He Hypnotized Me to Love Someone Else Chapter 01

He Hypnotized Me to Love Someone Else Chapter 01

My childhood friend, Silas Mercer, hated how I was always clinging to him.

After hypnotizing me, he deliberately made me chase someone else.

“From now on, the person you hate most is Silas Mercer.”

I repeated blankly,

“The person I hate most is Silas.”

Silas paused, then emphasized,

“The person you’ve always liked—the one you’ve had a crush on all along—is Theo Hayes.”

One of Silas’s friends blurted out in shock,

“Theo? Who’d even dare go after that guy? And who could actually win him over?”

Silas didn’t seem to care.

“That’s exactly why. If she can’t get him, she won’t have time to keep bothering me.”

…

Silas found a magical pocket watch that could hypnotize people.

The watch swung back and forth in front of my eyes.

Silas repeated,

“Come on. Repeat after me.”

“The person you’ve always liked—the one you’ve had a crush on all along—is Theo.”

My eyes went blank as I repeated,

“The person I’ve always liked—the one I’ve had a crush on all along—is Theo.”

Satisfied, Silas put the pocket watch away and snapped his fingers in front of me.

“Wake up!”

My vision slowly cleared, though my head still felt a little dizzy.

The moment I stumbled, Silas caught me.

He spoke without thinking.

“Faking another fall? You’re so afraid of getting hurt. What are you going to do if I’m not around to catch you one day…”

Before he could finish, I pulled away from him.

There was none of the usual infatuation in my eyes when I looked at him, and my voice was colder too.

“Thanks.”

Silas seemed stunned.

All he could do was watch me walk away.

“The hypnosis actually worked? That pocket watch is seriously that powerful?”

His friend slung an arm around Silas’s shoulders.

“Come on. Your childhood friend isn’t going to follow you around anymore. You’re finally free. Don’t you like Elise? It’s her birthday today. Go pick out a gift for her.”

Silas stayed where he was.

“What’s wrong? Regretting it already?”

Someone shoved him, and he finally snapped out of it.

He laughed.

“Why would I regret it?”

“She’s been following me around for almost ten years. I finally got rid of her. Why would I regret that?”

“I’m just worried that once she stops bothering me, my parents will think I bullied her again.”

“If that happens, I can just hypnotize her again and change her back.”

They walked farther and farther away until their voices faded completely.

I stopped and glanced back at them.

Believing a pocket watch could hypnotize me was about as ridiculous as believing crabs could fly.

Silas and I had grown up together.

He used to trail after me like a little shadow.

When we played make-believe as kids, I was always the princess, and he was my knight.

When I played the queen, he was my loyal servant.

Then, a few years ago, Silas suddenly seemed to wise up.

I was so used to having him around that when he stopped coming to find me, I started going to him instead.

Sometimes, Silas would complain about me in front of his friends.

“She’s here again.”

“She’s kind of annoying.”

I would turn around and leave.

But he would always chase after me, grab my arm, and apologize.

“Serena, I’m sorry.”

“I have my pride too. I was just putting on an act in front of them.”

“At least let me keep some dignity. You can’t order me around like a dog in front of everyone.”

Over time, more and more people misunderstood our relationship.

To everyone else, I became the girl who’d had a crush on Silas for years and kept chasing after him.

Eventually, even Silas himself started believing it.

This time, I went to find Silas because I wanted to clear things up with him.

I didn’t expect him to come looking for me first.

When I arrived at the place we’d agreed to meet, I saw him talking with a few friends.

“Can that pocket watch really hypnotize someone?”

“Why not try it? You’ve got nothing to lose.”

“Haven’t you always been annoyed by Serena? If hypnosis can finally make her leave you alone, that’d be perfect.”

Silas hesitated.

“Actually, I don’t really…”

“Silas.”

I called his name.

“Did you need something?”

I couldn’t believe Silas had come to me for something like this.

He wanted me to hate him?

Fine.

If that was what Silas wanted, I’d give him exactly that.

I had just eaten half the food Mom had asked me to bring Silas when my phone buzzed.

It was a message from my roommate.

【Are you going to Elise’s birthday party tonight?】

【I have to go visit my grandma. If you’re going, could you bring her gift for me?】

Elise.

The girl Silas liked.