Chapter 9

“That’s more chaotic than I imagined.”

I thought being a Count meant respect and considerable wealth, but that was purely my misconception.

“I don’t want to eat this!”

“Aida, many people outside are starving because they have even less than this. You shouldn’t complain.”

Aida, my younger sister, threw the bread aside and burst into tears, while our father, Count Bradley Somerset, sternly reprimanded her.

I glanced at the food placed before me, thinking that the dining scene in a noble household might resemble that of an ordinary family.

On the table lay a thin, unidentifiable soup and bread as hard as rocks.

Certainly, these were not appetizing dishes for even a child.

Determined to eat, I attempted to dip the bread into the soup, but just as I broke it apart—

Crack!

Did I just hear the sound of wood splintering?

Episode 009: …Right. Why is she so pretty?

After lunch, when classes ended,

the time to go home arrived quickly.

“Goodbye, Chae Ah.”

“See you.”

Eun Bi, who had once again become Chae Ah’s friend, waved goodbye with a radiant smile.

I thought she seemed a bit fierce when she was serious or grumbling,

‘But she’s cute.’

Chae Ah thought she wanted to become even closer friends with Eun Bi due to her charming eye-smile.

“Hyun Woo, take good care of Chae Ah.”

“I already am.”

Hyun Woo slightly nodded his head.

It’s impossible to take better care of her here.

‘She hasn’t slept properly because she sleeps next to me every day.’

I thought she would get used to it over time, but

being Chae Ah’s cushion has always been bad for my heart.

“See you tomorrow.”

After giving Eun Bi a casual farewell,

as we were about to leave the classroom,

“If Chae Ah says she’s sick, please let me know.”

Eun Bi hastily added.

‘So this was your real intention.’

Hyun Woo stared blankly at Eun Bi, who had turned her head away.

“Do you even have my number?”

“Shouldn’t… I?”

Eun Bi is clearly Chae Ah’s best friend.

Since Chae Ah and Hyun Woo were always together, there was some level of familiarity,

but they weren’t close enough to contact each other separately.

– Should I ask Eun Bi? I’ll pass it on for you.

With Chae Ah around, there wasn’t really a need for any specific communication network if something came up.

“Huh, I don’t have it?”

“It’s fine if you know it now.”

After exchanging numbers after two years,

Eun Bi vigorously waved her hand.

“Let me know if anything happens. And Chae Ah, tell me if Hyun Woo bothers you.”

“How could I bother her?”

“Alright, I will.”

“…Chae Ah?”

Hyun Woo looked bemused at Chae Ah calmly nodding her head.

‘The one being bothered is me.’

Every morning when I wake up, my arm is buried in soft fatty lumps.

Some might envy it,

but physically and mentally,

suppressing desires every morning is quite painful.

“I’m joking. Let’s go, Hyun Woo.”

Chae Ah smiled mischievously and pulled on Hyun Woo’s hand.

No man can resist feeling thrilled when someone like Chae Ah smiles at him.

‘Does she know she’s pretty and act like this?’

As Hyun Woo, stiff as a rock, kept his gaze fixed ahead while descending the stairs,

“Ah.”

Chae Ah exclaimed.

“What’s wrong? Are you hurt?”

“Huh? No, no. I just had a good idea.”

“All of a sudden?”

This was familiar yet unexpected.

– I had a good idea, Hyun Woo.

– What is it all of a sudden?

– The last piece of meat is mine.

– …Do as you please.

Before losing her memory,

Chae Ah had the talent to seriously utter nonsensical things with a straight face.

It seemed she was gradually regaining her old self, so I asked again.

“What’s the good idea?”

“Let’s tour the school before we go.”

“Why?”

“Because looking around might bring back some memories. Starting tomorrow, normal classes begin, and there will be more students, so it’ll be harder to walk around.”

“Oh.”

However, this time she made a fairly reasonable suggestion.

‘Certainly, today isn’t a typical day.’

The opening ceremony isn’t just a day students want to go home early.

Teachers are people too.

When there’s shortened class time, they usually try to leave early.

This means the time to freely explore the emptying school is approaching soon.

“But you’re not very mobile, are you?”

“Can’t you carry me?”

“…What did you leave behind?”

“This morning, you said you’d carry me because I looked sick.”

“That was because you looked sick.”

“Will you only carry me if I’m sick?”

“Why do you keep…”

“Pfft.”

Gripping tightly,

Chae Ah snuggled into Hyun Woo’s arms while he was off guard.

She firmly held onto his waist, preventing any movement, and raised her head.

“……”

We were so close that we could feel each other’s breath.

Her small, harmonious features were vividly visible.

Her eyes sparkled with a hint of purple,

her warm breath touched my face,

and her glossy lips caught my attention.

Gulp.

Without realizing it, Hyun Woo swallowed and lowered his voice.

“What if someone sees us like this?”

Even burying his face in her chest felt difficult to endure,

but looking into her eyes from such proximity was even harder.

“There’s no one around right now. And even if someone sees us, what’s the problem? We’re childhood friends, aren’t we?”

“What we’re doing doesn’t look like childhood friends…”

“Why did you stop talking?”

“……”

Hyun Woo closed his mouth tightly.

It was difficult to say out loud that it might look like lovers to others.

Luckily, Chae Ah didn’t press further,

instead softly smiling and whispering,

“Consider it payment in advance for carrying me.”

“What?”

“You like being hugged by me, don’t you?”

“You’re the one who likes clinging to me every day.”

“True. I like it.”

“……”

Hyun Woo sighed again.

‘Don’t think strange thoughts, Hyun Woo. She just likes being hugged… …Isn’t liking hugs a bit odd though?’

His brain circuits were working overtime.

While analyzing what he had just said instead of answering,

Chae Ah’s eyes drooped.

“Do you dislike being like this?”

“…I didn’t say I disliked it.”

Why was she suddenly making such a pitiful puppy-like expression?

Even though I hadn’t done anything wrong,

I felt guilty just looking at her face.

“Phew. Then you’ll carry me, right?”

“Fine, let go of this first.”

Since I had already allowed her into my embrace, there was no choice but to pick her up.

I thought it was better to carry her rather than face each other awkwardly like this.

Kneeling down, I gestured,

“Hop on.”

“Sure thing.”

Of course, there might not be much difference between hugging and carrying.

Gripping tightly,

the heavy fatty mass pressed against my back.

To prevent her from slipping, I had to support her thighs.

“Let’s go then.”

At least,

carrying her hid the fact that a certain part of me had hardened.

“Where should we start?”

“Closest place first? But am I not heavy?”

Despite asking me to carry her,

Chae Ah worriedly frowned afterward.

“Not at all.”

Swallowing the comment that only a specific area was heavy,

we headed toward the nearest music room.

“This is the music room.”

“Wow. It’s bigger than I expected. Did we ever do singing evaluations here?”

“We did.”

“How was my singing?”

“You’re a good singer. Don’t you remember that?”

“Yeah. I remember you singing though.”

“Forget about that.”

It was becoming increasingly unclear how Chae Ah’s memory was tangled.

“Remembering the music room makes me recall laughing because you cracked during a song.”

“…That’s right.”

Recalling the embarrassing memory, Hyun Woo left the music room.

“Then let’s go somewhere else.”

“Already? Are you mad because I said you couldn’t sing well?”

“Mad? Why would I be… Wait. I didn’t say you couldn’t sing well.”

“Oops.”

Chae Ah shivered involuntarily after unintentionally revealing her inner thoughts.

“Hyun Woo, I don’t think people necessarily need to be good singers.”

“Is that your excuse?”

By giving her a chance to explain, she ended up admitting it.

I considered just going home at this point,

“Sigh… Anyway, are your memories coming back?”

“Seems like it.”

“Then let’s hurry and look around. If your head hurts at any point, let me know immediately.”

“Got it.”

We couldn’t waste this opportunity for Chae Ah’s memories to return.

Hyun Woo moved to the next classroom.

*

*

*

The school exploration proved quite successful.

“Whoa. Didn’t we almost catch fire here?”

“Yes. Because you didn’t manage the alcohol lamp properly.”

Entering the science lab brought back a thrilling memory.

“Hey? Didn’t we draw pictures of each other here?”

“They should be around here somewhere. Oh, there they are.”

“Phew. We really weren’t good at drawing.”

Arriving at the art room, we burst into laughter looking at the pictures we drew of each other.

“Hmm… I don’t really have any memories of this place.”

“You didn’t like coding much, so it’s possible.”

We didn’t gain much from the computer lab,

but…

“Ugh…? My head hurts a little here…”

“What? Should we go to the hospital?”

“No, no. Just pause for a moment…”

Upon reaching the gymnasium,

she suddenly complained of a headache.

“Hehe… I remember now. During the sports meet, I sprained my ankle, and you carried me just like this.”

“Right. Since you remembered, that’s it. Let’s go quickly.”

Hyun Woo rushed out of the gymnasium as if heading straight to the hospital.

“Phew… I’m really fine, Hyun Woo.”

“…Are you sure?”

“Absolutely.”

Chae Ah’s condition improved rapidly.

After exploring so thoroughly, it became almost certain.

“Visiting places with memories seems to bring them back!”

“That seems true. I was worried you might collapse, but…”

Hyun Woo sighed in relief.

When Chae Ah’s condition worsened earlier, I truly feared what might happen,

but fortunately, today ended with her recovering memories.

“Shall we go home now? The sun will set soon.”

“Yeah, let’s go.”

Although the school wasn’t particularly large,

talking about the memories that surfaced while exploring made time fly by.

Carrying Chae Ah out to the school gate,

someone tapped us on the shoulder from behind.

“You can put me down from here.”

“Let’s just go like this. What’s so good about walking?”

“I want to walk holding your hand.”

“…Are you doing this on purpose?”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“Never mind, nothing.”

Hyun Woo let Chae Ah down.

Though the childhood friend kept sneaking into his heart,

‘This much should be okay, right?’

Honestly, it wasn’t unpleasant.

If I were to be more honest, I was secretly enjoying it.

Since I’ve helped so much,

would it be alright to receive some compensation?

‘Isn’t it correct that Yu Chae Ah is the one seducing me first?’

Constantly suppressing temptation,

sinister desires began to simmer.

Should I experiment how far I can go within the bounds of “childhood friends”?

The same sinister desire, that is.

Of course, my cowardly nature wouldn’t allow me to go far.

Gripping tightly,

at most, I could only hold hands.

“Wow. Look at the sky, Hyun Woo.”

Walking slowly toward home while holding hands,

“The sunset is incredibly beautiful, isn’t it?”

Chae Ah pointed to the sky with her cast-covered arm,

“…Right. Why is it so beautiful?”

Hyun Woo was gazing at Chae Ah’s face bathed in the sunset glow.

“Did we always watch such skies on our way home?”

“Not every day. Today we’re returning unusually late.”

“Then today is especially beautiful.”

“It’s beautiful usually too.”

“Huh? What did you say?”

Chae Ah turned her gaze toward Hyun Woo.

Hyun Woo shook his head nonchalantly,

“I didn’t say anything. Anyway, we can continue doing this from now on.”

“What do you mean?”

“Seeing places with memories helps retrieve them, right? So we should visit them directly.”

Currently, since Chae Ah has a cast, it’s a bit strenuous,

but once she fully recovers, we can do much more,

and she’ll quickly regain her memories.

“Right. So please take good care of me moving forward.”

“You’re not asking me to carry you again, are you?”

“Do you dislike it?”

“Not exactly, but constantly carrying might be a bit…”

“But you said I’m not heavy…”

“Let’s focus on what we can do at school first.”

“Are you changing the subject?”

“Yeah.”

Talking about what to do next and where to go first,

the two walked back home holding hands tightly intertwined.