My Unrequited Love Is an Absolute Secret - Chapter 33

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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 33

Part 3. Trick or Treat

The next morning, I arrived at School and immediately sought out Aemerus.
I wanted to thank him for teaching Robin Spanish.
Last night, I’d vaguely assumed Jessie would naturally be playing with Robin while Aemerus assisted from the sidelines.
So I felt guilty for not properly expressing my gratitude to him.
“Aemerus!”
I found him without difficulty.
With his head towering a full head above everyone else’s, it was actually harder to miss him than to spot him.
He’d apparently come to School early to exercise and shower, his dark hair still slightly damp and noticeably darker for it.
That familiar shower cologne scent of his wafted straight into my nostrils.
“Good morning.”
I was somewhat startled, truth be told.
Aemerus pulled his textbooks from his locker without any particular change in expression.
“You’re greeting me first? What’s wrong—did something go off schedule?”
His implication was clear: there was no reason for me to initiate conversation otherwise.
“No, I mean, we’re not just business associates or anything….”
Though I considered him a friend now, I couldn’t refute the fact that I’d disliked him initially.
Seeing my pouting lips, Aemerus let out a quiet chuckle and asked.
“What did you want to say?”
“Thanks for teaching Robin Spanish yesterday. And for letting him try on your jacket.”
“Oh, that.”
Aemerus merely shrugged as if it were nothing at all.
‘I would’ve made a big deal out of it.’
Looking after a young relative is never easy.
And Robin was merely my friend’s younger brother.
Playing with a child out of pure goodwill was even more difficult.
Yet watching Aemerus, who didn’t even show a hint of fatigue, something about my feelings felt oddly complex.
I’d thought him sensitive on the surface, a spoiled rich boy who’d be nothing but finicky—and now I was seeing him in a new light.
I leaned against my locker, crossed my arms, and faced him directly.
“This is really unexpected. I never knew you had a talent for childcare.”
“It’s not that I have talent—it’s that Robin accepted me as a friend.”
At Aemerus’s humble response, I shook my head in disbelief.
“Robin asked me something. He wanted to know if he could learn Spanish once he starts School.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. Thanks to you, I think my resistance to school has lessened a bit.”
Despite her optimistic words, Aemerus wore an uncomfortable expression.
‘What’s wrong?’
As if noticing her unspoken question, Aemerus carefully opened his mouth.
“Actually, yesterday I was trying to tell you something about why Robin doesn’t want to go to school.”
“What? Really?”
Harry, startled, uncrossed her arms and leaned forward.
“That’s something Robin never told even the play therapist. What on earth is the reason?”
“Unfortunately, I didn’t get to hear the whole thing. JJ started talking to Robin at that moment.”
“Ugh, of all times….”
Harry sighed and rubbed her forehead.
A small resentment followed—why did it have to be then?
“JJ didn’t do it on purpose, I’m sure.”
“Yeah. Jessie probably didn’t know either.”
Though she said so, her eyes betrayed considerable disappointment.
Aemerus glanced at Harry and gently shifted the subject.
“I didn’t know Robin was undergoing play therapy.”
“If it helps him improve, I’ll do whatever it takes.”
Harry, who had been wiping her face with her hand, asked again for confirmation.
“This happened while Robin was learning Spanish?”
“Yeah.”
“It’s probably the pronunciation, then.”
No matter how stubbornly Robin kept his mouth shut, I could roughly understand what was in his heart.
After all, we were family.
“Robin had friends he used to play with when he was younger. They teased him about his English pronunciation, and it even escalated into a physical fight.”
After that day, Robin gradually spoke less and eventually refused to speak English altogether.
In front of strangers, he either kept his mouth firmly shut or insisted on speaking only Korean.
“It seems like that’s probably the reason, doesn’t it?”
“That explanation does seem the most plausible.”
“Sigh….”
If only correcting Robin’s pronunciation alone could solve everything like magic.
But as long as Robin had the appearance of a Korean, he would inevitably face countless instances of discrimination, large and small, in the years to come.
“Anyway, thank you for telling me.”
“No, I didn’t really help much.”
Harry shook her head earnestly.
“Just being able to talk like this with you helps. For a while now, Jessie and I haven’t been able to have these conversations because he’s been so busy.”
But with Aemerus, I could comfortably talk about my brother and my dreams of becoming a lyricist. Strangely enough.
‘I should thank Jessie for introducing me to Aemerus.’
It was then, recalling what Jessie had said yesterday, that Harry broke into a gentle smile.
In the distance, I could see Faye and her friends approaching.
It was finally time to put the plan into action.
“Aemerus, pretend to be angry with me.”
I whispered while tugging at Aemerus’s sleeve.
“All of a sudden?”
“Hurry!”
“Getting angry with you is easier said than done….”
I expected him to shake off the arm I’d suddenly grabbed, but he didn’t.
Rather than pulling away, he rubbed the back of his neck with his free hand.
“I can’t seem to get angry with you.”
What was he saying right now?
My eyes narrowed sharply.
“I’m not asking you to actually be angry. Just pretend.”
“That’s exactly why it’s so difficult to pretend….”
Seeing him genuinely troubled, a surge of panic washed over me.
“Imagine I ate all the sandwich you were going to have for lunch. Wouldn’t that make you angry?”
“Hmm.”
Aemerus wore a contemplative expression.
‘Are you seriously thinking about that?!’
I kept glancing at where Faye was, and I was about to lose my composure.
“I’d just be worried that you were really hungry.”
“That’s not—never mind. What if I spread rumors that your shoulders are fake, that you’re wearing shoulder pads? Surely that would make you angry?”
Aemerus only laughed at my words.
“It’s cute that you’re trying to monopolize me.”
“Are you in your right mind?”
It seemed his judgment had been clouded from dealing with a stalker for so long.
Even as I thought this, I gauged the shrinking distance between Faye and us and whispered softly.
“Then I’ll pretend to be angry with you. Don’t be surprised.”
Before I could finish speaking, I shoved Aemerus’s chest with both hands.
Despite the warning not to be surprised, Aemerus stared at me with wide eyes.
“Stop being annoying and get lost, Aemerus!”
At my loud voice, nearby students turned to look at us.
“If you won’t leave, then I will.”
If the act went on too long, it would be exposed immediately.
I moved away from the spot.
“What’s going on? What happened?”
“No idea.”
“Looks like Lili got angry at Aemerus?”
“Did they have a fight?”
“What would they even fight about?”
“How would I know?”
Aemerus gazed longingly at Harry’s retreating figure with eyes like an abandoned puppy, seemingly oblivious to the whispers of the other students around him.
And someone’s gaze lingered upon him for a long while.

***

Lunchtime. Harry sat alone in the Cafeteria.
「Eat lunch separately today.」
「Why?」
「I need to pretend we’re fighting.」
「Until when?」
Harry exchanged messages with Aemerus via phone, careful to avoid the eyes of others, and fell into contemplation.
‘If I say “until we catch the stalker,” I feel like I’ll abandon the entire operation.’
Aemerus knew about what happened to me yesterday during my part-time job, and he also knew about Robin being subjected to racial discrimination.
So he would only try harder to stay by my side.
「Let’s observe the situation first.」
After sending the message, I set my phone down.
A reply came from Aemerus, but I didn’t check it.
‘The bait needs to be taken.’
If Faye didn’t take the bait, all of this effort would be in vain.
I calmed my anxious heart and took a bite of my sandwich.
Then suddenly, a conversation I’d had earlier came to mind.

‘Imagine I ate all the sandwich you were supposed to have for lunch. Wouldn’t you be angry?’
‘I’d just think you must have been really hungry, so I’d be worried instead.’

Even thinking about it now, it was absurd.
To worry about someone else even after having your own meal taken away.
‘Isn’t he an idiot?’
The way he followed Harry around just to fulfill a request from Jessie, whom he wasn’t even particularly close to, was the same.
He seemed like he lived for his own pride, yet he had an unexpectedly stubborn side to him.
‘He’s really foolish.’
But I couldn’t understand why I kept wanting to smile.
Just as I was composing my expression to avoid being noticed.
Someone approached the table where Harry sat alone.
“Lili, are you okay?”
It was Faye.
‘She’s here.’
Harry smiled at her while hiding her tension.

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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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