My Unrequited Love Is an Absolute Secret - Chapter 110

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

Side Story 5

Aemerus waved the object in his hand in front of Harry, whose eyes had gone wide as saucers.
It was a black long umbrella.
“They said it would rain. I was worried you might not have one.”
“I brought an umbrella. But thank you for coming to pick me up anyway.”
Harry seemed to genuinely believe he had come here with pure intentions.
But Jessie knew better.
Aemerus had come in person because he was wary of him.
‘This feels good?’
Even being the object of wariness was nothing but an honor to Jessie.
Because in reality, he was no longer Aemerus’s rival or anything of the sort.
He should be grateful just that Harry regarded him as family.
“JJ.”
“Aemerus.”
The greeting between the two men was that simple.
Aemerus’s gaze, which had given a slight nod toward Jessie, quickly returned to Harry.
He didn’t seem to have any intention of pretending to be friends with him anymore.
Jessie let out a hollow laugh and bid Harry farewell.
“I’ll contact you again. Be careful going in.”
“You too. By the way, do you have an umbrella?”
Jessie shrugged his shoulders.
“If it rains, I’ll just get wet. You know how I am.”
“Right, you’re not made of soap, so a little rain won’t make you dissolve.”
It was a joke that was frequently exchanged between Jessie and Harry, who rarely used umbrellas unless it was a downpour.
Aemerus had to exert all his effort to hide his desire to steal even the jokes they shared.
“Harry, let’s go. I brought the car.”
“Okay.”
Harry climbed into Aemerus’s car without hesitation, her face light and unburdened.
Jessie, who had been watching her, flinched when he met Aemerus’s gaze that seemed to ask ‘why are you still here?’
“Take good care of Lili.”
At Jessie’s words, a crack appeared in his previously flawless expressionless face.
He narrowed his eyes and looked Jessie up and down.
He had grown noticeably thinner, as if he had endured the harsh pain of heartbreak.
The thought that Harry might have seen him in this state made anger surge within him.
‘At least wear a hat.’
With his already prince-like appearance now tinged with melancholy, even the hurried passersby slowed their steps and glanced at him.
And what he had said earlier was another matter entirely.
What? Take care of Lili?
‘You’re the last one who should be saying that after hurting Harry.’
It could simply be something he was saying as Harry’s long-time friend.
But regardless, something about it rubbed me the wrong way.
I swallowed back the sarcastic remark that threatened to spill out.
“I’ll handle it.”
I turned toward the bonnet and climbed into the driver’s seat.
Harry, who had been sitting in the passenger seat fastening her seatbelt, smiled brightly when she saw me.
Only then did my body, taut with tension from being conscious of Jessie, finally relax.
“You should have called. Did you wait long?”
“No. Not really. Should we head home?”
“Your place? Or ours?”
“Your place.”
Harry laughed at my answer.
“You’ve been avoiding taking me to your place lately because of Albert, haven’t you?”
The two of us had always moved freely between each other’s homes.
But ever since Albert returned from service, it had become obvious that I was deliberately avoiding bringing Harry there.
“Today I came here because Jessie was on my mind.”
Caught in the act, I gripped the steering wheel harder.
“…Do you hate it?”
“It’s not that I hate it.”
Her cheerful voice came back in response to the words I’d barely mustered the courage to speak.
“I didn’t really talk much with Jessie. Come to think of it, he got cast in a drama.”
“Oh. That’s great.”
“Right?”
Unable to bring myself to ask what she and Jessie had discussed, Harry spoke first instead.
How he’d gotten the casting, what role he’d landed, and so on.
“An obnoxious quarterback role, huh… That suits him perfectly.”
I chimed in occasionally as well.
Of course, unlike Harry, I didn’t mean it as a compliment in a positive sense.
“Oh, it’s raining.”
Just as I thought I saw a raindrop or two hit the windshield, it began to pour in earnest.
‘I wonder if Jessie will be okay.’
Did the clothes he wore today have a hood?
My memory was hazy since I hadn’t paid close attention to his outfit.
‘Well, he’ll figure out how to get inside fine.’
Jessie wasn’t a small child like Robin.
I was thinking such thoughts when it happened.
Between the rhythmic sound of the wipers, my voice rang out.
“…I saw the two of you hugging earlier.”
“Huh?”
“I wasn’t trying to pry, but I’m curious what happened.”
“Oh, that.”
Harry turned her entire body toward the driver’s seat.
With her chin propped up and her gaze fixed intently on me, cold sweat began to trickle down my spine.
Did I disappoint her? Has she grown tired of me?
Unlike the rain-soaked windshield streaming with water, my mouth had gone completely dry.
“You’re really cute.”
But the words that came from Harry’s lips were completely unexpected.
“Are you teasing me right now?”
“How could I be?”
With a playful smile, Harry leaned forward and planted a surprise kiss on my cheek.
“Lili…!”
I cried out in shock.
Unaware that we’d nearly caused an accident, she laughed brightly.
“Now I understand when you call me Lili.”
Like how true feelings spill out when drunk.
In urgent moments, her nickname seemed to slip from my lips of its own accord.
“Aemerus, you need to keep your eyes on the road while driving, not on me.”
“We’ll finish this conversation after we arrive.”
No matter how much I pretended to be angry, it was useless.
Harry could clearly see my reddened ears and the flush creeping down my neck.
“Stop looking at me.”
Harry, who had been giggling, suddenly let out a startled squeak.
I covered her face with my large hand.
“Why won’t you let me look? I’m your girlfriend. I have every right to look.”
“Your intentions are impure.”
“You’re too much, really.”
While the two of us playfully bickered, the car arrived at our destination.
However, after the car stopped in front of Harry’s House, she only unfastened her seatbelt and showed no sign of getting out.
“I’ve been thinking we should have a proper conversation sometime. I wish I’d brought this up sooner if I’d known it would be like this.”
What conversation?
Surely she wasn’t about to break up with me?
That she’d realized Jessie was her true love after all?
‘No. If that were the case, Lili wouldn’t have kissed me just now.’
My reason grasped the situation coldly, but my heart couldn’t help but grow anxious.
Harry grasped my jaw as I stubbornly stared straight ahead, unwilling to let my unease show.
“Look at me, Aemerus.”
“…”
My stubborn face turned far too easily at her gentle touch.
Soon, his deeply settled jade eyes met hers.
“I don’t dislike your jealousy.”
As Harry’s hand gently caressed his face, Aemerus closed his eyes softly.
To fully savor her touch.
“To be honest, I like your jealousy. It makes me happy.”
Finding hope in her words, he slowly opened the eyes he had closed.
“But it would be wrong of me to only enjoy watching you worry.”
He wanted to say that it was perfectly fine if she did.
Because any pain would feel sweet if it came from her embrace.
But Harry was faster than that.
“So I’ll tell you again and again until you stop feeling anxious. The person I love is you, Aemerus.”
Aemerus gazed at Harry in silence, then turned his head and pressed his lips to her palm.
Harry giggled at the ticklish sensation, but she didn’t pull her hand away.
“That hug with Jessie earlier was really nothing significant. It was just support as family.”
Harry paused there and wrinkled the bridge of her nose.
“Saying it like this makes it sound like such a pathetic excuse.”
Aemerus laughed at her sheepish addition.
“I understand.”
He pulled her waist close and pressed his forehead against hers.
He knew that Jessie was more than just a first love to Harry.
Knowing all of that, it was Aemerus who had fallen for her.
‘So I have no intention of forcing them apart.’
But the heart was something that didn’t always obey his will alone.
He felt as though his inevitably sinking heart had been completely exposed to her.
It was embarrassing, yet at the same time, he was happy simply because she understood.
“Thank you for understanding.”
Harry smiled brightly, revealing the dimple on her left cheek.
Then she grabbed his chin and kissed him.
“Jessie is only my family, and I would never do this with family.”
“Then?”
“Only with my boyfriend.”
She found it endearing how he asked despite already knowing the answer, and laughter escaped her.
Harry’s laughter was soon completely swallowed into his mouth.
She closed her eyes softly and wrapped her arms around his neck.
The relentless downpour of rain gladly concealed their figures.
They had delved so deeply into each other that when Harry suddenly came to her senses, she found herself already straddling his thighs.
“…Should I not go home?”
At Harry’s question, Aemerus quietly nodded.
She could tell that their hearts were in sync without words.
Harry burst into laughter and kissed his lips with a soft smack, whispering.
“I love you.”
Those words alone wouldn’t erase all his anxieties overnight.
But for this moment, at least, it was enough.

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