Takes.h.i.+ doesn"t fight back, though his body is in pain. For G.o.d"s sake, he was in an accident. The injuries are minor compared to the state of his car. His head is throbbing with pain, not because of the accident. She has pulled his hair too hard. Has she realized where she is sitting on? "If I die, what will you do? You would become a widow before you get married to me."
"Who said that I would marry you?" She tightens her fingers around his neck a little. He looks ready to die at her hands. "I would rather die as single."
"But aren"t you here because you want to punish me for dating other girls?" He places his hand on the curve of her waist. "There"s only one way to do that. Let"s stop being idiots and get married tomorrow. If someone threatens you, we will bully that person together like we used to."
"Hey, I got bullied because of you." She releases his neck and clicks her tongue. "What"s so good about you anyway? All the girls bullied in school because they thought that we were dating."
"Then, you should have just dated me," Takes.h.i.+ tells her with a nonchalant voice. "You also bullied them back."
"Ais.h.!.+ This shameless guy." She slaps his face lightly. "Shouldn"t you be apologizing to me?"
He winces in pain. Did he survive the accident to get beaten by her? "What should I apologize for? Didn"t you talk behind my back in front of your cousin? Can I trust you again if something bad happens in my family? Your reporter instincts will get activated and you will toss our family secrets in front of the world. I know you well."
This idiot won"t stop going on about that. Iori grabs his hair again. "I was mad at you. Can"t I badmouth you a little? She"s my cousin, not your cousin. You can badmouth me too. Couldn"t you see that I didn"t mean a word? If you didn"t want me to badmouth you then, you shouldn"t have flirted with those flashy girls in front of me that day. You even threw me out of your house on your birthday. You blocked me. You cut off our friends.h.i.+p. How many times do I have to tell your wrongs to you? And my reporter instincts? If it"s something that the world should know, I would tell it. But I am not a heartless person. I will never do anything that might harm them, but I also won"t tolerate anything if they do something wrong. Even if it"s you, I will do what is right. I am not a greedy person."
They stare hard at each other.
That"s right. She"s not a greedy person. Doesn"t he love her because she"s pa.s.sionate about doing what is right? Though she also bends her rules sometimes, she tries hard to do what is right. Takes.h.i.+ sighs and says, "You have gained weight."
The corner of her lips twitches when she hears his words. He could have said anything, but he has to make a comment about my weight. "So what? You love me less because I put on weight. I should really make you ugly today."
He snorts. "If I become ugly, I am sure that you won"t love me anymore. You were always a fan of good-looking celebrities."
"You are not that handsome." She glances at his hair. "You are already bald."
"You made me like that." He leans closer to her. "Since I am already ugly and you are already fat, let"s get married."
"I don"t want to." She pushes him away. "How could you ask to get married when we are still in college? We should date first. Buy me flowers. Take me out for dinners. Kiss me under the stars and do all the cheesy romantic things that I dreamt about. Then, I will consider it."
"College?" Takes.h.i.+ frowns. "It was me who got into an accident. How did you get amnesia?"
"But…" Iori points toward the door. Wait, he does remember everything. If he had amnesia, he wouldn"t remember what happened at the hospital or incidents that happened around a year ago. Did she get fooled? Iori climbs off him in a hurry and heads toward the door. She pulls the door. Horrified, she blinks her eyes. "It"s locked."
"I guess that you got tricked." Takes.h.i.+ chuckles. He could guess what might have happened. "Come back here. Tell me everything that you want me to do."
s.h.i.+t! She acted like how she used to. She should have realized it earlier. Why did she say it all? She should keep att.i.tude toward him. "I hate you, Takes.h.i.+."
"I believe you." His tone is casual, hinting that it"s too late to pretend otherwise. "Do you want me to get up in this state? You already made me ugly. Don"t tell me that you want to leave me now."
"I don"t want to date you." She looks over her head. "Takes.h.i.+, you are still a hateful man."
"Leftover of a man." Takes.h.i.+ huffs, "You come here and beat me up. You tear my hair away. Take responsibility."
"I don"t want to!" She crosses her arms and glares at him. "Would you think of me if I didn"t come today?"
"I didn"t stop thinking about you for a day." Takes.h.i.+ replies and sighs, "I was an idiot, I guess. But you should have told me that you wanted me too. You had five years before I got mad at you. I know that you avoided meeting me whenever you came to T City back then."
"It"s because you always acted like you moved on." She lowers her eyes, fighting back her tears. "It was difficult seeing you."
"Idiot." Takes.h.i.+ walks to her. "I understand though. Sometimes, it was difficult seeing that you were fine without me when I was not fine without you. I have been a fool, but I love my family a lot. My brother, my sister-in-law, and everyone else has suffered a lot. I want them to be happy. I was scared that you would not care about them if something wrong happens again. They have found happiness after such a long time. Sometimes, I am afraid that they might lose it again. I was afraid that you might become a reason for it. What if you don"t care about them because of your ambition? But I was wrong about you, Iori. I am sorry for everything."