My Unrequited Love Is an Absolute Secret - Chapter 102

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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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Chapter 102

The two who had been gazing at the stars rose and drifted apart in opposite directions.
The darkened field backdrop faded away, and Jessie and Lili reappeared.
“Hi, I’m thirteen now. I’m in a bit of a rush right now, so let’s talk about the details later.”
Jessie rattled off his lines like machine-gun fire and sprinted toward Lili on the opposite side.
“Lili! Wait just a moment!”
At his call, Lili faltered, then turned around as if she’d made a decision.
“Lili, what do you mean you won’t go to the party with me? What on earth are you talking about?”
Seeing Jessie’s utterly bewildered expression, Lili sighed.
“Literally. I’m not going to the party with you this time. I’m going with Mark instead.”
“Mark?”
Jessie made no attempt to hide his shock.
“He’s the one who used to bully you!”
“I know. But he apologized and said he was sorry. He said he actually wanted to become friends with me.”
“Lili… surely you don’t actually believe that?”
Lili bit her lip and avoided his gaze.
“Tell me. Why are you doing this?”
Under his relentless questioning, she reluctantly opened her mouth.
“The other kids say it’s weird. That I keep partnering with you even though we’re not dating.”
“What? Who says? Never mind, forget it. I’m not even curious.”
“…They said friends shouldn’t monopolize each other. That you should give me the chance to dance with other girls too.”
“But I don’t want to dance with other girls besides you.”
Only then did Lili, who had been staring at her feet, lift her head.
“Lili, do you want to dance with another boy besides me? If that’s the case, I understand.”
Lili shook her head with eyes that looked ready to cry at any moment.
Until she’d said she wouldn’t go to the party, it was painfully clear how much the other girls had been tormenting her.
“Don’t mind what the others say. Why should we be apart because of something that isn’t even true?”
“…”
“Lili.”
“Okay.”
“Really? You’ll go with me instead of Mark?”
“Yes.”
Relieved, Jessie smiled brightly and said he would explain it to Mark himself.
“No, I’ll do it. I only told Mark I’d think about it anyway…”
Lili, hesitating, asked carefully.
“You know, Jack.”
“Huh?”
“We’re… friends, right?”
“Of course.”
In that instant, jeers erupted from the audience seating.
To anyone watching, the two of them clearly harbored romantic feelings for each other.
Especially given how Lili prevented him from getting close to any other man—it was painfully obvious.
And if Jessie truly wanted to move beyond friendship with her, he shouldn’t have answered that way.
“Coward!”
“Yeah, I’m a coward. I’m only thirteen years old. What do you expect from a kid?”
Jessie shrugged toward the jeering audience.
Then, with his arm around Lili’s shoulders, he disappeared offstage.
Moments later, Jessie reappeared carrying two chairs and sat down center stage.
“Hello, I’m fourteen now. Finally, I’m going to come to my senses and confess my feelings to Lili.”
With those words, Jessie took the hand of Lili sitting beside him.
“Jack, what did you want to tell me?”
“Lili. You know we’ve only been friends for all this time.”
Perhaps she sensed something in his words.
Anticipation bloomed across Lili’s face.
Her cheeks flushed so deeply that even the audience could see it.
“But Lili, now that we’re no longer just friends…”
That was when it happened.
Someone shouted from offstage.
“Jack, there’s something important you need to say right now.”
Jessie’s expression hardened.
“It’s the most horrible memory of my life.”
Lili looked bewildered, her eyes darting between Jessie and the wings of the stage.
“Lili, wait a moment. I need to talk to Mother.”
“Okay…”
He dragged his hand across his face and moved toward the left side of the stage.
Again, a voice came from the left wing of the stage.
“Your father is very ill.”
“Please don’t cry, Mother.”
“Cancer? What am I supposed to do now? How can I…?”
“Father will be fine.”
Jessie, who had been responding while facing the left wing, turned back to look at Lili.
He seemed about to return to her side, but he hesitated.
In the end, he left Lili alone on the stage and departed.
Only heavy silence filled the audience seating.
Lili, abandoned and alone, kept her head bowed for a long while.
Jessie reappeared on stage with a noticeably brighter expression.
“I’m eighteen now. As everyone knows, I graduated from High School and became a model. Thankfully, my father has managed to hold on well until now.”
A wave of applause crashed down on Jessie.
He bowed deeply in gratitude, then rushed to sit beside Lili, who remained alone at the center of the Stage.
“Sorry I’m late. Did you wait long?”
“It’s fine. I didn’t wait that long.”
Lili laughed and shook her head at Jessie’s question.
“Are you hungry? Come on, sit down. Let’s eat first.”
“Yeah. You eat too.”
The two of them pantomimed eating in the air.
Meanwhile, Lili, who had been stealing glances at Jessie the whole time, pulled out a box that had been attached to the back of her chair.
“Happy birthday, Jack.”
“Lili, this is….”
“It’s a birthday present.”
Jessie’s expression darkened as he took the box.
“It’s really nothing special! It’s not even that expensive.”
“….”
“Would you at least look at what the present is?”
Seeing Lili’s nervous expression, he opened the box.
Inside was a watch.
“How is it?”
“Lili.”
“Don’t you like it?”
Jessie, clutching the watch, suddenly pulled Lili into his embrace.
“I love it.”
Lili was startled by his passionate reaction, but soon carefully reached out and patted his back.
After holding her for a moment, Jessie gently pulled away and fastened the watch around his wrist.
“How does it look? Does it suit me?”
“Yeah. Even better than I imagined.”
Though Lili was the one who had given the gift, she smiled with happiness as if she were the one receiving it.
Jessie gazed at her for a long time.
As if peering not at the woman before him, but into some distant moment from the past.
“Lili.”
He brushed her hair behind her ear and called her name softly.
“Yeah?”
“There’s something I’ve wanted to tell you for a while. Actually, I’ve wanted to say it for much longer.”
“What is it?”
“I love you.”
Lili held her breath.
The audience also held their breath, listening intently to their exchange.
“I won’t be able to give you anything as expensive as this watch you’ve given me.”
“….”
“That doesn’t mean it’ll be forever. I promise things will get better. What I’m saying is… Will you wait for me? Just until my circumstances improve.”
“Are you an idiot?”
Lili glared at him.
“When have I ever asked you for something like that?”
“I…”
“You’re really an idiot.”
Despite Lili’s reproach, Jessie laughed.
Then a flustered Lili asked.
“Why are you laughing?”
“I just wish this were real.”
He shook his head.
“Never mind. Forget what I just said.”
“Um…”
“So Lili, you’ll be my girlfriend, right?”
At Jessie’s question, Lili nodded shyly.
“I love you, Lili. I really do.”
He held her close and repeated those words of love over and over.
Soon after, the two of them, their shoulders tenderly wrapped around each other, disappeared toward the side of the Stage.
A moment later, the Student Council president who had been hosting today’s event appeared.
“Everyone, thank you for your patience! I’m Henry, hosting the Oscar Awards ceremony. I’ve come to announce this year’s Best Actor award.”
He promptly called out the winner’s name.
“Congratulations! Jack Jefferson from ‘Lililand’!”
As his name was called, Jessie, now dressed in a tuxedo jacket, appeared from the left side of the Stage.
“Thank you. I’m deeply honored that my future self ten years from now is receiving this award.”
Laughter erupted from the Audience Seating at Jessie’s wit.
He gazed quietly at the replica trophy modeled after an Oscar, then lifted his head.
“Long ago, there was someone who suggested I pursue acting when I was working as a model. Even during difficult personal circumstances, I was able to stay focused thanks to her.”
Among the scattered round tables, Jessie searched for Harry.
Of course, he had glanced at the Audience Seating several times during the performance, but he deliberately hadn’t looked for Harry.
He was afraid he’d flub his lines the moment he saw her.
Since this play had been prepared solely for Harry, he wanted to finish it flawlessly without any mistakes.
But… no matter how desperately he searched, the person he was looking for was nowhere to be seen.
He barely managed to find the table where the Hockey Team players were seated.
Yet all he found was Randy, arms crossed and leaning back in his chair at an odd angle, with two empty seats beside him.
“Ah…”
“Jack?”
The Student Council president, watching him stand silently on the Stage, cleared his throat.
Only then did Jessie slowly lift his head.
“Actually, I lied to you all.”
At his words, the Audience Seating stirred with murmurs.
“What?”
“So which part exactly are you paying homage to?”
“Shh! I’m telling you now.”
Jessie set everything aside and confessed with an expression of resignation.
“I betrayed Lili when I was eighteen. It was truly despicable.”
“….”
“I know what you’re all thinking. Yes, I was an idiot.”
He had been arrogant.
Convinced he could win back Harry’s heart whenever he wished.
This was the consequence of his presumption.
Now it was no longer he who made her smile, no longer he who stood by her side.
“Sadly, our Lili Land has come to an end like this.”
Jessie laughed.
His face looked as though he were crying.
“But at least within my heart, it will remain forever, never truly ending.”
Goodbye.
He bid his final farewell.

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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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