My Unrequited Love Is an Absolute Secret - Chapter 6

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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 6

“JJ?”
Aemerus turned his head to follow her gaze.
It wasn’t the real Jessie standing before us, but rather a photograph from a recent photoshoot.
His expression had sharpened with caution for a brief moment before softening as he looked at me.
I was photographing Jessie’s photoshoot on my phone.
The image showed Jessie shirtless, wearing only jeans, with a brand logo emblazoned across the top of his underwear.
“I have to show Jessie that he landed this advertisement.”
My cheeks had flushed a rosy pink—a far cry from how exhausted I’d been after trying on just a few dresses earlier.
Aemerus observed me with quiet intensity, much like he did whenever Jessie was around.
Feeling oddly self-conscious, I began offering excuses in rapid succession.
“Apparently, Jessie is the first new model this brand has signed exclusively since Marcus Delgado. Isn’t that incredible?”
The brand was practically synonymous with men’s underwear in the United States.
I was thrilled that it was Jessie who had caught the attention of such a prestigious company.
Though Aemerus didn’t seem to share my enthusiasm.
“Marcus Delgado?”
He tilted his head quizzically.
He clearly had no idea who that was.
How could he not know Marcus Delgado?
My jaw dropped.
“He’s an alumnus of our school!”
“Is he?”
“Yes! The school promoted him constantly as a Riverside School graduate.”
I showed him a search result for Marcus Delgado on my phone.
His expression remained blank as he scrolled through the photos before he suddenly asked a question.
“So you like anyone as long as they have blonde hair? You and JJ both?”
I choked on my half-melted ice cream while holding out my phone, coughing violently.
Did he just ask if I liked blonde hair?
Of course Jessie had blonde hair, but that wasn’t why I liked him. It was more than that…
‘Could he possibly know that I have a crush on Jessie and is asking this deliberately?’
Please, anything but that.
There was nothing more humiliating than having a long-held secret crush exposed.
My face and neck flushed crimson as I scrambled to explain myself.
“W-what are you talking about? This person also has black hair like you. This is dyed.”
“I see.”
Upon hearing that the famous model shared his natural black hair, Aemerus suddenly showed interest and began examining the photoshoot images more carefully.
In any case, the misunderstanding that I only liked handsome men with blonde hair seemed to have been cleared up.
Having finally regained her peace, Harry exhaled a quiet sigh that no one else could hear.
‘Well, since he’s a hockey player, he’d probably know Devon Knox better than Marcus Delgado.’
Recalling yet another celebrity produced by Riverside School, Harry fell into quiet contemplation.
Perhaps because they’d been discussing hair, she found herself drawn to his black locks ever since.
Unlike Jessie’s calm, straight hair, his waves fell in an appealingly tousled manner.
“Do you naturally have wavy hair?”
Or had he styled it separately, she wondered.
The question suddenly occurring to her, Aemerus set down his phone and fixed her with an unwavering gaze.
He merely stared, offering no verbal response whatsoever.
Harry, feeling slightly embarrassed, gave a small shrug.
“I thought you had it when you were younger too. Didn’t you?”
Like most Riverside High School students, the two of them had graduated from Riverside Elementary School and the affiliated middle school under the same foundation.
In other words, they’d known each other’s names and faces from before—though they weren’t particularly close.
“I guess my memory was wrong.”
“Right.”
At Aemerus’s response, Harry’s brow furrowed.
The timing of his answer had been ambiguous.
“Do you mean my memory was wrong, or that you do have wavy hair?”
As she asked seriously, Aemerus suddenly burst into laughter.
Caught off guard by his unexpected reaction, Harry felt oddly offended and responded petulantly.
“Why are you laughing? It wasn’t even a strange question….”
“I didn’t think you’d remember me.”
“Huh?”
“You’ve only ever been close to JJ since way back.”
“That’s… true.”
It wasn’t exactly an inaccurate observation.
Seeing her at a loss for words, Aemerus let out a soft chuckle.
“Well then, I’ll finish sending the photos to Jessie.”
She’d only meant to send Jessie a message, yet she’d ended up discussing all sorts of things with Aemerus.
‘Maybe it’s because I’ve never shopped or chatted with anyone other than Jessie.’
Apparently, she’d become a bit too animated without realizing it.
Harry reminded herself to exercise restraint and sent the photos.
‘I wonder if Jessie is busy right now.’
While waiting for his reply, she opened SNS and checked her feed.
Harry’s expression hardened as she scrolled through the new posts.
A post updated mere minutes ago had tagged Jessie.
He was posed affectionately beside a strikingly beautiful woman.
“Julia…?”
The name was familiar.
Upon clicking the account to verify, she discovered that this woman was a beauty influencer with a staggering two hundred thousand followers.
So this was the kind of woman Jessie was seeing.
She was beautiful beyond anything I could dare aspire to, and she wielded influence to match….
“Who is Julia?”
My mind had been drifting until Aemerus’s voice snapped me back to reality.
“Oh, an influencer. She seems close with Jessie. It showed up on social media.”
I turned off my phone screen, hoping my voice sounded indifferent.
Right—my reality existed here, not beyond the screen.
“Should we get going?”
“Yeah.”
If I lingered any longer, he might discover that I harbored unrequited feelings for Jessie.
Besides, there was nothing left for Aemerus and me to discuss.
I tidied up and stood, asking out of courtesy.
“By the way, don’t you need to buy clothes? If you’d like, I can help you pick some out.”
After I’d offered my kindness, Aemerus shook his head, saying he didn’t need anything.
Instead, he made a different request of me.
“Forget the clothes—just give me a ride home.”
We’d both driven to school, and we’d come to the Shopping Mall together in my car.
Since having him return to school to retrieve his vehicle would complicate our routes, his request for a ride home wasn’t particularly unreasonable.
“Sure.”
“And I’d appreciate it if you could pick me up tomorrow morning too. I left my car at school.”
But his request to pick him up again tomorrow morning felt odd to accept so readily.
“Tomorrow morning too?”
“Yeah.”
The words rose to my throat—suggestions that he use the school bus or ask his parents for a ride—but I swallowed them back.
‘What if his situation is similar to Jessie’s?’
I didn’t know much about Aemerus’s family circumstances, but there was no harm in being careful with my words.
I’d learned after what happened with Jessie that not everyone attending a private school came from wealth.
“Fine, consider your ice cream debt paid.”
Aemerus got relief from worrying about transportation, and I got relief from my debt.
It was a mutually satisfactory arrangement.

***

“I’m home.”
Harry called out in Korean as she returned home after escorting Aemerus all the way to his residence.
As she removed her shoes in the entryway and slipped on indoor slippers, her mother came to greet her.
“You’re back? You’re a bit late today, aren’t you?”
“I was shopping.”
Harry lifted the shopping bag she’d been holding up for her mother to see.
“A dress? Did you already buy something to wear to homecoming?”
“Well, yes…”
I never imagined I’d end up attending parties regularly even after Jessie graduated from high school.
‘Should I thank Jessie for this, or not?’
Of course, I was genuinely grateful that he’d agreed to be my homecoming partner.
But he didn’t need to do it while he was already dating someone else.
Harry suppressed the urge to cry and went looking for her younger brother.
“Where’s Robin?”
“Same as always, what else?”
Her mother sighed deeply and pointed toward the firmly closed door.
It was the room of Robin, her much younger brother—a late-born child with a considerable age gap between them.
Unlike Harry, who was born in Korea and attended elementary school there for three years before immigrating to the United States with her parents, her brother was born entirely in America.
Contrary to expectations that he would adapt to America more easily than Harry, her brother had sealed both his door and his heart shut.
“Next year he’ll need to start elementary school, and I’m worried.”
“I’ll try talking to him.”
Harry knocked on Robin’s door, leaving her mother’s worried expression behind.
“Robin, it’s your sister.”
“The door’s unlocked.”
A feeble voice came from inside the room.
When she opened the door and stepped inside, she saw Robin curled up on the bed.
“What are you doing?”
“Just lying here.”
Harry nodded at Robin’s response and shook the shopping bag in her hand.
“What’s this?”
“What is it?”
“A dress to wear to the homecoming party.”
“Who are you going with? Jessie graduated, didn’t he?”
Robin threw off the blanket and showed interest.
“I’m going with Jessie.”
“What? You said he was busy—when did you decide this?”
Robin’s expression turned sullen, the initial excitement at hearing about Jessie fading quickly.
With their parents busy running the restaurant, Harry and Jessie had practically raised Robin between them.
As a result, Robin regarded Jessie more like a father than his actual father.
But since last year, when Jessie’s circumstances had taken a sharp turn for the worse, his visits had stopped entirely, leaving the still-young Robin feeling nothing but disappointed.
“I ran into him briefly yesterday. He asked me to say hello to you.”
“You’re lying.”
Even when Robin sulked, he sulked with absolute conviction.
I was pondering how to coax my younger brother out of his mood when it happened.
My phone vibrated inside my school uniform pocket.
The call came from Jessie at precisely the right moment.
‘He must have finally seen my message now that he’s done with Julia.’
The moment I saw his name on the screen, that photo from social media flashed through my mind, but I forced it away.
“Robin, take the call for me.”
“Who is it?”
Robin’s face lit up the instant he spotted Jessie’s name on the phone I handed him.
“You have to speak in English, though.”
“Of course!”
Unlike us, Jessie didn’t speak Korean.
Robin giggled with anticipation, eager to surprise Jessie, and picked up the call.

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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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