My Unrequited Love Is an Absolute Secret - Chapter 3

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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 3

Aemerus Huntington was truly an odd boy.
No matter how much I turned it over in my mind, my assessment never changed.
“Please stop following me around.”
Simply because Jessie had asked him to, Aemerus trailed after me like a devoted shadow.
The Classroom, the Student Lounge, the Library, the Cafeteria, the Lawn—he showed up everywhere without discrimination.
No matter how much I protested or pushed him away, it made no difference.
As a result, I lived in constant anxiety that he might follow me even into the women’s restroom.
Whether fortunately or unfortunately, he hadn’t clung to me that far—not yet, anyway.
But it was only a matter of time.
If things continued as they were, it was certain he would eventually burst through those bathroom doors.
I had to confront him about this before that happened.
“Go play with your hockey teammates. You’d have way more fun with them than with me.”
I was determined to shake off this strange boy once and for all.
With that resolve, I spoke coldly to him as he followed me yet again today.
At my somewhat aggressive tone, Aemerus blinked his handsome eyes slowly.
His meek response pricked my conscience.
I felt like a villain tormenting a harmless puppy.
Of course, Aemerus Huntington, with his large frame rivaling that of an adult, was closer to a great dane than a puppy.
“It’s not fun.”
“…What?”
I didn’t immediately understand his words, too caught up in my guilty conscience.
So Aemerus kindly reminded me of the question I’d posed and answered again.
“Being with you is more fun than being with the hockey players.”
That’s a lie.
I was certain I’d seen through his deception.
Because I spent my days either studying at school or scribbling song lyrics in my notebook.
Those were the only two things I did all day.
There’s no way watching me do that could be entertaining.
The hockey players, on the other hand, were the most popular group in school.
Riverside High School, where we currently studied, specialized in ice sports, and the Men’s Ice Hockey Team had won the North American Youth League championship multiple times over.
Especially after producing a legendary player named Devon Knox, every male student who enrolled at Riverside High applied to the ice hockey team immediately.
Aemerus Huntington was one of the fortunate boys on that team.
‘And he’s even the ace.’
I’d heard that not only his teammates but even the hockey coach called him “Ace,” a nickname derived from Aemerus’s name.
Suddenly, I let out a bitter laugh.
Another promising player had come to mind.
Jessie Jackson.
My first love, my unrequited affection—he too was an ice hockey player.
The way he glided across the ice was breathtakingly beautiful, but I can no longer witness it.
When his family circumstances grew difficult, he quit hockey long ago.
At one point, a hockey coach even tried to secure scholarships for him through the Price Welfare Foundation and other organizations.
But he refused, saying he didn’t have the emotional capacity to play hockey right now.
‘How did I end up thinking about Jessie again?’
I suddenly came to my senses, realizing I’d habitually connected my thoughts to Jessie.
“I’m sorry, but I find being around you completely boring. It’s uncomfortable.”
….
“So from now on, I’d prefer if we only saw each other during class.”
Ugh. Why is he looking at me with such a burdened expression?
I couldn’t face Aemerus, whose hurt was written all over his face, so I hurried to leave.
“Well then.”
“Wait….”
I turned back in surprise as my hand was caught.
I hadn’t expected Aemerus to pursue me so actively.
‘Were Jessie and Aemerus really that close?’
Close enough that he’d absolutely fulfill his request no matter what?
I was tilting my head in confusion when it happened.
“Hey, what’s going on between you two?”
A sharp voice cut between us.
I turned toward the sound and found Faye standing there.
She was the Asian girl who’d suggested we hang out together a few days ago.
She fixed her gaze intently on Aemerus.
“Are you harassing her right now?”
It was a situation ripe for misunderstanding. In fact, it wasn’t far from the truth.
Yet somehow, I found myself defending Aemerus.
Faye’s glare was far too menacing.
“It’s fine. He’s a friend of my friend.”
As both Aemerus and Faye’s gazes fixed on me simultaneously, I stumbled over my words in embarrassment.
“I, I just had something my friend asked me to do.”
…I see.
Faye, who seemed to accept this, suddenly turned to face Aemerus.
“You, watch your behavior from now on. Otherwise, I’m reporting you for racial discrimination.”
Even after Faye left with her chilling warning, the aftermath she’d created lingered.
“Why does she hate me so much?”
“Faye hates all white people equally.”
I shrugged my shoulders.
As a fellow Asian, I understood Faye’s feelings completely.
Without Jessie, she would have suffered from racism as naturally as breathing, eventually coming to despise humanity itself.
“I’ve never discriminated against anyone.”
Seeing his expression filled with displeasure and indignation, I couldn’t help but smile a little.
“Why are you smiling?”
Aemerus looked even more confused at my reaction.
“Oh, it’s nothing. I just remembered something from the past.”
I shook my head and trailed off.
But Aemerus was staring at me intently.
“It’s not a big deal. It happened not long after I came to the United States.”
Unable to resist his quiet insistence, I opened my mouth.
“I was walking through the Shopping Mall with my parents. Then some man saw us and started picking a fight, cursing at us.”
Up to this point, it was nothing special—something countless Asians had experienced, nothing remarkable.
“I didn’t want to stay silent, so I shouted that he was a racist. But back then, I hadn’t been in the United States long, and my English was poor.”
I continued, barely suppressing a laugh that threatened to escape.
“I accidentally said ‘terrorist’ instead of ‘racist.’ I only vaguely remembered that both words meant something bad.”
There was a vast difference between ‘racist’ and ‘terrorist.’
“Good heavens….”
Aemerus covered his mouth with his hand.
He was clearly trying to hold back his laughter.
“I still remember that man’s expression. His face went pale, and he kept muttering that he wasn’t a terrorist before running away.”
Finally, Aemerus burst out laughing loudly.
This was the first time I’d told this story to anyone other than Jessie, so I wasn’t sure if the reaction would be this good.
Watching Aemerus laugh while wiping away tears, I quietly savored a sense of pride.
In doing so, I had momentarily forgotten what we had been arguing about.
“Yeah, being with you is so much more fun.”
This time, I couldn’t confidently claim his words were false.
Not after seeing him laugh and cry over the story I had shared.
Once again, my attempt to distance myself from Aemerus Huntington had failed.

***

“Your friend is weird.”
Today was the day Caroline, Jessie’s mother, had her rehabilitation therapy.
While waiting for Caroline’s treatment to finish, Aemerus’s name suddenly tumbled from my lips.
I didn’t want to pout at Jessie, whom I hadn’t seen in so long, but I truly couldn’t help myself.
“My friend?”
“Aemerus Huntington. You introduced us, remember?”
“Oh….”
Jessie scratched his forehead as if the memory had just returned to him.
I felt a brief pang of hurt at his obvious forgetfulness, but I quickly brushed it aside.
He was no longer a high school student like me.
He was now a proper adult, earning his own living.
So it was only natural that he couldn’t give me the careful attention he once had.
“Did Aemerus bully you?”
“Not exactly….”
Aemerus wasn’t really bullying me.
He was just annoyingly persistent in following me around.
“Faye asked me to hang out with her the other day, and I turned her down. So if she sees me with a white guy, what’s she going to think of me?”
Despite my sullen complaint, Jessie simply laughed.
“Think whatever you want. At least with Aemerus by your side, no one will bother you.”
Then he playfully tapped my cheek.
“But if anyone does give you trouble, tell me anytime.”
He was smiling warmly, yet my chest grew heavy.
“Jessie, I’m not a child. I can handle my own affairs.”
“I know. But I worry because I can’t be by your side anymore.”
Jessie’s gaze drifted to the school uniform I was wearing.
The blue uniform he should have been wearing too.
Having seen the sadness in his eyes, I couldn’t bring myself to complain anymore.
‘School isn’t the same without you.’
I wanted to tell him this.
But before I could open my mouth, he moved faster.
“Sorry, I need to take this call.”
Julia. That was the caller’s name I glimpsed before he covered his phone screen with his hand.
‘Does he have a girlfriend now?’
I recalled how he hadn’t put his phone down once during the entire drive to the Rehabilitation Hospital with Caroline.
Aemerus Huntington was strange, and Jessie Jackson had changed.
The changes that came with the new semester didn’t sit well with me.

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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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