181 – What Sion and Clara Desire

“Hee hee hee!”

Having finished his shower, a squeaky-clean Noah sprawled across the bedding.

Hugging a pillow, he rolled around with a delighted expression.

“Noah… seriously…”

“Nose~ You’re not mad, are you? Please be nice to me today~!”

Noah’s voice, bubbling with excitement. Ichinose gave up trying to say anything.

He closed his eyes and sighed.

“Huu.”

After catching the energetic Noah and finishing the arduous shower, even the lingering hint of alcohol had completely vanished.

He was clean and exhausted, so he could fall asleep the moment he lay down, but Ichinose had to let the two waiting know that the bathroom was free.

Just as he reached for his phone to call, a message arrived.

Not a short one.

Upon reading the full message, Ungae Nose held his breath.

‘…So it’s come to this.’

Sion and Clara were finally going to confess.

The unique atmosphere created by the trip somehow felt like it would bring about a change in their relationship.

He had vaguely anticipated it, so acceptance came quickly.

His mind was certainly racing.

‘They’re so brave and kind. Sion and Clara are both better than someone like me.’

If they had made up their minds, it must be an important moment.

Even so, they had sent a message asking if he would join them.

Ichinose, grateful for them keeping their promise, typed out a reply without hesitation.

‘…’

Because of a decision he had made recently, he replied that he would not go. He added words of encouragement.

He wanted to advance his relationship with Rohan in a setting where it was just the two of them.

He sent the reply and turned off his phone.

‘That’s that.’

It wasn’t as if they’d thrown themselves into this on a single shared purpose, a pact forged simply to raise their odds in a game of chance.

There was a near-certain premonition that even if things went well, they’d still be together, all of them.

Because these kind-hearted girls made her feel that she could live with them. That’s why she took their hands.

‘And…’

There was still something she hadn’t asked her parents.

For Ichinose, the answer to that question was the most urgent.

“Nose~ If you have to go, go quickly. Don’t worry about me.”

Noa, who was purring softly in bed, spoke in a low voice.

The message was nowhere to be seen. What had she sensed, what had she realized in such a short time?

“It’s okay. I’m tired, so I’m going to sleep.”

Ichinose smiled primly and lay down next to Noa.

Despite everything, it seemed there was no friend quite like Noa.

“Why are you lying so close all of a sudden?”

“…Don’t know. Just sleep.”

Noa wagged her tail and nudged Ichinose’s blanket.

“Nose~ Wanna hug and sleep? I’ll be your doll.”

“Don’t. Then I’ll just go sleep far away.”

“Tch.”

Noa pouted, disappointed by the rejection.

But her eyes smiled, as if she was happy nonetheless.

Barely ten seconds passed after that.

Noa’s eyes, unable to resist the pull of sleep, clouded over, blinked, and then closed.

“Uuh…”

Ichinose chuckled softly at Noa, who had fallen asleep in mere seconds, and then shifted her gaze to the ceiling.

She closed her eyes and recalled the message she had received earlier.

‘It’s hard to make up my mind…’

Of course, even if this confession was successful, it didn’t mean she would never have a chance.

On the contrary, couldn’t she receive help from the two of them? It was right to see it as raising the probability.

Even so, this unsettling feeling. It felt suffocating.

Even when she tried to see only the good aspects, she couldn’t calm down easily.

If the two of them confessed successfully and returned, would she be able to congratulate them with a genuine smile?

If they failed, could she comfort them without any falsehood?

‘…I don’t know.’

The girl’s heart, tossed about in a strong wind, couldn’t possibly find its bearings right now.

*

“Did you get an urgent message or something?”

“It’s nothing.”

“…It’s okay!”

Shion and Clara, wearing strange expressions, put their phones in their pockets.

Ichinose’s reply had been as they’d suspected for some time now. It was time to focus on the task at hand.

“Oh! Sorada! This shell is the size of a fist.”

Rohan, who had been walking a half-step ahead, picked up a conch shell from the black sand as if showing off.

He washed it with the incoming wave and admired it with a profoundly serious face.

Sion and Clara felt happy just looking at him.

Smiles bloomed naturally.

And the girls’ tongues loosened. Rohan seemed so kind, as if he would indulge any whim.

“O-Oppa…”

“Hm?”

“Do you know… what Sion-unni and I have in common…?”

“Pretty?”

The answer popped out without hesitation to the sudden question.

Clara’s face flushed with heat. Even Sion, listening, felt the tips of her pointed ears grow warm.

Unable to continue speaking from embarrassment, Clara let Sion take over the conversation.

“Frankly, I don’t know about Rohan, but Clara and I share the same lacking.”

“What kind of lacking?”

Perhaps sensing the weighty topic,

Rohan placed the conch shell he was holding on the ground and leaned in to listen.

“We desire to belong somewhere, to have solid, unbreakable bonds. Because of the environments Clara and I grew up in, our yearning for proper relationships is perhaps stronger than others.”

“Uh-huh! I, I hate being alone…!”

“I understand. The problem of belonging, like a sense of belonging, right? I’ll set up the office properly when I graduate. Just wait a little longer.”

Sion shook her head at Rohan’s reply.

“Rohan. The relationships we’re talking about aren’t about that level of depth. We need a deeper, more certain sense of identity and belonging.”

“For example?”

“Family.”

“!”

Startled, Rohan closed his mouth.

Clara, standing beside him, chimed in, swinging her twin tails.

“…”

The sound of crashing waves filled the silence.

Rohan took a long breath.

His expression became quite serious.

“If you’re saying this drunk, you’ll regret it? If it’s a joke, I’ll really get angry.”

“It’s not a joke in the first place, and I’m not drunk now. I can feel the mana moving without any problems.”

“Me too…! I, I’m confident in my detoxification!”

The two girls emphasized that their judgment was completely sober.

“Of course, if this situation goes wrong, I’ll be worried about the future. That’s also why I’ve been holding back until now.”

“Uh-huh…”

Sion tried to raise the corners of her lips, but they trembled at the ends. Her smile wasn’t a smile.

Clara was pale as a sheet with extreme tension.

“Rohan.”

“Uh.”

“You’re welcome to think it unsightly. But before I get to the main point, could you promise me just one thing?”

“What promise?”

Sion and Clara couldn’t read the outcome in Rohan’s expression, now that he seemed to grasp the situation.

And so, fear washed over them like a fever.

“…I know it’s selfish, but even if our feelings aren’t reciprocated, I hope you won’t push us away.”

“I want to stay with you, Oppa, always! Please, don’t abandon us…!”

It was perhaps the loudest Clara had ever spoken. Close to a shriek, or a cry of distress.

He could see the strain in Sion and Clara’s grip.

“…”

To Rohan, their actions were practically a confession already, but these girls possessed an innocence that blinded them to even the reversed order of things.

So caught up in conveying their own hearts.

Rohan found Sion and Clara incredibly endearing. His heart pounded in his chest.

And so he wondered.

“Clara.”

“Y-yes…?”

“Are you alright, Clara? Jeno, where you lived most of your life before coming to the Academy City, has a very different culture, after all.”

By asking after Clara and not Sion, who was from Tigrova, the nature of the question was clear.

The girl who was asked fidgeted with her fingers, mumbling in a small voice.

“It’s, it’s up to the one reaching out to understand the differences in culture….”

Juyeon’s words were utterly etched into Clara’s heart.

Hearing that admirable and idealistic answer, Rohan lifted his head.

He gazed at the night sky, sprinkled with stars.

‘…How could the timing be like this?’

If not for Noah, it would have taken him much longer to fully understand the situation.

Amazement intertwined with disbelief. The happiness was so immense, it exceeded all limits.

It was unfolding in such an absurdly orderly fashion that he couldn’t help but suspect it was all a dream.

As Rohan fell into that reverie, his expression unreadable, and closed his mouth,

The desperate girls, feeling as though their feet were on fire, began to pour out the stories in their hearts.

“If you accept us, I won’t throw a fit if you bring in other women…! Though, if a woman seems like she’d really bring harm to you, I might offer an opinion…!”

“Me too… I can accept anything you want, Oppa…!”

Their voices were unwavering.

The situation was flowing in a way that was simply too good for Rohan.

But Rohan had already made up his mind long before hearing those words.

Therefore, what was important now was something else.

“Neither of you has actually said what you want, has it? I need to hear it clearly to give you an answer, don’t I?”

“!”

Rohan gave them a gentle smile, tinged with playfulness.

Sion and Clara snapped out of it. A realization that the atmosphere had shifted close to acceptance.

They realized that fear had only led them to make assumptions about failure and ramble.

“Do you like me that much?”

“…”

To Rohan’s question, Sion and Clara nod without hesitation.

“Do you love me?”

“…”

At the second question, faces flushed, they avoid his gaze, then nod slightly.

“I want to hear it from your own mouths.”

At those words, Sion and Clara take a deep breath.

They glance at each other, hesitating for quite a while. Actually speaking the words aloud must not be easy.

Rohan understood and waited.

The waves came and went, greedily stealing handfuls of sand.

In the brief moment when the moon and stars had subtly tilted, Sion, having made her decision, took one of Rohan’s hands.

“…Rohan.”

“Oh, Oppa…!”

Clara hurriedly grabs his other empty hand.

“I want to seriously date you with marriage in mind. You wouldn’t consider taking me as yours?”

“I too… want to be Oppa’s possession…!”

Sion and Clara were vividly reflected in Rohan’s eyes.