My Unrequited Love Is an Absolute Secret - Chapter 17

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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 17

“Jessie, thanks for the coffee.”
Harry arrived home and prepared to get out of the car.
Despite merely driving while sipping coffee inside the vehicle, the time had already crept past ten in the evening.
Whenever I was with Jessie, time seemed to slip away like an arrow.
Though he had an early schedule tomorrow morning, so there was no helping it.
“Don’t mention it. I enjoyed the meal more because of you.”
At Harry’s words of gratitude, Jessie winked and reached toward the back seat.
“Here, a lunch box.”
“Thank you.”
Harry took the lunch box Jessie handed her and opened the car door.
“Be careful going in, Jessie.”
“Yeah. It’s cold, so hurry inside.”
Even after the door closed, he didn’t immediately drive away, waiting in place for a moment.
Harry climbed the steps, opened the front door, and suddenly turned back to wave.
Only when she had completely disappeared into the house did Jessie lean back against the steering wheel.
“….”
His deep blue eyes lingered on the house right next to Harry’s.
That beautiful house built of brown brick was once where Jessie had lived.
By rights, it should still be his home.
But he had been cast out from behind those safe brown walls and driven all the way to Harlem.

‘Aemerus mentioned it. That Father is quite ill.’

Looking at the old house, fragments of the past surfaced in his mind.
It was because Harry had mentioned Mr. Huntington.

‘How much do you need?’

Mr. Huntington hadn’t spared much time for Jessie.
Yet he didn’t seem to expect that Jessie could repay him his money.

‘I’m truly grateful for your concern, but I’m fine.’

Despite Jessie’s refusal, Mr. Huntington had already pulled out his checkbook and signed it with his fountain pen.

‘You shouldn’t feel ashamed just because you lack money.’
‘….’
‘Money is like a woman, you see. It feels like it will always be by my side, but the moment I turn my head, it’s already vanished without a trace.’

Jessie stared silently at the check Mr. Huntington had handed him.

‘What? Does it feel like charity to you?’
‘Yes.’

At his answer, Mr. Huntington burst into hearty laughter.

‘You’re far better than my own son. If only Aemerus had such manly resolve.’

It sounded as though he were comparing his son to Jessie.
Yet warmth and affection for his son radiated from Mr. Huntington’s face.
Aemerus possessed everything.
An elegant, comfortable home. A father who believed in him and offered his support.
All the things Jessie once had.

‘I’m not giving charity right now. I’m investing in the future because I see the potential in this young man before my eyes.’

In the end, Jessie refused to take the check Mr. Huntington offered.
I couldn’t say why.
Was it merely pride?
Yet I had swallowed my shame and accepted the money Harry’s Father had lent me.
Perhaps there was something else I believed in.
So I sought out the trust fund in my name.
It was the inheritance my late grandfather had left for college tuition.
My father wept when he learned that my trust fund had gone toward hospital bills, but my own heart found peace.
Neither Aemerus, who possessed everything, nor Mr. Huntington could ever take my self-respect.
And precious Lili as well….
Jessie tapped the steering wheel irritably with a tense hand.
Aemerus was naturally quiet and passive by nature.
He would reluctantly do anything only when others urged him to.
He would have refused the position of hockey team captain entirely if not for Jessie’s request and the coach’s plea to succeed him.
Confident that I knew his character well, I had entrusted Harry to him.
“It irritates me.”
The fact that Aemerus had volunteered to choose Harry’s homecoming dress.
Taking her to his uncle’s country music club instead of the actual party venue for homecoming.
And inviting Harry to watch his hockey match.
Aemerus threw himself into Harry’s affairs with such vigor that I wondered if he’d been deliberately holding back until now.
Tap, tap, tap.
His hand, which had been touching the steering wheel, stilled.
Soon after, he shook his head side to side, brushing away the anxiety that had taken root in his heart.
“She just needs to come back here.”
Until Harry’s bedroom light came on, Jessie gazed at the house that held the memories of his childhood.
“Then everything else will find its place on its own.”
He believed this without a shadow of doubt.

***

The day of the first match in the North American Youth Ice Hockey League.
The morale of the Riverside High School Hockey Team, which had survived the Eastern United States preliminaries held during summer break, soared to the heavens.
“Let’s go all the way to the championship this year!”
“When JJ said he was graduating, I thought our team was completely done for. What is this, seriously?”
“As long as you’re on the team, we’ll never fall apart.”
“You trying to get yourself killed?”
Among the players exchanging playful punches to ease their nerves before the match, Aemerus was gazing endlessly at his phone.
‘Has she arrived?’
He couldn’t tear his eyes away, wondering if Harry would text him once she reached the arena.
Just as he was repeatedly turning his phone screen on and off in silence, an alert appeared.
But it wasn’t the message he’d been waiting for.
「Break a leg!」
「It literally means I hope your legs get broken :)」
“Break a leg” was an idiom used to wish someone luck before a match or performance.
Of course, whoever sent this anonymous message to Aemerus clearly intended to wish him misfortune rather than good fortune.
‘Actually, having my legs broken wouldn’t be so bad.’
Though it would be unfortunate for his team, if that happened, he might finally receive some of Harry’s attention.
While he was lost in such thoughts, a barrage of direct messages came flooding in.
The sender seemed irritated by his lack of response.
「You think you’re good at hockey, don’t you?」
「Don’t get cocky. Your pathetic skills will soon be exposed to the whole world」
「I’m looking forward to watching you crash and burn」
Instead of reading the messages, Aemerus surveyed his surroundings.
A player chatting with someone nearby, a player watching videos, a player taking selfies.
Among them, he couldn’t identify anyone who seemed to be sending him these messages.
‘At least it’s not a hockey player.’
Aemerus suspected that the culprit behind the message harassment that had started this semester was a student from Riverside School.
Just then, Randy approached Aemerus and suddenly thrust his head forward.
“Who are you messaging so intently? Your girlfriend?”
At the word “girlfriend,” Aemerus let out a quiet chuckle.
“Then you’d have no wishes left.”
“What’s with that reaction? Looks like our ace has someone he cares about? Hey, everyone—our ace has a girl!”
Randy’s loud exclamation drew everyone’s attention to him.
“A girl? Are you talking about her?”
“Lili? Now that I think about it, those two have been hanging around together a lot lately.”
“But wasn’t she dating JJ?”
The boy who’d thoughtlessly mentioned JJ received a sharp elbow jab from his neighbor.
“They must have broken up by now. Let’s be honest—JJ wouldn’t look twice at her anymore. He’s surrounded by successful models all the time.”
The moment Lili’s name was mentioned, Aemerus lifted his head.
“Let’s not talk about girls, shall we?”
Strictly speaking, Randy was the one who’d brought up the subject first, but…
His sharp remark quickly steered the conversation toward Jessie.
“I envy JJ’s life the most. My stocks plummeted like his, but then that handsome face of his rose from the ashes like a phoenix.”
“Yeah. Unlike your stocks, which have been limp and drooping like erectile dysfunction.”
“Damn it.”
The conversation quickly shifted back to stocks.
The usual talk of who’d lost how much and who’d made what.
Aemerus felt no interest in any of it.
All he cared about was…
“Ace, you okay?”
Randy hesitated, gauging his mood.
He’d only meant to tease the monk-like Aemerus about having a girl.
Dragging poor Lili and JJ into it was never his intention.
Aemerus shrugged his shoulders.
Randy, interpreting it as indifference, quickly relaxed his expression.
“So who is she really? Huh?”
Just as Randy hung from his shoulder and pestered him, an additional message arrived from the anonymous sender.
It was a curse filled with profanities too vile to speak aloud.
“W-what is this? Have you been looking at this the whole time?”
“Yeah.”
“Since when has this been happening?”
“Not long.”
“So when exactly?”
“Since September, I think.”
Randy’s face went pale as he took Aemerus’s phone and scrolled through the conversation history.
With each endless scroll upward, Randy’s complexion grew increasingly ashen.
“Shouldn’t you report this? This is too severe to call a joke!”
“I don’t want to cause unnecessary trouble.”
“This is a crime, Aemerus!”
Not “Ace” but Aemerus—the fact that I was calling his name correctly told me just how serious this situation had become.
“Why don’t you just block the messages?”
“I tried, but they just switch accounts and send them again.”
“This is insane…. Do you have any idea who it might be?”
“No clue.”
Aemerus responded with indifference, as though this were someone else’s problem entirely.
Even now, as someone cursed him and hurled insults his way, it seemed to have no effect on him whatsoever.
Soon after, Aemerus snatched his phone back and rose from his seat, calling out.
“If everyone’s ready, let’s head out and warm up.”
“Yes, Captain!”
The players, their frames made even more imposing by their protective gear, filed out of the locker room and onto the ice rink.
While warming up lightly, exchanging the puck with Randy, Aemerus swept his gaze across the stands.
When he checked his phone one last time, there was still no message from Harry.
‘I hope she hasn’t been hurt.’
It would be a relief if she’d simply changed her mind and decided not to come.
The spam messages cursing him were now the furthest thing from his mind.
Aemerus searched the crowd with an aching gaze, looking for Harry.

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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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