Do You Like Me? (2)
As you live through the world, you end up meeting all kinds of connections.
For example, there are people who seem to live only to kill each other, their hearts stuffed full of hatred and resentment. Then there are those who love each other fiercely, cherish one another, and build peaceful homes together.
Han Riae and I had, naturally, met all kinds of people too.
Of course, I had cut most of them off during middle academy... well, so what?
That bastard Yoon Hwayeon was once again dragging out my black history in front of Paran and boasting about it like it was something to be proud of.
If I were to make a few excuses...
That male classmate who confessed to me and got rejected?
Honestly, his face might have been decent, but he wasn't my type. His personality wasn't my type either.
The one who kept acting up and ended up getting hit by me?
He was the one who started trouble with me first, and we had a practical evaluation as part of the performance assessment, so I only beat him up fairly(?)
Of course, there were plenty of stories where I really had been in the wrong, and a few where I had simply been too cold.
From around the middle of middle academy, I had grown disgusted with the people who treated me with such hypocrisy that I cut every single one of them off.
As I listened to all that in a fluster, I looked at Paran, who was nestled in my arms.
She looked startled, as if her mind had run into a contradiction, and stared at me again...
"P-Paran! That's all a lie! O-okay?"
Her flustered face was kind of cute, but if this went on, I might get some weird looks, so I denied it hard.
Of course, it was heavily seasoned, and most of it was true, but...
"Um, uh... yes, okay..."
"It's really not true, T_T!"
After hearing my denial, Paran seemed to choose, for now, to believe me and force herself to accept that answer.
The way she looked, as if she were suffering from cognitive dissonance, was practically roasting my insides.
"Don't open your mouth again, Yoon. Hwa. Yeon..."
"Hahaha, how can this be so funny~?"
Yoon Hwayeon kept opening and closing her mouth, continuing to talk as though she had no idea how much my insides were burning up.
"Ah! Right! Did you know this, Paran?"
Ah, there it was. Did you know this.
As childhood friends who had spent eight years together, I knew the intent behind that sentence all too well.
She was definitely about to talk about something embarrassing I would never have expected.
"Hey, hey, wait a sec!"
Yoon Hwayeon was already past the point of caring about my reply; she had let out the first syllable before I could even react.
"Riae has seriously changed ever since she met Paran. Even when we're together, she just keeps going 'Paran~ Paran~ Paran~' over and over. I almost thought you two were already dating."
"Whaaat?"
No, this demon!
Before I could react, Yoon Hwayeon had already finished speaking at lightning speed.
"Why don't you just start dating already?"
"W-what?!"
What the hell...
To be honest, whenever I met up with my friends these days, I did talk a little about Paran... but if she put it like that, didn't it make me sound like some woman obsessed with Paran?
"Hey! Hey! I told you not to say that!"
That was something I had even asked Yoon Hwayeon not to talk about when I treated her to a meal.
"So what? Looking at you, it definitely seems like you like her, and Paran seems to have feelings too. And besides, most of the posts going up online right now are saying you and Paran are dating. It's practically a foregone conclusion, Han Riae~"
After saying that much, she pointed at Paran and me at the same time and finished her sentence.
Fine, yes, I admit it. I like Paran.
But Paran?
Paran might not have any feelings for me. She had even gone on record saying she hated her personal information being posted anywhere on the internet.
What if she only saw me as someone she could touch and deal with, just another person among people? If someone as reluctant as Paran about having any personal information out there heard that rumors of her dating me were spreading, what would she do?
"P-Paran... are you okay with this?"
"Huh?"
Maybe because those thoughts kept piling up, I ended up flustered. Holding Paran like this, I could smell a sweet soda scent that did not seem like something a person would give off.
Trying to hide my confusion, I gently stroked her blue hair and went on.
"What are you talking about...?"
"You know... the rumor that Paran and I are dating... Are you okay with that?"
She tilted her head, looking genuinely puzzled by my question, and that soft, clear voice of hers, so unlike any of our other classmates, tickled my ears.
And then her answer came...
Of course it would be that it wasn't okay---
"Ah... honestly... I'm okay with it. I like Riae, too, and if Riae is okay with it, I'd always want to be together."
Huh?
Huh???
Whaaaaaaaaaa???????
The instant I heard that, my brain stopped working for a moment.
W-what?
- I like Riae, too
Huh???
While I was wondering if what I had just heard from Paran was a dream, my heart was pounding like mad.
My hair shot up, heat rushed to my face in an instant, and soon my cheeks were burning hot.
As I kept replaying what she had said, my head grew dizzy, and I could feel the feelings that had been grunting away in one corner of my chest finally loosening.
That soft, fragile voice that made me want to protect her suddenly saying she liked me was far too stimulating for me.
"R-Riae, are you okay? Did you have a panic attack? Your chest..."
That's not it... that's not it at all...
Paran, who was still in my arms, twisted around and looked at me with eyes full of concern as she spoke.
That vulnerable voice, worrying about me with such a pure face, was too much for me right then.
I couldn't see any sign that my thoughts would return to normal, and I did my best to avoid her gaze so she wouldn't see me looking so embarrassed.
Stay calm... stay calm...!
If I couldn't hold myself together any longer here, I might do something seriously stupid, so I forced myself to endure it.
This is way too stimulating!
Yoon Hwayeon, who had been quietly watching Paran and me, spoke to Paran with obvious amusement.
"Paran, you're really innocent, aren't you? You don't even seem to realize what you just said."
"Y-yes...?"
"That sounded like a confession to anyone, you know? You're really pure."
Yoon Hwayeon accurately voiced exactly what I wanted to say, and let Paran know it.
"Uh... ah?!
Only then did Paran realize what she had said and look at me helplessly, completely at a loss.
"So~ Paran, are you taking back what you just said?"
"..."
"Or was that really not it?"
"N-no... It's true that I like Riae..."
Yoon Hwayeon pressed hard, demanding that Paran state her position, and Paran, unable to withstand the pressure, voiced her feelings once more.
Even while trembling, the way she spoke with her eyes lowered made her look like a puppy soaked through by rain, and it stirred up every protective instinct I had.
Even while blushing, she stubbornly said she liked me...
Damn it...
No, this is too lewd...
It was so stimulating that I thought I might get a nosebleed, so I wiped beneath my nose, but of course this was the sort of thing that only happened in manga; nothing came out at all.
"R-Riae... I was worried about you... Are you really okay...?"
I can't take any more...
I... can't... hold it...
At that moment, the string of reason I had been straining to hold together snapped...
"Mmff...!"
"Paran! I like you too! I want to stay with you forever too!"
Every embarrassing word and sentence my head could produce was spilling out without passing through any filter in my brain.
I didn't care how embarrassing it was. Paran said she liked me!
I wrapped my arms tightly around her fragile body, which was just perfect for hugging, and drank in her scent.
Like the sweet chocolate Paran loved, her body still carried a faint cacao fragrance, and from her skin came a refreshing soda-like scent that filled my nose completely.
I could feel Yoon Hwayeon's gaze from the side, staring at me as if she couldn't believe what she was seeing, but I decided to let that one go for now.
I absolutely could not miss the chance Yoon Hwayeon had created for me.
"Paran! Say what you just said again!"
"W-w-whaaa?"
Paran, trapped in my arms and spinning with panic, was impossible not to see clearly, and the more I looked at her, the more her fairy-like beauty imprinted itself onto my eyes.
"Uh... uh, I-I like you... R-Riae..."
Ghk...
It's too stimulating...
Realizing that this was embarrassing even for herself, she hid her face with her little hands and kept confessing her affection to me.
Her pale white hands covered her face, but the blue eyes she hadn't quite managed to hide still peeked out, and somehow that made her even cuter...
My head was going to explode...
"Hey! Hey! Han Riae! Look at Paran! Stop causing trouble already!"
"Huh...? Oh, ah!"
Just as I was briefly tasting paradise, I realized I had held Paran so tightly that her face was buried against my chest and she couldn't breathe properly.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
I ended up blurting out a love confession I hadn't even fully realized myself, and Han Riae, looking excited, pulled me into a tight hug.
- Paran! Say what you just said again!
Still, since it was Han Riae's request and because I also thought it was my own karma, I steeled myself against the embarrassment and told her I liked her.
- squeeze
The pressure was stronger than I expected, and my face ended up pressed against Han Riae's generous chest.
Soft, warm, and yielding...
Aaaagh!
I had some wicked thoughts and tried to struggle my way out, but Han Riae didn't seem to notice, because she just kept holding me tight.
In my nose filled Han Riae's unique citrus scent, mixed with the fragrance that came from her bare skin...
Seriously.
I tried to shut down those wicked thoughts, but the longer I stayed in her arms, the larger they grew.
- Hey, Paran, look at this!
- Huh? Ah, Paran!
At last, I was released, and my face, which had been pressed down against her chest, was already red and burning.
"P-Paran! Did it hurt a lot? Your face..."
That's not it...
It wasn't that at all...
Even as Han Riae kept asking me in concern, I said nothing all the way until we left the cafe, then ran back to the dorm with my face still burning.
That night, I lost so much sleep it was ridiculous.
---