My Unrequited Love Is an Absolute Secret - Chapter 77

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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 77

Aemerus had been discovered shortly after disappearing from Summer Camp and was immediately transferred to the Hospital.
But his rest was short-lived—he jolted awake to the sound of his parents quarreling.
“That’s exactly why I said he should go to Wharton School! Look what happened when we sent him to Riverside School like you wanted!”
“And what difference would Wharton School have made? It would’ve been worse, not better, I can assure you.”
The Huntington Couple did not lack affection for their son.
Like proper members of the upper class, they had chosen their spouse by meticulously weighing and scrutinizing each other’s credentials.
Thus they were sufficiently satisfied with their adequately businesslike and adequately obligatory marriage, and they certainly harbored genuine affection for their child.
Yet when sudden misfortune struck, the easiest target to blame stood conveniently before their eyes.
“It does matter! The Simons Family’s eccentric brothers attend Wharton School just fine.”
“Their father is the chairman of New York Viewfinder, though.”
“Damn it.”
James could not contain his frustration.
He was determined to pin the blame on the school.
“My son at Riverside School! His entire life is ruined. He’ll spend it as a loser running some trivial Country Music Club like Ben.”
“I had no idea you held your younger brother in such high regard.”
Sheryl’s voice dripped with sharp sarcasm.
“This is no time for jokes, Sheryl! Albert never gave us this kind of grief. What am I supposed to do about him now?”
Aemerus stared at the ceiling, his thoughts drifting to Albert.
Albert, the Huntington Couple’s eldest son and Aemerus’s older brother, was flawless in every conceivable way.
He inherited his father’s striking looks and possessed a sociable nature; he even joined the school’s American football team because he loved the sport.
And above all, he had been admitted to Wharton School, becoming his parents’ pride.
Albert, excelling in every regard. In comparison, Aemerus was….
“There’s nothing to be done about how I was born. Every family has their black sheep, after all.”
Aemerus silently echoed Sheryl’s cutting words.
The family’s shame. A mutation. A burden.
That was exactly what he was.
“I apologize for interrupting, but….”
It was the voice of Aemerus’s nanny.
“I don’t mean to disturb you, but some children have come asking for Aemerus. They say they’re his friends. What should I do?”
James looked genuinely startled.
“Aemerus has friends?”
Sheryl’s voice too carried a note of suspicion.
“They’re not the children who bullied him, are they?”
“They didn’t seem like the type….”
“Never mind. There’s no point asking Aemerus. I’ll go see for myself.”
The sound of Sheryl leaving with Aemerus’s nanny and closing the door behind them echoed through the room.
‘A friend, you say. Who could it be?’
A face materialized in Aemerus’s mind.
That pale visage he’d seen even in dreams, gracing him with a warm smile.
‘It can’t be.’
Harry Lee.
The girl who clung to Jessie Jackson like a matched pair wherever they went.
Everyone said the two of them were dating, destined to marry when they grew older.
But she had no reason to come here to see Aemerus, did she?
Yet what if, against all odds, she actually had come?
While he languished in that sliver of hope, Sheryl attended to the two young visitors.
“Hello! I’m Lili.”
The girl with cheeks flushed like peaches was clearly someone who’d been showered with affection from adults her entire life.
Her expression radiated an unshakeable belief that even strangers would adore her.
That boldness wasn’t off-putting in the slightest—it was endearing.
“Jessie Jackson.”
By contrast, the boy gripping the girl’s hand appeared remarkably composed.
He looked like someone holding a curious puppy’s leash taut to prevent mischief.
“Aemerus’s friend, you say?”
Sheryl asked with a smile that resembled a mask.
Even the most angelic-looking child could be cruel when circumstances allowed.
Children, whose moral compass hadn’t fully formed, could torment others with innocent thoughtlessness and no remorse whatsoever.
Perhaps these two had bullied Aemerus and come to verify whether he’d report them.
“Yes. We came to return his glasses.”
The girl extended the spectacles she’d been holding so carefully to Sheryl.
They were indeed Aemerus’s glasses.
“Where did you get these?”
“Well, I cleaned his glasses for him. They were really dirty, and Huntington was being carried by Jessie. So I was holding them.”
Her answer was rambling and hesitant, her English still rough.
But it was enough for Sheryl to realize these were the children who’d first discovered the missing Aemerus.
Her eyes warmed considerably as she gazed at them.
“So you’re the one who carried Aemerus all the way to the camp.”
Jessie shrugged.
“Lili’s the one who suggested it. She’s also the one who found Aemerus.”
Sheryl knelt down to meet them at eye level.
“I’m so grateful to both of you. Without you, Aemerus would have….”
“Don’t cry.”
Seeing tears welling in Sheryl’s eyes, Harry released Jessie’s hand and embraced her tightly.
Even as Sheryl wiped away her tears, she couldn’t help but smile at the warmth radiating from the girl, like freshly baked bread.
“I’m all right now. Thank you for hugging me.”
“Is Aemerus all right now too?”
“Yes. Aemerus is sleeping soundly right now.”
After finishing her conversation with Harry, she turned to Jessie.
“Can you tell me what happened when you found Aemerus?”
While Harry stood mesmerized by Sheryl’s ornate earrings, mouth agape, Jessie recounted the situation in broad strokes.
“I see. So that’s what happened. Do you know who did it?”
“Well, that’s…”
Jessie’s expression grew troubled.
He seemed worried that naming the perpetrator might invite retaliation.
“It’s fine if it’s difficult to say.”
Jessie’s testimony alone had been helpful.
I planned to request an investigation from the principal to uncover the rest myself.
“Then we should be going. Lili, come here now.”
“Coming.”
Harry, who had remained nestled in Sheryl’s arms like a doll until then, took the hand Jessie offered and moved to his side.
The moment the warmth left her embrace, Sheryl quickly reached for her wallet.
“I’m sorry you had to come while Aemerus is sleeping. Since you went through the trouble of getting here, buy yourselves some ice cream on the way home.”
“Wow, thank you!”
Harry, who frequently received allowance from relatives in Korea, accepted gratefully.
But Jessie was different. He politely refused.
“We didn’t do this expecting anything in return.”
Realizing her mistake, Harry hesitantly returned the money.
“It’s fine. You can take it. Think of it as coming from your friend’s mother.”
“Okay.”
At Harry’s bright smile, Jessie couldn’t help but laugh along.
“Tell Huntington we’ll see him at school!”
With a final wave of their hands, the children departed.
Sheryl retrieved Aemerus’s glasses and returned to his hospital room, only to be startled to find him awake.
“Aemerus, you’re up? Your friends just left.”
“I know.”
“Should I have asked them to at least see your face?”
Aemerus shook his head.
During his stay at the hospital, he hadn’t been able to wash properly.
He would rather die than let them see him like this.
“Here, your glasses. That girl Lili brought them for you.”
Aemerus held the returned glasses carefully in his hand without putting them on.
Sheryl gazed at him quietly before asking.
“What would you like to do?”
“…”
“If you want to transfer schools, that’s fine too.”
With her husband in such a state, there was no reason not to grant his wish.
‘Anyway, I’ll be starting middle school soon.’
But to my surprise, Aemerus shook his head.
“I’m going to middle school as planned.”
“Are you sure you’ll be okay?”
“As long as the kids who bullied me aren’t there.”
Aemerus, who had kept his mouth firmly shut despite all the harassment, began listing the names of his tormentors one by one.
“Aemerus, could you say that again slowly? I should record this.”
“Yes.”
Even as he testified clearly into his mother’s phone, Aemerus remained composed.
He showed no anger, no trembling fear.
This was merely a procedure to see Harry again.
Harry would certainly be advancing to Riverside Foundation’s middle school with Jessie.
So naturally, I had to stay at Riverside as well.
Everyone except those who tormented me.
“Leave the rest to Mom and Dad. Don’t worry about anything and just rest.”
After finishing the recording, Sheryl stood up with the intention of finding a lawyer immediately.
But Aemerus’s eyes were fixed not on her, but out the window.
I could see Jessie and Harry leaving the Hospital.
Harry proudly displaying the bills in her hand, and Jessie stopping her.
Harry obediently stuffing the crumpled money into her pocket as he instructed, breaking into a bright smile.
Soon the two of them held hands and walked side by side toward somewhere.
They were always such a perfect match.
‘Where are they going?’
I wanted to be between those two people.
Even knowing how shameless that was.
‘I want to have it.’
Actually, it wasn’t about being between the two of them.
I wanted to take Jessie’s place.
I wanted to be Jessie.
Even though I knew the sun could never belong to me alone.

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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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