Ch.118Waiting People (4)

As I lay resting quietly, I heard someone entering the room. It was probably Nam Ju-an finally returning.

With a feeling of regret, I lifted my face from the pillow and looked at Ju-an.

“You’re back? So how much of the plan did you work out?”

“We decided to work out each step one by one and then test them all with the Saint’s precognition ability.”

“Do you think you’ll find a strategy that can win that way?”

“There’s no method more certain than this. Oh, by the way, the food you made was delicious.”

An unexpected comment came out of Ju-an’s mouth. But I never directly told him that I made it.

“How did you know I made it?”

“When I went to the dining hall, people told me. Besides, I can tell who made something so delicious just by looking at it.”

Ju-an said these embarrassing words so naturally. Thanks to that, the corners of my mouth naturally lifted too.

I guess I don’t actually feel the joy of cooking itself, I just like making these things for Ju-an.

Alright, then I should do what I like again tomorrow.

“Thank you. Is there anything you want to eat tomorrow?”

“It’s a tiring time right now, so there’s no need to go through the trouble.”

“Then I should at least make some snacks.”

“There’s no need to push yourself. If you’re going to do it, wait until you’re feeling better.”

I think I’ll be able to sleep comfortably tonight. So to sleep comfortably tomorrow too, I should make some snacks.

It’s not like making a little something will put a big strain on my body. And my period itself isn’t that tiring.

Still, constantly changing pads is bothersome. It really is work to keep doing this every few hours.

Let’s stop the small talk here and move on to the main point.

“By the way, you slept on the floor yesterday.”

“No matter what, it’s not right for a man and woman to share the same bed.”

“That’s true, but didn’t you think it’s not right for someone who worked hard to sleep on the floor?”

“I do this every day, so it’s not really hard work.”

“Your face says otherwise—you look tired.”

“You look just as tired.”

Come to think of it, I did have a tiring day. I practiced my supernatural powers all day under the guise of training.

I also made a ton of food and I’m on my period, so it’s natural that my energy would be depleted.

But even so, it doesn’t feel right for me to take the bed. It’s not polite to kick the room’s owner onto the floor.

Of course, there is one perfect solution. I could just go stay in another room. That way, we’d both have comfortable spaces to rest.

That’s what my head was thinking, but my heart kept shouting that it didn’t want to leave Ju-an’s side. Maybe it’s because I feel like I’ll be targeted by someone again if I’m alone.

Then should I just sleep on the floor? But I also prefer a comfortable bed…

While thinking about whether there was a better solution, another fundamental solution came to mind.

“Why don’t we just sleep together on the bed?”

“…Lite, no matter what, it’s not right for a man and woman to share the same bed.”

“We’ve slept in the same bed before, just think of it like that time.”

“…I’ll just sleep on the floor. I didn’t really use my body much today anyway.”

Ju-an said as he spread a blanket on the floor. But I had no intention of backing down here.

So I went down to the blanket Ju-an had spread out, lay down, and said:

“Then I’ll sleep on the floor with you too.”

“That way we both lose.”

“If you want maximum benefit, we should both just sleep on the bed.”

“No, no matter what, this really isn’t right…”

“If you don’t like it, just take the loss like this.”

I said, covering myself with the blanket on the floor. If I went this far, Ju-an would probably just give in.

After stubbornly holding out on the floor, Ju-an finally surrendered.

“Fine, I’ll sleep on the bed, so come up now.”

“You say that, but you’re thinking of sneaking down in the middle of the night, aren’t you?”

“…You have unnecessarily good intuition about these things.”

“I’ll come up if you promise not to sneak down.”

“Alright… we’ll just sleep together.”

This pointless battle of pride ended with my victory. We slept together before without any problems, so it should be fine this time too. With that thought, I climbed onto the bed and lay down.

“I’ll turn off the light then.”

As soon as Ju-an finished speaking, the light went out. Then I felt someone climbing onto the bed.

At that moment, my heart started racing like crazy. It definitely didn’t bother me before, but now my heart is pounding so much I might go crazy.

I really do like him, not just as a friend, but romantically for sure.

But I don’t have the courage to say these feelings directly. No, I’m actually trying to keep my distance because I’m too embarrassed.

The proof is that I’m trying my best to avoid my skin touching Ju-an’s. But he seems to be doing the same thing.

Let’s just try to sleep. I don’t have anything to do tomorrow, but it’s too embarrassing to be awake and sober right now.

We should have used separate rooms after all. Why did I suggest sleeping together? Especially when we have feelings for each other.

What if he pounces on me? No, he’s too innocent to even think of such things, so I don’t need to worry about that.

I almost wish he was a bit more lecherous. At this rate, we’ll never make any progress.

Should I be more aggressive, like when I gave him the curtain before? He used to be so lively, why has he become so well-behaved? I’m ready to answer anytime if he would just speak up first.

As I grumbled to myself, I started feeling more tired. I really did use up a lot of energy today.

But my heart is pounding even more than I’m tired. So I’m in that situation where I’m exhausted but can’t fall asleep.

Right, if I untie this ribbon, fatigue will wash over me and I’ll fall asleep right away. There’s no reason not to untie it. If I stay like this, I’ll probably be up all night.

So I untied the ribbon and, just as I expected, fell asleep immediately.

***

When I woke up, I felt something soft yet firm against my arm. Wondering what it was, I opened my eyes and saw Ju-an sleeping soundly.

….

…Oh.

Come to think of it, I did say I have bad sleeping habits. I said I would definitely hug whatever was next to me and not let go.

So I probably tried to hug whatever was next to me while I was asleep. And that happened to be Ju-an right beside me.

Well, thanks to what I did, I’m wide awake now. Maybe if I want to wake up in the morning, I should just hug Ju-an right away?

I should let go of him now and go make some snacks. That way he can have something to eat while working on strategies.

But my body won’t listen. Even though I’m trying to move, my body refuses to do so.

It’s probably because I pushed myself too hard yesterday. If that’s the case, there’s nothing I can do. I’ll just stay like this a little longer.

As I was happily hugging Ju-an, I heard a heart beating wildly.

It’s definitely not my heartbeat. So that must be Ju-an’s heart…

…Oh.

“…Lite? Are you awake?”

Ju-an barely managed to speak in a voice full of embarrassment. Okay, I’ll just pretend to be asleep.

But my heart is already beating abnormally fast. So Ju-an probably already knows I’m awake.

Alright, what’s a way to get out of this situation?

“…I just woke up.”

Of course, there’s no way I could think of such a method. If I could, I wouldn’t have had such poor grades.

I’m so embarrassed I could bite my tongue and die right now. I really need to fix this damn sleeping habit somehow.

With these thoughts, I quickly removed my arm from Ju-an. A wave of regret immediately washed over me. Maybe I should have held him a little longer?

Anyway, there’s no conversation between us right now. How could anyone start a conversation in this atmosphere?

As time continued to pass, Ju-an finally spoke first.

“I, I’ll go first then. See you later.”

“Y-yeah. See you later.”

Ju-an hurriedly left the room. And at the same time, I started kicking off the blanket.

“Aaaaargh!”

Why did I do that? If I had just removed my arm as soon as I woke up, nothing would have happened! Why did I keep hugging him!

Of course, it felt nice. Hugging something made me feel mentally peaceful and somehow happy.

If possible, I’d like to feel this again tomorrow… no, even tonight…

…Let’s think about that later and focus on finding a way to salvage this situation now. They say even if you enter a tiger’s den, you can survive if you keep your wits about you, right?

But the place I entered wasn’t a tiger’s den—it felt more like lava. That’s because I can’t think of any way to salvage this situation.

How should I face Ju-an from now on… I definitely can’t act like normal…

Feeling an embarrassment I’ll probably never experience again in my life, I made my way to the kitchen to prepare snacks for Ju-an.