Chapter 248: I LOVE YOU
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 248: I LOVE YOU
We decided to part ways in front of the school grounds.
It seemed the President had another engagement to attend.
"Aren't you working a little too hard these days?"
Walking beside me, she clasped her hands behind her back and replied.
"It's for my future with you, Yoo-Sung-kun, so it's fine. In fact, it's better to work while I can. A time might come when I want to work but can't."
She glanced my way, then nudged my shoulder.
"You're not upset that I have to leave first, are you?"
Feeling like she'd read my mind, I avoided her gaze and scratched my cheek.
"It would be a lie to say I'm not."
We were supposed to be a couple, but it felt like we'd spent so little time together since she moved out.
There was a limit to how often we could meet secretly in the student council room.
Even that would end once the duties were handed over to the next student council. Then we wouldn't even have an excuse to meet.
Hearing my concerns, the President paused, choosing her words. "Hmm..."
Then she looked at me slyly and asked.
"Should we just go public with our relationship?"
"Huh? Is that really okay?"
When I asked back, flustered, she denied it with a playful smile.
"Of course not."
"Then why..."
"Because I want to spend even a little more time with you at school, Yoo-Sung-kun."
"..."
Her bold statement left me speechless for a moment.
Ignoring my reaction, she watched my expression and asked.
"So, what do you think, Yoo-Sung-kun?"
The choice was now mine.
I hesitated, my lips parting and closing, before I squeezed my eyes shut and answered.
"I'll be patient."
I could have been selfish, but I couldn't let the President, who was so busy right now, get caught up in rumors.
Besides, considering the winter and spring breaks, she only had about two months of school left anyway.
In that case, it was right for me, her boyfriend, to be the one to give in.
Hearing my reasoning, the President stopped walking for a moment, then turned her gaze away.
"I knew you'd say that, Yoo-Sung-kun."
She giggled, then gave my stomach a light push.
"I'll go on my own from here. You can head back now."
"Will you be okay by yourself?"
"It's just a short walk to the school gate. You don't need to worry."
Waving, the President hurried with quick steps toward the limousine parked in front of the school.
I watched her go until she was out of sight, when I suddenly realized I had a message.
It was from Rika.
「I'll be waiting in the classroom.」
I was about to reply, but the sight of the limousine disappearing in the distance lingered in my mind. Instead of texting back, I just slipped my phone into my pocket.
"...Guess I should go."
It was the last event of the cultural festival.
*
In Japanese high schools, an announcement plays over the PA system when it's time to go home.
At last year's festival, we had a campfire on the field on the last day, so students stayed late into the night. But this year, the campfire was canceled due to safety concerns, so most students had already left for after-parties.
Thanks to that, the hallways of the second-year building were unusually quiet.
The hallways were bathed in the light of the setting sun, perhaps because the days were shorter in autumn.
Looking around the school, where traces of the festival still remained, I found myself lost in a strange sentimentality.
'This year was especially busy.'
At last year's festival, I was practically just a background character.
It would be accurate to say I was an outsider in my class.
Because of my intimidating appearance and the physique I'd rapidly developed after starting to work out, my classmates gradually began to avoid me. By the end of the second semester, the only people who talked to me privately were the class president, Ayase, and Satoru.
But things were much better now.
At least now, none of my classmates acted scared of me.
To think that all these encounters began when I became a second-year... I couldn't help but feel deeply moved.
Walking down the orange-tinted hallway, I stopped in front of the classroom for 2-B.
Normally, the room should have been empty with everyone gone to after-parties, but I could sense a familiar presence inside.
Screech!
"You're here?"
As I opened the door and stepped inside, my eyes fell on Rika, who was sitting perched on a desk by the window.
"Yeah."
A strange tension flowed between us.
I carefully closed the back door behind me and took a deep breath internally.
Honestly, it would be weirder not to be nervous in this kind of atmosphere, in this situation.
"What did you call me here for?"
Instead of answering right away, Rika crossed her legs on the desk and asked.
"Ryu-chan, can I ask you one thing?"
"What... is it?"
"What was your first impression of me, when you first saw me?"
When I first saw Rika.
I recalled the first day of school, back when I'd just become a second-year, sitting in the classroom with a heart full of anticipation.
'My name is Kishimoto Rika! I came here from Shizuoka! I like cats, sweet things, and natto soup! I look forward to spending this next year with you all!'
"I thought you were a very energetic girl."
Of course, the utterly rom-com-like farce that immediately followed made me want to transfer schools, but saying that would definitely hurt her feelings, so I decided to keep it to myself.
Hearing my answer, Rika let out a small laugh. "Pfft! That's such a Ryu-chan-like answer." She slowly stood up from the desk.
"Actually, when I first walked into the classroom and saw you sitting in the very back, I thought you were a delinquent for sure. I could see that the other kids were wary of you."
"...I get that a lot."
It was a bit of a shock that Rika thought so too, but by now it felt like a rite of passage, so it didn't really sting.
"But when we actually talked on the subway, you were completely different from my first impression, you know? That's why I started to think of you as someone like a manga protagonist."
He's a common character type in 80s manga, right?
She said, taking a step toward me.
"But now I know. That you're just a normal boy, Ryu-chan."
You might seem oblivious sometimes, but you're always trying your best to get along with everyone, aren't you?
"It was that considerate side of you that made me fall for you."
"But Rika, I..."
"Wait."
Rika suddenly cut me off, pressing her index finger to my lips.
"I'm not finished talking yet."
Her eyes were serious.
So, I decided to hear her out a little longer.
In a way, this whole situation was my fault for being too indecisive, for clinging to our friendship and not completely shutting down her feelings.
"Ryu-chan, you said it before, when I confessed to you. That if the President wasn't in the picture, you would have accepted my confession."
"...Yeah."
But that was a meaningless hypothetical.
Unless the President suddenly had a change of heart and left me, I would never be the one to break up with her.
"Then how about this? You could have both me and the President as your girlfriends."
"...What?"
The moment I heard those words, I felt as if I'd been hit hard on the back of the head.
I never imagined such a thing would come from Rika, who I'd always thought was so innocent.
"Did I hear you wrong...?"
"You didn't hear me wrong. You heard me perfectly."
"..."
Is she telling me to two-time them?
A sudden wave of exhaustion washed over me, and I wiped my face with my palm.
"I'm sorry, Rika, but I don't think I can do that."
"Why not?"
"One guy dating two girls... that's morally absurd. If I did what you're suggesting, it would be disrespectful to both you and the President."
But Rika seemed to have already made up her mind.
She paid no heed to my reasoning.
"I don't care. I want to be with the person I like, so what do other people's opinions or morals matter? If you would just look my way, I could be happy with just that."
Even if it means sharing your love with another woman.
"Rika..."
What made her so desperate?
I didn't know if a guy like me was worth all this, but the look on Rika's face was one of pure desperation.
"Yoo-Sung-ah, I like you. How do you feel about me?"
Another confession.
For a second, the image of her confession at the amusement park overlapped with the scene before me now.
I certainly thought well of her, and I was truly grateful that she saw me as more than a friend, but I couldn't accept this confession.
If I did, I would be betraying the trust of the President, who believed in me.
So, steeling my resolve once more and deciding to play the villain, I finally opened my mouth after a moment of hesitation.
"I'm sorry, Rika, but I..."
It was at that very moment.
"It's fine if you accept that confession."
The tightly closed back door of the classroom suddenly opened, and the President's voice rang out.
...Huh?
Unable to process the sudden turn of events, I turned around with a dazed expression. There stood the President, who I was sure had left the school in her limousine, with her arms crossed and a confident look on her face.
"After all, I'm a generous woman who can overlook something like having three wives and four concubines."