My Unrequited Love Is an Absolute Secret - Chapter 38

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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 38

So that’s why Aemerus looked so gloomy earlier.
He couldn’t bring himself to mention Jessie’s name again in front of Robin, who had only just stopped crying and seemed to be doing better.
“Unnie, I’m embarrassed. How much longer do I have to stand here?”
Robin began whimpering, ashamed of standing alone.
“Hold on. Robin, your eyes are closed—you look like a mess.”
Harry sighed, hastily brushing off the failed photo.
Interpreting her sigh in some way, Aemerus made this suggestion.
“For the next house, Robin and I will go together. You can call Jessie or something.”
Aemerus’s consideration didn’t feel particularly welcome.
The photo shoot probably wasn’t over yet.
He must have squeezed in a quick message during a break in the shoot.
Honestly, all I’d have to talk about now was an apology for breaking my promise and asking if Robin was okay.
And couldn’t I have that conversation anytime later anyway?
“No, it’s fine. I’ll reply later.”
Harry placed her phone back into Aemerus’s hands.
“This time, take a good photo.”
“…Okay.”
“Robin, put some intensity in your eyes.”
Harry stood beside Robin with perfect composure, as if nothing had happened.
“Let’s take it again. Three, two, one.”
“Halloween!”
The beaming faces of Harry and Robin were captured in the photograph.
“How is it? Did it turn out well?”
“Yes. You’ll like it.”
“I want to see too. Stop only showing the two of you—show me as well!”
Harry nodded with satisfaction as she reviewed the photo with the bouncing Robin.
“I can send this one to my parents. While we’re at it, let’s take one of the three of us too.”
It was when she switched the camera to selfie mode to take a photo for social media.
As the three of them searched for an angle where everyone looked good, I noticed Joker creeping up behind them.
Though I was seeing him for the first time today, it was Halloween and Batman and Joker were such famous rivals that he seemed to be coming to play a prank.
“Joker! It’s Joker!”
Robin, who had also spotted Joker on the phone screen, screamed and turned around.
Joker responded to his reaction.
“Batman and Robin! Today I won’t let you off easy.”
Ugh… At this typical villain dialogue, Harry rubbed her goosebump-covered arms.
‘Halloween is not easy.’
Unlike Harry, who clicked her tongue in disapproval, Robin gazed up at Aemerus with unbridled anticipation.
‘Don’t make Aemerus do anything difficult!’
Given his introverted nature, Aemerus wasn’t suited for pranks like this.
Having reached that conclusion, I was about to chase Joker away myself.
“Come at me then.”
But Batman moved first, a step ahead of me.
His black cape billowed, and in the next instant, he’d already pinned Joker’s arms behind his back and subdued him completely.
“I surrender! I surrender!”
“Wow! Joker’s been caught!”
The watching children came rushing over in a swarm.
Seizing the moment, some of them began striking Joker with the magic wands they held.
‘That’s not how magic wands are supposed to be used.’
Robin tugged at the hem of my pants from beside me, shaking it excitedly.
“Lili, Batman caught Joker!”
“Yeah, yeah, he really did. That was amazing.”
Robin’s cheeks were flushed with excitement as he gazed up at Aemerus—it was simply adorable.
I was genuinely relieved he wouldn’t spend Halloween in tears.
“Hiss! Just you wait, Batman and Robin.”
Joker, surrounded and harassed by the neighborhood children, scrambled away in a panic.
Several mischievous kids chased after him to the end.
“Batman, I had no idea you were hiding such strength.”
I returned to Aemerus’s side and teased him by poking his ribs playfully.
But Aemerus simply shook his head as if it were nothing.
“He bent his own arm back.”
“Really?”
“He was just trying to play along with the kids.”
“That was kind of him.”
I chuckled and turned to Robin.
“Robin, want to go get more candy? There are only a few houses left.”
“Mm-mm.”
Robin looked down at his basket, which was overflowing with candy, and shook his head.
“I have enough candy. I want to go home.”
“Really? You won’t regret it if we head back now?”
“No. And I’m cold.”
Robin sniffled, and his complaint about the cold didn’t seem to be a lie.
If he caught a cold, that would be a real problem.
I was startled and immediately removed my jacket.
“Wait, let me take it off for you.”
“You keep yours on. I’ll take it off.”
“What do you have to take off anyway?”
“There’s a cloak, you know.”
My insistence on looking after my younger brother clashed sharply with Aemerus’s position that it was improper to let a woman undress.
“I’m heading home first. Let me know once you’ve decided.”
“What? Robin! You have to come with us!”
Only then did the two of them stop bickering about who would undress, and they hurried after Robin, who was already walking ahead.
“What if you go alone? You’ll get lost again.”
“Am I an idiot?”
Yet Robin didn’t pull his hand away from where I was holding it.
“Joker might come back and kidnap you, you know.”
Aemerus added his own comment and took Robin’s other hand.
“Yeah, that’s true. He definitely said ‘just you wait’ earlier.”
Robin nodded in agreement, bobbing his small head.
Aemerus and I exchanged glances and laughed behind Robin’s back.
“Give me an airplane ride.”
“An airplane ride?”
It was something the three of us used to do often when Jessie was around.
Caught off guard by Robin’s sudden request, I looked at Aemerus with bewildered eyes.
“What’s that?”
“It’s not difficult. When I count to three, you tense your arms and lift Robin up into the air.”
“Easy enough.”
Aemerus nodded, deciding this was manageable, and began counting.
“Wheeeee!”
Suspended between our arms, Robin kicked his legs in the air and made dolphin sounds.
“Again?”
“Yes, yes!”
“Alright. One, two, three!”
The three of us looked like a happy family in every way.
People passing by gazed at us with warm eyes.
Neither I nor Robin felt the absence of Jessie at all.
We had even completely forgotten the fact that he had sent me a message.

***

Robin yawned the moment he stepped through the front door of the House.
After running around in such an excited state, exhaustion was inevitable.
“I’m going to bed.”
“Wash your hands and brush your teeth first.”
“I’ll do it tomorrow….”
“You keep saying that and you’ll end up at the dentist again.”
“Ugh….”
I barely managed to coax and cajole Robin, who insisted on going to bed without washing, into the Bathroom.
With both hands on my hips, I caught my breath and turned to face Aemerus.
The moment our eyes met after he removed his black mask, my gaze instinctively dropped.
Unlike Robin, who was sensitive to the cold, he seemed to run warm—beads of perspiration dotted his forehead where the mask had been.
Seeing his slightly damp bangs, I felt an emotion I couldn’t quite put into words, so I reflexively averted my eyes.
“Hey, Aemerus. I really wanted to thank you for today.”
As I tucked my hair behind my ear, Aemerus let out a soft laugh.
“You could at least make eye contact when you thank me.”
“…Never mind. I’m not grateful at all.”
I’d rather become an ungrateful person than meet his gaze right now.
Aemerus chuckled and lightly brushed his slightly damp bangs with his hand.
The scent of his shampoo, now more pronounced, brushed against the tip of my nose.
“Want a towel?”
“It’s fine. It’ll dry on its own. I’ll go change clothes first.”
“Oh, okay.”
I found Aemerus’s clothes, which I’d neatly arranged on one side of the Living Room sofa, and handed them to him.
“Robin’s in the Bathroom right now, so it’d be better to change in another room.”
“I wouldn’t mind your room.”
“Well, I would.”
Aemerus seemed to think he and I had become quite close by now, so he teased me comfortably.
“You can change here. It’s practically just a storage room, honestly. Since you’re not staying the night anyway, it should be fine, right?”
I led Aemerus to the Guest Room in the corner of the first floor.
After finishing the tour, I immediately tried to leave, but I was caught before I could take more than a few steps.
“Harry.”
“Hm?”
“Could you help me take off my clothes?”
“Wh-what…?”
He asked for help, so I came back, but still.
I looked at Aemerus’s back before me.
“I can’t reach back here.”
Aemerus stretched his arms behind his neck as if to prove his innocence.
The zipper of his clothes happened to be fastened at the back.
‘It was because of his arm muscles.’
It wasn’t a matter of flexibility—my muscles simply wouldn’t allow my arms to lower any further.
“Let me do it.”
Harry grabbed Aemerus’s arm and pulled it down, then took hold of the zipper instead.
‘How did he even manage to put it on in the first place?’
The thought crossed my mind briefly, but I dismissed it just as quickly.
Not that I needed an excuse, but the taut musculature of his back laid bare before me was simply too….
“All done?”
Aemerus’s voice came from so close that Harry flinched in surprise.
When I turned my head, the distance between us was so minimal that our noses could collide at any moment.
Retreating now would feel like admitting defeat, so Harry stood her ground without backing away.
“All done.”
Though I couldn’t quite manage to keep my voice from dropping to barely a whisper.
“Why are you suddenly whispering?”
Aemerus let out a soft laugh.
“Are you planning to do something bad?”
As he lowered his voice to match mine while asking the question, every fine hair on my body stood on end.

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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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