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chapter 35
Aiden dragged Lucas along as they headed in the opposite direction from Olivia and Emma.
Fortunately, there was also a path leading out of the mountains on this side.
As Lucas was being pulled along in a daze, Aiden glanced at him and asked subtly:
“How do you feel about it?”
“About what?”
“The fact that I confessed to Emma.”
Lucas’s eyes naturally turned toward Aiden.
“Why are you asking me that?”
For a while, Aiden just stared silently at Lucas’s face.
Lucas was taken aback by Aiden’s unusually serious expression.
“Is it because you don’t know what kind of face I’m making right now?”
“What kind of face am I making?”
Lucas touched his own face, puzzled.
“You look like you’re in shock, like you could collapse any second.”
“…Me?”
There were no mirrors in the mountains, so Lucas had no way to check his expression.
“Seems like the news that I like Emma was quite a shock for you.”
“Of course… I was surprised, but it wasn’t exactly shocking.”
“Judging by your dazed look, anyone would think it was.”
“Why do I look dazed?”
“You’ll have to ask your own head that.”
Lucas still couldn’t fully understand Aiden’s words, but they didn’t seem entirely wrong.
His mind had been blank ever since earlier, as if he’d been hit by something.
Eventually, Lucas couldn’t ignore what Aiden said.
“Why am I feeling like this?”
“Are you really asking because you don’t know?”
“I have no idea.”
Aiden openly showed a dismissive expression toward Lucas.
“You frustrating guy.”
He always acted smart, but when it came to his own feelings, he could be so oblivious.
Aiden now understood why Olivia had been making such a fuss to try and help Lucas.
If left alone like this, nothing would have happened for Lucas.
“Tell him at least why, so he can be frustrated about it.”
Pushed like that, Lucas began to feel frustrated with himself as well.
He placed his hand over his chest.
It felt heavy and uncomfortable, and he couldn’t shake it off.
Aiden must have had the answer to why his heart felt so uneasy.
“What do you think when you see Emma?”
“Emma…? Well, she’s always been amazing…”
From the first moment he met her, Emma had been someone extraordinary to Lucas.
He had always thought he was a good student, but seeing Emma, the top student in the school, naturally made him bow his head in admiration.
Though it could have made him jealous, Lucas somehow began to admire her.
He wanted to be like her, to be by her side.
But his timid personality kept him from approaching her properly.
Strangely, recently, chance after chance had given him more opportunities to be around Emma.
Every time he met her, Lucas confronted a strange feeling rising inside him.
A feeling he didn’t yet have a name for.
“…She’s beautiful when she smiles, and kind.”
Someone for whom every second together feels precious.
Someone he wants to make smile whenever he can.
Someone he wants to see, even if only once more, using any excuse.
“That’s who Emma is.”
“Then you already know well enough how you feel.”
Finally, following Aiden’s guidance, Lucas was able to reflect on his feelings.
“So this… is what it means to like someone?”
“What else could it be?”
The word felt mysterious yet resonant.
It was amazing to have a name for this cautious feeling.
Lucas’s unfocused eyes finally regained clarity.
But soon, they cooled and sank again.
“But Aiden, you like Emma too, don’t you?”
As soon as he realized his feelings for Emma, Lucas hit a wall.
Aiden was the complete opposite of him.
Older and more mature, with a charming, easygoing personality, Aiden could make friends easily and confidently express his feelings in front of Emma.
In contrast, Lucas… had no real strengths outside of studying, struggled to make friends, and couldn’t even speak properly in front of Emma.
If Aiden was his rival, Lucas had almost no chance of winning.
“Just because I like Emma, does that change your feelings for her?”
Lucas thought carefully.
Could he let go of his feelings just because he realized he had a rival?
The answer was no.
He had only just realized them.
Even if Aiden liked Emma, it wouldn’t make him give up.
“No, my feelings won’t change.”
Aiden looked satisfied for some reason at Lucas’s firm answer.
“Good. That’s enough. Be honest with Emma. Even if we both like her, the choice is hers.”
“Be honest with her?”
“Are you going to carry these feelings forever?”
It was a troubling thought.
Lucas had just realized his feelings and had no idea how to express them to Emma.
“Can’t I just keep them to myself?”
“How foolish would that be? You could stew in your feelings until they eat you up with regret.”
Aiden, unlike a typical rival, continued to push Lucas from behind.
It felt like he was constantly nudging him toward the edge of a cliff he didn’t want to fall from.
Confused, Lucas felt Aiden was right, unable to think clearly.
“Is that it…?”
“That’s it.”
“But what if Emma feels burdened?”
“That’s possible. But she won’t hate your feelings. Do you think Emma would look down on someone who likes her?”
Lucas pictured Emma’s face.
She would be embarrassed but probably grateful, just like she was when she understood Aiden’s feelings.
If he confessed sincerely, would it make Emma smile at least once because of him?
Finally, Lucas admitted his feelings honestly to himself.
“I’ll confess and accept being rejected.”
“Good thinking. But don’t start by assuming she’ll reject you.”
“But unlike you, Aiden, I don’t get the sense it’ll work out at all.”
“And you’re dragging me into it.”
“You said Emma would reject me.”
“Sure, I have a strong feeling she might, but…”
Even knowing he might be rejected, Aiden showed no signs of nervousness.
Lucas envied that.
“I… don’t know what to do.”
It was the first time Lucas had ever liked anyone.
Naturally, he had never confessed before.
Aiden said that if you like someone, you must confess—but Lucas didn’t even know if that was right.
“Don’t worry, I’ll help you with everything.”
“You?”
“Yes, trust me completely. First of all, the mood is important.”
Seeing confident Aiden, Lucas instinctively felt uneasy.
Aiden had already confessed to Emma immediately upon meeting her, and now offered to plan Lucas’s confession.
Was it okay to trust him? Lucas had no other choice.
Later, Lucas stood in his uniform, neatly pressed, holding a bouquet Aiden had hurriedly obtained from the garden.
His bangs, usually messy and covering his eyes, were now neatly combed aside by Aiden.
He had never dressed so properly, even for the freshman welcome ceremony.
Heart pounding, he looked at the clubroom door.
He mentally rehearsed the long sentences Aiden had written for him, hands trembling as he reached for the door handle…
“Hey, what are you doing?”
At that moment, an unexpected visitor grabbed the door handle for him.
