My Unrequited Love Is an Absolute Secret - Chapter 79

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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 79

Simply belonging to Jessie’s Squad was enough to make the harassment directed at me disappear.
Even I felt a touch of wonder at it.
People loved Jessie that much.
Even criticism about his peculiar taste—always hanging around an Asian girl—couldn’t tarnish him.
It was far harder to dislike a prince with hair that shone like gold and eyes as blue as glaciers.
At my first Homecoming Party as a high school student, I watched Jessie and Harry dancing with unwavering attention.
“They look good together, don’t they?”
Randy, who belonged to Jessie’s Squad, approached my side and tapped my shoulder as he spoke.
“They’re so obviously into each other—I don’t get why they’re not dating.”
“…They’re not dating?”
I had naturally assumed the two of them were together.
I hid my surprise and asked with deliberate indifference.
My voice, now past the depths of adolescence, had transformed into something remarkably low and refined.
The changes weren’t limited to my voice alone.
I had grown considerably taller, and I had finally removed those hideous braces.
“Seriously, they’re not. They kept insisting they were just friends, so I thought maybe they were secretly dating. But apparently they haven’t even kissed yet.”
…
“Are they practicing premarital chastity or something? Though I’m pretty sure neither of them is religious.”
“Why wouldn’t they date?”
When I engaged with the conversation, Randy became animated and chattered on.
“They’ve been friends for so long, right? Maybe they’re scared of developing the relationship. One wrong move and they’d end up as neither lovers nor friends—just awkward.”
My thoughts differed.
I would have made her undeniably my girlfriend and prevented other men from even daring to approach her.
But Jessie had not done so.
That’s why he made the mistake of leaving space for someone like me to linger around Harry.
For me, it was something to be grateful for.
“Being too relaxed, he might lose her to someone else.”
“Huh? What did you say?”
“Nothing.”
The loud music easily swallowed my murmur.
Even as I pretended to sip the cheap-tasting punch, I couldn’t tear my eyes from Harry.
Harry in her crimson cocktail dress reminded me of when I first met her.
The sun that illuminated my sordid life.
Yet the person holding her in his arms was not me, but Jessie.
“I’m dizzy! Put me down!”
Harry, lifted high in Jessie’s hands, laughed and cried out.
“You scared me half to death.”
“Ha, did I really frighten you that much?”
Even after descending safely to the ground, Harry still seemed dizzy, resting her head against Jessie’s shoulder.
I could see Jessie’s hand naturally encircling her waist.
I finally succumbed to the burning thirst and swallowed the punch, then furrowed my brow.
The taste was utterly unbearable.
As I spat it into a handkerchief, I laughed bitterly.
‘If only I could spit out my feelings for Lili just as easily.’
Was it truly normal to harbor affection for someone for this long simply because they’d helped me once?
Even I found it strange.
That’s why I’d even attempted to meet other women.
But it was futile.
All that remained was a man shamefully comparing every other woman to Harry.
‘Lili doesn’t smile like that.’
When Harry smiled at Jessie, her dark eyes would vanish entirely.
The corners of her lips curved softly, and a single dimple formed on her left cheek.
‘Lili doesn’t speak like that.’
Harry’s native language wasn’t English.
So she often mimicked the words and speech patterns of Jessie, who spent the most time with her.
Her unique way of speaking—using rough vocabulary typical of boys with her adorably round face—was hers alone.
‘Lili doesn’t walk like that.’
Harry usually walked quickly like a little bird, but whenever she was with Jessie, her pace would slow considerably.
It was born from her desire to spend even a moment longer with him.
‘Stop it.’
Of course, I wasn’t giving up on my unrequited love—I was simply stopping my search for traces of Harry in other women.
After all, it was something I couldn’t even do to other women.
“We will now announce this year’s Homecoming Royalty!”
The principal’s voice echoed through the party hall as the music cut off abruptly.
While everyone stared at the principal with eager eyes, I continued to gaze at Harry.
The way she looked up at him after straightening his bow tie, which had come undone during their dance.
How wonderful it would be if I were the one receiving that affectionate gaze instead of Jessie.
I would never be able to stand as steadily on two feet as he does.
If only such a day would come….
“This year’s Homecoming Prince is—congratulations! Jessie Jackson!”
“Jessie! Congratulations!”
“Thanks, Lili. It’s all because of you.”
Even after becoming a high school student, Jessie’s popularity remained unchanged.
The newly crowned Homecoming Prince pulled Harry into his embrace and spun her around in place.
All I could do was applaud them from afar.
It seemed like that would be my fate forever.
But after a long wait, an opportunity finally came to him as well.

***

About halfway through eleventh grade.
Aemerus arrived at the Strategy Conference Room after being summoned by the Hockey Coach.
The person waiting for him was not the Coach alone.
“JJ?”
Aemerus spotted Jessie and faltered.
His expression looked unusually dark today.
“Aemerus, come and sit down.”
“Yes.”
At the Coach’s call, Aemerus pulled out the chair across from Jessie and sat.
“Jessie is graduating early.”
“…I see.”
I had heard rumors that Jessie’s father was ill.
Combined with Harry’s gloomy expression, it wasn’t difficult to infer that the rumors were true.
“I’d like you, Aemerus, to take Jessie’s position.”
My hands trembled beneath the desk.
It was a trembling born of joy, not sorrow.
To rejoice at misfortune befalling a rival—it was utterly despicable.
Mocking myself for it, my lips quivered.
“I don’t believe I’m suited for this position. I think it would be right to give the opportunity to another player instead.”
Fortunately, thanks to my quivering lips, I appeared burdened by the situation.
“I’m sorry, but you’re not the one making this decision. Jessie has also agreed that he’d like you to succeed him.”
Jessie nodded quietly.
At a glance, he looked utterly exhausted.
He didn’t seem to care much about who became captain.
“You’ve had the experience of climbing up from the bottom, Aemerus, so I trust you’ll be able to lead those lacking in skill.”
“…I will do my best not to disappoint your expectations.”
Only then did the Hockey Coach relax his rigid expression and pat my shoulder.
“Thanks to you, I’m relieved. Now Jessie can leave with peace of mind. I’ll announce it to the players at the next practice, so keep that in mind.”
“Yes. Is there anything I should prepare separately?”
“You’re already prepared. Very good attitude.”
The Coach regarded me with satisfaction.
He instructed me to evaluate the players one by one and analyze how to deploy them in games before the next practice.
By evaluating each player and devising strategies, there would be much to learn as captain.
“Then I’ll see you at the next practice.”
“Yes.”
Watching the Coach’s expression brimming with enthusiasm, Jessie felt a quiet resentment rising within him.
Despite being the one who first offered to hand over the position to someone else.
It felt as though Aemerus had stolen my rightful place.
‘It must be my imagination.’
Jessie dragged his palm across his hardened face.
Father’s cancer diagnosis, followed by Mother’s traffic accident.
As if the world itself was pouring curses upon me, Jessie’s anger flared up constantly.
Because of it, making objective judgments had become difficult.
“And Jessie.”
The Coach stopped Jessie before dismissing them from the Strategy Conference Room.
“You’ve worked hard leading the team all this time. I pray for your parents’ swift recovery.”
“…Thank you.”
Jessie and Aemerus walked out of the Strategy Conference Room side by side.
The silence between them hung heavy.
But there was one more thing Jessie needed to entrust to Aemerus besides the Hockey Team captaincy.
“You know we were never friends.”
Jessie, who had stopped walking, opened his mouth with difficulty.
“Still, I’m asking you.”
“….”
“After I graduate, take good care of Lili.”
Aemerus’s heart began to race.
“Sure. But which Lili are you talking about?”
Even knowing there was only one Lili worth mentioning from Jessie’s lips in this entire world, he shamelessly asked back.
At his feigned indifference, Jessie laughed weakly, as if he’d expected exactly this.
“I mean Harry.”
“Ah.”
“Until now, I’ve been there beside Harry to shield her, but now that I’m gone…. Those racist bastards will try to torment her.”
Under the guise of protecting Harry, he had been monopolizing her all along.
His pathetic excuse was almost touching.
Aemerus barely suppressed the urge to laugh aloud.
Instead, he pretended to have no interest in Harry whatsoever, as if reluctant.
“Well, girls are troublesome.”
Jessie didn’t doubt his casual lie in the slightest.
Besides, he didn’t have the capacity to.
He was the one who had run around all night the previous evening scrounging for money, then collapsed into sleep after caring for his parents.
Without Harry and her parents, he would have broken down long ago.
“Harry saved you back at Summer Camp.”
Jessie’s voice turned cool as he reminded him of past debts.
“Now it’s your turn to repay.”
“…I will.”
The moment he had been longing for had finally arrived.
Now it was his turn to take Jessie’s place.

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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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