The Real Thing~

"Is this what a boy's room looks like? It's so ordinary."

Hasebe glanced around the clean room with disappointment, then sat down on the floor.

He handed her a bottle of milk and asked, "So, what did you come to my room for?"

"Little Bai Ye, you're so cold. I went out of my way to come here to get closer to you. Look, I've never had many friends, and I finally met someone I like. Wouldn't it make sense to be proactive?"

"You seem to get along pretty well with the girls in class. You don't look like someone without friends."

"They don't count. You don't know how easy it is for girls to talk to each other as long as they don't have a grudge. But those are all surface-level relationships. They don't share their true feelings like real friends do, and they wouldn't sacrifice themselves for a friend."

Hasebe rested her chin on her knees and spoke softly.

"When I was little, I developed faster than the others, and people often made fun of me. It wasn't just the boys; the girls joined in too. So, little by little, I stopped hanging out with them."

"When I came to this school, I wasn't planning on getting close to anyone, but..."

Hasebe looked up at him, a resentful expression appearing on her fair face. "Someone had nothing better to do than come hang around where I was resting. Because of him, I couldn't sleep that night. I kept thinking about him. Don't you think he should take responsibility?"

"Take responsibility for what?" He raised an eyebrow.

"For becoming my friend, of course." Hasebe smiled. "What were you thinking?"

"If you hadn't put it that way, I wouldn't have thought that. You did it on purpose, didn't you?"

Hasebe readily admitted it. "I did. I wanted to see if you'd get embarrassed. I didn't expect you to be so calm. Tell me, you're so smooth—were you always fooling girls when you were little?"

"I wasn't fooling anyone. Everything I said was sincere," he replied.

He didn't like making things up just to win girls over.

In truth, he was basically the same type of person as Horikita. He just knew which things were better left unsaid.

"Then tell me, what kind of person do you think I am?" Hasebe asked. "Don't lie."

"Hmm. You're pretty, you have a great figure, you're very outgoing, you like giving your friends nicknames, and you like taking care of people. You're a little protective of your friends, too?"

As she listened to him, Hasebe's face slowly reddened. She hurriedly waved for him to stop. "That's enough. Don't you feel embarrassed saying things like that...?"

"You're the one who asked me to say it..." He pursed his lips. "See? Don't act like an older sister from now on. You're still a virgin, after all..."

"What do you mean, a virgin...? What are you talking about?"

"Oh, so you're not?"

"Of course I am... Never mind me. Aren't you a virgin too?" Hasebe glared at him.

"I am, but I'm not embarrassed. Why are you getting so worked up...?"

"Who's worked up? I'm going to set you straight today!"

Hasebe stood up, walked over, and pressed down on his shoulder, pushing him onto the bed.

Her face was right in front of him. Her tender lips, her beautiful cheeks despite her angry expression, her eyes with their hint of spirit, and a few strands of hair falling onto his forehead—all of it carried a strangely alluring fragrance.

Her lips parted slightly. "Tell me, what's wrong with being a virgin?"

"I think it's great. I like it."

"I don't care whether you like it! I'm asking whether there's any conflict between being a virgin and being an older sister. Does being a virgin mean you're not qualified to be one?"

"No. A virgin older sister is adorable. The most adorable in the world."

"..."

Hasebe rolled her eyes at him, then lay down beside him and said listlessly, "Little Bai Ye, what do you think I should do from now on...? Carrying on like this is so boring."

"It's boring being alone. Find more friends to hang out with."

"Who do you think I should look for?"

"For example... how about Sakura?"

"Which Sakura? Is there someone by that name in our class?" Hasebe tilted her head toward him.

"The girl who sits at the very back of the classroom and wears those old-fashioned glasses."

"Do you like her?"

"Can you stop taking everything in that direction? Can we talk about something other than romance?"

"Then why did you recommend her? Give me a reason."

"Because I think your personalities would get along well. You could give it a try."

"You know her so well. Is she a distant cousin of yours or something?"

"No. I'm just good at reading people. Anyway, try talking to her. It's no big deal if it doesn't work out."

"Oh."

"Yeah. It's still early. I downloaded a movie yesterday. Let's watch it together."

Bai Ye turned on the TV and connected it to his phone.

Hasebe sat up at once. "What kind of movie is it?"

"Romance."

"Hmm..." Hasebe glanced up at him. Seeing that he looked completely unfazed, she asked, "Do you watch movies like this often?"

"No. I only started recently."

He wasn't interested in romance movies himself. He was watching them to learn.

Hasebe didn't say anything else, and the two of them quietly watched the somewhat melodramatic Korean movie.

The movie had two parts, so he decided to watch them both.

At first, Hasebe watched with great interest, but as time went on, she grew sleepier. In the end, she couldn't hold out any longer. Her head tilted to the side, and she fell asleep against his shoulder.

Reality was just as melodramatic.

He glanced at the girl on his shoulder and sighed softly.

"What should I do...? Maybe I should just let her sleep here."

Seeing how soundly she was sleeping, Bai Ye really couldn't bring himself to wake her.

His gaze drifted down from her face, taking in a body that was enough to tempt anyone to sin: her full breasts, slender waist, and soft, shapely legs.

No wonder she'd been voted number one on the list of "Girls You Most Want to Sleep With."

"Good thing I'm a gentleman. Otherwise, I'd definitely have taken advantage of you," he said fiercely, then laughed.

Just then, he noticed Hasebe's eyelashes twitch slightly.

"..."

She was pretending to be asleep...

This woman really did love to tease him. She even had to put on an act now.

In that case, she couldn't blame him.

"Let's sleep together tonight."

He put an arm around her waist and carried her to the bed.

He moved gently and slowly, waiting to see when she'd finally give up and open her eyes.

But even after he put Hasebe under the covers, she still didn't "wake up."

He couldn't exactly pounce on her now. No matter what the circumstances were, that would sink their friendship.

With no other choice, he fetched another quilt from the cupboard and spread it on the floor.

Once he'd finished, he went over to Hasebe, kissed her lightly on the forehead, and whispered in her ear in a gentle, slightly mischievous voice:

"Good night, my dear big sister~"

Then he returned to his own quilt and lay down.

After he turned off the light,

Hasebe suddenly opened her eyes, which were bright and alert.

She took several deep breaths, then closed her eyes again.

But she couldn't stop replaying what he'd just said in her mind. As she savored the words, her heart nearly melted.

This was—

Too adorable!