CH 35

EP.35 The story between you and me

The story of Rika’s embarrassing past ended with me promising not to tell anyone, but there was still an awkward atmosphere in the room.

Currently, Rika had been unilaterally exposed to her embarrassing past and had become less talkative than usual.

What method should I use to make her come back to her original energetic self?

Agonizing alone in an uncomfortable atmosphere, I soon found an answer.

If she was ashamed because I knew her embarrassing past unilaterally, I could just open up my embarrassing past to Rika.

“Don’t be so embarrassed. Everyone gets the 8th grade syndrome at least once. I was pretty serious for me when I was in middle school, too.”

“…really?”

Rika, who was burying her face in a teddy bear, took the bait.

I nodded and showed a picture of my middle school years on my smartphone as evidence.

This is Kim Yoo-sung (3rd year of middle school) when he was immersed in urban fantasy manga and grew his bangs long.

It was taken before I was possessed, so he had rebellious eyes.

Kim Yoo-sung must have thought it was cool.

“What? This is Ryu-chan?” You’re lying!”

As she said so, Rika pushed her face closer, and opened her eyes wide.

Then she alternately looked at the old pictures in my smartphone and what I was now and looked like a child who knew the truth about Santa Claus.

“You were this small and cute in middle school, but how did you turn into a bumpy one?”

‘No, it’s weird to be surprised.’

Whining inwardly at her response, which was completely different from what I intended, I defended myself as sincerely as I could.

“When I was in middle school, I didn’t think I was very manly, so I started exercising during spring break before I entered high school. It just happened to overlap with my growth period and my height exploded.”

I was 167 centimeters tall when I was possessed.

In that state, when I started exercising with Director Nakayama, I started to grow explosively, and in my first year of high school, I was 180cm tall and now 186cm.

What was more surprising was that I was still growing.

After hearing my explanation, Rika looked at me in the picture as if it was a waste.

“If I had transferred two years earlier, I could have seen Ryu-chan at this time, right? What a shame.”

“So, you don’t like me now?”

“Oh, of course, Ryu-chan is okay now, too! But my face doesn’t match what I usually show”

Rika, who shook her hands and said so in a hurry, lowered her head, saying with a red face, “Wow, I think it was a too disorganized excuse” even if she thought about it.

Now that the rigid atmosphere seemed to be relieved, I told her with a simple smile.

“Everyone has a shameful time. So, you don’t have to be so distressed.”

“Ugh… If I could erase only one picture in my life, I would definitely choose that one.”

As Rika complained, she ate a Pocky, a snack she had brought from the first floor.

Still, she felt much better than before.

As expected, it seemed more comfortable to share the embarrassing past of both sides.

It was like holding the other person’s secret.

Having managed to have a normal conversation like that, I bowed my head and thanked Rika.

“Thank you for inviting me to your house today. Thanks to you, I was able to meet my respected Kishimoto-sensei and get his autograph. Today will probably be a memory that I will never forget.”

Then Rika said shyly, scratching the back of her head.

“Don’t make me laugh too much. I just asked Papa for everything. Rather, if I can repay you for being helped by Ryu-chan from the first day of transfer, I will invite Ryu-chan to my house as much as he wants.”

As a fan, there was no story that made me feel more overwhelmed than him to meet Mr. Kishimoto at any time.

“Wouldn’t it bother you if I come too often?”

“That’s all right. When I was in middle school, my friends always came to play once a month and had a pajama party!”

The conversation seemed a little different between a friend of the same sex and a friend of the opposite sex visiting often, but I decided not to point it out for Rika’s innocence.

“Then I’ll take care of you again next time I have a chance.”

“Hehe, feel free to come and play.”

When the conversation between us ended, to some extent, there was silence in the room.

However, it was not as awkward as before, but just a comfortable silence, so I felt comfortable.

I couldn’t think of anything to talk about, so I got up from my seat because I thought I’d read something from the bookshelves full of manga.

As I approached the bookcase that occupied one side of the room and began to look carefully, Rika, who sat on her bed, instead of a cushion on the floor, and ate snacks in a comfortable position, asked.

“What made you like manga?”

I answered, looking through the title of the manga.

“When I was young, I often stayed home alone. I think I naturally read manga because my parents were both working and there was no one to play with me since they weren’t at home.”

I picked a book that looked moderately interesting and sat on the cushion again, so I asked Rika in reverse.

“Rika, what made you like manga?”

Then, Rika, who was hugging the cushion and watching a humor video on her smartphone, turned her head, saying, “Huh?”

“Me? I’m just… Since my father is a mangaka, I naturally read it. When my mom went out and my dad saw me alone, he always showed me manga. Well, is this also the power of early education?”

I opened the first chapter of the manga and said teasingly.

“You don’t call them Papa and Mama now.”

Then Rika blushed.

“I don’t always call them Papa and Mama?!”

“Wow, calm down. No one said it was wrong.”

While chatting like that and reading the manga recommended by Rika, two hours passed by.

***

In fact, the signatures, which was the original purpose, has already been resolved immediately, and even though it was a friend’s house, it was rude for a guest to stay for too long, so I closed the book at the right time and got up from my seat.

Then Rika, who was reading a manga like me, tilted her head and asked.

“Are you going to go?”

“Yes, I’ve been around for quite a while. I’ll have dinner at home.”

When I pointed to the clock hanging on the wall, Rika murmured, “It’s already this time.”

It had already been four hours since I came at 12 o’clock.

“Then I’ll send you off.”

Rika stood up from the bed saying that.

I asked because I suddenly thought of something while packing the bag I put on the floor.

“Come to think of it, did you say you were going to travel abroad with your family from tomorrow? Where are you going?”

Then Rika proudly said, drawing a V with her finger.

“Hawaii.”

“Have a good time. Make sure to put on sunscreen.”

“Hehe, sometimes Ryu-chan acts like a father.”

In reality, I felt like I was looking at my younger sister with a slight age gap, but I didn’t bother to correct it.

After saying goodbye to Kishimoto-sensei in the study and Maria, who was watching a drama in the living room, I was putting on my shoes in front of the front door, and Rika said with a cat-like smile.

“Then we can’t see each other for a week. Ryuchan, can you cry because you will miss me?”

I stared dumbfounded at Rika telling such a joke, and then made a phone shape with my right hand.

“Call me if anything happens. I’ll be there to help if you don’t mind.”

“Are you going to swim to Hawaii?”

“…I’m going to fly normally. I’ll break my pocket money account.”

When Rika heard that, she giggled and nodded.

“Yes, then I’ll see you at school. Ryu-chan.”

“Yes.”

I said as I opened the front door.

“See you at school.”

***

As Rika Kishimoto looked at Kim Yoo-sung’s from behind, her heart clenched.

‘Call me if anything happens. I’ll be there to help if you don’t mind.’

She honestly thinks she was a foul.

She was careless because she thought it was over, but he suddenly said that.

The reason why she became fond of Kim Yoo-sung was apparently because of his appearance as the main character of a shonen manga.

But it wasn’t love at first sight or anything.

At first, He was just going to be a comfortable friend.

However, as they walked together laughing and chatting, at one point, her eyes were naturally chasing Kim Yoo-sung’s back.

She liked the gap, he was blunt on the outside, but secretly cared on the inside.

It was like a big bear, but she was never scared and like the reassurance.

Countless people had confessed to Rika Kishimoto throughout her 17 years of elementary, middle and high school.

However, she hated the insidious gaze toward her body, which was better developed than his peers, so she refused and pushed them away.

On the other hand, Kim Yoo-sung looked at her eyes first when he talked to her.

There were times when her eyes went down, but she was so embarrassed that she quickly turned her eyes away.

She wasn’t afraid.

Rather, she was slightly happy that he paid attention to her.

‘I like you.’

She mumbles silently as she looked away at his back.

She had practiced alone several times at home, but it didn’t come out in front of him.

Fortunately, there was still a lot of time left until graduation.

‘Someday, for sure.’

With that determination, she rubbed the back of Taro’s neck clinging to her feet and acting cute.