My High School Nerd Rival - Chapter 91

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 91
Ivy hastily averted her gaze from his bare shoulders.
Good grief! Why did I hold the shirt up to him like that? He’s not even my boyfriend! And why did I let him grab my arm?
This distance was inappropriate.
Especially with a rival competing for first place.
Her left foot took a small step backward, as if fleeing. She needed distance.
“So, this color?”
But Cyrus’s voice caught her. It was just a simple question about the shirt’s color, yet her feet stopped moving.
“Ah.”
Ivy took a breath to settle herself, and only then did she glimpse his reflection in the mirror beyond.
Even as she tried to ignore the distance between them reflected there.
And she answered as casually as possible.
“Too adorable for you, isn’t it? I don’t care for it.”
Saying this, she hurriedly took back the shirt.
When she turned back to the rack, she found herself checking the store’s air conditioning for no particular reason.
It was working properly, right? Why was it so hot?
“Let’s look at another color.”
Ivy turned her back completely and briskly flipped through the hanging shirts in order, then pulled out the Sky-blue Oxford Shirt.
“You try this one.”
This time she held the shirt out to him on the hanger. He took it without a word.
The sky-blue layered over the black shirt made his face look considerably softer.
Ivy stood a few paces away, arms crossed.
In the mirror, his gaze shifted toward her. Eyes asking what she thought.
Ivy nodded.
“This is better.”
And she added offhandedly.
“It suits me too.”
“Yeah?”
He replied lightly.
She thought it would pass, but then he was already moving toward her with quick steps.
To the same distance as before.
Then he held the shirt up beneath her face.
His fingers brushed her chin.
“…!”
Ivy’s eyes widened in surprise and she looked up.
Cyrus was observing her with a deliberate gaze.
Not just the color…but something else too.
Like how his shoulders were so much broader than hers, or how the sleeves extended well past her hands.
Was he finding this amusing?
No, his eyes were too serious for that.
That his clothes were large on her was hardly a novel thing.
“…It does suit you.”
He murmured softly.
He was probably talking about the color.
Surely.
Cyrus withdrew the shirt. Ivy realized only then that she’d been holding her breath.
He draped the shirt over his arm, turned toward the counter, confirmed the size with the clerk, and paid.
While the item was being wrapped, Ivy remained where she stood.
Deliberately avoiding the mirror.
Even though only her own reflection remained, it felt as though it held some shameful secret.
“Ivy.”
Cyrus turned to face her after finishing his purchase.
“Yeah.”
The moment she took that first step toward him, something in her chest trembled distinctly.
This wasn’t a date.
Just research.
* * *
As they left the store, the morning sun had grown noticeably hotter.
“I’m going to pick out my dress with Joy and match it to that color.”
As they passed the Women’s Clothing Store, Ivy found herself saying this.
Once was quite enough with him.
“Go ahead.”
He nodded readily, apparently unconcerned.
So, were they done here today?
They’d decided on matching colors, and he’d bought the shirt.
It all felt like it ended remarkably fast. Almost regrettably so.
‘Not that I regret it…’
It was just compared to the time Joy spent selecting her outfit.
Since learning about this plan, all of Joy’s attention had been on what Ivy would wear today.
Ivy fanned her face with her hand and moved toward the shuttle stop.
“Ivy.”
Cyrus stopped in front of a small alley. When she turned, he was pointing at a chalkboard menu.
Ginger Ale, Lemonade. Cold drinks.
“We’ve got plenty of time before the shuttle leaves.”
He said this while checking his watch.
Since she was already thinking it was hot, Ivy turned with him down the alley.
The shadowed path was relatively cool, and it opened at its end onto the Fountain Square, where no vehicles passed.
Cyrus ordered drinks at a small shop on one side of the square and turned back to her.
“I’ll have a Ginger Ale!”
She quickly ordered after him and pulled her coin purse from her bag.
But before Ivy could find coins in her wallet, Cyrus had already held his phone to the machine and completed the payment.
Beep.
Damn Mobile Payment.
Making transactions possible with a single touch was a serious problem.
It was far too fast compared to pulling out coins!
It practically encouraged reckless spending.
“I’ll pay you back for the drinks.”
Ivy quickly tried to hand over the coins.
“Carrying coins is tedious.”
“Don’t lie. You pulled out coins last time….”
You had coins ready at the Easter Market!
Ivy started to say this, then froze in shock and quickly snapped her mouth shut.
Idiot, I didn’t go to the Easter Market with him—that was Evelyn!
Cyrus laughed softly.
She had no idea why.
“Never mind. Just take this.”
He took the Ginger Ale the clerk handed him and set it on top of her head. The warmth that had built up in her scalp from the sun instantly eased.
Not that there was anything proper about handing over a drink this way.
“Hey.”
“Fine.”
When she glared at him, he properly handed it over.
Ivy found herself feeling a bit indignant about all the thoughts she’d had in the store because of that.
As if standing close was something so significant.
It was just partners checking each other’s clothes.
With her sudden tension gone, Ivy looked around and made her way to a bench tucked in the square’s shade.
Ivy sat on the bench first.
A spot shadowed by trees. With a fountain directly across, a cool breeze reached them now and then.
She sensed Cyrus about to sit beside her.
But then he stopped.
Before Ivy could even look up, Cyrus set his water bottle on the bench and walked briskly toward the fountain.
With quick strides.
“…?”
What was going on?
Following his receding figure, she spotted an overturned bicycle. Beside it, a child crouched down, grunting as he pulled on the chain.
Cyrus knelt in front of him and immediately stopped the boy. He’d never seen him move with such urgency.
The boy backed away, wiping his oil-smudged hands on his pants.
Ivy quietly watched as Cyrus examined the bicycle.
Cyrus Quentin peering at a child’s bicycle.
If she posted this on an anonymous board, it would probably be suspected as fake.
Unable to sit still for some reason, Ivy set down her drink and approached.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing serious. The chain came off.”
Cyrus answered without lifting his head.
One hand guided the chain onto the front gear while the other slowly turned the pedal. The chain caught tooth by tooth between the gears.
“Want me to hold something?”
“Yeah. The wheel.”
Ivy crouched across from him and held the back wheel steady.
Black grease smeared between his fingers.
Click.
The chain seated itself in place.
He turned the pedal once more to verify, then looked up.
“Done.”
The boy quickly climbed onto the bicycle. The light wheel picked up speed in moments.
“Thank you!”
The child’s voice carried back from the edge of the square.
“Gone just like that.”
Ivy murmured in a strangely hollow way, looking down at Cyrus’s hands. Black grease had seeped into every line and crevice.
“I have a handkerchief.”
“It’s fine.”
He moved to the fountain’s edge and dipped his hands into the water.
It looked refreshing.
Ivy looked down at her own hands. The fingers that had held the wheel were covered in dust and rust.
Ivy stood beside Cyrus and lowered her hands into the water alongside his.
Her fingers, fevered from the heat, cooled instantly.
The water rippled.
Beneath the surface, both their hands were visible. As the water stirred, their outlines wavered, and from a certain moment onward, their hands seemed to overlap.
As if they were holding hands.
Ivy held her breath.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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