My Unrequited Love Is an Absolute Secret - Chapter 9

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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 9

I had only just finished my call with Jessie moments ago.
The cascading doubts crystallized into a single, inescapable conclusion.
Jessie had contacted Aemerus before reaching out to me.
He’d asked Aemerus to look after me, secured his agreement, and only then informed me of the arrangement.
In essence, I had been relegated to second place.
This cruel realization pierced my heart with a sharp, bitter sting.
[Tell him to go back.]
[Harry, you can’t just tell a guest to—]
[I don’t want to see anyone right now.]
Even knowing Aemerus bore no fault in this, I couldn’t suppress the resentment that bloomed within me.

***

Aemerus had come to pick me up, but now he observed the middle-aged woman descending the staircase alone.
It was Harry’s Mother.
Her expression betrayed unmistakable bewilderment.
“I’m so sorry. Our Liri says she doesn’t want to see anyone right now.”
Our Liri.
Aemerus silently echoed the phrase in his mind.
It was a habit of speech Harry often employed.
Our family. Our house. Our Jessie.
While such expressions would sound distinctly awkward in English, they felt entirely natural when spoken by Harry.
“Would it be alright if I spoke with her directly?”
Aemerus asked politely, still contemplating her manner of speech.
In truth, Harry’s House wasn’t particularly spacious, so he had overheard the entire exchange between mother and daughter from the second floor.
Every word of her refusal to see anyone.
Yet he couldn’t simply leave as things stood.
Not merely because Jessie had entrusted me to his care….
“If Harry refuses, I’ll come right back down.”
The woman, after a moment’s hesitation, reluctantly consented.
“Very well.”
“Thank you for your permission.”
Aemerus maintained his courtesy with a respectful bow before ascending the staircase to the second floor.
Behind him, he could hear Harry’s parents speaking in hushed tones.
[A friend of Jessie’s? I don’t recall him mentioning anyone like that. I’ve never even heard the name before.]
[Shh, keep your voice down.]
Among the Korean words, I heard a familiar name.
Yet Aemerus climbed the stairs silently, as if he hadn’t heard a thing.
[And Jessie isn’t even our real son, so there could be friends we don’t know about.]
At the sound of Jessie’s name repeating, Aemerus clenched his fists so tightly that the bones on the back of his hands turned white.
Soon after reaching the second floor, he found Harry’s room without difficulty.
It was thanks to the name plates hanging on each door.
‘Liri’s Room’
The nickname Jessie had given her lingered not only at school but here as well.
After staring at the name plate for a moment, Aemerus raised his fist and knocked lightly.
“Harry.”
The sound of sniffling from inside the room ceased.
I could instantly picture the girl holding her breath inside.
“It’s me, Aemerus Huntington.”
“….”
“I’m not planning to force you to the party. I just wanted to check if you’re okay.”
No response came, but Aemerus waited.
Waiting was something he was accustomed to.
“…Give me a moment.”
Soon a small voice came from inside the room.
Though it was fragile and trembling with moisture, he didn’t miss it.
“Let me know when you’re ready.”
Aemerus gave Harry time, then stepped back.
How long did I wait?
The firmly closed door opened, and Harry appeared.
She wore the black mini dress we had chosen together, her long hair elegantly pinned up.
With the dress’s off-shoulder design, her straight collarbones and graceful shoulders were particularly striking.
‘If only Jessie could see this.’
It was the first thought that came to Aemerus upon seeing Harry.
It was truly a shame that he would miss such a beautiful sight of her.
“Are you okay?”
He asked carefully, studying her face.
She seemed calmer now, but her eyes were still red and glistening with tears.
“I’m fine. Thank you for worrying about me.”
“Don’t mention it.”
“And….”
Harry took a moment to collect herself.
She seemed to be suppressing something, but a hiccup escaped through her lips pressed together by her hand.
“Hic.”
Her cheeks flushed as her shoulders trembled with hiccups.
She must have wanted to hide the fact that she had been crying, but it was all exposed, so her embarrassment was understandable.
‘Should I tease her?’
A childish impulse rose within me—the desire to tease this girl whose face had flushed crimson.
But I couldn’t afford to sabotage this hard-won opportunity with my own hands.
Changing my mind, I pretended to see nothing and let it pass.
“And I’m sorry for making you come all this way for nothing.”
Harry, who had barely suppressed her hiccups, offered me an apology.
If she were me, I would have slapped her and told her to get out of my house instead of lingering around so annoyingly.
Her refusal, which was nothing short of gracious, nearly made me burst into laughter.
“It doesn’t matter to me either way.”
I cast out the bait as calmly as I could manage.
“Aren’t you disappointed?”
“Disappointed? About what?”
The girl, sharp as a cat, took a step back and regarded me warily.
She had good instincts.
Regardless, I shrugged my shoulders with casual indifference and dangled the bait further.
“You went to all this trouble to look beautiful—it’d be a waste to stay home.”
Even my own mother spent the entire morning preparing to attend the evening party.
So Harry must have spent well over an hour doing her makeup and styling her hair.
“You don’t have to go to the Homecoming Party. I know a place that’s far more fun.”
“….”
“I’ll take you.”
The bait was cast; all she had to do was bite.
Even if she chose me out of spite toward Jessie, it didn’t matter.
‘Please take the bait.’
Beneath my composed exterior, my insides were burning with impatience.
‘Should I mention Jessie?’
I was seriously considering whether to say that Jessie wouldn’t want you to spend a gloomy day either.
Harry, who had been looking down with her long lashes lowered, finally lifted her gaze.
The moment our eyes met.
I began to lose track of who was dangling the bait and who was holding the line.
“Is this because Jessie asked you to do this?”
Before she could even finish her question, I shook my head firmly.
“No.”
“Then why….”
“I happen to be free today too.”
She seemed to remember the fact that I had never found a Homecoming partner and laughed weakly.
“Lucky timing.”
“Very lucky.”
In more ways than one, I silently agreed.
Harry, who had been watching me intently, extended her hand with a resigned expression.
“Then I’ll ask you to do this.”

***

I descended the staircase with Aemerus’s escort.
My parents, who had been conversing on the first-floor living room sofa, were startled upon seeing me.
They had naturally assumed Aemerus would fail to persuade me.
Yet their expectations had been beautifully overturned.
My mother asked with wide, astonished eyes.
“Liri, you’ve decided to go to the Homecoming Party?”
“No. It’s not that, but….”
My parents, who were perpetually consumed with managing two restaurants, had made time for today.
It was my final Homecoming Party in high school, and it had been such a long time since they’d seen Jessie that they had deliberately carved out this moment.
I felt a belated pang of guilt for having vented my frustrations on parents who had gone to such lengths.
In place of me, whose words trailed off with apology, Aemerus answered with utmost courtesy.
“It’s not the Homecoming Party, but we’ve decided to go out for a change of scenery.”
“That’s fine too. Yes, do be careful out there.”
“You must be back before ten.”
“Yes, I’ll keep that in mind.”
My father seemed quite pleased with Aemerus, whose military-like discipline was evident.
“Jessie has a good friend. I wonder why you never introduced us before.”
“Indeed, that’s true.”
My mother, chiming in agreement, pulled me into an embrace.
“Forget your troubles and go have a wonderful time.”
“Yes…. I’m sorry about earlier.”
“It’s fine. Mom understands how you feel. I’ve missed Jessie so much myself.”
By now, any tears I had shed would have vanished without a trace.
Yet they were clearly visible to my mother’s eyes.
“Thank you for understanding.”
At my whispered words, my mother laughed and teased gently.
“Should I give Jessie a piece of my mind when I see him next?”
“No. Please don’t.”
I stopped my mother with a panicked expression.
I had been hurt by Jessie passing me off to Aemerus.
But it must have been his own way of honoring his promise to me.
I simply chose to understand it that way.
I didn’t want to resent Jessie over something so trivial.
“Anyway, he must really adore you.”
My mother clicked her tongue and pulled out her phone.
“Since we’ve met like this, let’s take a commemorative photo. Dear.”
At Harry’s Mother’s call, Harry’s Father jumped up from his seat and prepared to take a photograph.
But there was one person who had been noticeably absent since earlier.
Scanning the living room with her eyes, I asked.
“Where’s Robin?”
“He went to his room after hearing that Jessie couldn’t come.”
It wasn’t just I who had been anticipating today’s meeting with Jessie.
I turned to look at Aemerus, my gaze lingering on my younger brother’s firmly closed door.
“Is it okay if we take a photo?”
“Sure.”
He remained unfailingly composed, despite my overzealous parents and their fussy nature.
‘In this way, he might be a bit similar to Jessie.’
My eyes, which had been studying Aemerus intently, came to rest on the nape of his neck.
“Your bow tie is crooked.”
Considering the time he had arrived at the house, it was clear he had rushed over the moment he heard from Jessie.
That’s why his clothes and hair weren’t neatly arranged.
“Oh, dear…”
“Let me fix it.”
Since I had tied Jessie’s bow tie countless times before, this was nothing difficult.
I completely untied it and began tying it anew.
To accommodate his towering height, I had to stand on my tiptoes, and seeing my legs trembling slightly, he quickly bent his waist toward me.
Thanks to this, the distance between us narrowed until our breaths nearly touched.
Was it because of this narrowed distance?
For some reason, I became acutely aware of him.

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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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