My Unrequited Love Is an Absolute Secret - Chapter 61

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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 61

I doubted my own ears.
“Distance myself from Aemerus?”
“Yes.”
“Because Aemerus is holding onto your birthday gift instead?”
“Any reasonable person wouldn’t do something like that.”
This was the first time I’d ever felt so utterly unable to communicate with Jessie.
“Jessie… the moment you refused the gift, the right to decide what to do with it returned to me.”
Jessie looked like he wanted to argue back, so I quickly added more.
“What’s wrong with giving it to someone who actually appreciates my gift?”
“If I’d known you were preparing it with such a light heart, I should’ve just accepted it back then.”
“What…?”
Jessie said that, then immediately looked regretful.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to say something so harsh. Just forget it.”
He ran an irritated hand roughly through his hair as he spoke.
“Let’s not fight because of Aemerus, okay? Why should we be fighting?”
…
“I always thought Aemerus was a good friend. That’s why I asked you to look after him. But watching what he does to you… something feels off about it.”
“Jessie, I’m sorry, but I’m too confused right now. Can we stop this conversation?”
“If that’s what you want.”
Just when I thought Jessie would back off gracefully, he reached out and stroked my hair.
“Just remember one thing, Lili.”
…
“Aemerus is driving a wedge between us.”
Could what Jessie said actually be true?
But why would Aemerus do such a thing?
What could he possibly gain from sowing discord between us?
“Think about it carefully.”
With those words, Jessie left.
Alone, I collapsed onto my bed.
“Distance myself from Aemerus?”
My phone, carelessly tossed onto the bed, vibrated.
It was almost certainly a message from Aemerus.
‘I should reply…’
Because of what Jessie had said, even sending him a message filled me with guilt.
“How did things get so tangled?”
Was it from when Aemerus found out I had unrequited feelings for Jessie?
Or was the problem that I was unrequited in my feelings for Jessie from the start?
Harry exhaled a sigh and reluctantly picked up her phone.
“Did you get home safely?”
As expected, a message from Aemerus had arrived.
‘Does he send messages like this with some hidden intention too?’
According to Jessie’s claim, that would be the case.
But Harry still found it difficult to believe his words.
It was truly strange.
I thought my feelings would become clear the moment I met Jessie.
That I still loved him, that my heart hadn’t changed.
His request to keep my distance from Aemerus might even be a form of jealousy, which would have thrilled me.
But reality was different.
The way Jessie spoke carelessly about Aemerus actually made me feel worse.
Confused by my own desire to take Aemerus’s side, I had to send him away first.
“What is this, really.”
As if I actually liked Aemerus….
Harry sighed deeply and sent him a reply.
She had a premonition that this confused heart wouldn’t settle easily.

***

After Thanksgiving ended, a new week began.
However, everyone seemed exhausted from the aftermath of the holiday break.
Harry’s expression wasn’t much different from the other students’.
Though the reason was quite different from theirs.
“Did someone die?”
“Oh, you startled me!”
Harry, who had been sitting in the Classroom since morning with a troubled expression, scribbling through her book, flinched.
It was because Aemerus had suddenly thrust his face forward from behind.
“You scared me.”
“Why weren’t you paying attention? Are you sick?”
Aemerus seemed firmly convinced that Harry’s dazed state on the last day of the trip was due to poor health.
“My body is fine.”
“Then?”
Harry exhaled a sigh.
Jessie had told me to keep my distance from Aemerus, but it was impossible to coldly push him away all at once.
Shouldn’t I at least hear his side of the story to be fair?
She glanced around to check if anyone was listening to their conversation.
Only after confirming that no one was paying attention to them did she whisper softly in his ear.
“Jessie says you shouldn’t get close to me.”
“JJ?”
Aemerus tilted his head in confusion.
‘I don’t understand it either, so you wouldn’t either.’
I let out a deep sigh, as if wishing the ground would swallow me whole.
“JJ probably didn’t do it out of nowhere. What’s his reason?”
“The watch.”
I gestured toward his wrist.
“Jessie saw you wearing that watch yesterday. He thought it was strange that you had his birthday gift. That’s probably what bothered him.”
Aemerus blinked slowly.
“That’s the only reason?”
His expression suggested he suspected there was something more.
Reluctant as I was, I laid bare everything Jessie had said.
“He said it’s suspicious how quickly I’ve become close to you. He also claimed you’re driving a wedge between him and me.”
Suddenly I worried whether Aemerus would be angry.
If all of this really was just Jessie’s baseless slander, that is.
But Aemerus didn’t get angry.
With his arms crossed, he simply stared at me with his usual composed expression.
“Do you really think that too?”
“…I do agree that you’ve been suspiciously kind to me.”
Even when I was caught harboring feelings for Jessie, he didn’t exploit it.
He could have used it as leverage to manipulate me however he wanted.
Instead, he merely wished to spend Thanksgiving together.
And he even covered the travel expenses.
“Are you saying I should have treated you poorly?”
Aemerus looked genuinely baffled.
“A sane man doesn’t treat a woman carelessly.”
Hmm… So his kindness held no special meaning after all?
To him, it was merely basic courtesy, while I’d gotten my hopes up alone.
‘At least I know now… I guess?’
I held back the urge to grab him by the collar and demand what that kiss on my nose in Canada meant.
“If you ask me, it seems like JJ is the one trying to drive a wedge between you and me. What do you think, Harry?”
“Jessie? But why would he do that?”
I asked reluctantly.
“I don’t know, maybe because he feels like he’s losing his friend to me? He’s always wanted to monopolize you anyway.”
“Jessie wouldn’t be that childish.”
Despite my firm assertion, Aemerus shrugged.
“Wasn’t it childish to tell me to stop hanging around you?”
I pressed my forehead with my hand.
Because Aemerus had a point.
“…You really don’t have any hidden agenda in being kind to me, right?”
“Not entirely without merit.”
“What?”
As Harry’s eyes narrowed, Aemerus let out a low chuckle.
“Just joking, joking. I’m already overwhelmed dealing with my one stalker. I don’t have the luxury of worrying about anyone else.”
“Ah….”
I’d momentarily forgotten about the stalker since things had been quiet for a while.
“We really need to catch your stalker soon.”
“Now that the holiday’s over, they’ll probably start acting up again. Anyway, we need to put an end to your problem too.”
As Aemerus said this, he poked Harry’s cheek.
“Don’t poke me.”
What if he actually goes around poking every other girl’s cheek like this?
I know Aemerus isn’t that kind of person, but you never know.
Harry glared at him and swatted his hand away.
“So you’re trying to break off our friendship?”
“….”
“Harry, that would be genuinely foolish.”
I simply hadn’t responded because of some inexplicable pettiness, but Aemerus grew deadly serious.
“If JJ told you to support the Republican Party from now on, would you do it?”
“Are you insane?”
Harry jumped up from her seat.
“How could you say something so harsh?”
“It’s to show how unreasonable JJ’s request is.”
I shuddered.
At least I’d confirmed that Aemerus wasn’t a Republican supporter—I supposed I should count my blessings.
“First, your statement contains a massive flaw. Jessie would never support the Republican Party, even if it killed him.”
“That’s something we can’t know for sure.”
“Second, I’m not breaking off our friendship with you.”
Aemerus, who had been speaking with biting sarcasm, finally fell silent and clamped his mouth shut.
If I’d ever truly intended to end our friendship, I wouldn’t have relayed my conversation with Jessie to him truthfully.
“Then that settles it.”
Aemerus turned his head away with a smirk, as if he’d never been serious at all.
Just then, the teacher entered the Classroom, and our conversation naturally came to an end.
‘I’m sorry, Jessie, but I can’t grant this request.’
If I refused, Jessie would be disappointed in me.
He might even grow angry.
But I couldn’t hurt Aemerus just because I feared Jessie’s reaction.
‘Besides, I was hurt by Jessie yesterday too.’
Did he really not realize how lightly he’d treated my heart?
How could he, who dismissed me without a second glance and refused so easily, say such things?
Harry was too busy fuming to notice Aemerus gently touching the bracelet he’d matched with hers.

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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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