32. We're Even, Right?
32. We're Even, Right?
"It's already been 10 minutes?!"
The teacher who did my makeup said.
She told me not to sweat under any circumstances.
"Haa... haa, haa!"
The teacher who did my hair said.
She told me absolutely not to run. If I ran, my hair would get all messed up, so I was to walk daintily, taking light steps.
"Where was it? Over there?"
The teacher who tailored my outfit said.
If it happened to get wet, it might look a little unseemly.
"Ah... please, pleeease...!"
And now, I had completely ignored all the advice those teachers gave me.
My makeup smeared from the cold sweat and the sweat I broke from running.
My hair was constantly getting tousled by the wind.
Seeing how my back was drenched and the area under my chest felt nasty, my clothes were clearly soaked through as well.
Even worse, the most important thing—not only did I fail to come out on time, I ended up making him wait over two hours.
From start to finish.
From one to ten.
There wasn't a single thing done right about this date.
No, this date hadn't even gotten started yet.
"The fountain..."
Finally, just as the meeting spot came into view in the distance.
Mars's footsteps came to a sudden halt.
"Chrono is..."
Probably not here.
I was late for the meeting time.
Over two hours late, even.
So absurdly late that I was too embarrassed to even ask him to wait.
How would I have felt if it were me?
How would I have reacted if the other person kept me waiting for two whole hours?
I'd be mad.
First, I'd get angry.
Angry, disappointed...
And probably...
"He went... back."
There's no reason to wait for someone who doesn't show.
He must have gone back. He definitely went back.
Even I think there's no other possibility.
Honestly, a guy who waits that stubbornly is the fool.
...So does that make me a moron for going knowing he isn't there?
Somehow, my heart felt restless.
No, rather than restless, it felt like my heart was shattering to pieces.
Beyond cracking, it was breaking and crumbling, as if even the heart meant to ache was disappearing.
"Haaaaa..."
What am I supposed to say to Chrono?
Plodding along, walking toward the front of the fountain, Mars agonized.
I'll tell him I'm sorry.
I have to apologize.
Apologizing is a given, and after that?
"Again... let's... again..."
Even if I ask him for another date, would he possibly accept?
This date itself was already half forced, and the other half was an opportunity I got thanks to Chrono's consideration.
Anyway, even if it wasn't me, Chrono could easily find other girls, girls nothing like me, girls better than me...
".....Guh...!"
No.
I tried desperately to deny it, but the words of denial wouldn't come out.
How could they, when I look at myself now.
Not only did I disappoint my date, I can't even manage to dress myself up or move myself properly.
But still, I like someone. I love someone. How could I stand next to them and walk together?
Dates.
Romance.
This thing called mutual love.
Ultimately, that kind of thing is only possible when the other person has the right 'standing' to match.
It's plausible for the king of beasts beneath the savanna sky to rule over countless females,
but a mere meerkat, no, a mealworm developing a crush on a lion is simply—ah, aah! Please! Stop! Stop it!
...I'm gonna be sick.
My vision blurred.
The strength drained from my hands and feet.
My stride grew endlessly heavy, and my mind clouded over hazily.
I don't want to see.
But I have to see.
I don't want to go.
But I can't back down.
The heart that wants to move forward.
The heart that wants to retreat.
The heart that wants to confirm and fix things.
The heart that wants to avoid, to shut its eyes.
Mars stood still in front of that path and quietly looked ahead.
"...That's..."
And she saw it.
"...No way."
She ended up seeing it.
"Hey, no way. Like, seriously?"
She denied it.
Denied it based on common sense.
Denied it based on logic, on putting herself in his shoes.
No way.
There's no way.
That's impossible.
Because, why is that...
"When is she coming meow... hmm..."
"............"
Because I...
Have no confidence I can endure it.
"Well... she'll come eventually."
Because I...
Have no confidence I can handle it.
"Maybe around five... will she come?"
"......Hey."
I...
I just...
"Y-you... youuu...!"
"Oh, you came?"
Because I was sorry.
Because I was grateful.
"Hey... you can do it too, huh? You look kinda pretty today?"
"..............."
"....Huh?"
Because I was annoyed.
Because I was happy.
"Hey... ah..."
"....Why?"
Because it was detestable.
Because a smile crept onto my face without me realizing it.
"You—stupid son of a bitchaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!"
"─────────────!"
You, you, you really...!
"Are you even human? Are you out of your mind? Why are you still waiting here!"
I didn't know.
What I was saying.
What I wanted to do.
"Moron! Pushover! Dimwit! Girl-crazy water buffalo bastard!"
Everything.
Nothing.
All of it.
I don't know.
I'm saying I don't know.
"You should've just gone home! Gone to the dorms, stuffed your face, and just cursed the hell out of me!"
Me.
Why am I getting angry right now?
"Ah... wait, is that it? You think if you wait around like a fool, I'll get all moved and spread my legs for you?"
No.
Don't do this.
Chrono waited for me.
This whole time, for me, he waited.
"Hah! Dream on, you stupid pushover bastard! No matter how much of a water buffalo you act like, you think I'd give you a single hair? There's bullshit and then there's bullshit, who the hell do you think you are trying to get with me!"
Stop it.
Stop it, you stupid bitch.
You'll regret this. You'll seriously regret this.
Even now, say you're sorry, say you messed up, ask if it was hard waiting.
"Th-this, thi-this...!"
I need, to say, it...
"Stupid... bastard...!"
Why.
Can't I say it?
"Stupid bastard... fucking son of a bitch...!"
How can you even be human?
To the person who waited for you, the whole time, who waited and waited and waited for you...
"I really hate it. Really, so fucking, disgusting, dumbfounding, annoying, really, reallyyyyy...!!"
".....Mars."
"............."
What words.
Will I hear?
Will he despise me?
Curse me out?
Or, just as I thought, cut ties with me?
At some point, my head hung low.
Ants crawling beneath the ground.
Snack crumbs. A piece of straw. Dust and little clumps of dirt.
And then.
"Feeling a bit better now?"
"..........Yeah."
"If you're done venting, shall we go get some food?"
"................Yeah."
"Want to grab some hot gukbap?"
".........................Yeah."
Gukbap, sundae-gukbap.
Even the radish kimchi broth went in, making it truly delicious.
**************
"Umm... uum... gulp."
Well, well.
She's nibbling away like a hamster.
She didn't seem to care about her makeup smearing and running—as it smeared, as it got ruined, she just kept focusing solely on the gukbap.
She was eating so well she even mixed in the radish kimchi broth to cool it down and eat it up.
I pulled out a tissue and handed it to Mars.
"You've got red pepper powder on the side of your lips."
".....Oh..."
She slurped her spoon clean once, then wiped her lips with the tissue.
"....Huh?"
When the tissue stained red, Mars tilted her head and wiped her lips a few more times.
She didn't seem to realize, so I said it for her.
"You're wiping off what you put on your lips right now."
"!!!.....Wh-what, so what?"
"Nothing."
I picked up my spoon again too.
"It's just cute how you were reading the room."
"....Are you dying?"
"I'm the one who feels like saying that."
"Ha! You're gonna kill me?"
"What's the problem with someone who did something worthy of death saying they'll kill you?"
".............."
Aware of her own sins, Mars dropped her head.
Once only the sound of eating rang out again in the silence, Mars spoke to me.
"Sorry....."
"For what."
One spoonful.
"Being really late."
"And."
One bite of radish kimchi.
"...Snapping at you."
"And."
Eating a piece of sundae too.
"......Cursing at you."
"And."
Rinsed my mouth once with water.
"............."
"And, don't you know?"
".....I don't know."
"Alright."
I also pulled out a tissue and wiped my lips as I said.
"What did I say the first time I saw you?"
".......?"
"What did I say. Can't you remember that either?"
"That is... that..."
To me...
"...Pretty, was..."
"Then what are you supposed to say back normally."
"....At least you've got good eyes."
"Pfft! Kkup, puhahah!"
"Ah, hey! Don't laugh!"
Wow, she actually says that here?
This girl is really something else, seriously.
"Heuuuuu... That was hilarious!"
"Tch...!"
Mars ground her teeth as if a little annoyed.
So what, you gonna hit me? Nah. You absolutely can't, right?
She knows what she did.
At least for now, in this moment, I can reign as king.
I drained the remaining broth from the earthenware bowl and answered.
"The movie... its showtime is already over. What do you want to do now?"
"............"
Mars silently dropped her head low.
Still haven't blown off all her steam, huh.
Come to think of it, even in the date event in the game, after she was late, Mars was completely deflated and moved around like a half-dead corpse.
What did the Protagonist do back then...
I think he touched her chest, right?
He said if she kept moping around, he'd prank her,
and touched her hand, shoulder, cheek, and then—her chest.
[Hang—!]
[.....Sorry.]
But when he actually touched her chest, her reaction was so erotic that he couldn't do this or that, and the date just ended, or so the story went.
After that, a connected event triggers, where she says 'So you really like my boobs that much, you idiot!' and it's not an H CG, but it leads to an event where she lets him touch her chest as atonement or something.
[Exactly 3 times. Not 2, not 4, exactly 3 times.]
That event was a truly rare pure love scene among NTR games.
The trap, of course, was that the event following right after that was Mars getting conquered by the NTR villains, starting from her chest then naturally top bottom top bottom in sequence.
Anyway, that part isn't very important.
The game is a game, and I am me.
Therefore, I smiled confidently and said.
"If you've got nowhere to go, wanna hit a love hotel with me?"
"....Love, what?"
"Love hotel."
"........."
"Wanna smash once?"
"Yeah."
"Ahaha! Sorry, I was just kidding——
——what the fuck?"
What on earth did I just hear.
I slowly turned my head toward Mars.
"Let's do it, that. Smash. Lewd sex."
"....Are you serious?"
No matter what, this pace is way too fast.
I questioned Mars again out of a heart full of incredulity.
"In exchange, with this, we're calling it even for me being late today."
"...........Whoa."
Getting late once and unlocking an H CG?
The exchange rate was so insane I thought I was getting scammed.
This is practically the speed of getting NTR'd by a named villain... wait...
Come to think of it, I was the villain, huh? A named grade one at that.
Half out of my mind from the overwhelming persuasive power, I went outside.
"I'll... wash up first?"
"Huh? Uh, uhh..."
When I opened my eyes, I was at a love hotel.
...Well, I guess there's no turning back now.
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Mars girlfriend look