosively after hearing Ziggy's description.

Ziggy joined in with a chuckle.

Just like that, the hostility on their faces disappeared.

Ziggy did not know what happened. Usually, he would not have conversed with a stranger for that long.

However, the boy in front of him gave him a very familiar feeling that he could not shake off.

Ziggy waved his hand. "It's late and the ball is ending soon, so I'll head back. You should too, don't stand in the wind. If you catch a cold, the nurses will not be soft with their needles."

The boy smiled. "Let's be friends! I don't have any friends!"

Ziggy’s eyes were bright and spirited. "My name is Ziggy Bennet."

"I'm Josh Bluemel!"

Ziggy waved goodbye and walked into the lift once more.

Josh took his black mask off as he muttered, "Ziggy, Josh..."

Aside from the difference in their surnames, their names were hauntingly similar.

In the lift, Ziggy was thinking of the same question; their names were extraordinarily reminiscent of each other.

'Speaking of friends, do I have any?'

After leaving the ball, Ziggy hailed a cab. With his back facing the hotel, he took the white mask off his face.

Ziggy and Josh looked shockingly identical!

Josh stood at the rooftop lounge and looked down at Ziggy, who was being driven away from him.

"My friend, Ziggy Bennet..."

In the ballroom, Rachel found Jodie and immediately took her wineglass away from her with an aggressive force.

Having her wineglass taken away, Jodie became unhappy as she furrowed her eyebrows. "Just who do you think you are? Give it back, I wanna drink!"

Rachel set the wineglass aside and looked at Jodie's drunken stupor with worry. "Jodie, stop drinking. This is nothing, I'm here!"

Jodie looked at Rachel in her gorgeous gown and blinked blankly. "Rachel?"

Rachel nodded and immediately brought Jodie into her arms. "Yes, I am! Jodie, stop drinking, I'll send you home!"

Jodie shook her head and pushed Rachel aside. She refilled her glass fully with red wine.

Before anyone could react, she had downed the glass of alcohol.

"Rachel, you don't know. I didn't want to come to the ball because I knew Rue would be here.

"But he insisted to come and that I will be his date. He asked, so I didn’t know how to say no to this. I was thinking, as long as I can be his date for just one night, I will be satisfied."

Rachel hugged Jodie. "It's okay, it's alright. He will eventually realize how good you are and will regret it."

Jodie jerked her head from side to side as tears streamed down her face.

"No, no he won't! He only has Rue in his heart! Only her! He has never given me a space in his heart to stand on, and I just need a tiny corner to feel satisfied!"

She was gesturing as she cried.

Unable to find words to comfort her, Rachel hugged Jodie tightly.

Jodie placed her head on Rachel's shoulder as her tears dripped, droplet by droplet, onto Rachel's shoulder and her dress.

"You don't know, but when he saw her in that state, he didn't even think twice. It didn’t matter if I tried to stop him or tell him she was Edward's wife, it didn't help, I'm helpless! He just ran without considering the implications!"

"You know, Rachel, I can tell that there is only space in his eyes and his heart for Rue..."