Clara confidently declared.
She said her personal stories would be boring to anyone who heard them.
So she hesitated even to bring them up as a topic of conversation.
But Rohan listened to her situation more seriously than a government office worker.
For the first time in her life, Clara spoke more than she had thought, almost like she was acting spoiled.
Strangely, whenever she talked to Rohan, her mouth seemed to open on its own.
“Hmm.”
Rohan fell deep into thought after hearing her out.
What could he be thinking?
“…”
Clara sipped her drink through a straw, sneakily glancing at Rohan.
As she savored the sweetness, her name was called.
“Clara.”
“Yes… Ah! Uh, yes?”
“If being formal makes you uncomfortable, no need to force it. You can mix it up however it comes out naturally.”
Though it didn’t seem like the main point, Rohan casually brushed past it.
Nod nod.
Clara was curious about what Rohan, who had been pondering for a while, would say.
First, she nodded, her twin tails wagging like a tail, and Rohan finally continued.
“The dorm room the Academy gave me has hot water and isn’t cold, right? The washing machine works fine, just a bit small in capacity.”
Envious talk.
Clara quietly listened to Rohan’s voice.
“I leave early in the morning on weekdays and don’t come back until after work. So the room’s empty, right?”
“…?”
“Do you want to shower there? You can even take a nap if you’re tired, or just use the washing machine.”
“!!!”
Rohan said it with a nonchalant face, as if it were no big deal, but Clara froze as if struck by lightning.
Her eyes widened as much as they could.
“It might feel awkward since it’s a guy’s room, but I do clean it regularly.”
“Still, though…”
“The weather hasn’t fully warmed up yet. Washing with cold water and sleeping on a cold floor isn’t great, right?”
Rohan finished his words, seeking agreement with a rhetorical question, and picked up a bread knife to cut the muffin they bought along with the drink.
Swoosh.
The smoothly sliced muffin was placed in front of Clara.
The girl watched it quietly, then lifted her head.
“…Rohan oppa.”
“Yeah.”
“Can I ask you one thing?”
“Ask two or three, whatever you want.”
Clara stared at Rohan with an endlessly serious expression. Her gaze felt like it could pierce through him.
Her voice was slightly lower, and she wasn’t shrinking back like she usually did.
A cool sharpness and vigilance lingered beneath her eyes.
Rohan could see it.
“…Why are you going this far for me?”
Definitely, it was baffling.
It’s gonna be suspicious, no doubt. It was a valid question.
If the situation is too good to be true, it’s right to be suspicious.
How should Rohan explain this?
He crossed his arms, pondered for a moment, then chuckled.
“Looking back, it’s weird even when I say it. I got ahead of myself.”
“…”
“If I were Clara, I would’ve refused. If a guy suddenly tells you to feel free to use his house alone, it’d be unsettling, right?”
Clara blinked at his straightforward admission.
The sharp aura that had been subtly emanating from her faded.
“Of course, it’s not like there’s any ill intent… No, saying this makes it even weirder.”
“…”
Rohan cleared his throat and gulped down the rest of his drink.
Clara swallowed nervously, her throat dry.
Swish.
Rohan, who had been tapping his fingers while crossing his arms, leaned forward.
He spoke with weight in his voice, as if he had no other choice.
“Clara. Is it okay if I just say it honestly, even if I don’t have solid proof?”
“If… if you’re being honest…”
She actually welcomed it.
The girl was confident she could sense any malice in humans.
So when she signaled it was okay, Rohan reached out.
He gently took one of Clara’s slender fingers.
“I want to get closer to you, Clara.”
“Huh!?”
“It might sound a bit unpleasant… but I was overly nosy because I felt uncomfortable knowing you were staying in that kind of place. If it made you uncomfortable, I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay, it’s okay, it’s okay, it’s okay… really…”
Clara muttered, her mind going blank at his apology.
The sincerity in Rohan’s apology made her feel like she was the one at fault, leaving her even more flustered.
The caution she had been holding onto evaporated the moment her finger was held.
Now, Clara’s face was just burning hot, like it might explode.
Her consciousness spun in circles from the heat.
‘…’
It felt completely different from when her instructor in Geno grabbed her wrist and threw her down.
Back then, her body naturally moved to counterattack, but now, with just a single finger held, she couldn’t move at all.
It was the same in the academy city.
There had been countless times when guys she didn’t even know tried to get close and touch her.
Every time, she just felt disgusted and wished they wouldn’t interfere with her game.
But being with Rohan was different.
Conclusion: no way to handle it.
No matter what experience Clara had been through, nothing compared to this situation.
“Hmm, what’s a good example to put it simply?”
Rohan, looking at the now quiet Clara, shared his thoughts.
“Like, a guy like me praising the cold floor…”
“Throwing it away and Clara living alone on a cold floor are completely different pictures, you know.”
“Hyuuu…”
“Anyway, just think about it. If you need anything, just say it anytime. Got it?”
The girl nodded in silence, not with a nod but with quiet affirmation.
Rohan apologized again and decided to change the subject.
Clara’s fingers were still in Rohan’s hand.
“Since Clara told me her story today, maybe I should tell mine. Of course, only if Clara wants to hear it.”
Only then did the girl flinch and show a reaction.
“I, I want to hear it…!”
“Thanks. I almost felt embarrassed.”
Rohan rummaged through his coat with his free hand and pulled out his Orion Academy student ID.
He showed it to Clara.
“As it says there, my home country is the Southern Remnant. I’m not from a major power.”
“Southern? The Southern Remnant…?”
The girl’s pupils widened in shock as she read the letters on the student ID.
Having received education about foreign countries while in Geno, she knew how the South had perished.
She also knew that there were few survivors among the many citizens.
The materials she had seen in photos were nothing but horrifying.
“On paper, I’m alone. Well, not just on paper, but in reality too.”
“Me, me too…!”
“Clara and I have a lot in common.”
“Hee…”
Being an orphan with no place to cling to is no laughing matter.
But she laughed anyway.
This gloomy situation made her smile for the first time.
“Hmm, what else should I talk about?”
“Any story is fine…”
“It might be boring, though?”
As Rohan laughed and uttered a line he’d heard somewhere, Clara realized why he had responded that way when she had said it.
So she mustered the courage to speak.
“O, oppa! It’s not about fun, it’s about getting to know each other, right…?”
“You’re right. Clara’s right.”
The sweet atmosphere between the two seemed to allow no one else to approach.
But there was someone who had to intrude on this conversation.
“Customer, we’re closing now…”
A service smile that said they were really sorry.
As the tired, droopy-eared part-timer said so, Rohan and Clara had no choice but to clean up their seats.
*****
“Phew…”
Back in her small room, Clara exhaled a hot breath far from the chilly space.
The heat in her body hadn’t completely subsided yet.
In her arms was a macaron that Rohan had given her as a gift, as if he had picked it up from somewhere and handed it over.
Clara hugged it tightly.
She lay down on the bed.
‘…’
I wonder what kind of conversation we would have had if we had talked more.
It felt like the touch Rohan left on my fingers was still there.
*─ I want to get closer to Clara.*
‘What does that mean?’
The girl kept replaying that ticklish moment while staring at the ceiling.
*─ Throwing a guy like me on the cold floor is totally different from Clara staying alone on the freezing floor.*
When I think of those words, the answer comes easily.
It’s probably just Rohan’s personality—pure goodwill.
In all my life, I’ve never encountered even a speck of malice or bad intentions from him.
But.
If you ask me if I’m satisfied with that answer, well…
*Bzzz—!*
A small vibration.
Clara quickly checked her phone, filled with anticipation.
[Rohan: Did you get in okay?]
Her lips curled up into a smile without her even realizing it.
Clara replied at lightning speed.
‘Tomorrow…’
I have to wait until tomorrow afternoon to see Rohan again.
The girl rolled around on her narrow bed, letting her imagination run wild.
What kind of face should I make when we meet?
How should I respond to his suggestion about using the dormitory?
“…Ah!”
A way to understand Rohan a little better came to mind.
Instead of just focusing on the messy motives and incidents like in Geno, I should learn about the lifestyle and traditions of the South.
*Tap tap.*
Because it was once a powerful nation, a flood of information popped up when I searched.
The girl scrolled through, reading about the characteristics of the South.
“!?”
Her finger stopped at a specific part.
[A country that lost its past wealth and is now left in ruins, called the “Remnant Land.” Once ruling the South, Solarea, along with countries like Tigroba, practiced polygamy…]
The girl, who had been lying in bed reading, suddenly sat up.
