"Ah... okay. Sorry to trouble you, Miss Ozu."
They entered the teachers' office one after the other. By then, all the sunlight had poured in. Aside from the unpleasant feelings it brought, the setting sun was gentle, tender as water. Warm colors like this really were nice. The feeling of high school was completely different at a time like this.
Ozu sat down.
The lecture was probably about to begin.
"You can't start smoking at such a young age! Your stamina will get worse, and your lungs and skin will become a complete mess! When you grow up, you'll definitely regret it!"
"...Oh..."
"What do you mean, 'oh'?" Miss Ozu seemed very dissatisfied with the boy's attitude. Did he not know how to repent after making a mistake? Smoking at such a young age—wouldn't he end up with lung cancer later on? Young people should do what young people were supposed to do.
Otherwise, he would regret it someday.
"I'm sorry!!"
...He got another scolding, but Lin Yan did not really mind. After all, the other party might just be a girl pretending to be mature.
"Miss Ozu... may I ask how old you are?"
"Huh? Why did you suddenly ask that? I'm twenty-five this year." Twenty-five. If he counted the time he had spent outside, then he should have been twenty-seven or twenty-eight by now.
Twenty-five. She looked like a proper adult.
That was really interesting.
"...You're really young...!"
"What, you think I'm young, so you're looking down on me? Watch out, or I'll punch you into the air!" Miss Ozu even clenched her fist as she spoke.
"I wasn't thinking that!!"
"From a high schooler's perspective, isn't twenty-five already middle-aged?"
"Does anyone actually say that? That's so rude. I really want to punch whoever said it!" Lin Yan