'SEE YOU MORNING' 106 Heart's Promise

‘SEE YOU MORNING’ 106 Heart’s Promise

In the school teachers’ office, several teachers were chatting about the students in their classes—naturally the high achievers, for they were the teachers’ favorites. Lübeck was one of them. As the class monitor, he had collected all the homework from his classmates and delivered it to the office, and now he could finally head home for the day.

The rain outside had stopped, but the street corners were muddy. He had to pick his way around puddles, hopping and skipping as he hurried along. The buildings and the road were both soaked by the rain, dark walls reflected in the standing water. Looking far down the street, the air still seemed hazy—thin drizzle was still floating down from the sky.

Gradually he walked out of the bustling little town; the road grew narrower. Standing on the small bridge he crossed every day, he gazed at the dry riverbed below. It seemed the light rain had not brought much more water to it.

Ahead, the buildings and walls on both sides seemed to block the drainage of the surface water. A lady walking toward him had no choice but to step her red high heels right into a puddle. The ripples spread to Lübeck’s side, and his shoes got wet too. But only then did he realize he was on a street he didn’t recognize—neither heading home nor knowing which way to go.

Lübeck opened his eyes. He was surprised that he had dreamed such a dream. Daylight was already showing. Today was the weekend, a day off—no work tasks, so he had slept until he naturally woke up. But the scenes in the dream were not from his real experience; they were completely far‑fetched. He had no idea whether these unknown images were generated by his own brain or came from somewhere else.

Maybe it was the stress of the upcoming deep‑space deployment. Lübeck could only find that excuse for himself. He glanced at Brittany beside him, sleeping soundly. The past few days of pleasure seemed to have exhausted her.

He brushed away the strands of hair covering her face and looked at her eyes and brows, recalling how animated she had been these past days when she told him the gossip in her unit. Lübeck felt he was already infatuated with her. Every morning he would start waiting for her to wake up, to see the sparkle in her eyes, to see her bouncing lively before him.

He studied her for a moment, then couldn’t help leaning closer, pressing against her side. He draped one hand over her thigh and wrapped his other arm along her waist, against her body. One moment he wanted to sleep beside her again, the next he opened his eyes to see if she had woken up.

When he opened his eyes once more, Lübeck found Brittany’s large hazel‑green eyes staring at him. So he had fallen back asleep without knowing it.

“Awake?” Brittany said, then used both arms and legs to wrap around Lübeck. She lay on her side, looking at him without speaking.

“What are you thinking?” Lübeck asked.

“These days I’ve been hearing colleagues’ gossip—lots of couples have broken up.”

“Oh, people with unstable relationships get evaluated, because it directly affects their mood at work. What’s wrong?”

Brittany gazed into Lübeck’s eyes. After a while she said,

“Will we…?”

“Why would you think that? We won’t.”

“Mm,” she answered, saying nothing more, only gently resting her forehead against his cheek.

Lübeck stroked her back to comfort her. He didn’t understand why she would think that. Recalling the past few months together, he couldn’t see where he had given her any insecurity, so he pressed further,

“Why do you think that? Did I do something wrong?”

Brittany turned her head, showing only half her face, and looked at Lübeck. After a moment she said,

“I heard that’s how it is for so many people. After a while the novelty wears off, and then they separate.”

Lübeck laughed. He had thought something serious was bothering her. He stroked her head and reassured her,

“I’m not like that. Did you worry about this when you chose me?”

“No,” Brittany said softly.

“Then trust your own choice.”

Hearing Lübeck say this, a smile finally appeared on Brittany’s face.

Afraid she might still have doubts, he added,

“You are already my woman. I won’t leave you, and you’re not allowed to leave me, okay?”

“Okay.”

“No matter what…”

“Through poverty or sickness.”

“Mm,” Lübeck answered, smiling. He hadn’t expected Brittany to recite wedding vows at that moment.

“No matter how far apart, we’ll always be together,” Lübeck said, pulling her head into his embrace. As he stroked her hair and her back, he seemed to recall something and murmured to himself,

“You’ve already spoken the wedding vows, but I haven’t prepared a wedding ring for you.”

“Hehe,” Brittany giggled against him, feeling pleased inside. “No ring is fine. I only need your heart. Besides, my work doesn’t suit wearing jewelry anyway.”

“Mm,” he agreed, but inside Lübeck felt a little sorry for Brittany—though it was true that the space force was not a good place for metal or hard ornaments.

Lübeck tightened his arm around Brittany’s waist, as if to give her more confidence, and added,

“You forgot—I’ve just been age‑reversed to 25, but inside I’m not like those young guys anymore.”

“Oh,” Brittany replied.

“Besides, people are different…”

“Mm, that’s why I chose you,” Brittany cut in, her face beaming.

Lübeck smiled and patted her head, then continued, “Yes, your judgment is right. In the long run, you’ve chosen someone faithful.”

“So… can I ask about your past?” Brittany asked back.

“Mm.”

“Did you have a partner on past missions?”

“No. Back then I was on short‑term orbital missions, near Earth and the Moon. I could take regular leave and reunite with my ex‑wife.”

“Haha,” Brittany laughed. “Then you could have found a female companion on orbit, and she would never have known.”

“Mm…” Lübeck thought for a moment and said, “I’m not really good at that. My ex‑wife Ruth was loyal. When I wasn’t by her side, I could trust her. But if I couldn’t trust someone on orbit, it would take too much of my energy.”

“You’re possessive,” Brittany said with a smile.

“Mm, not exactly. I wouldn’t force anyone to stay with me. If she wants to leave, she can leave anytime.”

“Oh,” Brittany became interested, propping her head on her hand and lying on her side, looking into Lübeck’s eyes.

“Just that a sudden departure would be hard for me to get used to,” Lübeck added.

“Hahaha, I get it. You’re afraid of getting hurt, aren’t you?” Brittany teased, laughing as she stroked his chest with one hand, then whispered playfully, “You’re a soft‑hearted man.” She smiled, even raising her eyebrows.

“Probably. So when you walked into my life, I couldn’t bear to leave you anymore.”

“Mm,” Brittany murmured and buried herself again in Lübeck’s arms.