TSBSFVW 71

Chapter 71
Bread Eleven. Just Admit It, You Won’t Die (7)

“Put me down! What kind of nonsense is this? Let me down and talk like a normal person!”

“No. If I put you down, you’ll run away again.”

His voice was firmer than ever. Ellie, hanging upside down, pounded on Maurice’s back with all her strength. He didn’t flinch at all. It was as if he had a steel plate under his clothes.

“Hitting me will only hurt your own fists. Save your energy—it’s a tool of the trade.”

“Damn it, this is embarrassing…”

Realizing that resisting was useless, Ellie covered her face with both hands. Blocking her sight seemed the only way to regain some composure.

Maurice spoke in a sulky tone.

“You weren’t embarrassed when you were in Ban’s arms, but you are now in mine?”

“Both were embarrassing, but you’re just a bit more so…”

“Well, at least you can admit it.”

Ellie tensed up involuntarily at his dry, playful tone. Her grip tightened on the hem of his shirt near his shoulders.

‘Why is he getting angry?! If he doesn’t want to see my face, he could just avoid me!’

After all, she’d been avoiding him for over a month. But it wasn’t like she was out having fun—the past month had been all work, which Maurice must have known.

“Ellie, do you need help?”

When she entered the third floor, Malina spoke up.

“Malina, don’t interfere.”

“Then those who are no longer your employers should stay quiet. Ellie, shall we help you?”

Ellie was torn. Part of her wanted to call for help immediately, but she couldn’t ignore Maurice’s low, steady voice.

She had to face him sooner or later. She just didn’t want it to be today. Ellie shook her head slightly without lowering her hands from her face.

Malina glanced at the smug Maurice with a look of silent irritation, mouthing:

“Do something stupid, and you’ll die.”

“Scary,” Ellie muttered.

Go to the end of the hallway.

“I know,” she heard.

With her eyes closed, Maurice’s voice was all she could perceive.

Ellie braced herself.

Seeing Maurice’s face would inevitably bring back vivid memories of that night. The occasional surge of shame and frustration still made her kick her blankets at night—seeing him now would only make it harder to bear.

‘And I haven’t even sorted out my feelings yet.’

Giving up and erasing feelings were entirely different.

Ellie hadn’t realized how difficult it would be. She thought it would be easy since, even if she liked him, she didn’t intend to do anything with Maurice.

But whenever she let her guard down, she found herself thinking of him. The harder she tried not to, the more he popped into her mind.

Like being told don’t think of an elephant, all she could picture was an elephant—Maurice’s infuriating face kept popping up like a mole.

Whether it was seeing scones, Malina, or even hearing talk about the Mammoth Company…

‘Well, Malina was originally brought in by Maurice, so I can’t help it. But most of the staff here used to work at the Mammoth Company, so I keep hearing Maurice’s name way too often…’

It was the worst possible environment for forgetting him.

Moreover, Maurice kept showing up without realizing it.

She ignored him a few times when truly busy, and afterwards, she only heard through staff that he had come by. Ban and Edmund had also stopped him from approaching.

Ellie had praised them generously. They even prevented him from coming anywhere near the shop.

She knew she couldn’t avoid him forever, but she hoped he would wait until she came to terms with this unfamiliar situation. Maurice’s patience, however, seemed to have ended after just a month.

‘Does he have no consideration for a woman he got kicked by? I heard from Eddy he’s been with a lot of women… where did his manners go?’

At the end of the hallway was the staff break room.

Maurice placed Ellie on a table and said,

“You can let go of your hands now.”

“The one I least want to see is still right in front of me, it seems.”

“What I wanted to see most is behind your palms, so I’d like you to lower them.”

“Ah, are you crazy? Saying meaningless things out of habit like this creates victims like me.”

“You haven’t caused any harm.”

“I have! The harm is huge!”

“What harm?”

Maurice grinned and grabbed Ellie’s hand. She flinched at the sudden touch.

“If you want, I can keep holding your hand.”

Ellie flailed and shook his hand off, muttering coldly,

“Look at the level of this harassment.”

“…You don’t have to act like it’s disgusting, Ellie…”

“So, what’s your point?”

“Show me your face.”

“…Ah, step back a bit.”

Ellie realized that Maurice had leaned over the table she was sitting on, both hands supporting himself, narrowing his eyes in a sly, teasing smile. Her skin crawled at the combination of charm and mischief.

“What the hell, why are you being flirtatious and ridiculous?”

“…Ellie, your words are harsh… I’m hurt…”

“What are you trying to do, showing off to someone you got kicked by? Can you step away? Your breathing is annoying.”

“Yeah, well, I can catch you here even if you try to run.”

So he intended to trap her in his arms in case she tried to escape.

Maurice took a small step back, staring intently at her. Embarrassed, Ellie pushed his face away.

“Stop staring creepily.”

“Oh, why not? I just wanted to see your face. You’d probably show it anyway out of pity if you knew what I’d done.”

“What did you do…?”

“…Just some things. Ellie doesn’t need to know…”

Maurice sniffed dramatically.

Ellie had a pretty good idea.

Thinking of how Edmund and Ban had chased him away, she imagined he had been quite mischievous.

“So, I guess our Ellie is being loved…”

“Who said our Ellie? Creepy.”

“…Ellie, you did like me, right…?”

Ellie reluctantly admitted after scanning him indifferently from head to toe.

“I guess I did at some point. Thinking about it now, I must have been crazy.”

“That shouldn’t be. I spent all this time thinking about you.”

“…What?”

Ellie, unable to look at Maurice directly, lifted her head.

Maurice smirked.

“I just never thought about it before, but I actually liked you too.”

“What?”

“So I went to respond, but you openly avoided me. Edmund and Ban treated me like I was a total trash…”

If Edmund and Ban had heard that, they’d have asked if he really was trash.

“Do you expect me to believe this?”

Ellie forced her voice through gritted teeth.

After I kicked you away?

“I was never kicked away. Think about it, Ellie. I never said anything to you. I never told you I hated you either.”

“You said I’d never have a chance to like you. That’s the same thing.”

“I just never thought about it before.”

She was too stunned to speak. Honestly, it sounded like nonsense.

Maurice continued, smiling.

“This is my first time doing something like this too. Honestly, it’s the first time I’ve liked someone.”

“You’re lying, you fraud!”

“Really.”

“I heard everything from Eddy. I know you’ve been with a lot of women. First time, my foot!”

“…I think I know what you heard. But it wasn’t a serious relationship.”

“That’s worse, you idiot!”

Not trash, then.

Ellie glared at him, and Maurice smiled bitterly.

“I can’t deny it. I’ve lived like that.”

“See, you’re just teasing me.”

Ellie huffed. No matter how she looked at it, it seemed he only intended to tease her.

Teasing someone is one thing, but after ignoring her for a month, this was just a cruel joke.

“I knew you wouldn’t believe me. I thought I had to tell you before you drifted away on your own.”

“….”

“Ellie?”

What made her angry was Maurice’s flippant attitude.

His lies and attempts to win favor were no different from those who claimed their relationships weren’t serious.

He didn’t even have the decency to take it seriously.

It would have been better if he had just apologized.

“…I didn’t intend to drift away.”

“Oh, really?”

“I just decided to drift away.”

“Huh? Why?”

Maurice’s eyes widened. He genuinely had no idea, which made Ellie even more furious.

“Because I don’t want to deal with a bastard who toys with people’s feelings!”

Ellie shoved him hard and shouted,

“Get lost!”