I glared at Hayama through the fingers covering my face.
I thought my gaze was fierce enough to kill him, but Hayama remained unfazed, a bright smile on his lips. Only his eyes were dull and lifeless.
"I just wanted to get back at you. It didn't mean anything."
"What?"
There was genuine anger in my voice this time. If I'd been from the Showa era, I might've punched him right then and there. But as a modern kid, I wasn't good at communicating with people physically. I wasn't good at communicating with words either. More than not good, I was absolutely terrible at it.
Maybe because my communication skills were so bad, I couldn't understand what Hayama was trying to say at all.
Hayama took a sip of coffee and said with a sigh,
"The moment she saw you, her eyes lit up, and she smiled like crazy. Then you two happily went shopping together. Of course I'd feel like taking a few digs at you."
"What... uh, what are you talking about?"
"A man's jealousy is ugly."
Why? His voice was gentle, his manner mild, and his tone steady, yet it made me feel cold as ice. He was mostly mocking himself, but it felt like he was taking a jab at me too.
"Don't you have anything else to say?"
"Ah... no, it's just, I was thinking about how to deal with that rumor."
I barely managed to squeeze out an answer. Hayama listened with a nod, then laughed the moment I finished.
"That's enough."
As if ending the conversation, he declared it and rose from the bench.
"...It's not really a problem. It was the same before."
Hayama looked down at me. Perhaps because he was backlit, his expression carried a faint sorrow.
"Thanks for the